“To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing” – Raymond Williams.
I have learnt what it means to be radical in the past one year.
It was just about a year ago that I found myself staring at the white, spotless ceiling in the emergency room, my wellbeing in the hands of the good doctors and nurses and drawing my strength from the presence of my dear wife who was calmly offering me hope over despair. A year down the line – I am humbler, more joyful and more at ease with not exercising control over what happens in my life next. This has opened up the heart to allowing and the body to direct itself towards greater well-being and vitality. Being radical also allows me to connect and relate to other radicals and draw strength in courageous companionship.
What has sustained me, transformed me and enabled me to trust life again and back myself is love, friendship, kindness and the discernment that investing in hope is far more authentic than submitting to despair because Life as I knew does not make sense any more.
To continue existing on the planet demands of us to learn from her, to express and engage systemically in healing and integrative ways; and to release and drop all that distances us from our authentic essence
Being radical, igniting hope and helping our communities find trust again are essential to fulfilling our promise to be a force for good in the world.
At ACTO – I am fortunate to be part of a board, membership and community that is radical and represents a group of pioneers who inspire hope and faith, and embrace the principles of freedom, equity and evolution.
A year back – there were some questions raised (with good intent) on the relevance of ACTO. As we look back, one realises the need and relevance of ACTO is even more today than earlier. ACTO meets the need for a community that embraces diversity of thought and purpose, play over performance and learning together, sharing together without the urgency to affiliate and identify strongly with any one school of thought around coaching and coach training.
The ACTO board is committed to bring evolutionary perspectives to coaching and coach training and engage our wonderful membership this year in exploration, experimenting and contribution towards evolving the field of coaching.
Towards this end in mind, I am excited to share the following important events and transitions over the next two months.
- Virginia Velez will be taking over as the president of ACTO starting June ‘23. We are excited to welcome her into the role and look forward to partner her towards the evolution of ACTO and its impact.
- The next ACTO conference is scheduled for June 14-16, 23. We have a wonderful line up of speakers and keynotes who will bring with them and through them ideas and research that informs us on the new and emergent themes in coaching and coach training.
- We are introducing podcasts at ACTO hosted by Jude Richardson. Each podcast is designed to challenge our notion of what is normal and help us think of radical ways to transform our approach to coaching.
This is just the beginning of many more interesting ways in which the ACTO would love to serve its members and expand our reach and engagement across the world.
We live in times that provides us the opportunity to design and operate in new and radical ways. More than ever, we must come together to dialogue, experiment and pioneer change, change that brings well-being to our dear beloved planet.
In peace and gratitude,
Vikram.