Getting into the whirlwind

Can't tell how to interpret the slap in the face a flying disc gave me the other day. It happened in Tamra, from a well-meaning kid's errant throw.

On the one hand, it reminds me of last year's slap in the face. But there's more: like I'm feeling a little uncollected in terms of arrangements like my living, sleeping, traveling, unpacking. But after a few nights of very cold sleep - no heaters in the room where I'm sleeping - I broke down and bought an over-priced (but cheaply made) space heater. It improved my sleep but I'm still cranky from jet-lag and the few days of never really warming up :-/  That reminds me of adjustments I made when last year's living arrangements were new. This is all to say I'm feeling kind of worn down at the moment.

Yet on the other hand, the events I've been to so far have been great! Lots of good people are around, helping with many important projects for the organization. Conversations and decisions reflect added experience, wisdom, and maturity. A big meeting is approaching (set for Saturday) - and that kickstarts the year of working with local/mentor coaches. I'm wary of wasting people's time at the meeting, which has increased my worry about having the right goals and activities/discussions towards those goals. Fortunately they are all awesome, capable of helping a lot (even if asked at the last minute). And its going to be fun!

Hosa joins Tamra and Binyamina in a post-game cheer Tuesday

What do we earn

There's an advertising war raging between Cadillac and Ford about the American spirit and what hard work earns us. Check out the two videos and some analysis here. Basically Cadillac claims Americans work harder (not taking a month off in August) and therefore deserve nicer things. Ford on the other hand says our world is better cause we work harder and for the common good. So, a few questions and my lessons learned:

What do we earn in life? How?
By working hard, loving fully, being smart, taking risks?
What can I expect in return for putting my best into the world?

Recently, these questions came up in conversations with Rachel. My personal experience to relate to these questions is that I feel that I'm pouring my heart, time, and energy into this six-month fellowship with Ultimate Peace. On top of asking the questions about how to have as much impact as I can, I'm asking what can I expect personally in return. Can I expect that others will do their best? Will I see the fruits of my labor and maybe even the direct spoils? Here are a couple of the lessons I'm learning:

Lesson # 1. Its not about me. Especially in nonprofit work, and in most kinds of leadership, its not about me. Its about the mission, the program, the participants and volunteers.

Lesson # 2. My "earnings" perspective is often shaped by the if-then expectation. Basically that what you put into something is returned to you -- in a different form, but on the same scale and easily identified. Examples: put in 40 hours of work a week, get paid for that time; give love and receive love; allow the car in front of you in and be allowed in next time you need it. Yet the world is not always so clear-cut. In fact, it often seems like the effort we put in does not come back to us at all.

What I'm finding (in relationships and in work) is that we need to think beyond how our effort comes back to us, and more onto how our effort goes to others. And not in a tit-for-tat way... that we are giving of ourselves to a common pot (consider it perhaps the "effort pot"). The richer that pot is the better, though it might not be better for you personally, immediately, or even in the material sense.

Unrelated picture from yesterday's UP meeting/practice ahead of the US tour (someone said "jump" just before taking the shot):

Robert Greenleaf - some leadership stuff

“Awareness is not a giver of solace—it is just the opposite. It is a disturber and an awakener. Able leaders are usually sharply awake and reasonably disturbed. They are not seekers after solace." 

I'm reading an article for class about servant-leadership, the little-known phrase for a much-practiced leadership approach. Larry Spears is the author of The Understanding and Practice of Servant-Leadership and quotes above Robert Greenleaf. Spears (no relation) was at the time of this writing the executive director of the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, where I'm doing a fellowship.

My fellowship focuses on improving the Greenleaf Center's membership program -- offering benefits to members, finding new members, and engaging current members more heavily in the leadership conversation and journey. I've sent out a couple of surveys, researched some other groups, tried to understand the field and the organization. And I've got to produce some findings soon.

In the mean time, the quote above reminds me of my time at the Open Door Community on Ponce de Leon Ave here in Atlanta. One of the leaders there insists that too many people are well-adjusted to the wrongs of the world (like homelessness, poverty, and racism). And that our task in life is not to acclimate and accept them but to reject and act to change them. This can take a fierce amount of awareness and radical defiance of cultural norms.

Thoughts welcome.