Never Too Far Gone

Sometimes the smallest, messiest, most depleted organisation still has more life in it than you might think. In this episode Heather shares why she believes that external partners might offer quicker solutions, but it is almost always a false economy. She unpacks why she has chosen to focus her life on renewing long-established systems from within, assisting them to develop their own in-house solutions. Heather shares insights from Maria Mazzucato and Rosie Collington's research at UCL, into why an over-dependence on external advice creates a fear-driven economy in which actors lose the skill of learning.

In this episode Heather explains what a 'Renewalist' is and why it is a different style of leadership to two more readily recognised categories, being management and advocacy. Heather explains from the example of Beauty and the Beast, how Renewalists are people who humanise systems by stepping into them fully. The episode ends with a time for reflection about whether you are "all in" to lead the community you stand within, or whether you feel one-toe-out.

In this quick Learning Byte, Heather shares about the importance of planning for the unplanned, or making space for what John Paul Lederach describes as "Serendipity." Heather shares an example of serendipitous discoveries that have been taking place for her at Holy Trinity in Port Melbourne. This episode finishes with an exercise in observing the unplanned experiences and opportunities that may be nudging you in an unexpected direction.  

Every great leader experiences small, medium and big setbacks along the way. Knowing how to weather and metabolise these experiences can make the difference between going the distance, and not. This is the fourth of a series that draws from John Paul Lederach's book, The Moral Imagination (2005) in which he describes the place of patience, place, time and serendipity in the practice of peacebuilding. This episode shares three exercises for practicing Stillness by observing the place of the past, present and future at each juncture of our story.

This is the fourth of a six-part series called Stillness, a practical guide to creating pause in the midst of conflict. 'Stillness' is not a meditation or spiritual practice, but the art of suspending judgement to observe what is happening in a conflict, be it an inner-conflict, intergroup or intragroup storming. This series draws from John Paul Lederach's book, The Moral Imagination (2005) in which he describes the place of patience, place, time and serendipity in the practice of peacebuilding. This episode shares a strategy for practicing Stillness by observing time. This week's reflection is for anyone who ever feels small, unsuccessful, or as though progress is being made far too slowly. ** Please bear with the sound in this one ... it was recorded offsite and at times Heather's speech sounds a little altered. 

This is the third of a four-part series called Stillness, a practical guide to creating pause in the midst of conflict. 'Stillness' is not a meditation or spiritual practice, but the art of suspending judgement to observe what is happening in a conflict, be it an inner-conflict, intergroup or intragroup storming. This series draws from John Paul Lederach's book, The Moral Imagination (2005) in which he describes the place of patience, place, time and serendipity in the practice of peacebuilding. This episode shares two exercises for practicing Stillness by observing place. These are designed to help us notice clues about the best levers for change in our environment.

This is the second of a four-part series called Stillness, a practical guide to creating pause in the midst of conflict. 'Stillness' is not a meditation or spiritual practice, but the art of suspending judgement to observe what is happening in a conflict, be it an inner-conflict, intergroup or intragroup storming. This series draws from John Paul Lederach's book, The Moral Imagination (2005) in which he describes the place of patience, place, time and serendipity in the practice of peacebuilding. This episode shares three types of patience involved in the startup phase of building new ideas, initiatives or organisations, which are:

Patience with the 'yes' people;

Patience with the 'no' people; and

Patience with the 'yes but not yet' people.

This is the first of a four-part series called Stillness, a practical guide to creating pause in the midst of conflict. 'Stillness' is not a meditation or spiritual practice, but the art of suspending judgement to observe what is happening in a conflict, be it an inner-conflict, intergroup or intragroup storming. This series draws from John Paul Lederach's book, The Moral Imagination (2005) in which he describes the place of patience, place, time and serendipity in the practice of peacebuilding. This episode introduces the concept of Stillness with three stories from Heather's recent experience of lobbying in Parliament. 

This is the final episode of an eight-part series called Policy Matters, journeying into how to be a successful policy entrepreneur, based on Michael Sheldrick's From Ideas to Impact. This episode explores how to discern your career journey, featuring Carl Stauffer, Senior Expert in Reconciliation at the United States Institute for Peace. Carl looks back over his 30 years of experience as a strategic leader in peace, justice and reconciliation initiatives and reflects on how he came to understand his vocation and discern his 'next steps' at each juncture. This episode frames our career journey in three areas:-

'The Stirring' or times when we feel restless in our current role; 

'The Closed Door' which is about how to manage when opportunities we thought would open up to us suddenly do not; and

'The Title' which is about the various ways that people and life experiences communicate to us who we are and what unique gift we bring to the world.

This is the seventh of an eight-part series called Policy Matters, journeying into how to be a successful policy entrepreneur, based on Michael Sheldrick's From Ideas to Impact. The final two episodes of this series take a slightly different turn, as we meet with Carl Stauffer, Senior Expert in Reconciliation at the United States Institute for Peace. Carl is a strategic leader with over 30 years experience in peace, justice and reconciliation initiatives, including 16 years on the ground in South Africa. He has conducted training and consultation in 37 countries and 6 continents and comes with 11 years experience as Associate Professor of Justice and Peacebuilding at the Eastern Mennonite University. In this episode, Carl shares how he has witnessed radical attempts to cross dividing lines in our world today, referencing:

The building of a parallel democratic process in Myanmar;

The Comprehensive Agreement signed between the United States and Vietnam in 2023; and 

A legislated framework for transitional justice in Colombia.