Grace

Edgar Degas c. 1907

July 2025

Last month I wrote Tūrangawaewae on the power of recognising the interdependency of our own being in our world of work, and life. This month, another powerful idea, has been quietly ruminating – the power of grace.

I have just begun another round of my Trusted Advisor workshops. These have been an enduring offering for me, and have become more of a guided conversation, rather than the training course that they once were. I usually follow-up with participants to see where they have taken the conversation. And I’m often surprised at how the conversation, has taken life, back in people’s world of work.

Today, I left thinking about seeing the grace in each of us. Sometimes shining brightly though, sometimes lying hidden beneath the debris of the experiences of ones life. I wondered if we could all do with more grace in our lives, our world - in our leaders, our politicians, in each other.

A bit more grace.

Of course, grace can mean many things – from the unmerited divine assistance of God’s grace, to human kindness, to being fair and forgiving. I have found myself thinking of grace as an elegant economy of movement and expression. Elegant in the sense of being simple, everything in its rightful place, whole. Grace as an uncluttered essence.

I thought about the simple grace of saying what needs to be said, doing what needs to be done. And enjoying the spaciousness between those moments of grace. Cultivating a compelling sense of trust in that moment. Self-evidently believable.

We see this more often in the performing arts.

For Martha Graham, the legendary dancer and teacher, grace was about embodying strength, confidence and emotional depth rather than merely outward elegance. She believed that movement and expression must be authentic, reflecting the dancers’ inner emotions and experiences. Being true to oneself.

I’ve never been much of a dancer but for many years I practiced in Sanford Meisner’s ‘reality of doing' acting classes – that focused on being present and truthful in the moment, rather than relying on pretence or superficiality. Meisner’s practice aimed to cultivate a spontaneous and instinctual approach in both acting and life, the practice of being real – again, the rare grace of simply being true to yourself. Not trying to be true to some others' expectation or contrived version of yourself.

Both in dance and acting, extraordinary performance requires a real 'letting go' for your performance to be truthful, graceful, compelling. Letting go the things that get in the way, that subtract from the quality of the overall performance.

For those of us in the business of giving advice,

who have to achieve with the help of others,

who see themselves and their world interdependently,

and who care about trust.

Here are some things to let go, for you to be more graceful, compelling and trusted in your practice, whatever it is:

Needing to always know the way - context matters, and questions demonstrate far more credibility.

Thinking you're the real deal - you're only ever always WIP - a work in progress. Worthy but flawed.

Fear of holding others to account - nothing undermines group trust faster than failing to do so.

Being 'a professional' - it's always personal when others believe in you.

Your own agenda - it's best to put others interests first, then find the way to yours if you can.

And finally harder to let go, but worth it - self consciousness

As Bruce Lee once put it ...

Consciousness of self, is the greatest impediment

to the proper execution

of all physical action!