I want to share what it means for me to participate in GC Mentoring Circles. Especially having just arrived from the one held in Amsterdam on September 15, 2018.
The first thing that happens to me is that I feel the joy of sharing space and time with a group of people. People who are as passionate as I am about seeing the opportunities of having meaningful conversations about topics that are important to us.
Then the build-up about the subject that is core to these conversations. As the latest, for example, Issues and Opportunities for working with and in Genuine Contact. There are moments of reflection about what could be a topic I’d like to discuss regarding this theme. Is there a topic I have in my heart that I’d like to have feedback on? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.
The day comes and I’m happy to see old friends I’ve met in previous meetings, trainings, some of whom I’ve worked with. And I’m also happy to see new faces and somehow welcome them into this experience. The room is set in a circle, there are some objects or cards in the center of the circle, and the expectation grows.
And then a soft bell rings and we all sit in the circle, choosing the right seat. We are welcomed… and so starts the magic.
The magic of doing a Transfer In and talking with someone about our thoughts, also very attentive to what he or she is saying because I’ll have the honor to present him or her in the larger circle. And the theme starts to emerge from within each of us. Back to the circle and now it’s time to listen to who the rest of the people are with whom I hope I’ll have a chance to connect personally.
The theme continues to grow when we then move to the next phase of talking and bringing out our Hopes and Fears. Of some we are aware of, some we aren’t. But, listening to others in a small group helps me figure out if there is anything else that I’d like to say about any hope or fear I may have about the day. When facilitated in Genuine Contact, this is a moment of intimacy, in which we can just put our fears out there and let them be.
As our facilitator invites participants to share any topics they’d or we’d like to speak about or receive feedback on, I am happy to see the topics that show up, the passion that starts to flow, and the space opens into different rivulets of conversations, as a spiderweb creating a design of subjects that are in the hearts of those who are in the room.
So I go with the flow, from one conversation to the other, and one traps me, and the other one lets me go, and I feel the collaboration starting to emerge in the groups, the ideas, the experience, and maybe some powerful questions. Then, if appropriate, we go on to creating actions plans and teams. This is a space for synergy, of possibilities, of possible collaborations, new ideas, and projects.
In the end, I feel at peace, to be sitting in a circle of people, with different backgrounds, different experiences, and one same passion. It is our diversity that makes us One.
It was in my first Mentoring Circle that I knew that the world could be a truly wonderful place if we apply our learnings, our wisdom in this way in organizations, family settings, public offices, private companies…it is possible!
With so much love and appreciation!
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