Mary Dwyer
Director, Impact Solutions International, Australia
It has been a few months since the second
Spirit of Humanity Forum (SoH). I watch with interest as the ripples from the
newly forming SoH community create events, changes, especially dialogue, that
might not have happened without this event.
I am curious to know how the Forum has
influenced you? What are you doing that you might not be doing without having
being inspired by our shared Icelandic experience?
Over the past few days I have attended a
Global Leadership Mindfulness Conference here in Sydney, Australia. A SoH
"top up" really although the two events are not related...yet! An
underlying theme at this conference was an invitation to "be the leader
the world needs now." The speakers were varied and many including many
CEO's - all meditators. They shared their experiences and how their mindful
practices helped shaped their leadership and their corporate governance. One
story in particular prompted me to write this blog.
Jack Heath is CEO of an organisation called
SANE. Jack spoke about a policy that reflects love and compassion in action.
This policy is called the Reflective Leave Policy. Here are some
details.
"SANE Australia places a premium on
personal self-care and building a mentally healthy workplace. Far too often
people working in the mental health sector don’t give adequate attention to
their own personal growth and development. Add to this, the increasing pace of
a 24/7 digital world and it’s important that we make time to step back and
reflect on our lives. The purpose of Reflection Leave is to give each employee
time outside of their normal work and personal commitments to nourish
themselves, reflect on an area of their life that they feel needs attention or
invest in their spiritual or personal growth. What Reflection Leave looks like
in practice will vary from person to person.
- Reflection leave is an added benefit and
available to all permanent employees after six months continuous work.
- All full-time employees are entitled to 5
days paid Reflection Leave every 12 months. Part-time employees are pro-rated.
- Reflection leave is non-cumulative – if you
don’t use it in a given year, you lose it.
- Reflection leave should be taken in a single
block of continuous days rather than spread over weeks.
- Reflection Leave should be taken alone
rather than with a family member or partner.
- Ideally Reflection Leave should be entirely
digitally-free.
- These guidelines can be varied in in special
circumstances with agreement of the CEO.
- Reflection Leave must be approved by the
CEO. To seek approval an employee should arrange a time to meet with the CEO
and discuss their Reflection Leave proposal. In the first instance it is fine
if you only have an idea of what you would like to do but you will be asked to
provide a written outline of your daily schedule and goals.
- Once approved, the timing of your reflection
leave is up to your Manager.
- Reflection Leave is a personal process.
There is no requirement to disclose personal information but, if you are
comfortable, we welcome you sharing with our team your learnings or
experiences."
Jack continued to share some wonderful
examples of reflection leave that he had seen as a result of this policy.
"One young woman who worked on the reception desk at Inspire was a foster
child. She used her reflection leave to
go and spend time with her birth mother – something she hadn’t done in many,
many years. It was challenging but
rewarding.
One of the media team at SANE loved creative
writing but when he went off to journalism school and wanted to write of “a
large black velvety cat that reclined languidly on the Persian carpet” he was
told to write “the cat sat on the mat”.
So he spent his week working with The Artist’s Way. In his request for
leave he wrote movingly of his time growing up in regional Australia and how
important writing was to him."
One story in particular inspired me to write
this blog to my SoH Community. Jack went on to say:
"There was an amazing young woman by the
name of Kelly Betts. She was the power
behind Inspire’s ActNow program which was all about enabling young people to
take action on the social issues they cared most about. Before Inspire, she also did outstanding work
at Oxfam, Amnesty International and Australian Volunteers Abroad. Following on from the death of her father,
Kelly used her reflection leave to go back to New Zealand and visit places he
had lived and to speak with his family members and other people who had known
him.
Not long after that, in early 2007, Kelly was
diagnosed with bowel cancer. Eighteen
months later she passed away at the unripe age of 35. Just a few days before she died, I visited
her at St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst.
She was gaunt but sat up straight on her bed, cross-legged and gave me
instructions in a firm, clear voice – you need to take this reflection leave
idea and get it out to people across the social sector."
Other organisations have taken this policy
up. When I heard Jack tell his story I thought that it was a great
demonstration of Love and Compassion. Jack finished his sharing by saying that
he thought Kelly would have liked to know that this policy had spread
internationally as well. My immediate thought was that the SoH community may resonate
with this story and this policy. (I have a full copy of Jack's address if
anyone would like a copy.)
In my own life there have been a few changes
as a result of the SoH Forum. Some changes are subtle. Some changes are more
profound. I am observing that I am spending a lot more time in silence and in
retreat from "busyness." I have started to paint more and read
poetry. I am having stronger conversations, with more skill, about policies
that are formed with hard line economic rationalism as their central driver
instead of wholistic consideration which including the values of love and
compassion. I have also studied and read alot about the development of human
consciousness, inspired by Richard Barrett's talk. I feel that the evolution of
our consciousness is key for effective values based decision making. I have
gone back to some formal study to ensure I have contemporary knowledge in
regards to values based leadership development and have sought out like minded
people here in Australia. At Christmas time I will be lucky enough to have two
Forum attendees visit my island home - one person is from Canada and one person
is from Amsterdam. I have also Linked-In and remain in communication with a
handful of others. I have committed to running a Leadership Retreat for Young
Leaders instead of always working with Executives and now I have shared one
CEO's practical policy that has made a profound difference to the lives of
many.
As a part of the SoH Board and wider community
we welcome your blogging about what you have been doing since returning home.
Our community will grow stronger by our sharing.
With warmest regards and much love to you all.
