It has been incredible over the last 15 years seeing the Art of Hosting community grow all over the world. The question keeps coming up on what it is ... so here is the second blog post on it. The first one you can find here by guest blogger Toke Moeller. This post is an email exchange with one of the team of a training I am involved in around participatory leadership in the field of social justice and equity. Check out the website if you want to know more about that. Here's an edited version of the email exchange for those who want to understand what the Art of Hosting is, from my perspective. The titles in orange are the questions I was asked and the text below is the responses ... QUESTION #1: |
The Art of Hosting Story.pdf | |
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Thanks for taking the time to write this up, Tim. I like the open source software analogy. Wonder if it's worth considering some kind of branded certification program for AoH? Even open source software has these kinds of designations e.g. https://engage.redhat.com/training-and-certification-c-201504210144?sc_cid=70160000000ez0bAAA
Leo!! So great to hear from you here. I have suggested some global branding for AoH before but got short shrift. The complexity of the international community means reaching agreement would be near impossible ... then to create a certification people would agree on? wow. :-)
Great post Tim. Understanding what Art of Hosting is can be challenging when you first come across it. Really great to hear explanations of it all from someone who's been a part of AoH for so long. I will be sharing your post with clients and contacts who I think would like it. Best wishes, Larna
Thanks Larna!
I'd love to hear more about the blindspots of power and privilege that you noticed - but in particular power. I notice a lot of projections and reactions to power in some AoH language and practice (and many other systems/groups of course) based on fear of authority and the reactions to hierarchy and power-over. A healthy relationship with giving power and standing in our own - taking authority and responsibility for what's ours, while allowing others theirs, feels like a missing piece in an otherwise massively powerful toolkit/worldview.
Hey Max, Well for me ... I got into participatory process partly because in my own life I had rarely experienced power wielded with integrity. I felt there had to be another way to parent, educate, hand out justice, problem solve etc. It ended up being that the more successful I got with working in a participatory way, the more I had to engage with the very powers and people in the world I was seeking to transform and ultimately that meant transforming myself. I cannot work with CEOs if I am not comfortable with the CEO inside of me - I cannot work with those who weird power unless I have come to terms with my own power. Quite simply I cannot help someone I cannot trust. T
Thank you for this powerful read, and reminder that there is more to AoH than it being tools that allow us to practice more efficient and and inclusively; but it is an opportunity for people to show up, and contribute in ways that are meaningful to them as individuals, to practice being together authentically, and to work with difference. This article just ended abruptly for me, and I find myself wanting more. Thank you!
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