Within our experience in social movements, we have noticed that there are times when we feel extremely energetic, when we are open, we are externally focused, and there is a will to do things. And yet, there are other times in our leadership when we feel differently - we have less energy, we move at a slower pace, and in some ways we are internally focused and feel dormant.
We believe that our individual leadership, our organizations, and social movements go through the ebbs and flows and ups and downs of cycles. Seasonality, which we apply to social change, is a powerful metaphor that has been used in wisdom and indigenous traditions throughout history.
Seasonality teaches us that we must reconnect with the natural cycles of life and that by protecting those cycle we can be intentional about doing the right things at the right time, and also have awareness of how we create unnecessary burnout.
We believe that each stage in a cycle has a purpose, gift, and limits that can be applied to our lives, leadership, organizations, and movements. During the Spring Semester we dive into our leadership and organizational seasons specifically, and provide answers to some of the common questions that come up when we’ve previously shared the framework:
- What do seasons look like in my leadership? What should I be doing and how can I get support?
- How can we integrate seasonality into our work and lives? What are some next steps I can take?
