It was one of those stunningly beautiful late autumn days–bright sunshine, unusually warm for early December yet still a crispness in the air. The leaves are all gone from the trees so that we can see deep into the wetlands forest behind our house. There’s something magical about that, and indeed it promised to be a magical day.
Guests were coming for Sunday brunch–a special group of friends who are all doing wonderful transformational work in the world in their own ways. I had been so looking forward to this day because I knew that our table conversation would be rich, provocative, and inspiring. Indeed it was all of those things. We sat down to the table shortly before 1 pm and were there until 4! It was the perfect example of what can happen when you bring together the right combination of people and hold an intention that something wonderful will happen. The food was barely passed to everyone before one of the guests introduced a topic, and off we went. Three hours later, we had talked about enlightenment, manifestation, discovery, teaching, creating space, the evolution of spiritual teaching, the gifts of travel in Egypt, the steps for young musicians to make their career, and so much more. Ideas had been sparked, questions had been asked, and best of all, no one at the table felt a need to draw a conclusion or form a consensus. It was just open space for ideas, inspiration, and discovery to flow. And we all learned something because that particular group had come together for a Sunday brunch.
What happened around our dining room table is something we need more of in transformational leadership–a place for ideas to flow without judgment, for questions to be asked without pressing for a definitive answer, and for curiosity and discovery to be the driving force. When those are the only “ground rules,” amazing things can happen. Each person may come away with something different from what was said and heard, yet everyone comes away with what was important for them in that moment. Each person at the table then goes back to their lives–their leadership–with a new perspective, new inspiration, and perhaps even an entirely new approach to something they’ve been working toward. Oh yes, and we also enjoyed fabulous food!
When was the last time you gathered a particular combination of people, held the intention that rich and inspiring dialogue would be shared, and trusted that new thoughts, awareness, and inspiration would be the result?
