Nairobi Laddership Retreat
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Duration: --
"The success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervenor." --Bill O’Brien
We imagine leaders as people in charge, executing pathways and directing groups to new visions. However, as our institutions shift from predictable and mechanistic infrastructures to far more complex and emergent networks of interdependence, it is also inviting an evolution of our leadership models. We call it Laddership.
A wise farmer from Vietnam once offered a simple yet profound summary of Laddership: "Instead of asking what to grow here, ask yourself —what grows here?"
In a hyper-transactional world, our imagination of leadership has shrunk to leading with force — to impose our agenda onto a shared field of possibility, deciding what TO grow here. This approach demands power, control, and extraction, reducing the sacred web of life to mere transactions and weakening the very connections that sustain us. As research shows, it has left us stressed, polarized and burned out.
But what if we began from a different place—a place of deep knowing that we are not separate from this world, but intricately woven into it? Instead of marching toward linear outcomes, what if we learned to listen, observe, and amplify the wisdom already present in the fabric of our shared existence? What grows here?
If leadership is about managing an ecosystem of self-maximizing transactions, Laddership is about nurturing a web of relationships that regenerate and evolve together. Just as a gardener collaborates with the weather, soil, rain, and seasons, a good "ladder" works in harmony with an individual’s natural inclination toward personal, social, and planetary coherence. Rooted in the science-backed belief that people are wired for kindness and connection, a ladder cultivates inner resources to hold space for transformation—allowing nature itself to realign, reconnect, and reanimate collective potential. It opens into uncommon shifts:
- shift from a plan-and-execute to a search-and-amplify, that invites us to cultivate multiple forms of wealth beyond money
- shift attention from center to the edges, that invite us to "deepcast" beyond the reaches of broadcasting
- shift from transactional to relational frameworks that invite us to move from finite, zero-sum games to much more infinite frameworks
Join us for a day exploring these new stories and models of leadership 
and change-making. Alongside many local change-makers, we are delighted to be joined by Nipun Mehta. He's the founder of ServiceSpace, a global community working at the intersection of technology, volunteerism and a gift culture. As a designer of large-scale social movements that are rooted in small acts of service and powered by micro moments of inner transformation, his work reaches millions every month, is powered by thousands of volunteers, and blossoms into ever-expanding local and virtual service projects that aim to ignite a "whole great than the sum of its parts".
Our day together unfolds through three themes: Me, We, and Us.
- Me -- a call to turn inward, discern our inner voice from the noise, and make space for new stories to emerge.
- We -- an invitation to rethink scale, speed, and power in the context of diverse perspectives and forces.
- Us -- a step back to witness the whole, recognizing how it shapes Me and We in ways greater than the sum of their parts.
In the sky, millions of starling birds spontaneously come together in stunning murmurations, even when each bird is only aware of its seven closest neighbors. Together, they move in perfect synchrony, guided by an unseen rhythm that turns chaos into harmony. That is our task in our invitation — to thread the throughline between Me, We, and Us—to sense our rhythm, lean into our collective movement, and trust in the unfolding of our shared emergence.
To join us, please apply below and we'll keep you posted if we're able to include you.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
"In a gentle way, you can shake the world," Gandhi once said. It’s hard to believe that when we feel disconnected. Instead, we fight for a bigger hammer – more money, more fame, more power. Last year, in Economist magazine, the head of Gallup summarized the global status quo like this: "Negative emotions -- the aggregate of stress, sadness, anger, worry and physical pain -- reached a record high last year."
How do we respond skillfully to the personal, social and systemic gaps with a heart of compassion? Gandhi's recommendation was counter-intuitive: if an intervention doesn’t work, try a gentler one. If even that fails, go gentler still. Today’s culture tends to equate gentle with soft, but it’s hardly so. To be gentle is to be connected, and with that awareness, we can see more and do more. When our individual flow aligns with the collective flow, what might emerge in the wholeness of our connection? Like a murmuration of starlings, what innovations might we unlock if we are able to come together with heart of service?
It is hosted by Girl Effect and SHOFCO. But beyond that it is a co-created space of individuals who come alive in doing small acts of service with great love.
- Inspiring participants. Lots of great hearts are coming together!
- Uncommon questions. For quick-fix, binary, either-or answers, we already have Google; we aim to hold questions to lean into its nuances first.
- Noble Friendships. Our hope is to nurture a rich matrix of friendships among unlikely friends.
- Volunteer Run. It's run entirely by volunteers, so there's no solicitation, pitches, agendas. Just practice of love.
Coming soon!
This retreat is offered as a no-strings-attached gift. At the end, everyone is invited to keep the chain alive and pay it forward to the larger world -- with money, time or other expressions of wealth.
The retreat formally begins on 8:30AM on Jun 10th (Tuesday), 2025. Please ensure you reach the retreat venue before that.
Retreat ends at Tuesday, Jun 10th @ 3PM. As a commitment to the collective field, we ask everyone to join only if you can stay for the full duration of the retreat.
Through our time together, we will sit in circles to learn from each other’s experiments and challenges; hear and engage with some innovative speakers across sectors; engage in many group practices that nurture our collective inner transformation. Plenty of opportunities to engage the head, hands and of course the heart. Plus a few surprises!
Over the last twelve years, thousands have joined such retreats from wide-ranging backgrounds. Perhaps what brought them together was a simple organizing principle: We are not merely what we do, but who we become by what we do. If you resonate with the notion that inner change and outer change are intricately intertwined, and if you are moved to cultivate deep connections with kindred spirits, this retreat will likely speak to you! Beyond that, we'd recommend leaning in your heart's intuition -- more often than not, 'heart knows today what the mind will know tomorrow.' :)
To facilitate deeper connections, we limit the group size of our gatherings -- and give priority to project initiators who are anchoring local projects in their contexts.
If you have any questions, please contact us anytime. To co-create our sacred field of emergence, we welcome you join us!
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