Repurposing
I’ve decided to repurpose myself and my work. Actually, decided is too decisive a word. Becoming is more accurate. A natural evolution. An unfolding. Though, to be honest, sometimes it feels like I’ve hit a wall.
As you know, I’ve been working, writing and speaking for years about the choices — the leadership moments — that hold promise off the current path of separation, polarization, and “technical” solutioneering. People have shared with me how valuable the idea of leadership moments is professionally and personally. Some have even called it a literal lifeline.
Yet, as I’ve observed the pandemic response, the war in the Ukraine, the slippage in climate progress under the Biden administration, and our addictive reliance on the algorithms and censorious whims of technological elite — just to name a handful — it’s seeming that my work as it stands needs to grow. Needs to?…no. It’s ready to evolve. I’m ready — to evolve. To continue down the current path, no matter how helpful I’m told it is, seems at times about as useful as unfolding a parasol against a hurricane. At the same time, I feel an ineffable, underlying and grounded sense of hope, vibrancy, and creativity.
As the charge of the pandemic dissipates, a window opens through which to see a bigger picture. The broader arc of societal and organizational evolution suggests clearly the nature of the adaptive work ahead…healing a fractured society, restoring trust in institutions of authority, and rediscovering a greater sense of self after the isolation of recent years.
Personally, I feel called to place my attention at the nexus of hyper local leadership, land regeneration, the healing of our biosphere, and the healing of our perpetual state of war against the other…which of course is just a version of the war against ourselves.
I feel immense gratitude for the work, projects, and people I’ve been involved with over the past 20 years. There comes a time though when you feel a sense of fullness and completion in the work that until now has been yours to do. That time is upon me.
In the meantime, on the reading list, I’m finding tremendous inspiration in the wonderful, narrative-buster by Charles Massy, The Call of the Reed Warbler. It now rests comfortably, dogeared beyond recognition next to Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, The More Beautiful World Our Heart Knows is Possible by Charles Eisenstein, and the nutrient-dense perennials of David Whyte, Isabel Wilkerson, Pema Chodron, Parker Palmer, Bayo Akomolafe, Richard Rohr, and Francis Weller. These works are gateways for the practice of democratizing leadership to take on new life — and reflections of an invisible path toward that which truly sustains us. I’d love to hear where you’re finding your own joy and inspiration — and hope to join you on your journey.
Know that I stand, as ever, ready to bow into service with and for you. ACA’s mission and capacity to democratize leadership is stronger than ever. Nothing much will change on the surface for awhile. Still waters run deep. I will share more unfoldings with you as they appear on the horizon. I look forward to hearing what is magnetizing your attention and your care so that we can uncover our next steps together.
Eric Martin is the Author of Your Leadership Moment. He is also the Founder of Adaptive Change Advisors (ACA), the preeminent organization for mission-driven Adaptive Leadership development.
