The Traveler's Tale: Seeking Harmony in a Dissonant World

As Father's Day yesterday prompts reflections on my father's teachings over 54 years of my life, and the father of my kids' commonsense Yorkshire humor and friendship over 30 years, here together in the 80s, I find myself contemplating the values he instilled in me.

Despite their occasional disapproval, my male role models both remained kind, caring and listened attentively to my crazy ideas, eclectic connections and magical 'no judgement' conversations.

My father (right) was the perfect gentleman who wasn't afraid to take the lead, he cherished harmony, responsibility, and family. These musings today take me beyond personal anecdotes, as I ponder the state of the world today—a world shrouded in pain and arguments in particular between men and women across the globe.

How can I contribute to healing the discord of arguments, anger, wars, abuse, tragedy, and the misalignment of power and independence? I looked back on these two male influences across my life.

My former husband, of 30 years and now passed, was a realist, my first lover and a good friend at university that led to marriage and family. Although we came from polar opposites in upbringing, religion and politics, I learned from him how to work to train and develop people and now my client groups gain the reward of his tutorage in those early years. He helped me grow my confidence even if it was by trial and error and some critical feedback. Recognizing my "middle of the road" nature served me well when connecting, mediating and helping leaders lead better - especially male leaders stuck in past ways that no longer serve them. We eventually went our separate ways however over 30 years and a friendship after divorce, I honor his influence. Both he and my father has good intentions for me and I value that.

Together in the hey day of 60s The Beatles music and flower power, my then husband and I grew from students to parents over a decade, We often embraced dissonance in our changing lives, and as I learned to grow my own wings and become a business entrepreneur as my two kids grew into their teen years, I came to value the male perspective on business and life as different to female's circular nature and found that I loved the rigor of business entwined with family nurturing and creative pursuits. I realized I had a preference for the masculine traits of logic, action and decisiveness along side my female-ness of nurture and connectedness!

As I share my travelers tale through life's twists and turns, the streets were paved with many people of different nations, I saw the coming together of "a union of different kinds". My Corporate Heart International consultancy work has helped me to educate and enrich the working capacity of leaders, male and female, of all ages and diverse profiles, in heart centered leadership values and principles for authentic harmony.. I find clients across the world as I work in Europe, Africa, SE Asia and the Americas - all have very similar issues and obstacles. i.e., simple and complex misunderstandings, ego frustrations and anger, barriers and bias, and unconscious and conscious stereotypes that block and add to blinkered awareness.

Do you get blocked by the X - the unexpected - and don't notice the O - the opportunities to listen, notice, make new choices. Do you play the game - or does it play you? Find the complementary talents and co-creative human power with new players and you will win every time in some way. Value is not always money. In fact seldom. I have always loved games and business is a game of life and we are all the players.

While I still despise obstructive dissonance, I've come to learn that honoring conflict created by misunderstood differences could be the source of solutions for a new narrative. This was a necessary step in my journey, and led me to unexplored territories in my immediate surroundings both in business and in my life, changing continents, resetting my business projections and and observing the corporate climate reacting to the pandemic. I focused away beyond equality and onto harmony, in all its forms. In leadership, business, conversations, companionship, creativity, and behavior.

Through the female lens of my imagination and experiences, authentic harmony is my daily choice.

As I came to understand that seeking equality is not my aim, I have found a wider scope in harmony and that men and women both are attracted to the ownership of collaboration and unified results. I respect and appreciate the beauty of difference without passing judgment or anger. I educate and facilitate the principles of authentic harmony and performance improvement. I've cracked the code of leadership with this awareness. The next step was and is to truly understand how women can enrich the journey for men so they know how they can bridge the gap between the old ways and the future wisdom of authentic harmony. with women so they everyone wins!

Confronting Injustice with a new language has become an important element of my life and work.

Injustice is something I abhor, especially for women who are marginalized in business and abused domestically across society. Yet I want to be strong and persuasive with my language, enriching with a heart center rather than angry voice and out of control actions. My vision quest therefore became to comprehend the roots of aggression and misappropriation of values between men and women in today's multi-generational, multi-cultural, and economically challenged business world. A diverse and magnificent force, nature displays versatility through its plumage, colors, scope, and size. The vegetation that blankets our planet acts as both a support system for its inhabitants and a catalyst for change, transforming landscapes with each passing season and subtle climatic shifts.

Reflecting on Human Nature as a way to illustrate my story, I see people similarly embody the essence of human nature, adapting to their environments. Sometimes it works naturally, sometimes it is contrived to be controlled by misunderstandings. As we look at the nature of the relationships between men and women it occurs to me it should flow naturally accessing all differences as nature does, feeding off natural resources and talent and energy. Authentic harmony, I believe, is akin to an orchestral symphony created by the people, for the people.

The challenge lies in deciphering the code of each player so they harmonizes diverse musical notes (perspectives), foster a space where unity can flourish (the song lives) and together the performance excels and the audience applauds.

Can YOU bridge the gap, sooth dissonance and the pain of conflict into purpose?

In the face of the toxicity in many communities, business and social, I contemplate whether it is possible to transform this angry situation into new co-creative leadership where women's talents are valued and men hold onto their purpose as providers? As I pen my Lighthouse Navigator newsletter, I pose this question to you and ask you to watch and listen a little more to how we can crack the leadership (life) code together.

Together, let us strive to navigate the tumultuous seas of discord, working towards a future where harmony prevails and our collective purpose shines brightly, I am here to be responsible as my father taught me and to be full of common sense and humor appropriately. Within the tumultuous currents of our dissonant world, I find solace in the teachings of my male role models and my unwavering commitment to authentic harmony.

So in summary, equality is not my sole pursuit; I recognize and respect the beauty of diversity without judgment. In our endeavor to comprehend and confront injustice, I draw inspiration from the versatility and resilience of nature and apply its rules to my passion to understand “mankind” – and “womenkind” – I believe that by cracking the code of leadership of the traditional past, we can harmonize diverse perspectives and multifaceted communities for future growth and enrichment. By embracing all talents regardless of color, creed, and preferences, we can strive towards a world where pain finds purpose, and the symphony of authentic harmony resonates throughout our lives and communities.

We went LIVE this last weekend to Crack the Leadership Code...

Here's the REPLAY : it was such an awesome conversation.

In this pursuit, we have commenced a series of focused conversations among women and men that will crack the leadership code – and indeed the life code of relationships, communication, and behavior.

I am honored to be hosted by Izabela Lundberg, M.S. and our invited guest Tim Bowman last Saturday 17th June. We continue next Saturday 24th June 10am PST (watch for the posting) to explore and uncover the language mastery of men and women in leadership - and life!

OBSERVE the flow of conversation in this LIVE and the amazing leadership stories in corporate, government and military situations.

NEWS - now you can step up your game....

CRACKING THE LEADERSHIP CODE as you discover Language Mastery between men and women, learning the art of GDI (Gender Dynamics Intelligence)

WORKSHOP ON ZOOM - 3.5 HRS DEEP DIVE JUNE 28TH 8am-11,30am PST

Available in an open public program, meet peer leaders, this is your entry to Language Mastery and a deep dive June 28th Online via Zoom Interactive workshop , seats are limited and you have time to grab the early bird seat $99 - and for reading thus far you can claim a further $10 off with coupon CRACKINGCODE2023 - however you must book before JUNE 21st Midnight PST.

Register by clicking the highlighted paragraph.

This program is also available inhouse for your team, department or workforce at large. Book a Discovery call with me, Dr Pauline Crawford.

Dr Pauline Crawford Chief Vision Officer Corporate Heart International

Author and Speaker of The Power of Authentic Harmony (Amazon)