Earth Day Epiphanies - Pillar 1 of 5

Happy Earth Day Friends! TU for signing up for this newsletter! Since the 5 mindshifts, it took me a month to conceive of Round Two. Perhaps you too this long winter, even the past week, have felt at times disconnected, miserable, hopeless, depressed, trapped, or traumatized--all obvious natural fears in the U.S. - an on-going roller coaster of difficult events we must learn to manage emotionally & focus into action.

And perhaps like me undergone your own dive into life/career reflection & perhaps with spring had your own great turning - a shift into greater awareness and consciousness?

So, let's start with Pillar 1 of 5 pillars of Real Career Leadership - life is often experienced as a series of epiphanies. At least mine has been.

Before we move on, let me confess my fear of *woman-splaining. Lecturing is the Antithesis of story-telling (should be story-*showing) & has gotten us, well, here.

And tip: it May be why your resume isn't getting picked up, or your aren't converting interviews - or getting appropriately recognized at work.

So here in this newsletter, rather than woman-splaining, all I'm going to share are the epiphanies I & my clients have found - the behavioral & neuro-science that drove them - along with some key career tips, career stories & even a few tools.

Now this spring's rebirth. For me, the graceful white flowers of my native onions hit their peak at Easter/Passover/Ramadan/equinox & then - like a bolt out of the blue the other day - came the confirmation / explication of what my soul's been pushing me to drive You leaders toward my entire working life, which is a bit more than 12+ years. ;)

And it came through the voice of Joanna Macy.

In particular, she reminded me of this 1 of her 12 books. Which, yes, came out originally in 2014, so I imagine that many of you already know it. But for those who don't or want to revisit now.

To my great pleasure, on that spring rebirth morning, I found that Joanna Macy's Great Turning paradigm re-connects our human effort - as I've been doing my whole career - across the 3 worlds of: Profit (survival/enjoyment/wealth), People (poverty/other species) & Planet (sustainability) - something a visionary Private Equity client taught me in 2014 called the Triple Bottom-line. I'm sure many of you have heard of it. Or at least used these POVs in the romance language verbs. ;)

If you've ever worked with me or taken creative writing, you may already know the 3 worlds of "narrative" perspective that are called the 3 points of view (POVs) that story-creators must master. It turns out that all of us live in them as well, individually & collectively - since of course (she woman-splained) we impact our Own eyes, Their eyes & the World's KPIs - at any and every moment. Yet, of course, most of us are not macroeconomically set up, socialized or educated to attend to the other 2 worlds much - for reasons I'll touch on below. And I'm here to help you, ethical leaders, to help us change that.

When I went to Haas, the use of "exploit" as a verb had Zero negative connotations; rather it had a "must do" idea behind it with a competitive smirk. I recall saying in economics class, "Even nature takes 6 months off a year to recharge, it's called winter!" But as You know - empires don't rest.

Still, I was surprised last year when my Poor People's Campaign mentor asked me to rethink my use of the term, "Let me take a stab at it." Perhaps use a less violent turn of phrase, she suggested.

It got me thinking about: "We killed it!" "I nailed it." "Better to kill 2 birds with 1 stone." "It was pounded into me." "We Owned the competition." "Are you armed & ready?" Yikes! Perhap you've already realized that our language is drenched with violent metaphors against others or the earth that we no longer even recognize as such.

Because David Korten & Joanna Macy remind us, for 5K years we have been socialized into empires and imperial thinking, values, goals, means and ways of thinking & being.

Of course we can all see now how the imperial way and the economic *externalities - the poor & the natural resources - the previously ignored POVs / exploited worlds - are collapsing. Many of us have seen this coming truth throughout the last 5K years no doubt - and felt impotent.

So how wonderful is the rising tide of the Great Turning - 2,000 Bioneers were just here in Berkeley - even then name has cheer in it! Just the long list of brave speakers in this link - so inspiring!

And I that's why I help for ~$500 (or less ;) a would-be Great Turner. & all of you clients who've invested $1500, $2500 or $5K are subsidising their work! And here's where some of those great turning clients have risen or landed:

• building the global sustainability KPIs
• bringing tech cultures back to merit base from age or gender *clubs
• getting more affordable fresh vegetables to the poor (even with food stamps!)
• spreading solar & heat pump installations
• Monitoring & tracking the now 145 dead spots in the ocean - raising awareness that when it's gone, so is 50% of our oxygen!

Now Joanna Macy helped me realize, though I've felt dissociated inside the *empire, I've actually always Been a part of something - helping a group even though I did not know. :) That's very relieving, reinspiring, reinvigorating - makes it all feel worth it. And I hope it is for you, too!

So now, in the upcoming 4 pillars of Real Career Leadership - I'll be focused on more epiphanies & skill-building to integrate and advocate for the 2 rising POVs - to affect them consciously.

Pillar 1 Epiphany Tools & Tips:

• Tip: You can push forward the Great Turning from Anywhere - inside the old economy or with the new.
• Tool: To begin to see the 3rd world - the economic matrix, download my free economic matrix and see where you've played - and what area you are most drawn to help.

How You Can Help:

• Forward this newsletter to anyone who would appreciate it.
• Help me share more stories of Real Career Leader heros - inside enterprises, non-profits, entrepreneurs & investors - Tell me how you, or someone you know or admire, are turning groups to better human impacts on poverty or sustainability - and are they hiring? :)
• Where should I post / who should I follow or name? Hashtags? Orgs?
• fI You're Ready to up-level your career influence & impact, let's chat!
• Or you can share your career story or dream with me.

I hope this provides some nourishing food for thought & soul as we push The Great Turning forward together!

#earthday #earthhour #earthmonth #earth #regenerative #career #success #work #management #womenintech #womeninleadership #womeninbusiness Haas Alumni Network (HAN) Harvard University #ethicalbusiness #equity #diversityinclusion #inclusion #inclusionmatters #inclusiveleadership #inclusiveleaders #dataforgood