In this issue:

1. Core Purpose of From the Four Directions
2. Leadership Story - How is From the Four Directions Helping Me as a Leader?
3. For Reflection - A Piece by Morgan Farley
4. An Invitation to You

Core Purpose of From the Four Directions

From the Four Directions is a global leadership initiative of the Berkana Institute.

• We dream of a world where every organization, whether in business, government, or public benefit, knows how to bring out the best in us humans: our creativity, our caring, our desire for peace and health.
• We believe that changes must come from citizens and leaders working in their own communities across the planet.
• We support the work of life-affirming leaders (a leader is anyone who wants to help) in finding their clarity and courage to lead on behalf of the issues that most concern them.
• We work around the globe to organize local conversation circles on life-affirming leadership. Citizens and leaders name their hopes and challenges, learn from colleagues, and act courageously to move their hopes into reality.
• We network local conversations into a global presence of "people everywhere leading the way" to a future of possibility and promise for all.

I have more clarity. I have more courage. I believe this has come directly from my experience of hosting a circle. What am I clear on? On embracing the contributions I can make. On how I lead. I don't compare myself to others as much as I used to. I used to worry much more about things like, who has the better intellectual grasp on what was happening in the world. Now I focus more on how I show up with other people.

At one of our circle gatherings, we focused on what we felt the core of our lives was about? We each shared our perspective. Out of that experience came the following clarity for me:

I see myself as a clear pool of a human being in progress that puddles up where there are things to be remembered.

I have been very aware of my comparative youth, of my inexperience. I've often felt embarrassed by this, that I have to cover it up. My circle experience has helped me to embrace my gifts. Time and time again, I've learned to just say out loud the most vulnerable thing that I'm feeling. When I do so, other people seem more able to do so also. That changes all of us. People express gratitude to me for this. My lessons that I am learning often seem to be the lessons that other people and organizations I am part of are learning. Maybe some of this is projection, but I feel lead to learn out loud. This seems to help others. My circle experience has shown me that learning out loud with others is a gift.

Here is another difference I notice as a leader. I used to feel more often that I must lead by design. This was the key to good leadership. Now I feel that I can best lead as a transparent learner. For example, at a recent conference sponsored by the Deming Institute and the Capital Quality Initiative, Life-Long Learning in the 21st Century, I hosted a session with a friend and colleague. We chose to not be the "experts" because we didn't think it was most helpful. Rather our intent was to share our learning with the larger group. Being passionate mattered. Having the beginner's mind mattered. We showed up differently. We didn't script a presentation. Instead we decided what we wanted to learn and asked people to join us.

Did this make a difference for people? We noticed that people approached us over the remainder of the conference. They wanted to have conversations with us. We gauged our success by the meaningful conversations we had. Every exchange seemed to be highly charged. Every conversation was a mutual, meaningful exchange.

For Reflection.

by Morgan Farley
(shared recently by Katherine Holt, Circle Host in Durango, Colorado)

I am clearing a space
here, where the trees stand back.
I am making a circle so open
the moon will fall in love
and stroke these grasses with her silver.
I am setting these stones in the four directions,
stones that have called my name
from mountaintops and riverbeds,
canyons and mesas.
Here I will stand with my hands empty,
Mind empty under the moon.
And if something
takes my life, if a sudden wind
sweeps through me, changing everything,
I will not resist.
I am ready for whatever comes.

An Invitation to You

The From the Four Directions Network now includes more than 1,300 people in more than 30 countries. We would love to have you join us in this work. There are many ways to be involved:

• start a From the Four Directions circle
• participate in a circle
• make a donation
• contribute resources
• explore more learning together

The From the Four Directions Newsletter is published monthly. We welcome your comments and suggestions. Please visit http://click.topica.com/maaanSsaaSmA5aaaaaac/, email info@fromthefourdirections.org, or call us at 801 377 2996.