I teared up this morning when I saw clips of Hillary’s nomination. We made herstory last night. And IT MATTERS. Every time a glass ceiling is broken it matters. Every time women or people of color can see themselves reflected in a position of influence and power it matters. Patriarchy is real. Racism is real. Breaking through is something that matters.

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The Trump Brexit Moment

Here is my original Brexit Facebook post:

Make no mistake about it. There is a link between yesterday's devastating Supreme Court non-decision - the one that will tear apart immigrant families and destroy their livelihood, Britain's vote to leave the European Union, and the rise of Donald Trump. 

Nationalist voices are on the rise. They are winning BIG victories. The reactionaries have momentum and this is not good for the world.

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ORLANDO

 

Beautiful, glorious, radiant queer and trans Latinx siblings. You are my people. I love you. I welcome you. This cis-hetero-Latino man is here to hold you, to cry with you, to lay with you and spoon you. I am not complete without you. We are a people, we are us only with you.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry for every school yard joke, the stupidity of dorm rooms and locker rooms, every disparaging word, every expression of derision and fear that permeates this culture when it comes to the beauty that is you.

I'm sorry that you have been listening to this, feeling this, hiding from this, seeking haven from this for all of your precious and glorious life. I'm sorry for the times I played a role, I'm sorry for the times I played along, I'm sorry for the many times that I didn't ask them to stop.

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GUIDED JOURNALING

Evolutionary Leaders reflect on challenges, the Self AND the Emerging Self. They reflect on their sense of frustration, their sources of energy and inner resistance. They name their own voices of judgment and fear. And they also reflect on this moment, their community and their future. Together we look at what we need to let go of, at the seeds that are present and at that which can be tested. We look at who is with us and what action needs to be taken.

The 2016 Evolutionary Leadership Workshop launches tonight at Hollyhock, Cortes Island, British Columbia. And we thought we’d give you a taste of what we will be doing together. Our leadership reflection will rely on a great tool for guided journaling that we borrowed from the Presencing Institute. We invite you to answer these for yourself!

Find the questions below.

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COMING TOGETHER

I dropped offline for about 10 days and I’m just making my way back. I find myself in a flow of open hearted gratitude. This morning I woke up to a thread of e-mails of Evolutionary Leaders introducing themselves to each other. Participants in last year’s workshop and those who will be coming together in just about a week. Forgive the dramatic intensity but I literally fell to my knees with gratitude. I was bowled over by the abundance of generosity and mutual care. And I was overcome by a sense of being fully in service of the creative impulse, the evolutionary thrust that propels us forward towards a future that is ceaselessly beckoning, tugging at our hearts, desiring of our participation.

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THE FLOW OF GOOD WORK

Today I launch facilitation of a year-long leadership and network development process for young climate leaders (between 25 and 40 years of age). The process will be anchored by three intensive retreats between now and March 2017. The work aims to build leadership capacity and support the development of trust and authentic collaborative relationships among leaders of this most important of movements.

 

This sort of year-long development process, with multiple touch points taking place over time, is my preferred method for leadership and network development. I find it to be truly transformational work, it changes lives and has lasting impact. It was during the fall of 2007 that I first participated in a year-long process. Rockwood’s Leading from the Inside Out Fellowship, facilitated by Robert Gass, who would become a most important mentor. I knew right away that this was the work I was here to do.

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Gibran Rivera62-92
BIG CHANGE

A recent client engaged in an ambitious thought process: How do we change the underpinnings of the economy in two decades? The process was launched with a helpful framework. A participant proposed that any time big social change happens - we must have three things in place:

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What Do You Measure

I think it’s important to measure things. I want to know how good I’m doing. I want to know if I’m moving the needle. I want to know if my experiments are working.

I have spent a lot of time in the nonprofit and policy worlds, affected by a philanthropic drive to measure that too often focuses on measuring the wrong thing.

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Actually Seeing Eachother

I’m not shy about my politics. I definitely stand to the left of the average Democrat. I’m clear and passionate about what I believe it will take for humanity to make a just transition to an economy that is good for people and the planet. But even with all this passion and conviction I understand that the only way to make my vision a reality is to include those who don’t see the world as I do.

David Brooks just wrote a phenomenal column on “how to fix politics.” People on my side of the political argument often get appalled when I quote him. And that is precisely the problem.

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Attention is Currency

Your attention is your currency. This is both a spiritual fact and a political fact. We live in a distraction economy. The biggest corporations of our day live and die based on how much of YOUR attention they can get. Advertisement is the backbone of capitalism. Advertisement’s purpose is to capture your attention. Once your attention is captured it seeks a hold on your imagination and once it has your imagination it seeks to shape who and how you choose to be. It promises meaning and purpose, but it leaves you empty instead.

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