Flock-upy West Loop

The main stream media has focused for months on the various "Occupy" (name a city) efforts.  Yesterday's short commute home experience was stunning because of a different "occupy" venue and occupant.  Untold numbers of black birds converged upon one of Houston's busiest intersections - 610 Loop @ Westheimer.  Though they had no agenda, they captured attention by their presence. 

When we choose to influence an impact, we must consider all elements: who, what, when, where, why and how rather than just "flock-upy" a site.

Never Invisible

Mama never leaves home without makeup and dressed appropriately.  She's a terrific role model for always putting your best self forward.  My exception to Mama's example is early morning exercise.  It doesn't seem practical to put on makeup before hitting the streets and sidewalks, then jumping into the shower as soon as I return.  Though I've encountered many neighbors and other unexpected friends on these outings, because I am actually dressed for the project I'm undertaking, I don't feel self-conscious.  Unlike Harry Potter, we can't just don our invisibility cloak when we don't want to be seen, so we must choose the image we project each time we leave home. 

Extraordinary Isn't Always Obvious

One of our neighbors has a pear tree that is extraordinary for the several days that it is in full bloom.  The rest of the year it just looks like a nondescript tree.  Because we've lived in the neighborhood for so long, I know what to expect from this tree.  People are like this too.  We sometimes overlook their extraordinary characteristics because we only focus on what we usually see, rather than what they are capable of delivering.

How Are You?

How are you? This simple question can evoke so many emotions.  Our answer may be impacted by the time, circumstance, relationship to the questioner, attitude, experience, location, etc.

I've chosen to consciously respond to those with whom I don't have an established relationship with any positive response other than "fine". 

Opportunities to positively connect expand exponentially when we ask any other positively engaging question other than "how are you?"

Gift of Change

This morning, I altered my normal walk route to be able to exercise and mail some letters.  Though the distance was the same, I hesitated for a moment.  I could walk my comfortable, normal route and mail the letters on the way to my first meeting.  After considering the possibilities, I opted to multi-task. The gifts of change were threefold:

• gorgeous eastern sunrise
• to-do list item completed before 8:00 a.m.
• acknowledgement that change doesn't have to be big to be high impact

Board Engagement

We tried an experiment with a nonprofit board that I chair.  We conducted board orientation after we had included the new board members in two events:

• board reception for new, retiring and returning board members and senior staff 
• board meeting and state of the organization presentation

All three activities were held within a two week period.  Feedback was positive.  The new board members had a chance to visit socially in a lovely home with key staff, seasoned board members and one another before engaging in governance.  When they participated in board orientation, they already had a broader sense of the opportunities and challenges facing the organization and knew many of the other board and staff who were also committed to serving children and families in Texas.

There are many ways to foster engagement including shared vision, passion and camaraderie.

What Does it Take?

One of the best, most painful lessons I learned happened in fourth grade.  My very capable and experienced teacher told me that if I did X I'd get an A. I did X and she gave me a B. I felt like a failure (my first B) and knew that I'd been betrayed.  After many tears and Mama's conversation with my teacher, we discovered that she thought (knew) I could do more.  She was correct.  I could have done more.  However, I did what I thought it took to succeed (make an A). 

Since 4th grade, I've always known that doing our best is all that ultimately matters.

Though my situation worked out fine (I graduated second in my class), it could have played out differently. 

We need to be clear in our expectations and the resulting rewards.  And we owe it to all involved to discuss what actions/changes might improve results.