Monday, December 14, 2009
Celebrating our new KnowledgeConnect Cafe Kit
We just completed work on our KnowledgeConnect Cafe Kit LeaderGuide. Yipee! This has been an exciting journey to capture and share something that is powerful for us in leading and being part of organizational and community cafes. We've created a pdf for anyone interested in cafes to get a flavor for how we approach conversation cafes. If you find yourself intrigued, please contact us at info@beideaconnect.com , we'd love to send you the 13 page leaderguide (free). We hope to have it available for a free download soon. We don't quite have the store up and running yet, but we love to hear stories that connect us to others and their experience with hosting conversations that matter.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
A little light goes a long way
Last night we had the penultimate (don't get to use that word too often) session in our Facilitative Leadership Forum - see our wiki - and it was a wonderful shared conversation about how we can bring the elements to our facilitative leadership selves.
We've moved to the point in our conversations where we are thinking together about Illumination - Holding a vision and Focalizing energy - about expanding beyond self and small group to the larger forum where Facilitative Leadership can be practiced (as a Facilitator, a Leader and as a Participant).
As we discussed illumination Alara shared:
That really struck me as profound on so many levels. How can we be the light as Facilitative Leaders, even if it's just a little bit of light? When a group really can't see, it can be a simple question to shift the perspective. When we lose our own way, it can be a moment of reflection and reconnection - coming back to being fully present to see what wants to emerge.
Sometimes it is by getting out of the way of the group, and staying fully present to give the light room to grow.
I am a Girl Scout Leader for a Troop of 10 year old Junior Girl Scouts. They decided at our last camping trip that they wanted to participate in a ceremony (they didn't get to participate in the larger flag ceremony) so I shared with them the concept of a "Scouts Own" - where the Troop co-creates their own ceremony with elements that are important to them. As we held our planning meeting last week - with parents due to arrive in the "audience" in an hour - the best thing I could do to facilitate the group was to literally step out of the way. As 10 year olds, they are used to looking to the adult to tell them what to do -and then what to do next (especially in school which is where we were meeting).
I moved away from the front of the room and they gathered around the table and together figured out very quickly what they would do. They created the flow, decided who would speak when and how they would conclude (and I really did hear all girls chiming in). Before I knew it they had co-created their ceremony we were practicing the flow and the hanging of the flag and rehearsing their lines with time to spare before the parents arrived.
Whether they will consciously remember this as an early experience of co-creating, I don't know. At least they are getting the experiences - and as their "Leader", I'm learning that I can shed light by allowing them to emerge and stepping out of the way to let their amazing 10 year old lights shine.
We've moved to the point in our conversations where we are thinking together about Illumination - Holding a vision and Focalizing energy - about expanding beyond self and small group to the larger forum where Facilitative Leadership can be practiced (as a Facilitator, a Leader and as a Participant).
As we discussed illumination Alara shared:
"When it's really dark - a little bit of light goes a long way."
That really struck me as profound on so many levels. How can we be the light as Facilitative Leaders, even if it's just a little bit of light? When a group really can't see, it can be a simple question to shift the perspective. When we lose our own way, it can be a moment of reflection and reconnection - coming back to being fully present to see what wants to emerge.
Sometimes it is by getting out of the way of the group, and staying fully present to give the light room to grow.
I am a Girl Scout Leader for a Troop of 10 year old Junior Girl Scouts. They decided at our last camping trip that they wanted to participate in a ceremony (they didn't get to participate in the larger flag ceremony) so I shared with them the concept of a "Scouts Own" - where the Troop co-creates their own ceremony with elements that are important to them. As we held our planning meeting last week - with parents due to arrive in the "audience" in an hour - the best thing I could do to facilitate the group was to literally step out of the way. As 10 year olds, they are used to looking to the adult to tell them what to do -and then what to do next (especially in school which is where we were meeting).
I moved away from the front of the room and they gathered around the table and together figured out very quickly what they would do. They created the flow, decided who would speak when and how they would conclude (and I really did hear all girls chiming in). Before I knew it they had co-created their ceremony we were practicing the flow and the hanging of the flag and rehearsing their lines with time to spare before the parents arrived.
Whether they will consciously remember this as an early experience of co-creating, I don't know. At least they are getting the experiences - and as their "Leader", I'm learning that I can shed light by allowing them to emerge and stepping out of the way to let their amazing 10 year old lights shine.
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