Women Harnessing and Sharing Their Power

Yesterday I had the great fortune to work with 27 amazing women entrepreneurs from developing nations around the world through a Vital Voices partnership with Fortune and the U.S. State Department. Our session was the kick-off of an intense month in the U.S. for each of them as they work with high-powered mentors in their fields. One of the great strengths of the Vital Voices leadership model is that it emphasizes their responsibility to share what they learn when they return home and mentor other women in their own countries.

Each of these women has a unique and compelling story, whether she's from Kazakhstan, Bosnia, Burma, or Nigeria, and whether she's founded a nonprofit to help poor children, a mining company, or her own financial services organization. What was most striking, however, was how much these women, meeting one another for the first time, had in common. Each had strongly-held values about honesty, integrity, and helping others. Each felt called to "do more," had overcome extreme adversity, and yet remained enthusiastically optimistic.

These women are building a network among themselves and with the U.S. leaders they meet over the coming weeks that will expand their connections in unimaginable ways. Vital Voices has wisely applied the research on how "weak ties"--those we connect with beyond our immediate circle, are often the source of new ideas and opportunities.

These courageous women are the embodiment of connective change. In our opening session, they identified the traits of the best social systems they have experienced, and as you'd guess, in spite of their different backgrounds, they agreed on what makes a connective organization on any continent and in any industry--one characterized by trust, cooperation, encouragement, accountability, fairness, clear goals, and positive feedback.

I can hardly wait to see what impact each of them has as a result of her experiences in this program. Already successful, each will blossom in unexpected, positive ways. Thank you, Vital Voices, for again giving me the privilege of working with your amazing participants in this program.

Lessons from Share Our Strength

Billy Shore, the force behind Share Our Strength, that amazing organization that mobilizes people, nonprofits, and industries to end hunger in our country, shared the keys to their recent success. Their lessons apply to all nonprofits in this environment: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fow.ly%2F9oafw&h=fAQF6Gpk_AQHD9GZguJG3WUveWWh3evgwO_ExsDn20EO6_A

The Alexandria Waterfront

For the last six months, I facilitated meetings of the City of Alexandria-appointed Waterfront Plan Work Group. Because there was so much controversy about a plan for the waterfront developed over the last few years by City staff with citizen input, the City appointed this seven member Work Group to identify areas of agreement and disagreement and offer recommendations they believed could strengthen the plan and unify the community.

This morning at a press conference at City Hall, the Work Group released its report, which can be found on the City of Alexandria's website (along with videos of all of our meetings) or at http://bit.ly/sxiqpt

In spite of very differing views among members of the group, the Work Group's report does highlight some important areas of agreement as well as offers the City Council some specific suggestions for focusing their deliberations when they meet next month to consider approval of the plan.

This certainly was an opportunity for me to witness connective change in my own backyard. Citizens appointed to the Work Group were all volunteers, and it was fascinating to see how they worked with one another as well as with City staff to produce a report that would be useful to Council. Sadly, I also had a front row seat to some of the most uncivil behavior I've seen anywhere in the world, leaving me wondering if this is a microcosm of what is going on in communities throughout our country and hoping it's not a foreshadowing of things to come.

The Empowering of Women Leaders in the Middle East

All of the elements of Connective Change that I teach and write about are evident among the women leaders I am working with here in Amman. Although they come from a wide variety of cultures in the Middle East and North Africa, they share a passion for creating opportunities to increase women's economic opportunities throughout the region. They have formed a region-wide businesswomen's network to build the next generation of women business leaders and entrepreneurs.

Thomas Friedman's latest book, That Used to Be Us, is an astute analysis of how the United States has fallen from its admired position in the world, and why today's youth--for the first time in our nation's history-- cannot expect a higher standard of living or longer lifespan than their parents. Sometimes I think I can feel the resignation to this decline among neighbors, colleagues, and clients. This sense in America that the good life is unfairly and unfailingly eluding us seems particularly noticeable to me today. The first reason is that it's Veteran's Day and I have been reflecting on my mom's service as a WAC during WWII, as well as the values that she and others in her "greatest generation" imbued in us, their children.

The second reason this sense of pessimism about America's future is on my mind today is that there is such a different feeling here in the Middle East, especially among the women leaders with whom I am working. They are full of hope, vision, enthusiasm, courage, creativity, anticipation, and a deep belief that anything is possible. Their view could be summarized as That's Going to Be Us, because they have a shared vision, seem to have found their own voices, and are set on participating fully and authentically in the economic, political, and social changes that are reshaping this region.

These leaders are not trying to mimic the US, or anyone else. Their approach, forged from their own histories and cultures, is truly connective--dedicated to being inclusive, transparent, ethical, entrepreneurial, and constructive. As these women leaders grow their regional network, the positive impact of their work will cascade throughout their families, communities and the entire region. I look forward to witnessing the results they create together.

Women Leading Connective Change in the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) Region

Being back in Jordan to continue work with the MENA Businesswomen's Network, I am in awe of the intelligence and tenacity of these women. Business leaders and entrepreneurs from 10 countries, they are dedicated to helping more women become business leaders and entrepreneurs, contributing substantially to the economic vibrancy of their communities and the entire region.

As I am in the process of writing a book about Connective Change--choices that link people to one another in pursuit of shared, positive goals--it is so affirming to witness Connective Change as the natural style among these amazing women. With so many obstacles to overcome, they doggedly focus on the positive and the good--what CAN be done if they remain clever, collaborative and creative. It is a gift to be in their presence and drink in their enthusiasm for what is possible as well as their celebration of what has already been achieved.

Thank you, Vital Voices, for providing me the opportunity to share with and learn from these diverse and determined women. I was asked at lunch what makes me happy. Without hesitation, I replied that feeling relevant makes me happy. And being here, coaching these leaders, without a doubt makes me feel both useful and happy.

Dr. Abdi--Mother Theresa meets Rambo

Last night I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Hawa Abdi and her daughter, who have worked tirelessly since 1983 to save Somalis. Today they run a camp for 19,000 refugees. The situation they describe is incredibly desperate, yet they continue to serve. They are truly models of working with absolute devotion to purpose and harmony. Where chaos and violence reign just outside their camp, they work with few resources to save lives. Look for Newsweek's feature story of Dr. Abdi on Monday and please support her work if you can. 100% of contributions go directly to their work:http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=IIP90Ol%2FnyhTw0GVZtu50C86y9w7enCr

Practicing Resiliency and Gratitude

When I came home to my cottage last night, I noticed pine branches littering my driveway, preventing me from being able to enter. Once I made my way up the cottage, I noticed a screen blown out of the porch door and a 40 pound plant moved across the porch. Hmmm.

I turned on a few lights and discovered heavy metal furniture had been tossed right off the deck. Uh-oh. I straightened up the best I could in the dark, looking forward to hearing from my neighbors in the morning about what kind of gust must have come through to create such a mess.

This morning, I awakened to a yard littered with fallen trees—fallen and transported from someone else’s property! (see photo) My neighbors reported that we were the lucky ones. Further down the island, boats had been blown out of the water and crushed into buildings, trees ripped from the ground and hurled through the air--one with such force that it went in one side of a building and out the other. They won't have phone service or power for a while.

That put today’s unplanned cleanup into perspective. Nobody injured. Even my osprey and barn swallow babies all survived. Just a real mess. Something I could handle.

As I was clearing debris, I couldn’t help thinking about how often this happens in organizations. Some unexpected storm blows in, you discover in stages how widespread the damage is--and then you have to put it into perspective, clean it up, and move on. This takes resiliency, and it is essential in these stormy times for both individuals and organizations. My colleague Al Siebert, author of The Survivor Personality, believes that resiliency can’t be taught, but it can be learned. I used today’s cleanup activities as practice in resiliency and gratitude that my damage hadn't been worse.

As you work toward building connectivity and achieving greater purpose and harmony in your organization, don’t forget to practice resiliency and gratitude. They will serve you well the next time an unexpected storm hits. And, hey, if you recognize the lob lolly pine in the photo as yours, contact me to claim it before I get to clearing that section!