Leadership is such a central topic in the world, as more and more of us are committing to finding alternatives for life and cooperation over hierarchy and domination. We can observe this within the explorations of horizontal and participative methods of decision-making and knowledge-sharing, with sociocracy for example, as it’s the case in NextGEN’s organisation.
An ecosystem of possibilities is manifesting itself through occasions for passing on learnings and multiplying them through personal experiences and community gatherings.
In the month of August I (Joanne) participated in the Erasmus+ training “Leader in me”, supported by the Yes to Sustainability network and hosted by Zavod Veles, in Svinjsko, a village located in eastern Slovenia.
During the 8 days of the training the facilitators Petra Jazbec and Jošt Kozelj accompanied our group in the exploration of inner leadership and ways to take it in the world, both inspired by the observation and mimicking of natural patterns.
The training was substantially divided in two parts, the first one exploring our inner worlds and the second inviting for practice and sharing.
A theme that has guided the beginning has been solitude, as a tool for connecting to our deeper realities and getting in touch with our inner resources. The dialogue between sensing and observing has personally been very insightful, especially in detaching from expectations and insecurities that come with human interaction and stepping into the secure resourcefulness that I perceived from the contact with the more-than-human world. It’s been insightful to exercise the ability to perceive and be perceived in ways other than words, through authentic movement, silence and holding space by being an attentive witness to the process.
Challenging one’s limits and sitting with discomfort have also been central to the experience: being in the lead and holding space means commitment and responsibility towards others, in the same way that participating actively does. Being able to explore both sides of involvement has been a precious gift of realisation and experimentation, that activated in many of us the curiosity of stepping into the shoes of the space-holder.
On top of all of this, the training takes inspiration from the Dragon Dreaming methodology, and is in fact part of a broader program developed by the facilitators, which happens on a yearly basis and encompasses four training courses: Dragon Dreaming, Leader in me, Art of facilitation and Let’s celebrate. My feeling is that this structure gives the possibility to cultivate relationships inside the group and as a group over a longer period of time and with the prospect of future encounters, which may give rise to deeper knowledge of each other, development and embodiment of the group culture and collaborations within the network.
I find it inspiring to see how abstract frameworks can be translated into reality and possibility by the means of intentional partnership and principled action.
The space at Veles Farm felt inviting for connection and fostered the feeling of community inside the group. In this, it was important also to define and share responsibilities for the time of the project such as:
In my view, it makes sense that project be supported by the efforts of the community for it to be truly sustainable, especially when it’s many people coming together, adding on to an otherwise smaller nucleus, as in this case.
It goes without saying that sharing meals and resting time together has been a joy and a heart warming occasion to experience life under yet another perspective, thanks to this unique constellation of people! It’s been enriching to interact with the cooking team and the people living at Veles as well, getting to know more of the history of the place and picking up bits and pieces of daily life on the farm: it felt that the training was not only touching the level of knowledge but the one of practice as well.
As already mentioned before, alone time and personal reflection also played a part in the structure of the training, making it so that we, as participants, were invited to find and experiment with our inner balance between sharing and integrating. I truly appreciated the efforts in this sense, as they made for a more balanced and harmonious experience.
Now, after processing and integration, it seems like the learnings from the training are making their way into our lives and communities. Some are sharing through websites and social media, reaching new eyes and awakening interest, while others are organising events and workshops in their organisations, putting their experience at service of other efforts of creation.
It is with excitement that I look forward to the next part of the journey, deepening my knowledge about holding space with the Art of facilitation training, which will be taking place in November hosted by a partner organisation in Slovenia.
Stay close to discover what’s next!
More on the training and on the organisation: