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The current financial and
ecological crises have prompted me to consolidate my self growth programs and
to also reconsider the tone of these programs. I have the feeling that people
within the self growth movement have not faced up to the revolutionary nature
of the crises we face and the impact that they will have on the next decade.
I am worried about the tone
of much of the self growth material that seems to be very “ego self centered
based” rather than on how self growth will need to be more socially focused
where the emphasis is upon common goals and service. I don’t deny that the provision of service does not rank high with
the self growth community. My concern is with the tone of the material that
comes out of the self growth community. It seems to me that we need to develop
programs that will allow everyone to enjoy the positive features of a modern
civilization, but in ways that are compatible with the laws of nature.
The Earth and its ecosystems
are the primary system. The economy and the way we make a living is a
sub-system of the primary system. We will all need to bring our activities
within the limits of the Earth’s ecosystems.
It means that we will need to
redefine our ambitions and what it means to be successful and grow as people.
Amassing wealth, while a necessary requirement to live decently, seems to me to
be indecently emphasized. I am very conscious, however, that there is no
dignity in being poor.
I have been a student of the
workplace for many years and the changes that have occurred over the last two
decades have transformed the workplace beyond recognition. Thomas L Friedman in
his book “The World is Flat: The Globalized World of the Twenty First Century”. By flat Friedman refers to the convergence of three forces arising out the
micro-electronics revolution and the Internet that has enables many millions of
people to enter the global economy and where many have been lifted out of
poverty.
The flattening of the global
economy has seen countries like China, India, Russia and Brazil just to mention the most spectacular, grow their
economies at a bewildering rate, and if their rate of growth continues at
anything like the current rate then the Earth’s ecosystem services will be
overwhelmed.
The flattening of the global
economy has also had a profound impact on the organization of work leading to
the creation of a very different workplace. I know from my work that very few
people are equipped to do the work of collaboration, orchestrating teams of
workers, organizing inter-firm supply chains and creating innovative solutions
for fellow workers and customers. This is the critical work of the modern
workplace. There is, even in the face of the current crisis a major problem for
firms to attract people with the talents needed to do this critical higher
level work of the modern workplace.
I don’t want to go on about
global warming, climate change and ecological degradation. The story is quite
gloomy, but it is filled with enormous opportunities for people to grow
themselves through joining the green economy movement and repairing the earth’s
ecosystems and helping the Earth heal itself at the same time.
The signs are that a green
economy revolution is likely to get underway and in order to play a small part
in this revolution I have consolidated my programs around three themes.
The first of these programs
deals with the seven secrets of the modern workplace. These are seven secrets
that people need to know about in order to be part of the green economy
revolution. These seven secrets help people unlock the door to see and be part
of the unlimited possibilities that a green economy revolution offers.
The second theme relates to
the issue of consciousness and the program is aimed at helping people develop
an ecological consciousness that will enable them to live in harmony with a
different world where honoring the Earth and all living forms is the central
driving force of the consciousness. We will not develop a green world simply
through technologies, a significant number of people will need to be
ecologically conscious in a real sense.
The third theme is based
around training people to use the CMI suite of programs to spread throughout
the world the seven secrets and the consciousness required for a green world.
One of the major aims of the
CMI seven secrets program is to unmask these secrets and at the same time help
you play a significant part in helping bring about the new era. Another aim is
to help each and everyone understand the secrets and thereby unlock their
unlimited possibilities in relation to a green revolution.
High performance work refers
to tasks involving coordinating the activities of other workers, in
collaborating to achieve complex outcomes across supply chains and in
developing creative and innovative ways of meeting the needs of other workers
and customers. If your business or career is going to advance beyond the
technical domain then you will need to be able to undertake this type of work.
Being able to do this sort of work requires people who are able to communicate
complex ideas, who can inspire others to achieve seemingly impossible targets
and who are able to grasp the infinite nature of possibilities that they
confront in the ordinary course of their work.
Well what do the seven
secrets cover?
The first secret is aimed at
helping you live fully aware moment by moment so that you are able to adjust
your actions in real time as events unfold. This means that you are able to
treat everything that arises as an opportunity to learn and make the most of every
moment.
It means that your life then
becomes a field of infinite possibilities. This helps you become more creative
and innovative.
Very few people are aware of
this secret, but given an ever increasingly complex workplace unlocking this
secret opens many doors to career and business advancement.
The second secret is learning
how to take full responsibility for the choices you make. This is the secret to
living as a full participant in the game of life rather than as a victim of
circumstances.
The third secret is gaining
mastery of your emotions so that they become an ally in helping you adjust to
the fortunes of life. All emotions even emotions like anger and fear have their
place in our lives. The secret here is to use the energy of the full range of
emotions as a positive influence rather than being a prisoner of your feelings.
The fourth secret is learning
how to turn a crucial conversation where opinions differ, where the stakes are
high and where emotions run hot into a positive outcome. This means being able
to tell your truth without offending others, even when you disagree with them.
Most people when confronted by a crucial conversation become aggressive or
withdraw rather than buy a fight. This results in bitterness and bruised
relationships, not to mention a likely unsatisfactory outcome. This secret is
one that master collaborators know about.
The fifth secret is learning
how to turn disagreement into the best decision even if it means giving up a
cherished position when a better argument is presented. This is about skilful
negotiation where the best decision is the goal rather than winning an argument
to save face.
The sixth secret is about
making promises and honoring those promises. This secret ensures that things
get done efficiently and effectively and good relationships are preserved.
The seventh secret is to know
that the field of work you are involved in is compatible with your talents and
interests. This is about unlocking the secret of your talent cluster and the
things you are most interested in.
We urge you to think
carefully about each of these secrets and the difference that they would make
if they became the basis of the way in which you live your life.
You would approach everything
that arises in your life as brimming with infinite possibilities and be open to
exploring a wide range of alternatives. You would identify with the best
outcome and wouldn’t feel threatened if alternative ideas were proposed. Indeed
you would welcome them.
You would become someone who
accepts the responsibility totally for the choices you make. This enables you
to be a full participant in life and not seeking excuses through the “rub and
the green”.
Your emotions would become
your friends and you would be able to use the energy of the emotions to make
good decisions and not be held captive to unwelcome feelings and regrets.
You would be able to tell the
truth, even in the face of opposition and do it in a way that does not offend
or put others down. You would have the negotiation skills to seek the best
decision and you would not feel you lost face if your view was not accepted.
You would make promises that you can honor and people would trust your word.
This would give a great deal of integrity in the eyes of others.
Moreover you would be doing
work that fits in with your talent cluster and your real interests. We are
constantly amazed about the number of people who are struggling to do work that
does not fit with where their natural talent lies.
From our experience in the
field of work organization we know that very few people could sign up to the
capacities that the seven secrets hide. You are now about to learn about the
seven secrets and transform your life to one of infinite possibilities.
The second theme of my consolidated programs deals
with the development of ecological consciousness. One of the most important
features of the green economy will be balancing the production of natural
resources for consumption to nature’s capacity to regenerate natural resources.
This in plain language means adjusting our consumption to the levels that
nature can regenerate.
For too long we have consumed far more than the
ecosystem services can provide and the result has been rampant environmental
degradation. As a species we have had an insatiable demand for more and more
and more. And yet we are no happier as a species than when we were much less
well off. Bringing about this balance is probably an even bigger challenge than
creating the technical side of the green revolution, and this is a really big
challenge on its own.
If the increasing population of the world desires to
consume the same level of stuff as the developed world that includes the United
States and my own country of New Zealand we will need three planet Earths. This
is clearly not possible and gives some indication of the scale of the challenge
that we face.
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I believe there is hunger for change and I am hopeful enough to think
that it will involve a grand new era. I believe that there is a spirit of hope
and optimism right around the world that the election of President Obama
signifies. It is a hope that exists inside and outside of the USA that America will take the lead that will bring the new era into
being.
I believe that President
Obama’s inspiring words were not just his words but they express the spirit,
the hopes and consciousness of this time.
There is a real danger, however, that we will set about creating
a new driver for the economy but if we don’t discard our appetite for things
and unbridled consumption we will soon overwhelm the already stressed ecosystem
services.
However, limiting our consumption and bringing about
the green revolution each have something in common, and that is developing what
I have called an ecological consciousness.
The dominant consciousness currently is what is often
called modernism. People whose consciousness is at this stage experience the
self as a separate isolated individual. Modernism values wealth, status and the
good life through material wealth and consumption. People are valued in terms
of what they own and their income. Progress is achieved through science and
technology and seeking the best solution is equated with what advances wealth
and status. It values winning and striving for excellence and appreciates
individual autonomy and independence all organized within a meritocracy.
These are the things that
people with this level of consciousness identify with. This mindset believes
that its values of wealth, status and the good life based around conspicuous
consumption are the core of human nature. Those with this consciousness fashion
their lives around these values. Developmental psychology has taught us,
however, that there is no such thing as a universal human nature. Our nature as
a human being evolves through different stages and there is no such thing as a
permanent human nature common to all people.
This modernist consciousness is the world view of corporate culture, modern
science, mainstream media and professional sports. What is true is “objective
truth”, reason and that which can be materially proved. The aesthetic domain is
dominated by fashionable symbols of power, prestige and glamour.
Material progress and the exploitation of resources are seen as good as they
increase wealth and they are an outlet for the ambitious and entrepreneurial.
Material wealth, status and material plenty and expansive consumption define
the good life. Needs are defined as those things that make for this definition
of the “good life”. Identity for modernists is formed around what they consume,
what they own and they are strongly attached to this identity.
It must be conceded that the
positive form of modernist consciousness has been responsible for many good
things, but the emphasis on material success and the acquisition of wealth has
meant that everything is sacrificed to these ends. This consciousness created
the modern world, but it cannot take us to a world that will work in harmony
with and value the Earth and allow the Earth to heal as well as valuing all
living forms. It will not be possible to retain this form of consciousness and
create a green economy and a mode of consumption aimed at reversing global
warming and repairing the ecosystem services.
Einstein said that you cannot solve the problems created by one type of
consciousness with the level of consciousness that created the problem in the
first place.
It is easy to see the relationship between this form
of consciousness, (particularly in its more extreme form) the nature of the now
collapsed model of capitalism and the tragedy of the ecosystem services. This
form of consciousness is a major contributor of the challenges we face as a
species. We need to create a new economic driver to meet our needs and preserve
the positive gains that have been achieved. However, this will not occur unless
a significant proportion of people who are in a position to influence the
direction of events develop ecological consciousness.
The skeptics would claim that human nature is selfish,
nasty and brutish, but the field of development psychology has shown that human
beings pass through development stages and modernism is one of those stages.
However, there are stages beyond modernism and one such stage is what I am
calling ecological consciousness.
The starting point is that an ecological consciousness
goes beyond I, me and mine that we experience as a separate individual.
The separated individual craves achievements, and the
acquisition of things as a means of gratification as the central defining
qualities of identity. Transforming this level of consciousness leads to a
realization that each of us is life, life has us, we are the dance and life is
the dancer. Life is a universal conscious energy that has its expression in a
multitude of life forms including you and me. This understanding of our place in
the scheme of reality can emerge out of meditation and contemplation and what I
would call conscious living.
From this realization flow a series of values. We are
able to recognize the oneness of everything. Everything is connected and this
seems to equate with the latest ideas among physicists. This helps us to
identify with the Earth and the ecosystem services – the recognition that the
harm that has been done to these services is in a profound way harm we cause
ourselves in a very deep and real sense. We are also able to recognize our
connection with future generation and our obligation to them to clean up the
mess that has been created.
If we are all part of and participate in the one
universal conscious energy then treating each other with dignity, respect and
love can become the norm in the way in which we order our lives. There are
other skills and capacities that you can learn that accompany ecological
consciousness that help us all relate more sensitively to each other.
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Knowing the seven secrets will take you
to a place within yourself where you can develop a deeper relationship with the
Earth, new ways of defining your needs and how you can satisfy those needs, new
ways of understanding what it means to succeed, how you can expand your span of
care and concern for others and other life forms and how you can discharge your
social and political obligations. My dream is that we reach a point where there
are enough people who know and apply these seven secrets that they cease to be
secrets.
My vision is a world that knows about and applies the seven secrets so that are no longer secrets of only about 20 per cent of people. I also have a dream of building an organization that can make this a reality and invite people to join me in making this dream come true.
Leadership program: The course is about how you can develop the capacities for Level 5
Leadership as defined by Jim Collins in his book "Good to Great". This course helps you develop the level of development complexity to advance towards Level 5 leadership. The course also provides guidance on how you lead an organisation to achieve greatness.
Self awareness in action (SAIA) This course is about how you can awaken full self awareness of the
external and inner worlds through the ability to monitor moment by
moment what is happening in both worlds, as well as advancing your level of awareness.
The modern workplace skills package: This course complements the leadership
formation course and is aimed at the formation of the modern workplace
skills package among the rank and file people in an organization. The
modern workplace skills package helps workers combine technical excellence with developing the level of awareness that makes possible being able to collaborate with people within and outside the organization to get
things done, to find creative solutions for customers' and colleagues'
needs, to synthesize existing technologies in new ways, to explain
complexity in simple terms, to embrace differences and diversity among others and to be adaptable and flexible. These
qualities are scarce in the labor market and it makes sense for
organizations to develop the modern workplace skills package among
their people.
Career development and planning: The CMI career planning course is among the
most comprehensive on the market. It’s based on an integral model and
includes all areas of human experience relevant to career management
and planning. It also recognizes that as people we go through different
stages of awareness, the things we regard as important, what we notice
and how we think and act. This means that you are able to develop a
career plan that is appropriate to your stage of awareness, including
how you can advance your range of awareness. Like all of the CMI
courses there is a great deal of emphasis upon expanding what we call the awareness and communication capacities critical in dealing with increasing complexity
and continuous change and volatility.
Career Mentoring Institute Accreditation: The successful completion of this course leads to accreditation of the CMI suite of tools and products. This can lead to being licensed to use the CMI system, teach in our programs and setting up your own professional career coaching and mentoring program.
Dealing with challenging people and situations: This course deals with the capacities needed to deal with challenging
situations when they arise so that you act appropriately in real time
as the events unfold and you are not overwhelmed by the events or the
power of the emotion that is unleashed.
If you set out to be less than you are capable of being, I warn you, you will be deeply unhappy for the rest of your life
Abraham Maslow quoted in " What Really Matters:Searching for Wisdom in America", by Tony Schwartz, page 432
A passing Brahmin priest once asked the
Buddha whether he was a god, a spirit or an angel. None of these, the
Buddha replied: "I am awake!
In Karen Armstrong The Spiral Staircase
In times of
change, the learners will inherit the Earth while those attached to
their old certainties will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal
with a world that no longer exists.
Eric Hopper
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
Leo Tolstoy
Any
situation – from the horrific to the mundane – can be explained from
the point of view of determinism or free will. Freedom distinguishes a
human being from every other type of being; being human means being able to choose. Perhaps the most important exercise of freedom is the decision to live as a victim or a player. (Emphasis in the original)
Fred Kofman
The heart has reasons that reason knows nothing about.
Pascal
Are we as human beings so immersed in conversation that, like fish in water conversation is our medium for survival and we just can't see it?
The World cafe: Shaping our Futures Through Conversations That Matter"
No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.
Albert Einstein
The best way to get started with any of our programs is to visit the Career Mentoring Institute website. This provides comprehensive information about our programs and has been described by visitors to the site as very enlightening.
The site is set up so that you can purchase one of the programs and directs you how you can register and enroll in the courses or courses of your choice. Payment for the courses is by credit card through Pay Pal.
Career Mentoring Institute
101 King Street
Timaru
New Zealand
Telephone 64 03 686 9367
Websites
http://www.careermentoringinstitute.co.nz
Online learning website: http://www.bob.webbiznz.net.nz/moodle/
email address racalkin@xtra.co.nz