Systems Of Transformation
"Systems Of Transformation" is a podcast dedicated to discussing the dynamics of generational healing and global transformation through a trauma informed lens and Christian perspective. If concepts like personal growth, leadership, faith and creativity light up your soul, then this podcast is for you. Anu Hernandez is an author, trauma-informed social worker and Christian, who believes that stories heal and connection transforms.
Systems Of Transformation
Episode 07 - Qualities of a System of Transformation: Part IV - The Pulse of Transformation
Heyyyy :)
Episode 07 is finally here!! This episode will explore why a System Of Transformation prioritizes staying connected to the heart of its members.
- Quality 04 - The Pulse of Transformation
- A culture of safe communication
- A culture of honesty
- Working together to find creative solutions
Let's heal generational and transform global !!!
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Welcome to the Systems Of Transformation podcast, a podcast that is dedicated to the dynamics of generational healing and global transformation through a trauma informed lens and a Christian perspective. I am your host, Anu Hernandez. And welcome to episode seven, The Pulse of Transformation. It has been a while since I have done this. So let's see if I still got it. Okay. Oh my gosh, my voice. It's morning voice too so I haven't really talked to anyone other than my mom. Today's episode is going to be called the pulse of transformation because when I sat down to write my outline for this episode, it became evident to me very quickly that the people that comprise a system are truly the heartbeat of every system. Whether we're talking about you as an individual. Whether we're branching out into more group systems. I believe that it is the humans that keep our systems beading and living. And give something that is just an abstract concept, a very practical, beautiful life filled expression of those ideas and thoughts that we have when we are putting together different systems. We have been doing this series called, The Qualities of a System of Transformation. And so today we're going to look at quality number 04. I'm just going to read it out. A system of transformation is connected to the heart of its members through a culture of safe communication and is willing to provide honest responses and find creative solutions together. I'll read a one more time and then we'll break it down together. A system of transformation is connected to the heart of its members through a culture of safe communication and is willing to provide honest responses and find creative solutions together. There are four parts of that statement that I want us to look into a little more deeply today. One is that a system of transformation is connected to the heart of its members. How many systems do we know? Where there is such a disconnection between the different groups of people that are involved in keeping that system alive and thriving. This can start at an individual level, how many of us are so disconnected from ourselves? We have lost touch with who we are and what makes us, us. What we like, what we dislike, what we find harmful, what we find beneficial. So connection connection is so important. There is no way you can be an agent of transformation without being connected to the different components and people in your system. Many times you see this even in larger organizational systems, in family systems. Excuse me, family systems where parents are disconnected from their children or children are disconnected from parents. In a business setting, if you have the leaders of that particular organization in terms of business, have a certain mission and vision, but they don't know what their people are experiencing or what the day-to-day looks like, there's a disconnection between your vision and the day-to-day implementation that can definitely impact how transformational your mission and vision translates to be over time. So it's very important to understand that people keep your mission and vision beating in a sense. And so you have to be in sync with the pulse of what's happening with your people. Even with your clients or customers, whoever your people are, whether it is your children, your workers, your congregation, your society, your neighborhood, whatever it is. It's always important to be connected with those things because that's where you can access so much wonderful data, that will actually benefit you as somebody who is a visionary of that particular system. And it's important to have a vision because without a vision your people will perish. Without a vision for yourself, you will perish. Wherever you find yourself on that spectrum of a system, whether you are part of the leading components of it, or whether you are part of the implementation part of it, where you are taking this vision and trying to bring life to it, it's important that you and I will speak from the other side too. It's important for people to feel connected to the vision and mission of certain things. Which brings me to the next point. Or next part of this statement that I would like to delve into. It's important to create a culture of safe communication. Safety is an unseen feeling. You may not see safety as a tangible agent but safety is the foundation on which any thriving system is built. So creating a culture of safe communication within your system is very important. There is safety and consistency and there is safety in anonymity. I understand that when it's a smaller system you cannot be anonymous, you have to show up and express yourself. But anonymity really comes into play when it's a larger setting of a system. When people are in a group, this element of anonymity is something that can add an additional layer of feeling safe. People need to feel like they are safe enough to be able to share how we are expecting them to function in certain roles and bring to life these ideas that we have, without retaliation, without losing their sense of respect and without being invalidated as experts in their roles. I understand that not everyone's perspectives can always be implemented or changed immediately, but I do also believe, and I will say as a person myself, if I feel heard and I probably have said this on previous episodes as well. If I feel heard, genuinely heard, empathized with and connected with as a human, I am okay with certain things not changing. I am okay with not getting my way all the time. I think we need to give people a little more credit of being adult enough, unless they are children, and we can teach them in that case, of understanding that in larger systems things will always not go their way. Now, this is where I see a lot of issues, is that when, when none of the people's needs are being heard or met, or when the needs that are being met and the changes that are being made are only convenient to the people on the other side of the equation, then we have a culture of unsafe interaction and communication. I would like us to think about this a little more. Do we have enough avenues and spaces to gather data and information or feedback from the people in our systems in an anonymous way? We've all done surveys. We've all done exercises where we are expected to provide feedback. And I could tell you if there is a sliver of me feeling unsafe in that relationship, or if a survey has any type of like logistical information that may give clues to who I am in this survey, giving that feedback, unless you are my best friend who I trust with all my life and heart, there is no way I'm going to answer 100% honest without a 100% anonymity clause in that equation. How have we built that felt safety and that emotional safety? Cause all comes down to feeling psychologically and emotionally safe. Have we really connected with our people in this system to make them feel safe enough to risk their positions or roles or their place in the system to share honestly and vulnerably with us whether it is convenient for us to hear or not. Have we built those places and have we modeled to the people involved in our systems, that when you do share there will be no retaliation, there will be no passive aggressive rejection of what you have so bravely and courageously chosen to open up about. It is also important to do communication exercises consistently. No matter what system we're talking about, unless there is an ongoing back and forth communication, chances are the disconnection is going to grow over time. And you don't want to risk that disconnection because you're going to lose the heartbeat, the pulse of why it is you're doing this thing in the first place. The last and final piece that I want to focus on is that is system of transformation is willing to provide honest, responsive feedback and find creative solutions together. People can tell, people can tell when you are being dishonest. Call it intuition. Call it the holy spirit. You can always tell when somebody is not being truthful with you. It's important that when certain concerns are brought up, when certain suggestions are brought up, even if they're positive, that the responses we are giving are not defensive and dishonest. I understand that a 100% transparency policy is not always practical, realistic, or healthy. There might be things that need to be communicated in a certain way, protecting certain pieces of that information and keeping things confidential for the overall success. For example, in a family parents may not communicate all details of an adult subject, or a concept with their children. Age appropriate communication. Position appropriate communication. Leaders and people on the higher spectrum of managing things, I guess may not be able to communicate everything that is going on behind the scenes, but whatever it is that you do choose to communicate, I ask you to keep those pieces of open communication, honest. We have to be able to communicate with appropriate parameters in honesty and transparency. I know when people are not being honest with me, I call them HR scripts. You know, when somebody is just telling you something that has been written out somewhere, or it is the thing that they need to say. And yes, even those are appropriate in certain spaces and places. And we need those. I'm not saying we do away with those. But as a human, I can tell when it is just a dead flat regurgitation of something versus you're truly trying to connect with me heart to heart, human to human. Because you assume the best of me and because you want the system to thrive and you know that I am here to do my best. I am not saying everybody always wants the best for things. I am really hoping you see that. I'm not speaking from a naive perspective of oh, no, one's going to try to take advantage of us. No, there are people that will try to take advantage of things. There are people that will try to do the bare minimum. There are all kinds of things that can happen. I understand that. And I understand the darker side of humanity as well. Even within myself. I understand human nature. But as people who want to bring transformation, we have got to be strong enough to look at those things and still stay strong in the tenderness of our heart towards whoever we're trying to achieve these transformative systems through and with. So it's important, one to provide honest responses to matters that are being discussed. It's so much easier when the culture has cultivated safety between its members because then there's also this inherent trust of I can rest in knowing that you are not going to blatantly lie to me. And you will tell me what you are able to tell me within those appropriate, respectful boundaries of your role versus who I am in this system. It is also very important that we work as teams together to find creative solutions. I learned somewhere recently that the answer is always in the room. We just have to be willing to invest the energy and the time to discover what it is, and what a gift it is if you can find creative solutions together. As a manager, when I was leading a group of people, sometimes, most of the time, there are perspective, ideas and solutions that I did not even remotely consider that somebody else would introduce into the conversation. And I made it a point to always communicate with those people,"I didn't think about it that way. I never thought. Sorry. I never saw it that way." Because I wanted them to know that is a perspective that is very different from how my mind functions. And thank you for bringing that to the table. And here's the thing, finding solutions to problems is not always fun. They're not always easy. But when they are done together and when they're done with that honest, united, connected pulse they are so life-giving to a system of transformation. And it is so needed for people to feel like they can contribute to the very systems we are asking them to dedicate themselves to. Okay, so let's wrap this up today. I hope this was useful and helpful information. I'm just sharing some of the things that I've been processing recently. I'm going to review one last time. A system of transformation needs to be connected to the heart of its members. All of you need to be connected to one another and not just a perceived connection, but a real connection. So talk about it, create that culture of safe communication. Let people share knowing that this is not the time to be judged or assessed or discerned but just to share. It's okay if you see things differently. It's okay. If the outcome is not what that person wants. Be willing to provide honest responses within safe boundaries. And finally work together to find creative solutions. Create those opportunities to have that moment of human connection. It is very important to have human connection while working towards the fulfillment of missions and visions together. That is the whole point of us creating systems for human beings to work together, to bring something to life. And if we just allow things to unfold together, I guarantee you, you are going to find the most beautiful solutions to the things that you would like to change. Feel free again to reach out to me, I am on different social media platforms. You can also email me at therealanuhernandez@gmail.com. I would love to connect with people. I am loving this process and all the things that I am learning along the way. So thank you so much for joining me today and until next time heal generational and transform global. Bye everyone!!
