Dear Friends,
There is something that always catches me a little off guard about this time of year. The chill that creeps into the air, the shorter days, the changing leaves that remind us that there is a season for all things.
All seasonal changes mark a transition of some sort, but the transition of summer into fall somehow always feels like change is in the air. This time of pandemic has had the odd effect of immersing us in an experience of constant change while also making it feel like time is somehow standing still.
The stresses of the last year are being felt broadly and many leaders are confronting their own transitions—everywhere we turn we are having conversations about succession, and leadership transitions, and cultivating the next generation of leaders. As more and more organizations take seriously the importance of cultivating diverse teams, we are helping them share strategies for understanding, cultivating and championing excellence in equity and diversity.
Meanwhile, we are all also navigating our own re-emergence. This summer, two of our team members participated in an Easing Back to Life program with our partners at the Center for Nature and Leadership and were reminded that we often hold the key(s) to change within ourselves if only we can find the space to listen.
Even as we navigate this most immediate set of disruptions, we marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11 this month. I think that most of us who lived through that day knew that things would always be somehow forever changed going forward, but the ripples of that day and the series of events it both punctuated and precipitated have been far-reaching.
I have spent most of these last 20 years exploring, understanding, and reimagining what the future can look like. If you missed it earlier, you can read some of my thoughts on the leadership and organizational challenges and opportunities I see, especially for Mission-driven leaders. While we love helping our clients and partners design and build bridges to a better future, we also take these commitments to heart ourselves and have spent much of the last year intentionally evolving our systems to support the tomorrow we are building. Two weeks ago, our team gathered (safely) for the first time since the pandemic began and both enjoyed the connection and appreciated the firmness of the foundation we have been building together.
However the winds of change are blowing where you are, we hope you are also taking time to restore, renew, and re-imagine what will be possible when we succeed in building the future we are dreaming.
