I’m thrilled to have a new blog in my feed reader, and I want to share it with you: Chris DeWeese has decided to share his leadership journey with Managing with Aloha and Getting Things Done —which long-time readers know I’ve read and invested time in as a productivity exploration.
Please click over, read his first post, and support him with your comments and a subscription.
I love that Chris starts with his own story, and his intention to keep writing his story as it continues to play out, for that’s what management and leadership becomes for all of us who choose them: A self-directed story of what we learn, and how we intentionally choose to use it in working with others. As Chris writes:
The one lesson I remember best and has always helped me as a leader was simple, “take care of your people and they will take care of you.”
I’ve always privately thought of Managing with Aloha as ‘my Pono story’ and do explain that in my book’s prologue and ending. I don’t think of it as a memoir exactly, for my goal writing it was to urge managers to treat management and leadership as a calling, and my desire was to share the goodness of the Hawaiian values to help. However the story is there, and it can’t really be separated from the whole, for it’s a story about how I sought Pono (the value of rightness) working within an industry which wasn’t embraced or admired very much in Hawai‘i at the time. The sense of balance we can pull from the value of Pono is important because you can’t do good work when you don’t feel completely good doing it.
Good begets good, and all people can start from their inherent goodness. It’s one of my favorite coachings and I believe it with all of me: Mind (mana‘o), body (kino), soul and spirit (‘uhane).
When will you write your story? I know you have one, and as David Zinger likes to say,
“Your story is more important than mine because it is, after all, your story.”
As I commented for Chris, I believe that blogging one’s personal story publicly is a profound expression of lokomaika‘i ~ generosity. He certainly gave me a great gift in doing so with this first step! However I realize how much bravery it takes to be that open and vulnerable, and to ask strangers you haven’t met yet for their feedback. But you know what happens? They can become a strong support system for you, strengthening you in several ways. All of you who read Talking Story certainly do that for me.
We’ve talked about journaling often, as the way to write things down, and write to think. Incorporate journaling into your 2011 Year of Better Habits. Maybe you’re not ready to do so publicly like Chris is doing, and that’s okay. Do it for yourself. Capture your story so you can truly appreciate what a gem it is.
A bit more from Chris:
A few months ago I was selected to a leadership position and moved from being an individual contributor back to leading a group of people. Most people know that there is a big difference when you make this change. I went from thinking how I would complete my projects, to how I will take care of my employees and help them complete their projects. I guess if you look at it in a way I took on an exponential amount of work and responsibility, but I also gained the chance to influence my employees lives in a positive way and guide us in a direction of continued success.
Sure sounds like answering a calling to me.
I’m eager to read more, aren’t you?