|
Friends,
With the gratitude lens that this week brings, I've been reflecting on how much joy, inspiration, and important conversations this newsletter brings me. Many of you noticed that a monthly cadence is a little slow, and you are right. With life flowing by so quickly right now, we need more regular collective sense-making. So let's experiment with a biweekly cadence and see where this takes us.
Speaking of gratitude, one of the things that kept me sane this year is a group experience called Tribes designed by Justine Borja. Every month, our small circle of community practitioners comes together to unpack learnings, challenges and questions. This week, in our last session for the year, we were reflecting on how incredible the experience has been. But what exactly made it work? What makes certain experiences incredibly rich in meaning and others flat? Of course, there's a lot to be said about social contracting and showing up fully. But there's also a key element that is often overlooked: facilitation. Justine is an incredible facilitator and lead our group beautifully this year. We often take the role of facilitators for granted because their work is invisible when done well, but it's crucial to creating, containing and sustaining meaning in a group.
Priya Parker, the author of The Art of Gathering, uses the term generous authority to talk about how we can facilitate events with both warmth and direction. In a time when digital connection can feel awkward, cold and even performative, we need skilled facilitators to guide us more than ever.
What does generous authority look like for you? What are you learning and loving when bringing people together?
|
