Looking Towards 2024
It is the time of year when we, as a company, and me as an individual, reflect on the accomplishments of the year.
A few weeks ago, Beth Wonson & Company had our annual reflection and planning event. As we had dialogues, looked at numbers, talked about impact, and shared what work truly felt impactful, a theme emerged.
That theme is informing our direction for 2024.
We began by talking about why we do the work we do: To help humans learn ways to have less struggle, less drama, and to truly be able to work and be in community in ways that lift up the whole.
It came to light over the course of 2022 and 2023 that workplace culture is becoming more overwhelming, more stressful, and in many instances, more toxic than ever before. It is no one person (or position’s) fault.
It is truly that we are living in divided times.
Major divisions that I see include:
Lack of understanding between generations.
Division between returning to the workplace and the desire to work from home.
People deciding that they want to work to live rather than live to work, and wrestling with how that impacts how business functions.
The impact of the economy and cost of living on the ability to attract and retain employees.
Not understanding why we struggle to work with people who are different in their workstyle, beliefs, culture, appearance, and abilities.
The pressures to get work done and how it can interfere with the human desire to connect, be curious, and create.
The high number of leaders who are promoted based on technical skill but lack training and understanding about humans and what inspires and motivates them.
We have worked with more than 400 leaders, managers, and line staff over the past year. We’ve worked with people from the government, small business, schools, and nonprofits. And while the nature of the work is different, the challenges and sentiments are extraordinarily similar.
We realized that our work needs to be focused more on intact teams and whole organizations.
We’ve known for years that leaders, the ones who often call us to “fix” someone else, are the most hesitant to be vulnerable and engage in the work. They believe they don’t need to, or don’t have the time, or already know the answers.
What we know is that it is unfair to teach employees to become more self-aware, manage their own emotions, build their curiosity, and use feedback as a tool for growth, if the leaders aren’t also going to do the same work.
I’m not saying that the training is not impactful. But, those newly enlightened and trained employees often are blocked by the poor communication and emotional self-management of those in the organization who haven’t invested in the same tools. And this breaks my heart.
I’m going to be 65 years old very shortly. My sense of urgency is growing. Twenty years of doing this work has taught me some things and given me some insight that can really change how we work together, what we achieve, and how together we can improve.
For 2024 our focus is shifting to whole organizations and impact teams.
Our workshops (Mastering Feedback; Navigating Challenging Dialogue Essentials; and Coaching in the Workplace) are going to be focused on intact teams.
Our biggest project in 2023 was a series of workshops and trainings with 120 employees and leaders from 12 agencies striving to end homelessness in San Luis Obispo, CA. That project was so impactful and moving that we are developing a plan to replicate that work in other like-sized communities.
The interagency communication that arose from this work was powerful. The commitment and deep understanding of the power of healthy conflict resolution and collaboration is so important in this work. We look forward to rolling this model out with support from local foundations, governments, and agencies.
Another focus will be on Facilitated Strategic Dialogue sessions.
Here, staff and board members can come together, with me facilitating, to discuss the hard issues and challenges while gaining deeper understanding. The result is new solutions and new energy that breaks through stagnation and unhealthy conflict. And it leads to realignment between stakeholders.
Behind The Scenes, We Are Working On A Few New Things
We’re making progress on our NCD Certification program, which includes compiling our guidebook on everything you’ve never been told about leading humans.
And throughout the year, I’ll be working on my own passion project: the Developing Curiosity Facebook Group. I am delving deeper into understanding curiosity. What drives it, what builds it, and how to develop the curiosity muscle.
We will still be doing our 1:1 coaching work, strategic planning, and training, of course.
While our focus is shifting a bit, we’re already booking appointments for 2024 in service of our mission. We hold the vision of entire work communities being healthy and vital, while engaging places where people feel valued and experience deep satisfaction.
And we hope you will join us! We are here with you and for you!