When we feel lost and overwhelmed by all that needs to get done in a day or are continuing to suffer from some PTSD related to COVID-19, we must be open to transformation. Often, when we talk about personal or organizational change, we commonly use the following words: change, transformation, evolution, continuous improvement, and transition. The list is long and we interchange these words routinely.
In the world of organizational transformation, change happens first in the strategic nexus and from there it radiates out into the 4 pillars, namely, people, structure, systems and culture. Hopefully, this results in improvements in efficiency, effectiveness and stakeholder satisfaction. Often the focus is on transforming systems to help the business run better. This results in a change in processes which are what makes the “new” or “transformed” systems run better.
But in the world of personal transformation, namely a change in mind, body, social/emotional or spirit, one rarely wakes up and says, “today I am going transform my life.” Most of the time, something happens and “Boom!”, we are rocketed into a transformation. I think at that moment of time we are more often stunned or shocked into a transformation.
For example, one day I was traveling out west following the Maps program on my phone. As I started to drive forward at an intersection, not realizing that the light was red, a car from my left narrowly missed hitting me. I am stunned by my lack of attention. My phone said go forward and I was attempting to do just that.
Another example from my life journey was having a significant health scare and realizing that I was taking too many people in my life for granted. I was living a life focused on getting things done, not connecting with people.
The examples are endless. The impact is significant. The problem is time. And the realization that a transformational insight or epiphany can wear off. We all can fall back into habitual patterns.
For me, at moments like that I realize I am “sleep walking through life”. I recognize that I have stopped growing. I recognize that I am not really open to transformation except through the most shocking of experiences.
When I say “be open to transformation”, I am encouraging us to commit to being open to changing our perspective, to being open to changing the way we live, and to being open to more wholeness in our lives and less fragmentation.
In essence, I am challenging all of us to live in such a way that people will be moved by our words and our actions. If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it has taught us that life is short and precious.
Our words and our actions are powerful. We want them to communicate that we are humble, faithful, and bold, i.e. as in doing the right things. We need to remember that our boldness comes from our ability to be present to what is happening and to role model consciously rather than unconsciously. Part of this boldness means that we need to find our voice.
I wrote about finding our voice back in the spring of 2018. As Stephen Covey wrote in his book, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness (Free Press, 2004), the 8th Habit is to “find your voice and inspire others to find theirs.” As he notes, your voice is the nexus of talent, passion, need and conscience (that still small voice within that assures you of what is right and that prompts you to actually do it).
I have continued to think about “finding our voice.” Here is a long quote that has inspired me as I have reflected on this subject:
“…. finding our voice, finding a way to speak with our lives. It is potentially rich but too seldom tapped … I first understood this from Parker Palmer’s book Let Your Life Speak. Vocation, he clarified, is rooted in the Latin for “voice.” As he put it, “[V]ocation is not the goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear. Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am”.
Longing for a true home, this is vocation. Finding a way to that home is a journey toward understanding who I am. At its essence, home provides a sense of place. Vocation is the same. Knowing who you are is finding where you are, as in “I have a sense of my place in this world.” We often seek our sense of place by what we do professionally. This is where the confusion comes that links vocation with work, jobs, and titles. But it is not a profession. It is definitely not “work” and even less a “job.” Vocation is knowing and staying true to the deep voice. Vocation stirs inside, calls out to be heard, to be followed. It beckons us home. When we live in a way that keeps vocation within eyesight and earshot, like the needle of a compass, vocation provides a sense of location, place, and direction. This is why we may say to friends as a deep compliment of appreciation for their genuine acceptance, “I feel comfortable here with you. I can just be myself. I feel at home.”
People who are close to home no matter where they live or travel or what work they do are people who walk guided by their voice. They are voicewalkers…. they always are within earshot of home.” - John Paul Lederach
As part of the process of finding our voices and feeling at home, we need to speak our fears, listen to the fears of others, share our vulnerabilities and as a result, discover our common ground and our common journeys. Jonathan Sacks writes: “The greatest single antidote to violence is conversation, speaking our fears, listening to the fears of others, and in that sharing of vulnerabilities discovering a genesis of hope.”
This week, I encourage you to find your voice and to speak your truth.
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