Belonging: The Ancient Code of Togetherness: The International No. 1 Bestseller

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The author interweaves his own story and heritage into the book, and introduces us to the important idea of ‘whakapapa’. Eastwood defines this as, “When the sun is shining on us, we must be guardians of our tribe and of each other. This is how I have come to understand whakapapa.” You want some ideas about how to create groups or teams where belonging, trust, and aligned vision are the core of what you do

Belonging by Owen Eastwood | Hachette UK

To create this within a team, Owen borrows from New Zealand culture the "incredibly powerful idea" of whakapapa (a genealogical thread). When I’m talking about leaders taking care of people, I’m not saying, “okay, you’re not performing very well, but I don’t want to hurt your feelings, so you’re staying and I won’t drop you, or we’re giving you a contract.” I’m not talking about that, I’m talking about some basic humanity about how we treat people. And if they aren’t good enough, then that’s okay and we’ll do it in a way which actually makes this experience one, which enhances their life and becomes a springboard to something rather than the end of it. His mission When the sun shines on us we are alive, we are strong. For we have had passed down to us a culture that immerses us in deep belonging. We feel safe and respected. We share beliefs and a sense of belonging. We feel safe and respected. We share beliefs and a sense of identity with those around us and this anchors us. We share a purpose with them. We share a vision of the future. We fit in here. Rituals and traditions tie us together. The experiences and wisdom of those who walked in the light before our time are passed on to us.”

Belonging

An understanding of the environment and its impact on people is more important than charisma and passion. Plus clarity of thinking. “Humans flourish in environments where the leadership is consistent and composed; they don’t tend to thrive in environments where there are wild mood swings and inconsistency of behaviour.” This was recommended by a facilitator on my employer’s leadership scheme. Rather like that scheme, I’m ambivalent about this book. It is very male. The focus is on men and men’s activity: there is for instance no consideration of e.g. how the England women’s football team has become such a success, having sizeable disadvantages compared to the men’s. Only two activities predominantly associated with women are mentioned: ballet and gymnastics. Both of these are disparaged: the first fir limiting creativity in favour of conformity (through discussions primarily of men’s experience) and the second fir bullying. I’m not saying those things are not true: however I would dispute categorically the impression that these features are limited to female-associated activities, and I would also question whether men are the ones primarily or exclusively damaged. That his 6-year-old daughter did not enjoy her ballet classes is not reason to condemn a whole art form anymore that a friend’s son’s bad experience at junior county level sport means that sport has no value either. Just a smidgeon more self-awareness of the banal limitations of statements such as ‘women do more team-building with conversation’ would have been good too: why is this the case? Essential femininity? Careful socialisation? Is there anything men’s teams might care to learn from that? When our Us story is weak, we are weak. We should talk about how to do tasks, but it’s integral not to forget the what and why too. And please do share this episode with anyone who may benefit, and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts In BELONGING Owen Eastwood reveals, for the first time, the ethos that has made him one of the most in-demand Performance Coaches in the world. Drawing on his own Maori ancestry, Owen weaves together insights from homo sapiens' evolutionary story and our collective wisdom. He shines a light on where these powerful ideas are applied around the world in high-performing settings encompassing sport, business, the arts and military.

Belonging : The Ancient Code of Togetherness: The Belonging : The Ancient Code of Togetherness: The

With the work I do now, I try and give people a sense of belonging when they're part of something special." Hey, can we chat? Today I think I saw something out there (name it) which looked below the line we’ve set. I could be wrong, so just tell me if I am – we are just trying to grow together’.

We do not want our leaders’ personal beliefs forced upon us - we want our tribe’s authentic values articulated. And we don’t want rules - we want values to aspire to that define what it means to be part of our tribe. Talks About - Digital Business Transformation, Software Solutions, Organisational Change, Business Efficiency, Sales, Scalability & Growth Owen’s a New Zealander with a unique approach based on an evolutionary understanding of what makes teams of humans strong and weak. The book stresses the importance of belonging as a foundational cornerstone for creating trust. Drawing heavily upon the author’s Maori roots, it implores us to look at our history to guide and shape what we stand for. Robin Dunbar Professor Oxford University in Evolutionary Psychology Department– https://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/member-of-staff/robin-dunbar/

Book Review: Belonging Three Star Leadership | Wally Bock | Book Review: Belonging

Belonging is a must-read for anyone interested in building a long term high-performing team.’– Stuart Lancaster The heroes in our stories personify the best version of Us. The villains fall into two camps: Them, but also the individuals within Us who are selfish - those who put themselves before Us and thereby risk our safety, stability and status. But the quote I liked most was his reflection on how the team grew. ‘What was important was that we lived it together’.Once language emerged, Homo sapiens began congregating around the campfire to tell and share the Us story. This helped to promote our survival by keeping the group bonded together and aligned in the face of surrounding challenges. Owen sees a direct connection between the loss of his father at five and the coaching work he does now. The powerful metaphor it introduces to explain the meaning of ‘whakapapa’ (a concept held by Aotearoa New Zealand Māori) is so clear and meaningful, it surely can be used to make a difference. This concept is universal but in many cultures undervalued or even obscured by modern life. We often share the good moments and results with our teams. We nailed this. We succeeded in that. So and so is doing great work in this. But do we discuss the bad? Do we share pain and learn from it?