Teams that Work

Day 4 - mini NaNoWriMo

I saw them quite a bit ahead of me. The big and the little and the owner. She in her blue ball cap, wearing shoes which looked like mine, walking quickly with her dogs.

The dogs knew that this was strictly for exercise, there was not much sniffing and stopping going on. They walked by her side, and only crossed her path when she changed their leads to her other hand. They appeared to know the route and the job to be done.

Teams that Work

Consistent. Reliable. Predictable.

Teamwork.

As I walked behind them, I had a lot of time to name these dogs. I settled on Barney and Bits. They walked in pace, the little one going with faster legs. Still partners.

I was only able to catch up with them because of a red light which paused us all as the rain came down. The owner told me that Bits was not always well-behaved, he apparently didn’t like most other dogs. Barney, on the other hand, was a comfort dog. He loped along and sat patiently with elderly residents at a community Senior’s Home. He was there for them.

Bits jumped up on my Eddie Bauer running pants which I was relieved to note did not snag or tear. He might not have liked other dogs, but he did like people. He continued to jump and bark happily.

As the light changed we went in different directions. 

I, with my face bent low against the now quickly falling raindrops, thinking about leadership and the teams we build.

How it is nice to have a leader whom we can count on. How sometimes we have to slow down and other times we need to run to keep pace. How a predictable route can be justified and enjoyable. How we have to ignore distractions. How sometimes we have to walk through the rain.

I continued my route, smiling that my running pants were intact, another promise kept. The owner and her dogs headed for home. Perhaps they would then get a treat. 

Walking dogs and what they showed me about Leadership. (Tweet This)

Thinking Out-of-the-Box

Your tiny school teacher to her dolls could be leading a conglomerate one day, your miniature firefighter could own a bakery that specializes in “all things chocolate”.  As LaRae Quy says in 

this article the skills required to be a creative out-of-the-box thinker are often cultivated as youngsters. 

Little people who are left to explore (and possibly fail), those not continuously rescued, might just have the possibility to expand.

But that is not to say that learning these skills cannot be done as adults. First step – be aware that we are all learning, look for the skills we admire in others and then make every effort to take them on as our own.

Innovative leaders take risks, and when they do, they seize opportunities.

LaRae Quy

(Tweet This)

We are missing an opportunity if we don’t look around and adopt the best of what we see. Why not learn from someone who's done it already? I know that's how I've done my best learning.

As an only child, I was most often left to my own devices. In those days devices were not connected to wifi (did you see what I did there?), but more likely involved the box the new coffee table came in. The box which I painstakingly made into a doll house. Oh how I loved it. 

I could literally sit IN it for hours. I taped corrugated cardboard to make walls, and used fabric remnants for curtains and carpets. I had very few dolls, but do remember marching them from room to room to do their chores. My, I was bossy.

Thinking Out-of-the-Box

When my friend showed me this picture of her grandson, it made my heart leap with joy! It seems that this little guy was quite happy pretending for hours. He was comfortable on his own. And he showed his family his project with unabashed pride. 

We will not know if many decades from now, he too will remember this house-building adventure as I remember mine. But I suspect that while he was building, he took risks, that he was thinking out-of-the-box, being curious, and observing. 

His pretending will be his biggest asset whether he is a butcher, a baker or candlestick maker.Or maybe he will be a tinker, a tailor, a soldier or spy.  

Be innovative! Take, Borrow, Loan, Share ideas. It's never too late. Be Curious. (Tweet This)

Let us each do our Part

Leadership is needed for new times, but it will not come from finding more wily ways to manipulate the external world. It will come as we who serve and teach and lead find the courage to take an inner journey toward both our shadows and our light—a journey that, faithfully pursued, will take us beyond ourselves to become healers of a wounded world.

Parker J. Palmer