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Helena Clayton Newsletter - View this email in your browser

Leadership Developer • Facilitator • Writer

Welcome to the March 2020 Newsletter

So February passed in a blur...

I ran a wonderfully engaged and dynamic session for a group of leaders - from solicitors' firms, youth charities, housing - on my Love and Leadership research and explored what could be possible if there was more love in their organisations, why love is so problematic for us, and what it looks like in practice. The host, ella Forums, is a rare organisation as they have Love as one of their core values. So good to see.

Also spent a few days on the Isle of Wight supporting this powerful men's workshop. Whenever I take part, and I aim for twice a year, it reminds me of what matters most - human connection, compassion, trust. The weekend is usually a roller-coaster of emotions for everyone and it's here that I 'clean up my stuff' and (re)learn about love. It's all about love. You can read more about this further in the Newsletter.

And I set up the next phase of my research: a series of interviews with senior leaders about them, their organisations - and love. Four booked in, six planned and I'll share more with you in a month or so.

I hope you enjoy the two posts I've included here. The first on Love as Intentional Practice. And the second, Where I Learned About Love talks about three places that have been SO instrumental in teaching me about love.

As ever, I hope you find stimulation and interest here. And please do share this Newsletter with others who might like it.

With love
Helena x

FEATURED THIS MONTH:

Love as Intentional Practice explores the view that love is a choice we make - love is 'exclusively an act of will and commitment’ and ‘a choice we make over and over again'. It’s not something that suddenly strikes us but rather an intentional disposition towards another person, an orientation that we choose. And also something we can learn to get better at.
When I interview senior leaders about love and leadership, I start by asking 'what has shaped you in relation to love?. And so I share here three places that have shaped me in relation to love and that I feel so grateful to have experienced
And as ever, details of upcoming events and workshops in in the next few months.

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

Love as Intentional Practice

I have been thinking a lot about choice and the view that we can't do much about what happens to us but we can choose how to respond. There's often a danger that that can sound trite. There can sometimes be the sense of 'well, just change your attitude' as if it's easily done if we try hard, make an decent effort or if we want it enough. But I'm under no illusion that's the case. Not least because when we look at the layers and layers of unconscious feelings, the echoes of past experiences that are still lingering in the corners of our minds, the places where we hurt or hold grudges or are fearful … it seems that learning to change our mind and make conscious choices in way that breaks patterns of years and maybe a lifetime is one of the most difficult things we can do.

And so that's my jumping off point as I explore love as choice and intentional practice here. See what you think ....

Love, and what has shaped me

As I say, I've started a series of interviews with senior leaders, exploring love in their leadership. One of the questions I ask is a version of 'what has shaped you to enable you to talk about love in relation to your leadership?'. Or sometimes 'how did you learn about love in your life?' The answers to those questions are many and varied and nothing ever less than fascinating.

I'm in the process of writing a piece that explores my own responses to those questions. But in the meantime, here are three things that have shaped me over the last 15 years. Without these three influences, there's no way I'd be doing this work exploring love. The debt of gratitude I owe to all three ... well, it just can't be underestimated.

And as you're reading, maybe think about what you'd say in relation to that question...where did you learn about love?

Here it is ...

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 the next few months, I have a few things coming up, including:

23 and 24 April: a Keynote Speech and an Experiential Workshop at the OD Network Europe Conference. Some tickets still available, I think.
1 April: a worskshop at the Public Services People Management Association Conference 2020 in Manchester.
25 June: an experiential workshop at the 6th Relational Coaching Conference on 'Love over Fear' at Ashridge, exploring how we create the conditions for love to emerge in a coaching relationship. 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.

Helena x

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

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