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A Reflective Dialogue on Transforming Leadership
with Charles Holmes and Michael Jones
In his wonderful Book of Wisdom, the Dalai Lama speaks of the importance of seeing from a variety of perspectives.
Every event has many aspects and naturally one event can be viewed from many, many different angles….
Seeing events from different angles can be a challenge. Seeing another’s perspective, especially if seemingly different from our own, can be a test. Gaining awareness of our own stories, and perhaps even changing these, may be the leadership challenge of our time!
We need to cultivate a new leadership story – one that involves a transformation in the awareness of leaders to see the importance, amongst other considerations, of the value of; improvisation with efficiency, presence with performance, uniqueness with uniformity, beauty with power and the expressive power of story and voice.
The intention of the Dalai Lama Center, Connecting for Change Program is to explore these fundamental shifts in perspective and awareness in the context of cultivating a mind that is more subtle, flexible, imaginative, and free flowing in order to engage more fully in a complex and interconnected world.
As we struggle with new discontinuities and fragmentation, it is clear that we cannot apply the same strategies we used to create our organizations to change them. Instead we will need to learn first to look at our situation from new and different angles. Attending to the space between; to cultivating new disciplines that include seeding our gifts, growing good soil, sinking deep roots and allowing new possibilities to take flower in order to fully tap into the deeper ecology of the imagination.
The future belongs to those leaders who can connect these deepest aspirations with their work in the world. Those who can connect with this spirit of connection hold distinct advantages over those who, through analysis and logic, tend to frame their priorities solely in economic technical or business terms. They recognize that this new leadership story cannot be seen or planned objectively. Instead it requires aligning the ear with the heart so that they are more finely attuned to the subtle dynamics of tone, flow, nuance, atmosphere, stillness, space and time. This suggests that leaders need to be reflective practitioners able to step back, gain fresh perspective, and invent and reinvent in order to adapt wisely to new and challenging situations that cannot be rehearsed and prepared for beforehand.
In this context, building deep connections to oneself and others through compassionate and generative conversation is the leader’s new art form. It serves as the ‘front porch’ for exploring new mindsets that access the transformational power of the imagination. Through the weaving together of improvised musical performances, evocative questions, self reflection, story, poetry and dialogue, this program offers a candle to those seeking to cultivate new habits of mind that may awaken the potential for personal and collective transformational leadership, learning and change.
Learn more about the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education.
Contact Charles Holmes at ceh@sfu.ca or 604-783-5130 for more information about the 2009 Dialogue.
In his wonderful Book of Wisdom, the Dalai Lama speaks of the importance of seeing from a variety of perspectives.
Every event has many aspects and naturally one event can be viewed from many, many different angles….
Seeing events from different angles can be a challenge. Seeing another’s perspective, especially if seemingly different from our own, can be a test. Gaining awareness of our own stories, and perhaps even changing these, may be the leadership challenge of our time!
We need to cultivate a new leadership story – one that involves a transformation in the awareness of leaders to see the importance, amongst other considerations, of the value of; improvisation with efficiency, presence with performance, uniqueness with uniformity, beauty with power and the expressive power of story and voice.
The intention of the Dalai Lama Center, Connecting for Change Program is to explore these fundamental shifts in perspective and awareness in the context of cultivating a mind that is more subtle, flexible, imaginative, and free flowing in order to engage more fully in a complex and interconnected world.
As we struggle with new discontinuities and fragmentation, it is clear that we cannot apply the same strategies we used to create our organizations to change them. Instead we will need to learn first to look at our situation from new and different angles. Attending to the space between; to cultivating new disciplines that include seeding our gifts, growing good soil, sinking deep roots and allowing new possibilities to take flower in order to fully tap into the deeper ecology of the imagination.
The future belongs to those leaders who can connect these deepest aspirations with their work in the world. Those who can connect with this spirit of connection hold distinct advantages over those who, through analysis and logic, tend to frame their priorities solely in economic technical or business terms. They recognize that this new leadership story cannot be seen or planned objectively. Instead it requires aligning the ear with the heart so that they are more finely attuned to the subtle dynamics of tone, flow, nuance, atmosphere, stillness, space and time. This suggests that leaders need to be reflective practitioners able to step back, gain fresh perspective, and invent and reinvent in order to adapt wisely to new and challenging situations that cannot be rehearsed and prepared for beforehand.
In this context, building deep connections to oneself and others through compassionate and generative conversation is the leader’s new art form. It serves as the ‘front porch’ for exploring new mindsets that access the transformational power of the imagination. Through the weaving together of improvised musical performances, evocative questions, self reflection, story, poetry and dialogue, this program offers a candle to those seeking to cultivate new habits of mind that may awaken the potential for personal and collective transformational leadership, learning and change.
Learn more about the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education.
Contact Charles Holmes at ceh@sfu.ca or 604-783-5130 for more information about the 2009 Dialogue.
Submitted by Charles Holmes on January 20, 2009 - 6:13pm.