Navigating Challenges with an Open Stance

Hi friends,

I hope this message finds you well and resilient amid the challenges we face globally and personally. Thanks for being a member of this community. Over the past year, I have shared insights on the benefits of embracing an Open Stance and practices for fostering an Open Stance. Thanks for your continued interest and support.

We are collectively in a challenging time in the world with many issues facing us at one time. These include global conflict and stress, climate disruptions, political polarization, inequity, isolation, and disconnection. We also face personal challenges in our families, workplaces, and communities. Feeling overwhelmed and questioning our ability to make a difference is natural. Many people ask me, “What can I possibly do?” It’s a valid question, one that I’ve pondered myself. Many of the challenges feel beyond our capabilities. They are complex systemic issues.

Adopting an Open Stance mindset is one of the most powerful actions to address the myriad of issues confronting us. It is counterintuitive when we feel like retreating or closing down. However, when we close down, we limit our possibilities, feel more isolated and alone, and are disconnected from others and solutions.

I recently watched the documentary “Kiss the Ground,” which sheds light on the depletion of the planet’s soil. It was disheartening to see the magnitude of the impact. Once fertile lands with bountiful crops and life are now barren and not sustaining people. It is easy to feel sad and hopeless.

However, some who became open and curious have found solutions to bring life back to many depleted lands and significantly address our carbon dioxide challenge. Those scientists and farmers who adopted an Open Stance learned a way of regenerative farming that greatly supports their families, enhances growth, and benefits the planet and others. By taking an Open Stance, they could engage in collaborative conversations and find answers to problematic issues.

Still, closing our hearts and minds and limiting our discovery of solutions is easy. I see so many examples in organizations and families where we become closed and fail to listen and be open to each other and fail to see new perspectives and ways of being. I also hear from leaders that when they take an Open Stance, they experience more cohesive and collaborative teams, greater joy, enhanced relationships, and more innovative and effective solutions.

Amid differences and uncertainty, we can each choose to take an Open Stance and experience more resilience and wellbeing. Together, we can take kind action and make life better for all. When we decide to take an Open Stance, being curious and compassionate, we naturally bring a sense of possibility and openness to others. Openness is contagious. It may seem like a small action, but can create a ripple effect.

?What is an Open Stance?

Taking an Open Stance is about noticing when we are contracted, in judgment, controlling, or closed and, with awareness, shifting to being curious, compassionate, courageous, and open to possibilities.

We can attend to the world with greater resilience from an Open Stance, embrace the present moment, and realize potential. We are positioned to engage in open-minded conversations to co-create solutions. We can experience a sense of joy.

Open Stance Circles

While adopting an Open Stance is a simple concept, it is easier to build skills when learning with and supporting others. Some of us have been gathering in Open Stance Circles, where we share our experiences of being open or closed and engage in a peer coaching process to consider our next steps.

The Open Stance Circles have been rewarding, and some people are being certified to facilitate additional circles. Imagine what could be possible if more of us felt supported in engaging in open-minded conversations and interactions. For example, people have conversed with others with different perspectives and found common ground. Colleagues and neighbors are experiencing more connection. ?

Some groups and organizations are reading the Open Stance book and developing the Open Stance practices of being open and taking kind action.?

You are welcome to join the Open Stance Community, where we collectively support one another to thrive. Sign up!

You can learn more here: Open Stance Community.

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• Purchase Open Stance: Thriving Amid Differences and Uncertainty for you or a friend where books are offered.
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• Share about Open Stance on your social media. Free resources here.

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I appreciate your help in sharing this message. I welcome your thoughts, suggestions, and experiences.

I welcome hearing about your insights and experiences regarding your Open Stance journey. Stay in touch.

I appreciate your commitment to kindness and openness. Your actions, no matter how small, contribute to a more compassionate and interconnected world.

With gratitude and an Open Stance,?

Ann Van Eron

As a global executive coach and organization development consultant with Potentials, I coach leaders, teams, coaches, and changemakers with practical processes and tips to:

• Thrive amid differences and uncertainty with an Open Stance.
• Renew their energy, mindset, and experience of JOYBeing.
• Engage in meaningful and productive conversations to co-create solutions using the OASIS Conversations process.
• Make a difference, create positive change, and achieve their potential.

You are welcome to receive the following:

• Bi-monthly Leadership Tips
• A chapter from Open Stance: Thriving Amid Differences and Uncertainty
• Open Stance Postures infographic
• Open Stance audiobook