What Does It Mean to be “Invited” to a “Gathering”?
What does it mean to be “invited” to a “gathering”? Not mandated to attend. Not voluntold. Not required. Invited.
And not to a meeting or a training or a workshop; not a brownbag or a stand-up or a huddle; not a townhall or coffee with the CEO.
All of those have their place, but a Gathering is a different kind of thing. It is named to signal this will be something distinct.
Being invited to a Gathering gives you a “Heads up!” that this is not the normal professional experience.
By inviting people to come together in a different format, barriers go down, curiosity goes up. The experience is designed to meet people with warmth, safety, and care, welcoming their humanity and carefully engaging them with a series of invitations once they are there and have said yes to the first invitation to join.
An invitation means each person has agency to choose what they do with those, to accept or refuse them, or to pivot. Invitations mean different things to each of us. Each choice and interpretation is honored.
Such a time together feels different, and the conversations sound different and generate different results too.
This is what we did in Chicago in late October. The Center for a Loving Workplace hosted a Gathering to explore what it is to be loving and human at work.
We invited people to Gather at the offices of Chicago United for Equity. We warmly welcomed folks, and then we ate, connected, laughed, reflected, shared, discovered insights, found meaning, and each chose what we would do next.
Something else happened.
We saw each other. Truly saw each other. And we listened and heard each other too. Trust was built. Hope opened up.
I’ve hosted many such Gatherings all over the world, gatherings of 10 people and of 200 people and many sizes in between. At each one, the invitation is disarming. The experience is loving. The connections grow stronger. The outcomes are meaningful.
Pictured: Bridget Collier, Rachel Balk,Charlie Rataj, Simon Phillips, Adam Slade, Jacqui Phillips, Justin Williams, Tatiana Merchado-Griffin, Jim Bilbao, and Renee Smith; not pictured: Rachel Pate.
I wonder…
What question are you considering? What shift does your team need? Are you stuck? Do you want a more vibrant engagement? Do you want your team to feel seen and heard? Are you ready for the next level of trust?
Why not invite them to a Gathering?
