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Lisa: Jed, you’ve been doing this work — men’s health and gender specific healing health care — for 50 years now. You know the world has always been changing — but lately it seems like it is changing faster than ever. What is it that you see now that is adding a sense of urgency to what you are doing?
Jed, One of the most important books I ever read was Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock. He coined the term future shock to describe “the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time. It is no longer a distantly potential danger, but a real sickness from which increasingly large numbers of us already suffer. It is the disease of change.”
Our human brains were designed for a much slower pace of life in the Pleistocene when we were hunter-gatherers and danger was clear and predictable. Since Toffler wrote his insightful and challenging book in 1970, change has accelerated exponentially and personal and institutional collapse is evident everywhere.
The arrival of the Coronavirus has turned our lives upside down and the disruption in our lives is accelerating. Fortunately, there are things we can do, but we need to act quickly. People are reaching out for help and trained and dedicated people are needed now, more than ever.
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Lisa: You are starting a new program! Give us the elevator pitch about what it is.
Jed: Beginning in September, I’m going to be offering a 10-month training program for a select group of entrepreneurial men and women who are ready to step up to the challenges we face and are committed to helping people survive and thrive now and in the future. I describe the program in two short videos which people can view here and can get more information if they are interested in applying.
As you point out, I’ve been doing this work for 50 years now, actually since November 21, 1969. That was the day our first son, Jemal, was born. As I held my new-born baby in my arms for the first time, I made a vow that I would be a different kind of father than my father was able to be for me and I would do everything I could to create a world where men were fully engaged with their families throughout their lives.
I started my company, MenAlive, to fulfill the promise I made to my son and to help the millions of other men and their families who need our help. I’ve been able to make a great living helping individuals, couples, and families, but also teaching, consulting, writing books, and speaking to large audiences on-line and in-person throughout the world.
But, the need for services has skyrocketed and I’m getting many more requests for assistance than I can meet. I’ve thought about hiring staff, but I’d rather help a select group of people to work with me to build their own unique practices in this emerging new field of gender-specific health-care. While we each have our own calling, what binds us as a community is our deep desire to serve.
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Lisa One of the things that I love about your program is that you are just taking on just 25 students — and really supporting those students in putting together a practice that is going to make a difference in the world.
Jed: I want to bring my 50+ years of experience to a small group of people. I want to share the things I’ve learned over the years so that these 25 people will be able to help more, earn more, stress less, have more fun, and make a real difference in the lives of people.
I’ve found that too many dedicated practitioners in the field are not reaching their full potential to serve because they aren’t making enough money to live comfortably. When we are stressed, anxious, and focused on finances, we can’t devote our full attention to helping others. I not only want to teach you the helping skills I’ve learned, but also the business skills so that your helping skills can be used most effectively.
In addition to the training you will receive, when you complete the program you will be “Diamond Certified.” Let me explain what that means in practice:
- I’ve been recognized as one of the world’s leading experts as a clinician, author, consultant, and trainer in the area of gender-specific healing and men’s health. Being one of only 25 people who will ever be certified by me, gives you a huge advantage in a crowded field of practitioners.
- You will be listed on my website with a link to your own website so the world will know what you have to offer.
- I love to promote good people and I’ll let people know about you and your work.
- I’ll open up my 50-year “rolodex” of colleagues so I can connect you with people you’ll want to know who can help you personally and professionally.
- The others who will join you in this training will be your colleagues for life. You will be part of a tribe of caring and successful professionals who will help change the world for the better.
- My support doesn’t end when the training is completed. I plan to spend the rest of my career helping these 25 people to be successful and make a positive difference in the world.
I describe the training, certification, and mentoring more here.
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Lisa: On your video, one thing you say to people who are joining your program is: “I know you are already successful. I count on that.” We’ve found that at The Good Men Project also — that although anyone can write, anyone can build a platform — it is those that already have some degree of success that get the most out of it. Tell me some of the other qualities you are looking for in people who join your program.
Jed: Success means different things to different people at different times in our lives. When I was first starting out as a counselor, I just wanted to help people. I was glad to work with anyone who came to me, and I charged very little. As time went on and I felt more confident in what I could give people, I charged more. After my first book was published, my requests for services increased as did my fees. But people work has never been just about making money. Yet, I knew if I didn’t approach it as a business, I wouldn’t have become successful helping millions of people world-wide. I learned that people are happy to pay when we actually help them improve their relationships and their lives.
One of the things I’ve learned, as one of the writers who has been with The Good Men Project from the beginning, is that each of us needs to find our own specialty or niche. When we try to be everything to everyone, we end up being less successful. Yet, specializing doesn’t need to limit us. Just as The Good Men Project began with a simple commitment to start an international conversation about what it means to be a good man in the 21st century, our individual focus can reach millions and help solve a lot of people problems.
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Lisa: I also love that you are looking for a truly diverse group of people — together we will create a program that makes you most successful. Tell us how the diversity you are looking for enriches the program.
Jed: I was a biology major in college, went on to medical school, but found my calling, first in social work, and later when I returned to graduate school and received a PhD in International Health. My wife, Carlin, was a music major in college, went on to have a successful career as an educator, and a second career as a “freelance spirituality consultant.” Both of us have been successful healers for more than 40 years.
Those already accepted into the program include an M.D. who specializes in sexual medicine, a business executive and corporate leader who wants to return to his original interest in psychology, a veterinarian who has transitioned her career to coaching and counseling men and is looking forward to writing her first book, a former military officer who has a mission to heal the world, and the world-renowned soccer coach and trainer who wants to expand his on-line coaching career helping men and their families.
I can tell you that I’m looking for people who have a broad range of experience and a deep commitment to helping people during these challenging times. Whatever, your background, it’s more important to me what you want to do in the future than what you have done in the past. Together, we can be of great help to people in these challenging times. If this resonates with you, please learn more about this unique opportunity, here.
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Lisa: “We don’t have a lot of time to waste. We’re looking at a world where there is a choice between a domination-based world and a collaborative world.” Those are your words. Explain how your program will help people help build a more collaborative world.
Jed: Not only are changes accelerating, but the arrival of the Coronavirus reminds us that humans are out of balance with the natural world and we need to come together if we’re going to survive and thrive. My colleague, Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade, has written a new book with peace activist Douglas P. Fry. In Nurturing Our Humanity: How Domination and Partnership Shape Our Brains, Lives, and Future. They describe two systems competing for our allegiance. “On the one end is the domination system that ranks man over man, man over woman, race over race, and man over nature. On the other end is the more peaceful, egalitarian, gender-balanced, and sustainable partnership system.”
All programs that hope to be helpful during these times of transition need to recognize these two competing systems, to recognize that partnership is our only real hope moving forward, and must be based on principles of collaboration. The Diamond Certification program is not about an “expert” telling “students” what they must learn to be successful, but rather a community of creative humans coming together to heal our collective wounds, find our collective strength, and work together on behalf of humanity.
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Lisa: Your articles on The Good Men Project have gotten millions of pageviews combined. We’re always looking for people to write for The Good Men Project — will your 25 people have opportunities to expand their reach, writing and platform by also partnering with The Good Men Project?
Jed: Everyone has their own way of communicating and helping others. I’ve found The Good Men Project to be a place where we can share our passion for writing and can also come together in Social Action Groups to talk to each other and support “doing what needs to be done.”
In my book, 12 Rules for Good Men, Rule #7 is “Undergo Meaningful Rites of Passage From Youth to Adulthood and From Adulthood to Super Adulthood” and begin the chapter with this epigraph: “If you don’t initiate the young, they will burn down the village to feel the heat.” –African Proverb.
I described my introduction to The Good Men Project in 2009 and said, “I put GMP in this chapter because I believe they are creating true Rites of Passage in the world of the Internet. Further, GMP recognizes that women’s issues and men’s issues are opposite sides of the same coin. Women’s liberation and men’s liberation will be achieved together or not at all. GMP is unique in having a clear gender focus on men, but with a CEO who is a woman. The senior editors of GMP are both male and female, and writers who are also diverse.”
I fully expect all those in the Diamond Certification Program will have strong connections with GMP. We are all kindred spirits here.
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Lisa 8) June 2021. That is the date you hope to have your group of 25 people all complete their certification. Want to make a guess at all about what the world will look like then?
Jed, Clearly, we will see lots of evidence for both domination and partnership. I’m reminded of the Native American parable about an old Cherokee elder who is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One full of anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”
He continued, “The other is filled with joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
For those who would like to join us on the partnership path, check out the program here.
It’s filling up fast, but I’m still looking for a few more good men and women.
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This post published with paid support from Jed Diamond.