Inspiration from a woman who did not let circumstance
dictate her outcome.
[Note to my readers: Today’s post marks the beginning of the eighth year of this weekly blog. Thank you for following, sharing, and commenting.]
Stories. They surround us. Some have the power to illustrate, instruct, and inspire.
Minutes before I delivered my commencement address to the Florida State College at Jacksonville Class of 2017, I had a front row (literally) seat for a young woman’s touching story about her journey.
Lyse Medina, the FSCJ Kent Campus Student Government Association President, delivered a 4½ minute description of her journey as an immigrant, a daughter, a student, a leader, and a person with heart and determination.
Her tale is one of perseverance and resilience. “My past did not define me, but it did lead me to where I am today,” she told the nearly ten thousand people before us.
Video recommendation for the week.
Rather than tell you about Lyse’s speech, listen to it. Learn and grow from it. Her story in her words. A reminder of the importance of community colleges in our society. And a powerful dose of inspiration from a young woman who did not let circumstances dictate her outcomes. She envisioned her dreams and she will continue to define her journey. I am glad to have met and learned from her.
My appreciation to FSCJ for sharing the video and to Lyse for allowing me to share it with you. Note: The video should start with her introduction. If it does not, move to minute 52 for Lyse.
Whatever you build, destroy, hand down, create, or undo will be your legacy.
Legacy: Something handed down from one generation to the next; from one person or group to another. Whether for good or ill someone or some entity passed something along. It can include a memory, an accomplishment, a deed, a message, a financial donation, or a physical resource.
A sports team, for instance, that wins a championship creates a legacy. No matter what follows, the team will always have the title of champion for that particular year. I find it odd when I hear people say something like, “The Chicago Cubs will defend their championship this year.”
One defends something he or she may lose. The Cubs can NEVER lose the 2016 championship they won. They may not repeat as champs, but they will always be 2016 World Series champions. No one can remove that distinction.
Every so often, I hear a report that so-and-so’s legacy will be eliminated. I am not sure how that can happen. The handoff occurred. You cannot “unhand” it down. If someone changes or eliminates a program or service, that becomes the legacy of the eliminator. The person who created it will ALWAYS have the legacy of the creation. Someone else can amend or end it but the previous act stands as part of history.
What you do today, tomorrow, or in ten years becomes part of your legacy. One experience, one dot, one moment, and one day at a time. You (and with whomever you collaborate) create a legacy. You can add texture and color to it. You cannot un-create it.
Whatever you build, destroy, hand down, create, or undo will be your legacy. What will your legacy be?
Video recommendation for the week.
Building and meaning of legacies. Check this view.
Rather than waiting for (or blaming) “them” to do something,
get creative and start a resiliency movement yourself.
During my undergraduate years at Jacksonville University, I spent a fair number of hours in the campus library. On the second floor (as I remember), there were a few study rooms. Here a student could isolate himself for quiet. I recall some of these rooms having a typewriter for those needing to hammer out a term paper. Quiet time.
When I taught at Florida State College at Jacksonville, the library had quiet rooms for students to study or practice for presentations. These study groups helped students understand concepts, share ideas, review notes, and encourage one another during exam preparation. Collaborative growth and development.
The image of students pulling all-nighters notwithstanding, some campuses now provide nap zones and nap stations. A rested student is a better-prepared student the thinking goes.
When I visited Zappos headquarters last month, I met the “Zappos Mayor” (Tony Ferrara). In follow-up emails, I asked the “Mayor” about the Zappos nap room. Where there any metrics on its use and success?
Photo by Steve Piscitelli
“Yes, we do have a nap room here at Zappos for those folks that may need a little power nap during their break or lunch times. In addition to the nap room, we have several miscellaneous benefits here at Zappos …. We don’t provide these extras specifically for the purpose of quantifying their results. We provide them as part of building and maintaining culture through employee engagement. For example, we don’t monitor who uses the nap rooms at all. They’re there for the benefit and convenience of team members, not for analyzing metrics.”
Video recommendation for the week.
Arianna Huffington promotes the power of rested employees. As she states in this clip, the workplace “pays people for their judgment not their stamina.”
More than likely, your workplace does not have a nap room. The culture and the leadership may not support such a departure from the industrial work model. OK. What can you do to promote wellbeing?
Rather than waiting for (or blaming) “them” to do something, get creative and start a movement yourself. Consider your own “resilience group.” Create a critical mass for a “resilience movement.” It could start over a cup of coffee or a walk around the campus during lunch.
It does not have to be a venting group. In fact, since it is a resilience group, you may want to focus on positives. What is working in your workplace and how can you create more of it?
Start with a group of co-workers you can trust, talk with, and share ideas; people who understand your experiences. You function as a collegial support group. You might find that you need to bring in a facilitator at some point to bring your “movement” to a higher level.
At times, just having co-workers acknowledge that they hear our concerns, and maybe share those concerns, is the shot of energy we need. Great start. But what action will you take beyond the words? What will your collective resiliency plan look like? When will you start?
Collaboration. Caring. Collegiality. No need to be an island.
“Silent gratitude is not much use to anyone.”
– Gertrude Stein –
Saying “thank you.” Giving a cheerful “good morning!” Expressing appreciation. Providing a hug, emotionally if not physically. Each of these requires a tiny investment of energy. The result compounds in ways we may not anticipate.
I have been spending time lately listening to my podcast episodes and reacquainting myself with the wonderful insights of my guests. After I re-listen to an episode, I take a few minutes to send an email thanking the guest for his/her contributions to the community. Literally, the email takes about 180 seconds to create and “send.”
The goal is simple: recognition and validation of a person. A small act.
Almost to a person, their responses (which I was not expecting) said something along the lines of “you don’t know how much your email means to me.” One individual was having a particularly rough week (which I had no way of knowing). The email told me, “Thanks for the email…appreciate the little things in life!”
Five years ago, I dedicated myself to a year a gratitude. You can read about here. I committed myself to a simple daily discipline—and it continues to give back to others. (I still have people, to whom I sent a gratitude note, share that they have kept and cherish my handwritten note.)
Think of the small acts of kindness done for you—and that you do for others. It does not take much effort to say thank you or recognize a job-well-done.
Thank you for reading and sharing my blog. Thank you for the gratitude you share with your community.
Thank you.
P.S.A few hours after I wrote this blog post, I received an unexpected “Thank You Note” from a friend. She simply wanted to thank me for being in her life. A card that I will tuck away in my gratitude file.
Nice.
Thank you!
Video recommendation for the week.
I have shared this video before. It never gets old because it helps us connect with one another on a personal, meaningful, and authentic level.
How would you develop a meaningful and effective employee recognition program?
What represents “average” and what looks like “excellent” at your workplace?
Transformational leaders understand the importance of timely, authentic, and meaningful employee recognition. The leader knows her people and what best motivates them. (For instance, accolades must resonate with the different generational mindsets that may be in the work setting. Boomers may crave financial reward and titles, while millennials favor flexibility benefits.)
Even though the All Stars generally standout, there will be shortsighted, why-not-me workplace citizens who have difficulty recognizing and acknowledging the good work of others. What’s a leader to do in order to connect with all team members?
One of the last scenarios in my new book gives readers the opportunity to grapple with the best way to recognize employee efforts. While I wrote the scenario specifically for college and university faculty, you can apply it to other professions. Take out the reference to “faculty” and insert your occupation or job title, for example. Instead of “department chair,” use “manager” or “supervisor.”
Whether we talk about faculty, corporate managers, dockworkers, or administrative assistants recognizing them for a “job well done” seems like commonsense to overall personnel development.
Your work environment may adeptly understand and expertly execute employee recognition. If so, I would like to learn about your system. Leave a comment on this blog.
Video recommendation for the week.
Let me set the stage for the scenario.
For more hands-on introductory videos, visit my video playlist.
As you and your colleagues grapple with this scenario, consider if Professor Hadit works in an environment where everyone believes he or she is excellent. If that is the case, then hasn’t “excellent” in that environment actually become “average”? Excellent indicates far above the average. What represents average and what looks like excellent at your workplace?
The scenario:
“Got a moment?” asked Professor Hadit as he stood at his colleague’s office door.
“Sure, come on in, Don. Have a seat.” Professor Binder pointed to the seat at the side of his desk. Both professors taught in the English department on their campus. Don Hadit it was the current department chair. He had been in that position for two years.
“Not sure where to start, Ann, other than this is the stereotypical case of doing what I thought was right only to catch grief from every direction. Remember the campus meeting we had last week with the campus president?”
“Yeah,” replied Ann. “I thought it went well. Very positive. Especially the recognition of the ‘all-stars’ in each of the departments. Finally, nice to see faculty recognized for what they do well.”
“Well, there’s the rub,” said Don with a sigh. “We, the department chairs, were asked to pass along the names of some of our faculty who have done something well over the last semester. We could only give four or five names. The president wanted to reach out and thank those folks. So, I did that. Thought it was a good idea, too. Unfortunately, my phone has not stopped ringing, the email inbox keeps dinging, and there have been a few unpleasant conversations—or should I say diatribes—in my office.”
“I don’t understand,” offered a confused-looking Ann. “About positive recognition?”
“Yeah. It seems people got very upset—I mean red-in-the-face mad—that they weren’t recognized. Some went as far as to tell me why the people I chose were not deserving of such recognition. I’m flabbergasted. Feeling a bit blindsided. Even had one person claim the only reason you were recognized is because we are friends outside of campus. Gee. Since I observe every teacher in this department and conduct thorough evaluations, I thought I was in the best place to be objective.”
Ann raised her eyebrows and blew a slow breath.
“I’m not sure how to rebound from this one. Frankly, I’m mad as hell. Got any thoughts?” asked Professor Hadit as he slumped into the chair and stared straight ahead at the wall. “I feel like we’re stuck in a place where everyone has to get a trophy!”
Reflect on This
If you were in Professor Hadit’s position, would you have proceeded any differently when asked by the campus president for a few of the “All Stars” in your department? Briefly explain.
How does your workplace recognize its All Stars? How should it recognize the All Stars?
Attending the screening premier last week reminded me of life’s fragility. In a good way.
Embracing the fragility recognizes that this part of the journey is limited. The embrace, for me, brings appreciation and respect. It, also, nudges me to treasure the precious life source rather than focus on fear and what-ifs.
Over the course of our lifetime we do a lot, see a lot, gather a lot, read a lot, work a lot, write a lot, plan a lot, talk a lot, tweet a lot, post a lot, Instagram a lot, and ____ (you fill in the blank). Each one of those experiences represents a dot on your lifeline. We have gathered thousands of those dots on our journey. And we will gather thousands more. What, however, do we do with those dots?
A colleague of mine from California wonders if we spend too much time collecting dots and not enough time connecting those dots.
Are the dots in our lives meaningful? Do we savor and appreciate them? Do we discern? Or do we just collect?
I used to challenge my students to pause often and examine what they were doing with their education and experiences. Why were they doing what they were doing? Did their goals involve building a transcript or constructing and living a meaningful and worthwhile life?
Take a moment this week and reflect on the dots.
Video recommendation for the week.
Sting sings, “How fragile we are. How fragile we are.”
Visionary Tony Hsieh believes we need to “maximize collisions to accelerate serendipity.” That is, we need to put ourselves in the position to connect with as many pertinent resources as possible in order to increase chances for progress, growth, learning, and connections. Unthinking isolation can create separation.
During my campus days, I loved going into the classroom each day, closing the door, and working with my students. The autonomy represented a benefit of teaching. It, also, had a potentially devastating drawback. If I (and my colleagues) did not stay vigilant, we lost opportunities to maximize collisions. We could become insular. Chances for serendipity (growth) decreased.
The same holds true in a corporate setting. If managers across the company landscape remain insular, they can end up repeating redundant routines and retreating behind territorial barriers. Organizations like the International Facility Management Association provide space and time for members to collide and create. I saw this first-hand at their Facility Fusion Conference and Expo in Las Vegas last week.
In addition to small workshop settings and coffee breaks, the Expo hall (think vendors) provided a central location for attendees to meet, learn about new technology, and connect for worthwhile purposes to advance the calling. The collisions went beyond mere sales opportunities to teaching and learning moments. The area “accelerated serendipity.”
This week, in Jacksonville, Florida, I will work with the IFMA Jacksonville chapter at their annual Professional Development Forum (at the University of North Florida). The membership will have the time to listen, learn, share, and grow with their colleagues as they explore the challenges, vagaries, and opportunities of change management. The association allows them to amplify their knowledge base and strategize for optimal customer service.
Whether you work in facility management, higher education, or healthcare, consider how you break down silos and build bridges. Look at your workplace or community-based activities. Consider all the great resources you have. How do you share them? How do you maximize collisions so that others know what you do and what you need? How do you generate new ideas when it comes to growth, resilience, and collaboration?
Speaking of Serendipity. Last week, Laurie and I spent an afternoon touring the architecture and history of Downtown Las Vegas (off “The Strip”) with Paco, the Art Curator for Zappos. I had been hoping for a chance encounter to shake hands and get a photo with Tony Hsieh. Chances were slim. However, during the last five minutes of our more than two-hour walking tour, who did we bump into on the sidewalk? Tony Hsieh.
How can we raise our awareness, question our assumptions,
and create meaningful actions for improvement?
One researcher found that 29% of American employees say they thrive in their jobs (or 71% do not thrive). A study out of the Stanford Business School noted ten factors that may be killing you in your workplace. Another source explains that “burnout syndrome” can manifest in three forms: overload, boredom, and worn-out.
What causes burnout? Does the individual hold responsibility? Do poor managers create it? Do we see out-of-work place factors (like family-work integration or financial considerations) creating in-workplace stressors? All of the above? Something else?
One of the early scenarios of my new book gives the reader a chance to confront the issue of burnout straight on and consider coping strategies. While I wrote the scenario specifically for college and university faculty, I believe you can apply it to other professions. Take out the reference to “faculty” and insert your occupation, for example.
You may work in the ideal environment where burnout is minimal to non-existent. If so, I would like to learn about what makes it so. Leave a comment on this blog.
For those who either deal with burnout personally (as an employee or manager) or work/live with someone in a slow burnout, I offer the text of my Scenario #6: “I Don’t Want To Burnout” below. Following the scenario, you will find reflection questions to serve as conversation starters about burnout and strategies to deal with it. How can you recognize warnings of stress and burnout? What steps can you take to address these issues?
Video recommendation for the week.
Let me set the stage with a quick 57-second video.
For more hands-on introductory videos, visit my video playlist.
The Scenario:
Professor Johnson decided to clear a space in her calendar to attend a series of on-campus reflective practice discussions. Even though this is her first semester as a full-time faculty member, her faculty mentor suggested she consider this workshop. “It will provide you with strategies to become more aware of what and why you do what you do in the classroom.”
At the initial meeting, the workshop facilitator asked the participants why they had signed up for these reflective practice sessions. Professor Johnson was prepared to say jokingly that her mentor made her do it—but as she listened to her more senior colleagues share their reasons, she came to a different and more sobering realization.
Of the nine faculty members participating in this workshop, two said they were present because they had burned out and had lost their passion for teaching. They hoped this might help rekindle their spirits. Four other colleagues said they were in the process of a slow burnout. They were experiencing difficulty connecting with their students as they once had done. They could sense they were losing patience with their students and colleagues. Each said it had become tougher to find meaning in their work.
Professor Johnson took in each of these genuine responses. When her turn came around, she simply stated, “I don’t want to burn out. That is why I am here. I want to learn from you what to do and what not to do.”
Reflect on This
What causes burnout?
Can we avoid burnout?
If Professor Johnson came to you and asked you for strategies to avoid burnout, what would be your top two or three strategies?
What resources are available at your institution to help faculty avoid or at least recognize burnout?
Like our professor in the above scenario, recognition can (and needs to) generate questions about why we find ourselves in such situations. How can we raise our awareness, question our assumptions, and create meaningful actions for improvement?
What thoughts and feelings come to mind when you see the photo below?
Now, same question as you expand the view and context of the photo?
Hmm. Marriages performed juxtaposed with a bedpan–with a prickly little cactus.
How about this view?
My, my. Marriages performed connected to a bedpan with a smirking vulture (with beads, no less) standing guard.
When I first saw the scene (in Cedar Key, Florida), my eyes were immediately drawn to the vulture. “Is this an art gallery or second-hand shop?” As my eyes drifted to the right, I saw the sign. I said to Laurie, “I’ve got to have a photo of that. It’s priceless.”
It was not until later in the day that I spied the bedpan. I laughed at what I had missed and another spin on the message popped into my mind.
A scene, situation, or dilemma takes on different meanings depending on where our gaze falls. Our attention will determine our interpretation.
We have to understand perspective if we want a clear (or clearer) picture of a situation at hand.
One definition of perspective requires “seeing all relevant data in a meaningful relationship.”
It’s something to consider with collaboration and relationships. Do we narrowly frame a situation and thus miss opportunities? Do we start with answers and, consequently, miss the important questions? Do we think of moving the spotlight or adjusting the focus so we go a little off-center?
We all have to be aware of our cognitive traps. This week, consider moving the spotlight a little. Whether you find a smirking vulture or not, your shifting perspective could help you better understand what you need to do in a perplexing situation.
Video recommendation for the week.
Do you believe what you perceive you receive? Consider this perspective!
With a world full of noise, how can we fine-tune the needed listening skill?
This past week I facilitated a San Francisco workshop examining how colleges and universities envision and implement faculty development. My session subtitle: What Important Questions Should We Be Asking?
While in the City by the Bay, I had the opportunity to talk with a person who has been instrumental in training thousands of higher education leaders around our nation. What did he see as a critical skill for effective leadership? The ability to listen and then act.
In Meaningful: The Story of Ideas That Fly, Bernadette Jiwa reminds us “We don’t change the world by starting with our brilliant idea or dreams. We change the world by helping others to live their dreams.”
Ask questions and then wait for responses. Understand what information you need. Then act. All require listening. Often mentioned. Just as frequently ignored or drowned out by an overwhelming onslaught of information and misinformation. With a world full of noise, how can we fine-tune the needed listening skill?
We have to distinguish and separate the noise from the non-noise in the world around us. Shawn Achor provides an insightful rubric for doing just that. Once we understand and apply the criteria for noise, we have a better chance of limiting its debilitating effects on the lives of colleagues, loved ones, and ourselves.
Ask yourself, Achor proposes, if what you attend to (or what you endlessly speak about) is unusable, untimely, hypothetical, or distracting. More specifically,
Unusable. Will the information you continuously “take in/give out” change your behavior? If not, you are probably wasting time.
*Example. You follow a particular news story—repeatedly. The information remains the same (since the initial “news alert”). Nonetheless, you spend hours listening to talking heads give their interpretation. Or you constantly scan your smart phone for social media updates (other people’s agendas). Maybe you spend hours following celebrity stories or the latest intelligence on the NFL draft. And…the information will have no effect on your behavior. Nothing changes. Noise.
Untimely. Will you use the information, now? Will it more than likely change in the future when you might use it?
*Example. You get a hurricane alert. It might make landfall in five days. At that point, you have useful information to notice and consider preparations. However, if you stay glued to the weather channels endlessly for hours—with no updated information coming in—you need to ask what the benefit is other than getting more worried about something that you cannot control and that is still a long way from happening. And, in the case of a weather forecast, it will likely change a number of times. Noise.
Hypothetical. Do we focus on what “could be” rather than what “is”?
*Example. I am not picking on the weather prognosticators (really) but do you base plans on the predictions—that may very well be inaccurate. One of my podcast guests, Neil Dixon (February 2017), has an answer to the meteorological hypothetical. When the forecast calls for 80% rain, he makes a golf tee time. Why? Because there is 20% for sunshine. Think about economic forecasts. How accurate? How often? Noise.
Distracting. Does the information deter you or stop movement toward your goals?
*Example. Your goals relate to your career, relationships, health, finances, intellectual development, emotional stability, and spiritual wellbeing. How much of the onslaught of information you get hit with (and allow yourself to be hit with) relate to those goals? How much gets in the way of goal achievement? Noise.
This week consider where, when, and how you can eliminate noise. Listen to your goals and move in those directions.
Video recommendation for the week:
In this TED talk, Julian Treasure suggests five strategies to fine-tune our listening.
A functioning community moves beyond listing and reciting core values. It shares and lives those values. And, it provides a safe place for its members to explore, stretch, learn, fail, and grow.
Steve is not a life coach and does not provide legal advice. He facilitates conversations and helps raise and confront important questions about what we do, why we do it, and how we do it.
The Growth and Resilience Network® 