Create Seven- A story about Change
By: Laura Iuliana
Tags: Changemaking, Leadership Development, Leadership Skills, Education, Community Engagement

“Co-operative Fire Circles. Come, sit a while and be together as we warmly move toward a more sustainable future for all”.

Can you recall a time when you felt listened to, valued & you contributed to making a difference? Remember how amazing that felt…

The Create Seven community came together from different organisations and locations to work as a collaborative team. We did not all know each other so we took time to build trust.

We allowed space to connect head, heart and hand, we shared stories, our emotional drivers and histories, our frustrations and our hopes for the future.

We created a 3D sculpture of our current reality and from there we collectively sculpted a tangible picture of a more sustainable future. What we took away was a need to move towards bringing people physically closer, to connect people first as humans and to discover deeply what connects us as opposed to what divides us. To create a safe space where judgements are suspended, and by bringing people and nature closer together, levelling the field of opportunity to influence the energy and change.

We got into the shapes, movements and responses from the perspectives of those who can co-create this future; the earth, those disconnected,the voiceless, activists, business leaders, change makers, funders, young people and policy makers, as we embodied them in the 4D mapping session.

We observed and listened to the reality of the divides, and their stories. We went out on the streets of London during protest marches, had conversations with victims, business owners, migrants, consultants, changemakers and community workers. We deepened our awareness and challenged our own assumptions. With this greater awareness that came from immersing ourselves in this field of reality and possibility, the ideas wrote themselves.

Through iteration we were drawn to get started, drawn to the image of fire that energises us from the start. We now invite people across society to join us, in co-operative fire circles. An honest, calm and dynamic experience in nature where we commit as a group to defining and coming together on an action that contributes to a more sustainable future.

As the fire circles grow, new facilitators will be trained enabling the process to be seeded through wider communities. Stories will be collected and shared to demonstrate the impact and outcomes of this highly human, deep, restorative and transformative process.

Together we can. The world is waiting so now is the time.

Special Thank You to Change Makers, Global Sustainable Leaders & Bridge Builders for their inspiration and actions: Jill Chapman, Gary King, Terry Sexton, Yannick Le Guern & Umesh Mukhi.

Make your voice heard on: https://www.createseven.org/our-voices-wall Make it happen on:

By Laura Petrache

About “Create Seven” and “Global Sustainable Leaders” here below:

Create Seven is a not-for-profit ‘Community Interest Company’ run as a co-operative and owned by a community of people who are seeking to develop and use their leadership to co-create a positive change in our society.

All modules and programmes are facilitated by leadership psychologists and supported by specialists across a range of fields. We believe everyone is a leader and, together, we can create a better future.

This is why we continually strive to ensure the highest levels of diversity and inclusivity in the participation in our events, modules and programmes.

Global Sustainable Leaders is an unperalleled Network For Global Sustainable Leadership. Our Center and Incubator is dedicated to educate learners, future leaders and organizations at all levels to understand and engage with difficult global issues.

We provide innovative sustainable solutions for world’s pressing problems and crysis. We develop new generations of effective and ethical leaders who are able and driven to comprehend complexity, reflect cultural and political nuance, and engage as responsible global citizens in anticipating and confronting the world’s most pressing problems.We are committed in innovation, sustainable academic Learning and entrepreneurship, as cornerstones of impact activity.

We work with individuals and organisations with the desire and potential to address critical global challenges.

Jill Chapman, BA, MSc, AFBPS, CPsychol.

Jill is an HPC Registered Occupational Psychologist. She is a highly experienced facilitator, coach and mindfulness trainer, and is qualified in a wide range of tools and instruments to enable people to achieve their full potential.

She has international experience working in public, private and not for profit sectors. Jill uses Mindfulness, Acceptance and Commitment Training and a range of psychological tools and techniques in her work with her diverse range of clients from Board members to graduates and participants in Create Community Network’s programmes. Jill is a founder of the Create Network and Director of the Create Community Network.

Gary King, BA (Hons), MSc

Gary is a Psychologist and qualified Outdoor Learning and Development Facilitator. He applies his experience, knowledge and understanding to challenge and support leaders in their development, as well as young people and adults in community development programmes.

He has led many wilderness expeditions and successfully undertook a seven-day solo trek in the Pyrenees. Gary is passionate about developing better leaders who will positively influence organisations, communities and governments, and ultimately produce better societies. He is interested in the practical use of psychological leadership development models, as well as using the outdoors and wild places as a vehicle for delivery. Such an approach isn’t necessarily in the traditional ‘fear-invoking’ or ‘thrill-seeking’ team building style: his approach is experiential, contemplative and considered.

Terry Sexton, BSc, MSc, MBA

Terry is a Leadership Psychologist. He has considerable experience in developing leaders across a range of different industries and sectors, from graduates to executives. He has been trained in techniques from Gestalt Coaching, Psychosynthesis, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Appreciative Inquiry, and is qualified in a wide range of psychometrics.

Terry has also completed a Foundation Course in Core Process Psychotherapy and has gained a Certificate in Leadership and Facilitation at Schumacher College. He is a Fellow of the RSA and a guest lecturer at the University of Kent. Terry is also a Director of a business psychology consultancy, the Create Network, and a social enterprise, the Create Community Network.

Yannick Le Guern, CEO B1-AKT & GSL Network

Yannick, President and Founder of the company B1-AKT studied at the renowned University of Paris IX Dauphines where he obtained a PHD in Strategic Management and Organizational Sociology. Actively involved in global sustainability, public policy implementation and politics he started his career during, Jospin Government, as high leading technical advisor. Already concerned by the will to develop sustainable projects, he introduced in France the new concepts on the responsible, social and sustainable entrepreneurship.

His focus would eventually shift towards creating strategies for sustainable leadership that also addressed pressing human problems. He recently launched an unparalleled network for global sustainable change the “Global sustainable leaders network” together with other sustainable and change actors. His latest achievement was concretized under the project “Institute for Government “. This Institute offers Agile Solutions and Global Sustainable Policies B1-AKT helps make government more effective.

Umesh MUKHI -Founder of Sustainable Leadership Initiative & GSL Network

The Sustainable Leadership Initiative was built as to coin new leadership models required for resolving challenges of 21st century

Umesh MUKHI has a diverse profile with active interest in Business, International Relations and Youth affairs. He completed his Doctoral research from France, which focuses on integrating sustainability in management education through the lens of Organizational Learning theories.

Umesh likes working in multicultural and international atmosphere and is fluent in English, French and Hindi. Today Doctor Umesh Mukhi is pursuing as Professor of Management at FGV — Fundação Getulio Vargas.