Post by debbyflorence on Oct 25, 2011 16:19:03 GMT -7
Something keeps popping up over and over again, and that is this notion that there are a select group of people in Occupy Missoula who are "facilitators." As titles.
As in, “these are our leaders.” And we are the followers of these leaders. Except, we are a horizontal leadership, and we want to be empowered. So then we simultaneously view facilitators as leaders and resent them for being so, all in one gesture.
It might be a good time to examine this, to break down our prejudice, perceptions, and notions about leadership, as well as explore together about consensus, democracy, our voices, etc. So I am taking a risk and sharing some of my thoughts. Please don’t take them as some kind of gospel – and if I misrepresent something , I apologize in advance. I am writing this to help break that imagery down within OM , so that everyone, especially those who have traditionally not viewed themselves as "leaders" can start to see they are empowered to use their voices and participate wholeheartedly in decisions and discussions.
1) The role is not a title. A facilitator of the GA meeting on Saturday , is not a Facilitator of Occupy Missoula. When that meeting ends, the facilitator does not continue being a Facilitator. They can facilitate again if needed or wanted, but this is not their "title."
2) Facilitators sacrifice their voice while they are facilitating.
This is really important for people to realize: the facilitators are somewhat outside of the process, and are making that sacrifice for the benefit of the whole. This expectation that a facilitator strives to remain neutral should not carry forward outside of the meeting. A person who has facilitated a meeting deserves to be a part of the General Assembly, also. Thus, we should ALL take a turn at facilitation.
4) Debby’s personal experience. I would like to kindly request that I am not referred to as “one of the facilitators” outside the context of meetings I facilitated in the past. This seemingly small label is profoundly impacting my ability to participate in OM as an equal to everyone else. I view myself as a participant. I want the same right as everyone else to state my imperfect opinions and be seen as an equal voice, because I believe this is a collaboration between all of us. If I say my opinion, I know it is just my opinion, and I fully expect to be swayed in other directions by the group.
I have been expected to know everything, have been criticized for acting like I know everything, I have been treated like I am someone’s boss ( asked me for permission to do things), I have been told i am not being assertive enough, and in general I have been held to a standard that is different than others regarding my general opinions on most matters. This is really stressing me out! ☺ But thank you for the challenge, I am trying to make it positive by writing this.
Also, People often come up to me doing what I can only describe as campaigning --- and I do want to have discussions and share opinions, but not a direct campaign trying to get me to move the OM group in one direction or other. So hear ye hear ye: if I suggest a work group or a GA for your comment, it is because I may be feeling that you just treated me like A Leader, and I am trying to remind you that you are empowered to make these changes and bring your concerns to the whole group yourself. I am not blowing you off. I just cant personally do anything about your request or concern.
5) Our cultural indoctrination makes this really messy.
Our upbringings make it easy to slip into "leader" and "follower." I hope all of us can stop feeling threatened by louder voices or strong opinions, and begin to trust that we all have a real, respected voice in all decisions, even if one person's style is writing, another is public speaking, and another is one-on-one. I know its not easy to trust each other, and its not easy to use your voice when you have never been able to before. But now is the time!
6) Gossip and rumors. We have to grow up in this area. I am guilty of it too. I just ask us to start with the small step of asking ourselves “Is this helpful gossip?” “Is this creating division?” “is this creating exclusiveness?” Sometimes we need to vent. But lets see if we can elevate the venting to a more constructive purpose. If you find yourself needing to gossip, use it to develop a constructive response to bring out later. Me, I am using all my fears and frustration about my visible role in this community to try and engage us in an honest discussion about leadership/empowerment. I hope!
In conclusion.... I trust that all of us can share our skills to make this movement grow. It will not grow if we keep relying on the same small group of people to "know about process " or "speak up about important issues." And then get mad at them when they don't do it how we would do it. It's a pain, it's time consuming, and it's risky to stick your neck out -- but learning these things, in my opinion, is one wonderful key to personal freedom, to community healing, and global change.
I want to apologize to all of you for the mistakes I have made along the way, and urge you to be open to the thought that I am eagerly growing right now, open to personal development and change...and my whole messy self is right on my sleeve these days. Through all of that, I promise to make every effort to respect your right to use your voice.
Thanks,
Debby Florence
As in, “these are our leaders.” And we are the followers of these leaders. Except, we are a horizontal leadership, and we want to be empowered. So then we simultaneously view facilitators as leaders and resent them for being so, all in one gesture.
It might be a good time to examine this, to break down our prejudice, perceptions, and notions about leadership, as well as explore together about consensus, democracy, our voices, etc. So I am taking a risk and sharing some of my thoughts. Please don’t take them as some kind of gospel – and if I misrepresent something , I apologize in advance. I am writing this to help break that imagery down within OM , so that everyone, especially those who have traditionally not viewed themselves as "leaders" can start to see they are empowered to use their voices and participate wholeheartedly in decisions and discussions.
1) The role is not a title. A facilitator of the GA meeting on Saturday , is not a Facilitator of Occupy Missoula. When that meeting ends, the facilitator does not continue being a Facilitator. They can facilitate again if needed or wanted, but this is not their "title."
2) Facilitators sacrifice their voice while they are facilitating.
This is really important for people to realize: the facilitators are somewhat outside of the process, and are making that sacrifice for the benefit of the whole. This expectation that a facilitator strives to remain neutral should not carry forward outside of the meeting. A person who has facilitated a meeting deserves to be a part of the General Assembly, also. Thus, we should ALL take a turn at facilitation.
4) Debby’s personal experience. I would like to kindly request that I am not referred to as “one of the facilitators” outside the context of meetings I facilitated in the past. This seemingly small label is profoundly impacting my ability to participate in OM as an equal to everyone else. I view myself as a participant. I want the same right as everyone else to state my imperfect opinions and be seen as an equal voice, because I believe this is a collaboration between all of us. If I say my opinion, I know it is just my opinion, and I fully expect to be swayed in other directions by the group.
I have been expected to know everything, have been criticized for acting like I know everything, I have been treated like I am someone’s boss ( asked me for permission to do things), I have been told i am not being assertive enough, and in general I have been held to a standard that is different than others regarding my general opinions on most matters. This is really stressing me out! ☺ But thank you for the challenge, I am trying to make it positive by writing this.
Also, People often come up to me doing what I can only describe as campaigning --- and I do want to have discussions and share opinions, but not a direct campaign trying to get me to move the OM group in one direction or other. So hear ye hear ye: if I suggest a work group or a GA for your comment, it is because I may be feeling that you just treated me like A Leader, and I am trying to remind you that you are empowered to make these changes and bring your concerns to the whole group yourself. I am not blowing you off. I just cant personally do anything about your request or concern.
5) Our cultural indoctrination makes this really messy.
Our upbringings make it easy to slip into "leader" and "follower." I hope all of us can stop feeling threatened by louder voices or strong opinions, and begin to trust that we all have a real, respected voice in all decisions, even if one person's style is writing, another is public speaking, and another is one-on-one. I know its not easy to trust each other, and its not easy to use your voice when you have never been able to before. But now is the time!
6) Gossip and rumors. We have to grow up in this area. I am guilty of it too. I just ask us to start with the small step of asking ourselves “Is this helpful gossip?” “Is this creating division?” “is this creating exclusiveness?” Sometimes we need to vent. But lets see if we can elevate the venting to a more constructive purpose. If you find yourself needing to gossip, use it to develop a constructive response to bring out later. Me, I am using all my fears and frustration about my visible role in this community to try and engage us in an honest discussion about leadership/empowerment. I hope!
In conclusion.... I trust that all of us can share our skills to make this movement grow. It will not grow if we keep relying on the same small group of people to "know about process " or "speak up about important issues." And then get mad at them when they don't do it how we would do it. It's a pain, it's time consuming, and it's risky to stick your neck out -- but learning these things, in my opinion, is one wonderful key to personal freedom, to community healing, and global change.
I want to apologize to all of you for the mistakes I have made along the way, and urge you to be open to the thought that I am eagerly growing right now, open to personal development and change...and my whole messy self is right on my sleeve these days. Through all of that, I promise to make every effort to respect your right to use your voice.
Thanks,
Debby Florence