being a midwife........

[Gail West]

Thanks Toke.  A well-worn favorite always next to my computer.  Chris 
Corregan wrote a companion piece a few years ago to the 81 of 
Heider's - The Tao of Holding Space. 
http://chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/?page_id=1519

Gail


>Hi practitioner friends of all kinds
>
>i just found this wisdom by John Heider and the Tao
>  about Being a midwife again after many year hiding in my MacBook 
>file somewhere since early 90ties
>
>Being a Midwife
>
>The wise leader does not intervene unnecessarily. 
>The leader's presence is felt, but often the group runs itself.
>
>Lesser leaders do a lot, say a lot, have followers, and form cults.
>Even worse ones use fear to energize the group and force to overcome 
>resistance.
>
>Only the most dreadful leaders have bad reputations.
>
>Remember that you are facilitating anothers person's process. It is 
>not your process. 
>Do not intrude. Do not control. Do not force your own needs and 
>insights into the foreground.
>
>If you do not trust a person's proces, that person will not trust you.
>
>Imagine that you are a midwife; you are assisting at someone else's birth. 
>Do good without show or fuss. 
>Facilitate what is happening rather than what you think ought to be 
>happening. 
>If you must take the lead, lead so that the mother is helped, yet 
>still free and in charge.
>
>When the baby is born, the mother will rightly say: "We did it ourselves!"
>
>- John Heider, The Tao of leadership
>
>This and the question
>
>What if hosting conversations that matter is the kind of leadership 
>that allows everybody to learn ?
>
>were for me both very helpful in becoming pregnant and part of
>giving birth to the  art of hosting practice  in the end of the 90ties
>
>in the spirit of gratitude for life, friends and learning
>- and sharing this memory this bright spring morning in Columbus on 
>our way to Denmark....
>
>Toke
>Words from the heart
><http://web.me.com/tokemoller/Toke.wordsfromtheheart/Coming_alive.html>http://web.me.com/tokemoller/Toke.wordsfromtheheart/Coming_alive.html

-- 
Gail West
ICA
3F, No. 12, Lane 5, Tien Mou West Road
Taipei, Taiwan 111
8862) 2871-3150
SKYPE   gwestica

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