The end of March marks the end of the first quarter of business in 2024, and what a quarter it was, finishing strong this month, as you will see with the many different resources we have to share with you this month. I decided to buy some chocolates to express my gratitude for our fantastic team, and oh my, was that journey a surprise. The celebration of Easter (and similar holidays) and Chocolate are two things that go together for many people during April. The chart above, The Chocolate Scorecard, points out that what you purchase has some unspoken consequences for society. Suppose you care about sustainability and a regenerative society. In that case, looking more closely before you buy is a small act with high impact. When we give our attention to wholeness, to the multiple facets of any system – our personal life relationships, our teams and enterprises, our communities, our governments, our educational institutions – we see more options emerge. Once imagination activates, what seems impossible becomes potentially feasible, and our human ingenuity finds a way. Learning to lean into conversations about what on the surface appears unspeakable – tension-filled -- becomes the source of solutions to a far more satisfying outcome for ourselves and humanity. P.S. I did make my purchase from Tony's Chocoloney!

Readers may recall that one of the inviteCHANGE social initiatives launched in 2022 is the Coach4Planet. We began by focusing on planting trees, partnering with global organizations that invest in local communities to create employment, and ensuring that biodiversity and ecological balance were included criteria for what type of tree to plant and in what locations. In other words, we chose to invest systemically, similar to Tony's Chocoloney's commitment to making 100% exploitation-free the norm in chocolate. Our Coach4Planet initiative, a collaboration with our colleague from Rome, Italy, Silvia Tassoratti, is now registered as a B-Corp, opening many new opportunities to incorporate more systemic, society-regenerative activities. Stay tuned for more about this as this year unfolds. 

Learning to confront and address the unspoken influence of tension occurs through trusting our skill to discern. Discernment is a must-have 21st-century skill. Leaders who organically, gently, and respectfully bring to light topics often avoided in professional settings get rewarded with loyalty and engagement of discretionary energy. You may wonder how leaders learn to discern amidst chaos, uncertainty, and growing complexity. Start by being a continuous learner and adopting a practice to reflect on one's mindset that motivates how a leader shows up, interacts with others, and makes decisions. Being deliberate about one's mindset allows leaders to use charged situations, such as political tension or unspeakable topics, as catalysts for deeper reflection and learning within teams and organizations. 

Rather than suppressing the unspeakable issues, invite leaders to consider them as opportunities for developing innovative solutions and fostering a more inclusive culture. A visible and embodied advocacy for a more inclusive and merit-based practice becomes an empowering dividend of this leadership approach. Leaders can improve business practices and create a more equitable environment by making the source of tension transparent, challenging unconscious biases, and championing empowerment. In case you missed it, the article I wrote to celebrate International Women's Day points out that the responsibility to deliver on the promise of leading a more diverse and inclusive workplace rests with both women and men, working collaboratively at every step. 

My new book, From Tension to Transformation: A Leader's Guide to Generative Change, is receiving high global praise, including a silver medal from the Axiom Business Book Awards in the Independent Thought Leader category. I am humbled and thrilled to be in the company of many talented and brilliant authors and earn this award. I've also had several opportunities to share some of the key ideas from the book on podcasts during March, with more occurring in April (see tiles below), including one with our advanced program graduate, Tara Nolan, MCC, CMC, who had me as her guest on her 100th episode for The Game of Teams, that releases today, April 1 (no, that's not an April Fools' joke!).

Here are three ideas to support us as leaders of ourselves, our teams, our families, and our communities.

1.        Acknowledge Fear: sense and feel it

Stewart Emery, a founding leader in the U.S. human potential movement, once said, "Fear is past remembrance or future projection. Fear never exists in the present moment." Stewart's idea offers a useful framework for taking action despite fear. There is a prerequisite: pay enough attention internally to recognize fear for what it is, false evidence appearing real and usually unrelated to the present moment experience.

2.        Disrupt limiting beliefs: partner with others to see fully.

The difficulty with beliefs is that they operate invisibly until we pause and reflect on our experience to discover what motivated our choices. It's quicker when we ask others who love and care about us to share what they see about a situation or relationship and assist us in seeing the whole picture. Beliefs limit what we allow ourselves to see. As the author of Liminal Thinking, Dave Gray, says, "When feeling stuck and disappointed, stop for a moment and ask yourself, 'What if….'? That question breaks the spell of the emotion, activates the imagination, and, when asked in the company of a good friend, supercharges the ideas for something different to choose next.

3.        Honor different perspectives: expand what you hear.

The second half of this idea makes the first more robust. Many leaders know and believe that they honor the perspectives of others, almost as an intrinsic trait or value. However, when listening, it's all too easy to select what to hear that matches their point of view. Try listening for what you hear that does not match and allow that to stimulate curiosity that expands what you now have access to for resolving the unspeaking issue. As the famous song from the Rolling Stones said, you might find, "You get what you need."

Our passion at inviteCHANGE, Generative Coaching, is not just about achieving immediate goals or solving surface-level problems. It's about diving deep into the ocean of what's left unsaid in our personal and professional spheres and emerging with treasures of insight and wisdom. It's akin to turning on the light in a dimly lit room and welcoming the clarity of daylight. This clarity illuminates paths of growth, learning, and understanding.

The blogs, videos, and resources provided in this newsletter are like constellations in the night sky, guiding us toward becoming leaders who don't just direct but inspire change, leaders who build bridges over the chasms of division with empathy and understanding. As we navigate this journey together, let this newsletter be your compass, pointing you toward the true north of leadership. This inclusive, reflective, and generative approach allows everyone to thrive. Join us as we set forth on a shared mission to confront the often sidelined, to reflect and learn from each situation, and to propel inclusivity and meritocracy that embodies authentic leadership.

Our call to action is for us to build workplaces together where every voice matters, every contribution is valued, and everybody loves their life's work. Harness the power of the now for a better tomorrow!

Keep loving your life’s work!

Janet