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February 2010 Newsletter


Greetings!

It is early in 2010 all over the globe, and we all are having different seasonal experiences. Some of us are inundated with winter's snow while others are watching the spring flowers begin to bloom or basking in summer's warmth. It seems that our opportunity is to acknowledge and honor all our different varieties, and be fully present in our own.

And as much as we really ARE in the present, we are excited to feel our anticipation growing: March is just around the corner. In fact, less than one month from now we will be beginning our PL extravaganza in Crestone. Our next eFlash will send you highlights, and perhaps low-lights too just in service to honoring balance!

All the best,


Crestone Extravaganza: Less Than One Month Away

March 2010 will mark the 10th anniversary of Personal Leadership (PL) seminars being offered in our inspirational home, Crestone, Colorado.

Learn more about the seminars (Foundations, Training of Facilitators, and the new Integrated Advance Program).

Ask questions of our Crestone Seminars Adminstrator.

Or simply get typing and fill out the electronic registration form!

We hope to see you there!

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Confluences: Personal Leadership and Integral Leadership - written by Jan O'Brien

“Even if we possessed the perfect integral map of the Kosmos, a map that was completely all-inclusive and unerringly holistic, that map itself would not transform people. We don’t just need a map; we need ways to change the mapmaker.” (1)

In October 2009, I attended the Integral Leadership in Action Conference: Consciously Leading and Living through Turbulence and Transformation. The conference was held at The Crossings, a retreat and wellness spa in Austin, TX with beautiful, panoramic views of the Texas hill country. It was certainly an inspirational setting in which to explore and contemplate the dimensions of our higher selves from an "integral leadership" perspective.

One of the many outstanding keynote speakers and presenters was Dr. Don Beck, a leading authority on societal change, large-scale psychology and cultural emergence and who is known as co-developer (with Christopher C. Cowan) of the Spiral Dynamics model of human development based on the work of the late Dr. Clare W. Graves.

"Integral" in the context of human development is described by author and philosopher Ken Wilber as, "whole, complete, full, all inclusive. It is both a theory and the basis of a life practice. It demonstrates how to integrate and include body, mind, and spirit in self, culture, and nature."

Wilber developed a conceptual map called AQAL (All Quadrants, All Levels). "AQAL is a map of consciousness, the Kosmos, and human development, at every level and is every dimension that presents itself."(2) Ultimately this is a way of looking at human experience from all known perspectives including:

Let me offer an example of how this map might be used to develop a more complete understanding of a situation. Assume that we are looking at a painting and wanting to appreciate it to the fullest extent. We would notice our own interior experience of the painting, we would place the painting within an appropriate cultural perspective, we would focus on our own ability, or lack thereof! to see the technical and psychological skill that created the work and finally we would relate the work to a larger perspective of aesthetic expression in human experience.

Wilber’s collaboration with Dr. Don Beck of Spiral Dynamics resulted in the SDi (Spiral Dynamics integral) model that meshes the two models together to form a user-friendly methodology.

So what is an integral approach to leadership? In brief, integral leaders understand that all stages of development in the evolution of human consciousness are necessary, that any particular stage cannot be imposed on others and that each stage of development includes and integrates all previous stages in a holistic process. Judgment is suspended and people are encouraged in their paths of self development, both horizontally, for example, adding knowledge and skill sets and vertically, such as developing to a higher order of being in the world.

Throughout the ILiA conference, as I listened to the presentations and walked the labyrinth at The Crossings, I sensed some significant connections between Integral and Personal Leadership. First and perhaps most obvious, PL is an integral practice. It is, to put it in Wilber’s frame, a practice that invites us and then shows us a way to integrate our bodies, emotions, hearts, heads and spirit to discern right action and make our way effectively in the world. Then, more specifically, one key area where this connection arises is the "choice point" that one has at any given moment.

The PL process model invites us to recognize "something’s up," invite reflection and discern right action. It calls our attention to a critical choice point where we can do what we’ve always done or can engage the practice of PL guided by our personal vision of how we want to "be" in the world. Integral leadership also offers us a means by which to deconstruct and work through our "something’s up" moments by using the AQAL, SDi or other related models to explore the interior and exterior of complex interpersonal situations, both at individual and collective levels. Both methodologies also invite us to explore our judgments and assumptions and to step back in stillness, in reflection, and to acknowledge that which we do not know. This in turn assists us in developing personal responsibility in leadership and a higher level of understanding and consciousness which is, in the words of Dr. Clare W. Graves "a never-ending upward quest."

 

(1) Ken Wilber 2000: A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science and Spirituality. Shambala, Boston, MA. Pg. 55 (2) Ken Wilber, Terry Patten, Adam Leonard & Marco Morelli 2008: Integral Life Practice: A 21st Century Blueprint for Physical Health, Emotional Balance, Mental Clarity and Spiritual Awakening. Integral Books, Boston & London. Pgs. 9, 10.

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Facilitator Highlight: Viviane Ephraimson-Abt

Viviane was first exposed to PL at the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication in 1998 and she quickly resonated with the process. As a result things began to shift in her life. Within the year, Viviane started a new position at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado and became committed to incorporating mindfulness into her everyday life and work. This commitment continued to deepen through various opportunities including starting a mindfulness practice group and continuing to train in a variety of mindfulness methods. When the PL facilitators training began in Colorado in 2000, she hoped that one day she would be able to attend the training in Crestone.

In March 2007, she woke up one morning and thought about making it a goal to add Personal Leadership facilitators training to her next annual work plan. That same morning she received a phone call from a former colleague, Alfred Flores, who was at the PL training in Crestone. He was calling to tell her that he had been thinking of her all week and how much she would benefit from this training. That same week another participant in the training, Sarah Woodside, came to visit her in Fort Collins and raved about it. Synchronicity!

She discovered that there would be a PL workshop at the NAFSA, the Association of International Educators Conference in May 2007. She decided to attend as a refresher to PL. When she saw how PL had developed, she became committed to becoming a facilitator and to sharing Personal Leadership with others.

In March 2008 and 2009 she had the opportunity to attend the training in Crestone. Since then, she is incorporating PL in her personal practice and is sharing PL with others. She facilitates PL trainings for diverse groups at Colorado State University including international students, maintenance and custodial staff, residence life managers, and student leaders. In 2008, she enjoyed co-facilitating a day-long PL workshop at NAFSA with Megumi Sugihara, Jin Abe, and Thorunn Bjarnadottir.

In 2009, she wrote an article on PL for the book 147 Practical Tips for Teaching Peace and Reconciliation. She also facilitated a day-long PL workshop for young Iraqi leaders. This was a life-changing experience for her. Each time she facilitates PL, but especially when she did so with the Iraqi youth leaders, she realizes how many lives can be bettered if even one person develops a vision, and practices living his or her highest and best. Incredibly positive change can be realized for so many.


(View larger images of this slideshow exhibiting some of the artwork produced by Iraqi youth at this workshop.)

PL is continuing to take Viviane into new realms. This past year, Viviane decided to begin a PhD program, with much advice and consulting from her PL network. She is planning to research the impact of mindfulness practices on well-being. As a part of this degree, she is completing a year-long internship as a grief counselor at Hospice. She has enjoyed sharing PL in this new setting and recently led a PL vision session with bereaved spouses. They left the session feeling so much more was possible for them than they thought. In the upcoming months, she will lead a four-week mindfulness practice workshop for Hospice staff and volunteers; she will then offer this to grief clients. Wherever PL takes Viviane next, she knows it will be of benefit in innumerable ways.

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What On Earth Are They Up to Now?

With our quarterly edition of "what on earth" our PLSeminars facilitators "are up to now," we feature six individuals in very different and very similar places! From their own words (respectively):

Erin Go Bragh

Hello from sunny Cork, Ireland! (Honest….there have been a good few days of sunshine even in December and early January!) I moved here in December to stretch myself personally and professionally.

The new environment gifts me with the opportunity to deepen my personal PL practice, to explore new options, and to enjoy the surprises that come along. I have great hope that I will see, find and create opportunities to share PL here. Stay tuned for more. And if anyone is travelling this way, I’ll be here until June at least. Wishing everyone a wonder filled and growing new year.

Maureen Lancaster, Cork Island, Ireland
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Let's Huddle Together

These days I am enjoying working, though slowly working, in ‘Team PL-You-Too’, aka ‘PLuto’ which is the small group of PL people who are conspiring to bring forth a PL Leadership Seminar in Europe in a so far undisclosed place and at an unknown time; it's an interesting and energizing project. A special bonbon for me is that we fully work on Huddle. (Huddle = PL Seminars' new online-collaboration platform.) Let me share just a bit about Huddle.

Huddle adds quite a lot of ease to our project. We have mutually edited documents, all in one place with version history. Instead of hundreds of "well-I-think-XYZ" e-mails clogging our in-boxes, all is saved in the "discussion" tab in our "workspace". If I'd like to, I still could receive every posting via e-mail. Also, if I had something very important to share, I could use the "notify everyone" function Huddle provides to send everyone an automated mail. Our Team PLuto used this function when the date for a task assigned to most team members was changed. Everyone was immediately informed and could better enjoy their New Year celebration, knowing about the additional time for the task. Otherwise I trust on people checking in and reading, when they feel like spending time for Team PLuto. This is an inside-out instead of stimulus-response approach. Should you ever have a question about how to Huddle and enjoy the benefits, drop me a line.

Now, there are a few other things that I am up to:

I have just set up a business to serve individual trainers or training companies wishing to create their own e-learning platform. This business will also be my vehicle to spread PL in Germany. It's called NVCE GmbH.

I especially wish to offer my sincere gratitude to one special person who has helped me, let me say inspired me, to begin this business.

Since starting my Masters I was looking for a vision that would allow me to act from the inside-out. Since I left The ScholarShip in April 2008 I was looking for the professional path I would really like to follow. Through my friend, I had come to PL and SIIC in 2008. This led me to Crestone in 2009, where I crafted my first effective vision statement. Through subsequent contact with a friend of my friend, I found my way into e-learning didactics, platform setup and maintenance which all has now led to NVCE GmbH.

These doors are open now and I have taken my first steps through. Without my friend, I would not have found these doors. And this is what I want to thank you for, my dear friend Riikka Salonen. [Who, by the way, was featured in the facilitator interview in the October 2009 Personal Leadership eFlash!]

Arvid John, Germany
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A Transformative Year

The year 2009 is turning out to be quite transformative for me. Since February things began to change slowly but deliberately as PL guided me towards a path that eventually lead me out of this mysterious illness that has tormented me, and that I have been tolerating, for the last 10 years. This ever so persistent voice inside of me told me to quit using my current my doctor and to find another one. I did, and with the team my new physician put together we found a way out of this mess. So as of end of September It has been so much fun to be me that it I'm practically in love with me.

On the professional side, I offered the Cross-Cultural Leadership retreat to students on the University of Minnesota campus for the sixth time. These leadership retreats are gaining in notoriety as ninety-six students from all over the world applied. I accepted thirty-six participants into the program; this was only the second time I accepted American students into the retreat. Having American students in the mix is a good challenge for me as I facilitate conversations among people with so many different communication styles. This year was the time I threw out most of my slides and talked more from my heart than from slides. How liberating it was for me and what a difference it made to the whole experience for the students and for me! This little retreat has also caught the eyes of some officials at the University who are creating a Global Leadership Study Minor on campus. One of them joined the retreat in the Fall, and was quite impressed. I'm excited to find out where her involvement will lead us as I have been working with the committee that works on developing this leadership study program.

My office, International Student and Scholar Services, offers orientation to our students at the beginning of each semester. The Office asked our staff to offer short programs we thought would be of value to our student body. I offered an hour-long workshop on creating a vision statement. Not many thought students would sign up for it was "too intellectual and way out there" they worried. But sign up they did, and it was quite interesting to see how well these young people took to the exercise in only an hour. Many left the session literally glowing. In another vein, sometimes my office is asked to help develop intercultural competencies for U of M staff. For about a year a colleague, Barbara Kappler, and I have been working with the staff of nine in the Career Service Office. They are an amazing group and I offered them one day of PL; they loved it.

I also signed up for a curriculum development workshop this fall and it has been revolutionary for me to learn about backward design and to discover how to make something like PL come to life for different audiences. I learned so much, and enjoyed every minute of it.

I began working on Cultural Detective Iceland with Erla Kristjansdottir and we anticipate it will be published sometime in spring of 2010.

At the moment, I'm writing a grant to the US State Department, with Barbara Kappler, to offer a women's student leadership institute in the month of July 2010 for 20 women from South Asia. PL will be front and center during this month-long institute. Our intention is for participants to learn about the history of women's rights in the U.S. as well as discovering the power of PL. At the time of this writing, I'm trying to figure out how to help participants begin to write their life narrative and to do so in a way that can be continued when they arrive home and then throughout their lives. I'm not sure how I will weave this into our program or how to best teach someone to write their life narrative. So if anyone has ideas I would be ever so happy to hear from you.

Thorunn Bjarndottir, Minnesota, USA
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Personal Leadership Goes Canadian

At the end of January, I introduced 22 people to the Principles and Practices of Personal Leadership during a two-hour intro workshop in Downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. My new friends, colleagues, personal bankers and my real estate agent followed the invitation to get a taste of PL and eagerly contributed to the discussion of what exactly ‘attend to’ means and why we speak of ‘discerning RIGHT action’ as the final step in the PL process model. After discussing the basic ingredients of PL, the participants were asked to start working on a vision statement for themselves at their ‘highest and best’.

Some of the enthusiastic feedback after the workshop included “It was energizing and enlightening”; “Writing my vision in a very different way was very powerful”; “Great experience. It gave me a great deal to reflect upon and I am sure it will help me think and respond to situations a little differently – with practice, of course.”

Another intro workshop is planned in Halifax for March 4, 2010 as well as a weekend seminar for May. Stay tuned for more reports from Canada!

Rita Wubbeler, Nova Scotia, Canada
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42... The Answer to Everything

So, in continuing my experience of living THE ANSWER, I decided to relocate to Crestone to LIVE until Crestone bids me to keep on trekking. I arrived in August 2009 and have been here for all of about 2.5 months. The rest of the time has been spent on airplanes to here and there, working a lot with the United Nations. It has been very rewarding to explore how PL can fit into their leadership programs. At this point, focus on our wonderful and creative ways to find a being vision has been well received. I wish you all could see Directors of food agencies and peacekeeping operations working on their highest and best maps! It quite takes their breath away at times, and mine too. And then we all remember to breathe together!

It is quite something to live here now. This is the place that I came for ten years for retreat and now, how and where do I retreat? Perhaps it is that retreat is now right in the middle of life!

Certainly there are moments and spaces that make this easy; let me share a few with you, in pictures.

In closing let me add a short explanation of the title of my comments, "42-The Answer to Everything." In the book The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, one of the main characters is a huge computer named Deep Thought who is one day going to offer humanity the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything. Toward the end of the book, the following occurs:

“Seven and a half million years our race has waited for this Great and Hopefully Enlightening Day!” cried the cheerleader. “The Day of the Answer!”

Hurrahs burst from the ecstatic crowd.

“Never again,” cried the man, “never again will we wake up in the morning and think Who am I? What is my purpose in life? Does it really, cosmically speaking, matter if I don’t get up and go to work? For today we will finally learn once and for all the plain and simple answer to all these nagging little problems of Life, the Universe and Everything!”

And, according to the computer Deep Thought, the answer was and is '42' which just happens to be the address of the house and meditation center in Crestone, Co. where Personal Leadership was born.

Sheila Ramsey, Crestone, Colorado, USA
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New Discoveries

I have known for quite a long time that I needed to slow down my business travel, and my personal travel too.  For more than a decade, almost two, I have rarely been home more than two weeks consecutively. At first I resisted making the change, at the same time that I talked a lot about wanting it. It was partly the circumstances of my life, the nature of my work and of my family commitments. It was also, I realize now, in part an identity thing: I thought that slowing down my travels would cast doubt on my being a global citizen, would suggest that my sense of belonging was too contingent upon geography.

My practice of Personal Leadership has helped me disentangle from those judgments and emotions, from my patterns of self-doubt, so that I can listen more deeply to my inner wisdom. I've taken steps over the past 18 months to bring projects to completion and to make choices that open my calendar. By late last summer, I was finally ready to start my partial sabbatical; I started traveling way less and started being home a lot more. I didn't know what would come to fill the space, just held myself in curiosity and inquiry, and wow - the shift happened fast!

One of my sisters and her husband were visiting in the area last fall, and I was able to spend time with them. When they found a property on Whidbey Island, I was around to check it out and to join them in the decision to buy it. It would never have happened if I'd been en route to the airport.

Whidbey Island is a special place. I've been drawn to it for a long time, to the views from the west overlooking Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains, and to the sustainable commitments of the South Whidbey communities. Now, suddenly and unexpectedly, I have a home there and am becoming a part of those communities. Don't ask me about my future plans, for I don't have answers. I have no clue how this is going to inform my work when my partial sabbatical completes. For now I'm going on birdwatching expeditions with Whidbey Audubon and participating in educational programs offered by Whidbey Shore Stewards. The point is that I'm doing what I know I'm supposed to be doing: developing a life with more work/play balance. I'm trusting in deeper and deeper ways. There is some gathering of new possibility going on. Where it will ultimately take me - well, I'll find out!

Barbara F. Schaetti, Seattle & Whidbey Island, Washington, USA
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