For several years the USA has been navigating a massive state of emergence, with all of the disruption that accompanies it. Tensions are also flaring at the global level. Having grown up in South Africa during apartheid, the conflict and polarity feels to me like deja vu. In some ways, it is even worse.

​We do not yet know what is trying to emerge in these frequently fiery conflicts. Most of us have little individual influence over the larger whole, but we can choose to navigate conflict within our own communities.

​If your team members are less than enthusiastic about the thought of yet another virtual meeting, you are not alone. Like it or not, online calls have become an undeniable part of the way we now work. As relationship systems coaches and leaders, we rely on face-to-face interactions. How can we encourage people to feel passionate about mutual purpose, supported, and part of a team when they are working across town, across the country, and even across the planet? 

Fortunately, the same skillset we draw on in Relationships Systems Intelligence (RSI™) can help us to maintain connection in remote teams.

Like other organizations, we had a learning curve to navigate as we translated in-person Organization and Relationship Systems (ORSC™) courses to an online format. So much of ORSC relies on the invisible signals we receive from one another. Would it be possible to see, hear, feel and sense the system through a screen? 

Yes! By adding best practices from RSI, we can carry this awareness with us into the virtual world and avoid Zoom fatigue in coaching teams.

​Part 1 of the Cultivating Belonging Series • Why Belonging Matters

We are inextricably linked to one another. In the constant emergence of a pandemic year, the invisible threads connecting us have tightened even as they frayed. The effects of pandemic, climate change and social unrest have uprooted us from our comfort zones, separating us from our familiar ways of thinking and being.

In a complex time, relationship matters more than ever.

Fostering a sense of belonging is key on every level - in partnerships, teams, organizations, and the larger culture, as well as in personal, community and economic spheres.

Here in the USA, our environment has become one of division descending into chaos. To move forward, we must find ways not only to accommodate diversity, but to welcome it. While creating a sense of belonging within a diverse group brings its own and different challenges, this work is essential. The reality is that there is not a single system, human or otherwise, that does not contain the systemic notion of diversity. If our nation, the world, and humanity is to unite in reality as well as in name, we must service this evolution.

Now, our greatest challenge is to actively cultivate connection and belonging. Without a recognition of our interdependence and a conscious commitment to support it, we will remain in chaos.