This is one of my favorite poems and I just discovered that Portia Nelson (the poet) was an actress who played one of the nuns in The Sound of Music (one of my all time favorite movies). I just had to share.
Autobiography in Five Short Chapters
One
I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in. I am lost . . . I am helpless. It is not my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
Two
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I do not see it. I fall in again.
I cannot believe I am in the same place, but it is not my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
Three
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there. I still fall in . . . it is a habit.
My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
Four
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
Five
I walk down another street.
Portia Nelson,There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk: The Romance of Self-Discovery (Copyright 1993, Beyond Words Publishing, Hillsboro, Oregon.)
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Sunday, December 6, 2009
Strengths, Dreams and Expectations
What does this have to do with the Holidays?
What if we created real workplaces that worked for everyone, that cared about everyone, that stopped comparing everyone and was built on the enhancement of strengths rather than correcting weaknesses?
What if you could write your own story and make it your reality?
What if we could change the outcome of a situation just by changing our expectations?
These three questions were posed and answered during a conference I attended last week by three different keynotes,
Peter Block, an author and empowerment/stewardship consultant,
Getrude Matshe, a woman born into poverty in Zimbabwe and the founder of the Africa Alive Education Foundation (for HIV orphans), and
Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, a professor who teaches Happiness 101 at Harvard. Can you believe it? Yes, Happiness 101 really exists.
And what does this have to do with the holidays? I recognized these teachings and people as special and unique gifts and I’d like to share them the best I can with you today. I hope you find at least one of them intriguing and uplifting.
Gift #1. Peter Block--author
Peter Block challenges current corporate leadership systems and explains how these systems are detrimental to the building of community. The current thought in corporations that the leadership at the top is the cause and that the workers at the bottom are the effect is extremely outdated and ineffective. People make change happen, not leader directives.
I think my favorite quote from Peter was “ You don’t give an Annual Performance Review to the people you care about.” Think about that. When was the last time you gave an APR to your wife, husband, partner, child, or parent? I hope never. Yet this is what we do in our corporate culture on a regular basis under the guise that our people are our most important and treasured asset.
Overall, he says that we need to make real changes by being gift minded rather than deficiency minded. Our culture has been working too long on trying to make us all alike instead of embracing our differences. Peter believes that like-mindedness is a defense against the future. If we build on our strengths and gifts, we build a future distinct from our past. Peter beautifully explores transformation and helps us to see how we can transform from the context of deficiencies, interests and entitlement to one of possibility, generosity, and gifts. Check out more….
Gift #2. Getrude Matshe--author, speaker, entrepreneur
Getrude Matshe is a gifted storyteller with a lifetime of uplifting, challenging and magical stories. Born on a poor African reservation, Getrude left her life of poverty, obtained an education and college degree, built numerous businesses, and continues to support an HIV orphanage under the Africa Alive Education Foundation. The foundation ensures the education of these orphans through the University level.
Getrude is a gifted artist who intended to migrate to the U.S. in 2001 to teach unique batik methods in art classes and universities. Having spent the family savings on airfare for herself and three children, she was heartbroken when a passport error prevented them from traveling further with no option for refunds. Three months later, 9/11 occurred, bringing down the NYC building in which she would have been teaching at the time. Getrude realized that there was a different plan for her life. She moved her family to New Zealand with nothing and within weeks had a 3-bedroom furnished apartment and a professional computer analyst position. Getrude has dozens of these stories and has successfully built a textile business, an ethnic specialty talent agency, a physician placement agency, and the foundation which supports the African HIV Orphanage. Her dream is to meet Oprah, so please go to www.oprah.com and submit her as a story idea. For more information see….
Happiness 101. I was so excited to hear about this. Dr. Tal Ben Shahar is a riveting speaker and teaches positive psychology and its incredible impact. It was fascinating. His class enrolled over 800 students at Harvard which outnumbered the Introduction to Economics for the first time ever. Positive psychology focuses on learning from what works instead of what doesn’t. In other words better results are achieved when focus is placed on what is working well and building upon it in a situation rather than focusing on trying to ‘fix’ what is not working well.
In one example he points to Marva Collins, a teacher in Chicago who focused on believing in her students, having high expectations, clear boundaries and a belief that you are responsible for your own success. All of her ‘at risk’ students have graduated from college. Her expectations caused a change in the outcome. How can we use this understanding to change the outcomes within our lives and the people we touch? To read more on Marva see:
I partner primarily with Women Executives and other professionals to develop strategies for extracting maximum value from teams, business, relationships and life through coaching. Together, we do the internal analysis, planning and development to obtain the best leadership and management of your career, business and life as quickly and directly as possible. I am your catalyst for growth and change.
www.lynnzettler.com
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