Where once I felt like a voice at the rim calling for more attention on the relational field, the more we move online the more it becomes obvious that relationship is at the heart of transformation. In fact, that might be the most important thing I learned joining Civil Defense all those years ago in New Zealand. Living with the continued threat of earthquakes, I found out that resilience did not rely on the overall wealth of a place.

Resilience -- the ability to meet and bounce back from stress and challenge -- depends on connection. More connected communities are simply more resilient.

We've been seeing that play out dramatically during the time of crisis. The less we have been able to be with each other physically, the more isolated we've felt, yet "vulnerable" people have been less vulnerable with the support of friends and neighbours. Little actions counted greatly.

The same is true in the virtual realm. Little actions count greatly because everything is...

Last week I was in Moscow at the 10th Russian Faciliators Conference as one of the international guests. Although I never dreamed I would stand in Red Square, I had a fabulous time of teaching and learning in a field hungry for tools, techniques and ways to touch the heart.

In our planning, I talked to the conference organisers about calling in a practice field and how I often speak of “having an angel on each shoulder” and inviting the angels to dance.

The first one is the participant angel — really be IN this work, feel what it is like to participate, to fully engage, to dig deeper and grapple with the essence of what you’re being invited into. If we want to know what our participants are experiencing, we have to be participants ourselves. It is part of a solid practice to allow yourself to be hosted and to continue to practice being a good participant. Each of us can “host from the chair” and invite our fellow participants into deeper and more...