Friends,
Very often, as I converse with people about From the Four Directions, I desribe the intent, the purpose. I ask people about their experience, what they are most hoping for. I offer a story or two about people participating (a few of those are included below). I'm very happy to share that From the Four Directions circles are helping individuals strengthen their clarity and courage to lead on behalf of the issues that most concern them. There is much growth and emergence to celebrate.
I am also wondering now, as I know many of us are, how might From the Four Directions support transformation at a broader scale?
Perhaps merely asking this question is the most relevant step, recalling our attention and energy to the broadest possibilities. Some form of this question burns in all of us -- the inner voice we are unable to ignore.
I have found that reminding myself of the core context of From the Four Directions keeps my attention on transformation. Below are two versions of this context you might find helpful. The first became clear through a recent conversation with some of our Berkana board. The second, is something that Meg Wheatley wrote some time ago.
1. There are many possibilities and problems in the world (or in our organizations) that are very complex. The complexity requires a different quality of leadership, leaders that act as hosts rather than heros. We define a leader as anyone who wants to help. We know that these leaders we need are already here, but they are often isolated. We must find ways to connect those leaders -- conversation is one of them. In connecting leaders in meaningful conversation, we free the wonderful capacity that many people have and want to contribute, so as to address those complex issues. We strengthen clarity and courage for people to lead on behalf of the issues that most concern them.
2. In fact, in this day and age, when problems are increasingly complex, and there simply are not simple answers, and there is no simple cause and effect any longer, I cannot imagine how stressful it is to be the leader and to pretend that you have the answer.
And a life-affirming leader is one who knows how to rely on and use the intelligence that exists everywhere in the community, the company or the school or the organisation. And so these leaders act as hosts, as stewards of other people's creativity and other people's intelligence.
And when I say host, I mean a leader these days needs to be one who convenes people, who convenes diversity, who convenes all viewpoints in processes where our intelligence can come forth.
So these kinds of leaders do not give us the answers, but they help gather us together so that together we can discover the answers.
It is a pleasure to be in this work with you.
Warmly,
Tenneson
Woolf
Lead Weaver, From the Four Directions
View this newsletter online at: www.fromthefourdirections.org/history.html
Stories in this issue . . .
Leadership
Circles in Denmark
Carsten Ohm Andersen
Copenhagen, Denmark
(In response to an inquiry about the status of leadership and conversation
circles in Denmark, two stories highlight ongoing efforts in Copenhagen
to share life-affirming leadership from and to the four directions.)
A
New From the Four Directions Circle Starter Kit/A New Beginning
Sheila Armitage
Austin, Texas, USA
(The new conversation starter kit now available from Berkana has had
a powerful impact on the "beginnings" of a new group in Austin,
Texas. Their use of the kit is explained in this article.)
Authentic
Conversation--Report of a Circle
Judith Richardson
Nova Scotia, Canada
(Reports
of circle activities are an important part of sharing events, circle methods,
and ideas. For more reports, visit www.fromthefourdirections.org/reports/html
Leadership
Circles in Denmark
Carsten Ohm Andersen
The following questions were sent to Carsten regarding the circles he hosts and supports in Copenhagen. Answers to similar questions would be valuable to share with other conversation circles throughout the world. Feel free to send your responses to: tenneson@berkana.org for inclusion in future newsletters.
1. What
is the status of your circle?
It
just celebrated its 2 ˝ year birthday;-) It has initiated 3 (4) new circles.
It is (and has been) involved in regional and national circle gathering
/ practicum. Its core is small.
2. What
has your circle evolved into?
A small well for the old members. It has initiated 3 (4) new circles.
3. What
has it stirred people to do individually or collectively?
“Circle” is now part of more of the members practise outside the core
circle See also 2.
4. In
the spirit of supporting a global network, what learning or experience
would you like to share with other people in the world meeting in F4D
circles?
That it works! And this question: what kind of sharing is needed (both
what and how)?
Contact:
Carsten Ohm Andersen
carsten@innospace.net
A
Circle in Creation
Copenhagen,
Denmark
(This also through Carsten Ohm Andersen, from another circle he has helped to start.)
Circle "In Search of Wholeness". We are a group of 5 women in Copenhagen, Denmark, who would like to start a new circle, where we, together with others, can reflect upon management from new and different perspectives.
The reason for this is that we have created our own company called “In search of wholeness – in life – in management” and our goal is to start a “management school” based on different principles than we see in everyday business life today. So we would like to share our reflections on how to find new ways of managing people and leadership based upon a better balance between female/male qualities, values, dialogue and process methods. In other words, how to get wholeness into management. We are five women with different backgrounds within human resource and process consultation, business, journalism, teaching and spiritual teachings.
We would be interested in connecting with people from other circles, who share our interest in wholeness and management or to hear from people who would like to join our circle.
Contact:
Carsten Ohm Andersen
carsten@innospace.net
A
New From the Four Directions Circle Starter Kit/A New Beginning
Sheila Armitage
Austin, Texas
Events: We have indeed been moved by the Circle Starter Kit. In our first meeting, which was in the meditation room of an interfaith center, Seton Cove, we outlined the process and kit contents. We opened the meeting to the group. We lit a candle and shared artifacts.
Flow: We
found that by talking about topics of passion, we were able to connect
very quickly and have deeper conversation. Peace was a topic of deep interest
to us all. We realized that we do not just want to keep talking, but that
we want to take action. The energy was very high. The flow natural and
not forced. 
In our next meeting, we will review the video together, get our hands
on the materials some more, and set up group agreements. In between meetings,
we are taking turns to hold onto the starter kit and read it individually.
We have started a circle group journal for record keeping.
Group Cohesion: We were four women (several more women and men could not
attend the meeting due to conflicts in schedule. We think that the group
will be ten people strong. Several of us had already read Meg Wheatley's
book, Turning to One Another. Several have been working with dialogue
concepts for a while. Several knew each other. We had one person new to
us all. The new person,commented that she felt comfortable in the group
and was discerning about which groups to be involved in. A more pure dialoguer
commented that the circle meeting flowed differently to other dialogue
meetings she had been in: we were able to bond faster, and engage in a
topic of interest rather than sit in confused silence.
Contact:
Sheila Armitage
sheila@managementconnection.com
Authentic
Conversation
Judith Richardson
Atlantic
Canada Circle
In the midst of a sunny spring evening as the lawns fill out, trees bud, tulips begin to fall from blooming, we spent the month considering authentic conversation. We observed ourselves and asked others.
Our conversation
was rich and rather than share our reflections, we offer more intriguing
questions we followed:
Is prayer a form of authentic conversation?
When are we inauthentic? When we feel we are not enough, feel hurt, fear, distracted, expecting something?
Is there always expectation in a conversation?
Is there risk in authentic conversation?
Is inner reflection conversation?
Reacting vs responding?
Is there an emotional element to authentic conversation?
Of the deeper levels of listening we shared ways to tune into our intuition, rather than perception. Do we all have hidden agendas? Where is the mystery?
We experienced the richness of different lenses of the generations in our stories. Isn't it fascinating to observe connectedness and staying with in conversations?
Next month?? feeling heard!
Contact:
Judith Richardson
judir@accesswave.ca
An Invitation to Join The From the Four Directions Network
Our network includes more than 1,800 people in more than 30 countries. We would love to have you join us:
- convene or participate in a From the Four Directions circle
- refer other people to Berkana and From the Four Directions
- share your story of life-affirming leadership
- join our listserve (for those who had this newsletter forwarded to them or who found it on our website)
- make a financial donation to support this work in this time
- participate in other Berkana Institute initiatives
Thanks
as always, to volunteer, Barbra Hoge for collecting and compiling
the stories and links in this edition.