In this issue you'll find: In the Works - highlights of upcoming programs, “The Quiet Power of Care”: An essay on care by Raj Manickam, one of our trustees, Principle of the Month - Vision, Leading Perspectives - A book summary of Discover Your True North by Bill George
With morning temperatures staring to drop, fall is a upon us! It’s certainly a welcome reprieve from a hot and dry summer. It’s good to know that fire danger is on the decline, although not gone entirely. Lets stay vigilant!
In this issue, we hope you’ll find these articles of interest:
In the Works - highlights of upcoming programs
“The Quiet Power of Care”: An essay on care by Raj Manickam, one of our trustees
Principle of the Month - Vision
Leading Perspectives - A book summary of Discover Your True North by Bill George
This Newsletter comes to you because of your previous involvement. Your support helps us stay at the cutting edge of leadership thinking.
Thank you!
John Horan-Kates (JHK), President
JohnHoranKates@gmail.com
IN THE WORKS
Programs:
The next RoundTable cohortis being formed and is scheduled to start its retreat the weekend of October 16-18th under the mentorship of Jane West. There’s one seat reamaing. Find details more and register on our website.
Our most recent Foundations of Leadership cohort, made of six leaders from across the Vail Valley, recently came together for their retreat. They are now starting their first month of programming. Look out for updates on our Instagram and Facebook!
A new Inside First Coaching certification program is in development. This program is part of our strategic initiative to expand our leadership perspective and programming to other communities. If you are interested, reach out via email or via the contact form on our website.
If you have special programming requests or you’ve done a program in the past and would like to participate again, please let us know. We can customize a program to your needs, and we’ll be forming groups on an ongoing basis.
Note: Monthly meetings of RoundTables will be scheduled following each session to allow for member availability.
The Quiet Power of Care
Raj Manickam
Care. Four letters. One simple word. Yet few words carry as much weight.
We ask people to “take care.” We promise customers we will “take care of it". But genuine care is more than something we say. It is attention expressed through action.
In business, care is often revealed in small moments: returning a call when promised, arriving on time, listening before responding, or following up after the work is complete.
For a realtor, care begins with the first conversation and continues well beyond the sale. It is found in the numerous follow ups attention to every detail, questions answered, additional information gathered, and concerns addressed along the way. Behind every transaction is a person or family making an important financial and personal decision. Over time, that professional relationship often becomes a personal bond extending across families, households, and even generations.
For a contractor or service provider, care may mean protecting a clients home, cleaning the work area before leaving, or pointing out a developing problem before it becomes an expensive repair.
These gestures rarely appear in a a contract or an invoice. Yet they are often what people remember most.
Care also has practical value. It prevents mistakes, protects property, reduces waste, and creates customers who return and refer others. Its absence carries a cost too. Missed details become callbacks. Unanswered questions become uncertainty. Small problems become expensive ones.
This matters especially in a close knit community like the Vail Valley. Our reputations are built one conversation, one home, and one act of consideration at a time.
Care shapes the workplace as well. People who care do not walk past a problem because it belongs to someone else. They help a coworker, report a safety concern, protect shared materials, and leave things ready for the next person.
Care is contagious. One person who consistently demonstrates it raises the standards for everyone. Neglect spreads just as easily. Shortcuts become habits, habits become culture, and culture becomes reputation.
None of use gets it right every time. Care does not require perfections. I ask that we notice, take responsibility, make things right, and keep trying.
Perhaps we strive to care because caring is part of our innate nature. The challenge is simply remembering to express it through our actions, especially when we are busy or no none is watching.
Ask yourself one question:
If someone described the way you work using only one word, would “care” be one of them?
We do not answer that question ourselves. Our clients, coworkers, families, and community answer it for use everyday.
Long after the paperwork is signed, the work is completed, and the invoice is paid, people remember how we made them feel.
That may be the quietest and most enduring legacy of care!
Vision
The Inside First Principle for September
Overview
Casting a vision is an essential and extremely valuable leadership principle. Some people think of it as brainstorming, but it really goes well beyond that valuable, albeit short-term perspective. In his book Visionary Leadership, Burt Nanus defines vision as “a realistic, credible, attractive future for your organization. It is the indispensable tool without which leadership is doomed to failure.” Matthew Heim, in his essay “Catching the Vision,” claims that “by learning to work from a place of intuitive knowing, we can begin to make wiser decisions.”
Leaders see what others don’t. They look for what is coming next. Stephen Coveyuses the expression, “have the end in mind.” While vision is a skill that helps us paint vivid pictures, for it to be significant, it requires having an executable strategy that evolves in relationship with others. Nanus says “the right vision jump-starts people to move forward.”
Taking bold action is one of those virtues that sets leaders apart. The best action is that which follows a plan.
Sample Practices: The following practices are offered by a variety of leaders from around the world:
·Picture where you want to be, write it down
·Be disciplined in conceptualizing beyond day-to-day realities
· …
Leading Perspectives
Discover Your True North by Bill George
Overview
Discover Your True North links the themes and images of authentic leadership to a compass. The presumption is that when you know yourself well and follow the direction of of your internal compass, people will see the real you and will become more likely to connect with you and follow you.
George draws on interviews with a wide-ranging set of leaders to argue that leadership is less about displaying all the right traits and virtues and more about building your approach around your particular strengths and aspects of your specific story that have made you the person that you are. Much of this shaping is done “in the crucible” as you mature. According to George your story reveals your most deeply held beliefs, and strongly influences your leadership approach.
I recently attended a True North leadership conference in California lead by George. It was eye-opening, in the sense that it required me to go deep into my values, purpose and vision. Much like we do in our Vail Leadership Alliance programs, it asked participants to “tell us your story.” This simple request, and the open, honest responses people provided was awe-inspiring.
Something about telling your story changes the dynamics in a small group. Talking about your highs and lows and the lessons you’ve learned along the way, reveals dimensions we don’t typically discuss. It reveals your values, your vision, and your approach to others.
Definitions:
· Internal Compass: That which guides you through life
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“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead
