This week’s blog post draws on the sixth core value from
Community as a Safe Place to Land (2019):
Taking time to consider, ponder, remember, analyze, evaluate,
and appreciate the various connections of life.

It sounds logical, commonsensical, and a no-brainer.  We would do well to slow down, pause, and reflect on what is before us. But has reflection become “a luxury good?”

Whether driven by inner motivators (demons?) to never relax and keep pushing forward at all costs or choosing to (addicted to?) viewing one digital distraction after another, reflection may seem a quaint and antiquated notion.

How does your community reflect on its journey? Does it reflect?

How often do you and your neighbors consider and celebrate the beauty of what exists in your community? Often, we can miss the now in our community. We leave for work before daylight, return after sunset. Drive into the garage, close the door, and remain sequestered for the rest of the evening.

Or maybe we live in an area of tenuous safety where closed doors and windows offer a modicum of security for a lone family. Isolated from its neighbors.

When we fail to pause, we can lose sight of why we are doing what we are doing. We need honest people around us who will help us understand what we do well—and what we need to tweak or totally change. Reflective leaders help place cause and effect in proper perspective. And then they guide their team forward with consideration, conversation, and collaboration.  They ask difficult questions. The state unpleasant (not mean-spirited) truths.

Who asks the authentic, yet difficult, questions your community needs to hear and grapple with to grow?  Who sets the agenda for your community? Why is this the case? How is this working?

mindset Give yourself some time to think, reflect, set YOUR course, and then invite them onto YOUR agenda. the news does direct what we think about if we allow it.

Section Six of Community as a Safe Place to Land begins with the transformational story of two community leaders/activists who understand that someone needs to be the grown-up in the room. The supporting pieces that follow offer words for reflection that can help us honor our community’s past while embracing its present and anticipating its bright future.

As you read, you will be encouraged to view things a bit off-center.  Where can you shift your focus to see a problem, an opportunity, or a major community decision from a different perspective? Going a little off-center, we start to see things that can enhance our view.

The provocative questions in this section can help you facilitate a conversation about the need to consider before acting. When your community reflects, respects, and reaches, it gives itself a gift of larger possibilities.

Podcast Recommendation for the Week:

In this recent TV segment (February 21, 2019), I address the importance of considered conversation as a crucial step to community building. We must listen to each other. Understand what we do well and what we need to improve. Then act.

My book,
Community as a Safe Place to Land,
has been released! At this point, you can purchase it on Amazon. More purchasing options coming. More information at www.stevepiscitelli.com.

Make it an inspiring and grateful week and H.T.R.B. as needed.

You can still order my book Stories about Teaching, Learning, and Resilience: No Need to be an Island (2017). Another university recently (February 2019) adopted it for training and coaching purposes. Contact me if you and your team are interested in doing the same.

The paperback price on Amazon is now $12.00 and the Kindle version stands at $3.99. Consider it for a faculty orientation or a mentoring program. The accompanying videos would serve to stimulate community-building conversations at the beginning of a meeting.

My podcasts can be found at The Growth and Resilience Network® (http://stevepiscitelli.com/media-broadcast/podcast).

You will find more about what I do at www.stevepiscitelli.com.

©2019. Steve Piscitelli
The Growth and Resilience Network®