Some synchronicities are simply.....beyond belief...

Some blog entries ago I talked about starting my final quarter of the Team Management and Leadership programme I am doing. The programme is very structured in terms of holding people to account for promises made but not kept. The principle on which it operates is that without integrity nothing works in life. Integrity means doing what I said I would do when I said I would do it and doing it in a way that is complete and impeccable. It also involves keeping an empowering and powerful context for everything I do and say. One of these structures is a short telephone call each morning with what is called a committed colleague. On this call I give my promises for what I am going to do that day and I create a possibility and empowering context within which I will do what I said I would do. She does the same and the next morning we hold each other to account on what has not been done. Not in a way that makes not keeping our word bad and wrong but in terms of getting the impact of not doing what we promised. Each time I don't do what I said I would I lose power and am not effective, to get this impact and re-commit to whatever it is I did not do is to keep myself in power in life. I see the power of this in how I have coped with the major life change I made towards the end of the last quarter.

On the weekend that starts each new quarter we get assigned our committed colleague. This quarter I am the committed colleague for a new incoming quarter one. It is very interesting now that I am quarter 4 seeing myself in my quarter 1 committed colleague. All the overwhelm I felt but unlike me whose mantra was 'leave me alone, I'm only quarter one' she is throwing herself into the programme, taking on different responsibilities and transforming in the process. This morning I was telling her what I was going to do and I said that I was going to follow up on an email I wrote to a magazine requesting a work experience place for Easter. When I mentioned the name of the magazine, she started laughing and said that she worked for that magazine group in the past and gave me the name of the editor who took over when she left. This is simply amazing. Before this morning I didn't know that she was involved in publishing. I knew that she had her own company that she had sold but I didn't know that it was a magazine publishing business she had sold. After the call was finished I sat totally stunned for a few minutes trying to understand this amazing synchronicity and how it had come about.

I had no say in who was going to be my committed colleague and out of 46 people on team I have a committed colleague who is knowledgeable in the area that I want to write in. I really feel that inspite of appearances that there is a structure and order to everything that is happening. All we can see at any one time is one piece of a jigsaw the whole picture is hidden from our view. This is why trust and remaining true to ourselves and not to sell out on ourselves is so important. I called up the man whose contact details I had and pending agreement with the HR department of the publishing group will have my 2nd work experience placement sorted out.

I spent some time in the library today because I wanted to work on a book review that has to be in for Monday. I was staring out of the window willing for some inspiration when into my mind popped an image of Barack Obama and I knew immediately the book I was going to write a review for. It would be Dreams from my father - A story of race and inheritance. With a triumphant flourish I opened a blank word document and sat with my fingers poised on the keyboard. The image of him looking reflective and meditative on the cover of his book seemed to be the spur that I needed to bang off 600 words quite quickly. I did my usual thing of writing a couple of sentences and then going back to edit it so it has ended up being a restrained piece but I am so relieved that it is done and gone to the lecturer.

We had another wake-up call in the form of a newspaper editor who came in to speak to us. He spoke about the newspaper and magazine industry being in an unprecedented state of flux. But instead of wanting to dishearten us he wanted to encourage us that there is a huge need for good reporters and writers. He gave some really good tips for approaching the industry after qualification but the mood he left me in was sober but determined to succeed and secure a job as a staff writer on a magazine when I qualify.

I'm tired tonight because last night I spent a frustrating 2 hours trying to use skype to chat to my friend in London without any luck. I'm off to London tomorrow to do my 3 hour office agreement which I am excited about. I love finding out from people what it is they want in their life and being of service and contribution in sharing what I've got and what is possible and encouraging people to create the life they want instead of sitting around waiting for life to happen.......