So, Tell Me...

Things are starting to make more sense now. The more I tackle one item at a time, the more I see how the many parts will comprise the whole. One of the biggest tasks I have is to hire a staff of teachers, security, child care workers, and coordinators. The one big thing I have going against me is: I have never interviewed anyone in my life.

I have always been on the other side of the equation and in looking back my past interviews; I can’t say that there has been a common thread to any of them. Yes they all have that requisite moment where qualifications and experience are brought up but for the life of me, I cannot think of how they started or how they led to the overall discussion.

In the last week I have done around ten of them and am finally getting the hang of it. At least for now, I think it’s more racking for me than it is for the candidate and hopefully that will change as things progress. I’ve been fortunate, though, in that I have not yet felt the need to turn any of them away. So far, they all can fit a certain roll that needs filling, which is good because my Nice Guy Syndrome doesn’t know if I would be able to tell someone “No” when it came to them having a job.

On a different note, I have one month to plan an Open House/Registration event. If we are going to have people sign up for this Community Learning Center, they need to know it will exist, where to find us and how to become a part of it. This has me scared only because I have never planned a party like this in my life. Sure I have thrown parties where armies of people attended and stayed for hours well in to the night. But the success of those events hinged on the fact that there was an almost endless supply of beer, debauchery and lawless flesh. (Not to mention I had 10 other people helping to pull it together.)

This is something entirely different. I have to somehow inspire a community to show up in the middle of winter to a building that has no parking, and is not easily accessibly by public transit; to sign their kids up for an after school program that (at this moment) has no means of transporting their kids from their respective schools to its own door, and that currently has a limited yet potentially engaging curriculum.

On top of that we will have activities to keep the kids busy, games for the adults and food, drink and music for all to enjoy.

Help.

The 8th Habit – Introduction

The book starts off with a discussion of a current internal Pain plaguing our world; the subsequent Problem born from the Pain; and the Solution to it.

The Pain: It’s a general one acutely shared by millions. In short, very few of us are engaged in our work. We are asked to produce more for less in companies where full talents are not being utilized. As a result, people are not thriving and there is no excitement or fulfillment in their lives.

This new age in which we live, the Information Age, was born with the fall of the Berlin Wall. In this time, it is no longer enough to just be effective, we must be great which comprises a sense of fulfillment, passionate execution and significant contribution in our work. When these three components become part of our work, we find our voice and once we do that, we inspire others to find theirs. Much of the book is centered on this idea and there will be much more detail around it as we go along.

For those of you who may be wondering, voice is a short way of defining our unique personal significance which develops over time, much like a vision of one’s life, and it is found at the intersection of: talent, passion, need and conscience. It comes from sensing a human need in the world and if members of teams all find their voices, their effectiveness increases.

The Problem: Simply put, we’re using an outdated approach to work. The Hunter/Gatherer civilization was defined by a “Kill > Eat > Kill > Eat” routine practiced on a daily basis. The Agricultural civilization was born and it replaced its predecessor with new information, tools and skills. The Hunger/Gatherers of the world died off if they didn’t adapt.

Similarly, the Industrial age came along and replaced the Agricultural age. Machines were used to escalate work and make companies more productive. Once again, new information, tools and skills made the Agricultural revolution obsolete and people became things that could be plugged in and out of an assembly line. They became replaceable and automatic.

The Problem lies in our paradigm, the way we look at things. We are hanging on to the mindset that people are things, expenses and just bodies filling cubes. The information, tools and skills of this new Information age will render the Industrial age methods obsolete and open our eyes to the fact that people are four-dimensional: mind, body, heart and spirit. We need to learn, to live, to love and leave a legacy to successfully find our voice and reach our potential.

People are reduced to “things” when they are not used creatively, paid fairly, treated kindly or serving in principled ways and when any of these four are neglected, people will use their power of choice to give less of themselves in their work.

The Solution: In situations like this, someone in a group steps up and chooses to change themselves first rather than waiting from someone higher up to hand the solution down to them. They learn their gifts and nature and create a vision for themselves. They find their voice.

There are two parts to the solution and as I noted before, it’s the overarching theme of the book: Find your voice, and, Inspire Others To Find Theirs.

There are two paths when in comes to voice. The first is one of greatness which unleashes potential built on growth from the inside out. Following this path requires us to choose to become creative forces in life.

The second path is one of mediocrity and straight jacketed potential. It is based in quick-fix, attitude-change schemes. It embraces scarcity, indulgence, victimism, competitiveness and competition.

Next up: Part I: Find Your Voice

The 8th Habit – Prologue

On more than one occasion, I mentioned that I am reading “The 9^th Habit – From Effectiveness to Greatness.” I have also mentioned that the author, Dr. Stephen Covey, suggests teaching the material shortly after having read it as a way to better incorporate it in to one’s life.

I started the book earlier this year – like March – and for various reasons, have only made so much progress with it and have definitely been slacking in my teaching of it shortly after having read it. In fact, I’ve gone back to some chapters two and three times because I have let so much time pass between readings. Well, I’m back on track, sort of, and here is the first of what I hope will be many 8^th Habit entries.

If you’ve enjoyed the content of this blog thus far, I highly recommend getting the gist of the book from these entries and reading the whole book for yourself. It will apply to your life in some way shape or form and that is always worth the price of admission.

On with the show.

A Week On The Job

My first week with the Northwest Neighborhood Federation is on the books and I am happy to announce I have no intention of quitting any time soon. A lot of you have asked for more details of my experience and I think it’s easiest to cheat and relay how Brighid has recently summed it up: “It’s like he has been dropped in the middle of a foreign country where he doesn’t know the language, doesn’t know anyone, and is there to build an aqueduct and has no idea where the water is.”

I have had nothing but names, numbers, politics, meetings and Spanish come my way for a solid week and I have lived to tell about it. The upshot is that I have two months to put this entire program on its feet. The downside is that I only have two months to put this entire program on its feet.

There are about 10 areas on which I must focus some piece of each day, not to mention being on the lookout for more. It seems that each time I spend a chunk of time working on one task of a larger item, that task becomes a whole new large item with sub-tasks of its own. It’s kind of like watching a single crack in a windshield spread across the width of the car and branch out with every passing second; then each new arm of the spreading crack forms new arms and on and on until what you are left with is a complex and overwhelming spider web which has the potential to become more and more complex at any given moment.

And I’m loving it. I met with my spiritual director today and we discussed many aspects of the job, one of which is the humility it takes to be a leader and being a steward or servant of the power entrusted by someone higher up on the food chain.

Do I have what it takes to do that? Any time I find myself mired in self-doubt, I just have to remember that there are those out there that think I do. And that, combined with making decisions in the face of fear will get me through to the next day. And then I do it all over again.

Hand Analysis - Part III

I had my third and final session with the hand analyst tonight and man do I have plenty to incorporate and chew on for a while. In a nutshell, my biggest challenge in life is to make time for myself, to address my need and take care of myself instead of always spreading myself too thin and getting in to what she called my “I gotta…” cycle: I gotta (insert task here); I gotta (insert task here); etc., etc.

My inability to focus on myself even spills into the moments when someone (particularly my significant other) is telling me about actions I’ve take or things I have done that have in some way, shape or form upset them. In an attempt to reinforce this idea of not focusing on myself, I start blaming either them, outside factors or someone else. Yeah, this is kind of a pandemic for me and so now I’m on a mission to correct it. I realize it won’t happen overnight but maybe putting it out there publicly is a strong first step.

Another thing Roberta pointed out (and this is really freaky) is that the lack of curves in the lines of my hands shows a propensity towards coming from my head as opposed to my feelings. Spend any time with me and you will note how true this is. So, in conjunction with focusing on my needs and wants, I am going to try and be more in my feelings than in my logic. Easy, right?

I hope I have painted the experience in a positive light because I certainly feel every second I spent with her was worth it. And besides, it never hurts to become as self-aware as possible right?

See? I’m making progress already.