This is Charles Holmes' response to What are you skating towards in 2012?
Wish People and Wish Organizations
MY QUESTION FOR 2012: Am I working with wish people and wish organizations? A few days ago I received a touching message from a client who has become a dear friend. She recalled a story I told about a year ago, when facilitating a workshop with her executive team. It went like this:
When my oldest daughter, Sierra (now 16), was 4 or 5 years old, I took her to a lantern festival in Burnaby, British Columbia. It was magical! Hundreds of intricate, beautifully decorated, handcrafted lanterns hung from the trees, above pathways of candles that wound around a lake.
One of those pathways led to a wishing well. Sierra asked if she could go in and make a wish. When she came out, she took my hand and we continued along the candlelit pathway. I leaned down and asked, “So, what did you wish for?” She looked up at me and with a somewhat incredulous tone, “Dad, I can’t tell you that, or my wish will not come true!”
We walked a little further, and then all of a sudden she stopped. “Dad, I want to tell you my wish.” When I asked what had changed her mind, she replied, “I think that if I told you, you might be able to help make it come true.”
When I told her I very much wanted to hear her wish, she looked up and said, “I wished for a world where there is peace and no war.” Now it was time for me to be incredulous! “Thanks for sharing that, Sierra. Do you think I can help?”
“Sure,” she said confidently. “Now let’s skip.”
In her email, my client recalled how I had asked her executive team if they considered GNG a “wish organization.” She also wrote about how she was inspired by colleagues she considered “wish people.”
After reading this email I thought: “How can I work with more wish organizations and wish people - to support Sierra’s wish?” Because that’s what I want — for her and for all children!
I am fortunate to work with many wish organizations and wish people.
One organization is the Salvation Army in Canada. For 15 years now, my dear colleague Carol MacKinnon and I have taught leadership to people who have truly committed themselves to making a difference for others.
There are so many people in my life; my family, clients, colleagues and friends who truly inspire and encourage me to continue to pursue my passion — to support people to live lives they love and organizations where people can be their very best.
Charles Holmes is an educator and facilitator with a particular talent for negotiation, dialogue, team building and leadership. He is the driving force behind the Connecting for Change Dialogues in association with the Dalai Lama Centre for Peace and Education.
Note: I release individual essays from the collection, What are you skating towards in 2012? on a regular basis. Upcoming contributions are by Gordon Hogg, Caroline Casey, Arthur Wood and many others. You can access the accumulated essays here.
