Invitations

I am learning again the power of invitation - not a word that is often used in the world of work or business but an incredibly powerful and empowering word. It is more than a word - it is an action, the act of inviting. It has been sitting on my heart the last little while. Cora, a wonderful colleague, first planted it into my mind (others probably have, but she did it in the way only she can do). I was talking to her about work, and about looking for people to work with, and I had a friend who I really wanted to work with. She asked, 'Why don't you invite her to work with you?' And as the conversation went on she said, 'I get the feeling that you are waiting to be asked, or invited into something. Why are you not inviting people..?' She said that when she has something new or interesting to do she invites clients to work with her, and they do, AND they pay her! Amazing. And it is just what we should do. Think about it - what happens when someone says, 'Come and have dinner with me. I really want to spend some time with YOU.' It is hard to resist, and it makes you feel really valued. So it must be just the same when someone says, 'I want to work with you' when you know that they have a whole range of other people they could work with. Or they say, 'I have this new idea I am working on that I would like to try out with you. Come and work (or play) with me.' Now tell me you can resist that! I cant!

I have recently been working on a project that we called the Storywell Project, which was helping caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children to work with story as a way of providng them with psycho-social support. Dorian Harhoff invited me to work with him, using story, in 2006, and at the end of that year we developed a proposal for Storywell, hoping to start working in early 2007. Well the project only got off the ground a year later, and what a journey it has been. The invitation to work with 3 amazing storied people, Dorian, Toto and Elma has been a challenging and fruitful journey. The invitation to work in 2 wonderful communities, challenged by so much, and yet working with such love, and heart has been humbling. And the journeys they have invited us to go on through their stories have been wonderful - often, as one listened to a story, one went on a journey deep into ones self... the story itself was an invitation to meet one's self!

While waiting for the Storywell project to start, and doing other bits of work I was invited, by Robert and Mark, to join Kessels and Smit (where I met Cora - and a whole lot of wonderful people). I am glad that I accepted this invitation, I really am! I am enjoying the sense of working in a company where people get invited to work with colleagues because there is a mutual attraction, a synergy that makes working together meaningful. And it is an attitude that we take into our work with clients. And I think clients enjoy that to, inviting us to 'Come and think with me about this situation.' "I am grappling with issue at work, and I want to find a way forward the works for me and my colleagues - come and work with us, help us find a way forward.' This makes the work really worthwhile because you are working on something that is important to your client, and because they have asked you to work with them. You did not have to 'bid', or 'show you wares', or 'sell' something. The value you bring is your ability to support them in their learning and growth, in building their organisation, in creating their work. The fact that you are invited makes you go into the work with respect for the client and their question or issue, humility and a deep sense of self-worth. That makes the work worthwhile and meaningful.

And so I am inviting you to play with the idea of invitation - invite yourself into your own heart and mind - get in touch, again with what is important to you, with what you love. I got an email today which ended with this quote that spoke about not finding out what the world needed, but finding out what makes your heart sing because the world needs hearts that sing. Well I am inviting you to find out what makes your heart sing, and then to do it, and to invite people to join you who will make your heart sing more beautifully. Think about who you invite into your life. If you do it with some thoughtfulness and lots of heart it will be powerful. You don't have to invite everybody - those you don't invite will be invited by someone else...