Recently I was involved in a weekend training retreat for volunteer leaders of my religious denomination. These volunteers, called Elders, were invited to attend a weekend training retreat at the expense of the association of churches in their region. The recognition of their efforts on behalf of the church and its members by making this retreat possible was appreciated by most of those polled. The motivational effect of this event is yet to be seen. However it was discussed by several of those who attended. These volunteers felt motivated by the recognition and also the equipping received. It has been argued by many in the leadership development field that training events are high on the list of motivatiing factors for volunteers to continue serving an organization.
In what ways are you motivated by training and equipping opportunities? I find them to be stimulating and rewarding for the opportunity to learn new skills and conmcepts which I can then incorporate in my work. As equippers of leaders we add value to the organizations we serve through the service of education. Our reward is often the renewed enrgy seen in the volunteer force upon their return to the filed from whence they came.
Friday, February 5, 2010
AVATAR and the world of Corporate Social Responsability
What was upposed to be an entertaining afternoon with my kids tirned out to be a gut wrenching encounter with Hollywood doing a number on CSR (Corporate Social Responsability) and the mining industry. Living and working in a mining community such as Wyoming I was struck by the utterly simplistic approach to the question of how to do minning in a way that does the least harm to the natural environment and its human inhabitants.
In the film both the mining company and the native peoples are simplified down to bad and good in extreme. No middle ground allowed here. The scientific NGO that uses the avatars to gain contact with the natives is depicted at the same time as heroic yet ineffective in settling the disputes. Sadly in the real world in which we all have to live with eachother and give and take is the way we get things done, these oversimplifications just get in the way.
The public has little or no contact with the communities from whence they derrive their energy resources. Minneapolis could care less about Gillette, Wyoming. They want their energy and that's final.
But let's face it. Hollywood has always been about simplicity for the sake of a good guy bad guy film. The viewer continues to see mining as the bad guy and the native ecology movement as the goodguy. Sadly without some form of economic development the native peoples around the minning industry will be used and abused and cast aside once their raw material has been mined. Corporations are not totally heartless and native peoples are not completely naive and innocent as depicted by the film.
We need middle ground here. Native people have a right to their own destiny but they also have a need to wortk in the world that surrounds them to some degree. Hunger and disease will continue to plague them as well as poachers and drug traffickers if they do not receive the education and health benefits that minning companies often bring as a part of their efforts to be socially responsable.
These secondary benefits to native peoples have been used in the past as payoffs for using and abusing themselves and their land. But in the 21st century we are seeing a more savy corporate world develop with a heart as well as a pocketbook. What does it take to make that heart work better? Dialogue! Encounter with and understanding of both sides of the coin are crucial to the peaceful development of the mineral wealth of such countries as Peru. The recent tragedies in 2009 were caused by third partiess with alterior motives.
Simpathy for the views of these parties is subtly felt in the Avatar film with references to the marines military actions in Venezuela alluding to a belief that the US will attack the Bolivarian Socialist Regime of Hugo Chavez so as to attain its need for energy and minerals. Hollywood needs to get its story straight and realize that there is middle ground where all can benefit. By their continued oversimplification of issues such as climate change and social justice they fan the flames of reactionary forces that are taken advantage of by the left and right elites.
Dialogue will enhance the probabilities of reaching middle ground where the native population can barter its wealth for the services they need and the mining industry can extract in efficient and safe ways the mineral wealth that is used fuel the ec onomies of the people who pay $12.00 US dollars to sit in a theater and watch such things as Avatar.
In the film both the mining company and the native peoples are simplified down to bad and good in extreme. No middle ground allowed here. The scientific NGO that uses the avatars to gain contact with the natives is depicted at the same time as heroic yet ineffective in settling the disputes. Sadly in the real world in which we all have to live with eachother and give and take is the way we get things done, these oversimplifications just get in the way.
The public has little or no contact with the communities from whence they derrive their energy resources. Minneapolis could care less about Gillette, Wyoming. They want their energy and that's final.
But let's face it. Hollywood has always been about simplicity for the sake of a good guy bad guy film. The viewer continues to see mining as the bad guy and the native ecology movement as the goodguy. Sadly without some form of economic development the native peoples around the minning industry will be used and abused and cast aside once their raw material has been mined. Corporations are not totally heartless and native peoples are not completely naive and innocent as depicted by the film.
We need middle ground here. Native people have a right to their own destiny but they also have a need to wortk in the world that surrounds them to some degree. Hunger and disease will continue to plague them as well as poachers and drug traffickers if they do not receive the education and health benefits that minning companies often bring as a part of their efforts to be socially responsable.
These secondary benefits to native peoples have been used in the past as payoffs for using and abusing themselves and their land. But in the 21st century we are seeing a more savy corporate world develop with a heart as well as a pocketbook. What does it take to make that heart work better? Dialogue! Encounter with and understanding of both sides of the coin are crucial to the peaceful development of the mineral wealth of such countries as Peru. The recent tragedies in 2009 were caused by third partiess with alterior motives.
Simpathy for the views of these parties is subtly felt in the Avatar film with references to the marines military actions in Venezuela alluding to a belief that the US will attack the Bolivarian Socialist Regime of Hugo Chavez so as to attain its need for energy and minerals. Hollywood needs to get its story straight and realize that there is middle ground where all can benefit. By their continued oversimplification of issues such as climate change and social justice they fan the flames of reactionary forces that are taken advantage of by the left and right elites.
Dialogue will enhance the probabilities of reaching middle ground where the native population can barter its wealth for the services they need and the mining industry can extract in efficient and safe ways the mineral wealth that is used fuel the ec onomies of the people who pay $12.00 US dollars to sit in a theater and watch such things as Avatar.
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