Transformational Day

It's not often you have to stand up in front of 27 strangers (senior executives of global companies), 5 collaborators and three members of staff of the organisation, IESE, that pays you more than any other each year and tell a story about an aspect of yourself that you have never ever spoken about in public and which takes you into the space of the anxious unknown in terms of how the audience will react to the disclosure. I did it today with the aim of role modelling vulnerability - the central paradox is that we, as a species, seek and value connection with others but are so alive to the risk of breaking that connection and thus being rejected that we hide certain things about ourselves . . . and, of course, that hiding means we are never fully present as ourselves and the deepest connection possible between revealed souls is lost even before the start. Being vulnerable requires courage . . . a word with its stem in French 'coeur', heart. You can't really go wrong if you operate from your whole heart. This was, more than anything, the central message.

All in a day's work but it comes at a cost in terms of preparation and anticipation. I was tremendously aware of the switch of attention when I started the story after the more factual first part of the presentation and was very touched by the spontaneous round of applause when I had finished.

The quality and courage of sharing in the break out groups after was off the scale and I later received many hand shakes, slaps on the back and emails evidencing that a deeper bond had been established through my own personal experiment (backed by Harvard research and personal guidance) and which, hopefully, will be emulated through the subsequent multiple sharings among the groups as they work closely together during the next four months. What a privilege to be in a position to influence in this way and what new possibilities for me to connect more fully with my immediate collaborators going forward.

Phew! Don't feel bad if you got lost half way through that . . . my fault entirely . . . the short version is that I sure did need a beer after work today!