Recognizing value

This past week I've been involved in a seminar/workshop focused on developing international coaching education standards (ICES) for coaches who work at the community level. One of the valuable statements coming out of one of the sessions relates to the concept that everyone has some potential value. Sometimes it may be difficult for us to recognize that value because of our personal biases; past experiences (with the individual); misperceptions; or just plain ignorance.

When we fail to recognize/appreciate the value in other people, we limit their potential for growth and development. As leaders/co-workers/colleagues, we have a responsibility to not only recognize the value in others, but to also provide meaningful opportunities for them to develop their potential value.

The Trinidad and Tobago Alliance for Sport and Physical Education (TTASPE) takes this one step further - in addition to recognizing and appreciating the value of people and providing opportunities for development, TTASPE works in collaboration with other organizations to build the capacity of people... and communities. This past month I was fortunate to witness two powerful examples of the success of believing in people - Donnel, a young man with Cerebral Palsy started off as a participant in one of TTASPE's projects for persons with disabilities (Ready and Able) - Donnel is now a leader in that project (and an outstanding coach). Kurland was a very shy and intraverted volunteer working in one of TTASPE's community interventions - he is now the president of the Community Based Organization - and doing a great job of leading with humility and committment.

Let's give more people (especially young people) a chance - a meaningful chance..., and let's show them that we believe in them... and let's be patient, because development is a process that takes time...

+ve vibes,
Mark

Meaningful Conversations: Beyond the “Ole Talk”

After a good chat with one of my colleagues this week I started reflecting on the value of conversations (or as we prefer to say in Trinidad - ‘ole talk’). The more I think about it the more I realize how critical conversations are to the development of many dimensions of our lives... and I am really referring to the traditional face to face conversations - the ones where we communicate not only the content of our dialogue (or sometimes monologue), but also the feelings and deeper value of what we speak.

So what makes conversations so valuable - well, here’s where we get an opportunity to share knowledge, ideas, thoughts... and to build on those ideas or refine them or maybe even change our original thinking. The great thing about the conversation is that it flows - it’s back and forth - call and response... and it is in the listening and responding that the new ideas, new ways of thinking, or consolidation of existing thoughts emerge. 

I’m also thinking that the ‘conversational’ possibilities of learning; sharing; creative thinking; critical thinking; entertaining; appreciating... are defined by (but not limited by) those engaged in the conversation. The value of conversations with my children are as varied and potentially rewarding as conversations with my wife, colleagues, strangers... the real value being an awareness that this conversation is a valuable experience and as with most things, the value we get from it is only limited by the value we bring to it - and in the case of conversations, a value that is sincere, honest, meaningful, uninhibited engagement.

Looking forward to more sincere, honest, meaningful, uninhibited conversations with you.

+ve vibes,

Mark

Why worry?

Over the past couple of months our home has been in some major disorder as we're doing some renovations - mainly in the bedroom and toilet/bath area - so workmen in our very personal spaces. As my wife is a school teacher, she (and the kids) were around during the July/August vacation and we hoped the work would be complete before school reopened. Unfortunately, it will probably be another two - three weeks before the work is done. So we've had to leave the workmen unsupervised, with full access to most of our belongings. Well I figure we could spend the day worrying about what they'll steal... maybe some little thing that we probably wouldn't even notice (if they're smart)... or we could just relax and let them know that we trust them... and I figure that if/when we project that trust to strangers, we stand a better chance of generating honesty from them than if we project mistrust.

+ve vibes,
Mark

Sounding Boards

This past week has been challenging in several ways and as I reflect on the week, I recognize that it's really very easy to get trapped into making poor decisions if we allow the prevailing challenges to consume our thoughts in negative ways. Our natural, human, emotional invocations can easily cloud our thinking and lead to rash, knee jerk responses. Sometimes, even after significant self reflection, our thoughts may still be clouded by the initial impressions of the prevailing situation.

Here's where I believe that it's very useful to be surrounded by people who can provide you with meaningful responses and different perspectives on various matters. So, I strongly suggest that when you're faced with difficult challenges, particularly when your personal response system is leaning on the negative side, hold back on your response and bounce it off of someone who you know can be depended on as a sounding board - someone who can provide you with meaningful, thoughful responses and different perspectives.

Sincerest thanks to my 'sounding boards'!

+ve vibes,

Mark