January of 2023 was a big month. On the last Blog Post I shared the origin story of the growing community known as the Emotional Bungee Jumpers which is a close cousin to the Reciprocal Propulsion Leadership retreat.  

Lets start with where the name came from. Like so many of us I havent always surrounded myself with the most positive members of society. But when I found myself surrounded by forward thinking individuals I noticed a marked change in my personal growth. 

Through my own career progression and supporting many Construction Leaders in a hyper competitive environment I noticed the further up the ladder we got the fewer peers we have. The math is simple, the hidden problem lies in human nature. I saw 2 things happening over and over again. 

1st: The higher up the chain one is, the less likely they are to receive support from peers within the organization. Yes because there are fewer peers, and also because these peers are competitors. Sharing of best practices could mean losing ones edge.

2nd: Leaders of change are a bit of an oddity. Meaning the lenses we see through drive us to improve things in service to others. The problem though, is folks are fine with the way things are and there are no maps for undiscovered territories.

The outcome of these conditions leaves one feeling lost, questioning their abilities, suffering in silence. I lived in this state for many years and could see others there too. Than I met the Central Region Lean Beasts, a group of hyper talented Change Leaders who were having significant progress in their efforts. But the absence of a "marker" and a circle of change leading accomplices the only thing they could see were their shortcomings. 

Leading change means frequent contact with rejection. This rejection is easy to interpret as rejection of ones self. When I am swimming in rejection my character defects and insecurities become magnified. The issue though is that I am rarely the thing being rejected, it is change that is being rejected. And because of my maniacal mindset I represent change. so duh...

Back to the Lean Beasts, after spending a few day with these change agents I witnessed their confidence return. They shared their wins and losses and went back into the wild fueled up and ready to go another round. They were going back into the very environment that wore them to the bone, an unsustainable situation. 

So we resolved to have quarterly sessions to track progress on our objectives and mostly refuel our souls.

It seemed like common sense, and just like all common sense it is not common practice. I asked a whole bunch of business leaders about this thing I saw and they all were going it alone. The conversations and ideating they could have with their coworkers were tainted due to the power dynamic of their official titles. My observation was they would benefit from expanding their circle to include other Leaders of Change from other organizations. People who know the pressures of running point on a path that has not been cleared.

So I asked myself, how hard would it be to put something like this together? I have an advantage in that I run with an ever growing group of courageous change leaders. Before I pitched the idea, I had to come up with a name. The words that rang were reciprocal and propulsion because this was the phenomena I was experiencing. 

Every time I have deep & vulnerable conversations with change leaders, they reciprocate. Its a sort of give and take like a dance. The reciprocal knowledge sharing and creativity that has come from these interactions has been transformative. And this leads to the propulsion part, my personal growth and ability to serve to the greatest degree have been expanding at an exponential rate. Propelled by connecting deeply with like minded change leaders.

To date we have had 2 Reciprocal Propulsion Leadership retreats and plan on having one every quarter. The next one will be in San Antonio the weekend of June 23rd. Which just so happens to be the same weekend my first second book is launching. 

The retreat is not for everyone, only leaders who are ready to give & receive. Leaders who are prepared to share their fears and short comings. Leaders who are interested in Becoming the Promise they are Intended to Be. Because as one grows we all grow.