Here are 5 ways to help you and yours thrive in 2021, from our friend, Nikki Levitan. They are based on her expertise as a wellness educator and are good for everyone of any age, life stage, gender and experience – 

1. STAY CONNECTED: Reach out each day to a friend. Share something that was good – and also something that was not so good.
2. BE ACTIVE: Leave the house to breathe some air, look at a tree or the sky. Move your body. Dance! Or try 10mins of Yoga. 
3. TAKE NOTICE: Be conscious of the small things that usually go unnoticed: a nice bath, the smell of home-cooked food, the colour of the sky, a message from a friend that makes you smile. Perhaps keep a gratitude list? 
4. KEEP LEARNING: What do you learn today, that you did not know before? What are you learning about yourself in these times? Join a She Leads Change event or programme to learn more, with others. 
5. GIVE: Your time, love, energy to someone else. Offer support to a shielding neighbour, call a relative you know is alone or a friend who has poor mental health. A little kindness goes a long way and makes you feel good too.

At She Leads Change, we offer both learning and community – please join us for: 

• A She Leads Change Experience – an evening to connect and learn with like-minded people on 19th Jan from 17:00 – 18:30GMT
• LeadMore – a regular dose of expert learning and thoughtful connection every month for anyone wanting to be part of a vibrant, learning community
• Leading from Within – a 3month transformative leadership programme, for women at any stage of their journey, wanting to bring themselves more fully to their work and lives, starting 23rd of February 2021. 
• Leading Collective Impact: a 4month programme to explore and expand your leadership capability – engage the collective in leading transformational change, in diversity and inclusion, starting May 2021. 

“IT IS NOT HOW WE LIVE IN THE LIGHT THAT ENLIGHTENS US, IT IS HOW WE LIVE IN THE DARK.” —RUNE LAZULI

Let’s imagine our best possible year and find ways to live into it, together. 

See you soon. 

Much love,

Nicola 

The post The time of the tortoise… appeared first on She Leads Change.

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it, or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, ‘Yes.’

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

The post DAY 8: A MOUTHFUL OF HOPE appeared first on She Leads Change.

Diversity drives innovation and science needs innovators. Therefore, we want to build a culture in science education where difference is valued and part of what makes science inspiring.

Passionate about learning and development, Pearson are proud supporters of She Leads Change. We’ve loved working alongside Pearson and are looking forward to their next cohort joining our Open Programme and Collective Impact programme in September.

“I have been given a glimpse of the future and the path I can follow, safe in the knowledge I am making a difference and a change, so world here I come…” – Melanie, Pearson She Leads Change participant

If you’d like to find out more about our upcoming programmes and how we can support you on your leadership journey, join our virtual taster sessions running throughout July.

The post Diversity in Science appeared first on She Leads Change.

Wherever you are today, however you are holding recent events – we invite you to take a deep breath out. Perhaps the time taken to read this note could be an opportunity to let go of fear related to uncertainty and to step into a more nourishing space.

We are exploring the following questions – and invite you to join us:

How do I make sense of this?

This is an important humbling experience for any of us who thought that we had control – either individually or at an organisation or systemic level. It reminds us of our limited ability to take action and influence.

We can remind ourselves what is in each of our remit of control and let go of anything outside that narrow space. And yet, paradoxically, narrowing our idea of control could be accompanied by a bigger understanding of that which connects us all, globally. We can realise that our action – or inaction – could free up hospital beds, bring comfort in community, support local livelihoods and stop the death of an immune compromised person.

We are both powerless and powerful. This situation asks us to be more conscious of our own limitations and clear in our universal responsibility.

What does this mean for me?

At worst it could be a time to panic buy, create ‘others’ and isolate. At best, perhaps, it’s a time for reflection and discovering new ways of connection.

It is a time to take care of yourself and that doesn’t mean (necessarily!) chocolate, beer or bubble bath – it means deeply nurturing yourself with the best of clean foods. It means creating space for seeing and acknowledging the positive in this new way of doing things. It means not putting yourself in a compromising situation for your health. It means giving yourself a break from all the ‘shoulds’ and ‘musts’ in your life and finding time to refresh and renew to ‘be’. 

‘Be’ quiet with yourself, in your most precious spaces and fortify yourself with calls to those who make you smile inside – and those that need to hear a friendly voice. Give up on when/what and if and make friends with the present. Surrender.

How do I best support others?

First, do no harm. Even if you feel fine, even if you’re not in any of the most vulnerable groups – don’t inadvertently become a carrier. Where you can, change your travel pattern – don’t travel unless you are an essential worker.

Don’t judge other people – or their reactions to this crisis.  This will mean different things to different people – try and understand the impact from their perspective – an over-reaction to you may be a self-employed single mom wondering how to look after a child taken out of school and pay the rent when her clients are disappearing.

Find ways to help others. There are petitions in support of the self-employed. Lobby your service providers – banks, energy companies and phone companies to flex payments during this time – to support those unable to earn a living.

What can we learn as a society?

In Italy people are singing from balconies to one another. Communities are providing support to the aged. Air pollution is dropping. They say in Wuhan you can hear birds singing, again. We take so many of our social systems and norms for granted.

May this time give us an opportunity to reflect on what works and what doesn’t, what joyful means for each of us and look within for ways to design better societies.

What can we do to make things better, together?

What is it that we can do or create for you to navigate these times?

What do you need/want? Any other ideas of how we can support each other and others?

We have already started our morning Cup of Calm, ALL welcome more info and joining details here. Read more about how else we plan to support the whole community.

Please do drop us a note on hello@sheleadschange.org. if you’re keen to sign-up to one of the offers above, sponsor an idea or support us in delivering it – please do say which one!

Hope to see you on-line soon – meantime keep your hands clean and your heart open.

With love from all of us at She Leads Change

The post “Wash your hands, Open your heart” appeared first on She Leads Change.

One of our current participants has shared a request from Arise – they are looking for ‘ordinary, extraordinary’ speakers – everyday people who are trailblazing change, often quietly and without fanfare and who would not necessarily describe themselves as trailblazers to share at their upcoming conference in London…

Apply here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AspireTBL2019

Their focus is “on the empowerment of women as leaders and we totally welcome and are inclusive of men as speakers and attendees at this event.”

If you would never normally do this, maybe today is your day! Arise encourage you to step up and join as a speaker – it’s a massive confidence boost and a great experience. We’d love to see some of our SLC community stepping up and into the speaking arena – you lead change every day and your experience will empower others to do the same!

The post Trailblazer? appeared first on She Leads Change.

She Leads Change was created on the premise: to lead positive change we need to first find and be our most powerful, authentic selves. Self and resilience are two concepts at the heart of our programmes. We work alongside our Open Programme participants on self – helping them open up the narratives, misperceptions or limitations we carry, alongside the strengths and capabilities we hold back. Our session on resilience, co-created by participants and facilitators, encourages participants to have the courage to live fully through being able to handle failure and related emotions of shame, vulnerability, hope, compassion and grief.

” Having looked at “Graves Value system” as part of the current module and how personality types can affect the way a team and company operates, it was good to reflect on how resilient I am as a leader. Shalini helped me to realise that having the power and confidence to know when to stop and say no is vital in effective leadership and enables me to be resilient in my everyday work.” — Matthew Evans, Senior Standards Manager at Pearson

With the students from the MA in Business & Management, I ran a session on resilience working on personal stories through an exercise of deep listening in pairs. Having got students to think deeply about their own resilience – the situation, their actions, what they learnt about themselves – we moved on to consider how knowledge of resilience qualities can help better us understand drivers and motivations and build deeper awareness of organisational styles.

She Leads Change was given as an example of a group orientated leadership and organisational style where individuals are motivated by collaboration, sharing responsibility and putting the team first.  Quite different from some of the other leadership styles in evidence all around us.

“It was a very insightful session to have Shalini in the programme. It showed me and others how important it is to be true to ourselves. The more authentic we are, the more resilient will be in this slightly mad world.” — Rhys Marc Photis, Head of Contemporary Strategy, MBM at Pearson

It was a wonderful opportunity to share some of the She Leads Change approach with business students and to co-create the session with Rhys as part of the Strategy module he leads on.

Shalini Sequeira is a facilitator on the She Leads Change Open Programme, and also a coach for She Leads Change. Outside She Leads Change she is an executive coach, working with talented BAME professionals to support them into leadership.

Our next Open Programme starts on 30th September, more information and sign-up here.

The post She Leads Change at Pearson Business School appeared first on She Leads Change.