Welcome!
On this page you’ll find the full collection of audio and resource archives from Year 11 of our monthly Gathering calls. Speaker bios, call summaries, audios and recommended resources for each month’s call will continue to be added to this page soon after the call.
Our theme for this eleventh year of Gathering together is “Paradigms and Possibilities: Embracing Humanity’s Divine Potential.” Along with our Year Eleven offerings, please take some time to explore the past 10 years of program archives. This is a treasure trove of information, insights, strategies and practices to support you as an agent of purposeful change!
Year 1 Program Archive – “Mastering the Inner Game”
Year 2 Program Archive – “Align Your Outer Game with the Inner”
Year 3 and 4 Program Archive – “Integrating the Inner and Outer Collectives: The Dance of ME and WE”
Year 5 Program Archive – “Co-Creating the Global Collective”
Year 6 Program Archive – “Radical Relationship; Embracing the Gifts of Polarity”
Year 7 Program Archive – “Creating Agile And Sustainable Change That Matters”
Year 8 Program Archive – “Love in Action: Connecting for Impact”
Year 9 Program Archive – “Agents of Love; Weaving the Tangled Threads of Irreconcilable Differences”
Year 10 Program Archive – “Dancing in the Space Between; Creating Resilience and Possibility in the Now”
Study Materials:
- Download your copy of Tim Kelley’s article that was the foundation for the Gathering’s first year here: Internal Requirements for Change Agents
- Download your copy of Tim Kelley’s additional article Types of Change Agents
- Download your copy of Audrey Seymour’s article that is the foundation for the Gathering’s second year here: 12 Requirements for Embodied Action
Browse the Year 11 archives:
12/6/23: “2023 in review”
11/1/23: “Living Heaven on Earth”
10/4/23: “Paradigm Shifting; Creating Sustainable Transformation in a Rapidly Changing World.”
9/6/23: “One foot in the Old Paradigm… and One Foot in the New”
8/2/23: “Opening our Heart to Humanity’s Divine Potential”
7/5/23: “Embracing the Light and Dark to Actualize Humanity’s Divine Potential”
6/7/23: “The Shadow: Doorway to Embrace Humanity’s Divine Potential?”
5/3/23: “Paradigms & Parts; Mapping a Path for Compassion, Harmony and Purposeful Transformation.”
4/5/23: Exploring Paradigms through a Kaleidoscope
3/1/23: Paradigms, Paradigms – What’s a Change Agent to Do?
2/1/23: Revealing 2023 Theme Possibilities
We hope you can join us for our next Gathering on February 7, 2024.
12/6/23: “2023 in Review”
“Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness
will we discover the infinite power of our light.”
—Brene Brown
Our year-end celebration and review of this year’s journey exploring “Paradigms and Possibilities: Embracing Humanity’s Divine Potential” was rich, inspiring and thought-provoking. We had the opportunity to highlight each Gathering and hear from you the impact and learning you experienced.
We were particularly inspired hearing how this review made some of you who were not on these calls appreciate the richness of the topics. We have created a “Year in Review” document for you to reflect upon listed below in Resources.
In our discussion, we heard the importance of moving from “either/or” to “both/and” thinking; the value of exploring challenges from a “systems” perspective; and how bringing play and lightness helps to generate new possibilities. We also discussed how embodying the moment, slowing down and just being in the present nourishes and restores us.
This led to a rich conversation about possible themes for next year’s Gathering such as:
- Heart Consciousness
- Power of Connection and Intimacy
- Bridging the space between “out there” and “what’s inside”
- Embracing duality as the path to opening the door to what’s here
We will be spending the month of January contemplating these ideas and more to introduce our 2024 Gathering theme. As a reminder, we will not be meeting in January. Our next session will be Wednesday, February 7, 2024.
And on a bittersweet note, Kawtar El Alaoui will be moving on from our co-host team to make space for her to expand other important endeavors. We will miss her calm, deeply thoughtful, and loving presence. She is leaving us with these thoughts:
“Being a co-host this year has been a true delight. I enjoyed getting to know the community and holding space for our collective expansion as change agents. My weekly check-ins with my co-hosts were grounding and transformative. In some ways, they became like a family. Though I will miss being on the co-hosting team, I know we remain connected and I will continue to attend the calls as a member of the True Purpose Institute. For those in the community who wish to follow my journey and work more closely, you can do so by subscribing to my newsletter.
Thank you to each of you for a beautiful experience.”
Resources and Next Steps
- Kawtar, Andy are co-facilitating a 90 minute healing space this Sunday at 9:30am PT for the Israeli/Palestine conflict – https://healtogether.space/the-solution-to-the-conflict-embodied-conversation-with-deep-empathy/
- Year in Review Summary Document
- Recordings library
11/1/23: “Living Heaven on Earth”
“Never underestimate the power of a few committed people to change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
—Margaret Mead
When the world feels like it’s on fire, is it ok to aspire to live Heaven on Earth? Do you ever wonder and perhaps feel guilty for contemplating how to live Heaven on Earth, especially in tough times?
The experience of our November Gathering of Change Agents may have been exactly the answer you were seeking. Expertly led by our guest speaker, Martin Rutte, we explored what Heaven on Earth is for each of us.
Martin Rutte is an international speaker and management consultant. As President of Livelihood, a management consulting firm with offices in Ranchos De Taos, NM, USA, and Charlottetown, PE, Canada, he explores the deeper meaning of work and its contribution to society. The company’s areas of service include: strategic vision, corporate spirit, performance management, and creative leadership.
Martin has worked with such organizations as The World Bank, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Southern California Edison, Virgin Records, Esso Petroleum and London Life Insurance helping them expand their outlook and position themselves for the future.
He was the first Canadian to address the Corporate Leadership & Ethics Forum of The Harvard Business School, returning for four consecutive years as keynote speaker.
Martin is a co-author of the New York Times business bestseller, Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work, with over one million copies sold and translations into 15 languages. His newest book is: Project Heaven on Earth: The 3 simple questions that will help you change the world … easily. He has presented workshops and given talks on Heaven on Earth in: US, Canada, England, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Sweden & Costa Rica.
Listening to the answers to Martin’s three questions about Heaven on Earth was a doorway to realizing how each one of us longs for the experience of Heaven on Earth, and knows exactly what that is for us. Martin’s session took us beyond reflection into action in simple, achievable ways. And we emerged from the call with ideas and actions to “Heavening Earth” in our respective lives.
“Heavening Earth” is about profoundly simple things like loving ourselves and each other, extending kindness, and seeking connection. Some spoke of celebrating differences, while others spoke of holding space for difficult conversations.
Are these things we should hold back as our world is invited to revisit hell on earth? The feeling of lightness and simplicity that emerged as we held a magic wand and began to explore what Heaven on Earth might look like, showed us that as Change Agents, we can take bold action to navigate through these tough times. As Martin revealed and reminded us, we each know what Heaven on Earth is to us and what we can do to bring it forth.
What a refreshing and eye-opening exploration as we close this year’s deep dive around how the paradigms we hold shape our reality! Use the resources below to lead your own exploration. To make it more fun and insightful, we suggest you invite your family members, friends or colleagues to join you.
Resources and Next Steps
Here are some Resources and Actions that will support you in taking this topic even deeper:
- Martin’s website and the three questions to reveal Heaven on Earth: http://projectheavenonearth.com/the-three-questions/
- Martin’s Book: https://www.amazon.com/Project-Heaven-Earth-simple-questions/dp/0692073620
- Heaven is a Place on Earth sung by Belinda Carlisle: Here
- Sweet Sounds Of Heaven sung by The Rolling Stones and Lady Gaga, with Stevie Wonder: Here
- Lyrics here.
10/4/23: “Paradigm Shifting; Creating Sustainable Transformation in a Rapidly Changing World”
As we have journeyed through the landscape of our Gathering theme this year, “Paradigms and Possibilities; Embracing Humanity’s Divine Potential” – we’ve been exploring valuable insights and resources through the lens of being a purposeful change agent.
In our October Gathering, Dr. Keith Merron led us through an exploration of “Paradigm Shifting; Creating Sustainable Transformation in a Rapidly Changing World.”
Keith is the founder and Managing Partner of Leadership Pathways, Inc., an organizational consulting and leadership development firm dedicated to helping organizations with bold visions achieve sustainable high performance and industry leadership. As an organization effectiveness and executive development consultant, he has more than 38 years of experience assisting executives and managers in business, government, and education.
Keith has designed and led over 100 seminars and workshops for leaders and helped create some of the most innovative leadership training programs in the country. He received his Doctorate from Harvard University, where his studies spanned the fields of human and organization development.
Keith is the author of seven books on human and organizational change including The Art of Transformational Coaching, Riding the Wave: Designing Your Organization for Enduring Success, Consulting Mastery: How the Best Make the Biggest Difference, The Golden Flame: The Heart and Soul of Remarkable Leadership, Inner Freedom: Living Authentically the Life You Were Truly Meant to Live and Gender Intelligence: Breakthrough Strategies for Increasing Diversity and Improving Your Bottom Line, co-authored with Barbara Annis, and Radical Self-Responsibility (about to be published).
Keith also teaches leadership at Hult School of Business and is in high demand as a speaker on the subject of leadership and building extraordinary organizational cultures.
Below are some of the take-aways from this highly engaged and informative session:
- Deeper understanding of the nature and impact of paradigms and the why it’s so important for change agents to be able to identify and shift paradigms
- How and why we miss paying attention to paradigms – and how to get a better view
- Why understanding the nature of paradigms matters so much in the process of transformation
- Real time example and map for a guided journey of transformation through the lens of paradigm shifting
- Resources and tools to optimize your ability to purposefully shift paradigmsResources and Next Steps
Resources and Next Steps
Here are some Resources and Actions that will support you in taking this topic even deeper:
- Dr. Keith Merron – https://www.leadership-pathways.com/
- Dr. Keith Merron Workshop – https://www.artoftransformationalcoaching.com/
- Dr Keith Merron – The Art of Transformational Coaching book (Amazon)
- Dr Keith Merron’s Basic Paradigm Map
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
9/6/23: “One foot in the Old Paradigm… and One Foot in the New”
“There comes a day when you realize turning the page
is the best feeling in the world,
because you realize there’s so much more to the book
than the page you were stuck on.”
― Zayn Malik
What a courageous exploration we experienced on this Gathering call! Our speaker, Rebecca Saltman, shared her story of navigating the unrelenting – and quite disruptive call for her to make massive changes in her life – and how these became invaluable catalysts for her to clarify and activate her mission as a change agent. Rebecca’s wisdom and inquiries provided important context and provocative prompts for engaging discussions about how we, as change agents, can more purposefully navigate the turbulent and disruptive times that we are facing now.
There’s no shortage of issues that humanity needs to embrace and transform. But how do we create new and sustainable paradigms that honor all beings and respect the health and well-being of our planet? Building on our insights this year about the limiting effects of paradigms and disowned aspects of who we are (aka “shadow”) – participants actively engaged in Rebecca’s inquiries relating to our individual and cultural paradigms around change, disruption, belief, letting go and courageously stepping into what’s next.
Like a snake shedding its skin, or the hero/heroine’s journey of transformation, change agents must let go of the “old” to make space for the “new” to germinate and evolve. And… human as we are… we are programmed to resist change; especially bold and disruptive change. “Knock, knock!” “Bang, bang!” When it’s time, change is inevitable – and quite often – disruptive. What’s the worst that can happen, right? In the end, as one participant offered, “The worst that can happen is that you get to try again.”
This exploration was perfect to set the stage for next month’s call with our guest speaker, Keith Merron. Keith will share more about how we can consciously create new paradigms
Rebecca Saltman is a change agent and disruptor who stands for the open-ended creation of a better world. She is the founder of https://www.disruptforgood.life/ a writer, visionary of change and rabble-rouser for good. Rebecca believes OUR big work is to establish a future that is equally distributed, where women’s voices are critical. Her purpose is to establish a world that is equitably distributed, built on reciprocity, values and leaving a legacy (with her company https://www.valueflow.pt/)
Early in her career, Rebecca worked with Steven Spielberg’s Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation to ensure that the experiences and bravery of Holocaust survivors were remembered, honored, and believed.
Twenty-two years ago, she founded a social entrepreneurial and media justice organization that bridges the needs of business, government, nonprofits, academia, and media to redefine systems that no longer serve the emerging future.
Rebecca’s life’s work is to:
SEE past today to the opportunities of tomorrow
TRUST in a better future so hard that it becomes possible
WEAVE vision, healing, and connection
HEAL the system on every level
Resources and Next Steps
Here are some Resources and Reflections that will support you in taking this month’s topic even deeper:
- What are you called to disrupt and transform as a change agent?
- Do you believe that you can accomplish this? If not, what’s needed for you to believe in your reasons and ability to succeed in this?
- What’s your current relationship with your inner disruptor part(s)?
- How are your inner disruptor parts contributing (or disrupting) you in heeding your calling?
- What’s the worst that could happen if you were to take the call?
You can find more resources on Rebeca’s websites:
- To learn a bit more about Rebecca, check out her personal website: https://www.disruptforgood.life/ this site has her blog and other things about her on it.
- To learn more about Rebecca’s and her partner’s company “ Value Flow” and its work, she referred us to these two sites: the first is https://www.valueflow.pt/ and the other is a newer and not yet completed site, http://vfi.eco/
- To reach Rebecca personally, feel free to email her at Rebecca@disruptforgood.life
8/2/23: “Opening our Heart to Humanity’s Divine Potential”
This Gathering was a powerful departure from our typical format. After Susan invited St. Francis of Assisi to light our fire, Andy led us in forming a virtual listening circle.
This very spacious circle was purely about being present with the people who were present to witness one another. Every person in attendance chose to contribute their voice to the circle, where tremendous collective wisdom emerged.
The circle was made strong by having more formal shared agreements to encourage psychological safety, and we followed the same order in each round to simulate the geometry of sitting in a physical circle together.
We explored these three prompts/rounds in the circle:
- What is true for you in this moment? (with an invitation to share about the talking piece each person chose to bring to the circle)
- What does it mean to embrace humanity’s divine potential?
- What is challenging you to embrace humanity’s divine potential? And what is one tangible step you can take to overcome this challenge?
People left the circle with a deep contemplation and tangible action step to take. We look forward to hearing about how their actions went either on the Facebook group or in the next Gathering!
Resources and Next Steps
Here are some Resources and Actions that will support you in taking this topic even deeper:
- Journaling prompt: What is challenging you to embrace humanity’s divine potential? And what is one tangible step you can take to overcome this challenge?
7/5/23: “Embracing the Light and Dark to Actualize Humanity’s Divine Potential”
What a divine session we had together in our July Gathering for Change Agents! Your co-hosts, Susan, Kawtar, and Beth facilitated an informative and expansive session for participants to deepen their access to, and appreciation of, their shadow aspects – and explore how even a homeopathic dose of those aspects can actually serve them. Our session started with a beautiful, soulful fire-lighting ritual where we called in our personal inner guides or trusted sources and lit the fire with a spark from each of our flames.
Here are some of the highlights of this call.
- Offered a brief review and discussion of some key concepts and perspectives on“shadow”. For example, how is shadow defined? What’s in there? And why would we even want to go there?
- Experienced a real-time exercise to identify some of our own potential shadow aspects
- Explored the impact of not having access to these disowned or repressed qualities
- Flipped some of our shadow aspects upside down to reveal our strengths and go-to strategies
We had an engaging and revealing discussion about what might be possible if we can appreciate and allow for both sides of contrasting sets of qualities. In essence, we experienced what it might be like to live in a paradigm that embraces “humanity’s divine potential” – and why this is essential work for those who choose to co-create a new paradigm that allows for that.
Resources and Next Steps
Here are some Resources and Actions that will support you in taking this topic even deeper:
- “Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche” and “Inner Gold” by Robert A. Johnson
- “Meeting the Shadow” by Connie Zweig et al.
- “The Dark Side of the Light Chasers” by Debbie Ford
- Continue to explore and evolve your work to regain appreciation and access to the potential shadow aspects you’ve identified … and more – using whatever ways you use to do your best inner work.
- Notice when you are triggered/reactive and judging people (good and bad). Write down the qualities you’re judging that make you so reactive and add them to your shadow suspects list to work with.
- Play “Shadow of the Day” – Intentionally take one of your shadow aspects into your day. Notice when other people are using this quality in purposeful, non-reactive ways. Try using a homeopathic dose purposefully and notice what happens. Journal about that at the end of the day and catch any insights and shifts.
- Check out the “True Purpose® Institute’s Reunion themed “Living Heaven on Earth” this August
6/7/23: “The Shadow: Doorway to Embrace Humanity’s Divine Potential?”
Wasundhara Joshi
Our June Gathering for Change Agents was a powerful exploration of the shadow through two paradigms: Jungian and yogic. To set the stage, we were supported through our fire lighting ceremony by two complementary energies: Sri Aurobindo and Mira Alfassa.
Our guest facilitator, Wasundhara (Wasu) Joshi, shared her knowledge and wisdom about these paradigms and how the concepts of what we call “shadow” are perceived through each. Wasu then led one participant through a deeper exploration of her shadow, which provided an opportunity for all of us to expand our insights together.
Jung believed that “everything of substance casts a shadow.” In this paradigm of shadow, we hide the parts of ourselves that we don’t want to show people. This can extend to families and other entities as well. If you’re not in control of the shadow, the shadow is in control of you.
By contrast, in the yogic paradigm of shadow and consciousness, there are five layers of densities. The physical is the most dense, and the divine is the least dense. In this way of looking at shadow, we learn to recognize not only the part, but where the part resides. This context is important. Integrating and organizing our parts and our different layers of our body around the central axis of the divine is as important— it is “the purpose”. From here we can recognize our real purpose and work with that.
“In order to connect with the divine,” Wasu said, “we must accept all of humanity—all of what is possible for us in its entirety. Once we can do that, we can connect with the divine and build a better world.”
Wasundhara has an MD in Paediatrics following which she pursued an interest in Neonatology. She served as a Lecturer in the Department of Neonatology for 10 years. She has co-founded two NGO’s and served on their board and held the role of Executive Director. (SNEHA, Mumbai, and Action Against Hunger India).
Being curious to understand how to bring about behaviour change led her to study change management in systems and the people, She studied behavioral science, became a professional member of ISABS (www.isabs.org) and later earned certifications in Change Facilitation (Organization Change Facilitation Program), Transformational coaching (www.leadershipthatworks.com) and Appreciative Coaching (https://www.fielding.edu/). She is a faculty with LTW India for their Coach Training program . She has been interested in the power of varied paradigms of change, studying the science and philosophy of Yoga, and Jung. She has an MSc in Yoga & Yoga Therapy and works at the intersection of Coaching, Yoga , Psychology, and Modern medicine in her quest to bring health to all.
Wasundhara specializes in the use of Appreciative Inquiry as a method for both coaching and organization change. She has been engaged by many corporate and social sector organizations for consulting in the field of change management, leadership development, personal growth and executive coaching. She is a director with the boutique consulting firm ChangeWorks India (http://www.changeworksindia.com).
Resources and Next Steps
Here are some Resources and Actions that will support you in taking this topic even deeper:
- Wasu is a director with the boutique consulting firm ChangeWorks India
(http://www.changeworksindia.com). - Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark side of Human Nature. Edited by Connie Zweig and Jeremiah Abrams (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/349600/meeting-the-shadow-by-connie-zweig/)
- The Shadow Effect: Illuminating The Hidden Power of Your True Self. Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford, Marianne Williamson (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadow-effect-deepak-chopra/1100050546)
- Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: R L Stevenson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Case_of_Dr_Jekyll_and_Mr_Hyde)
- The Picture of Dorian Gray: Oscar Wilde (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray)
- Our Many Selves. Practical Yoga Psychology: Selections from the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Compiled by A S Dalal. Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, Pondicherry. (Available at https://www.sabda.in/)
- The Synthesis of Yoga. Sri Aurobindo (https://www.sabda.in/)
- Check out the “True Purpose® Institute’s Reunion themed “Living Heaven on Earth” this August
5/3/23: “Paradigms & Parts; Mapping a Path for Compassion, Harmony and Purposeful Transformation.”
Beth Scanzani
“Owning our story
and loving ourselves through that process,
is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do.”
– Brené Brown
We all have stories! Joyful stories, sad stories, scary stories, heart-warming stories, shared stories and stories we’re sure… no one else has ever experienced. Our stories are like magnificent threads that create the fabric of our identity, beliefs, fears, longings, strategies and life experiences.
If I ask you to tell me one of your most memorable life stories,
which “part” of you will be narrating the story?
What perceptual lenses or filters are shaping the “story” that part tells?
What if you asked a different part of you to tell the same story?
Different parts/selves in you – perceive you, other people, life and the world through their own unique lenses, filters… aka “paradigms’. Paradigms are composed of inborn, learned (and mostly unconscious) beliefs, values, needs, fears, strategies and goals that help you navigate your life. By design, they provide benefits such as efficiency, belonging and safety while, at the same time, limiting your ability to see, experience and appreciate what’s outside of that particular paradigm.
On this call, we traveled deeper into the layers of our 2023 theme, “Paradigms and Possibilities; Embracing Humanity’s Divine Potential”. Our guide, Beth Scanzani, led us into an exploration of the topic of paradigms from the perspective of inner parts/selves, in a session titled “Paradigms & Parts; Mapping a Path for Compassion, Harmony and Purposeful Transformation”. Beth Scanzani is a highly respected and multi-faceted transformational coach, teacher and speaker. A lifelong student and curious soul, she has enjoyed exploring and integrating a wealth of knowledge, resources, and strategies that draw upon a wide range of psychological, scientific, and spiritual teachings. Prior to her transition into teaching and coaching in support of evolving consciousness, Beth enjoyed a successful career as a human resources executive in the high tech and healthcare industries. See Beth’s full bio below.
This call included a revealing and very useful guided active imagination to reveal essential elements of paradigms – for a set of contrasting parts. Participants had the opportunity to connect with both an ‘ally’ and a ‘resistor’ part – with regard to a purposeful initiative that participants are working on (or trying to get started on) currently.
This methodology offers an invaluable way to get to know your parts and… also provides a very useful foundation for holding and appreciating and accessing opposite perspectives and qualities and creating inner transformation, if that’s purposeful.
As an agent of purposeful change, your ability to recognize, appreciate and purposefully shift your paradigms, and help your clients do this too, is invaluable in creating sustainable transformation. Since all paradigms hold aspects of what’s important and “true” – the answer to the question
“What’s right in a given moment?”, is relative to which paradigm is operating.
What could be possible if more and more people could upgrade their agility
to move from the paradigm of “right vs wrong” to “this and that”?
What if we use our deeper understanding of seemingly opposing paradigms
to synthesize new paradigms that hold what’s most important to ‘both, and’?
Resources and Next Steps
Here are some Resources and Actions that will support you in taking this topic even deeper:
- The paradigm mapping we did on the live call was a great beginning – and we encourage you to continue to connect with these 2 parts (and others). You can use this “Paradigm Mapping for Parts – with Guidance” pdf, along with the guided active imagination on the session’s recording to identify elements of your part’s paradigm.
- Try this paradigm mapping process with other contrasting parts’ paradigms. Imagine what it’s like to be “living” in that paradigm and also, notice how neither paradigm on its own is completely true or sustainable.
- “Embracing Ourselves” by Hal & Sidra Stone
- “The Art of Transformational Coaching” by Dr. Keith Merron
- Check out the True Purpose® Institute’s Reunion themed “Living Heaven on Earth” this August
4/5/23: Exploring Paradigms through a Kaleidoscope
Last month, speaker Tim Kelley shared some valuable information and insights about paradigms and why it’s especially important for change agents to understand the nature of paradigms and how to shift them. On this call, we dove deeper into the topic of paradigms.
Paradigms shape how we see reality, and what we hold to be true. In turn, they can limit or expand our possibilities.
Your Gathering Team hosted this month’s deeper exploration into how we create and hold on to our paradigms and how they hold us. We considered:
- What is a paradigm?
- What needs to be true to live in a paradigm?
- How do paradigms impact potentiality?
- How can we as change agents learn to identify and transform paradigms in service to embracing humanity’s divine potential?
You may have had some of your assumptions challenged, or your points of view expanded. Or perhaps you stayed in the same place as before. All are welcome and serve your individual and our collective awareness and capacity to create purposeful shifts in paradigms that no longer serve. This month’s call was another foundational step forward in an imperative exploration for change agents. As a result of our open and welcoming dialogues and small group explorations, we sparked some empowering realizations and questions that we will surely be reflecting on going forward.
In small groups, we explored 2 polar perspectives on a paradigm that governs one’s view of what it’s like to be a human in this world we share. One paradigm holds a world view that “The world is a safe place.” The other paradigm holds a world view that the world is not a safe place.” Here is some of what we heard as people shared what they discovered in small groups:
- In the paradigm of the world is safe, it’s easy to smile, love everyone, take action. There is a sense of freedom and possibility.
- Trust is healing.
- In the paradigm of the world is unsafe, there is inaction, separation, a desire for self-preservation. Yet some named the knowing that safety is possible motivated them to have it.
- We physically feel a difference in our bodies.
Of course, we left with some yet unanswered questions and curiosities that can be seeds of our continued evolution and possibilities as change agents:
- How do I journey with other people from their paradigm?
- How do we collectively bring our wisdom together? Shift paradigms together?
- What about the paradigms where leaders are intentionally creating a world that is unsafe?
This call felt like an opening to a rich exploration. Are we willing to stay with the unknown, and continue to explore? That is our invitation for the coming months.
3/1/23: Paradigms, Paradigms – What’s a Change Agent to Do?
Tim Kelley
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model
that makes the existing model obsolete.”
– Buckminster Fuller
What a fabulous launch we had for our 2023 Gathering theme, “Paradigms and Possibilities; Embracing Humanity’s Divine Potential”! We jump started our year-long exploration and excavation with Tim Kelley, founder of the True Purpose Institute and a co-founder of The Gathering and, as always, an insightful and provocative speaker on the topic of change agency.
This call was highly interactive and expansive! As Tim expressed it, paradigms are a way of seeing reality for communities who share them. They are extremely useful to humans. They create an invisible lens through which you view and experience the world – and help to simplify the overwhelming and otherwise confusing nature of reality. In the absence of paradigms, it’s hard to function. As such, they are intentionally limiting.
Paradigms are, by design, resistant to change. They provide a sense of safety, predictability and shared perspectives and values. It’s hard to see your own paradigms when you’re in them – and even harder when most of the people around you share the same paradigm. Imagine how hard it is to see and shift a global paradigm, not to mention what happens when deeply held paradigms begin to disintegrate without the safety net of a replacement paradigm.
Tim Kelley is a global change agent and internationally-renowned expert on higher purpose. He works with top leaders in many fields and countries to transform human institutions and evolve society to its new form. Tim’s methodology, True Purpose, has been featured internationally in magazines, newspapers and on television. Tim has trained over 1000 consultants, therapists and coaches in his methods and taught Voice Dialogue on three continents.
Tim has worked with hundreds of CEOs, including top leaders and executive teams from such companies as Nabisco, ING, Oracle, Lexmark and AOL. He formerly worked as a leader at Oracle, two levels below the CEO. He is the author of True Purpose and the bestselling co-author of three other books. Tim has commanded military organizations, including an amphibious assault craft unit, and is a retired Naval Reserve officer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from MIT.
What a rich, imperative and compelling topic for change agents,
who are called to facilitate purposeful change in this world we share!
Here are some Resources that you can check out to take this topic even deeper:
- Buckminster Fuller Institute: https://www.bfi.org/
- “Global Mind Change” by Willis Harman
- “Wicked Problems”
- Check out the True Purpose® Institute’s Reunion themed “Living Heaven on Earth” this August
2/1/23: Revealing 2023 Theme Possibilities
Our first Gathering call of 2023 was truly engaged, wonderfully connective and palpably energizing. We enjoyed some highly interactive conversations!
As promised, we announced our new theme for 2023… and that sparked a whole lot of ideas, insights and suggestions about how to co-create irresistible topics, speakers, tools and resources around our new theme. So what is our new theme? After lots of contemplation, conversation and check-ins with our trusted sources of guidance, here what we’ve got:
“Paradigms and Possibilities: Embracing Humanity’s Divine Potential”
And… what does that mean?? Take a moment and let these words infuse you. What thoughts, feelings and desires does this theme evoke in you? We generated some really cool insights and harvested lots of great ideas for irresistible 2023 topics and speakers!
Here’s just a tasting of what was present and offered in the group dialogue:
- Why is it important to understand and work with the integral dynamics between paradigms and possibilities?
- What limits change agents when it comes to perceiving, believing, experiencing advancing potentiality and possibility? What would be possible if we fully trusted that there are no limits; no limits on time, not on resources and no limits on possibilities…
- Quoting a participant “….When we think about paradigms or creating the ‘new’, we tend to deny or block the current paradigm. How can we as creators of this new paradigm learn how to honor what is working / what has worked so far, and also honor and let go of what is not working?” How do we “transcend and include?”
- And from another participant “I believe that we, as a species, are capable of absolutely anything. The destination of all this consciousness work… seems to be oriented around the idea of… how can we get to and stay in our imagination? This is what generative possibilities are about to me.”
- “What is the next phase of human evolution?
- Referencing TS Eliot ~ “… and after all the journeying… we arrive home and know the place for the first time.”
- What stops Change Agents from agility toggling between individual unique expressions – and embracing the full spectrum of divine potentiality? And what is possible from that place?
- “My strong resonance — the safety of love is how we’ll manifest the dream of humanity.”
- “The divinity is already in humanity. We’re spiritual divine beings having a human experience.”
And here’s a taste of the harvest of ideas for topics and speakers:
- Noel Nannup – Aboriginal elder – Dungu Kalini project
- Ahupuaʻ — Nicole Huguenin “Balance between Dreams and Deficits”
- Indigenous / first nation’s beliefs
- Poet Robert Moore, known as Red Hawk
- The liminal space
- Per Meyke’s divine feminine (The Alphabet vs. The Goddess is the book)
- Jean Houston, Lynn McTaggart
- Transforming Paradigms for Purposeful Change Agents
- What would you add?
One of our participants quoted from a poem by David Whyte which seems a perfect invitation and outro…
“What is real is almost always to begin with, hidden, and does not want to be understood
by the part of our mind that mistakenly thinks it knows what is happening.
What is precious inside us does not care to be known
by the mind in ways that diminish its presence.”
Your Gathering Hosts
About Beth Scanzani
Beth Scanzani is a highly respected and multi-faceted transformational coach, teacher and speaker. A lifelong student and curious soul, she has enjoyed exploring and integrating a wealth of knowledge, resources, and strategies that draw upon a wide range of psychological, scientific, and spiritual teachings. Prior to her transition into teaching and coaching in support of evolving consciousness, Beth enjoyed a successful career as a human resources executive in the high tech and healthcare industries.
True to her nature, Beth’s studies encompass a purposeful blend of psychological, scientific, and spiritual perspectives. She has attained numerous coaching certifications including True Purpose Coach™, Belief Closet™ Practitioner, Master Career Coach, Dream Coach™, iPEC Empowerment Coach™, Energy Leadership Coach™ and Theoretical Foundations of Coaching with David Rock. In addition, she is a trained facilitator and teacher of the Voice Dialogue™ process.
Beth is deeply passionate about sharing knowledge and strategies that create meaningful and sustainable transformation in service to co-creating a world that works for everyone. Beth has co-developed and/or co-taught many tele-seminars for the True Purpose Institute ™, the Shift Network and others including Voice Dialogue Mastery, Inner Harmony Practitioner Training, Evolving Beyond Your Wounds, Shadow Quest, Purposeful Coach Training, Blessing Yourself, Divine Guidance on Purpose and Purposeful Marketing. Beth also serves as a valued guide for those who wish to explore deeper meaning, insight and guidance through their sleeping dreams and waking life stories. She co-developed and teaches Stories from the Night Shift, a NASW CEU eligible seminar for therapists, coaches and other practitioners who want to increase their competence and confidence in accessing the treasures buried in sleeping dreams.
People who work with Beth value her insightful, strategic, fun and results-oriented coaching which helps them to achieve breakthrough results on short-term goals while simultaneously creating fundamental shifts that build a strong foundation for ongoing success and fulfillment, personally and professionally. Her eclectic approach and natural agility enable her to customize her coaching style, strategies and processes to help clients create a clear vision, navigate their way out of uncertainty and restrained momentum, and successfully achieve their desired outcomes.
Through her work as a teacher and coach, Beth demonstrates her dedication to providing transformative courses, workshops and coaching in service to those who are ready to reclaim their inner wisdom, embrace their life purpose and true nature, and wholly offer their unique gifts to others…and to the world we all share.
About Andy Swindler
Andy Swindler’s brings hearts together. He envisions a world that embraces healthy tensions to nurture dignity and agency for every person. Andy’s Chicago-based practice, Lead From Love, empowers conscious leaders and inclusive organizations to shift the dominant narrative from fear to love through an embodied expression of purpose and values.
He began his entrepreneurial journey at age 24, which led to owning a boutique digital marketing & software development company for 14 years until exiting at the end of 2016. Andy’s journey of studying human interaction and shepherding human flourishing now culminates in FeelReal, which he has incubated and evolved since 2007.
Andy is a Certified True Purpose® Coach & Consultant, Barrett Values Centre® Practitioner, Collaborative Operating System Consultant and Voice Dialogue™ Practitioner. He co-hosts The Gathering For Change Agents each month and is the Strategic Partnerships Chair for Conscious Capitalism Chicago Chapter. Andy speaks and writes on issues of equity and inclusion. He developed The Metamodel framework to visualize the alignment between more than 100 different conscious leadership, business and dialogue frameworks.
About Susan Alexander
Susan Alexander, PCC, is an executive and life coach with an extensive business background. She created her company Rosebud Coaching and Consulting to specialize in helping individuals to create new possibilities for their personal & professional life to fulfill their most important goals and aspirations. Her work focuses on individuals connecting with confidence and clarity to what’s most important to them (their purpose) and removing barriers of beliefs and assumptions that stand in the way of their full and authentic expression. Susan helps individuals be extraordinary leaders in all aspects of their lives. She coaches executives, managers and individuals with a special emphasis on the power of self-perception and communications and their impact on job performance.
She is a certified True Purpose Individual and Organizational Consultant. She is also certified in numerous instruments including Enneagram, Myers Briggs, Gallup Strengthsfinder, Conversational Intelligence, EQi, Positive Intelligence.
About Kawtar El Aloui
Kawtar El Alaoui. LL.B, PCC is the author of Unfolding Peace: 9 Leadership Principles to Create Cultures of Well-being, Belonging, and Peace. Kawtar is a conscious leadership coach, facilitator, mentor, and speaker. Her work supports conscious leaders in bringing humanity back to business and systems, with ease and flow. Kawtar’s clients appreciate and find tremendous value in her compassionate presence, deep listening and trauma informed, equity driven approach to changing people and systems. The shifts and healing tools Kawtar makes available for her clients and their teams enable them to stop forcing cultural transformation and start unfolding it.
Kawtar is passionate about bringing to light how cultural identities and beliefs impact our access to inner power and wholeness. She feels blessed to have lived in 5 countries, and travelled extensively around the world. She believes we are at an evolutionary threshold calling humanity to shed the belief in separation and step into oneness.
Kawtar is Faculty and Mentor with ICF accredited coach training school, Leadership That Works India, Trained True Purpose® Coach, Flow Consultant with Genius U, Team Member with the Spirit of Canada Initiative hosting conversations beyond division, and Leadership Advisor with She Did It! Elle a osé! in Canada.
Kawtar’s conscious leadership model weaves self-awareness, conscious communication and collaboration, conflict transformation, social equity, trauma-informed relating, and values and purpose driven decision making. She is the Founder and CEO of Conscious Togetherness, Inc. You can connect with Kawtar at enable@conscioustogetherness.com or through her website.