What do you do when ... you don't know what to do?

Wednesday February 20, 2013 Some call it being lost. Others call it a chance to be resourceful. For many, it is not a good place to be. I've come to believe that is an important component of the improvisational art of leadership work. So here is a reflection (in the form of a poem) that I hope will benefit those of us that like to be always in control. When You Get Lost Tell me what you do when you get lost Tell me Tell me what you feel How things look to you What happens in your head What you say to yourself Tell me Can you see anything when you get lost Can you hear what's about you Do you perceive life at all Tell me Tell me what scares you most when you get lost Can you draw from deep inside What you use to hold you up Do you move yourself differently Tell me Tell me what you do to reach that special calm Can you direct a prayer When do you know to wait When do you know to risk Tell me Tell me what you do when you get lost Tell me Then tell me How you know When you not lost no more Tell me -Carol Prejean Zippert

Power of the Past: My Story as a Leadership Educator

Wednesday January 9, 2013 INTEGRAL LEADERSHIP REVIEW - Particles magazine - Published with permission   I grew up and was educated in Rome, Italy. Here are a few flashbacks about my life as a learner in the Italian school system: ■ Elementary School, 1972: Maestra Arena would consider any question from the class as a personal insult and refuse to answer. ■ 12th grade, 1977: Signor Pumo would simply not acknowledge our presence in the class as we walked in and would make fun of the students with low grades. ■ High School, 1986: Signora Bondi would lecture for hours, then she would draw a name from a little box, bingo-like, to select the student that would have to parrot back what she had said. Alas! The Italian didactic style – being more theoretical and less interactive than that of the U.S. system – conditioned my thinking about teaching and learning at an early age. These experiences provided a powerful paradoxical teaching experience that has guided my life as a leadership educator across the Atlantic. (link: clik here) Adriano Pianesi | ParticipAction Consulting, Inc.