Reflections in Practice #8
Musings, ideas and seeds.
This has been a busy week. Much of it has been spent conducting discovery coaching sessions to identify CEOs’ growth objectives in a programme we are running. I’ve really enjoyed thinking about the leadership skills needed to move a sector forward toward progress on social and racial justice - in a way that gives them collective momentum, a shared vision, and the clarity to meet this challenging moment. The exciting thing about working with a group is that we likely have everything we need amongst us, even if everyone doesn’t see it yet, or skills are unevenly distributed.
We have 2 organisations keen to explore an in-house journey to move beyond white supremacy culture. This will be the first time we take our programme and design it support one organisation’s mission, culture and leadership. This feels really energising to me because it has the power to drive a much bigger cultural shift and spark new practices and initiatives in ways that aren’t possible when we focus on individual unlearning. Bring it on!
I’ve been really pleased to see the response to my article about charity engagement with Reform. In a week where Reform MPs have stated they will be removing the Equality Act, as well as threatening to remove Bangor University’s funding because of students’ refusal to debate with them, it feels important that we grapple with the possible realities and be better prepared. I’ve had some lovely private notes sharing how much food for thought it had given them. I’ll post a link to it again below.
Since joyful living is my intentional response to these times, I’m personally enjoying community building in new ways, both locally and internationally. This week, I joined an initiative where you go to dinner with a group of 8 strangers. I absolutely love social experiments like this, and I made friends with a local neighbour. I also recently learned about “care pods”, and they beautifully capture how my community is growing: through intentional requests to be part of each other’s support systems.
“A care pod holds us emotionally includes people who can sit with us in crisis, witness us without judgment, and support steadying the body when it shakes.These connections already exist in many communities, often informally, yet they can be strengthened intentionally”.
Speaking of being intentional, as I was (finally) setting up my home office, I found these wristbands in a box (image below) printed a very long time ago for workshop participants. I can’t remember whether I created these or if they were made while working with another partner, but I love the idea! Might revisit this with something more up-to-date for my work today. If you recognise them, let me know! I’d love to know where these came from!
