Brasil

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Comment by Betsey Upchurch on July 23, 2009 at 3:26pm

Fabiana,

I am an outside consultant and have worked with the US headquarters of this business for many years. The company culture is open, passionate, responsible and basically empowering. There are of course pockets where this is not so. My task is to develop leadership in supervisors at the Brasil plant. My usual approach is to use local and inside trainers and managers as much as possible. The Brazilian operation is new to me so not at all sure yet how the culture may be different. What I am looking for is some understanding of working class culture in Brasil and how open to the concept of basic goodness (as opposed to original sin) I might find these people.

Comment by Carlos Alberto Inada on July 9, 2009 at 6:50pm

Betsey, Fabiana and everyone... I'll use the opportunity of this thread to raise other questions, as Fabiana did!

I'm not sure if Fabiana knows the notion of "basic goodness" as a core notion in Shambhala teachings -- and following this forum I've wondered sometimes how some Shambhala or Trungpa's notions relates to the work developed by ALIA or by people connected to it. Besides "basic goodness", I'd also quote the notion of a container, that was central to Trungpa and I've seen discussed sometimes here. This is my first question: how direct is the connection between what notions like authenticity and container mean in ALIA's and Shambhala's contexts?

In relation to basic goodness, this reminds me of some aspects that I've been noticing even in relation to create a Shambhala group or center in Brasil -- as sometimes it seems to be worked with as more of a dogma, if there's no space for accommodating supposed hindrances of Brazilian history and culture as the only possible ground for basic goodness and richness. Sometimes it feels as if without curiosity and inquisitiveness by every part of the process, there's no ground for basic goodness.

Well... those are the questions that came to my mind! :-)

Comment by Fabiana Nardi on July 9, 2009 at 6:19pm

Hi Betsey!
Good questions!
I have worked as a Human Resources consultant in Brazil and I just finished my Masters in Environmental Leadership at Naropa.
Unfortunately, in my view, the majority of our companies in Brazil still don't understand what authentic leadership means.
Instead of telling what my suggestions are, since I don't know your company's culture, I would like to propose some questions for your reflection upon your situation:
1) Has your group worked together for enough time that enabled them to create a sense of belonging and trust among each other?
2) Do your personal actions show to the group what you mean about "leading from a place of assuming basic goodnes?"
3) How much is the company's personal evaluation system based on the skills and behaviors that translate what you call basic goodness? Does your company's culture value these kind of leadership style?

I hope that these questions triger in you some kind of reflections that may help you approach your leadership challenges... Please, let me know if you would like to talk more about this issue. I would love to continue this conversation. :)

Warmly,
Fabiana

Comment by Betsey Upchurch on July 2, 2009 at 12:21pm

I joined this group because I am in need of your wisdom. I have the honor of working with a group of supervisors in a manufacturing plant there. The point is to help them be more effective in their leadership. In addition to getting things done effectively, I'd like to introduce the concept of leading from a place of assuming basic goodness. Is there an approach that might work better in Brasil than the one I use in the US? In the US, we are such a critical group that I have to address that first, move people out of the "knowing" a thing by tearing it apart. Any suggestion?