October 2012

When I told Michelle Mondragon I wanted to do another photo shoot, she said while she was willing to do some indoor lighted shots, her specialty is in natural lighting and nature settings. It was cold outside the morning she came, and the indoor shots took most of our time. Yet somehow, even though I only have a few outdoor shots to choose from, those are decidedly the best. 

I try to listen closely when people tell me where their heart is, because that’s where they do their best work. If I had this shoot to do over again, I would start outside and leave inside for leftovers. I’d go where her energy is because that’s where she does her best work. 

It’s like that for all of us. Sure there are times where stretching is the way to go. But stretching needs to come from a foundation of self-knowledge of where our gifts are. 

We’ll talk about how to balance our unique gifts with what others want (or think they want) from us at the Online Admin Training Camp. Admins create that balance every day. 

(Michelle Mondragon is the photographer who shot the photos for The Legend of Mighty Mouth.)

 

I’ve never been one to take everything at face-value, but I learned to pretend I did. I’ve also never been a power babe, but I learned how to simulate one. For many years my questions were below the surface, and my quest was invisible. For many years more, my questions surfaced and my quest was impassioned. There are ages and stages to life, and at different times we focus on different areas of growth. The bigger story is: life is a process of becoming our biggest selves. Life is a process of becoming whole. Your journey might not look the same as mine, but it’s pretty certain that’s what you’ve been doing, too, on one level or another.

Like everyone, I have my unique take on life. Unlike everyone, I feel compelled to strive to live that. Sometimes people ask why I can’t “leave well enough alone.” When I’m in the process of trying to understand something that wants to emerge – why someone else’s three-step-plan doesn’t work for me – why someone’s “I’m fine” didn’t ring true – or why something that everyone else embraces triggers bells and whistles in my gut – I wonder, too. When I get the “ah ha” that lets me be me, I’m glad I am who I am. Idiosyncrasies and all.

It’s not easy being me, but it beats the alternatives. It’s probably not easy being you either, but no one else can do it like you can.

My administrative excellence online training is an inside-out approach that guides you in making your job your own. 

I used to write about Poison Phrases . Who knows – I might start again. But I felt limited by that category because what is poison in one situation is helpful in others. So I’m working with the header Synergy Sabotage – trying it on for size.

Mark works for a company that manages by consensus. Everyone needs to agree before they can move forward with a decision. In theory, anyway.

In terms of The Synergy Center, requiring unanimous consensus for everything can be too extreme and cumbersome. It  over-compensates for command-and-control leadership. While it assures every voice is heard, it can be unmanageable. But this post is about something else.

At a company meeting, Mark strongly disagreed with a decision that the IT director favored. The group overrode Mark because “only one person objects.”

Not walking the talk is synergy sabotage. If your principles say you decide by consensus and then you don’t, you’ve lost a lot more than the support of the person whom you overrode. You’ve lost your compass. You’ve lost trust. People get the message that principles don’t matter when they are inconvenient.

While I don’t recommend unanimity for all decisions, I’m even more passionate about the need to say what you do and do what you say. If you find that unmanageable, don’t just throw your principles under the bus. Live them or revise them and live that.

Now Mark is actively looking for other employment.

Another option would be to address the inconsistency. To say:

• Either we decide by consensus or we don’t. If you override my objection and end the discussion, it’s clear we’re not walking our talk. We need to decide how we decide for real, and then do it.