The Art of Leading Hopefully

The Art of Leading Hopefully: Down to earth actions that powerfully transform your community

• How would you like to explore how to navigate uncertainty without losing your nerve?
• How would you like to have confidence in your decision-making process, knowing you are making an appropriate decision in that moment?
• What if you stepped into your personal power and took responsibility for your own unique approach to leading hopefully?

The GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options, Will) approach of having a goal or vision and striving towards no longer feels appropriate in this current climate. The future we had planned may be very different and we need new skills to navigate this uncharted territory. We regularly set ourselves up for failure and feel bad when we fall short or are overwhelmed by the challenges ahead. This is not helping.

It leads to us being less responsive to change, and less able to operate effectively at scale. The current emergency - in our climate, politically and socially - require a new approach both personally and collectively.

What needs to be different? There is no more time, waiting for someone else to initiate, or direct, or be ready.

This means using approaches that don’t depend on one leader at the top having all the power. We need approaches that are more flexible and empowering and work from the ground-up.

This is about having a deep awareness of our context while being clear about what action we can take as individuals, and what we can co-create together - here and now! This is blending systems thinking with individual action at it's best!

We like the metaphor of starlings. They are highly responsive in large numbers – how? Starlings influence their immediate 7 neighbours; they are acutely aware of the benefits and threats in their habitat, making more creative use of predators, such as peregrines, to create effective and community-based adjustments.

Now is the time. If not you, then who?

The world needs people who have stepped into their power, who are clear about what they can do and what they can’t, and what influences their decisions.

This is a brand new approach that brings together ancient Buddhist wisdom with current systems thinking and leading edge work on vulnerability.

We have facilitated numerous leadership programmes for charities, social enterprises, within education and for the NHS. We have worked with leaders at different stages of their career from graduates to Chief Executives.

Lesley Rowan, who has worked on large change projects across the UK, including the Scottish Government, and local authorities, has had an important part in bringing Viable Systems Model thinking into the programme.

• Reverence for the earth and all its participants
• Stepping into your own personal power
• The courage for daring authenticity
• Developing an emergent vision
• Curiosity through deep listening
• Creativity in our thinking, feeling and doing
• Open to co-creating currently unknown solutions together based on safe uncertainty - ambiguity tolerance
• Flexible boundaries with awareness
• Critical thinking about our own solutions
• Emotional resilience and community resilience
• The principle of doing no harm with conviction, to ourselves and others

To be clear, while this may seem simple and straightforward, putting these aspects into practice will take your courage to a new level. We hold a safe space for us to co-create and experience, where we can expand our perspectives about what is possible, how resilient we actually are, and use our shared accountability to keep going when the going gets tough.

In order to be present, we have to face ourselves, our fears, our emotions and the stories we tell ourselves about our lives, our work and the world. However, when we have the support of each other, we gain a kind of clarity that transforms all our decisions from that point forward.

• “This work has completely changed my life! I am much more aware of what I can change and what I can’t. I know where to put my energy, which battles to pick and how to deeply collaborate with others so that we can co-create solutions that far exceed my own or their expectations.”
• “The people I have met are so inspiring and supportive and they are the key to my learning I feel.”
• “Whenever I am in a quandary at work, all I need to do is think of the group and pause to consider what they would do in that particular situation, And I hear Charlie’s voice (facilitator) in my head – asking the questions so I can find my solution.”
• “Focusing on a specific area as a project has enabled me to understand how giving attention to a particular aspect of the project work releases the creativity required to problem-solve.”
• “I found these (Action Learning Sets) really helpful as a way of getting new perspectives and ideas on situations, and also to realise that other people had similar issues at times in their organisations.”
• “Our ALS (Action Learning Set) has continued to meet and we continue to work on specific issues each of us faces in our leadership roles. I find this extremely valuable as a supportive peer network as well as for the more ‘work oriented’ meetings”
• “Yes I think the course has helped me a great deal in making positive behaviour changes…it made it clear that how I was feeling about work was every bit as important as what I was doing…it made me realise that leadership needs time and energy put into it and that you need to be assertive with your needs with colleagues.”
• “I am less afraid of difficult conversations”.
• “I am more thoughtful and much stronger – more laid back yet more determined – we have grown in staff and in revenue as a direct result of my changes.”
• “I have grown in willingness to contribute – and to believe I have something worthwhile to offer.”
  
• “Excellent, I wish everyone could have the opportunity to attend.”
  
• “I think the course is excellent value for money but more importantly it is something that is not readily available…it was tailored for the sector (charities and social enterprises) and it brought peers together in a professional and constructive way.”
  
• “I would do the course all over again if I could as I got so much out of it…many training programmes are passive – this was active, dynamic, challenging, yet supportive, and that is an excellent approach.”
  
• “...I wasn’t 100% sure at the start what it would be like but very quickly became apparent that this was going to be a very safe, helpful, challenging and supportive environment to work in.”
  
• “This is the greatest gift you can give yourself. You will challenge yourself, build strong, clear relationships, and be given tools that help you deal with anything that comes your way. And you will have enormous fun doing it.”

It’s vital that we have leaders who can stand up for what they believe in, in a non-violent and committed way. That leaders appreciate they have significant influence when they are aligned with their own personal power.

• 12 x 90 minute live and interactive webinars held weekly that include 2 action learning set sessions with 2 of our highly experienced facilitators: Charlie Mitchell and Paul Crummay
• Handouts, exercises and homework to complete in between sessions
• Private online group where participants can share progress, homework and ideas for putting the course into practice. This will be an opportunity to network, share ideas and get extra support from course facilitators on a regular basis
• We recommend participants identify a project they would like to use to try out the course materials on. This could be part of their paid work, a voluntary role or hobby where there is an opportunity to take a lead

Taster session on Tuesday 22nd November 2019 for just £15. Click here to book: https://hopefullyonline1019.eventbrite.co.uk

Join the programme before 25th October 2019 and get a FREE coaching session worth £100!

Programme starts Tuesday 5th November 2019. They will be recorded so participants can watch them later and repeated as desired. The course finishes on Tuesday 4th February. Participants get lifetime access to course materials.

Optional 1-2-1 coaching alongside the programme at the discounted price of £100 per 90 minute session and we recommend 3 sessions.

If you have any questions please contact Charlie Mitchell: [email protected]

With warmest wishes,