When I first stepped into a
consulting business twelve years ago, after 23 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, in 2007, 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 20 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 2007, 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.
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