Written by Ara Alam-Simmons, Manawaka Ao
If you're not feeling uncomfortable by now, then Leadership NZ isn’t doing their job. The work we are here to do is uncomfortable. We can’t negotiate or navigate our way around the edges, we need to walk through the soft gooey centre of vulnerability. Haere mai to Power and Governance!
This is my snapshot reflection of the last three retreats that I have journeyed on so far. As I extend out my right hand and hold my experiences collectively together, gazing into a future of what is possible, I am reminded of the phrase ‘beware of the air.’
What do I mean by that?
For me, it's a couple of things. First off, being aware of the amount of space we as leaders might take up when we share. Who is doing the most talking? Is everyone getting the chance to contribute? What am I missing and who am I missing? Secondly, what’s coming up for me when I hear something that pushes me into discomfort. What am I noticing and what is this really about for me? Do I need to step back and pause?
Our retreat on Power and Governance offered the opportunity to lean into such discomfort, as varying perspectives and provocations began to be excavated and uncovered around Racism, Power and Privilege. Some walls were raised, which we collectively experienced as fragility surfaced, and other walls have begun to come down.
Journeying along with an incredible cohort of humans, I am reminded of how critical it is to build our tolerance for discomfort and the consequences of not doing so, which ‘route’ themselves squarely back to reinforce the dominant, inequitable, and racist systems that have been deliberately designed for only a few of us to benefit from.
I am reminded how equity work involves parsing apart power, and the racial equity work that needs to be done. It's uncomfortable stuff and there can be no apology for it, and most definitely not censored from conversations.
I am reminded how equity work involves languaging that makes others in the room be both recognised in their fullness and be seen. One thoughtful comment I heard from one of our rangatahi panellists was “stand for this activity, if you are able to.” This raised a polite finger to our able-centred world, and a reminder to me of my privilege that I am able-bodied.
I am reminded of how easy it is to default to binary thinking. One of the contemporary curses of our time. The ‘us’ and ‘them’, the echo chambers we might live in both in our professional and private worlds.
I am reminded of the importance as leaders to ‘actively engage’ ourselves with diverse perspectives, thinking and worldviews. If we don’t have this in the current work we do, we are missing something critical, and something is not working. We are all part of responding to the challenges that we face both as a society and globally. It requires all of us!
So when I look ahead as a leader into the future, and being even more aware of the air, I consider the following non-negotiables:
Language shapes worlds and realities. Let's get better at nuancing our language so it is more reflective of the realities we live in, and the people in them.
Reframing what is considered the norm. Diverse perspectives are needed, not just for window dressing but to be engaged with, enacted, and responded to.
Continuing to grow and move forward by leading with curiosity. Discomfort brings insight and learning. If it's too cosy and comfortable, we need to be asking ourselves what it is that we are actually achieving. If it’s more of the same, is that a legacy we, as leaders, are happy with?
Clarity. I have come away with a renewed clarity of what my work is and what I am responsible for, and also what I am not responsible for—as I am a woman of colour, I am often the ‘only one’ in some of the spaces I walk in and between.
The ‘wero’, challenge, is reciprocal, so what's in your air?