Dear Compassionate Listening Community: Our facilitators have been gathering for brave, courageous meetings, to practice what we preach: listening and speaking from the heart. During a recent meeting, one of our facilitators said, “You can’t dialogue with someone that you can’t hear!” Our practices are not easy. . . We all know how hard it can be to listen to someone when we are feeling deeply triggered. It takes skill and courage!
It has also required courage to steer our non-profit in a new direction. Over the past year, The Compassionate Listening Project transitioned to a non-hierarchical form of governance called Sociocracy. It has been profound to witness facilitators working collaboratively, investing significant amounts of time and energy and accomplishing so much! In Sociocracy, work is done in circles, and every member of a circle has equal decision-making power. We do not vote; we listen to each other’s visions and concerns, and we hold rounds of consent to harvest the collective wisdom that is present.
You can learn more about our new sociocratic governance structure at www.compassionatelistening.org/values
– Leah Green, Compassionate Listening Project