At our leadership board retreat to kick-off the new chapter year, I started out by giving everyone a kaleidoscope. It was one of my favorite toys as a kid, and one of the first ones that I remember. Coincidentally, 45 years later my mom still has it in my “childhood memory” box. One of my fondest memories with my kaleidoscope was looking through it while pointing it in different light directions – outdoors, my bedroom light, natural sunlight, etc. I would then slowly turn the end of it and watch the magic happen inside. So why did I bring kaleidoscopes to the board? To serve as a daily reminder that we need be mindful to what other people see, how they feel, what their perspective might be – their perspective. When I was in my junior year at Ohio University, I was asked to participate in a pilot program for the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Stephen Covey defines this as the fifth habit in his bestselling book, “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” It’s critical: Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Seeking real understanding affirms the other person and what they have to say. That’s what they want.”
I have adopted this as a way of approaching every situation since then.
I then took out a prism that I had – coincidentally, it also is the same shape as a Golden Image award (#goals). Similar to the kaleidoscope, as you turn the angle of the prism and look at it through different light sources, the perspective changes. You see different angles, designs, light reflections… the perspective changes. Is it a triangle? Is it a trapezoid? It is what I see it to be.
The representation of this for me is this – You decide what you believe. Yes, what you believe is shaped by your experiences – past, and present – but ultimately you decide what you see, what you hear, what you smell, what you feel, and what you taste. Once the connection between your senses and your brain decide, you make those beliefs your reality – your perspectives.
What do I mean by perspective? A perspective is a mental view of a situation. So, you take your mental opinion and state it to yourself as a fact, therefore; it becomes your reality.
Does that mean you are wrong? No. And it does not mean you are right either. (Back to the 5th Habit…)
So you need to decide if you are willing to broaden your perspective. Are you willing to let yourself grow? Are you willing to open your mind to new possibilities?
That is my challenge for everyone this chapter year – do your best to broaden your perspective. I found an excellent article on LinkedIn that I encourage you to read – 6 WAYS TO BRODEN YOUR PERSPECTIVE AND BE OPEN TO NEW IDEAS. You can navigate to it here.
This is where be begin – the highlights and goals I presented at our inaugural State of the Chapter last month. For more information, you’ll read more about it on our 5 Takeaways article.
Yours in Service, Lindsay
