Exit Cards

At the first staff meeting of the year, I had the staff fill out an exit card to:
1) get a feel for the temperature - positive or negative
2) see if they were hearing me
3) see if they were on the same page as I was, and
4) get to know them a bit better.

I gave them the exit cards at the beginning of the day and told them I was doing that so that they could think about it as the day went on and to take time to reflect on what we were doing. I mentioned that we do this with students when we want them to focus on the message we are giving.

I asked them to tell me 3 pieces of good news that they heard during the day, 2 ways in which staff plan to serve our students, and 1 life passion they have.

I think I learned a great deal: staff were generally positive and a few heard the same good news that I was trying to get across. I was encouraged to hear the principles by which we govern ourselves shining through loud and clear.

What will I do with these exit cards? I will refer to the cards from time to time to make sure I am living up to the good news I was spouting, that I am supporting the staff in the ways they intend to serve and that I ask them about their life passions. By having conversations with staff around these ideas, they will know that I hold their views in high esteem and that I support them in having a balance to their lives.

One piece of good news that I communicated was "I am in the right place at the right time!" and "You are in the right place at the right time!" Two of my staff members wrote the first bit down word for word. I found that extremely encouraging. This means that they are ready for whatever comes! I just need to be there to support them so that they continue to believe it.

Leading with dignity

A few years ago I attended Blueprints and the speaker was Loughlan Sofield. Br. Loughlan Sofield, S.T. is a Catholic brother, member of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, and leading consultant on ministry and personal development. He lectures and gives workshops around the world, has written several books on leadership and community and is the senior editor of Human Development magazine. His talks so intrigued me that I purchased his book, Building Community. In re-reading this book, I am struck by his view of leadership and how to build a culture of community.

Brother Sofield spoke upon the dynamics of forming a community, the stages of development of a cohesive community and what keeps them together. He says that "experiences determine beliefs. Beliefs produce emotions. Emotions influence behavior." If this is true, then I ask the question, what if your experiences of community have been mostly of a negative nature? Conversely, if your experiences of community have been, for the most part, positive, your beliefs will be positive and your resulting emotions would also be positive. Consequently, your behavior, too, then would be positive. What happens, however, when the chips are down?

We are talking about community as a noun describing a group of people with similar beliefs and culture. We are also talking about community as the type of culture itself. According to Brother Sofield, community is not the end result, but the way in which we live on our way to somewhere. "Effective Christian communities provide support, encouragement, growth, and comfort for their members." Community is a living entity enfolding the human person as they grow and develop into the person they are meant to be.

In a simple world, then, community would either create a people of hope or a people of cynicism and mistrust. Of course, it's not that simple. There are varying degrees of hope and the same of the absence of hope.

Personally, I have always been a person who looks at life through rose coloured glasses, not because I believe the world to be only of roses, but because I choose to look at life positively. Sometimes my family and colleagues shake their heads and ask, "How can you always be so naive?" It's not naivety, I say, but a way to look at life. My experiences from a child, growing up on a poor farm in a big family, going to church, playing hard and working hard, has given me this outlook. The community I experienced has created this person of hope.

What follows then? How does one build a culture of community? And when the chips are down, how does one lead?

...by modeling community: keeping a positive outlook, providing support where needed, showing people you value their work, encouraging the heart, sticking to your principles, standing up for those who cannot do so for themselves, having those hard conversations in a kind way.... in other words, by leading with dignity.