River Story Leadership Institute for Personal and Global Transformation
River Story
Leadership Institute for Personal and Global Transformation
A Year-Long Intensive August 2012 -- August 2013
with Sara Schley, Linda Booth Sweeney and Faculty
We are:
Seasoned coaches, guides, teachers, authors, facilitators, speakers, and life-long travelers on the path to personal and global sustainability; seeking you.
You are:
An experienced and committed professional player in the world of sustainability. You are not new to this journey. You are also committed to your own personal integrity and growth on this path. You are not seeking a guru. You are open to and grateful for seasoned guides on the path: experienced practitioners in both deep personal transformation and profound global transformation. You also know the power of doing this work in a community of like-minded partners who will both support and challenge you to live the fullest life and make the greatest contribution that you are capable of. You may be juggling many seemingly competing needs – your work, your health, your family, your children (the small human ones and/or other products of your hard labor), and aspire to create a life that is balanced and life giving in all of these worlds. In other words, you may wonder, “How to heal the world and be home for you kids’ baseball game.” It is possible. . .
River Story features:
Outer Work: Strategies for Sustained Local and Global Transformation
- Sustainability conceptual frameworks and principles
- Applied Systems Thinking: concepts, tools, skill-building
- Leading whole systems change: engaging diverse stakeholders
AND
Inner Work: Strategies for personal and professional sustainability
- Soul work: transform habitual patterns of doing, feeling, knowing and being
- Life-renewal: a full experience of being “unplugged”
- Sacred encounters with the wilderness: solo time in the outdoors
Sustainability: Inside and Out
Like many leaders in this field, we believe purposeful, lasting changes on this planet require a clear and compelling vision of sustainability combined with sound principles, guiding frameworks, savvy strategy, and thoughtful, targeted action. This is the outer work of sustainability.
And this is only half the story.
Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” How we “show up” directly impacts the systems we seek to influence. Perhaps the most powerful visionary and systems thinker of our century, Martin Luther King understood, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” We are all part of the web of life on this planet: nothing stands alone. As agents of sustainable change, we cannot effectively succeed in the “outer work” without taking care of our inner landscape. When we try to do one without the other we become fragmented, not “whole” and actually do more harm than good to the systems we seek to change. Conversely, when we pay attention to the inner landscape, we cultivate practices to ensure our own renewal, balance and health and this in turn directly impacts our outer work, catalyzing sustainable, global transformation. Further, in these times of global turbulence, and political polarization, it is essential that leaders for a better world hold a stance of presence, compassion, resilience and openness to a wide variety of divergent views. We call this the “inner mastery of the masterful change agent.” These qualities of character, essential to the changes we seek, are cultivated through consistent, disciplined practice. This work is at the core of our time together at River Story.
A Living Systems Approach:
To create a sustainable world, and to address pressing issues such as vulnerable food systems, climate change, energy demand, environmental degradation and more, requires us to see, understand and be guided by living systems. Yet in school, most of us, including our industry and government leaders, were taught that the best way to understand a subject is to analyze it or break it up into parts. When we don’t see and understand systems, we can find ourselves operating from crisis to crisis, where our “solutions” often only create more problems or make the original problem worse. A key component of River Story, will be honing our ability to work with systems, so that we can move beyond laundry lists and bullet points, to seeing patterns of interaction. This gives us a more clear understanding of the interdependent, complex world we live in and allows us to identify the highest leverage points for taking effective action in the systems we seek to transform.
By August 2013 you will have gained:
- A clear vision of sustainability, inside and out, and the support of your River Story colleagues to follow through on it.
- A solid actionable grasp of the Earth’s non-negotiable sustainability conditions – those we call “Living Systems Principles.”
- Applied systems thinking and mapping skills to accelerate your progress in all your professional work
- A strategic plan that you are implementing including multiple stakeholder engagement strategies for your major initiative.
- Personal practices and disciplines to renew your spirit.
- Deepened emotional resilience to flow with the ever-increasing global challenges we face.
- A relationship with the land, re-membering the sustenance and wisdom that comes from time spent outdoors.
- An increased capacity to give this work to others – to coach other individuals and organizations to achieve their aspirations for a world where all life thrives
Where else can you do rigorous systems thinking,
deep soul work, and create professional
and personal strategies for sustainability?
The Land:
We are on 10 acres in rural western Massachusetts surrounded by a 7,000 acre state forest. A pristine river runs through the land including a natural swimming hole 60 feet by 40 feet with a rock slide. Known as sacred ground to the native peoples who inhabited this land. Sara Schley and family have had the privilege to walk, live and steward this place for more than 16 years now. It includes a log sauna, fire circle, small but tasty organic garden, solar panels, fields, forests and streams. We believe that your encounter with this place will be deeply renewing.
Accommodations:
You can set up your tent in the woods or fields, away from the house or near it. Bring your own equipment, or if you’re coming from far away we can help you rent or borrow what you need. If sleeping on the ground isn’t for you there are other options.
Food:
Organic, natural, Leslie Cerier the original “Organic Gourmet,” and author of three books on the subject will be our head chef. Leslie will not only prepare scrumptious meals, but will also teach us the art of bringing healthy, local, organic food from farm to table with ease.
The Faculty:
Sara Schley
Sara Schley is the founder and President of Seed Systems www.seedsystems.net an international consulting company established in 1994. Seed Systems uses Systems Thinking while working with individuals, teams, organizations, and networks to accelerate the transformation to a planet where all life thrives. Sara has worked in business, non-profit, government and academic sectors; creating, designing, facilitating, teaching and coaching leadership programs and culture change initiatives for sustainability. With Seed Systems as incubator for innovation, Sara was the co-creator and leader for ten years of the SoL Sustainability Consortium www.solsustainability.org, a network of major corporations including Nike, Shell, Ford, WorldBank, Interface and more, challenging each other to create best practices in the field, as well as the Women Leading Sustainability Network WLS, a dynamic circle of Women ground-breakers and thought leaders for sustainability. Sara is co-founder of Women in Power, a dynamic leadership initiation. Sara is co-author of Learning for Sustainability (SoL, 2006) and of The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and Organizations are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World; (Doubleday 2008.). She has her MBA from University of Massachusetts, BA from Brown University. Sara lives with her husband and co-creator Joe Laur and their twins, on the land where River Story will be held having had the privilege of stewarding this place for 16 years. Sara’s aspiration is to heal the world and be back in time for her kid’s baseball game.
Linda Booth Sweeney
As a systems educator, researcher and writer, Dr. Linda Booth Sweeney to develop systems literacy. Through her writing, speaking and experiential activities, Linda works with people of all ages to offer living systems – rather than fragments as the context for decision making, learning and design. Linda translates the concepts of complex systems theory into accessible materials and seminars for innovation in organizations, schools and communities. Linda is the author of several books and numerous articles, including The Systems Thinking Playbook (co-authored with Dennis Meadows), When a Butterfly Sneezes (Pegasus, 2004), and her award-winning book: Connected Wisdom: Living Stories about Living Systems (SEED/Chelsea Green, 2009), translated into nine languages. (Forthcoming, in the Fall of 2012, is The Systems Thinking Playbook for Climate Change. Linda received her doctorate from Harvard University in 2004. While there, she worked with Robert Kegan (Changer Leadership Group), conducted dissertation research with Fritjof Capra (Center for Ecoliteracy), and investigated adult’s understanding of dynamic systems, in particular, the dynamics of climate change, with Dr. John Sterman (Sloan School M.I.T). In her current work, Linda uses systems-based methods to help organizations move beyond bullet points and ladder-like metaphors, to language and visuals that more closely match the interdependent, dynamic, complex reality of their work. Linda is currently working with researchers at Tufts University, combining complex systems theory, systems mapping, and story telling, to convey the systems story of a 10-year, community-based research project focused on childhood obesity. Linda is also creating systems-based curriculum and activities for a local Audubon nature center (Drumlin Farm).
Joseph DiCenso
Joseph DiCenso consults to organizations and provides coaching to leaders in the non-profit, public and private sectors. For nearly 20 years, he has been helping leaders lead from the inside out and teams work with greater authenticity and elegance (using the least energy to achieve their goals). Joseph also maintains a private practice as a counselor and personal coach and works with schools and other organizations as a trainer and consultant supporting their inclusivity and social justice goals. A certified Shadow Work® facilitator, Joseph's multi-disciplinary background includes training in Jungian typology, breathwork, social justice, outdoor leadership, and movement practices such as Tai Chi, yoga and dance. Joseph is a world-class facilitator of the “inner” work necessary to help people step into their full leadership potential.
Leslie Cerier
Leslie Cerier Leslie is the author of Going Wild in the Kitchen (Square One Publishers, 2005), The Quick and Easy Organic Gourmet (Barrytown Ltd, 1996), co-author of Sea Vegetable Celebration (The Book Publishing Company, 2001) and editor of Taste Life! Organic Recipes (Square One Publishers, 2002). Leslie has also developed many recipes for natural foods companies, including Green and Blacks (Organic Chocolate), Coombs Vermont Gourmet (Organic Maple Syrup) Lotus Foods (Jade Pearl Rice and Madagascar Pink Rice), and The Teff Company. Leslie has been interviewed by the Food Network, WGBY PBS, and her work was even developed into a local cable TV show, "Easy Organic Cooking." She has also taught at Canyon Ranch, Esalen, Frontier Natural Products Co-op's Herb Fest, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Northeast Organic Farming Association, Natural Gourmet Institute for Food and Health, and 3rd annual Gluten-Free Culinary Summit. Leslie has a Master's degree from Columbia University and has taught at Barnard College, Columbia University, Eastern Kentucky University, Sarah Lawrence College and Hampshire College.
What people are saying about our work:
Seed Systems work helped set Nike on a journey of sustainability from which there is no return. A decade later the impacts of the program that you designed and ran still resonate deeply with the organization and within the 100 leaders who became true agents of change. It's amazing how powerful the legacy has been. It created and launched dozens of landmark projects that continue to deliver against our 2020 goals. These 100 leaders continue to influence Nike’s work around the world. -- Darcy Winslow and Sarah Severn, Nike
Seed Systems’ design for learning and sustainability is masterful. They bring a unique blend of skills, knowledge and commitment to this work. .”
-- Peter Senge, SoL Chairman
Linda Booth Sweeney is a ‘systems artist’ who unmasks key systems in every change story. She is able to capture these dynamics in causal loop diagrams that illuminate intended and unintended effects. Her coaching around this work results in participants identifying upstream problems and pursuing more focused solutions. In addition, she has created a series of systems action games that allow participants to come to understand these constructs through their bodies and their minds.”
-- MAK MITCHELL
Director of Policy and Planning, Empowerment Schools, NYC Dept of Education
“As our new century unfolds, it is becoming more and more evident that the major problems of our time are systemic problems, which means that they are all interconnected and interdependent. To solve them, we need to learn how to think systemically — in terms of relationships, patterns, processes, and context. In this book, Linda Booth Sweeney has assembled a wonderful collection of ancient folk tales and myths from around the world, which convey the profound "systemic wisdom" of peoples who lived close to nature and had a deep intuitive understanding of life's networks, cycles, and processes of transformation. I highly recommend Connected Wisdom as a superb tool for teaching and learning the systemic thinking that is critical in our globally interconnected world.”
-- Fritjof Capra, author, The Web of Life
People will come to your paradise for anything you invite them to! Let me know when you start. I’m coming up from Brazil.
-- Amalia Souza, Executive Director,
CASA, Brazil and Dana Meadows Fellow After 17 years as a line manager making cars on the Factory Floor at Ford, I joined the corporate governance team. I am constantly searching for an integration of organizational learning and culture change practices with economic, environmental and societal performance. You possess these talents. Your knowledge of content and understanding of the complexity that surrounds this work is brilliant.
-- Dave Berdish, Ford Motor
I felt very fortunate to be part of that experience, with two masters driving the ship. And what a great group you guys attracted in the class. The mix of the personal, "soft" skills (collaboration, personal mastery, engagement styles, etc.) with the technical (mapping, feedback loops, stocks & flows, programming, etc.) was powerful. And it was a great moment when you mapped the loop of your personal story. Thank you!
-- John McGah, Interaction Associates
"Thank you" again! Leaders for a New Climate was a marvelous experience. Your design of the workshop was flawless. The flow and range of activities felt just right. I loved the way you moved us from head to heart work and back again (and even to body), but never abandoned one for the other.
-- Jessica Zane, Antioch College
First, THANK YOU. This workshop was transformative for me, a big piece in my journey on climate change so far. It feels like the pace on this journey is accelerating - one of your 'virtuous cycles'. I'm curious as to whether the level of engagement and innovative thought that happened at this workshop is typical or unusual? If it's typical, I'm switching careers!
-- Juliette Varney Rooga, Professor UMass Lowell
Structure, Dates, Fees:
This is a 13 month intensive commitment: a developmental path in three live sessions, as well as coaching and personal and professional “homework” assignments in between. We will work on your most challenging issues with focused and heart-felt intention throughout the year. The first session takes place in August of 2012, with a second session in February 2013, and a final session in August of 2013. Included in the cost are ten personal coaching sessions, and five cohort conference calls woven into the year-long time frame along with faculty responses to homework. The fee also includes meals on-site, camping for summer sessions, & winter accommodations. Off-site accommodations in summer are not included.
Dates for live sessions:
August 22-26, 2012 Wed thru Sunday
Feb 7-10, 2013 Thurs thru Sunday
August 21-25, 2013 Wed thru Sunday
Monthly one on one Coaching sessions:
Sept 2012 – Aug 2013
Monthly Webinar with Faculty
Sept 2012—July 2013
Monthly Cohort Conference Call
Sept 2012 – July 2013
Presentations of Systems Initiatives
August 2013
We welcome your application to the program.
Application:
We are accepting no more than 14 participants for River Story. Our intent in limiting participation is to insure that we have the capacity for high quality coaching relationships with each of you throughout the year. We will work closely with you to achieve your professional and personal aspirations in systems thinking and sustainability where all life thrives for all time.
Please complete the following application to let us know your intent:
1) What calls you to this work now?
2) If River Story was a total win for you, what would you have learned by Aug 2012? What would you be able to accomplish or have accomplished by then?
3) What professional challenge or initiative do you bring to this work?
4) What personal leadership and learning edges do you bring to the work?
5) What are your current personal renewal practices if any?
6) What is your professional experience regarding the triple bottom line of economic, ecological and social sustainability?
7) Why it is important to do sustainability inside and out; what is the connection between the inner and the outer work?
To apply to River Story, please reply to these questions in a letter to us at sara@seedsystems.net with your contact information. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. After we've received your letter we will follow up with you.
A pdf of this invitation and application can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.
River Story Leadership Institute for Personal and Global Transformation
I felt very fortunate to be part of that experience, with two masters driving the ship. And what a great group you attracted to the class. The mix of the personal, "soft" skills (collaboration, personal mastery, engagement styles, etc.) with the technical (mapping, feedback loops, stocks & flows, programming, etc.) is powerful and essential. Thank You.
John McGah, Interaction Associates