by Alan Briskin | Leadership, Nature, Photography
hdr photography by Alan Briskin
March 27: In the Datebook section of the San Francisco Chronicle there is a front page story of how the Golden Gate National Recreation Area has been awarded three Stewardship Awards from the Cultural Landscape Foundation, a national organization.
They are being recognized for a partnership among public agencies and various stakeholders in creating “cultural landscapes” that are dynamic in nature and harbor beauty and historical meaning – “layers and layers of history, with our time putting down its own layer.”
The physical beauty and the visible element of human design is what distinguishes the outcome of this partnership. The physical sites include Muir Woods, Golden Gate Park, The San Francisco Presidio, and Crissy Field.
The planners were praised for their “mindfulness” and “the elegance of design, sustainability, intelligence of siting and an understanding of the continuum of nature and culture.”
Is this not an aspiration for leadership more generally? Is this not what stewardship might represent for a new generation of leaders?
My question, of course, is about how we can re-imagine both leadership and stewardship as ideas that go beyond simply having power over decisions or people, or conversely, being flunkies for invisible forces or simply for our own personal, financial and egoic gain.
Mindfulness, Elegance of Design, Sustainability, the intelligence of siting/sitting (reflecting) and an understanding of the continuum of nature and culture are powerful ways of describing both leadership and stewardship.
by Alan Briskin | Community, Nature, Wellness
Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. ~ Jane Howard
One of the stories featured in The Power of Collective Wisdom is about the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants (CERI) in Oakland, California. Co-founded by Mona Afary, the center has been a tribe and network for Cambodian refugees and their families, many of whom escaped from the brutal regime of Pol Pot and the killing fields.
Mona’s initial inspiration for the center came from her observing that in the waiting room of her counseling office, a group of Cambodian clients and their families sat together talking and laughing, knitting together and trading stories. The possibility for healing was in front of her, in the interconnected web of life and love.
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by Alan Briskin | Books, Collective Wisdom, Creativity, Nature, Photography, Quotable
"One of the essential qualities of collective wisdom is a palpable sense of connection with each other and to larger forces that is found, for example, in nature, in relationship to our ancestors, and even in relation to a physical place….
People who talk about their experiences of collective wisdom often report a sense of openness and awareness of something larger than themselves. The ability to communicate seems broader, and people are often astounded by the creativity that comes forward.
“You have a sense,” Frenier observed, “that the whole group is creating together, and you don’t quite exactly know how.”
~ The Power of Collective Wisdom: And the Trap of Collective Folly
