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Helena Clayton Newsletter - View this email in your browser

Leadership Developer • Facilitator • Writer

Welcome to the February 2020 Newsletter

January was a good month for love :-)

As the winning research in the Roffey Park Research Competition, I had an article published in HR Magazine which came out last month.

I also ran a session for an international team on the role love can play in in organisations and, while love is often a tricky topic to explore, this group really got it and soon started conversations about how more love would not only shift how things felt in the team but also impact the quality of their work. It felt good to see conversations about love be normalised in a large organisation.

I also spoke at #OneGreenGov on the (vital) role that love plays at a time of climate change and climate crisis. And it's that theme I've chosen for the main piece this month. My thoughts are really only forming on this subject, but I've made a start here, and have a feeling I'll be writing more on it in the coming months.

There's plenty more coming in 2020 - new research, for example - and this Newsletter will share some of what I'm researching, learning, thinking and writing about, as well as details of upcoming events I'm running or speaking at.

I hope you enjoy it and find stimulation and interest here. I'm always up for hearing about other people who are exploring similar territory. And please do share this Newsletter with others who might like it.

With love
Helena x

FEATURED THIS MONTH:

Some initial thoughts on the (vital) role love plays at a time of climate change.
A recommended read which knocked my socks off when I first read it and is a book that continues to inspire me.
Details of upcoming events and workshops in 2020

For more information please see below or visit my website. If you have any questions please do get in touch.

The vital role that love plays at a time of climate change

I was invited to speak at #OneGreenGov in Jan, a global event for the public sector to consider how it might address climate related issues. I said yes, and asked if I could talk about the role that love plays at a time of climate change and climate emergency. Because I thought I might be able to find one or two things to say and it would be an interesting thing to explore.

Wow. Once I started I couldn't stop.

So what you have here are some of my still-forming thoughts on the role that love can play when we're facing climate crisis and climate recovery, and how we need to respond. I could have written a lot more (and I will elsewhere) and more boldly (and I will) and definitely want to hear from you about my take on this as my thinking is very much still developing.

Here you go, see what you think ...

A recommended read

Margaret Wheatley's: Who Do You Choose To be

I'm sure you already know the work of Margaret Wheatley. I know her as an author and leadership thinker and have always drawn on her work in the leadership programmes I design and run. This book is by far and away the one I recommend most, and it also chimes with the main piece in this Newsletter, as you'll see.

It's an unsettling read, in many ways. And potentially not the most uplifting book. But I remember being so struck by a powerful feeling of optimism when I first read it, and again when I heard her speak a couple of times, and that feeling has never left me.

Her starting point is that western civilisation is collapsing, and we are already past the point of no return. She sees this, in part, as simply the inevitable cycle of the rise and fall of civilisations. So we're heading over the waterfall in a barrel.

Mmm. So how come my optimism, then? Well, it was the first time I read something (this was before Extinction Rebellion came on the scene, mind you) that told it exactly as it was. I found myself galvanised by that clarity - something inside me stepped up.

Wheatley goes on to talk about what can be done in the face of this certain collapse. And this I also found helpful and optimistic. Start local, she says. Just make sure that you create 'islands of sanity' around you so that we support each other. And if you create an island of sanity, and you do, and you, and also you… then we'll get through this in a much better place. So the idea of starting the work wherever you are, with whoever happens to be around you ... that's the work of leadership for the chaos we find ourselves in today. And I can work with that.

She says a lot more than that, of course. See what you think… Margaret Wheatley: Who Do You Choose To Be?

And you might wonder what this book has to do with love. Well, it’s peppered with words like compassion and humility, grace and community, generosity ... so it’s ALL about love ...

Forward

Upcoming Events

For full details on both these events and all other upcoming events, articles/interviews please visit my website by clicking here...

In 2020, I have several events and workshops coming up with dates and details to follow soon. These include:

20 February: speaking at a Housing Association Leadership Conference. A closed session.
23 and 24 April: a speaking slot and a workshop at the OD Network Europe Conference. Tickets available.
30 April: speaking at the Public Services People Management Association Conference 2020
25 June: a workshop at the 6th Relational Coaching Conference on 'Love over Fear' at Ashridge. Tickets available.

Let's Connect

If the idea of love in organisations interests you (or more interestingly if you think that love doesn't have a place in organisations...) come and explore it with me. You could hold a Learning Lunch session for your team on the role love might play in leadership - or run my 'Leading from Love' survey in your organisation. You might welcome a 1:1 session to explore your own relationship with love. Or take part in one of my Action Inquiry groups, exploring love in the workplace. Whatever, please do get in touch as I'd welcome the chance to explore this with you further.

Beyond that my leadership development work is all about conversations and relationships and building programmes that really open partcipants eyes to new ways of seeing and working. Whether you're interested in finding out more about that, want some good books recommendations, or can share your own experiences of developing leadership, it would be good to hear from you. I'm social too so you can follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn or connect via email. Or call me of course, whichever suits. I'd love to be in touch with you because who knows where a connection might lead.

Helena x

Email: helena@helenaclayton.co.uk
Call: 07771 358 881

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