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A few things to note:

I read non-fiction.  My last book was Thomas Merton’s autobiography and before that a book about Thomas Merton.  I haven’t read a work of fiction since just after college.  I don’t know why, it’s just been my preference.

So, having graduated in the early ’90s, one can guess that a few works of fiction have been published since then.  In fact, entire series of books have been published.

I stumbled upon one such series that I thought was worth sharing with all of you.  I mean, I would feel just awful if I held onto this information and you, my readers, and others who you might encounter were deprived of knowing about this wonderful gift to the literary world.

I cracked open the first book in one particular series the other day.  Being a reader of non-fiction, I am used to books engaging me, but they’re not necessarily page turners.  This book captivated me from the first page.  The descriptions of the characters allowed me to create some of the most vivid pictures I can recall in fiction.

Throughout the book, the author’s use of language was clever as well.  I was also struck by how well she planted references for what was to come, either in this book, or in others to follow.

Contrary to my typical reading style, what I might term as “methodical plodding”(librarians hate me), I tore through this book in just a few days.

So, with all due haste, I simply had to tell the world that this “Harry Potter” series, by J.K. Rowling is good stuff.  I didn’t want to keep it from any of you.

They should make a movie about it.

I wrote a post a long while back called “Go with What Got You Here“.  In it, I talked about the fact that I frequently spend time reflecting on my successes in an effort to remember the path I took to achieve them.  In this way, I build upon the lesson of the success.

Success Repeated

One of the atributes I have routinely utilized in my career, is to circumvent hierarchy in order to get a seat at the table and be able to participate more actively in decision making for the organizations I have worked for.

The Story

My first memory of becoming aware of this tendancy, was early in my professional career.  I was working as a Preschool Teacher in a growing child care company with twenty or so centers in Massachusetts.

Given my position, there were two levels of administration between me and the Center Director and beyond her were 2 or 3 more levels at the Corporate office.  As a result, I frequently brought ideas to my spervisor or even to the director only to hear, ‘Corporate won’t do this’, or ‘Corporate says we can’t do that’.

The result, was a building frustration for me as an employee because I thought I had some ideas of merit and value to the larger orgainzation, I just couldn’t find the right venue for sharing them.

The Letter

With the permission of my Center Director, I drafted a letter to the company’s CEO (I wish I still had a copy of it).  In it I talked about the challenge of communication within a growing organization and offered a few ideas for improved means of communication from employees to the Corporate office and vice versa.

A week or so later, I received a call from the CEO asking me out to lunch.  We met one day around noon, we talked for awhile, he listened to some of my ideas  and in the end we created something called the Employee Council.  It was a representative group of elected employees from each of the company’s child care centers who would meet monthly to exchange new information coming out of the corporate office and share ideas and concerns from employees at the center.

I served on the council for three years, co-chairing it for one year.  It spawned additional committees which served the company well in it’s dramatic growth, reviewing benefits, educational programs and maintaining clear lines of communication.

The Rebel

I’ve always looked at this and some other similar examples as a way to feed some sense of myself as a rebel, that I had somehow bucked the system.  This explanation has fallen flat in recent years, even though similar methods and similar results have been utilized and achieved in a variety of different contexts.  I have continued to find myself at tables in which various decisions, affecting my organization or the people I am serving, are made.  It is a constant.

It’s about relationship

I have come to realize, that what I wanted to see as some sort of rebellious nature, is really a strength in being able, in a professional and respectful manner, approach people with something to offer and being willing to listen.  It is about developing relationship and being willing to think together and contribute to that relationship.

So, a picture of myself has been brought into focus and the fuzzy lines that I thought I once walked can bee seen with a clarity of purpose and a willingness to contribute.

Who would’ve thought?

Yes, you!

I’ve been writing off and on here for over two years now.  I have written about business and government, friends and family.   I have written about being better, about relationship, networking and a few other things.  I don’t write as often as I’d like, but I keep plugging away right here, and you keep stopping by.
Some of you have come by and stayed for awhile.  Some of you have commented.  Some of you have not.  Some of you find me by Googling my name and come from as far away as Dublin.

I would love to learn more about you, why you stop by and what keeps you coming back.  If you’ve commented before, thank you.  If you haven’t, consider dropping a short message and a link to your site or if not yours, than others that you find interesting.
I want to know more about you folks than Google Analytics tells me.  I want to know about you.  Who are you?

Before I get to work on some of the 8 things that Jon offers, I wanted to sit with him for a moment around my table, pour him a cup of coffee and listen to him.

So Jon, my dear friend, here’s a cup of hot coffee for you, black, waiting on a table in Maine.  It will be here on your birthday or any other day in which you decide to pay us a visit.

Happy Birthday friend.

Punk #3 is 4 years old today.  She was so excited that she couldn’t fall asleep in bed last night.  Punk #3 brings energy and joy and laughter and lots and lots of talking to our family.  She loves to chat at the end of the day and will lay in bed and tell me all that she is thinking about, everything that happened during the day and everything that will happen tomorrow (per her agenda).

Punk #3 loves to be with people.  She loves her brothers and her cousins and her friend Annie, whom she talks about every day.   Punk #3 is independent and strong willed (read independent and strong willed in the best senses of the terms).  She is the baby.  Punk #1 and #2 have always called me Papa.  Mama refers to me as Papa.  She calls me Daddy.  I tried a few times to correct her…she just looked at me funny and continues to call me Daddy.

Punk #3 is 4 today and I appreciate and celebrate all that she is.

Happy Birthday Lucy!

In our world of constant movement, constant change, continuously doing more and more….you simply never know what effect you will have just by being who you are supposed to be, what you are supposed to be, where you are supposed to be.

There has been talk in the past several years about seamlessness within human services departments within state government. There is the thought that we should and can create a sense of ease for families who enter the system. There is the thought that ‘no matter which door they enter’, they are easily linked to the appropriate service. I think the idea is a noble one, and surely families would benefit. What I wonder is this:

What if the people within system thought more about how they enter the family system than how the family enters their’s?

What if each person who serves the family thought about joining with a family in a collaborative relationship rather than expecting a family to “access” services?
What would happen if we all believed that families can be successful, do have strengths and expertise to share with us?

What if we entered their door with permission and respected what is their home?

Just wondering.

Punk #3 is still not 100%, but we are certainly glad to have been out and about as a family. This was our second visit to the museum since becoming members. It’s not always easy with 3 Punks under the age of 8, but each one was able to see something special and enjoy some aspect of the works on display. I was partial to the Rockwell Kent today.

There are so many lasting images in my head of the visit with the Swanson’s and Brogan’s. This of course is from another perspective. I know what I was thinking as I sat on our deck with Jon and Chris, after a beautiful day of walking in New Gloucester. It is interesting to see it from this angle.

Thanks for letting us play host to a wonderful weekend of friendship.

Photo Chris Brogan

The other day Chris Brogan wrote this short and simple post about being helpful. That’s it. That was his advice. Thanks Chris.

So great, ‘be helpful’. The question for me though is “What does helpful look like?”. I wonder about it being an attitude, an approach to working with and supporting people. Perhaps helpfulness can only be dictated by the person being helped.
What if, you are already in the business of being helpful? What if your mission is to ‘Improve the lives of children and families by providing the care, knowledge, resources and skills to help them achieve their goals in life’? Isn’t that helpful enough?

Their Goals

I have had the pleasure of hiring 22 new staff members in the past 7 months. I have met with each one of them individually at the start of their time with us, for at least 45 minutes. Each time, I review our mission because it means something to me…to our organization. What I always emphasize is the part that says: “their goals in life”…we focus on their goals for themselves, not ours for them.

Who am I serving?

While our organization serves children and families, my role does not always afford me direct contact with the people we serve on a daily basis. The fact is, I serve my staff. So, what is it I can do to be more helpful to them? How do I help those who provide services to children and families?

How can I help?

My first inclination was to give a long list of all a few things that I think would be more helpful to my staff. Here’s a few things that came to mind:

• Provide more entry points for contribution to the big picture.

The fact is, I love looking at big picture stuff as much as anything. In the past year we have grown tremendously having trippled our physical size, grown our staff, and our capacity to serve. It started with some big ideas. Really though the organization benefited greatly from folks who have a gift for the detail. They were the ones to keep me grounded in reality and made the growth useful.

• Recognize the gifts and talents of others and create opportunities for them to be shared in our organization.

People’s gifts and passions extend well beyond their job descriptions. Find out what they do well and find ways to facilitate their sharing of these gifts.

• Discover where people get their motivation to do the work they do.

When you understand this motivation, you can recognize when it happens. When this happens, you get to share in the experience that gives meaning to their work and create mutual understanding of the power of your shared work.

It may be simpler than that.

Everything I have just mentioned could perhaps be summed this way: It’s about relationship. It’s about genuine, honest relationship that is valued and understood. Whether it is between parent and child, practitioner and parent, staff and supervisor, understanding how to be helpful occurs in the context of relationship. And if you really care about being helpful, you might consider asking how.