Exhilarated and terrified…that’s me!

Since September, I’ve been enjoying my participation in the 2009 Leadership Austin Essentials Program (I think I’m supposed to say “The Best Class Ever!” here).  My juggling skills have sharpened as I’ve attempted to add Leadership Austin responsibilities atop my Greenlights workload,  but the rewards have been worth it.

Take Friday, for instance.

I facilitated a planning retreat for a great Greenlights client all morning, and then after an hour break, joined the fearless members of my Action Leadership Team to engage some of the best minds in Austin on the issue of Sustainable Economy.

Mind you, my 7 Leadership Austin teammates and myself chose this topic – what does it mean to have a sustainable economy, and how is Austin doing in that regard? – before the bottom completely fell out of the stock market and the Dow started falling faster than the Cliffhanger ride at Six Flags.

As we convened this small group of business, legal, academic, nonprofit and government thinkers to discuss, the context was decidedly different that it would have been if we had chatted last year about this time.  But in spite of (or perhaps because of?) this, the dialogue I got to facilitate was remarkable.

Our guests spoke of their grave concerns about what the next year or two will bring for Central Texas – particularly for our nonprofit sector and those we serve.  Yet they also emphasized of the confidence they have in Austin and our extraordinarily engaged citizenry, and the hope they share that the innovative ideas that have been so crucial to our past success may also spring from this current crisis.

One of my Leadership Austin classmates summed it up wonderfully afterwards, when he said the conversation had left him both exhilarated and terrified.  That pretty well captured my sentiments!

Friday night, the “terrified” part of that equation kept me up tossing and turning, thinking about how Greenlights may need to change what we do to make sure we’re helping nonprofits and the people they serve weather the coming economic storm.  Today, I’m also feeling glad that at Greenlights, I can play a role in helping others navigate what lies ahead (insert your “any port in a storm” joke here).   Yup, exhilarated and terrified, that’s me!