BELONGING TO BE DESIGNED TBD

Whatismy currentvs. desired futurestate foreachof thefive rules?

Whatgaps doIneed toclose?

Whatdoes thefutureof belonging meantome?

Whatisthe firststepIcan taketoward buildingthat future?

Howwill Ilisten without labels?

HowwillI encourage otherstodo thesame?

Wherewill Iturninto thepower?

HowwillI knowifI’ve achieved success?

WhatcanIdo tocreate identityoverWhatpurpose? power structurescan Ileaninto,and whichonesdoI needtodismantle?

HowdoI understand thecollective identityofmy organization?

connectivity we crave as humans. Yet, our lives are in pieces—separated by various situations or work, life, and personal challenges. So, we bring people together and ask them to physically break things. This gives everyone a chance to mirror what has already happened in our lives. It also levels us to the same grounding with which to start—here we are, emotions and all, with our colleagues and friends. We bring teams together, give them a beautiful bowl, hand them a burlap sack and hammer, and ask them to hit and shatter the bowl. Most people make the first hit with medium force, not knowing what to expect—often not breaking the bowl but feeling the vibration and piercing sound of the collision. Then they realize it is going to take a harder hit, and the sounds of shattering bowls fill the room. The pieces are then spilled out on the table. It is a mess. Some are sad and think, “What a waste of a beautiful bowl.” Others wonder, “What are we going to do with this?” Next comes the task of putting the pieces back together. A metaphor for life. A metaphor for anything broken, anything destroyed. And, like in life, the pieces don’t fit back neatly. Once the bowl is glued back together in whatever form the pieces dictate, the imperfections are highlighted with gold paint. This creates a beauty in the bowl’s brokenness and becomes something new. What we do with this exercise is demonstrate how extraordinary our broken world and lives really are; how we can highlight and embrace imperfection instead of hiding it; how we can break and put things back together. Coming apart and bringing together in an enlightened way is a daily function of leaders and people. Because we believe so strongly that each of us has a leader already within us, take note that leadership can emerge from any vantage point. That one new perspective can bring all together. Yet, instead of relishing the rebuild and appreciating the challenge in the midst of brokenness, we too often and too easily throw things away and start over. This is a reminder that imperfection is fundamental to and embraced by great design.

Belonging leadership sometimes requires us to make hard decisions and break things up, even in a high-functioning business or team environment, so that we can put them together in a more intentional way. This is true for coaches navigating the changing landscape of both professional