Bailey WorkPlay

I went to a facilitors workshop this morning and the one thing that the presenter just kept hammering away at was the need to "think outside the box." Can we bury this overused phrase now? Pretty Please? Seriously, if you find that it’s necessary to think outside the box, you better take a good look at the box itself. You may in fact have a circle and don’t know it.

Okay, short rant over. The reason for my lack of writing lately is that this week is Pre-Conference  Week. Next week, I’ll be traveling to Minneapolis for my organization’s Board Meeting and Annual Conference so hopefully that explains why postings will be very, very light until the first week of October. BTW, anyone living in Minneapolis who would like to meet up, let me know.

I’ve been blessed to discover a new blog: 37 Days. A few weeks ago, Patti sent me an email saying that she found my blog through a mutual friend. Turns out we’re both Guilford College alums, have non-profit association experience, and she lives in one of the places that I would dearly love to migrate to: Asheville, NC.

All of this is just the tip of the iceberg. Her blog is one of my very favorite reads and I look forward to each post as if it was a Christmas present. Take this week’s entry, Fund Your Own Revolution. She reminds us that change usually doesn’t happen "out there" by "them" so don’t wait around for it. It happens within us, by own desire to transform our offices, our lives, our world.

Here’s my personal challenge. Her post mentions the seemingly inherent tension between employees and their managers. I am working to create the space necessary for my staff to generate change while maintaining the kinds of boundaries that they need. It comes down to sharing both responsibility and authority for making things happen and then sharing the outcome regardless of whether it’s positive or negative. As I assume a greater leadership position in my organization, I try very hard to not be a "them" in the most derogatory of terms.

My second challenge is to not give in to the temptation of scapegoating "them." No matter where you are within the organization, there’s always going to be a them. But who loses if I give in and forfeit my drive to transform my staff’s relationship to their work, my volunteer’s connection to their organization, my own desire to build a lasting legacy in all parts of my life? Here’s Patti’s idea: We give up our power to the very people who took it away from us in the first place. Ah, but giving it up is always our decision in the first place. It’s time to take it all back.

Finally, what I love is her 37 Days Do It Now Challenge at the end of each entry. This week it’s an appeal for us to stop saying "they;" find the change we can make and must make.

Take some time and visit Patti and her 37 Days blog. You’ll be giving yourself a gift.

A year ago this month, I started this blog with a couple of objectives in mind: to drive traffic to my startup coaching practice and to offer a platform for my ideas. Little did I know it would be the answer to a much greater need in my life: to increase my sense of community. I’ve met some incredible people just because I put myself out here through Alchemy and have been blessed by their presence in my life. And the best part is that I continue to meet fantastic folks with new ideas and perspectives on our world.

There have been hard parts about the blogging experience. Most of these have been the ‘shoulds’ of doing this that seem to plague us bloggers at times. Jennifer Rice most recently wrote about blog depression, that unfortunate state where everything is viewed through the limited lens of whether it is blog-worthy. She’s now come to some very soulful and healthy attitudes about her blogging that resonate with me.

Why do I continue to blog after nearly a year? Well, it has a lot to do with that whole community thing I mentioned earlier. And there’s more…I truly enjoy writing and sharing ideas. I really like the feedback and debate from readers (and do find that I get depressed when I don’t get any comments so for goodness sake stop worrying whether what you want to say is ‘good enough’ and just put something out there, okay It does mean a lot to me). It’s deeply meaningful to know that my words and thoughts have an impact on the lives of others. I get a giddy feeling when I tell people that I’m a blogger. The bottom line is that I do this for me, but that "selfishness" is all about fulfilling a desire to be an activist in helping others see their work, leadership, and rest of their lives in a different way.

Thanks for being here in the journey with me. There’s still much to see and do.

Felix Gerena has a proposal up at ChangeThis! It’s called The Life Cycle of the Creative Soul, which is definitely piquing my curiosity. Here’s the hopeful manifesto’s description:

This manifesto is a way of deepening in the creative dimension of our
souls. It´s a way of recognizing patterns of behaviour and feel
familiar with the creative experience of the soul. This experience can
become the guide of a life but can also lead to suffering and despair.
The manifesto helps you to know better your creative attitudes and how
to deal with them.

C’mon. Not only would I love to see this one get published, I believe we would be enriched by it. So, let your fingers (and mice) do the walking and go vote now.