Community Update – 05/15/10
I’m in Colorado with my wife attending our son’s graduation from Colorado State University. Graduation signals an ending that includes beginnings. That’s life. That’s leadership. From my perspective, after inspiring shared vision the most challenging leadership task is skillfully leading others through letting go of the past.
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Kelly Ketelboeter records some life lessons from her niece’s graduation on the Experience Factor. She was on the edge of her seat during the ceremony. I wonder if that will be true of us tonight? Speaking of the Experience factor, Kelly’s partner Jen Kuhn used a compass-metaphor to write about leadership. Her blog has me thinking about the power and importance of metaphor. Check out, “Take me to Your Leader”
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The appearance of the red dot in the LF administration page beside comments is one of my most enjoyable moments as a blogger. It means a first time comment awaits moderation. It means a another person took the time to add value to others. The LF conversation is my favorite part of blogging. Thank you to everyone who shares their thoughts, experiences, wisdom, questions with the LF community!
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Thanks to Ian Sanders from the UK for sending his book, Juggler. I read it on the flight from Pennsylvania to Colorado. The central question I ask while reading a book is, “How will I change?” I’ll be posting a review of his book soon.
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Thanks to eCollegeFinder for listing Leadership Freak as one of their top 50 Career Advocates. Honestly, it’s humbling and a bit unnerving to be listed in the leadership category with five heavy hitting sites. I appreciate their recognition.
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Best to all,
Dan
Congratulations to your son for his graduation and to you and your wife for your dedication to his endeavor.
Jim, thanks for your kind words, Best, Dan
I’m sure you will have a had a great night, congratulations to the whole family, that’s what gets them there, very happy for you all.
Thanks you Richard. I’m so glad we were there. Regards, Dan
Change always means leaving something behind … Sometimes you like it and sometimes not. For example I’ve been struggling a lot with accepting the fact that I haven’t got any small children anymore but now I understand the greatness in having schoolchildren. A model useful in helping people to understand how they are affected by change is The Four Rooms of Change, see http://www.claesjanssen.com/ .
Another thing I’ve recently understood is that everybody finds themselves positive to change. I’ve asked that question to each employee in my group and they all define themselfes positive to change (I didn’t before asking). The difference between them is how much time and explanation they need for accepting the change. The “slow” ones finds it very wise to reflect upon the change before accepting it and the “fast” ones wants to implement the change right away! This is my challenge this year as one main objective is “Adapt organization to react positively to change initiated by process improvement program”
Ulrika,
Thanks for you comment and leaving a link as a resource for others.
Your personal comment regarding “small children cp. schoolchildren reminded me that what we don’t have can spoil what we do have. Even though you miss small children, you are enjoying schoolchildren. It’s a helpful point.
Here’s a resource for you. Managing Transitions by William and Susan Bridges. It’s the best thing I’ve read on transition management. Transition is the process between change. Transition begins with an ending and ends with a beginning.
It will help if your team understands the change curve. Things always get worse before they get better.
Best regards,
Dan
Congratulations Dan to you and your family and especially your son on his graduation. Like you correctly state, this is the beginning and also the ending, both very exciting. Regards, Al
Al,
Thanks for your kind words.
Best,
Dan
Hi Dan,
I have now ordered the book you so kindly advised and I look forward to starting reading it!
/Ulrika
Ulrika,
After you’ve read it, let me know what you think.
Best,
Dan
Congratulations to your son and your family Dan! What a proud moment to be able to share in his accomplishments. How was the ceremony? I hope you were on the edge of your seat!!! Thanks for included Jen and I in your Community Update. We are blessed to be connected with you and appreciate your support!
Cheers!
Kelly
Kelly,
It was pretty long so we leaned back some. 🙂
You are most welcomed and back at’cha.
Cheers to you,
Dan
Congratulations to your son on his graduation. I wish him all the best.
Congratulations to you and your family for making it possible for him to reach there.
Best regards
Yuva