When I first created a
consulting business fifteen years ago, after 24 years in executive
and professional positions in large organizations, people used to ask me
to explain what I did. I would often say: 'I go into workplaces
and help people learn how to get along with each other', or 'I do
team building'. Their response was inevitably positive, with
accompanying comments such as: 'that's badly
needed'!
Now my
response to that same question is very different. Although the
foregoing issues are still important, I believe that there are more
urgent issues in organizations, and in all aspects of our society, that
need to be addressed - issues that are not responding to traditional
strategies that were designed in the 70's and 80's.
I believe that what is needed in workplaces is
what is now commonly called a 'sea-change'. Change that is
profound and transformative , change that requires a huge shift in
consciousness .
I am also
very aware that who I am, will determine in large part, what I can offer
to others to bring about a shift in consciousness. I believe that
the commitment I have made over the past 25 years to my own personal
growth and evolution has been critical. I'm fully aware that I
cannot invite others to step into their growth and evolution unless and
until I have demonstrated a strong commitment through my own
journey. What I do in the world needs to be a clear reflection of
who I am. For more details of my personal journey see
examples in my article contained on this website, entitled 'Hiding in
the Bushes' and in my published book 'Out
of Hiding, Reclaiming My Voice and Taking My Life Back' .
Published in 2005, it is available at Amazon.com., or by ordering
directly at Cathy@cathycarmody.com )
Where I believe change
is needed:
What I notice and hear as I work in organizations, are people at
all levels, complaining, often bitterly, about the things that they
perceive to be wrong or broken in organizations and institutions
today. Yet at the same time I observe them continuing
to think
about things and act on them the same way that things have been done
and thought about for the last 30 + years - all the while hoping that they
can achieve different results . Some would say
that's a definition of insanity! I would say it's an indication that many
are in a deep state of sleep - a deep state of unconsciousness.
Einstein said it well when he claimed that 'The problems of today cannot
be resolved at the same level of consciousness that created them'.
The transformative change that is needed, calls for a huge shift in
consciousness.
The second crisis I notice everywhere today relates to the
lack of engagement of individuals. So many I see have 'shut
down', are disconnected and dis-engaged. They have developed what
the Swedes referred to over 20 years ago, as 'inlearned
helplessness'. This happens when individuals who have attempted to
bring about change - often on many occasions without any success - just
give up! Those who manage and lead organizations with
structures that provide an illusion of control, offer little
space for change or creativity. Many lives are lived in a state of
inner lock down and silence - even though these individuals show up for
work every day - and appear to the naked eye to be 'working'!
Dollars are wasted, talent is lost, and a sense of alienation and
hopelessness sets in.
The absence of authentic leadership is at a critical stage - many workplaces, including
public sector workplaces are still, in 2010, being 'managed' (rather than
led) based on the dictates from a few individuals at the top.
Attempts by those individuals throughout the organization, who want to
speak their truth, or manifest new ways of doing and being, and
thus leadership, are quickly being marginalized as 'trouble makers'
or non-team players. We are awash in a sea of
leader-less ‘management’ driven organizations, focused on getting things done - with
little thought or regard for whether what's being done is the 'right'
thing or not!
The emergence of women who are willing to lead the way is
critical. Around the world, people are finally waking up to the
fact that women who have the courage to bring their heart-felt
authenticity out into the open, offer a different, more courageous and
peaceful voice to the world. Encouraging and creating space for women to trust their authentic
voices and bring those voices to leadership tables is, and must, gain
momentum.
Adding to the sense of being 'stuck' in old thinking, of many
being dis-engaged, and no one with any authenticity leading the way, is
the growing issue of a clash of values and beliefs among the various
generations now spanning the workplace - with all the potential this
brings for huge recruitment issues for many
workplaces.
My commitment to all that I have written about above, is to be a
Catalyst for Change - someone who is willing to provoke,
question, and challenge others to move beyond where they ever thought
they could go in terms of potential, in terms of creating a better
world. I believe that the evolution of a world where everyone is
valued, inspired, and engaged, where everyone is unafraid to step into
their authentic ability to speak their truth and lead, where women are
willing to lead and co-create differently with men to transform
workplaces and where all generations of individuals in workplaces
challenge and support each other to be their best, is possible, in fact
is critically necessary.