Welcome!
As preparations for our conversation I invite you to reflect (and journal) on the following questions:
- What are really important to you in life, generally? And what guiding values can you deduct from that?
- When thinking back on the conversation with Johan, what are some important values that came up?
- Think back on when you were younger (adolescence), what was really important beliefs and values for you then?
- What are the values that are at the heart of way you do your job, maintain your relationships, parent your children, and/or lead others?
For examples of values, check out this link (English) or this link (Norwegian)
We will spend our time (two hours) together on becoming clearer about your values. Please show up to our conversation with either general reflections on your values or a list of your personal values (5 – 20), depending on how you choose to work on these preparations.
Important notice: when clarifying personal values it is sometimes tempting to “shop for values”, meaning selecting values you wish were yours rather than actually listening inwards to identify your personal values. An example of this could be values that society proclaims as really important, i.e. equality, altruism, selflessness etc. Though the examples can be really important values for a society in general, it might not be the primary values in your life.
Optional: check out 1) the video and 2) the song/text below.
– Recommended, video: Viewing context: Self vs. solidarity
In this leadership support initiative we will balance the fine line between an individual focus (on you and your growth) and on the collective possibilities when we listen and learn together.
Please see the below video for a thought provoking perspective and journal or make notes on what you find personally interesting and relevant with regards to leadership.
(the video is an excerpt from the Ethics in Action course from the UN Sustainable Academy)
– Recommended, song: On virtues and values
In this support initiative we touch on the power of virtues (i.e. gratitude, curiosity), relationships and systems, whether it is between to people, a person and a task or between one thought and another thought (habit vs. innovation).
Please listen to (or read) the song lyrics below and journal or make notes on what you find personally interesting and relevant with regards to leadership.
Lyrics:
I think if I could get you to do one thing
I would say that when you get to the point that you…
Really feel, highly motivated, to, just, towards keeping your virtue…
Then you’ll you’ll discover quite quickly how extraordinary a life was meant to be, could be
And it’s, it’s just we get so messy, it’s not that we are doing lots of wrong things, our mind is so messy
We don’t keep it simple
And we end up making the life that we are living, so in-ordinarily complicated
Completely unnecessarily, and it’s such a shame to end up feeling, in a real muddle, while actually, you ought to be having the time of your lives
It doesn’t actually take very much to make the deepest part of us incredibly happy
You know?
Just to be here, just to appreciate
Appreciate being here
To feel that you’re alive
To be in touch with your heart
That’s it
That’s it
It takes mindfulness to come to a human life
And then above that, it takes mindfulness and virtue, to come to a fortunate human life
The chance to be part of this happens briefly
The invitation is not to show how inventive and imaginative you are
But how much you can notice what you’re already part of
And appreciate it and share it, and care about those that are around who count for their welfare while you are looking out for your own, that’s it
And then you’ll get to the end of it, having had an awesome time
Knowing, that that is something you’d recommend to others
Ah
You all know
You already know this place inside, where it’s alright
You all know that when you let the ego go, it’s not this black hole that you jump into
You all know it
Why can’t we do it?
And yet the world is creaking under the strain of this in-ordinarily complicated mass of humanity and actually you know, it’s really simple
When you came here
You came here with a sense of awe and wonder, dying to just see what it’s about
You know, it’s like, what would it be like?
To be down there?
To be part of it?
And you came here with a sense of wonder, and somehow the wonder of it wasn’t enough and we stopped wondering and started to wonder about ourselves
And in your wondering about yourself, you forgot what you came here for, what you came to be a part of
Some virtues: Gratitude. Belonging. Relation. Simplicity. Honesty/sharing. Acceptance. Joy. Happiness. Awe. Legacy. Â
All the best, Anders 🙂