Thrive in Change

What does it feel like to thrive? This is a different question from one where you identify the circumstances that you need to feel that way. What is the actual feeling state when you are thriving?

Thriving comes about by a series of recurring, intentional choices. Thriving is a verb...a way of being in action in your life. As creatures who move towards pleasure and away from pain, the feeling state of thriving is an engine for making choices and attracting support.

Since life is unquestionably about movement and change, then a big question arises: "Can you thrive in change?" Especially the kinds of change that first bring up your resistance (e.g. fear or anger, masked as doubt, insecurity, arrogance, denial, defensiveness, aggression, hiding, etc.). You'd be the rare person to say that "thriving" feels like being in resistance to life. Generally, thriving is a feeling of being in the flow of life, experiencing joy, an exhilaration of purpose being fulfilled, and openness to wonder and awe.

Leading is all about dealing with change and uncertainty. That's embedded in the idea of "leaders go first."

Did you know that the number one reason that CEOs get fired (or are forced to resign or retire) is "failure to manage change?" Surprised? Well, where our attention goes, that's what grows. "Hard" issues, such as finance, strategy and operations are where business leaders learn to focus their attention and expertise. Change, because it is about people and collaboration, is considered a "soft" issue and therefore is often not given priority. Cognitive blindness, unwillingness or incapacity to lead there comes at a high price.

What and who helps leaders to contain and direct change? How about change that results in a feeling of thriving? May the ideas and opportunities for learning I offer here give you a boost.
Warmly,
Beata

Opportunities on the Horizon

The Leader's Journey:
A Telecourse and Retreat Exploring Concepts and Practices of Leadership Maturity

Join Lisa Marshall and me for a learning experience like no other you've attended before.

Have you taken all the leadership development programs your organization offers at your level? Are you wondering "What next? How do I continue developing, learning, growing?"

Leadership Maturity™ assumes that leaders know maturation is an ongoing process that doesn't come from reading a book or attending a workshop. It comes from living life to the fullest - and then reflecting on it. For such "evolved" practitioners, the next conversation is about being a "mature leader."

Lisa Marshall is an entrepreneur, consultant, author of the recently published book
Speak the Truth and Point to Hope: the Leader's Journey to Maturity

I have featured Lisa's book in my work with individual clients and leading small-group coaching mini-series (PRAXIS)

Together, we invite you to join us for a life-changing journey this summer. For more information and to register online, go to www.leadershipmaturity.com/learn

BABW Women in Business EXPO
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Women on the Move - From Vision to Action

Oakland Marriott Convention Center
9am - 4 pm, Oakland, CA

Participate in the learning, connection and fun. I'll be leading one of several "Critical Conversations:" Enrolling People to Give Their Best. How can you get better results through other people? This Critical Conversation will explore possibilities for leading collaborative "success teams." For more information, see my Events page at www.BridgingLives.com/events.htm

At the Bleeding Edge...Leading Integral Change

Where do leaders and teams need to focus their attention and energy in order to create conscious change? It is often tempting to implement partial solutions or simple (familiar) strategies for complex business challenges. Statistics about the ineffectiveness of the vast majority of business change efforts suggest that more comprehensive, integrated approaches are necessary. Where and how does change actually happen?

Integral leadership addresses change from a holistic and interrelated perspective. First introduced by world-renowned philosopher, Ken Wilber, the integral leadership model acknowledges that changes to business systems must be driven and supported by interior dynamics. Interior dynamics include personal meaning and commitment as well as organizational culture and shared values in action. The integral approach is a business-friendly structure for addressing the fact that consciousness is causal.

A prevalent cultural bias is to talk about the interior dynamics, if addressing them at all. Talk is necessary but insufficient. The interior dynamics must be perceptible in action, or embodied, by way of practices and the tangible results they produce. Leaders who include the "interior" dynamics in their change strategies often encounter resistance, whether by force of habit, for lack of validated tools or genuine buy-in, or due to cynicism from experiencing "business as usual" under the veneer of "integral change."

Conscious, integral leadership is definitely the bleeding edge in change work. ...

Click here for the full article.

Your Zone of Excellence

When and how consistently do you live and perform in a zone of excellence? Change in business life - with its unpredictability, uncertainty and surprise - has become the norm. Your embodied capacity to guide yourself and your people through a continual sea of change is central to your quest to succeed and thrive. With a trusted coach as "fair witness," committed listener and skillful, conscious ally, you empower yourself to bring out the best.

Activate your greater potential.

Contact me for more information about:

• Executive Coaching
• Change Consulting
• Speaking Engagements

Coaching for Leadership and Collaborative Excellence

Bridging Lives News

Archives: Articles by Beata Lewis, including those published in back issues of Bridging Lives News.

Resources: Links to books I use and recommend.

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