| .................................................................................................................................... |
|
| Articles
|
Spirituality
in Business and Life:
Asking the Right Questions, by Peter Senge
"People
are trying to run organizations that are more adaptive,
flexible, capable of adjusting to a dynamic world. But
we will not get there by running around like a bunch of
chickens with our heads cut off. To become more flexible
and adaptive requires more awareness, and more awareness
actually requires slowing down. " Read
more (PDF) ...
On
Fields, by Otto Scharmer
"One
of the things my father, one of the pioneers of biodynamic
farming in Germany, taught me, was that the living quality
of the soil is the most important thing in agriculture.
Each field, he explained to me, has two aspects: the visible,
which is what we see above the surface; and the invisible,
which is what we find below the surface." Read
more (PDF) ...
|
|
| .................................................................................................................................... |
|
From
the
Field
|
Tipu
Ake: An Update from Peter Goldsbury in New Zealand
Peter
returned to the community where he grew up — the
Maori community of Te Whaiti — three years ago, after
40 years in mainstream organizations. In his words, "The
achievements (against all the odds) of the people and
my little old school at Te Whaiti completely turned my
ideas about leadership and innovation upside down." Read
more (PDF) ...
Healing
Trauma in the Middle East: An Emerging Future
A
psychologist by training, Whit Jones came to the Authentic
Leadership program in June 2003 in search of a focus for
a new project. ... After starting two foundations, he
was interested in finding ideas for a third; the Shambhala
Institute seemed like a good place to scout for possibilities.
And what he encountered in Halifax was exactly what he
was looking for.
Read more (PDF)
Snake
Dance in the Canadian North
Let
me set the scene for you — fluffy white snow gently
falling, on a crisp autumn night in the Yukon. With the
fresh snow comes a muffled stillness. The only sound is
from the snow geese overhead, chattering directions to
each other on their migration south. It seems to be a
ripe time to try something new.
Read more (PDF)
...
|
|
| .................................................................................................................................... |
|
|
|
| .................................................................................................................................... |
|
| News
|
Summer
Program Updates
The
2004 Authentic Leadership Summer Program is now fully
launched on the Institute website and includes two-day
workshops, one-day community of practice dialogues, and
a five-day core program. See http://www.shambhalainstitute.org/2004/index.html
Be sure to take advantage of early registration and team
discounts.
Highlights from the 2003 Summer Program, including summaries
and transcripts, are now available at http://www.shambhalainstitute.org/2003_review.html
Reflection and Action: September
2003 Retreat
A
Reflection and Action retreat took place at the Essex
Conference Center near Boston, Mass., September 19-22,
2003. This pioneering inquiry, co-hosted by the Shambhala
Institute and the Society for Organizational Learning
and coordinated and facilitated by Susan Skjei, continued
an exploration that was begun at the 2003 Summer Program.
Participants included several people who had been part
of that June dialogue — Peter Senge, Otto Scharmer, Michael
Chender, Frances Baldwin, Judy Brown. They were joined
by corporate leaders from manufacturing, health care,
real estate development, high tech, and other fields,
and by Institute staff and artists. These people came
together around a shared a commitment to bringing the
"mind of reflection" into the stream of their activity.
The format included meditation, creative process, fishbowl
story-telling, presentation of theory, and dialogue. Some
of the organizing questions: How does the mind of reflection
(or meditation or contemplation) reveal itself in the
midst of action? What is the role of “presence” in challenging
change settings? What are the collective or organizational
equivalents of the individual contemplative practices
that we know? How can we build capacity, individually
and collectively, to participate more consciously in bringing
forth new realities?
Through
the Gate: Post-Retreat Reflections, by Judy Brown
"It seems to me that experiences like…the reflection and
action retreat operate like a gate through which we pass,
after which leadership is both the same and transformed.
The transformation has to do with a new awareness of the
'inner dimensions' of leadership, of the self as the instrument
of leadership. One is left with a variant on 'After enlightenment,
wash dishes, carry water.' — 'Before enlightenment,
work to lead wisely; after enlightenment, work to lead
wisely.'" Read more (PDF)...
|
|
|
|
|
| ........................................................................................................................................................................................ |
|
|
Why
Fieldnotes? This
newsletter arose from the inspiration to make visible what is now
invisible — the rich field of connection, dialogue, and activity
that is arising around the Institute's Authentic Leadership programs.
This field now extends far beyond the programs themselves, in both
time and place. This newsletter also provides a forum for people
who are pioneering the emerging field of what could be called "authentic"
or "transformative" leadership. We hope you enjoy this inaugural
issue and invite your feedback, letters, and submissions. We are
especially interested to hear how you have been applying your learning
and insights in your own field of work. If there is sufficient interest,
Fieldnotes will be published monthly, with a new issue posted on
this website at the beginning of each month. We
look forward to hearing from you.
Editorial Team: Lyn Hartley, Susan Szpakowski, Dinah Wakeford
& Barbara Zielinski
Appreciations.
Many thanks to our volunteer editors Lyn Hartley and Dinah Wakeford,
and to Barbara Bash for her beautiful masthead calligraphy. Thanks
also to web designer Bernardine Wood for her cheerful and thorough
work, and to Barbara Zielinski for ongoing assistance with e-mailings
and everything else.
Fieldnotes is a publication of the Shambhala
Institute for Authentic Leadership, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The views expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect
those of the Institute.
|
| |
|
