ICA Canada


Launch of the 2nd edition of The Courage to Lead
By Janet Sanders


2012 marks the 50th year for the ICA.  We celebrated this at ICA Canada’s Annual General Meeting and the launch of the second edition of The Courage to Lead, Transform Self, Transform Society by R.Brian Stanfield. 
There were wonderful smells of India - Miriam Gibson had prepared a gourmet selection of Indian dishes - old friends and colleagues, and the fresh young faces of folks who had recently met the ICA.  What a thrill to see such vitality. 

 
  Geese flying in formation pictured on the front cover of the 2nd edition of The Courage to Lead.

For the book launch, Jeanette Stanfield placed Brian’s photo on a table in the front of the room.  We relived the creation of the first edition with stories, jokes and memories, recalling that it was born from the questions of board members, particularly from young Shelley Cleverly who expressed passionately the need to share and to understand the foundational values of the ToP™ methods.

Shelley and Duncan Holmes recounted Monday morning meetings where colleagues brainstormed common wisdom, read Brian’s writing and probed for clarity and insight.  The first version was published in 2000 and seminars were launched in Toronto.  Over the years, a faculty has been established to conduct these seminars. These are being offered publicly at ICA and on a regular basis through the University Health Network, which staffs several hospitals in downtown Toronto.  In a reflection of the impact of these seminars, a colleague who had surgery in one of those hospitals recently commented on how caring the doctors, nurses and maintenance staff there were.

Some of the faculty members involved in holding seminars on The Courage to Lead.         click to enlarge

 

Twelve young faculty members were on hand to help us encounter the twelve chapters of the book.  Richard and I both selected the chapter on Historical Involvement, along with David Patterson, a long-time colleague.  We talked about the “passing” of the baton from one generation to the next.  Perhaps this was what was most evident in the evening’s celebration - the vision of a baton of service being passed to a new generation.  We ended the evening with toasts and the group creation of a drawing which claimed promises for The Courage to Lead.

The original edition captured the experiential wisdom of thousands of colleagues over several decades. The second edition is the same book made new.  The cover shows geese flying in the formation of a wedge. In the foreword, Duncan Holmes says: “We have worked to make the book more accessible, the language easier and the references more familiar. Sometimes we have added more current examples. I’ve heard people say that they didn’t understand a chapter the first time around. The second time, it was ‘Wow! Now I get it. What a powerhouse!’ In this revised edition we wanted to make the powerhouse in each chapter visible on the first read. Brian’s laughing voice is still present.  There are also the life stories of a new generation willing to transform themselves and build the new society.”

Go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkFJqC8R_v8 to see some reviews on the Courage to Lead seminars. You’ll want to get your copy of the book and tell your friends.  You can download it as an ebook for any format or get a paperback from bookstore.iuniverse.com/ or from Amazon.

The paperback will be printed in Canada, USA, Great Britain or Australia depending on the location of the order and shipped around the world. Or ask your favorite bookstore to order it.

 



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