May 2012 be a year of thriving. ~the shiftalliance team
Qualities of Presence: AWARENESS & ATTENTION (Part 3 of 10)
Attention and Awareness
We continue exploring Presence-Based Coaching by examining the qualities that make-up our consciousness: focused ATTENTION and open, alert AWARENESS. It is usually easiest to understand these qualities in relationship to each other.
To understand the distinction between Attention and Awareness, we can use the metaphor of shining a flashlight in the dark. ATTENTION is what we choose to focus on in any moment, whatever is within the beam of light. In this example AWARENESS is the darkness; it is our broader field of experience, like a radar that monitors our internal and external environments.
Whatever we pay attention to within the larger field of awareness constitutes attention. Because our experience is shaped by whatever occupies our attention, it is important to have the ability to direct and manage our attention.(1) We are talking about the ability to manage our minds and our thought process.
ATTENTION: the mental faculty of taking notice – what aspect of life do you take notice of?
AWARENESS: the aspect of mind that is aware of itself and the world – what aspect of you is aware of itself and the world?
The practice of Presence – paying attention to present-moment experience with a non-judgmental, curious attitude – pulls one’s attention into this moment, out of the past and out of the future into this immediate fragment of time. By focusing on the present-moment we notice or register more of what exists in the larger field of awareness right now. Presence has been characterized as an “attentional ability” (2) in that one is able to focus in an undistracted way on the object at hand: “When we Presence something, we let our full attention rest on it.”(3) In this way, Presence includes both the abiding open aspects of AWARENESS and the focused and alert qualities of ATTENTION.
Practicing Presence may help us to expand the field of conscious experience (awareness) and allow new phenomena to register in our conscious mind (attention). If we are psychologically present in the moment, we allow our attention to remain connected to the actual unfolding of experience from moment-to-moment. While this might mean keeping attention on things we would often rather ignore, the end benefit is a capacity to tolerate and manage our experience to a larger range of experience. We can be open to the stimulus (attention) as well as to the broader unfolding moment (awareness).
In the case of experiencing personal or professional challenges, the PBC process helps people learn to simultaneously notice discomfort, and manage anxiety long enough to discern the appropriate response to best move toward goals. Clients learn to tolerate difficulty without becoming overwhelmed. They strengthen their meta-cognition muscle so a negative stimulus is neither avoided, indulged, or harbored; instead, it is acknowledged, responded to, and then let go into the every-changing landscape of experience.
Practicing Presence allows us to experience this particular “fragment of time” and all that is included in it (4). With attention and awareness focused on the contents of our current experience, one experiences a “filled present” resulting in potential increases in pleasure and fulfillment as well as an experience of time slowing down or expanding.
How it works: Examples of PBC in Action
To illustrate the transformational process of our Presence-Based Coaching method, we’ll look at the responses of past clients and examples that illustrate the Presence-Based Coaching learning process in action.
Amanda: Well, I hit two or more moments during the last week where I was feeling anxious and stressed and then I stopped, observed, aligned and finally allowed myself to be in the present moment without letting the rest of the day absorb me completely.
In this example, Amanda was able to change her experience by shifting her attention from thinking about the future and all that needed to be done, to bringing her attention in to the moment and whatever she was doing. This change helped Amanda’s business:
This practice is strengthening my relationships with friends and customers by being more aware of them. I was consciously making an effort to listen to them instead of letting my mind wander.
Julie: As I approached my business plan, I was noticing all sorts of avoidance behaviors. I just noticed and then did what I needed in order to pave the way into deeper relationship with the business plan. I am now well on my way in fleshing out the pieces that I can do without consultation.
In this example, Julie noticed and acknowledged her avoidance behavior. Instead of engaging in something to distract herself, she was present to the anxiety and avoidance, eventually getting herself to sit down and do the work she needed to do. She was learning to tolerate and recognize anxiety and discomfort, staying with the experience long enough to let it subside and shift into something different: an effective response.
Steve: On Sunday, when I actually had a moment to relax, I enjoyed the day more allowing myself to not worry about the shop/work etc.
Learning to manage our attention is what we refer to as a Being-based practice. Often times in coaching or any activity we practice doing something over and over. PBC requires practicing managing attention over and over but the primary action is to “notice.” The act of noticing is the first step to change. Once we can notice and see something, we’re more able to affect that thing.
Jennifer: I also had success at work where I made a presentation to the whole sales team. I was present when I prepared for it, so it went extremely well. Usually, I rush and end up floundering.
When it comes to our lives, being able to manage our attention and thinking is paramount to happiness and effectiveness.
Explore Presence
Try on some of these ideas. The first step in PBC is to simply begin to notice. The act of stopping and reflecting is powerful, and it’s a subjective experience that some people might not even notice. Consider the domains of self, others, and the environment.
Notice: Where do you put your attention? Within any moment, what do you tend to focus on? Which of the three domains gets most of your attention? self, others, or the environment? What happens when you begin to notice the other domains?
Notice: Each day take a moment to soften your gaze and broaden the field of attention; expand your awareness. What do you experience? hear? feel?
Write down your observations and at the end of the week see if you notice any patterns.
Please join us as we continue discussing the Qualities of Presence in our next post:
Silence and Stillness
(1) ****
(2) *****
(3) ******
(4) McPhee, 2005, p. 7
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Qualities of Presence: PRESENCE + Professional COACHING (Part 2 of 10)
Last week, we introduced the topic of Presence, simply defined as one’s quality of relating to the here and now, or present moment. Following installments will examine each of the eight qualities of Presence we outlined, and explain the benefits of practicing Presence. Along the way, we will cite examples from the experiences of past clients to illustrate the outcomes of this process.
The premise of the Presence-Based Coaching PBC model is that the more we can exist in this immediate fragment of time, or the present-moment, the more effective we become at responding to the circumstances and situations that arise.
A Little Information on Coaching
Professional coaching supports individuals to actualize their potential by becoming “flexible learners, capable of adapting to an increasing array of unexpected events and circumstances”.* Professional coaches develop and deliver customized learning programs relevant to their client’s immediate needs, which result in “immediate and tangible benefits”.* A coach is a person adept at “unleashing the human spirit and expanding people’s capacity to achieve, stretch his or her goals, and bring about real change”.** Professional Coaching could be considered the practical application and industry of Positive Psychology: the field researching the positive and thriving life condition. Positive psychology is especially interested in the accomplishment of goals and the building of competencies.*** At shiftalliance, our Presence-Based coaching programs teach clients to accomplish their goals and grow through the practice of becoming more aware: a practice of non-action, of BEING more conscious (managing attention and increasing awareness), which in turn positively affects behavior and action.
Presence isn’t all or nothing. We can think in terms of “levels of presence” and see how Presence-Based Coaching clients have been able to discern a higher or lower qualities of Presence in critical moments. If anything, the most profound skills learned in the PBC program are the ability to step back, reflect and re-focus in real time, what James Flaherty calls the ability to ‘self-correct’ and ‘self-generate’.
Presence-Based Consciousness
PBC is based on the practice of present-moment awareness and attention. This involves the realm of consciousness which can be defined as the mind’s awareness of itself and the world. By cultivating conscious awareness, we shift into the realm of perception. We become conscious of what and how we perceive the world. This is profound because how we perceive the world determines the actions we take: it determines behavior.
The Presence-Based Coaching practice supports transformation as clients begin to notice their patterns of managing attention. As patterns get disrupted, new information often registers in one’s field of awareness shifting one’s fundamental experience of Being. For that reason we speak about PBC as a methodology to develop Being-based capacities over traditional doing-based skill development. Being-based capacities include the ability to notice new kinds of information such emotional intelligence, social intelligence, intuition, etc. As we begin to notice or observe ourselves and our patterns, we’re also able to more easily change them. Making more conscious choices helps us move toward our desired outcomes both personally and professionally. Clients report the ability to notice or observe themselves in the midst of work and interpersonal interactions, especially situations that trigger strong emotional responses: situations that cause the most difficulty and stress in our lives and give rise to less than ideal behavior.
Jim: When we were fighting about some stupid thing, and then started down the ‘you did this, but you did this’, which leads back to lots of other unresolved situations, I removed myself from the situation momentarily [stop]. I took a few breaths to help me observe what was really going on [observe], I took a few seconds to figure out what I was trying to accomplish [align] and then I re-entered the situation with a fresh perspective [allow]. I did not allow everything to happen, but I did allow the situation at hand to play out much more effectively. This is actually much more of a valuable tool in my personal life since in personal relationships it is far more easy to react from emotion and expectation than in business or work situations.
Bringing the practice of Presence to challenging moments can produce powerful transformation. In this example, the client, Jim, was practicing the 4-step PBC process of stop-observe-align-allow (SOAA). In just a few weeks he was able to transform his personal relationship,. This is not an unusual outcome of the PBC program;once we practice being “conscious” in one area of life we become more conscious in all areas of our life. Awareness, or meta-cognition, is like a muscle we can build and strengthen and it permeates every part of our lives.
Please join us for Part 3 as we continue our exploration of the eiqht qualities of Presence, beginning with Attention and Awareness: qualities one and two.
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Qualities of Presence: Introduction (Part 1 of 10)
Presence-Based Coaching (PBC) is one of the signature services offered by shiftalliance. This month, we will discuss what we mean when we talk about Presence. We’ll also explore the roots of the Presence-Based Coaching methodology and introduce the many benefits that practicing Presence can bring to your professional and personal life.
As the holiday season moves into full swing, we are scattered and pulled in a hundred directions. It’s a good time to think about Presence. We hope that this series will offer you peace and reflection during this busy time and provide a better understanding of how Presence can support you to create fulfilling outcomes that move you toward your goals.
We’ll begin by introducing and defining the concept of Presence. Then, over the next three weeks, we will examine eight qualities of Presence-moment experience including:
- Focused Attention
- Observational Awareness
- Silence & Stillness
- A “Beginner’s Mind” Perspective – seeing things as if for the first time
- Connection
- Authenticity
- Somatosensory Field – being able to sense, feel or experience subtle energy
- Non-Judgement – acceptance
We’ll conclude the series by reviewing the benefits of the practicing Presence, explain the concepts of simultaneous supreme activity and supreme relaxation, and talk more about the transformational outcomes of the Presence-Based Coaching method.
What is Presence?
Presence can be most simply defined as our quality of relating to the here and now, or present moment. It is “being there in the purest sense.”* Leading theories of Presence conclude that Presence is not an all or nothing proposition but that there are different levels or qualities of Presence relative to how much of oneself exists in and is available to the present moment. In short, people can be more or less present at any moment in time.
The distinctions between existing and being available correlate to the two different types of Presence: physical and psychological. A person might be physically present, existing in the present moment, but be psychologically absent or unavailable to the moment.
Awareness & Attention
Thus, Presence is marked by “wholeness” and includes both awareness and attention, the primary constructs of consciousness. Awareness is the “background ‘radar’ monitoring the inner and outer environment,”** whereas attention is the focus of the conscious mind, or what a person pays attention to. Our experience is shaped by the objects of one’s attention.***
Presence includes both the observation and openness of awareness and the focused and alert qualities of attention. Benefits of practicing Presence will be discussed further when we examine the qualities of ATTENTION and AWARENESS.
Mindfulness and Flow
The PBC model also incorporates two leading theories related to present-moment activity: Mindfulness and Flow. Mindfulness focuses on increasing one’s overall, general awareness by cultivating the ability to focus deliberate and nonjudgmental attention on present-moment experience.**** In a Flow state, the individual’s focus, or attention, is completely absorbed in present-moment activity at the expense of all else, including oneself.*** Therefore, while Mindfulness attempts to expand awareness of the moment, Flow consists of a narrowed, focused concentration of attention in the present moment. Both have been associated with enhanced performance in a variety of activities.
Presence & Thriving
Presence-Based Coaching was developed in the belief that the practice of Presence, or having more of oneself existing in and available to the immediate moment, can help people to unleash the adaptive and creative potential to thrive in their professional and personal lives.
How might Presence-Based Coaching help you? Outcomes of the PBC practice include:
• Accelerated personal & professional development. Slowing down to increase our quality of Presence helps us learn to more effectively manage responses to whatever is happening. We develop the ability to make choices where before we reacted automatically. We develop RESILIENCE.
• Expanding possibilities and potential by exiting out of limiting belief systems, or conditioned Ways of Being developed in the past. We expand our identity and are open to being and experiencing more.
• Increased effectiveness as we increase our ability to see more of the complexity inherent in most situations & respond appropriately.
• Stress-Management skills
• Learning skills to manage and adapt to change.
• Alignment of values and behavior in life and work: AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP.
• Enhanced effectiveness as defined by the ability to accomplish or execute one’s desired goals.
Please join us for the next three weeks as we examine the qualities of Presence and the ways that practicing Presence can facilitate a full engagement in the unfolding of life from moment to moment.
*(Bugental, 1963, p.383) **(Brown & Ryan p. 822) ***(Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002, p. 101) ****(Epstein, 2003a; Kabat-Zinn, 2003)
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shiftalliance at b corp: purpose, progress & future challenges
In October, shiftalliance attended the B Corp retreat in Philadelphia. For three days we enjoyed meeting the people who are pioneering and joining the B Corp movement, people whose character and companies exude the kind of integrity, authenticity, and quality that any of us would seek in our trusted businesses and friends. I came away impressed by the possibilities for corporate “reform” and impact of the grassroots B Corps process. It was also abundantly clear to us and many of of the people we talked with that our consulting services and methodology are well-suited to B Corp certification. In short, shiftalliance was made to help companies become B Corps.
A Word on B Corp: the B stands for Benefits
Certified B Corporations are a new type of corporation which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. B Corp started in 2007 and just this year formalized their GIIRS (Global Impact Investment Rating System) certification standard backed by B Lab the non-proft organization behind B Corporations.
Unlike traditional businesses, B Corporations:
- Meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards;
- Meet higher legal accountability standards;
- Build business constituency for good business.
The rigorous certification process makes it easier to distinguish good businesses from good marketing (green washing).
shiftalliance became a certified B Corp in January 2010. As a company that exists to help companies create meaningful value and a thriving quadruple bottom line, we were thrilled to discover that companies could be recognized and potentially rewarded for their commitment to being better in ways that benefit all.
The Future of B Corp
B Corp is picking up steam. Since 2007, the number of B Corps has grown from 81 to 468 and 6 states have already adopted B Corp legislation. But the growing effectiveness of B corporations is prompting a troubling response from some corporations who are attempting to diminish B Corps efforts for corporate reform. B Lab co-founder, Andrew Kassoy explained the recent Flexible Purpose Corporations or “FlexCorps” legislation passed in California that gives corporations a “green” pass by doing a single good deed. California marks the first of these “FlexCorps” efforts but the campaign is expected to ramp up in succeeding states as B Corp increases its legislative reach.
So how can we, the rank and file of B Corp, help our leaders to pass B Corp legislation in the face of this well-funded push to pass watered-down FlexCorps legislation?
- Spread the B Corp word. Advertise B Corp certification. Be a B Corp ambassador.
- Build community by reaching out to other B Corps.
- Support B Corp legislation efforts. Write letters, provide testimony, organize.
B Corp is a grassroots effort and requires each of us to do our part to create benefits for all. We are the leading edge of better business. As Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.”
In my experience as the founder of Citizens Energy Task Force in Minnesota, I have witnessed the power of ordinary citizens to effect legislative change. My work with CETF has included successfully organizing citizens, providing testimony, and lobbying legislators to effect positive change. We have the opportunity to live out the B Corp credo and be the change we seek. Our work in supporting legislation will provide more opportunities for business to support social change.
In the meantime, shiftalliance continues to work with companies to help them move toward the 21st century paradigm of meaningful business. At our core, we believe in the power of business to contribute to the greater good by providing meaningful value to people, communities, and the planet.
shiftalliance is proud to be part of the B Corp movement. And I am grateful to B Corp for the opportunity to connect with so many inspiring people last week. May we all thrive!
Bev Topp, Business Development
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Meet the newest member of the shiftalliance: Katrina Rahn, m2∞ library
We’d like extend a warm welcome to the newest member of the shiftalliance team: Katrina Rahn.
Katrina joins the sa team to oversee the development and evolution of our m2∞ library, an essential part of the shiftalliance m2∞ software. Katrina’s experience in research, technology, library science and community development make her a great fit for our alliance. She will be working with our most valued data: the examples and inspirations that support social entrepreneurship, conscious capitalism, and sustainability.
Our m2∞ library contains two data collections: 1) a host of exemplar twenty-first century enterprises, both for-profit and non-profit enterprises that are innovating in unique and meaningful ways, and 2) our collection of 250+ meaningful best practices for building a next-generation meaningful and sustainable business model based on meaningful value creation, the new key value driver in business.
Bio: Katrina Rahn is the Library Director at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. In her current position, she supports research, teaching, and personal/professional development of the Institute’s community. She brings high standards and creative solutions to her work, and has applied methods and ideas from the business and technology worlds to the benefit of staff and library users. She started the ITP Research Blog and co-developed content for a research course. Prior to becoming Library Director, she served as the Cataloging/Reference Librarian at ITP. Katrina also co-founded the NCCPL Tech Group, a collaborative group of Bay Area librarians and library staff who seek out innovative solutions through technology. Before moving to the Bay Area, she worked in the Los Angeles County Library System. She earned a Masters Degree in Library Science from UCLA and a BA in Creative Studies from UC Santa Barbara with an emphasis in Sculpture.
Feel free to reach out to Katrina with your examples of how organizations are making a difference every day: katrina@shiftalliance.com. Welcome Katrina!
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Posted in 21c business, social enterprise, technology
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Traction with Reality: How Deep is Your Tread?
by Jay Barnes
How would it feel, if others noted your positive and productive connection with reality? And how might it feel to work with others who possessed a similarly positive relationship with reality?
A couple of us recently had the privilege of spending the better part of day with Joel and Michelle Levey. If you don’t know of them, they are marvelous practitioners and teachers of mindfulness. It is not an overstatement to say they have shared their wisdom with people all over the world and with a broad spectrum of organizations ranging from the health care community, to the military and also with an impressive list of major corporations, which includes names such as Google and Hewlett Packard.
As they shared some of their thinking with us and the others in the room that day, they told a story about one woman who worked within one of the corporate groups they were training. They were talking about how she was perceived by her coworkers as “having real traction with reality as she moved through it.” This phrase immediately went into my notes because it struck me as a core desire for myself, and I suspected many others might feel the same.
Cultivating a more mindful presence leads to us to a better relationship with reality. Being mindfully present means that you are attentive to the present moment; paying attention to what is happening within your mind, your body, with others and the environment at large. Learning to be more present benefits ourselves and those around us, as it gives us the opportunity see and choose a responses which are more optimal than what might have emerged otherwise.
At shiftalliance, we help people and organizations enhance their relationship with reality. Our framework allows us to facilitate meaningful conversations which help get people on the same page about why their business exists and how it operates. We are also able to help people see where they fit within the organization and how they’ve been “showing up.” These processes are tremendously helpful for building alignment and allowing people to see what “is” more clearly and then build goals based on that new level of clarity. Combine this work with our ability to train individuals and teams on cultivating a higher quality of presence and you’re talking about setting up an organization to thrive in its relationship with reality.
Please stay tuned as we elaborate on this thinking in the coming weeks as we share about the principles of our human sustainability and Presence-Based Leadership Development work.
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2011 In2:InThinking Forum – seeing things differently
shiftalliance was part of the Tenth Annual in2:InThinking Network forum in Los Angeles earlier this month. Formed in 2001 by students of W. Edwards Deming’s system of profound knowledge, In2:InThinking Network aims to make thinking more conscious in order to create better perception of the “relationships and interdependencies in human endeavors” and “to make those endeavors more valuable, more satisfying, and more joyful”.
The theme of this year’s forum was Exploring Opportunities: Imagine… Define… Lead…In2IN2011ForumBrochureA. shiftalliance team members Jay Barnes, Wes Furstew, and Elizabeth Topp led a session titled: Meaningful Business Design: In Service of the System.
Here is a video clip of shiftalliance’s impressions from the conference.
Here’s a description of our pre-conference session.
The PREMISE: Every company, organization and even organizational division has a business model, whether explicit or not. Business model frameworks provide a lens that allows us to see businesses and organizations as interdependent systems.
Our session introduced the shiftalliance business model framework, m2∞, a software that supports Meaningful Business Design. Using the m2∞ framework, we helped particpants to:
• clarify their organization’s business model, beginning with a defined purpose;
• see their own role within that system or subsystem, and;
• consider how they might be more consciously in service of the purposeful system or make their contribution to the system more meaningful.
Participants at the session considered business models for start-up business opportunities, divisions & departments of large corporations, and civic organizations. Here’s what one participant had to say as a result of applying our m2∞ methodology to her workplace:
It’s a simple and ingenious tool that provides insights into what we do, why we do it, as well as how my coworkers and I fit together, and allowed me to see where I could focus my time to better support my team. The process was invaluable in helping me step back and gain incredible insights. I’ve referred back to the model several times since my return from the conference.
C.M. Austin Energy
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B Corps: the capitalist version of social investing
read shiftalliance’s comments on a recent Harvard Business School Working Knowledge article on Searching for Better Practices in Social Investing
As non-profits move to become more growth and results oriented, there is another form of institution rapidly on the rise: B Corporations. Certified B Corporations are a new type of corporation which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. All of this is another indication of the graying of the line between non-profit and for-profit organizations. Non-profits are emphasizing stronger values around effectiveness, efficiency and results-driven success, while for-profit organizations are adopting stronger values around purpose and social responsibility. Wisdom is defined as “pertaining to both means and ends.” Both types of organizations seem to be broadening their focus to include both. I take this as a sign that we may be becoming wiser. Thanks for the article, and may we see more venture capitalists and philanthropists funding more B Corporations too.
Elizabeth Topp
Founder
shiftalliance
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shiftalliance at In2:InThinking Forum April 28 in LA
shiftalliance presented with partners Elizabeth Topp, Jay Barnes and Wesley Furste at the In2:InThinking Forum in LA on April 28. If you haven’t read about Jay and Wes, below is a brief introduction to two integral members of the alliance.
Jay Barnes
Jay earned his MBA in Sustainable Business from Bainbridge Graduate Institute, the first school to offer such a degree.This education and life in general have left him with a heightened awareness of how truly interconnected our world is, leading him very naturally to a systems-oriented perspective. Jay is also a champion of the unrealized human potential which exists within most organizations. As he sees it, no organization can hope to legitimately thrive in the new business era without carefully considering the psychological sustainability of its people and taking a deeper look at the value which is being delivered to stakeholders, then developing a wise and actionable strategy based on that information. This perspective and his background made him a natural fit as member of the Shiftalliance consulting team.
Jay brings with him experiences in the areas of consultative sales, business operations and process analysis. He is passionate about helping organizations and individuals explore the ways in which they could be delivering value which is more meaningful to their stakeholders.
Wes Furste
Since his first introduction to shiftalliance in 2010 Wesley Furste was quickly taken with the methodology. Before making his way to Seattle Wesley earned his B. A. in Economics from Boston University and will always have a special place in his heart for Beantown. Wesley grew up in Columbus, Ohio and while he did not attend The Ohio State University he certainly bleeds scarlet and grey. He’s busy every Saturday in the fall watching OSU battle it out on the gridiron for their next victory. At shiftalliance Wesley is involved in developing the m2∞ software, business development and facilitating client engagements which is where his heart is. He believes in the 21st century and beyond if businesses want to continue to be successful they will have to proactively provide a more meaningful experience for their customers or they will lose them to a business that is. Wesley is an active cyclist and would love to talk about what his vision for the future looks like either over a cup of coffee or the most meaningful mountain bike ride of your life.
