Interesting dialog on personal responsibility and change.
Gene Bellinger said, in LO7224,
>And I must say I agree completely, yet one should not pass up the
>opportunity to be a catalyst for others to change themselves also.
It's a dilemma of leadership and management and personal growth. For a
long time, I tried to manage others -- now I realize that it is about
their choice and their continuing choices and not anything in my behavior.
Can I "tell" them -- of course; will they listen or act on this
information? No.
So, I've come to realize that my personal path is about enlightening
others. I cannot do this through lecture but only through increasing
awareness and the understandanding that each of us controls our own
behavior. Ane each of us is accountable for ourselves.
The "ah ha!" for me comes through the cartoons and metaphors I use. The
Allegory of the Cave, Square Wheels, Caterpillars and Butterfly, and a
host of other stories and metaphors are meant to create the spark in
others, the awareness of possibilities.
My Mom's constructive criticism for the past 45 years hasn't had much in
the way of positive impact on me, as far as I can tell, other than my
awareness that her approach, while well intentioned, generated reactive
responses.
Behold the turtle; he only makes progress when he sticks his neck out.
Conant
It's about awareness of possibilities, I believe. So,
Why use Square Wheels when the round ones are already in the wagon?
--Scott Simmerman Performance Management Company, 3 Old Oak Drive, Taylors SC USA 29687-6624 74170.1061@compuserve.com
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>