January 6th, 2010
January is the jump off.
It is time to put down the new toys and get back to work.
We had wonderful holidays, and after a very busy fall with lots of travel it was nice to have some serious down time. Santa was good to me and maybe too good to our girls as I can hardly walk through our house right now without stepping on a Lego or some other toy.
But the time has come to get back to work and crack open a brand new year. January is full of very cool stuff and I think 2010 is going to be full of big things. A few public events in January:
- For those of you in Omaha, I am speaking this Sunday evening about Inclusion and Communities of Faith for the Word Made Flesh monthly Beggars Society. It is also going to be livecast here.
- Next Tuesday, I will be in Lincoln, NE talking to the SHRM chapter about New Rules and New Tools: What the New Web Means for H.R., for You and for Your Organization.
- On Friday, January 22nd I will be in Denver for the 2010 CHRA Human Resource Conference, where I will be talking about Zen and the Art of Inclusion… and am very excited to be on this agenda with Libby Sartain and other big brain folks.
- On Wednesday, January 27th I will be in Des Moines to conduct a half-day workshop for the Central Iowa SHRM chapter on Next Generation Diversity and Inclusion work.
I am very excited about 2010 and will be writing soon about some of what I am most looking forward to this year. I am also very thankful for all the people that I get to share this work with and do this work with.
It is a privilege to be able to share this journey with freak flag fliers, truth-tellers, poets, liberators and the askers of big questions. It is a privilege and a gift. It is a privilege to share this journey with people who know that we can do better.
Because we can do better.
We can do better in our organizations, institutions and communities. This is not complaining or fault finding…this is simple truth telling. This is truth telling as an expression of love. There is always room for improvement when it comes to delivering on the promises that we make (individually and collectively) and there is always room for improvement when it comes to being who we claim to be. There is always a need for people that are:
- willing and able to live in the gap between our lofty aspirations and the reality of where things stand today, clinging tightly to both.
- willing and able to look, see and tell the truth.
- willing and able to “accept finite disappointment without losing infinite hope.”
- wiling and able to take risks and to sound “like we are from Neptune.”
So…after another year of life…another year of work…another year of the other stuff, Thank You.
Regardless of what your “job” is, if you are personally or professionally involved in the work of:
- building and supporting healthy, sustainable communities and organizations
- removing barriers to diversity
- challenging assumptions
- health, wellness, spirituality, awareness
- positive change
- creating safe space
- breaking stereotypes
- speaking the truth
- rejecting status quo
- power with vs. power over
- peace
- diffusion of power
- healthy relationships
- authentic collaboration
- shared inquiry vs. self-advocacy
- conflict mediation
- stopping violence
- education
Thank You.
Please let me know if I can be of assistance.
Be good to each other.