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In early 2022, we could see the light at the end of the Covid tunnel. I conceded to provide limited virtual sessions for a client that was incredibly committed to the work and learning we did together pre-covid only because I knew we would be able to pivot to back in person classes within months – we all wanted to be optimistic at that point.
At the conclusion of one of these virtual sessions, one participant asked if I would be willing to talk about how PeopleGro and I came to do what it is that we do. I had never deemed our origin story worthy of the limited precious time we were spending with our clients and I was surprised by the question and the interest. We preferred to dive in and let our work and collective experience “speak” for itself. After sharing the following, we were encouraged by those who remained beyond the end of the session to hear our response (about 80% of the participants) to share our origin story at the start of every session we do with clients. We are always grateful for feedback, regardless of the flavor or skill, and we began experimenting. Our origin story is better defined and more refined now and we better understand the value of sharing it. Gratitude for our Jackalopes!
There was some significant experiential and observational learning that occurred very early in my career, some of it particular to me, some collectively within our team, and through many conversations, we discovered its universality. We firmly believe that knowledge, learning and practice liberates us to be the best of ourselves.
I was involved in a car accident and became part of a club, like so many, that I didn’t know existed and never thought I would be a member. I had a concussion - a brain injury and brain damage - and severe whiplash. This was in 1992 and what we knew about brain injuries could fill the top of a pin head, maybe we could fill a bottle cap now. I felt a profound loss and fear of being seen as sub-par version of myself. The medical establishment seemed only slightly more enlightened than I was about how to heal and move on with my life. It was a struggle to get proper care and I also had some amazing pioneers willing to work and learn with me. I am a better human being today because of that accident and I am grateful for it. One of the other best things about the accident and resulting brain assault was that it stimulated my interest in brain science, more commonly talked about as neuroscience today. My injury coincided with new technology that became more widely available, fMRI’s, which afforded high value research and better diagnostic protocols in a wide range of areas and especially in brain function. The world’s learning about our brains has been profound and there is still so much that is unknown. We began weaving in brain function learning into everything we did in the early 2000’s with an eye toward better understanding how our brain supports and undermines our successes and joy.
Another early life and career personal experience, that through many conversations I learned I was not alone - but at that time I thought I was “less than” – was that “success” seemed so easy for some people. They seemed to get along with everyone, even people that had “wronged” them. Things, like something not going well, just seemed to roll off their backs, they did not get caught up in the drama yet were somehow present with it. They owned their successes, their mistakes and their learning. They were humbly confident. Really importantly, they rarely talked about being tired, overwhelmed, unhappy and negative. Yes, they had bad moments, hours, days maybe, but they appeared to move past it with humor, humility and speed. What did they have or know that I and others didn’t?
The next thing we observed and began to talk deeply about was that generally, many people really liked, even loved, the work they did and saw the value in it. Of course there are always exceptions, and those folks generally self-selected out or were helped to move on to their next opportunity. We observed (in ourselves and others) that even in the most difficult situations, people relished the challenge of learning, problem solving and expanding their capabilities and skills. On those days, yes, we go home tired, but it was a very different tired. The more common tired was nothing left in the tank tired, overwhelmed tired, resentful because now our loved ones needed us, and we had nothing left to give tired. A downward toxic feeling tired with a negative multiplier effect as opposed to a virtuous can’t wait to hug my loved ones, walk the dog going to sleep well tonight tired. What was the toxic tired about, where was it coming from and was there anything we could do about it?
What was the secret sauce? What was I (we) missing? What was the learning?
This is our answer to those questions. This is the basis for the work we do, and our passion is based on our experiences, deep thought and learning. As a note, we know we have not arrived, and that learning is constant. We do believe we are directionally correct and we are always ready to expand and challenge our thinking!
The Big Learning:
We struggle as human beings to relate to being human because we lack understanding about what it means to be human and we have never being taught how we might be able to do better. We, as human beings, create a lot of friction and suffering for ourselves and for others! We do it with our loved ones and in our workplaces. There is this potential to create friction and suffering every time we interact with another human being. We do not do this maliciously for the most part, but out of ignorance of our individual and collective humanity. With a deeper human being understanding, we can also create ease, flow and joy! We can do better, and the research now bears this out.
Developing a human being practice had profoundly impacted the PeopleGro Team as individuals and collectively, and those we have had the privilege to work and learn with individually and organizationally. I find the moral imperative compelling enough to engage in a human being practice (less suffering and more joy, YES please!). For those that need more, it is smart money for organizations to create a people centric culture institutionalizing human being systems and practices!
Nicole J. Lemieux
CEO and Founder