CHANGE YOUR VIBRATION AND THEN TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT!

Already this season, I have requests to lift spirits.

Everybody needs love and encouragement. It’s not the negative news, pictures or reporting that inspires us to respond to world pain. But positive vibrations do.

Be a bringer of hope.

Inspired and soulful inquiries move conversations forward. Moving the conversation forward means speaking into community when your contribution inspires the learning environment. Lifting vibrations and aligning moves the conversation forward.

Old worldviews are problem-based with uninspired, and even toxic, vibrations. Humans resort to scarcity and fear-based thinking. Negative speech and dissecting issues brings the conversation down ... and us along with it.

Three days ago, a friend on Facebook posted on her timeline: “I’m leaving Facebook. I can’t stand all these awful images.” Putting up awful images on Linkedin, Facebook and in the media news shuts down inspiration and positive energy that could make a difference.

One person wrote in response to our friend leaving:

              Posting horrible things is unnecessary to get the people who will help, 
              to help. And shock value of horrendous photos is not going to get the 
              people who are not already helping, to help.

                                                                                        MaryGaye LeBoeuf

                                                                             ‪

Old belief systems are dying out. Yet, there is still controversy about what creates positive change. I believe that MaryGaye is right; shock value does not motivate us to create positive change. Namaste Global Vision's ten years of research in the animal steward field suggests the same. There's a lot of despair, anger and burn-out in the animal steward field ... and a lot of negative results. 

If you don’t do this by tonight.....it will be the end. This isn’t a message of hope. Nor does it inspire. When I get one of these Facebook messages, I have a sinking feeling; I have heart palpitations. I have to stop and do intentional work to re-align my vibrational field before I can move into a positive place...before I am RELIABLE to make a difference.

FIRST CHANGE YOUR VIBRATION AND THEN TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT!

Noeline McManaway has been helping people for years to lift their vibrational field, transforming negative issues. She offers a rich perspective:

Once we get into our aligned positive beneficial space then we have that field of positive energy going out for someone else to pick up on. When we are depressed and in that negative state, someone already with that tendency picks up on that and they get more depressed. When we're happy and aligned that energy goes out to anyone who can benefit from it. 

         

We all NEED to SEE what is WORKING, be inspired, and buoyed up. We need positive images. Years ago, part of my job was to consult with leaders of halfway houses: homes for women re-entering society after long bouts of drug abuse. Lenore, Director of one of these programs, ALWAYS met me at the door saying: “Tell me something good.” She was drowning in a sea of sorrow. She counted on me to tell her what was working!

Scientific research demonstrates that what we focus on expands. Focus on the negative and negative outcomes grow. Focus on positive inquiries and positive outcomes flourish. Appreciative Inquiry, an organizational leadership process, teaches that asking the right questions allows the pathway for positive results to open up.

“Many well intentioned teams have abandoned problem-solving projects because the weight of the problem was too much to bear,” David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva write.

Appreciative Inquiry Organizational Change Model teaches that positive interviews create positive futures. The key is first to change your vibrational field and THEN focus on what you want.

Wild Horses are in the news recently. If I used a problem-based approach, I might ask someone:

“What is your systematic approach to save wild horses before it’s totally too late?”

It generates scarcity consciousness. It suggests nothing CAN be done. It invites in the awful news. It calls out low vibrations.

If I asked a question from an Appreciative Inquiry model, I’d ask:

“I know you’re a very committed person that likely works 40-50 hours a week. I see how much you care about your work and the environment. Could you take a moment and share your best experience with wild horses? What’s your most positive story about wild horses presently running free? What is one thing you’d be willing to do to build on that success in Wyoming?”

It honors success and commitment. It inspires change. It builds on success. It listens for what’s possible. People’s vibrations light up in sharing good stories. Change occurs when we are aligned and sending forth positive vibrations. It’s what animals and people need. To build on that foundation, I might ask people to turn to something that inspires them.

Michael Stillwater and Gary Malkin put together such an inspiring video. “The Great Bell Chant” nourishes lives. It fosters positive vibrations. It renews the spirit.

Dear Reader, tell me a story about the time you created a positive impact with others. How and where in the world, will you build on that success?

MONKS, MONKEYS AND REFUGE-THE JOURNEY BEGINS

It’s a longer distance from monks to monkeys than you think.

                                                                                      Karla Boyd

[The Buddha] tried to persuade [the monks] to live in peace, speaking out against
 disharmony again and again, but when he saw that there who were not responding,
 he decided to go to the forest.

                                                                                         Eknath Easwaran

Some of us are in a global renaissance of positive communication cultures aligned with harmonious actions.  AND more organizations need to “up” their commitment to providing leadership development to stakeholders. Individuals need to be groomed in good vibrations and how to let go of the muck. (http://namasteglobalvision.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NamasteDeclaringNewFuture-3%20copy.pdf)

Recently, I learned about organizations brewing trouble. The common theme was personal conflicts; some veiled and others, blatant and ambushing. Both styles were causing breakdown, one organization destroying its best leadership. It boiled down to a few things: unhealthy communication, team member disrespect and little personal leadership development.

In a recent blog post, FIRST, DO NO HARM: THE QUALITY OF CARE, (http://consultingforpassion.blogspot.com/2014/08/first-do-no-harm-quality-of-care.html), I write about the Hippocratic oath. What would happen if OUR first order of business is “first, do no harm?” What if organizations invested in ALL stakeholders having leadership development? What if we became positive alignment organizations?

Meditation teacher Eknath Easwaran chronicles a story about the Buddha.[1] The Buddha goes into exile because the monks would not stop their bickering. I’m sure some of you can relate. The monks were miserable when the Buddha left.

The Buddha, however, has a marvelous time. An elephant, delighted to be with the Buddha, bows down in respect. After a bit, the elephant goes off in search of his friend, the monkey. They return with bananas, juicy mangos and leaves for the Buddha. In the evening, the elephant makes a bed of leaves for the Buddha and keeps watch over him.

Isn’t it wonderful when team members are aligned in harmony and flow? When that happens, ease and friendship show up. In our story, the monkey, elephant and the Buddha go to the river and play together for days, joyously happy. The monks however, lagging behind, are stuck in negativity and gloom.  

In Naked Liberty, Carolyn Resnick writes that wild horses taught her the value of leadership training:

Leadership behavior is a good thing when it supports the well-being of each individual and keeps the peace. I could see the dominant horses wanting to be led when Mustano led them back to their kinder ways and checked them for their bad behavior. Such leadership gives dominant horses security.[2] 

Completing our Buddha story, the monks realized that their disputes and negative minds drove away noble leadership. Ready to make a change, they asked the Buddha to return.

As the monks met the monkey and elephant, they discovered the meaning of respect. The monkey and elephant embodied love and honor for the Buddha. The monks saw the personal work they needed to do to align as a harmonious team–like the team that the elephant and monkey were.

People and organizations need coaching in order to manifest core values and visions. All need support and empowerment. Many require recovery from toxic cultures. The key ingredient to succeed? WILLINGNESS TO CHANGE.

Reader, what commitment will you make to personal leadership development? And has a horse, childhood dog or encounter with wildlife helped you become more loving?

[1] Essence of the Dhammapada: The Buddhist’s Call to Nirvana by Eknath Easwaran; Nilgiri Press, 2013

[2] Naked Liberty by Carolyn Resnick, Amigo Publications, Inc., 2005