Intention: A Force Field for Transformation

In this moment, the air is thick like a heavy stew, marinated in heartache and sorrow, steeped in rage, resentment, and distrust. Dangerous to swallow and an even harder to hold down, this stew has been gnawing at the insides of black people for centuries. Can intention be an force field for transformation?

Jazz: Creation of a We Space

This past Saturday, Greg and I participated in the Rebel Wisdom Festival, a gathering of thought leaders exploring sense-making in these turbulent times. The title of our presentation was Jazz and the We Space—sharing how the wisdom of jazz praxis is at the core of creating “We space.” High-level collaboration of a jazz We space occurs not only through its creativity, but because of purpose, values, and intention. Discovering our commonality and the mutual resonance of our experiences opens us to a WE perspective. Our work at the Jazz Leadership Project is about translating that musical We space into everyday ways of togetherness.

Intention Deficit Disorder

Spiritual leader Michael Beckwith says that people suffer from an “intention deficit disorder”—they simply don’t have an intention. Every day people are pulled by circumstances, he says, where the circumstances and conditions dictate how they’re going to react moment by moment. This does not serve us. When you establish an intention, you are taking your life back because intention is a directional focus of energy, a force field.

When you have intention, it means you have an interest in becoming more of yourself, in activating your spiritual potential, creativity, and resourcefulness. It opens you up to obtaining thoughts of inspiration around that intention, and you become impervious to other thoughts that can't match the frequency of your intention. So, in effect, your intention protects your consciousness.

--Michael Beckwith

Conscious cultivation and application of thought-energy is a most powerful agent for self-transformation.

The Energy of Intentionality

Now at a boiling point, the stew of injustice has now congealed, erupting into a forceful energy of intention, birthed from every shackle, whip, noose, and knee on the neck. It is through this intentional force field of energy that new leaders and voices are taking shape and arising.

A recent New York Times article, comparing our lockdown to a caterpillar’s cocoon, pointed out that the wonderment about such metamorphosis is usually about the before and the after – not the in-between or liminal. Dreadful as it may seem, the caterpillar breaks down its form until only cells, called imaginal discs, remain. These cells use the protein left from the caterpillar to form the exquisite butterfly. The purpose of this break down is transformation. This is our break-down moment to birth something new, something better.

Michael Beckwith in conversation with Iyanla Vanzant

During a recent conversation with Michael Beckwith, author and inspirational speaker Iyanla Vanzant framed how we can pay attention and live with intention:

• Clear and heal the energy of ancestral outrage and hate—the energy that makes us think that nothing is going to change

• Speak the word of your intention and hold the thought

• See and do differently

• See the possibilities and go into a space of gratitude, knowing that a healing is happening to shape something more productive

• Be accountable

• Do your work so you can bring something valuable and meaningful to those around you and to the world

Iyanla was emphatic that it’s everybody’s responsibility to work with intent because that is what is needed.

Purposeful Intention

Leadership intentions are crystalizing each day as individuals and companies take a stand to address the inequalities, on every level, feeding the racism machine. Embracing responsibility for ourselves and others, trusting and being trustworthy, empathy, compassion, and a willingness to dig deep and be vulnerable with each other, are some of the ways to lead with intention. Stepping into intention can look like:

Empathy in Solidarity:

Connecticut Governor Lamont rebuffed Trump’s dictate to “be dominant” and use military police against protestors. Lamont responded that they would do things the “Connecticut way,” which resulted in state troopers kneeling and praying with protestors on a highway in a show of solidarity. The protestors left the highway 33 minutes later.

Responsibility:

Articles in the Wall St. Journal and CNBC report how CEOs of some of the world’s largest corporations, such as JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Blackrock, Merck & Co., and Goldman Sachs are weighing in to acknowledge their company’s responsibility, beyond sales and profits, to uphold values that address society’s inequities. Peleton Founder and CEO John Foley declared: What’s become clear to me is that we must ensure this is an anti-racist organization. We should not be satisfied with ourselves unless we are consistently tearing down the prejudices that facilitate such acts of hatred.

Playbill, a magazine for Broadway, Off-Broadway, and London theatre-goers, has announced:

• Recurring donations to the Legal Defense Fund of the NAACP. Additionally, 10% of all sales of Playbill Merchandise & Souvenirs will go to the NAACP Freedom Fund for the month of June.

• Acknowledging past errors and holding ourselves and other industry leaders accountable through our coverage and offering an open line for feedback.

• To prepare ourselves for this work and create new patterns of behavior, joining @UndoingRacism for a series of anti-racist workshops.

• Using our platform to amplify Black creators, performers, and workers in our industry. Check out the Black Lives Matter series.

Vulnerability in Shifting Priorities:

In a recent article, HuffPost talked to black beauty influencers about how they are redefining their roles in socio-economic and political terms. Representing the faces and voices of millions of consumers, these young people are wrestling with how to seize the opportunity to raise their voices and effect change by calling on the brands they represent to do better.

Accountability:

Humanity Rising: A Global Solutions Summit is featuring the voices of women and young people from around the world to share their vision for the future and actionable solutions.

Fear Not The Strangeness

You must give birth to your images
they are the future waiting to be born
Fear not the strangeness you feel.
The future must enter you long before it happens
just wait for the birth
for the hour of new clarity

― Rainer Maria Rilke

Leading with intention is deliberately doing better and being better through courage, empathy, and collaboration.

What is your intention?