An hour with a person who doesn’t ask questions is an hour with a toothache.
Wise Words
“If you learn to respond [to this day] as if it were the first day in your life and the very last day, then you will have spent this day very well.”
David Steindl-Rast (1926 – )
Austrian Monk
“I love me” – a lesson for leaders
On Communication…
Shared from http://www.marcandangel.com/2017/01/15/7-relationship-mantras-to-stop-small-misunderstandings-from-turning-into-big-mistakes/#more-2884
- The single greatest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.
- Too often we don’t listen to understand – we listen to reply. Don’t do this. Focus. Be curious. When we listen with genuine curiosity, we don’t listen with the intent to reply – we listen for what’s truly behind the words.
- When you hear only what you want to hear, you’re not really listening. Listen to what you don’t want to hear too. That’s how we grow stronger, together.
- You never know what someone has been through today. So don’t be lazy and make empty judgments about them or their situation. Be kind. Be teachable. Be a good friend. Be a good neighbor. Be a good listener.
- Sometimes all a person needs is an empathetic ear – they just need to know someone else hears them. Simply offering a listening ear and a kind heart for their suffering can be incredibly healing. (Angel and I discuss this in more detail in the “Relationships” chapter of 1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently.)
- Do not make assumptions unless you undoubtedly know the whole story. If in doubt, ask the person directly until you have clarity.
- When you take the time to actually listen, with humility, to what people have to say, it’s amazing what you can learn. Especially if the people who are doing the talking also happen to be the people you love.
Is Kindness a Luxury?
“Luxury goods are only consumed when we’ve got enough. You shouldn’t go shopping for a Birkin bag with your last dollar.
It’s easy to believe that kindness is like that. We need more reserves, perhaps, before we can expend some of what we’ve got in this generous way.
You’ve had a hard day, it’s raining out, the world is changing, your boss is mean to you, the checking account is overdrawn, you’re on deadline…
But… Does every need have to be filled, every emotion in place before we’re capable of being kind?
Do we have to have enough money, enough confidence about the future and enough of everything else we crave before we can find the space to offer someone else a hand?
It turns out that the opposite is true. That kindness is a foundation for the rest. That investing time and resources in extending ourselves shifts the rest of our needs in precisely the right direction, not only putting us closer to satisfying those other needs, but enjoying the journey as well.
Kindness rewards the giver as well.”
From Seth Godin, original post here: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2017/01/is-kindness-a-luxury.html
How Leaders Unnecessarily Elevate Their Own Stress and Frustration — Leadership Freak
The things you don’t say make your belly hurt. Leaders cause themselves stress and frustration when they sweep performance concerns under the carpet. Discomfort: I recently asked a group of leaders, “What makes giving corrective feedback uncomfortable?” I don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings. What if they don’t follow through? We’ll have the conversation and […]
via How Leaders Unnecessarily Elevate Their Own Stress and Frustration — Leadership Freak
The Bright Spots – December 16, 2016
Hello Countryside Tribemates!
How did it get to be December 16 so quickly?
It has been a year of highs and lows for most of us for a variety of reasons, but one simple fact remains: our administrative team is boundlessly proud of you and the work that you do within our building and out in the community. Each of you is a Cause Driven Leader, the face of the Y, contributing to something bigger than yourself via the YMCA movement in the United States.
I want to say a HUGE thank you to LARA SURFUS and her staff for providing us with the MOST DELICIOUS staff luncheon I could have imagined! I am slightly embarrassed at the amount of turkey and fruit cobbler that I was able to consume. You will see me with all the other “New Years Resolutioners” in the CSC next month. Hope you had a Dickens of a Good Time!
It was wonderful to be able to share time in the new community space, and I will look forward to many more activities there in 2017!
Another huge thank you to everyone who participated in the door decorating contest! Congrats to Arts & Ed for winning the grand prize of a $50 gift card to Royce Cafe! The judges LOVED the “Christmas at Hogwarts” theme! And yes, in the second photo below, those are floating candles that actually light up.
I’ll be adding an album of photos to the Facebook Countryside Staff Page so that you can check out all the talent from this competition!
I’d also like to offer congratulations to everyone who won a prize for participating in our raffle and “Who Said It” activities!
The “Who Said It” winner was NATE BRESTELLI, who received a $20 Target Gift Card!
The winner of the “Guess How Many Chocolates in the Container” challenge was KATHY WINKLER from the North Entry membership desk!
We have another interesting year ahead, one where we are going to have to continue to show the community why the Countryside YMCA is a special place, grow our membership and make an impact in the community.
Everyone here has a role in making that happen.
In the words of Hugh McLeod of Gaping Void Art (who I realize I quote constantly), is this truth:
“We know that selling is about more than a great product, it’s about filling a greater need.
We know that marketing is about more than flashy ads, it’s about meaningful content.
We know that our clients and customers and patients and users are, first and foremost, people.
So, we have to know that our greatest strength lies in our community.
Building relationships with your people takes time, sure, but it’s worth every second — because those are the people who make sure your brand stays alive and relevant.”
2017 will certainly be a year for relationship building as we share our renovated areas with our existing and new members!
One last Dickens quote before we close the week, one that is fitting as we head into 2017:
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.!
Kirsten
How to See the Bad and Pursue the Good
Confronting things you don’t like is part of leadership. Whining and complaining is not. It takes real leadership to see the bad and pursue the good. If you aren’t careful, you become a spiraling v…
“She Let Go” by Rev. Safire Rose
She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.
She let go of the fear. She let go of the judgments. She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head. She let go of the committee of indecision within her. She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons. Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.
She didn’t ask anyone for advice. She didn’t read a book on how to let go. She didn’t search the scriptures. She just let go. She let go of all of the memories that held her back. She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward. She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.
She didn’t promise to let go. She didn’t journal about it. She didn’t write the projected…
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Weekly Photo Challenge – Nana Nostalgia
My beautiful Nana in response to this week’s photo challenge, Nostalgia
“The women of today are the thoughts of their mothers and grandmothers, embodied and made alive. They are active, capable, determined and bound to win. They have one-thousand generations back of them… Millions of women dead and gone are speaking through us today.” — Matilda Joslyn Gage
The Bright Spots 