Pathways Can Lead Us Many Places

Memories (like old roads) provide direction and a structure.  Whether the topic is organization or individual change, direction and structure are essential for getting us where we want to go.  This pathway illustrates tradition.

WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU?

So how does that help us consider today’s issues of change? 

Tradition brings back values that are proven and solid.  Values like quality, willingness, integrity, generosity, and courage and provide standards we can use for making decisions. Here are some key themes that might be helpful as you think about your role and purpose in the organization and in your relationships.

VALUES CREATE STANDARDS

Quality:  Quality is like beauty. It means attention to detail, and being present in what you are doing.  Quality in the work place means to be sure that all work is done with precision and care.  It means that standards are used for guides to determine what quality will look like.  In our relationships with others, quality means that we are present when we are listening to others.  It means we extend ourselves to understand what the other person is saying or struggling with. 

Willingness:  To be willing is to remove the barriers of resistance that immediately go up when change appears.  It is willingness to hear the new adventure or process. It is willingness to accept suggestions for improvement. It is willingness to participate joyfully in a new team. It is the extension of self into experimenting with something new.  If you honestly work with a new process and see how it fits or how it improves the outcome, you might come to appreciate it. If, on the other hand, you cross your arms and clamp your jaw, you not only demonstrate unwillingness, but you create a disturbance within the team. 

Integrity: This word reflects honesty and forthrightness. Stating what you mean and what is important to you helps you set the standard for what makes you comfortable.  Integrity is compromised when you feel dragged along, without being able to address your own concerns.  Integrity is also compromised when you do not state your position; or you lie about your position. Integrity is violated when you do not stand up for your own values.

Generosity:  Giving people (especially team mates and bosses) the benefit of the doubt and sharing your knowledge, skill and helpfulness can go a long way when changes are coming from all directions.  It is important to remember that other people might be just as distressed as you are with the impact of the changes that are coming. 

Courage:  Courage is facing the fear and doing the job that needs to be done. Courage is also called upon when you have to express your standards or your concerns about those values that you see being compromised. Courage is needed when making changes in habitual behavior, when in your personal life or in your work patterns. It takes courage to stand up for yourself—-who else would do that now that you are an adult?

LISTEN TO YOUR ANCESTORS

If the changes are getting you down, look into the pathway in the picture and imagine what your ancestors had to deal with.  How did they manage the changes that they made in their lives; or that were imposed upon them by outside forces?  How did they deal with people and situations that were painful? What can you learn from what they did; or what they should have done? 

USE YOUR VALUES TO MAKE CHANGES

Consider some of the changes that are impacting you right now.  How might you uses some of these values as standards for making decisions about these changes?  You might also consider other values that could be important, like humility, or forgiveness, perseverance, hope, or faith.