I Don’t Want To “Increase My Impact”

Any of us running a business have surely learned by now (perhaps largely from the online coaching and marketing spheres) that we need to be making an IMPACT. Increasing our impact, even.

I've had a lot of feelings about this language throughout my disentanglement from girlboss shenanigans over the past 5 or 6 years. I notice how connected it is to other language that's to do with 'success' - smash it! Crush it! Nail it! Hit the target!

You might have seen me mentioning training with Nora Bateson in May- it felt like a homecoming. In Combining, she writes...

"When 'impact' is applied to living systems, unexpected relational consequences abound. Culture is relational, and thinking about making an impact on culture can blur the possibility of taking into account the interrelational consequences. Even if what we mean is make a difference- be cautious as it carries ghosts that confuse our understanding of systemic change."

I wonder if you recognise this in any of your own experiences on the receiving end of the "impact" of other service providers? I certainly do.

I have no interest in impacting anyone.

I want to tend.

I want to meet.

I want to accompany.

I want to collaborate.

I want to partner.

I want to reveal.

I want to layer perceptions.

I want to relate.

How's your relationship with the 'impact' of your work? What might be interesting to you here?

This note was originally published as an email back in May. If you’d like to receive my emails, you can sign up here.