Spring/Summer 2022: Celebrating a new website, IDGs and more!
Greetings!
Welcome to my first newsletter of 2022!
I am excited to share with you the new “look and feel” of my website, and to celebrate with a short note. I really enjoyed working with the amazing illustrator Debora Szpilman, who has beautifully captured the spirit of my work: which is all about how we can level up our skills and mindsets so we can become better Guides. Take a look around and let me know what you think!
It’s been a busy period for us all working at the intersections of sustainability, ESG, climate, environment, ecology… it seems every week there is a new event, conference, paper, report and more. I don’t know about you but I am both inspired and sometimes feel like I am holding on for dear life! My deepest hope is that you are finding creative ways to both stay engaged and awake - as Rumi says, “Don’t go back to sleep.” And at the same time, staying resourced, grounded and savoring being alive at this time.
The Inner Development Goals Summit
Recent highlights for me include the opportunity to be part of the Inner Development Goals Summit in Stockholm. The IDG framework is an exciting new initiative, co-created with the people behind the SDGs visual language, Jakob Trollbäck’s New Division. The Summit featured an amazing array of talks, music, performances, and the venerable concert hall where the Nobel Prize event takes place was filled with good vibes and community. I will be sharing more about the IDGs and my involvement with bringing this to organizations and businesses in the coming months. In the meantime, I encourage you to check out their video and framework here. (Yes, Amy Edmondson does tell us that “it is difficult to learn, if you already know,” and Otto Scharmer reminds us that listening is the number one important skill as a leader today.) Video recordings from the summit are now available on the IDGs Howspace platform. All materials from the summit will be accessible for 3 months on Howspace. You can buy access and watch the recordings here. Please use the 22% promo code Celebrate-IDG-2022.
I was also part of this truly inspiring conversation with none other than Peter Senge, along with Michiel Bakker from Google, about the IDGs and organizational system change.
Recent discoveries and celebrations
Among the many incredible new projects, initiatives and friends I have made over recent months, I’d like to celebrate a few.
My friend and colleague, Britt Wray, has published her long-awaited book, Generation Dread! Please check this out, buy many and share. If you are at an organization, get the org to buy everyone a copy and have her speak, or better yet, have us together in conversation! :)
I have come to learn about and meet Phoebe Tickell, an “imagination activist” based in London, whose work is truly thoughtful and inspiring. Check it out here at her moral imagination site.
My friends over at Kite Insights are up to some amazing new developments! They are launching The Climate School at the end of this month, a very cool and innovative approach to engaging businesses and organizations to scale climate engagement at scale. I am very excited to have my work and Project InsideOut featured in this launch with a new online module. Stay tuned and check it out!
One of my favorite leadership writers and thought leaders, Jennifer Garvey Berger has a new book coming out, called Unleashing Your Complexity Genius by Stanford University Press, within the coming few months! Stay tuned as I will definitely be sharing more about this when it goes live.
Earlier this year, another colleague Sally Weintrobe had her thoughtful and provocative book published, Psychological Roots of the Environmental Crisis – highly recommended and another addition to a growing and flourishing field.
Project InsideOut - what is happening?
Many of you are probably on my PIO newsletter and know that PIO has been on a hiatus and is coming out of our hibernation! We are thrilled to have received a round of funding from the KR Foundation, our primary funders, and are actively exploring new funding partnerships so we can build out, scale and enable as many organizations to leverage our resources and tools. Please do sign up at ProjectInsideOut.net and let us know if you’d like us to come speak or share our work with your community or organization.
Fantastic Media and Podcasts!
Finally, there have been some very strong pieces featuring my work with organizations and Project InsideOut. Here are a few highlights.
"The psychologist working with big tech" - Politico Kudos to Debra Kahn for a fantastic piece, shedding some light on why our orgs need an infusion of psychology to be effective.
"Climate psychologist says neither gloom-and-doom nor extreme solution-obsessed optimism is the best way to discuss climate change productively" - CNBC This piece is less about talking about climate, as how applied psychology is integral to any coherent climate strategy.
"Navigating the emotional rollercoaster of climate change" - GreenBiz What it looks like to do emotionally intelligent ESG work - a preview of what I cover in the Verge keynote and interview with Michiel Bakker.
"Is the Fear of Climate Change Keeping You Up at Night? How to Cope With Eco-Anxiety" - Good Housekeeping Yes, I was in Good Housekeeping. I think that means I arrived??
"How to have more productive climate conversations" - Gen Dread Amazing collaboration with Britt Wray on having better climate convos.
"Hope or Despair? Toward a New Kind of Leadership" - VERGE21 I really enjoyed doing this keynote for Verge, and the conversation with Michiel Bakker at Google.
Some great podcasts!!
"Renee Lertzman, Climate Psychologist" - MCJ Collective
"How We Change" - NPR Marketplace
"The Psychology Of Climate Change — And How To Engage With It" - On Point, WBUR
"Renée Lertzman Environmental Psychologist/Author" - RepublicEn
"Turning Climate Anxiety into Action" - The Climate Ambassador
Guiding Reflection
So often, with these high stakes, our emotions run high and we want to just shout at people: come on, don't you get it? Let's do this! This tone often backfires.
A reflection and practice for you to try: Notice when your stakes go up. What happens in your body and mind? Think of an opportunity you have, today or in the near term, where you have to have an interaction about climate, ESG, a solution you are working on. Pause, hold back, and ask: "I have a lot to say but I am curious: What are your thoughts? I want to listen." Then watch what happens. Change the dynamic, change the outcome.
Alright, there is more to say but for now I will wish you a wonderful June and we’ll be in touch soon!
Please know I love speaking and writing, especially now that I can be with live audiences - so I welcome invitations for both as we move towards the latter part of this year.
Thank you and much love,
Renee