Versión en Español

By Monika Weber

When I met Michael I was surprised by his ability to give himself, his curiosity for what’s different and his daring for the unknown. With time I learned that love changes everything, Where there’s love bonds and homes are formed. We became something more than a bridge between my roots and Mexico.

Talking in German again about the memories of our parents and grandparents was amazing for me. That made me feel like, even when we were far away, we had similarities in the memories that were told to us about the war and the experiences related to it. He showed me a humble man with a great love for life, a unique friend and an extraordinary teacher.

He taught me how to be available for others and for the Universe. Being by his side during several of his classes with translations was an enriching learning, not only because of speaking the language or translating it, also because of the comprehension and bond that day by day was growing between us as colleagues and friends.

How many hours of laughter and joy we shared together!

There were lots of learning, who up to today I keep sharing with great honor to other people. [We’ll divide them in blocks for a better understanding]:

BLOCK 1

a) “I” the Individual and “I” the Person (living systems), Social Systems.

In relation with the “Systemic Thinking and Organizational Configurations” training, in the first class that Michael gave me, in order to illustrate the “Systems for Familiar Organizations” subject.

It caused a revolution in my way of thinking and it took me a lot of time to process and understand that I represent 3 different persons (per = through, and son [sonare in Latin] = the sound of my individual through my behavior). The person is a co-creation, a social role. The individual, in = no, dividual = divisible, = inseparable, (my avatar) and that this one is untouchable. It’s autonomous.

b) The Dialogue.

This subject we put it on practice in various occasions between the four of us: Michael, Blumenstein, Katia Del Rivero, Ricardo (my husband) and I. It’s surprising what one can found during the exercise in relation to communication and contribution. At the end, I was with an indescribable internal peace. It was incredible for me having the honor to share this unique moments with my teachers and I remember them fondly.

During this training I heard Michael say quotes like:

· “The social system is the head, the beginning of dialogue is the heart.”

· “Guilt is an excellent distraction for avoiding saying I’m afraid of…”

· I tried hard and failed, doesn’t matter, try again, fail better”

BLOCK 2

a) The Family Genogram. During the second training called “Consulting in Family Organizations” I had the chance to practice the genogram inside an organization. It was a success that the client found answers during this exercise. During recess I stayed and talked to Michael, who encouraged me to continue moving forward.

b) Communication and Contribution. Contributions are not in my hands. Each of us adds a contribution to a living system. What we can observe is that we contribute to the system’s purpose.

c) Forms and Contents. We consultants, and coaches need to stay in the forms, and the client is the one who gives the content. The content is the client’s “reality construction”, comes from the past. The form and content are independent. For example: if in a reunion I’m going to offer wine, I won’t pour it in a mug.

Therefore, forms are, for example: values, surroundings, sequence, rules, tools, etcetera, and content is for example: subjects, objectives, data, arguments, evaluations, results, decisions, etcetera. Learning the difference between this too has made my coaching sessions highly easier.

d) I am enough. This is one of the most powerful tools. At first it was difficult for me to understand it and feel it, however, every day I used it and offer it to my clients.

We resound in others and this resonance is what makes us social beings. And, what do we do with this resonance? Feeling that I am OK, and the other is OK too. For me, it means finding myself in peace, harmony, equality, etcetera.

e) Behaviors. It’s amazing realizing how I was conditioned through all my childhood and life, and how today I realize my conditionings.

f) Transactional Analysis. This tool works for realizing why we behave like our children or mother/father and not as the adults we are. I learned to see and talk with everybody else from my adult to his adult and with that my feeling towards the others has changed.

g) Drivers. They are those who make us react the way we react today. They come from quotes we’ve learned to our environment during our childhood. Observing myself right before going inside my drivers and thinking about that is really interesting.

During this training I learned quotes like:

· “Good news: we are autonomous, bad news, we are responsible.”

· “I’m not a coach, I behave as a coach”

· “I don’t like to make a diagnosis without a goal”

· “Even when we are far away from believing we are enough, secretly we know we are enough.”

· “We are not how we behave”

· “We don’t offer tools, we are the tool”

· “We all want the best and do the best”

· “We talk a lot about love and nobody defines what love is”

· “It’s never too late to have a happy childhood”

· “If we are not conscious we go inside the client’s content, it’s never late to go back to forms”

BLOCK 3

a) In the third training I learned about the differences between Management and Leadership. Management creates and takes care of the form where every person can activate its potential; instead leadership checks that the form is working.

b) I learned which ones are the basic aspects for Conversations. In them the active hearing seen in different ways through various exercises.

c) The different types of cuddling. The beautiful exercise of “what I like about you”. With it people are empowered to its maximum and vibrates with light and energy to others. Besides, is surprising what people say about you, that you couldn’t even imagine.

Michael’s quotes:

· “Certainties don’t move us, uncertainties do”

· “Control produces things out of control”

· “We don’t make mistakes, we only define mistakes”

· “The idea of not distinguishing between good and bad, but oh great, even better”

· “Life is life thanks to differences”

· “My life gave me a task, taking care of my life”

· “You have 3 options in life: love it, leave it or change it”

I fell in my life a before and after. I feel blessed and I honor what I learned with Michael sharing it with other people. Thanks to him I learned to have a “good life”. I fell that between us there were bonds beyond a great friendship.

Thank you, Michael! You’ll live in me forever.

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