"To Believe in the Perfectibility of Man"

So clearly, this is going to be an amazing CA training. Everyone has been so thoughtful in posting and commenting that I, for one, cannot wait to have the full think tank together in a few short weeks!

Today, my post is a bit of a stream of consciousness... I have been doing a lot of thinking/reading/writing about the greatest author of all time, John Steinbeck (yes, I am literarily myopic). In one of his few published interviews, he talked about how all of his writing, his ideas come from the "belief in the perfectibility of man": a pretty edgy idea if you ask me.

So here's the rub: believing in the perfectibility of man insists that in our minds somewhere, we hold on to the notion that we have an image or concept of ourselves that is ideal. Wouldn't this concept lead us to strive towards the impossible? Are we not setting ourselves up for failure in the midst of such a striving?

Without polish or revision, I submit this: that the *belief* in one's perfectibility is the stuff of great leadership-- however you define it. Inherent in this belief is the opportunity to make mistakes, to rise up, to be better, to unveil your capaciousness, to journey with purpose, to fumble happily. In short, the belief in perfectibility is a kind of proclamation of the human struggle. Its the germ of optimism, fighting its way out from self-doubt, road block, imagined deficits...

I think believing in one's ability to rise to your own "ideal" however, you define it, again, is inspiring. It's kind of like knowing inherently, that you will always have space to grow. As a leader for your teams, instilling that belief in them, helping an RA shape that concept in the image of their own design is incredibly empowering, and blows the lid off of what they think they can and cannot do.

One caveat that must be posed here: striving-this concept never sits well with me, and I'm not sure it can be divorced from Steinbeck's refrain. When we strive, we look beyond the here and now, beyond who we are and what we have. While some of that is productive and energizing, it bears the inherent risk of feeling dissatisfied with the present. So, can we strive without judging?? What do you think?

Being a CA means a lot of things, and its inflections come from your unique passions and perspectives. But at the end of the day, it means that you have the phenomenal role of believing that your best self, and the best selves of your team can find an articulation through this collective work. How will you create this space? What are the conversations, tone, people, experiences that you want to bring to your team to support their capaciousness? When does this get lost in our work and how do we reconnect with it? How do you process the fumbles and stumbles that will inevitably happen so they become a part of the journey?

At the end of the day, we will never be perfect. And seriously-- who wants to be?? But, we *can* be more than we thought was possible, and with that-- from that-- we may get closer to our purest selves; kind, giving, thoughtful, resilient, focused, clear and visionary.

In this belief--in our collective belief-- we just might change the world as we know it.

Here's to thinking big, making things happen, stumbling along the way, and having a good laugh all along the way....

in razzyfresh love,
Helen