Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the
body. - Joseph Addison
Building a Reading Revolution
--by Ashoka,
syndicated from virgin.com,
Jul 03, 2015
In
this guest blog, Felicity
McLean from Ashoka introduces The Reader
Organisation and how they're
working to create a reading revolution, instilling and encouraging empathy and
community cohesion in companies (and other groups) through reading
aloud...
Reading
aloud is more than words on a page. Shared Reading interactive groups delivered
by The Reader Organisation in health, care, criminal justice, education,
corporate and community settings for wellbeing, personal development and
community-building, can also be an invigorating team building exercise. It's a
slow, almost meditative activity. Don't choose the obvious, says Jane Davis,
Founder of The Reader Organisation and newly elected Ashoka Fellow. The beauty of
literature is that it can come at things (and people) in unexpected ways.
The
Reader Organization is an award-winning charity and social enterprise that has
pioneered the movement of shared reading as a practical way of improving
wellbeing, building stronger communities and extending reading pleasure. The
charitys mission is to build a reading revolution, connecting people with great
literature and each other through weekly Get Into Reading groups, facilitator
training, events and literary publications (http://www.thereader.org.uk/).
Why
should mindfulness and community cohesion matter in the corporate space?
Organisation Culture consultants Change The Conversation argue "if an organisation is to be able to
improve its performance and to sustain that over time, it has to develop a
culture in which communication, energy and ideas can flow around it as they
naturally need to."
Shared
reading groups demonstrate wide-ranging personal impacts for their members such
as improved self-confidence and self-esteem, widened horizons and a sense of
belonging. This leads to a stronger sense of personal identity, improved quality
of life and steps towards employment. The groups also create strong and safe
communities through social participation and help to develop empathy and
understanding towards others.
* 80% feel more positive about life
* 80% feel more understanding towards other people
* 94% have an opportunity to interact with people they wouldnt normally meet
in their day to day life
Below Jane Davis of The Reader Organisation recommends 4
surprising reads, which can provide essential HR guidance:
1. Michael Drayton's famous
end-of-a-love-affair poem: 'Since
there's no help come let us kiss and part is a wonderful read-at-work poem, opening up
huge areas normally seen as the province of an HR department. Can you keep
someone in your team when they want to leave? Should you?
2. Shakespeare's
Sonnet 29: 'When
in Disgrace with Fortune and Men's Eyes offers a massive lift-off, arocket-boost to
anyone faced with a complex or overwhelming task. Who or what inspires us when
we are struggling? Who do you mentally turn to when you are 'in disgrace with
fortune and men's eyes?'
3.
Perhaps you are thinking of standing down, heading towards retirement or wanting
to start over again, older and wiser? Try Edmund Waller's 'Of The Last
Verses in The Book':
The
soul's dark cottage, battered and decayed,
Lets
in new light through chinks that time has made;
Stronger
by weakness, wiser men become
4.
For those of a more cynical cast of mind, you can't do better than to engage and
inspire your team with extracts from Alexander
Pope's Essay on Man: 'presume
not God to scan/the proper study of Mankind is Man'.
Poetry
is all about human values, and almost any poem will offer an opportunity to
discuss the personal elements behind every problem and every solution in
business. What kind of people are you? Poetry will tell.
This
article originally appeared in virgin.com and is republished with permission.
Ashoka is
a leading global network of social entrepreneurs, with over 3000 fellows
spanning 88 countries. It builds networks of pattern-changing social innovators
and selects high-impact entrepreneurs, who creatively solve some of the world’s
biggest social challenges, to become Ashoka Fellows.
Be The Change: Do something completely
different for a change -- join a book club in your area and embrace the
experience.
Sourced From www.dailygood.org
