|
LOGBOOK
It was in the Fall of 2002 that the first Paddling the Rapids group for executive directors was launched. It was out of a difficult leadership experience that a seed was planted and grew. Its gestation occurred over several years of meeting, planning, and networking. Here we are, having had the privilege to sit with close to 100 leaders, and hear the stories that fuel our passion for our nonprofits. This process keeps us connected to why we do this work. You. Sitting in community with you. With creativity, caring, and generosity - we look together for what we might discover if we put aside competition and turn up fierce connectedness.
See you around the table,
Carol & Deb
|
 |
RESUPPLY
Have six minutes?
Imagine Leadership Nitin
Nohria and Amanda Pepper of Harvard Business School's Leadership Initiative
collaborated with XPLANE to create this video in order to generate a discussion
of the value and importance of leadership to address some of society's most pressing problems.
"It is my desire
to inspire people of all ages and social demographics to think about leadership
on a broad level, contemplate what it means to them and what individual impact
they can have when it comes to leading," says Nohria.
|
Scouting?
For more information,
to engage us in a dialogue about why you do this work, and/or to schedule a 30-minute, sample, coaching session to connect to your purpose, click here to email us.
|
|
|
|
|
 Reading the waters
At the Leadership Summit in Concord, New Hampshire on September 18th, Margaret Wheatley gave the keynote address and facilitated a World Café conversation. She bases her paradigm on concepts from quantum physics and applies them to our work in the world. From quantum physics we know that we are all bundles of potential that manifest only in relationship to each other. How contrary that is to our highly protected and acted upon view of the rights and responsibilities of the 'individual'. Relationships, other than the personal, are frequently viewed as soft, or 'woo-woo', and not taken seriously. or as important to our sustainability. However, science pays attention to relationships as the basis for everything that happens. The ways of the individual creates rules and regulations; it looks for the leader, competes for resources, blames, creates stereotypes, and makes snap judgments. From biology we know that to create health, we create more connections. If we can remember why we do this work - we can re-capture the spirit of its creation. We can remember that the world is a network of interdependent, self-organizing human relationships. Wheatley asserts that new assumptions are needed: - recognize that we have what we need
- the leaders we need are already here
- every situation is workable
- most people want to help others
- human beings have triumphed in much worse circumstances
- we can all be fearless (and already have been)
Remember - we found a new map once. If the current map, now, isn't working - we can remember that we know how to create a new map! We already have.
|
Steering the Course
New groups for executive directors are starting in Portland in October and early November in Bangor- there are a few places open. A new group in the Portsmouth area will begin this Fall as well. Join us on a free information call to learn how a Paddling the Rapids group supports staying on purpose, and can become a tool for learning with your peers about leadership practice. New Paddling the Rapids groups are being planned for executive directors, board chairs, managers, and emerging leaders.
Curious? Hear our plans, ask your questions, and meet other leaders. Invite others you think would like to know about these opportunities by forwarding this newsletter. We will be hosting calls frequently.
The next calls are:
- Monday, September 28, noon-12:45PM
- Thursday, October 8, 4-4:45PM
- CONTACT NUMBER for all calls (518)-825-1300, use code 271884#
Email us to reserve a line at info@paddlingtherapids.com"An incredible resource for Maine nonprofits--the only place I know of that offers an on-going, confidential, top notch setting to explore critical issues facing nonprofits today." ~ participant Check out our website for more testimonials as well as a list of participating organizations.
|
Guidebook
The Art
of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life, By
Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander
The Art of Possibility is a New York Times best seller, and has been translated into
fifteen languages and has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide. Presenting t welve
breakthrough practices for bringing creativity into action, The Art of Possibility is the dynamic product of an extraordinary partnership. The Art of Possibility combines Benjamin Zander's experience as conductor of the
Boston Philharmonic and his talent as a teacher and communicator with
psychotherapist Rosamund Zander's genius for designing innovative paradigms for
personal and professional development. The authors' interwoven perspectives
provide a deep sense of the powerful role that Possibility can play in every
aspect of life. Through uplifting stories, parables and personal anecdotes, the
Zanders invite us to become passionate communicators, leaders and performers
whose lives radiate Possibility into the world. "I
truly want everyone to read this book -
it opens us to the treasures of our great human capacity for
creativity." - Margaret J. Wheatley, Author
You are invited to the Paddling the Rapids Book Group.
Join your colleagues in a lively facilitated discuss about the following books: - Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time, by Margaret J Wheatley
- The Path of Least Resistance: Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your Own Life by Robert Fritz
- Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization by Robert Kegan, Lisa Laskow Lahey
- Quiet Leadership: Six Steps to Transforming Performance at Work by David Rock
Sign up now for a book group discussion!
|
Navigation Tool
The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron first published in 2002, is a seminal book on the subject of creativity. Cameron designed two pivotal tools that if used consistently, can retrieve and preserve inspiration, momentum, as well as keep you connected to purpose. She calls them the morning pages and the artist date. Both tools are described in depth on her website - a PDF can be downloaded. The morning pages are three daily pages of longhand, stream-of-consciousness writing. Sometimes referred to as a brain drain, they are not intended to have a point, solve a problem, become art, be good writing, or even make sense. Therefore there is no wrong way to do them. Notice the censor or saboteur's presence - and turn down that volume or park them in another room. What's the purpose? To get underneath our logic, reason, straight-line thinking and become intimate with our creative, holistic brain. Let your brain play. Make friends with and prime the pump of your creativity. Lower stress. Let insight emerge. And power up possibility. The artist's date asks you to commit to a block of time every week to nurture your life force. This is a preplanned solo date. It is quality time with your self - no interlopers, no excuses. To do what, you ask? To replenish your well-being; to fuel your creative engine; to connect to your greatest purpose. How? Ask, what have you been dreaming about - picking apples, making an exotic meal, taking a long bath, climbing Kahtadin, going to a gallery, reading a novel, sitting on a rock. You get the idea. Creating space gives permission to unfold your creativity and relight your sparkler. Ready to remember why you do this work? |
|
|
