I first became aware of Appreciative Inquiry a few years ago when I was looking for a different methodology for an organisation that wanted to gather input from its people around how to set and achieve its future; so for all intents and purposes, a planning workshop. Planning workshops are common; usually comprising some sort of brainstorming session followed by action planning and a good dose of team building thrown in for good measure. Yes, I can hear the *yawn* … so I wanted something different …

Remember the Comfort Zone? I wrote about it in a previous entry – go check it out! It is a concept that suggests the comfort zone is a behavioural state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition. So for many of us, we stay within our comfort zones to avoid stress and unknown responses and behaviours to an unknown environment. The anxiety of the unknown is just too scary for some of us to step outside our comfort zones. So why do we limit ourselves in this way?

On a recent Saturday evening, a young boy of 18 decided that life was too hard and made the ultimate decision to end it all. He texted his mother, father, girlfriend and friends and then jumped off a bridge. Thankfully, I am not writing about the death of this beautiful young man but I am writing to share his story because it is a story that needs to be told – over and over again. This is a story of bullying.

Who would have thought that 9 grains of rice could be so life changing! I have often heard the words ‘be careful what you ask for’ and I now know the power of these six simple little words. Have you ever noticed how life has a way of dishing up the lessons we need to learn just when we need to learn them? So the Universe decided I needed to experience bullying, bitchy women which, I have got to say has been interesting to say the least.

I read a great article by John Baldoni a while back called: – “Sum Up Your Leadership in Six Words” … You can read it on the Harvard Business web site. It got me thinking… what would our story be if we had to determine it in six words or less? That is, what words would I use to describe the essence of me? Funnily, a bunch of *F* words sprung to mind:- freedom, fun, fierce, fantastic, footloose, formerly, fellowship and friend were some … and then the following six word sentence came to me … “fiercely, fantastic friendships, founded on freedom.”