In the final sessions of Bringing Spirit to Leadership, the leadership development program I participated in this year, we continue our pathfinding conversation. How do we create a world that works for all?
In our early sessions, we wrestled with the challenges we face in a fast changing world. But we always returned to a fundamental question: How can we each live and work in ways that will make a difference and enable the spirit to thrive? How can we each align and integrate our reason for existence with all aspects of life? Big stuff. And yet, on some level it really means taking a closer look at what is most important in our lives as a first step in identifying our path moving forward.
So then, what is next? Once we discover and acknowledge what is truly important, then what are we willing to do about it? I know for many of us, this is where we often get stuck. So here is the next pathfinding question for each of us.
What blocks us from realizing our vision for a better world, and what can each one of us do, as individuals, professionals, or committed citizens, to create the world we really want?
For me, I can get stuck when the challenge and the vision feels too big or insurmountable. And sometimes it is hard to hold a vision for a better world when we see so many devastating things happening on a daily basis. This is when I often need evidence, as a form of reassurance, that things really are changing--to know that actions, both large and small, are moving the needle and making a difference.
So the next pathfinding question speaks to this.
What current trends or activities in the world appear to support the development of a desirable future? In other words where can we find evidence that things are changing on a global scale and on a local scale? In my leadership program, our conversations about global change led us to consider the impact of NGO’s and non-profits striving to make the world a little better. We acknowledged inspirational leaders, humanitarian missions, advances in technology, our ability to stay connected via the Internet, and the profound difference millennials are making as they take a stand for a desirable future, as examples of progress.
Yes, these are global in scope and there are ways to plug in when we discover what is most important to us. And, what about on a local scale? Or even on a personal scale? What current trends or activities appear to support the development of a desirable future? And what small steps can we take each day that help us to set our vision for a better world? Simple acts of human kindness, helping someone in need, or perhaps adopting a shelter pet, recycling, planting a garden, getting to know our neighbors, learning from others? I don’t know about you, but I find that when I can take a relatively simple act, something tangible, that has meaning to me, I feel more hopeful for a better world. And that is a place to begin.