"The law of action and reaction is not exclusively for physics. It is also of human relations.” –Dalai Lama 

Every individual life has an accountability to be the best it possibly can. Full and pleasurable investment of innate and learned ability, accepted and accommodated by society, adequate compensation and the opportunity to evolve, for me, make for human happiness at any point in time . Would these then not be the exact same avenues to acknowledge our own existence, as well as that of others.  How good are we at this… individually and collectively? More...

In a society that increasingly heralds success in terms of wealth and status, it is small wonder that we are bombarded with clichéd recipes that promise foolproof avenues to turn desire into reality.

Ad nauseam we hear of attuning vibrations, the power of positive thought, the laws of attraction etc. We are asked to compile scrapbooks, paste pictures and write journals that give concrete expression of our every material want.  As humans we are naturally imperfect. Do we know what we want? Do we really know what is best for us in the long term? Is it not wiser to set and strive for strive for concrete goals, while factoring in a flexible acceptance or even surrender to what happens, able to  reset goals in accordance with current circumstance. Perhaps the old adage “Be careful what you ask for … you might well get it” had its origin in this reality.  

Imagine a world where everyone could achieve success just by visioning or willing it to happen? The danger of this thinking is the so prevalent sense of entitlement that equates desire with expectation and the right to have!  

Uncertainty and the wild-card factor are a given - They should be managed rather than wished away ... Surely they make life challenging and interesting?  

During a recent magnified mammogram procedure, a friend of mine, not wanting to distress her family, spent the day alone at the hospital. I was hugely impacted by the importance, yet simplicity of her comment. Is this perhaps a fortuitous distillation of the essence of how women make their contribution? Consider her observations in the context ofcorporate scenarios: 

"My day at the hospital was one of the most uplifting experiences I've had in a while. I chose to go alone. There was a pervading sense of women looking after women at the clinic. People from all walks of life sat and chatted for hours as we all waited for our procedures. The radiographers held my hand and stroked my back during the biopsy, and the doctor put her arm around me as she led me to her office to discuss the preliminary results. There are boxes of knitting in the waiting room, and while we waited we knitted strips destined to become blankets for women's shelters. I was fascinated by the gaudy bits of knitting - each obviously bearing testimony to one woman's emotions as she waited.

I think that women do a great job of looking out for each other when the chips are down - I worry that men don't, as they soldier through their troubles."

Rodger Harding is proud to have been invited by Adriaans & Associates to present a full day workshop that will explore and demystify the role of Women in Leadership

Date: Friday November 20, 2009.

Sheraton Centre Toronto,

123 Queen Street West, Toronto

·          Full day leadership workshop 8:00am-4:30pm (lunch served)

·          Cocktail networking session 5:00–7:00 pm

·          Draw— 2 tickets to South Africa sponsored by South African Airways

Rodger Harding’s empowering insights reflect an exciting life lived on three continents. His experiences have fuelled a firm conviction that individuals are totally unique and deserve to be accommodated for who they are rather than who they are expected to be. His particular passion for recognizing, accessing and enabling deserving Canadian women, is clearly demonstrated through his long standing professional development engagement with the nation-wide Canadian Women in Communications (CWC) Professional Development & Mentorship Program.

Rodger is a gifted storyteller – His riveting presentations are uniquely interesting, entertaining, and memorable!

"Do not follow where the path may lead.

Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." -Muriel Strode

Rodger Harding was recently interviewed by Natalia Malysheva of Natole Productions as part of her latest documentary that explores the evolving context of New Media in the film, broadcast, news and entertainment arenas. Her questions were insightful and thought provoking.  

Action!  is an interactive documentary that aims to present the numerous challenges faced by Canadian independent producers in the process of launching new media projects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJVWwb1v8aw

Rodger Harding recently received special recognition for his:

 "Exceptional commitment and contributionsto numerous students in the Learning Disabilities Progam and for Outstanding Involvement in York University's Career Mentorship Program"  

“... I can see them no more as they are, but as they were meant to be, as they would have liked to be if they had a chance…”- Axel Munthe 

 It seems as if mentorship is the business buzzword of the moment. Against the backdrop of a decade long commitment to the York University Learning Disability Mentorship Program (LDP) and a six year involvement with the Canadian Women in Communications (CWC-AFC) Mentorship Program, I am alarmed at the increasingly transactional slant that appears to regard mentorship as a fast-track networking vehicle or an opportunity to rapidly download the hard-earned knowledge of others.  My own interaction with a succession of people with vastly differing professional and personal mentorship requirements has been intensely rewarding and has resulted in strong opinions on the subject:   

What is Mentorship?    

A Mentor will essentially identifiy, understand, validate and enable full Mentee potential. Perhaps the essence of an evolving mentor/mentee relationship it is to provide a stepping stone or sounding-board that will assist mentees realize the importance of becoming who they are and what they want to be, rather than who they are supposed to be. To this end, establishing a good fit and mutual availability is critical if the relationship is going to work. Consider the following criteria as a potential check list:    

 Underpinning my work with individual or corporate clients is the immense respect, if not awe, that I have for the individual being in all its perfection & imperfection.  In our society though, it seems that we have a difficult time being who we are or who we want to be. How often are our objectives shifted, adjusted or deleted to fit in with what others want us to be? 

Some 30 years ago a friend introduced me to the thought provoking music/lyrics of Dory Previn - Her apparent victory over an intense struggle to make sense of her life, resonates in the words below. In our own lives, personal and professional, we often complicate the same quest .... Turning to quick-fixes promised by the banal messages of money makers rather than our inner voice/instinct. 

I love the simplicity of Dory Previn's message that makes claim to neither doctrine nor label:  More...