“You are most powerfully positioned to serve the person you once were.”
Rory Vaden, NY Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, podcaster, coach and speaker.
This past week I was in Baltimore, and I saw a beautiful thing happen…I saw this very quote lived out. I facilitated a small group discussion with community members, Community Health Workers and a few public health folks who were defining key messages needed for a specific population. Once I opened up with questions, the feedback poured in – not just with words, but with confidence and conviction. The community members knew what was needed, because once they were in the same position as the moms and families they’re now trying to help. They didn’t need a textbook, a podcast or a 50 PowerPoint slides to tell them. They knew what was needed – and what was not needed – and in what order things need to happen. They were perfectly positioned to serve the person they once were.
The community members and Community Health Workers around the table knew what it was like to not have dental insurance, to be unable to find a dental home, and to be treated unkindly by providers. They know what it takes to move from being the victim of a system to becoming an advocate for their own health and that of their children. The most effective way to get anything accomplished is for those closest to the issue to create solutions and find pathways that will work. They were doing just that.
Where are YOU most powerfully positioned to serve the person you once were?
Is it in a board room? Is it at a soccer field? Is it in a leadership role? Find it, and you’ll find the place you can serve with success and passion. Sadly, too many board rooms and conference tables are missing individuals with lived experience. It’s time not just to ask those folks to serve, but to wholeheartedly welcome them, listen to them, and even to let them lead the way. After all, they’ve walked this road before. (And please, whatever you do, pay them… life is hard enough already.)
Stay Sharp,
Holly Hayes, President & Founder
ISI Consulting
The eclipse this week had all us looking up…and out. Instead of staring at a screen, most of us spent at least part of the afternoon sky gazing as the moon passed between Earth and the sun, creating a view that won’t be seen for another twenty years. We forget that our blue planet, as huge as it may seem to us, is part of a much larger system. It’s a micro view versus a macro view.
Too often at work (and in life, if we’re honest), we get stuck in that micro view, particularly if we’re tackling a problem. We focus on all the little issues, small changes, immediate challenges. The things that are jumping up and down right in front of us. We look at everything through a microscope. And then we rush to make a quick adjustment or decision. Which often doesn’t work out all that well.
Maybe it’s time to get out the telescope and zoom out. Way out. Systems-thinking out. If there’s a problem, don’t think about the problem itself…think about the system surrounding it. If you have a production challenge, it’s easy to look immediately at your workers or equipment. Something must be fixed now. But what if you examine the entire system and realize that your process puts one step in the wrong place? As a result, workers are backtracking or duplicating actions. Simply trying to work faster isn’t the solution. Taking a macro view – zooming out – will show that the system needs rearranging. Change those steps and the process will move more smoothly, and faster.
I want to challenge you to take one challenge you have at work this week and apply a systems lens to it. Zoom out from the immediate squeaky wheel and see if there’s not a better solution to be found when you look at things from a distance. Think of it as eclipse-watching.
Stay Sharp,
Holly Hayes, President & Founder
ISI Consulting
