Stephanie BySouth

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You want to coach cultural agility? Get out of the cubicle!

Get out of your office, your life and support others who doing it hard!  Agility at it's heart is the responsiveness, wit, follow through and engagement in a moment to survive or thrive grit. That kind of authentic character doesn't grow in a safe cubicle. Back in my management days with ABT we sponsored The Reach Foundation to develop it's web presence. (Facebook had only just been founded in the States and Twitter was still a noise birds made.) The introduction to the leaders, support crew and teenagers was such a memorable moment for me. Yes, Jimmy Styne was a formidable figure and visionary who has left a family and legacy that many are honoured to follow in his wake. Paul Currie the co-founder was just a brilliant teacher who helped shaped the  Heroes Journey development program. For me it was the honesty of the people; the situations the kids were (still are) grappling with, the constant lobbying for financial support, and the depth people would go to just to pull out the energy to support kids through their camps and workshops.

For years I volunteered as the token adult in the room supporting events, mentoring the crew, waiting in the streets for the late pick-up. It was the best experiential training for agile coaching and advising in corporates anyone could have asked for. The vulnerability it takes the teenagers to speak of their lives, to be open, transparent, respectful, courageous and focused on a commitment to create better outcomes is a strength. It's a strength that many agility newbies can learn from.

Do a service to your agile journey to high performance and be open to doing service to others. Those worries of the corporate pyramid will melt away and allow the strength of others to fill your heart for tomorrow.

 

Merry Christmas and all that jazz,

Stephanie