Nov 19, 2020
There are some poems that give me strength in the reading of them – that help me stand a little taller, move a little easier in the world. This is one…
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
Mar 25, 2020
In these new times – are you wondering how to get any work done, stay focused, enjoy the change or stay away from the news? Us too!
This mornings Cup of Calm focused on resourcefulness. Life as we know it, has changed and we need to find a way through different challenges. It’s not our resources (i.e. physical objects or money) but our resourcefulness that can help us at this time. This is the ability to rest into our strength of character to find ways to overcome and reframe whatever situation we find ourselves in.
We asked this morning: “Think about a time in the past when you have been seriously tested by life – how did you come through? How did you get out the other side? What inner resources did you access?
What came out was a tool kit of resourcefulness, including: sense of humour, patience, grit, determination, friends, creativity, and optimism. Charlotte said I answer “What sustains me?”. Smurti mentioned “A positive mental attitude. There is always something better around the corner.” And Sula “knowledge that I can and will do whatever it takes”.
Whether you are wondering how to balance pro bono and paid work, stay energised, stay centred, make a meaningful difference, respond to everyone’s needs or focus – you have inner resources to rise to the challenge.
See you tomorrow for a lesson is eating frogs!
Please do join and feel free to invite others. We ‘meet’ on zoom every week day morning at 8.45 for 15 minutes. The link is: https://zoom.us/j/8044531372
Please donate as you are able – with no obligation and no upper or lower limit. The link to donate is: paypal.me/weleadchange. All profits will go towards supporting our community of freelancers, small business owners and independents during this time.
Thank you for your support,
All of us at She Leads Change
Jun 10, 2019
I was invited by Rhys Marc Photis, leader of the strategy module, to introduce Pearson MBM students to She Leads Change, and to work with them on a topic relating to the self: I chose resilience.
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.
