I have a lot to “download” and process from Nexus 2 in Bowling Green Ohio, but I wanted to share one of the charts I did during Peter Block’s conversation on community. Look at the questions that are part of this “path.” They are great. I did not want to forget them. I want to USE them.
Now it is time to catch up on some sleep!
Flickr Photo Download: From Peter Block’s Presentation
Hi Nancy and thanks for this. I love the flow etc – but the one that intrigued me enough to ask for the backstory (if you have time) is: “it bothers me that you don’t work with leaders anymore” – referring to Peter Block?? or someone else? If Peter – why that choice?
I can understand from a personal level the greater joy in working from the ground up – but I always hope some people I love also work from the top down!
Big smiles,
Alana
Alana, a member of the audience asked him as well… she was dismayed. He said this is what he chooses to do in this phase of his life… so many leaders are so detached!
In answer to the question about Peter not working with leaders at the top ( believe after listening to Peter that he would agree that leadership does not exist only at the top) I found this clarifying answer in an interview by and educational journal. This is what I take it to mean.
Gary
JSD: In The Answer to How Is Yes you point out, “The higher up you go in an organization, the more anxious the people are. Those at the top seem pressured to believe they have the answers. … Retirement parties are often the first place where the truth is told in public.” One reason people higher up in organizations have anxiety is because they believe they are supposed to know the solution to every problem and have the answers to all questions.
Block: It’s hard to work with some higher-level executives because they are so anxious and frozen. They are geniuses about their businesses but know little about themselves or how they are perceived by others. We contribute to this because we want them to be parental figures. We don’t want to know their flaws. They are supposed to know things, to be something larger than a normal human being.
Because of these things it’s much harder to get these people to open up, to share, to be vulnerable with others. They’ve learned to be very careful about what they say. When you go to a superintendents’ conference, you are usually swimming in a sea of pronouncements. There’s little curiosity and vulnerability and a lack of any real questioning of what they are doing or how they are thinking about it. Anxiety shuts down their capacity to learn.
It’s interesting that people claim their freedom to say their truth when they leave institutions. I think it’s better to work on it while we’re part of it rather than when we leave it. I don’t want freedom and integrity to come to me in my last moment.
Gary, good to hear from you and thank you for bringing in this added layer about Peter’s thoughts on leadership. I heard the bell ringing as I read it! 🙂