Courage to change? When more of the same is not an option we nevertheless need to connect to our deeper levels of energy to find the courage to change. To connect our language, our body and our emotions to what we truly want is a journey. It is a road through practice to mastery over time.
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"To invent an economy that reconnects with life, an internal conversion."
(Emmanuel Faber, former CEO of Danone)
The world we live in – our world view
What order of consciousness will allow human beings to respond positively to the demands of a pluralistic postmodern culture? When the world I live in, my thinking, my ways of talking, my ways of relating to others, my ways of operating do no longer deliver the expected outcome, I need to pause.
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“To cope with mental demands of contemporary living requires a shift to a fundamentally different mindset in order to match the complexities the world throws at us.” (Robert Kegan)
Being in overwhelm most of the time does not mean that we are “not up to it”. What we call overwhelm shows us a limit: According to Alan Sieler we are in fact not in overwhelm but challenged to organize meaning and challenged to grow our adult consciousness in pursuit of the search for meaning.
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“A crisis cannot be resolved with the same level of thinking as the one that has created it.” (A. Einstein)
Is a person who declares a future and convenes conversations that make others take action to implement it (Institute for Generative Leadership). What do people care for? Good goods and services, good work and good wealth. We regain access to meaning and authenticity at work if we connect to people’s care.
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“To get to the next level of greatness depends on the quality of relationships, which depends on the quality of conversations.” (Judith E. Glaser)
Consciousness
The Leader and Entrepreneur
Learning
Real learning means getting to the heart of what it means to live our own life. Learning in ontological coaching facilitates transition towards a higher level of adult consciousness. Higher levels of consciousness expand our capability for developing mastery in dealing with unforeseen events.
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“Practice makes perfect, so be careful what you practice.” (Newfield Network)
As human beings we are exposed to the rythm of our biology. Our cells open, looking for food and close to preserve their identity. This dynamic can help when we reflect on our quest for meaning: Some philosophers say that we can only find meaning while holding the tension of opposite realities that at first sight seem contradictory but in fact lead us to unity.
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“Any living system is continually trying to generate meaning for oneself or looking for how we build meaning together.” (Alan Sieler)
It is our foundation for action. The body is always present in how people listen and speak to each other. Posture can get people trapped in negative moods. Our posture is the basis for our stability, determination, flexibility or openness. Our body is the home of our uniqueness.
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Our body is the only.
Meaning
Body
Language
We live in language. In spoken language we hold in our words what we see, feel and understand. Language is used to produce outcomes and generate realities. We hold the stories, nourished by our education and our history in our minds and they are the filter of our listening and through them we create meaning. Through them we experience moods and emotions. Through language we generate reality and we build meaning.
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“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” (Viktor Frankl)
Emotions
In the western world we like to think of ourselves as being rational, logical and analytical. And yet, we are always in some mood or emotion. E-motions, that which makes us move, shape our initiatives. All emotions are true but some respond to wrong attachments. Emotions bring movement or rigidity to groups. Grounded judgements are held by history and culture which balance reason, logic, analysis and emotions.
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“Emotions determine the quality of our lives. They occur in relationships we care about. Our emotions can also lead us to act in ways we regret terribly afterwards.” ((Paul Ekman)
Our Heart and Spirituality
What breaks our hearts is often buried under layers of other commitments and yet it often relates to a vision which is unique. It is a combination of what we care for and what we are good at (Mighty Heart). It also holds the energy that we need to assume whatever we are responsible for in our daily lives. Dedicating neither time nor attention to it can be toxic.
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“The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.” (Blaise Pascal)