Hmmmm....if I didn't know better I'd say this article succinctly captures many of the things I've been trying to get across in this Blog for some time now. Give it a read and some thought...then put on your red thinking cap (the one with the big N of the front---the one K.K. says stands for "knowledge") and see what application it has for you...and more importantly what it means to you and the work you perform in this Agency.
....I can't wait to see the innovation and suggestion that materialize as a result of your thought...
TAFN
Monday, January 28, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Passion...
Happy New Year everyone! I trust the Christmas season and New Year's holiday was as rewarding as the effort you put into making it that way!
Over the course of time recently, I've been wresting with several questions...perhaps some might call it my "mid-life crisis"...whatever the reason--I have found it to be challenging me personally and professionally. The areas of my thinking revolve around these words: Passion, Servant/Servant hood, Ownership, and Leadership. I'm convinced the longer a person lives and the more experiences they have...the more confident and retro- AND intro-spective they "can" become. I believe those who really care about making a (positive) difference and those who are willing to put in the effort to effect change go through similar personal exercises....or else what is the value?
Anyway back to my point...These four words have haunted me over the past several months. I've begun to evaluate almost everything I do in light of how I feel about those words. I'm convinced the four words reflect who and what a person is! The measure of success; the commitment of the person; the type/quality of work;... almost everything about someone is revealed if you look at how those four areas/words are viewed or demonstrated IN and BY that person.
Don't believe it....try it sometime. Evaluate someone with those four words in mind sometime and see if it doesn't give you a more clear picture of their intent, their level of commitment and even their motives! Take passion for example--I would offer that those who are truly passionate ("having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling") about something are more committed to its successful outcome. If someone cares enough or strongly enough about it, they tend to work harder to achieve it. Efforts by that person tends to be directed or targeted towards something they are passionate about. In essence they word harder, more effectively, smarter, whatever to make that passion come to be.
OK, maybe passion is easy you say....lets look at ownership then---Pick another subject...evaluate what you know about them in terms of how you see ownership demonstrated in them. Are they more willing to ensure success in something they feel they have a tie (or ownership) to? Do you see examples of this?...I believe we all have and we all do in our own lives. Those things in which we feel we have an ownership to, are the things we tend to put more emphasis on, we care about "it" more...we work harder for "it", we arrange other things around "it." Perhaps you are now able to see that many are even passionate about things they have "ownership" in.
OK, OK...maybe so...then how does servant/servant hood and leadership play out? Well we could take these two words and write a dissertation on it, but I'll try to be brief. Again from my perspective...I think you cannot truly Lead anyone or anything without being willing to be serve (be a servant) to someone/something else. The scope and scale of the ability to Lead is defined by the demonstration of the commitment to. How else can a leader (or one who desires to be) know the things that should/could be done without having submitted themselves to a higher offering at some other time. By being a servant here, I mean giving oneself to a greater cause----realizing perhaps that the world doesn't revolve around me--there is something bigger, better...maybe a greater good. In doing so, we can then recognize our place in relation to "it" and as such can then devise a plan as to how we fit into "it"...how we can then contribute...how we can move "it" forward.
Whew!! you're probably saying....some mumbo, jumbo there Jim... Maybe so, but I'd challenge you to give some thought to what've I've said (if you can understand any of it). Evaluate who and what you are in this Organization via those four words. I believe it will shed some light (insight), into your work life...and perhaps even you life in general. Are you passionate about what you do today? If not, then maybe you should rethink your priorities because if you don't care about what you're doing today, your work output will reflect it. Ask yourself---"have I ever been passionate about anything?" Identify what it was/is--what about it made you feel that way---what skill set were you using, what environment were you in, what work, what people were around you, etc, etc. I'd challenge you to find that passion---that is what is going to make you the most happy and most productive.
Maybe the way you are doing you job today isn't really rewarding for you. I'd suggest you think about the things you're passionate about see if there isn't a way to weave those into what you do at work. Perhaps you're passionate about learning, gaining new ideas, etc....then perhaps you can work in ways to read more about new or emerging technologies---or maybe you're passionate about people, getting to meet new folks, etc. Then make a tie to that and your job, find ways to interact--perhaps it's a training role you're suited for. We all know we can certainly use new ways of teaching/exposing people to technology....suggest it to your supervisor--I'll bet they'll be willing to listen to your suggests if they sense enthusiasm on your part and you can paint the picture of how it will benefit MDC.
I think in many ways, many of us are committed to the work/ideology of Conservation work---we are willing to submit ourselves to seeing those basic beliefs of clean water, wildlife resources for future generations, educating people on conservation practices, etc--whatever....we are being a servant to that mission. WE are willing to alter our lives to some extent to ensure its success. As a result we can have ownership to that success...we want Conservation and the things we do to be successful--or at least we should.
We have the perfect opportunity to bring to bear those four words in our work environment...should we choose to. If we choose not to, then I would argue it's time to consider something else to do, because you won't (can't) be as productive as someone who is.
Give it some thought...are you committed to Conservation Technology? Are you passionate about it? Are you interested in finding new ways to help those in the trenches get their work done faster, better, cheaper through the use of technology? Do you care enough to go the extra yard to find solutions, to help others find solutions...?
Believe it or not--everything I've talked about to this point reflects your heart. If your heart is in "it"...it shows, its obvious to those around you. We need people in this business who are passionate about Conservation, and/or, Technology, and/or Wildlife, and/or Forestry, and/or Fisheries. Real value is derived from those who are driven towards Conservations successes. I hope that includes you...if not, it's time for some soul searching and time to find ways that you can become more involved to the extent that you do care about the outcome...
TAFN
Over the course of time recently, I've been wresting with several questions...perhaps some might call it my "mid-life crisis"...whatever the reason--I have found it to be challenging me personally and professionally. The areas of my thinking revolve around these words: Passion, Servant/Servant hood, Ownership, and Leadership. I'm convinced the longer a person lives and the more experiences they have...the more confident and retro- AND intro-spective they "can" become. I believe those who really care about making a (positive) difference and those who are willing to put in the effort to effect change go through similar personal exercises....or else what is the value?
Anyway back to my point...These four words have haunted me over the past several months. I've begun to evaluate almost everything I do in light of how I feel about those words. I'm convinced the four words reflect who and what a person is! The measure of success; the commitment of the person; the type/quality of work;... almost everything about someone is revealed if you look at how those four areas/words are viewed or demonstrated IN and BY that person.
Don't believe it....try it sometime. Evaluate someone with those four words in mind sometime and see if it doesn't give you a more clear picture of their intent, their level of commitment and even their motives! Take passion for example--I would offer that those who are truly passionate ("having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling") about something are more committed to its successful outcome. If someone cares enough or strongly enough about it, they tend to work harder to achieve it. Efforts by that person tends to be directed or targeted towards something they are passionate about. In essence they word harder, more effectively, smarter, whatever to make that passion come to be.
OK, maybe passion is easy you say....lets look at ownership then---Pick another subject...evaluate what you know about them in terms of how you see ownership demonstrated in them. Are they more willing to ensure success in something they feel they have a tie (or ownership) to? Do you see examples of this?...I believe we all have and we all do in our own lives. Those things in which we feel we have an ownership to, are the things we tend to put more emphasis on, we care about "it" more...we work harder for "it", we arrange other things around "it." Perhaps you are now able to see that many are even passionate about things they have "ownership" in.
OK, OK...maybe so...then how does servant/servant hood and leadership play out? Well we could take these two words and write a dissertation on it, but I'll try to be brief. Again from my perspective...I think you cannot truly Lead anyone or anything without being willing to be serve (be a servant) to someone/something else. The scope and scale of the ability to Lead is defined by the demonstration of the commitment to. How else can a leader (or one who desires to be) know the things that should/could be done without having submitted themselves to a higher offering at some other time. By being a servant here, I mean giving oneself to a greater cause----realizing perhaps that the world doesn't revolve around me--there is something bigger, better...maybe a greater good. In doing so, we can then recognize our place in relation to "it" and as such can then devise a plan as to how we fit into "it"...how we can then contribute...how we can move "it" forward.
Whew!! you're probably saying....some mumbo, jumbo there Jim... Maybe so, but I'd challenge you to give some thought to what've I've said (if you can understand any of it). Evaluate who and what you are in this Organization via those four words. I believe it will shed some light (insight), into your work life...and perhaps even you life in general. Are you passionate about what you do today? If not, then maybe you should rethink your priorities because if you don't care about what you're doing today, your work output will reflect it. Ask yourself---"have I ever been passionate about anything?" Identify what it was/is--what about it made you feel that way---what skill set were you using, what environment were you in, what work, what people were around you, etc, etc. I'd challenge you to find that passion---that is what is going to make you the most happy and most productive.
Maybe the way you are doing you job today isn't really rewarding for you. I'd suggest you think about the things you're passionate about see if there isn't a way to weave those into what you do at work. Perhaps you're passionate about learning, gaining new ideas, etc....then perhaps you can work in ways to read more about new or emerging technologies---or maybe you're passionate about people, getting to meet new folks, etc. Then make a tie to that and your job, find ways to interact--perhaps it's a training role you're suited for. We all know we can certainly use new ways of teaching/exposing people to technology....suggest it to your supervisor--I'll bet they'll be willing to listen to your suggests if they sense enthusiasm on your part and you can paint the picture of how it will benefit MDC.
I think in many ways, many of us are committed to the work/ideology of Conservation work---we are willing to submit ourselves to seeing those basic beliefs of clean water, wildlife resources for future generations, educating people on conservation practices, etc--whatever....we are being a servant to that mission. WE are willing to alter our lives to some extent to ensure its success. As a result we can have ownership to that success...we want Conservation and the things we do to be successful--or at least we should.
We have the perfect opportunity to bring to bear those four words in our work environment...should we choose to. If we choose not to, then I would argue it's time to consider something else to do, because you won't (can't) be as productive as someone who is.
Give it some thought...are you committed to Conservation Technology? Are you passionate about it? Are you interested in finding new ways to help those in the trenches get their work done faster, better, cheaper through the use of technology? Do you care enough to go the extra yard to find solutions, to help others find solutions...?
Believe it or not--everything I've talked about to this point reflects your heart. If your heart is in "it"...it shows, its obvious to those around you. We need people in this business who are passionate about Conservation, and/or, Technology, and/or Wildlife, and/or Forestry, and/or Fisheries. Real value is derived from those who are driven towards Conservations successes. I hope that includes you...if not, it's time for some soul searching and time to find ways that you can become more involved to the extent that you do care about the outcome...
TAFN
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