Wanna Join My Cohort?
Well, shit. Living in the U.S. can feel pretty relentless, eh? There never seems to be a dull moment.
As I write this, we are just a handful of days out from Donald Trump getting shot in the ear during one of his campaign rallies in Pennsylvania. Biden weighed in with an Oval Office speech. The Republican National Convention happens in Milwaukee all this week.
It’s a lot.
And it’s always a lot.
It was already on my writing schedule to talk about what it feels like to be leaders in the time of political upheaval. So, this is not even in response to what has just happened or is continuing to unfold. I want to touch on this because as individual people inside a 300-million-person country, I think it is critical to feel empowered.
- With all hell breaking loose, what are WE supposed to be doing? And NOT doing?
- How are we supposed to feel and act and behave when violence (in rhetoric and action) have both been normalized in our context?
- What is the balance between self-care (shielding ourselves from the virtual IV drip available of news, comparison, crises, and gore?) and taking meaningful action – doing something consistently that might make life at least incrementally better for ourselves and the people we care about?
These are important questions. And last week I wrote my essay about community. I highlighted the power of group spaces in a highly individualized era.
Also last week I opened first invitations to a curated leadership cohort experience I’m hosting this fall. This week I’m opening up that opportunity (https://www.trinaolson.com/services) to you - my special community of readers and listeners:
FALL 2024 FOUR-PART COHORT FOR LEADERS!
Getting to and through this election – together.
Tuesday, Oct 15 / 10am – NoonCST
Tuesday, Oct 29 / 10am – NoonCST
Tuesday, Nov 12 / 10am – NoonCST
Tuesday, Nov 26 / 10am – NoonCST
I purposefully scheduled this experience for the weeks before, during, and after this year’s U.S. federal election.
I am inviting you to join up to 12 other leaders from around the country (on Zoom) this fall. Cost is $1,000 if you register before September 1 or $1,080 if you register later. Space is intentionally limited to ensure an intimate and meaningful experience. Cohort spots will be reserved on a first-come, first- served basis. Simply email me at trina@trinaolson.com and I can send you all the details and we can connect about your participation.
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Back to selecting a leadership posture from which to ground in this moment.
I think that identifying and acting like a leader is hard. Rather than just going with the flow, even when it’s bad, people like us – in our families, communities, neighborhoods, and at work – try to show up as an agent in our own lives. We are not in control of much. But what we can influence, we try to. We are part of broad, interdependent ecosystems, and day to day, month to month, year to year, we choose to try.
When doing my career and life six-month intention setting on summer solstice with my dear friends Jeffrey, Ryan, and Brandon, the intention I set for myself for this particular election period is peace and clarity.
I swung for the fences, huh? ;)
These are not my goals in other years. Here is why I think they’ve arisen this time.
#1) Adaption in the field of intercultural capacity building is defined as: moment-to-moment shifts, aligned with your most deeply held values, inside the reality of your current context, across meaningful lines of difference, in service of clear goals.
Put another way, be a consistently strategic actor in ways that make you feel in your integrity, and God-willing also make a useful impact.
I am not a leader who sits on the sidelines. Inaction gives me hives.
That is not to say I am never still. I am still long enough to discern what on earth I could try next.
#2) For me, this cycle, aiming for peace does NOT mean being in denial or trying to check out or “rise above” or whatever else would position me as ‘outside’ the reality we are all trying to traverse. I am part of a community. I am part of systems. Ideally, I can be part of the movements, groundswells, and community of leaders that is trying hard to leave things better than we found them.
- For me, anchoring into peace is all about feeling peaceful about what is mine to do. For example, yesterday I made my monthly planned contributions to candidates I want to be elected because their values and vision for the future align with my own. I am currently investing between 5 – 10% of my take home pay in the future of democracy. I give through Vote Save America, which was founded by professional progressives whose analysis and intentions I trust. Currently, their strategy is to focus on distributing financial resources to races we can win but require real cash to make that happen.
I feel peace because I know how often I’m giving, how much I’m giving, and to whom I’m giving.
For me, this limits decision-fatigue and allows me to look up ahead and know that I will be able to feel proud and that I did what I currently could.
- Another thing that gives me peace is to recollect (and at times even say out loud to myself to ensure it really sinks in) that there are a lot of people currently on the case! Which case, you ask? Whole communities, departments, and organizations of trained operatives (such as lawyers, comms professionals, policy advisors) are figuring out how we can or cannot shift who’s on the ballot given the complex variety of state and federal laws.
#3) About clarity…moment to moment and day to day it typically takes me a few minutes to grapple with new and incoming information to determine what’s next.
- My role as a leader in this movement moment is to do my job – make impact where I can, with whom I can, and to do my best not to succumb to hopelessness, nihilism, or incessant complaining.
- To achieve a sense of inner and outer clarity, I revisit the following kinds of questions:
o What is most important to me? Am I sure? Does the way I am currently spending my time and my money reflect that? If not, what can or could I adjust?
o Has something shifted that it would be wise for me to consider? Life is not static. Rather than being attached to a decision or a direction as though I’m stuck, I like knowing that if and when new and different clarity emerges about what is needed from my leadership, I can adjust strategically.
o Why do I feel clear about this _______ in this moment _______? Do I feel connected to reliable sources and wise counselors? Did I take long enough to consider more than one option for my potential participation? Does what I’m doing feel like I made an active and conscious choice, or did I get swept up in group think of some sort?
I am not saying that peace and clarity are the only or the best words to set our sights on at the moment. I am saying they are wise words for me right now.
How about you? What intentions do you want to set? What words do you want to use as a mantra as a leader, given the reality of our current volatile contexts? Let me know!
I appreciate you,
-Trina
P.S. I would love to have you join me for my October and November Four-Part Cohort for Leaders. Send me an email if you’d like all the details – trina@trinaolson.com.