Archive | December, 2005

Practicing Small Kindnesses

by on December 4, 2005 in Creative, Life

Think making a huge difference in someone’s life takes a herculean effort or a lot of time? Just ask Scott Hodge who not only rediscovered the power of a buck, but the power of simple generosity.

What I love about his later reflection is how this isn’t only a lesson for him, but for his kids. Scott writes:

This is going to be Elise’s bedtime
story tonight. Why?  Because I want her to be this kind of person. I
want her to understand the value in helping people – even at her own
expense. It’s easy to open a door for someone. It’s easy to help
someone carry something heavy. But it’s not always easy pulling out
the $5 dollar bill.

Think the world’s going to hell in a handbasket? Nah, that’s just overrated, cynical chatter. The chance to experience and return small kindnesses is all around us.

The Power Of Our Common Bonds

by on December 3, 2005 in Life

Tammy Lenski wrote yesterday about her most recent experience as a volunteer for the Best Friends Animal Society and their efforts in the Hurricane Katrina area. The temporary sanctuary/triage unit/field hospital/reunification center just north of the Louisiana border in Tylertown, Mississippi has attracted volunteers throughout the country. In a battered place with far from optimal conditions, one might expect to see all kinds of conflict. She noted that none was to be found. In Tammy’s reflection for why this was, she writes:

It’s the power of feeling passionately about why we were there. The power of believing, first and foremost, that our mission was to help these animals, and understanding implicitly that having our own way or convincing someone else that we’re right or the righteousness of feeling tread upon were all less important than keeping these animals alive, helping them heal, and helping them find home again.

And later:

It’s surprisingly easy to set differences aside when we’re focused on what brings us together.

Sometimes it amazes me what petty and minor strife we allow into our relationships. We let the most foolish of things drive wedges between us and our loved ones…even our colleagues at work. We cling to our few competing differences like there’s no tomorrow and forsake the many heartful similarities that bind our hopes and dreams.

None of this is to say that I’m without my own problems on this issue. I have my own family squabbles to contend with. There are always workplace flare-ups. Yet, there’s something in Tammy’s post that has nudged me toward a deeper reflection. I find myself asking why its so much easier to get attached to our differences of opinion rather than the similarities.

Whatever the answers, I honestly believe the power and spirit lies in those common bonds that bring us together.

Is More Money Really The Answer?

by on December 2, 2005 in Work

Going back through some older emails from the office, I found this from ASAE’s Greater Washington Network e-newsletter:

When your employees leave, they leave for more money. At least that’s the story they give as they head out the door according to a new survey from the Society for Human Resource Management and CareerJournal.com, which notes that "better compensation" is the reason most often cited by exiting employees. That’s only part of the story, however. Opportunity will find some people, but, usually, people find the opportunity—which means there is something about their current situation that has them looking. According to the same survey, 76 percent of workers are looking for new opportunities. The best way to keep them working for your organization is to keep them cozy. A competitive salary structure is your first and best option—it’s hard for most people to leave for less money. However, the survey notes that employers have several other weapons for their arsenal, including career development opportunities, promoting good workers, and flexible work schedules.

On first blush, I figured that this was the same old data that we keep seeing: the keys to employee retention are better pay, more training, greater understanding of work/life balance, etc., etc. Yet, I wonder why we keep reading these statistics and recommendations as if its new information. If these things really are the keys to solid retention efforts, why don’t they get put into play more? Are companies too unyielding or too resistant? Or perhaps companies do offer the kind of salary, career development, promotion, and flexibility options that employees want and they just aren’t enough.

Here’s my wager: they are not actually the true keys. They are merely band-aids applied to make us managers and executives feel better. They don’t address the real, core problems of the organization. Peter Block, in Stewardship, has influenced me to keep digging deeper into the relationship each of us has with our work. Peter writes:

The problem we face is that the organizational forms we have inherited and internalized do not nurture the realization of security, freedom, service. In fact, we’ve lost faith that these questions can be answered at the workplace. We have come to believe that to be productive in the marketplace we have to sacrifice our freedom, place our security in the hands of others, and bootleg our wish to be of service.

What would happen if we started offering our employees a true "grown-up" environment in which they could seek these three qualities?  What would happen if we stopped trying to play the "good parent" by coming up with more ways to earn our employees’ love and devotion? And what would happen if we all stopped looking for our organizations to take care of all of our needs? Just maybe we’d finally have something new to talk about.