C-O-N-N-E-C-T-I-V-T-Y

KATI REARDON, B LOCAL PDX MEMBER AT LARGE, SHARES HER THOUGHTS ABOUT CONNECTIVITY AHEAD OF PNW BLD 2022!

C-O-N-N-E-C-T-I-V-I-T-Y: WHAT ARE WE IF NOT CONNECTED?

Over the last few years, so much has shifted. Climate change is accelerating, a global pandemic has highlighted and widened racial, health, and economic disparities, and once-held personal rights have been taken away. Yet, amid the uncertainty and disconnectedness of the last few years, there has been hope. The B Corp movement has not just persevered - it is exploding. Demand for B Corp certification has soared and our movement is demanding a seat at the table where big policy, climate and economic decisions are being made. We are here to make a difference and are excited to come together on October 6th to convene at the B Corp Leadership Development Pacific Northwest (BLD PNW) Conference. BLD PNW is a one-day event organized by B Corps, for B Corps. By inspiring and connecting B Corps and their teams, we build a stronger movement to use business as a force for good.

This year's conference theme happening on October 6th is Building Connectivity and we could not be more excited to bring our community together in-person this year. We’ve long known that the movement of socially responsible businesses to build a more sustainable and just world is essential to a shared, equitable future. 

In 2021,  I volunteered for the first time to help with the BLD Transformation event.  It was such a great experience working with the B Local PDX team, that I decided to join the B Local PDX Board as a Member at Large. I love this organization and the in-service mindset they apply to supporting the B Corp community throughout Oregon and the PNW.  Coming out of last year’s BLD Transformation event, participants asked that we engage the topic beyond just the few days of the event. So, this year, we are leaning into the theme of Connectivity in a variety of ways throughout the upcoming blog series, social posts and beyond!

To bring the spirit of this year's theme of Connectivity to life, I have been reflecting on it in my own work as CEO of Carman Ranch Provisions. Our PNW centric company, regeneratively raises and sells grass fed, grass finished beef.  The purpose focused work we do is relationship reliant. Relationships are about connections and for us that is the tether to the land, the animal and the eater. Connectivity is essential to make our holistic system work. Upon reflecting on connectivity in our context, I wanted to share some of my observations.

So, let’s talk about Connectivity.

Connectivity has a variety of definitions: 

1: to become joined

2: to meet for the transference of 

3: to make a successful hit, shot, or 

4: to have or establish a rapport

5: to establish a communications 

When I am talking shop about work, peers will often ask me some of the following questions and I thought I’d share my point of view.

As a leader, what feels different about connecting as a team now?

It’s been hard to really be in the present, to be here now. It is challenging to avoid holding the past in the present when thinking about connecting. Everything is in a ‘we used to….’ context. Filled with nostalgia, grief, and also, a healthy dose of good riddance, let’s not do that any more. Connecting now feels even more critical and at times, more difficult than ever. 

What I am trying to practice as a leader of others is that in order to enable better connectivity with my employees and peers, now is the time to leverage vision, mission and values. These three pillars can act as the primary anchor and when uncertainty looms,they act as your gut. Now is the time to pull these back out, dust them off, assess, refine, and communicate them, again and again and again.  Embody them and they will be the wellspring of energy for your team.  If you have delayed establishing vision and values for your business, now is the time to get it done. 

Is connectivity essential to building community at work?

During the pandemic I read The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker and in it Parker asks the foundational question of any coming together….what is the purpose of gathering? Historically, gathering in person was how I led, coached and mentored my teams. A Gen X baby to the core, in person creating gives me energy and keeps me engaged. Too much virtual time and I'm bored, distracted and disengaged. So I had to really challenge myself to understand if I'm designing opportunities to connect, how do I look beyond what I need and want and design from a place of collective integrity?

While this can be applied to any context of people coming together, from a feedback conversation to an intimate dinner party or a team retreat. This question has rewired and refined how I think about all my work interactions. It has expanded my inclusion and enabled me to design from a place of - what do I intend for the audience to experience? To feel? What are we actually communicating? What is the invitation I’m extending? 

How can connectivity help externally with business partners?

I am pretty sure that everyone on the planet has had to shift in some way since Spring of 2020. Professionally, we all had to face new challenges and create opportunities in places we may not have considered before.

One example, I have been thinking about competition differently since I came to Carman Ranch. The truth is regenerative agriculture is never about going it alone. It is a community affair that thrives when the cross pollination of ideas occurs. 

I came to Carman Ranch after 15+ years in corporate America where I was indoctrinated into thinking that competition was generally adversarial. Pivoting my career toward food and agriculture showed me that I had to shift this thinking and approach my peers across and around industry in a different way. Thinking instead, what are our biggest collective challenges?How are we collectively approaching them so we can all be successful? 

Competition isn’t always bad; it can be an amazing catalyst to innovate and deliver better products that solve real problems. But there is also a time when society, government, business, and citizens need to move beyond individual needs and think: if we came together, how much more could we achieve? How good could it get?

What does better connectivity look like?

I’m not sure yet, but I’m curious about it and welcome collaboration with you all on how to make it amazing.