…heartbeat
of the positive revolution
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Time for a Revolution Peaceful revolutions take time. For thirty years, Mahatma Gandhi led hundreds of millions of Indians to freedom through nonviolent leadership. Every year for fifty years, leaders of the suffrage movement stood before Congress until American women were granted national voting rights. One hundred years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led our nation to embrace our brothers and sisters through his passionate nonviolent resistance and ultimate passage of Civil Rights Acts. How long does it take for a revolution? Friend and singer/songwriter Tina Meeks sings:
I invite you to join me in becoming a Revolutionary Leader in your own life and as Gandhi said, “become the change you wish to see in the world.” The uprising has begun. With deep gratitude,
Agreements
in Action
TC North, Ph.D., is CEO and founder of Catalyst High Performance. He has over 20 years experience as an international lecturer, author, seminar leader and consultant to business executives, high profile athletes and sports teams. His talents have been featured in Channel 9 KUSA News, Rocky Mountain News, and Boulder County Business Report. His Mission: To serve the joy and growth of the human spirit. www.BoulderCatalyst.com I was hired by a CEO, let’s call him John, to reconstruct his company management to one that is team-based and process oriented. His management team was all for it. Although John asked for the program, he just could not relate to it; he was used to making all the decisions, giving orders and having them followed. This created a dichotomy between him and the rest of the management team. I had my work cut out for me. I asked the CEO to take a leadership survey. He failed it. How do I speak my truth with compassion and get an important message to this man without angering him or suggesting that he is inadequate in any way? Using the Agreements I found a solution. I began our meeting by showing him that I saw the best in him. I complimented him on his strong, masculine personality that had provided the vision and strength to build a successful business. I then explained how the new management system was based on a more feminine principle of sensitivity and teamwork. I used golf, a game he loved, as an analogy of the two styles. “You need to be aggressive when you tee off, so your driver is the club of choice for long distance,” I told him. “As you approach the green, less strength and more finesse is needed so you choose a different club. The important fact to remember is that you need more than one club for a successful game and you need to know where and when to use each of them.” He understood my analogy and acknowledged he could never be any club other than the driver. After an honest discussion, everyone agreed to separate management into two layers: the CEO and a management team. The team works together creating ideas and then presents recommendations to the CEO for the final decision. Result: People have more choices, respect for differences and an improved working environment … and John didn’t fire me as a consultant! I enjoyed working with John and his company right up until the time he retired. Elizabeth V. Gardener is the water conservation manager for Denver Water; past chair of the steering committee for WaterWiser: the Water Efficiency Clearinghouse; and board member of the Colorado WaterWise Council of the Institute for Environmental Solutions. She is a co-founder of the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education. In these recent years of drought, my job has been a 24/7 commitment. My mind is always ON, seeking possible solutions to issues surrounding water and our environment. In the past 30 days I lost three key people of my 12-person team: one retired, one left to advance his career, and one needed a change. All good reasons and I honored their choices; however, it was a radical change in our working environment. I was up to my ears in management issues and environmental concerns and now replacements? I felt overwhelmed. On most days I would consider this as an opportunity to start fresh and make positive new changes. However, there are those days when I question the value and timing of opportunity. As is my routine, I packed my briefcase and went home intending to continue working. When I arrived home, however, my eyes were drawn to my wonderful garden. The advice of a dear friend and mentor echoed in my ears, “It is better to shoot for the moon and miss than aim for a skunk and hit it.” I giggled in spite of myself. My thoughts turned to the twelfth agreement, “Lighten Up!” I found myself in my garden with my hands in the soil appreciating the bounty of my planting efforts. The stress melted away. Transformation and change are the only constants on which we can depend. When I let go of my need to control everything my life functions much better. At first I felt guilty about taking too much time for myself until I realized how essential this is to my wellbeing. Out in my garden I understand that things will sort themselves out for the best. In that relaxed and “en- Lightened” place I find that new ideas come effortlessly. These are the moments from which I draw strength when life’s little “opportunities” occur, which they will again and again. What works best for me and for those whom I serve: to honor my choices and Lighten Up! Love Notes
Calendar of Events Note: Although these events were listed in the last Revolutionary News, the DATES HAVE CHANGED. Please check your calendars! Wednesday, October 26: ”Lights On With Nancy Lee” Marian will be the featured guest on this international web radio show designed to “inform, enlighten and find positive solutions...” Marian will be joining Nancy Lee’s roster of past guests who include Steven Halpern, Neale Donald Walsch and Marianne Williamson. Tune in to www.healthylife.net at 9pm PT, 10pm MT, 11pm CT and midnight ET. Wednesday, November 9 : “Freedom Now: Enjoying Personal Freedom on the Way to Financial Freedom.” Marian conducts this special free webinar designed for networkers and sponsored by Networking University. For details and registration, go to http://www.networkingtimes.com/link/marian. Live Webinar Times: 6pm PT, 7pm MT, 8pm CT and 9pm ET When I read Marian’s message this month, I first bemoaned the fact that I did not have 30 or 50 years to arrive at some significant end in the peace movement. Can I even make a difference? Am I the means or the ends – or both? Planting the Agreements as seeds within myself is the best way I can see to ensure they may show up down the road in my grandchildren. As I change, that change affects those who follow me. So 30 or 50 years is not so bad after all! If it starts with me now, then perhaps I AM the means to an end that my children or grandchildren will realize in their lifetimes. And since I choose to believe that part of me lives on through them, I will be there at the end no matter how long it takes. How’s that for roundabout reasoning?
Reaping
What We Sow – A Crop of
Unity It’s
the time of harvest, the fruit in full bloom. For some it is time to celebrate and dance For others the story is not quite as nice People, like crops, are quite fragile, Our actions and words are important Respect and honor, like sun to the plant, The earth is our victory garden. It takes so little to laugh with a child Be prudent and fertilize daily. |
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