I’m lifting up an old post today, from December 2014. An old post, yet perhaps, timely reminder.
“People don’t know what to do when given the opportunity to be alive.” This observation shared by my friend / colleague Kathleen Masters, still impacts me.
There are many of us building participative, relational leadership into the culture of organizations and teams.
Sometimes the first step is interrupting the harm that engrained organizational patterns — these are everywhere — constrain the human spirit.
It used to be that so many organizational patterns advocated leaving yourself at the door. So as to get in and “do” the work. I’m glad that so much more frequently, organizations are learning that bringing ourselves through the door so as to both do work and to explore the journey together, is essential and good strategy.
We must be in connection. And learning. And experiments. This is the simple narrative I continue to invite in groups.
In the post from 2014 I name a few qualities of “being alive.”
being openly curious
being welcoming
trusting
seeing the bigger picture
welcoming playfulness
experimenting
These are starting points for me in the changes that so many of us have been thinking about, and experimenting with, over many years.
For inspiration. And a bit of encouragement to continue to be in practice — the little no’s and the little yes’s that building patterns of aliveness in us and among us.
