Freedom and Fairness:

Facilitating Wisdom in Times of Crisis

Crisis

 

In times of crisis we often fend for ourselves, lean on known habits and execute decisions that are familiar to us. We attempt to secure ourselves and the people we most love.

 

While self-preservation is key, we often “double down” on what we think we know. We impose a "status quo" bias on a situation that is anything but status quo, which leads us to perpetuate suffering because we are not dealing with things as they are. And, in the face of fear, anxiety, and the unknown we take actions that are filled with unexamined biases or projections that often cost us and foster even greater risks down the road.

 

Crisis can quickly devolve individuals and groups into group think, breakdowns in coordination and response, and rapid degradation of trust. Unfortunately, history is littered with examples of what these well trodden paths lead to.

 

While deeply challenging times often necessitate re-investing in our foundations, we are wise to re-imagine the most basic ways we live. To secure our old patterns is often to deny the change that’s already here.

 

Wisdom

 

Crisis can be our invitation into transformations we cannot fathom until we go through them with our eyes, hearts and hands wide open.

 

Whether we accept it or not, our deep challenges are calling us to access wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to see a situation clearly, without distortion from our biases and projections. Much is born from the clear "seeing" that wisdom provides - a galvanizing vision of who we can be, greater discernment, and action that relieves suffering, heals, and builds resilience. Through the cultivation of wisdom we can put bold possibilities into motion within ourselves, relationships, and communities.

 

Answering the call of crisis with wisdom and skill requires radical forms of facilitative leadership.

This is what this Mastermind seeks to cultivate in its participants.

 

Our larger potentials demand that we, as facilitators and leaders, support our groups and communities in coordinating and collaborating in ways our past lives denied.

 

To meet this call requires an unwavering courage, interpersonal and emotional sophistication, and vision for us to support those we serve in touching the precious opportunity of inner transformation in service of radical cooperation.