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We start off recapping our original meeting through a leadership conference for American Society for Training and Development (now Association for Talent Development) which has chapters in 147 countries. We talk about his transition from ASTD and why he made it. You may find a similar theme in your life now.
Geoff shares how he saw his position as Charter Relations Director as a way to learn from others around the nation and share what was working across the country to other chapters who were struggling. It gave him a way to help many by paying attention and connecting the dots like a holistic systems thinker. He mentions how chapters were a place of solace for those caught in the economic downturn in the late 2000s.
Zen mentions his experience in the aerospace industry in the late 80s and attempting to introduce interpersonal skills meeting with less than favorable results. 30 years later, the scene had changed in the human resource and instructional arena, which included highly motivated people with high integrity that really wanted to serve others professionally in ways that helped them grow.
Geoff’s book, Leaving 2020, is our next tangent and he shares that the book is about the trials and tribulations of people in the current times, going into and coming out of Covid. The impetus came after his business, like many others, disappeared. He’d been writing and speaking for public events and when public events ceased, so did his work. He was faced with a catastrophic event, yet came out of it seeing an opportunity to perform differently, still loving what he was doing.
“When something really profound happens, it doesn’t come from you, it comes through you,” Geoff says, acknowledging this is a common sense within artists, writers and creative sorts. He talks about the theme of the book and the epicenter of activity, New York City, and how it affected the main character to the point where he jumps from a building. You’ll have to read the book for the ‘rest of the story.’
Geoff acknowledges that at first his action were completely ego-based in not wanting to work for someone else and being able to leap into that opportunity. Even though it was ego-based initially, he found that the process changed his perspective completely and the element of service returned in a way that gave him fulfillment and joy in ways he certainly didn’t expect at first. He recognized the impetus to push him into a greater aspect of himself, he just knew this book was something he had to do.
We take a jaunt into a chat about consciousness, quantum physics, and the growth of our humanity offering possibilities for a new living awareness to enter our experience as a whole. Geoff relates his takeaway on 2020 as so many profound consciousness shifts forward that happened on a micro and macro level. He says if you were paying attention you could see it, otherwise it just seemed like everything was going to hell.
Geoff speaks to the saving grace of a cohort in England who began Zoom meetings just a way for people to stay in touch with each other, even though they were stuck in quarantine. He talked about the comradery that developed with people from all over the world. He reveals that many of those people became characters in his book and that they had as much to do with the writing as he did, just by their relationships.
There’s more tasty tidbits hidden in the conversation that only by watching it will you receive the benefits of the wit and wisdom Geoff and Zen share through their apocalyptic chat. It will be worth your investment of time for sure.
Connect with Geoff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffwoliner/
Winning Wit: https://winningwit.com
Leaving 2020: https://amzn.to/3qTSISD
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