Wednesday, March 26, 2008

The World to Come

In 2006, it was Gonzales and Daughter Trucking Company by Maria Amparo Escandon; in 2007, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This year, our local public library chose The World to Come by Dana Horn as the book of the year. All over Bend, Redmond and other locales in Central Oregon, book clubs read this book, and the library offers films, talks, book discussions and, best of all, visits by the author, so we can read this book as a community. It’s a great time and we all gain from the discussions!

The World to Come begins with the theft of a Chagall painting, and then follows the history of the painting back to those who owned it and to Chagall himself. It’s a good read!

On page 84 there is a comment that is haunting me. I.L. Peretz is speaking to Der Nister (these men are poets and authors who write in Yiddish -- a whole world I knew nothing about!) Peretz says, "Your purpose as a writer is to achieve one task, and one task only: To build a paper bridge to the world to come."

We all write. For some of us, writing is a strength born out of innate talents in creativity and clarity. For others of us, it is something we do simply to communicate in today’s world of electronic communication. I wonder what is possible if we each accept the responsibility that each time we write -- whether we’re writing a book, a holiday card, or an e-mail – we write from the perspective that this bit of writing is building a bridge to "the world to come." This bit of wisdom inspires me to think more carefully about what I write and to ensure my words open up possibilities and options and dreams and visions ... and not shut them down. This wisdom is doubly important for leaders, especially today as we often communicate to our followers in written form.

As you prepare your next e-mail or blog comment, please consider if your words build a vision; if they inspire and engage; if they enable others to see the next step in creating the future.

How are you building "a paper bridge to the world to come?"

Andrea

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Searching for Patterns

A client of mine was telling me about one of her staff members, who was struggling to discover his strengths. This individual, let's call him Jake, took the time to review and recall his best days. Jake noticed something interesting -- one time he could be performing a task and have a great time -- really feeling like he was working from a place of strength. Another day, a similar task let him feeling cold, bored, and engaging a weakness. The tasks were similar -- and Jake became confused about his strengths!

As my client worked with him to look for the patterns of circumstances underlying the times he felt he was engaging his best strength, Jake had an ah-ha! He realized that his strength was not about the task or the skill at all -- it was all about the relationships he was engaged in when performing the task. When he performed this task alone, he was disengaged. When he performed it with colleagues and others at work, he had a great time. Soon Jake, and his boss, realized that Jake's strength is in relationship. He loves working with others. He enjoys the interplay and the creativity -- and he manages to build collaborative relationships into most all of his work.

Now Jake has a much clearer handle on his strengths, and looks for ways to invite others in whenever possible, so he can enjoy using his relationship strengths. Jake is playing his strong hand!

Andrea

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Strengths Rule!

I serve on a volunteer Board of Directors. Because it is a volunteer position, and we have a few standing committees, but lots of ad hoc committees, board members clearly have the opportunity to play to their strengths every time we meet. Jan, who has analytical and detail strengths not only serves on the Finance Committee, but she is always first to volunteer for any projects that require data review and analysis. Nancy is organized and structured -- perfect for the Board Chair role! She also writes very well, and it a final editor on most everything. Dan, new on the board, has strengths in humor and vulnerability. He's always willing to ask questions -- and we are all grateful for the clarity (and often, laughter) that emerges.

It intrigues me that, when given the option, we naturally and easily gravitate towards our our unique hand of strengths, producing not only success, but also joy and satisfaction!

Andrea