Reidy Associates
March 2011Navigating the Territory
Good Ideas for Leaders
Deborah Reidy
Greetings!

I can't believe March is almost over.  I started working on this issue in mid February, just as many of the dramatic world events we are experiencing were just unfolding. The earthquake in New Zealand had just happened, soon to be overshadowed by events in Japan.  The unrest in North Africa and the Middle East had just begun heating up.  Every day seems rich with possibility or disaster.

 

My own life contains a similar mix of qualities.  February marked the 21st anniversary of my house fire. I finally submitted my  book manuscript for publication and received a favorable editorial review. One of my mentors,  Wolf Wolfensberger, died on February 27th.  My father is facing a very difficult life transition and other members of my family have persistent and serious health issues.  SoL North America, the organization I've been helping to shepherd into existence, has taken the next step toward becoming a reality. In the course of a single day, I often feel a bewildering range of emotions. 

 

Faced with all of this, I decided that the theme for this month is perspective. Upon reflection, maybe that's  a theme for every month.  Effective leaders are always working on perspective:

  • Being able to hold the big picture and the details simultaneously;
  • Being able to discern what takes priority and what to do with the things that aren't priorities (just because something isn't a priority doesn't mean you can just walk away from it!);
  • Finding workable solutions to the challenge of overload;
  • Helping other people to gain perspective when they seem focused on a narrow point of view...

And more.

 

In this issue, there's a case study based on my experience coaching a team that was on overwhelm, some additional information about the status of my book, and a personal reflection piece that started the whole inquiry into the topic of perspective.  Enjoy.  And Happy Spring!

 

For back issues of this newsletter, you can find them in the archives. 


Thanks for your interest and support. 

Deborah


TKC Case Study
by Deborah Reidy
The Downside of Being All Things to All People
Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed by responsibilities and commitments?  Drowning in a sea of priorities, often those generated by other people?  If so, read this case study about using systems thinking to identify strategies to address this problemJust click on the link below.

TKC Case Study: The Downside of Being All Things to All People

   Why Not Lead? A Primer for Families of People with Disabilities             and  Their Allies

by Article Author

Finally in Publication!

I am thrilled to report that I've submitted my book manuscript for production.  It's been almost 10 years in the works! I received a favorable editorial review and have been collecting encouraging endorsements from a variety of people in the disabilities and leadership fields.  Here are a couple: 

 

"Wonderful, heartful, useful ... Reidy's insights and stories illuminate the meaning of life and the practices of leadership that will improve the quality of life for each other." ~Ronald Heifetz Senior Lecturer in Public Leadership at Harvard's Kennedy School and founder of the Center for Public Leadership

 

"Deborah Reidy draws upon years of experience in the field to provide readers with an easy to read framework of leadership development, loaded with practical tips on every page, providing many inspirational stories of citizen leaders, and offers readers suggestions on how to get started on the path to personal development." Colleen Wieck, Executive Director of 

Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities  

 

You can check out sample chapters on Vision and Motivation

in the Resources section of my website,

www.reidyassociates.org 

 

I'll keep you posted as publication proceeds. 

 


Quotes to Reflect On
Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.  ~Arthur Schopenhauer, "Studies in Pessimism," Psychological Observations, 1851

Perhaps there should be one day a week when you tackle your "Things I Gotta Undo" list.  ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how things are in themselves.  The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it.  ~Carl Jung

Keeping Things in Perspective: February 21, 2011 

I'm writing this on February 21, 2011: Presidents' Day.  It also happens to be the 21st anniversary of my house burning down.  At the time-and for many months afterwards�-I could not imagine how life would ever return to normal.  I was working full time, in my last semester in graduate school and all of a sudden my husband and I had to find a place to live, catalog our lost possessions so we could do battle with our insurance company, and replace whatever things we needed most urgently. 

 I went through my days in a protracted state of shock, making decisions, leading meetings and doing presentations that I would not remember six months later.  Once we resolved the most immediate challenges, we were confronted with a project that in itself would have been a major undertaking:  Tearing down our home to make way for the building of a brand new home.  Ironically, my husband and I had purchased our home just 18 months earlier because we didn't think we wanted to take on the challenge of building a house.

 For the first number of years, the anniversary of our house burning down was an emotional experience.  We relived that phone call from my husband saying, "Are you sitting down?  You need to be sitting down."  And me, upon hearing, "The house is burning down," immediately responding with, "I don't have time for this."  We remembered with gratitude the many people who came to our support and the unexpected ways people were helpful.   We were able to finally joke about the year we lived in that awful house, the times when water came streaming down the walls because it was so poorly built; how our "dressers" were grocery bags lined up along the wall of the bedroom--an underwear bag, a sock bag, etc.  Once we were finally in our new home, we celebrated our resilience and the chance to design and build our dream home.

 Gradually, the emotional intensity of the experience faded.  I found myself offhandedly saying to people, "When our house burned down..." without anticipating having to allow for the gasps of shock that often accompanied that statement.  Every year, the memories become more and more abstract:  still vivid but almost like they had happened to another couple.

 This morning, as I was reflecting on this 21st anniversary, I felt completely removed from the emotion of the experience. My mind turned to the future:  21 years from now, I would be almost as old as my father is now.  My nieces and nephews would be middle aged, with children on the verge of adulthood or already adults themselves.  And I realized that the events that are currently causing me so much angst and distress on February 21, 2011 will be as distant memories as the events of February 21, 1990 seem now.  And quite suddenly, I realized how precious these 21 years will be.  Way too precious to squander.



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