A quality that I think is very important is honesty, because what I’ve noticed in groups that come together, particularly in working with groups of people, is that people aren’t honest. They’re politically correct. You get a group of people together and they won’t rock the boat and they won’t say the wrong thing, So you’re right Amanda, they’re politically correct. How can you have a genuine collaboration whenthere’s not enough acceptance trust and authenticity? To say yes, I hear what you’re saying. However, this is how I see it.  Because that’s a collaboration. 

But how people in the audience feel about that? Do we speak our truth? We don’t have to yell it, we don’t have to argue with people, but do we speak our truth? When we want to collaborate with other people, are we yes people, no people, or do we stand in our light and share what it is that’s our perspective?

I think we’re still so afraid of being wrong that we can become yes people, and we’re also so affronted if somebody was to say, “yes, I hear you, however, this is how I see it.” Because if we’re not sure about who we are or where we’re standing, somebody else can, somebody else’s perception or way of seeing something can make us feel affronted, because it can trigger that part of us that feels less than or unequal if we haven’t resolved it. So there’s another element I guess I’d add in is, there’s the kind of integrity of doing the inner work to show up in the best way that you can because otherwise you can just show up in the pyjamas, unwashed, you know, and expect everybody else to carry you and take care of you and that’s not a collaboration.

Or you can show up with a front on saying I know best but inside you don’t, and then you won’t allow anybody to disagree.

Because you’re panicking, right? You’re panicking that, oh, three of them said this, and this is what I was thinking, and they’re the wrong, and then you just think, you know what, I’m going to walk away from this. You know, and I look at my life and how many times I’ve walked away from things, because it did, but I wasn’t willing to acknowledge that it was affronting me, and that there was a piece in me to resolve. It wasn’t the collaboration that was wrong or me wrong, it was just showing me something amazing to deal with that I refused.

Yeah. What were you going to say Amanda? 

I think that there’s such a culture in many places of political correctness and people have forgotten how to have conversations and sometimes you might try to have a conversation about a sensitive issue and people just shout you down.

But sometimes they don’t want to hear because they’re afraid that somebody else will hear and they’ll get cancelled. It’s weird. Anam says we don’t like feeling uncomfortable by others not agreeing with us. Is it that or is it that we’re afraid that if we’re at odds with other people, they won’t want to interact with us?