Discipline, Spontaneity and Connection Make Magic!
By co-leaders of Dynamic Dialogue: Communicating and Connecting When It Really Matters, Cathy McNally, Jane Kilthei and Jennifer Hilton. Next session Nov 1-4, 2018 at The Haven.
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Every time before we deliver a workshop, the three of us get together to dialogue – a creative exploration that we think of as “a conversation with a centre and no sides”. We have a commitment to keep our program fresh, to keep stretching our learning edges, and to ask ourselves challenging questions in order to create the best possible program experience for participants.
We also look at how we can reach folks who may be stuck in some way in their communications right now and looking for what we have to offer — people for whom this is a real fit.
To our surprise, shortly before we got together this time, a one-day workshop on marketing was announced at The Haven, right when we were scheduled to meet – how amazing is that?! So, as a trio, we signed up.
Tad Hargrave’s marketing day – which was focused on finding the people who are already looking for what you’re offering rather than selling anything – was fun, inspiring and just generally wonderful. Tad is a superb presenter, offering excellent resources while engaging, very personally, with participants. He is also a wonderful magician and as we returned from breaks he spontaneously shared some wonderful magic tricks.We left feeling full and excited, anticipating our following day together working on our program – Dynamic Dialogue. You can check out Tad Hargrave and his work at Marketing for Hippies.
Stepping into our day together the next day, we each noticed an ‘alive’ energy that was both bubbling in multiple directions, and enticingly focusing. The workshop had shaken up some of our old assumptions, and not in a way we could have predicted.
We were reinforced in our belief that marketing doesn’t have to be about pressure and sales. It was relief to hear someone else say that it’s all about relationship-building and connection. Tad also encouraged us to define our “point of view” and be both bold and clear about what we’re offering so people can decide for themselves if it’s a ‘fit’ for them. This perspective is an absolute ‘fit’ for the three of us and for The Haven’s philosophy – which is exciting!
We also clarified that our “point of view” on what we are up to – focusing on communication, and digging into the open-ended depths of dialogue – is the essence of the program we are offering. We were encouraged to be bold and clear about what matters to us in what we write and say – again, offering people the opportunity to figure out for themselves if what we offer is a ‘fit’ for them.
This awareness led each of us to review our personal life experience and how we got to our passionate belief that dialogue matters in all of our lives today – at home, at work, in our communities and the world – and what a rich sharing that was!
The three of us have walked very different paths, had varied life and communication experiences and challenges, and we were reminded of how utterly aligned we are on the transformative impact of The Haven’s Communication Model in each of our lives.
Check out why we do what we do and why it matters to us on our Dynamic Dialogue Matters Facebook page. Check out if what we are offering resonates for you. If you don’t see an easy way to choose “yes, this fits”, or “no, this doesn’t fit for me” please let us know. This offers us an opportunity to have more of a dialogue with you, and we’d love to engage with you in this process!
As the three of us neared the end of our time together, we recognized that once again we’d covered unanticipated ground, and the result was very rich. This echoed our previous “pre-program-gatherings,” which were similarly rich, but each in a very different way.
Why? Because we continue to commit to spontaneity, staying connected and exploring what might be revealed if we remain open to the uncertainty of “what’s next?”
All three of us are responsible, organized, practical, reliable people. Okay, a little serious too at times! In our previous get-together, we’d agreed to step out of our ‘comfort zone’ and stretch into a new learning edge by challenging ourselves to come with no notes, no lists, no agenda, no plans. Our agreement was to be rested, connect as people first, and then – as we stepped into our ‘business time’ – breathe deeply, follow our intuition, and “go with the flow.”
The results of that meeting, like this most recent meeting, were magical! Things were easier, quicker, and more fun. We were creative, very present with each other and listened better.
The take-away message: Discipline and commitment are important, and stepping beyond these, having the courage to allow more spontaneity, body-wisdom and connection to guide us, results in a synergy where we are able to jump to the next level.
We wanted to share our new awarenesses and learnings with you, and to invite you to keep stretching, growing, connecting, and adding a dollop of ‘spontaneity’ (fun /play /lightening-up) to your project … and to enjoy the magic!
We also look forward to hosting the space for you to step into learning and deepening in dialogue together. We invite you to explore, stretch, grow and experience dialogue with us and with each other. Our intention is to provide opportunities for you to go “beyond the immediately apparent” into a deeper place, where you can both explore those challenging moments of tension and conflict in communications that matter to you, and also experience spontaneity, fun and play and even your own magic. We look forward to connecting and communicating and learning about what really matters to you.
Jennifer, Jane, and Cathy
If you want to learn more about Dynamic Dialogue, check out the program description, and look for/be in touch with us on Facebook – Dynamic Dialogue Matters.
