This month’s Shared Leadership Team meeting was a big one. Coming on the heels of the first newsletter, the implementation of PAX Mate, and the announcement of Dad Camp, the PAX were primed to talk. For those of you TL:DR guys, we also talked about “starfishing” the region, but more on that later.

Our updates consisted of:
– The newsletter was met with overwhelmingly positive comments. Several PAX have offered to contribute, and we talked through some of the features that we will add in the coming months. Be on the lookout for some surveys, more focus pieces, and discussions on the Queen (F3 speak for “the daily discipline of what is put into the body.”)
– This week saw the implementation of PAX Mate. Developed by the HIMs over in CARPEX, this application feeds seamlessly into our Slack and captures information from our workouts that allows us to understand how many PAX are working out, when we have an FNG, and who our Kotters (PAX we haven’t’ seen in a while) are. All of which are items that we’ve struggled to capture over the years. It’s really easy to use too. A simple “/backblast” in the Message area of Slack and the template will pop up. Please help us all by making this the minimum of what you do after Qing. If you want to be a bit more verbose (like this backblast), then please also use Word Press.
– Dad Camp Registration is up! For YHC and my 2.0s, this is one of our favorite weekends. We have full access to Camp Seagull in Arapahoe, NC the weekend of August 18-20, along with PAX and 2.0s from all over Eastern North Carolina. Highlights of this weekend include the Friday Night Churham Potluck (we do this better than any other region, and always welcome any PAX that is flying solo or in small numbers from their region). This year, Churham has also been asked to Q the camp wide workout on Saturday. We’ll be leading the beatdown for about 300 of our newest friends. Check out the link for registration in Slack. We also have a tab on the Epic Mega Doc for Dad Camp.

Upcoming events (get your calendar out) included:
– Inaugural Summer Picnic will be held in Late July/Early August at The Farm in Chapel Hill. This event will be likely on a Sunday afternoon and will be family friendly.
– A Mud Gear Churham Shirt Order will be coming out in early July, just in time for new shirts for Dad Camp. This order will focus on multiple colors, and kids size shirts.
– Chapel Hill will host a new CSAUP in late July. More info is forthcoming from Bump Draft.

F3 Nation calls itself a “Starfish” organization because each appendage of the starfish can be self-sufficient if it is separated from the main body. It can be cut off and grow into a starfish of its own. As our region has grown to maybe one of the largest in the world, several PAX have suggested that maybe it’s time for this to happen in Churham. Not everyone agrees on this point, but we cannot lose sight of this being a leadership organization. Our job is to plant grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership. It’s not the SLT’s job to be cartographers, it’s our job to help men grow, and show them how.

We are just over 18 months into having a Shared Leadership Team, and each time, I am impressed with the HIMS that show up to help lead our region. They always do so in a way that isn’t authoritative or pushy, but welcoming and educational. They truly lead in a way that allows for the growth of the men they post with in the gloom. The past two SLT meetings have had an emphasis on “starfishing”. This topic has come up in the past, but with more divisive terms like “splitting” or “breaking off”. What I can appreciate about starfishing is that it doesn’t imply territorialism, it’s a term of growth; one of creation. If we have starfishes, they will also support the core principles, including being open to all men. This means, while your favorite AO may now be in a new region, you will still be welcome there. Over these past few weeks with this in the forefront of each of our minds, our SLT has remained open, and candid with our discussion living up to the SLT group norm that says “The SLT will strive to reach group consensus on decisions. All members of the SLT will uphold that decision and will respect those members of the SLT who dissented from the SLT’s final decision.” On Wednesday night we did just that, with a very polarizing topic. I’m grateful that even though the 12 of us all had different views, each man was willing to be a part of the conversation. After ample discussion not only in the meeting, but between meetings, where the SLT found common ground was this: It is in the best interest of Churham and in keeping with our mission, that we provide resources on starfishing and assist PAX and AOs that are interested in being a starfish.

Back in February, during a Nantan webinar, there was a presentation on different models of Region Organization. During the presentation, the hosts talked about a traditional structure, much like what we have now, as well as a newer “distributed” model. If you are interested in starfishing, please check out the information at this link: https://coda.io/d/Stuff-Worth-Trying_dt9MwveNe4u/AO-Centric-Region-Structure_su7dx. After you check this out and you think that you have buy in from a group of AOs and PAX interested in creating a new region from Churham, please contact me directly. You are welcome to reach me through Slack, via email at jones7jm@gmail.com, or via phone/text at 984-209-0107.

Churham’s SLT will always be here to support the region, whether it is just like it is now, or however it may look in the future. We won’t cast anyone or any sub-regions out because we are open to all men, and if enough people are willing to lead, through VAPE (Vision, Articulation, Persuasion, and Exhortation) towards a new region, we’ll support you. After all, if we’ve created a community that can develop leaders strong enough to take on a new region, isn’t that a sign of success?

Thank you SLT members and the PAX of Churham for allowing us to be facilitators and stewards of what we have that is so special in the gloom.

SYITG.