When we struggle to understand the "other"

An article on expanding our complexity-thinking abilities:

"I implore you to seek out your opposite. When you hear someone cite “facts” that don’t support your viewpoint don’t think “that can’t be true!” Instead consider, “Hm, maybe that person is right? I should look into this.”

"You have to be willing to sacrifice your carefully curated social performance and be willing to work with people who are not like you.” In other words, you have to recognize that the Other Side is made of actual people."

Because refusing to truly understand those who disagree with you is intellectual laziness and worse, is usually worse than what you’re accusing the Other Side of doing."

The article can be found here:

https://medium.com/@SeanBlanda/the-other-side-is-not-dumb-2670c1294063

Final Presentations

We are going to blink and final presentations will be upon us. You know it's true! So in preparation for that time, here are some guidelines to be thinking about.  Your first step is to pick a topic of interest and submit that to me.  Next, pick a time slot when you want to do your presentation. I think we're going to have to roll over into two days, if that works for ya'll? August 28th and August 29th. Please review this now and ask me questions now!

It is my confident expectation that you all will blow us out of the water with your research, findings, presentation, life-hacks and deep questions!

ELI Vision & Voice Final Presentation

Choose a leadership topic of your choice. This should be something you have a particular interest in and that you think will be useful to learn more about as you grow in your professional endeavors. It can be, but does not have to be, something we have discussed already in ELI.

Your presentation should include:

-       1) An outline and notes for your reference (that you will turn in a copy to me) - not a formal, formatted paper, just notes

-    2) Identification of your topic with a definition and why you chose it

-       3) The major points (subcategories or themes) that are important to know in order to get a feel for what this topic entails

-       4) What are the experts saying about it (research using reference any books, magazines, blogs, institutions, websites or face-to-face interviews)

-       5)  Why is this area of study relevant to our work at Ebco?

-       6) How has this topic impacted you in a personal way in your professional life (tell a story) – either a good experience or a bad experience or simply one that made you curious to learn more about it

-       7) What suggestions (tips, techniques, methods, advice) can you make to each of us so that we can get a better grasp on this topic and improve in it on some level

-       8) Leave us with a final open-ended question to be thinking about relative to this topic

-       9) Be prepared to facilitate a brief conversation with the group after the presentation (no more than 5 minutes)

-      10) Use a visual demonstration or exercise to clarify your point (you can use PPT, a prop, a video, a game, etc.)

-       11) Provide a handout of any kind for further study that we can take home with us.

Presentation details:

Your presentation should be 20 minutes in length. Please give us at least 80% eye contact during your presentation, speak loudly, clearly and smile.  

Grading:

Minus points for no smiles. 

Bell-dings for humor.  

Bonus points for anything that gets us out of our seats.  

Standing ovation, thrown roses and a vacation day for any radical ideas and life-hack that utterly transforms our existence after your presentation. 

Non-presenters will be supporting and evaluating one another’s presentations.

Please sign up for a time-slot and let me know your presentation topic ASAP:

Monday August 28^th                                    

#1) 11:10 – 11:30

#2) 11:35 – 11: 55

Lunch Break

#3) 12:10 – 12:30

#4) 12:35 – 12:55

Tuesday August 29th

#5) 11:10 - 11:30

#6) 11:35 - 11:55 
#7) 12:00 - 12:20

Complexity-Thinking

Tomorrow, we will examine EQ Skill #12 : Complexity-Thinking which we have mentioned in class before. Sometimes complexity-thinking is referred to as "Both-And" thinking.  The opposite of complexity-thinking is Either-Or (black/white) thinking. Complexity-Thinking is about holding two seemingly contradictory yet valid ideas in tension. So, with that in mind, please read (or watch) this provocative poem by Sam Walter Foss. Think about what he is saying in this poem about the power of pathways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ9crN_hH6o

The Calf-Path

Sam Foss

I.
     
One day through the primeval wood
A calf walked home as good calves should;
  
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail as all calves do.

Since then three hundred years have fled,
And I infer the calf is dead.


II.

But still he left behind his trail,
And thereby hangs my moral tale.

The trail was taken up next day,
By a lone dog that passed that way;

And then a wise bell-wether sheep
Pursued the trail o’er vale and steep,

And drew the flock behind him, too,
As good bell-wethers always do.

And from that day, o’er hill and glade.
Through those old woods a path was made.
     
     
III.
     
And many men wound in and out,
And dodged, and turned, and bent about,

And uttered words of righteous wrath,
Because ‘twas such a crooked path;

But still they followed—do not laugh—
The first migrations of that calf,

And through this winding wood-way stalked
Because he wobbled when he walked.
     
     
IV.
     
This forest path became a lane,
that bent and turned and turned again;

This crooked lane became a road,
Where many a poor horse with his load

Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And traveled some three miles in one.

And thus a century and a half
They trod the footsteps of that calf.
     
     
V.
     
The years passed on in swiftness fleet,
The road became a village street;

And this, before men were aware,
A city’s crowded thoroughfare.

And soon the central street was this
Of a renowned metropolis;

And men two centuries and a half,
Trod in the footsteps of that calf.
     
     
VI.
   
Each day a hundred thousand rout
Followed the zigzag calf about

And o’er his crooked journey went
The traffic of a continent.

A Hundred thousand men were led,
By one calf near three centuries dead.

They followed still his crooked way,
And lost one hundred years a day;

For thus such reverence is lent,
To well established precedent.
     

VII.

A moral lesson this might teach
Were I ordained and called to preach;

For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf-paths of the mind,

And work away from sun to sun,
To do what other men have done.

They follow in the beaten track,
And out and in, and forth and back,

And still their devious course pursue,
To keep the path that others do.

They keep the path a sacred groove,
Along which all their lives they move.

But how the wise old wood gods laugh,
Who saw the first primeval calf.

Ah, many things this tale might teach—
But I am not ordained to preach.

Happy Easter and Happy Sunday to you awesome fellow-thinkers and servant leaders!

I hope that you will take some time this week to do your reflections on the EQ skill of service-orientation since we ran out of time last week. Remember, answering all of these questions is a requirement for completion of the course (We will refresh ourselves the rules of engagement & requirements soon so that we can stay focused as we run this last half of the ELI Vision & Voice marathon!)

Also, for Monday the 24th, please tally your LIA points and be ready to share those with the group.

Finally, one of our objectives is not just reflect on these leadership skills, but to try to them figure out how they apply to our daily work lives.  So the questions are: what does it mean to be a servant-leader at Ebco? Who are we serving? What difference does it make?

Please take a few minutes to hear the perspective of servant leadership from the executives of EMJ Construction, with 5 locations throughout the US.

http://www.emjcorp.com/employee-news/emj-people-servant-leadership/

See you Monday the 24th at 11am with bells on!

Jump!

Yesterday in our conversation about service-orientation, Travis made a fine point about the difference between "have to" and "want to". A servant-leader shows true commitment, genuine care for those he/she is leading. On that note, I share:

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.  Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too." ~ W. H. Murray, Mountaineer and Writer

This quote by Mr. Murray weaves together several of our leadership concepts:

Commitment.

Initiative. 

Pushing through fears.

Abundance-mentality.

Where do you need to take a fearless leap into the unknown in your life?

What is keeping you from doing it...today?

Is there a time to stop thinking and just act?

Jump!

How can we think about service-orientation?

Hey Party People ~ I hope ya'll have plans to enjoy this amazing weather this weekend! I handed out an infographic this week laying out the 7 Levels of Motivation (aka Consciousness). We are going to be talking about service-orientation (servant leadership) on Monday so I wanted to help you start thinking in that direction.

You will notice there are three levels of motivation we can look at: personal, organizational and societal. Notice how they each move from survival through transformation to service. Take some time to acquaint yourself with the behaviors that exist at each level, paying special attention to what it means to demonstrate Personal Service, Organizational Service and Societal Service.

See ya'll Monday at the chamber conference room!

For more on this mental model, www.barrettvalues.com