Time to Step Up

In my last‎ blog, I said something about chilling for the rest of the summer before creating new posts. That sounded perfect at the time. Well my friends, I felt inspired. I recently spent a week with an amazing group of people at The Daring Way™ Facilitator Training. It’s based on Brené Brown’s work, who I finally got to meet and spend a day with.  For those of you who don’t know who Brené Brown is, you can check out her Ted Talks from 2010 and 2012 which have received tens of millions of views.  She is an impressive speaker and was every bit as gracious as I expected her to be.

The training was transformative. At the core of Brené’s work is the assumption that we are hardwired to connec‎t, something I believe in my bones. I spoke about it in a blog last year after I ran across a cool article on treating addictions. The Daring Way™ Facilitator training put some ‘meat on the bones’ of that core assumption by way of a comprehensive model and lots of exercises designed to support a ‘deep dive’ into concepts like vulnerability, courage, love, belonging and shame (yes, the ‘S’ word). While our subjects differed, her work aligns very closely with what I found in my dissertation research. All of this got me thinking about the need to step up and figure out where to go next.

I love my job. To quote a line from the movie Fury, “best job I ever had!” (after yet another near-death experience fighting Nazi’s in a tank). But it’s time to think a bit… bigger. If we’re going to make a difference in people’s lives through the programs (or classes or community initiatives) we as social service practitioners are involved in, we need to build and deliver them consistent with that core concept of connection. My plan is to write a book – a ‘how to’ guide – about just that. The idea of writing a book has been bouncing around in my head for some time. It started with my need to honour the people that volunteered their time to participate in my PhD research by getting what I learned from them out into the world in a bigger way. But I keep letting myself get side tracked (Squirrel!). My commitment is to get working on it now. I even have a working title: “From Church Basements to Classrooms to the Hospital Ward: How to build and Deliver Great Programs” (I may need to shorten it, but you get the idea).  I think it will have huge relevance for a wide range of people involved in helping professions.  And for those who follow me for updates and resources related to accreditation, I plan to devote a chapter to the role of accreditation and other review or licensing processes in building and delivering great programs.

So this is the part where you come in. I’m going to use my blog to sound out ideas. I’m starting a new subject header titled “The Book” where I will post ‎material as I ‘build’ it. I would love to hear your feedback through comments as I post.

As for The Daring Way™ Facilitator Training, I’m now considered a “Candidate”. I’ll be using the material over the coming year in my work with organizations so that I can fulfill the final requirements to become certified. I’ll post more details on that once I get it organized.

So… MUCH more to come, my friends.