Think Different - the key to transformative leadership

Almost a century ago, Dale Carnegie wrote that human beings are driven not just by basic survival needs such as the need for food, water, good health and shelter ... but more importantly, that we desire 'greatness' and a sense of 'achievement' in our lives. All of us, no matter our age or professional careers, want to feel that the contribution we make in life is appreciated and respected.  We want to know that we made a unique difference.

But what separates 'leaders' from 'followers'? A true leader is able to 'step out' from the fold ... and uses their courage to take a leap of faith and work slowly towards achieving their dreams. Such a leader is brave and pioneering ... going where others fear to tread. And in doing so, they transform the world and leave it a better place for them having been there.

Take a look at this wonderful Apple commercial that captures the essence of truly inspirational leaders from the 20th Century ...



One of Australia's most inspirational leaders is Walter Bellin. Thirty years ago, Walter came from the U.S. to Australia with a dream to teach people how to achiever greater personal, spiritual and professional meaning and satisfaction in their lives. With courage and bravery, he began the process of establishing the Personal Development field in Australia. Thirty years later, adult education and corporate development are two of the most successful national industries.

On Tuesday 30th November, Circumference is honoured to launch our Corporate Soiree Leadership series with Walter Bellin as guest speaker. During the 2 hour evening, you will have the opportunity to listen and learn about his successful journey as a Corporate and Personal Development facilitator ... and discover the key skills that will help you on your own personal leadership path.

For more details, please visit our website and download our brochure at: http://circumference.net.au/corporate-programs/corporate-soiree/.

Alternatively, you can register directly for Corporate Soiree below.

Presenting With Presence ... Robert's Journey

By Robert Meredith

It’s been almost 40 years since I first started speaking and presenting to people from the front of the room. The number of people I have addressed over those years would be literally tens of thousands, and they fall into three distinct groups that reflect where I was working at the time.

The first groups, back in the early 1970s, were people who had come to hear a talk on meditation, at a time when meditation was generally thought of as something weird, strange, ‘foreign’, and that only hippies or the like would do!

Each week, on Monday evening, I would give a talk at the library on Kensington High Street in London, where sometimes five people would show up, sometimes twenty five. Giving these talks gave me the opportunity to learn and practice a fundamental presentation skill called ‘framing’.

Basically, every point you make in a presentation needs to be 'framed', that is - given a context. If you don't do this, your audience will come up with their own context, which may well not be the one you intend. The what, why, and how of framing, the different kinds of frames, and when specifically not to frame is a large subject, but one that we cover in depth on ‘Presenting with Presence’.

The second groups I worked with were on Personal Development programmes here in Australia. The major learning here was how to build rapport, trust and safety with a group, enough for them to be willing to open up, talk and self disclose in ways they might never have done before.                                               

The importance of building rapport and trust was underlined by one of my teachers who basically said, “..until you’ve built rapport, there is no point at all in going any further into the content you want to deliver. Rapport comes first!”

The third groups have been in business and corporate trainings. The first time I stood up in front of an in-house business group was different to anything I had done before, and with a shock I realized what it was – many of these people didn’t want to be there! Up until then I had had the privilege of standing in front of people who had chosen, and in most cases, paid to be there.  Over time I learnt another major lesson in presentation – how to enroll people in feeling it would be worthwhile for them to be there, even though they may not have chosen to be there in the first place!

These are just a few of the elements that go into effective presentation. If you’d like to learn more about these and many other factors that make presentations more impactful, come and join us for a weekend on Presenting with Presence. It’s an investment in yourself!

Presenting With Presence runs on November 13th and 14th. The cost of the program is $570. Join Robert Meredith and Barry Quin on this exciting weekend journey ...

Interesting in enrolling on Presenting With Presence? Register here ...
 

Snowballing

Wow ... thanks to everyone who is reading the Circumference blog! I've just downloaded our latest web statistics. Welcome Russia!

Becoming Great In Your Field

by Shanti Clements

 

Over the past 20 years, there's been an amazing amount of research done in the Corporate and Personal Development fields linking Happiness psychology with business success. Scientists and researchers such as Martin Seligman, Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi and Daniel Goleman have consistently proven the link between Happiness psychology and EQ in creating resilience and long-term success.

A passion for learning ... in other words, an inquiring mind and an interest in ongoing personal growth will help to inspire leadership effectivness and growth in this area. A committment to developing skills (which requires hours of dedication) in your field and setting up a personal goal for excellence is essential to achieving greatness in any given field.

In Joseph Law's book, Living Greatness, Siimon Reynolds gives his tips on creating High Achievement in a challenging business world. He writes:

It's simple to become outstanding in your field, but it's certainly not easy.

Firstly, do something you enjoy. That way long hours won't bother you. The truth is that even if you work really hard in a field, if you're not really into it your results will never be superlative.

Next, dedicate yourself to continuous study in your area. Almost nobody does this. So many people stop studying their field the moment they graduate from their first course in it.

Third, find role models - people who have achieved excellence in your field - and copy what they do. Better yet, ask them to mentor you. You can  literally cut 20 years off your career learning curve if you follow the right role model.

Finally, maintain a philosphy of excellence every day by holding yourself to a world class standard. By simply dedicating yourself to always doing the best you can every day, you will soon shine  far brighter than your competitors.

Circumference has created the Corporate Soiree leadership evenings to help you develop your leadership mastery and 'mastermind' the strategies you can use to achieve greatness in your field. Corporate Soiree are tri-monthly leadership network sessions where you have the opportunity to listen to and learn from successful leaders.

Our first Corporate Soiree evening will be launched by Walter Bellin on November 30th.

Walter Bellin pioneered the field of Personal Development and Corporate Development in Australia. He is an international consultant who regularly consults to the top senior management teams of public and private sector organisations in the areas of coporate development, leading organisational change (specialising in organisational cultural change), leadership development, team building, communication skills, strategic business planning and vision setting. In addition to his work in Australia and the USA, Walter has consulted in seven different countries throughout Asia and Europe.

For more details, please visit our website and download our brochure at: http://circumference.net.au/corporate-programs/corporate-soiree/.

Alternatively, you can register directly for Corporate Soiree below.

Dharma and Dharmikta

Living a life of destiny ...
by Shanti Clements


The word Dharma comes from Sanskrit, which is the oldest language in the world and originated in ancient India. Western linguists confirm that Sanskrit is the root of virtually all known languages.

Dharma comes from the word dhar, which means to "support, uphold, and nourish Dharma" and is the understanding of using appropriate action for any given circumstance. It means "to act in accordance with one's duty".

According to Chin-Ning Chu, each person will have different Dharma depending on their situation in life. For example, a physician's Dharma is to save lives. A teacher's Dharma is to educate others. Eastern spiritual teachers believe that if Dharma is followed, the world will be in harmony with the natural law.

Dharma is the natural law that guides us to recognise at any moment the role that each one of us is playing in life. This short video by Gurumaa defines the difference between Dharma and Dharmikta ...



People who practice Dharma accept life as it comes and perform their duty accordingly. Being true to the duty of that particular role at any given time ... and the very act of accepting and performing that action to the best of our ability ... that is following Dharma. By connecting with your Dharma and Dharmikta, living a life with love, joy and happiness in your heart and soul will help others and bring peace and harmony into the world.

As this ancient Chinese proverb expresses:

If there is light in the soul,

there will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
there will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
there will be peace in the world.



Are you living your live according to your Dharma ... practicing Dharmikta in your work, home and relationships?

For some people, learning how to deepen their connection with themselves and 'showing up' more powerfully and passionately is an important step in accepting their Dharma. Circumference has designed Presenting With Presence to help people through this challenging hurdle.

Presenting With Presence is facilitated by Robert Meredith and Barry Quin. It's a great course for anyone who would like to develop better 'UpFront' and Facilitation skills ... and would like to live a life with greatness and more alignment to their unique spiritual purpose. For more infomation, visit: http://circumference.net.au/corporate-programs/presenting-with-presence/

Interesting in enrolling on Presenting With Presence? Register here ...

Welcome to our Global Community

By Shanti Clements

Being new to Social Media, Robert and I have been watching with interest and awe at the international statistics coming our way about Circumference ... Actually, we're gob-smacked at the number of 'hits' to our website and blog. We're so excited we thought we'd share our wonderful news with you!

So far, during the past month, we've had over 420,000 impressions of our Circumference website ... Wow! Thanks so much to everyone for your support! We've also had 811 visits to our Blog - so it's great to know people are interested in our site. We are ecstatic at how many visits we've had from around the globe (please see the snapshots from our Blog visits attached) ...

So thanks to everyone in helping Circumference go international!!!

Warm thanks,
Robert and Shanti

Rumi - the Poet with Soul

By Shanti Clements

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī, known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi, was a 13th-century Persian muslim poet, theologian, and Sufi mystic. His poetry, which in recent times was recorded on CD-rom by Deepak Chopra and friends, evokes the purity of unconditional love, devotion and spiritual unity.

Rumi believed passionately in the use of music, poetry, and dance as a path for reaching God. For Rumi, music helped devotees to focus their whole being on the divine, and to do this so intensely that the soul was both destroyed and resurrected. It was from these ideas that the practice of "whirling" dervishes developed into a ritual form.

Rumi encouraged the practice of samā, listening to music and turning or doing the sacred dance. Samāʿ represents the mystical journey of spiritual ascent through mind and love to the Perfect One. In this journey, the seeker symbolically turns towards the truth, grows through love, abandons the ego, finds the truth, and arrives at the Perfect. The seeker then returns from this spiritual journey, with greater maturity, to love and to be of service to the whole of creation without discrimination with regard to beliefs, races, classes, and nations.

To listen to Rumi's poetry, please visit this website:

http://www.rumi-wayoftheheart.com/

You might also like to view a video of his beautiful poem, Only Breath, below.

If you are interested in learning how to write and express your creativity in a soulful way, please visit our Writing With Soul webpage at http://circumference.net.au/personal-development/writing-with-soul/.
Our next Writing workshop begins October 12th.

With thanks,

The Circumference Team
http://www.circumference.net.au/

It's Not Always a Man's World

By Shanti Clements


A Homage to Two Pioneers of Personal Development:
Susanne Cook-Greuter &
Jane Loevinger







When you read Business literature or research into Ego Development, we often think of well-known writers such as Ken Wilber, Robert Kegan and William Torbert. However, it’s not always a ‘man’s world’. Two women have inspired my knowledge and passion for leadership … Jane Loevinger and Susan Cook-Greuter.

Who are they?
Susanne Cook-Greuter is an author and researcher from Harvard University. She has worked with Robert Kegan and William Torbert – two influential authors in the field of Adult Development and Business. She also designed the Leadership Maturity Framework, based on the ego development model researched by Jane Loevinger in the 1970s.

Jane Loevinger was an academic researcher who developed the first adult model of ego development. She integrated Eastern psychology perspectives of growth within a Western context, challenging the way that psychologists viewed adolescent and adult learning. She was the first female researcher to link cognitive, social and emotional intelligence with levels of consciousness. She also successfully improved on Jean Piaget’s 1932 framework of adolescent development- which had become the basis of Western educational systems in the 20th Century.

Loevinger’s work inspired Ken Wilber’s book, Spectrum of Consciousness, and has become the basis of ego development frameworks in the Western world. Cook-Greuter’s research has also been a major influence to the Corporate world, innovating 21st Century strategies in the way that leadership profiles and executive coaching are used to develop middle managers and leaders.

On a professional level, I’ve gotten to ‘know’ both Jane Loevinger and Susanne Cook-Greuter very well through my Masters and Ph.D research. On a personal level, I’ve learned a lot through Susanne’s mentoring/support of my research project. She taught me a tremendous amount as I used the Leadership Maturity framework and profile (the SCTi-map) to assess and explore the leadership journeys of school principals in NSW.

So thank you, Susanne and Jane! Without you, the fields of Personal and Corporate Development would not have a validated framework for adult ego and leadership development … plus you’ve proven that it’s not always a ‘Man’s world’ in the Corporate domain.

A Poem

Inspired by "Writing With Soul", I wrote this poem about my grandmother, Alice Rajah. She was an amazing woman - mother of ten children, an educator and a passionate advocate of the Mahabharata. I dedicate this poem to my father, John Rajah.

* In 1942 Japan invaded Singapore. My Grandfather's tyre factory was taken over by the Japanese army to process rubber for their military needs. My family's colonial mansion and family jewels were also stolen by the Japanese. This was a shock that my father's aristoractic Ceylonese family never overcame. As a result of the war, my father and his family lived in a small one bedroom apartment for three years. Every night my father and his brothers would sneak into the jungle searching for food, or if they were lucky, my father would be asked by Japanese soldiers in his district to play the piano for their Sunday entertainment in return for one small bag of rice. This would feed the family for at least a week.


A Bag of Rice by Shanti Clements

Brown hands slide over ivory keys.
Fingers that are dark against elephant tusk
Pound furiously, then gently, like a thunderstorm transforming into spring rain

Remember days long ago, when your island was invaded,
Playing piano tunes for homesick Japanese soliders?
Nimble fingers and a contagious grin
Were all you needed to survive.

One bag of rice
A payment for your musical service
Fed a family of twelve
Living in a tiny room.

When food was scarce in the jungle
Or your brothers' nightly search for sustenance
Was hindered by Japanese soldiers,
One bag of rice
Could fed a family of twelve
For one week.

Alice, your mother, would cook
Carefully and reverently the sacred grains.
She would boil up a weak, watery gruel
That fed the family in its pecking order.

First your father,
Your older brothers,
You,
Your sisters,
And then finally
Your mother would eat.
She would wait patiently,
Ensuring each child had eaten their fill
Before venturing timid fingers
Into the remains of drying gruel.

A large woman before the war,
She emerged a sparrow-like figure at its end.
Even when prosperity returned to the family
She remained a prisoner caught in a time-warp.
Eating only, for the rest of her life,
Scraps of rice and curry gravy
Leftover in empty pots.


Do you have poem or a piece of writing you'd like to share? I'd love to read it!
If you'd like to 'tap in' more to your creativity, check out Writing With Soul at http://circumference.net.au/public-programs/writing-with-soul/.

Shanti x

Writing With Soul

By Shanti Clements

Have you ever read a book that is so special that you tell yourself you’re going to have to read it every year? And then you do?

When I first read ‘The Long Quiet Highway’ by Natalie Goldberg, it changed my life. I loved how she not only wrote a beautiful memoir, but also showed the importance of spirituality and writing practice in her life.

I loved her concrete imagery … the sensuousness of her writing … how she could make growing up in American suburbia and eating a pastrami sandwich seem special – almost exotic. I loved how she wrote from her soul and heart … as if the words from her pen were channelled with fresh aliveness.

Natalie Goldberg is a writer and Zen Buddhist. Her spiritual practice brings a fresh approach to writing and offers ‘safety’ to young writers keen to take a ‘leap of faith’ and put pen to paper. She is passionate about the art of writing … asking people to delve into their inner most feelings, sensations and dreams … and from this place, teaches new and experienced writers to develop a daily practice that rejuvenates their soul.

Check out this video about Natalie Goldberg ...


Are you interested in learning how to connect more deeply with your creativity?

Consider Writing With Soul … for more information, go to http://www.circumference.net.au/

Shanti xxx