Blog entries

Facilitating for Transformation

Heather Berthoud — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:00:00 +0100

The course I taught was, finally, a success. It took a lot to reach people, to get the concepts across, to get them to take ownership of their learning, their class, and their process. My colleague and I didn’t break through until the class was about two thirds complete. The final classroom activity showed that they had learned. I sense that we set their feet on a more fruitful path. They seemed motivated to continue.

I used to study martial arts. I loved it. It was the ballast to my activist life. It was where I discovered my athletic self. Then, after about 18 years, I fell while hiking and hurt my back. There went my martial arts career. No more jumping, kicking, punching hard. After about a year of a modified schedule, I gave it up.

I decided ...

When Private Apologies Don't Work

Heather Berthoud — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:17:45 +0100

The meeting was interrupted by an outburst from the leader to a subordinate. Whatever the person said or did to deserve that tongue lashing was a mystery. Had she broken the leader’s train of thought? Contradicted him? Offered an idea he didn’t like? Spoken one too many times? No one knew, but the effect of the dressing down was immediate. The group was silent, exchanging furtive glances instead of potential solutions for the project...

The Plan Starts NOW!

Heather Berthoud — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 05:00:00 +0100

Organizations use strategic plans to identify their vision, mission, outcomes, success factors, milestones, resource allocation, short-term objectives and action steps. People get excited by the destination and path they’ve set for themselves but they often postpone their future by continuing the current way they do things even though to achieve the ambitious plan they need to start now. The situation is akin to the person who has a brilli...

Real Conversation: Supporting the Safety of Others

Heather Berthoud — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 05:00:00 +0100

How can we create the space for real conversation? Not what passes for conversation-crafting the witty comeback while the other person is talking; dismissing what is uncomfortable, disagreed with, or unfamiliar; categorizing those we disagree with as bad; talking louder and/or faster in the hopes of wearing down the opposition. In real conversation people are heard, validated. Their ideas are engaged. Perhaps people want safe space because they know what to expect otherwise.

...

Safe Space

Heather Berthoud — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0100

I often get called into facilitate groups where there is tension, sometimes among peers, and sometimes with a manager or leader. People typically ask that there be safe space for the conversation. What do they mean? People generally answer with phrases like, “No repercussions,” “What I say won’t be held against me,” and “There won’t be any negative consequences.” Is this possible?

...

Bion Meets Obama

Heather Berthoud — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:00:00 +0100

Why the great disappointment with President Obama and his administration’s accomplishments? There are many explanations—he’s been too timid, too bold, unfocused, focused on the wrong things, too conciliatory, too left, too right, on and on. What’s missing from the critique is the rest of us—the citizenry—and our relationship to our elected leaders.

Ah! There is nothing like the feeling after exertion in nature. The day was cool, crisp even, but warm when the sun was out and I was getting myself uphill.

I am thankful for all the people over the years who had the foresight to preserve such great spaces. I benefit greatly whether from a local walk and ride path (Sligo Creek Pa...

The Lotto

Heather Berthoud — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:00:00 +0100

Recently, I encountered a couple on a hike. The setting was a lovely canyon in the Red Rock country outside of Sedona, AZ. The sun was out but we were in the shade as the nearby mountains cast a shadow, and a chill, into the pine forest beneath the red mountain walls. They were the only people I had encountered for hours. We stopped to chat about the marvelous scenery and other trails we had discovered as visitors to the area.

As we w...

2010 Greetings

Heather Berthoud — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:28:56 +0100

Welcome to 2010, already in progress and already challenging in so many ways. Now, more than ever, I feel called to engage with community for peace and justice.

The year that was

2009 was full. A big focus was the trans...

Reflection: A Must for Individual and Organizational Success

Heather Berthoud — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Not long ago, a colleague described her four-year-old Blackberry as "ancient". In organizations, campaigns and projects come one after another and often overlap. There are changes in structure, technology, policies, and personnel, plus new demands from the environment. Leaders and managers are expected to produce results and people. It seems there's hardly time to run from one meeting to the next, let alone reflect.

In times of swirling change, reflection can be th...

Back to School

Heather Berthoud — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Actually, it’s after Labor Day, which always meant back to school for me. Although it’s been a while since I was in school, my internal rhythm is still set by that calendar. So, it’s a time of new supplies including blank notebooks and sharpened pencils, new teachers, subjects, and schedules. And let’s not forget, new school clothes.

More than the external trappings of the new school year, this time is an opportunity to gather up the energy renewed over the sum...

Segregation on a Bus

Heather Berthoud — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:42:35 +0100

At an airport, on the way to a conference, I ran into a friend and her companion. My friend offered me a ride in her rental car. We three black women boarded the shuttle bus, put away our luggage and sat at the front of the bus. The remaining passengers filed in, stowed their luggage, and went to the back of the bus. Though there were open seats up front with us, the white passengers moved to the rear, including some who chose to stand. We black women exchanged knowing and perplexed look...

Why Leadership Teams are Different

Heather Berthoud — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Leadership teams often face issues that are unique to their role at the top of an organization.

Managing multiple purposes: Leadership team members have responsibility for the organization as a whole while also being accountable for specific program and operational portfolios. This can create tension as team members work to secure resources necessary to deliver their individual priorities even as they seek to steer the entire organization. At its most challenging,

What is Enough?

Heather Berthoud — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

As I read accounts of overleveraged banks, executive “bonuses”, people losing homes they couldn’t afford, the rising unemployment rate, some people working two jobs to make ends meet (barely) while others count their houses, I hope that the benefit of all this suffering and uneven distribution of wealth and pain is a national recalibration of our moral compass.

I find myself asking, “What is enough?” How big do our houses need to be? How many (extra) rooms?...

The Power of Curiosity

Heather Berthoud — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

When you find yourself disagreeing with or offended by someone, you know, you want to thoroughly convince them of the wrongness of their position-and the rightness of yours-try something else-curiosity. Allow yourself to wonder, really wonder, how in the world they came to that perspective. Or wonder, with all the indignation you are likely to have anyway, what they could have possibly meant by that stupid, offensive, off point remark or action. Allow yourself to say something like:

I'm c...

Building Board Leadership in Community Organizations

Heather Berthoud — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

It's time to approve the plan and budget of a community based organization and the staff is frustrated that the board is micromanaging and not focused on strategy. The board is frustrated that the staff is trying to get approval for programs that cost too much and haven't been fully explained. They each walk away disappointed that they have not been more fully engaged and appreciated.

The board/staff relationship is fraught with boundary and role challenges.

In organizations workin...

My Intentions

Heather Berthoud — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

I intend to share ideas about organizational processes that support the effective functioning of justice seeking organizations. I am an OD consultant. I think about the ways organizations function and how to organize their parts-whether departments or programs or people-to best effect. I explore the ways that people engage with each other to achieve their purpose, or the ways they pretend to engage or only partially engage and thereby slow down the attainment of change missions. I share thoug...