02.01.2010
  
Adirondack Header with magine
Michael Fox CPCC,
founder of magine!,
is a professional
coach and trainer,
author and creative artist, whose work has been featured throughout
the world.

Michael is a
Certified Practitioner
of the
Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator.

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Of leadership,
a shotgun,
and a chicken in the backyard...
New Orleans, Louisiana is filled with creative spirits. All kinds of spirits, one could argue. (But that's another story. Or two or three.) Art. Jazz. Food. All of which require both creativity and adaptability. But one of NOLA's most intriguing examples of adaptability is the much-maligned "shotgun house," residences built from the end of the War of Northern Aggression through the 1920s. Theirs is a history of tenacious and creative adaptability.

A shotgun house is a narrow urban residence, usually no more than twelve feet wide--bereft of halls--with doors at the front and back. The rooms of a shotgun house are lined up one behind another: a living room in the front of the house, leading into a bedroom, sometimes leading into a second bedroom, with a kitchen in the back. Structures are thought to have first been called "shotgun houses"--in spite of recent efforts to "sophisticate" the moniker--since, if all of the doors without and within were opened, theoretically you could fire a shotgun from the front yard through the house and kill a chicken in the backyard.

Why you'd be inclined to try such a thing is, again, another story.

The narrow shotgun houses were designed to best the tax collector, who initially assessed property taxes based upon the width of the front of the dwelling. In time, property owners found they could add a second story without additional tax burden. Naturally, the tax code was changed to assess additional stories that extended to the front of the house. Again, in time, property owners found they could add a second story, without tax liability, by stopping the second story short of the front of the house. Each historical iteration of the shotgun house was developed in response to the evolving tax code. A casual drive through the residential districts of New Orleans yields numerous examples of each adaptation of the shotgun house.

Adaptability. It's the ability to adjust to changing conditions.

Warren Bennis, author and organizational consultant, includes the ability to adapt as a vital component of leadership:

After studying leadership for six decades, I am struck by how small is the body of knowledge of which I am sure. I do believe that leaders develop by a process we do not fully understand, from a crucible experience...that somehow educates and empowers the individual. I believe adaptive capacity or resilience is the single most important quality in a leader, or in anyone else for that matter who hopes to lead a healthy, meaningful life...And I believe all exemplary leaders have six competencies: They create a sense of mission, they motivate others to join them on that mission, they create an adaptive social architecture for their followers, they generate trust and optimism, they develop other leaders, and they get results (The Challenges of Leadership in the Modern World, emphasis mine).

So...


Steven Sample, author of The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership, observed, "Many people want to be leader, but few want to do leader; if you're not in the latter group you should stay away from the leader business altogether" (p. 190). How would you describe the difference between wanting to "be leader" and the willingness to "do leader"?

How do you respond to change that threatens your foundation and structure, or those of the organization you lead?

What circumstances are presently challenging your willingness and ability to adapt--in order to either prosper or survive?

Who might you become, what might you do, to encourage creative adaptability in either yourself or in the organization you lead?

What do you think--no kidding--about firing a rifle from your front yard, through the house, to kill a chicken in your backyard?


Michael Fox
m�agine!

530/613.2774
407 Myrtle Drive
Farmerville, LA, USA 71241  
In addition to personal and professional coaching,
m�agine! specializes in spiritual transformation coaching,
employing its proprietary models
--Values, Vision, Voice
and Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength--

as well as
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator� curriculum
published by CPP, the People Development People.

Michael's books include
 
Complete in Christ,
Complete in Christ Spiritual Transformation Workbook,
and Biblio�files.

Coaching fees are based upon a sliding scale. Contact us for details.
For additional information, visit our website at maginethepossibilities.net.

Limited scholarships are available for spiritual transformation coaching.
On the flip side, if you are able, please inquire about opportunities
to fund scholarships for those who cannot afford coaching fees.

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