April 2, 2017
Clear Confident Leader Weekly Observer, Issue #32
From the Greenbelt of Boise, Idaho, Stormy Weather
The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground. – Buddha
Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground. – Theodore Roosevelt
He like a rock in the sea unshaken stands his ground. – Virgil
Embrace a diversity of ideas. Embrace the fact that you can disagree with people and not be disagreeable. Embrace the fact that you can find common ground – if you disagree on nine out of 10 things, but can find common ground on that 10th, maybe you can make progress. If you can find common ground, you can accomplish great things. – David Boies
We all experience stormy weather at different times throughout our lives. Pushed about by the elemental and metaphorical forces of wind, water and fire we can be knocked off balance and lose our sense of ground.
It can be a real loss or fear of loss that triggers us. Whether we lose physical abilities like eyesight, a job, a place to live and work, are overwhelmed by events around us or lack clear purpose, it is deeply disturbing. We are social beings, and without a basic sense of connection, belonging, capacity to act and matter, we feel adrift.
Our impulse is to seek relief as quickly as possible. It is easy to grasp at solutions offered by others. We are bombarded by messages of Hope and Greatness, Success and Salvation and of Comfort and Escape, if only we buy into the promised solution.
My experience has been, that I’m ill prepared to clearly cut through the clutter around me without first finding my own ground. Without my own ground I remain at sea, reacting to the push and pull of the forces swirling around me. By finding my own ground, I establish a basis to chart my own course and create the better future I care about each day.
By feeling my feet touch the ground as Buddha describes, I enable a foundation for centering myself and considering what I care about. By knowing my own ground and keeping my eyes on the stars as Teddy Roosevelt suggests, I’m better able to navigate my own way. And by knowing and standing my own ground as Virgil observes, I persevere unshaken and resolute amidst the churning seas around me.
Developing my own ground opens my capacity to embrace the diversity of ideas, people and the environment around me. In exploring diversity as David Boies states, we can encounter common ground and from there accomplish great things together.
Here are some questions I find useful in finding my own ground:
What helps you find your own ground, and create the better future you care about today?
I partner with executives and professionals to confidently lead in the face of uncertainty and complexity by establishing common ground. Together we build trust, and cultivate leadership and organizational effectiveness to create a better future today. To learn more visit here.
Let’s create a better future today!
Clear Confident Leader Weekly Observer, Issue #32
From the Greenbelt of Boise, Idaho, Stormy Weather
The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground. – Buddha
Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground. – Theodore Roosevelt
He like a rock in the sea unshaken stands his ground. – Virgil
Embrace a diversity of ideas. Embrace the fact that you can disagree with people and not be disagreeable. Embrace the fact that you can find common ground – if you disagree on nine out of 10 things, but can find common ground on that 10th, maybe you can make progress. If you can find common ground, you can accomplish great things. – David Boies
We all experience stormy weather at different times throughout our lives. Pushed about by the elemental and metaphorical forces of wind, water and fire we can be knocked off balance and lose our sense of ground.
It can be a real loss or fear of loss that triggers us. Whether we lose physical abilities like eyesight, a job, a place to live and work, are overwhelmed by events around us or lack clear purpose, it is deeply disturbing. We are social beings, and without a basic sense of connection, belonging, capacity to act and matter, we feel adrift.
Our impulse is to seek relief as quickly as possible. It is easy to grasp at solutions offered by others. We are bombarded by messages of Hope and Greatness, Success and Salvation and of Comfort and Escape, if only we buy into the promised solution.
My experience has been, that I’m ill prepared to clearly cut through the clutter around me without first finding my own ground. Without my own ground I remain at sea, reacting to the push and pull of the forces swirling around me. By finding my own ground, I establish a basis to chart my own course and create the better future I care about each day.
By feeling my feet touch the ground as Buddha describes, I enable a foundation for centering myself and considering what I care about. By knowing my own ground and keeping my eyes on the stars as Teddy Roosevelt suggests, I’m better able to navigate my own way. And by knowing and standing my own ground as Virgil observes, I persevere unshaken and resolute amidst the churning seas around me.
Developing my own ground opens my capacity to embrace the diversity of ideas, people and the environment around me. In exploring diversity as David Boies states, we can encounter common ground and from there accomplish great things together.
Here are some questions I find useful in finding my own ground:
- Where am I in this moment?
- How do I connect and feel the ground I stand upon?
- What do I care most about?
- How do I want to express and act upon what I care about now?
- How do I enter into conversations, embrace the diversity of perspectives and discover new possibilities with those around me?
What helps you find your own ground, and create the better future you care about today?
I partner with executives and professionals to confidently lead in the face of uncertainty and complexity by establishing common ground. Together we build trust, and cultivate leadership and organizational effectiveness to create a better future today. To learn more visit here.
Let’s create a better future today!