Category Archives: Lessons From The Lawn

Lesson 9: Finding the Flourish Space

27 Sunday Nov 2016

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Lessons for Life and Leadership from the Lawn

I wanted to name this series “Lessons from the Garden” because it sounds nice and gardens are beautiful. However, I kill plants inside and out on a regular basis so that seemed misleading. In truth, I spent much of the summer of 2016 weeding my front yard. It wasn’t glamorous and didn’t result in anything with splendid color. I toyed with the idea of “Lessons from the Yard,” but I thought that title made it sound like I was in prison. I decided on “lawn,” and whatever you call it, I learned a lot sitting in the grass for a summer.

Lesson 9: Finding the Flourish Space

In my front lawn, there are different environmental conditions for plants. Parts of the lawn get full sun most of the day, while other parts are very shady. Some sections get part sun and part shade. The big trees suck up the moisture and challenge all the plants under them.

Different grasses grow best in certain types of environments. I have one type of grass that flourishes in full sun, but doesn’t do well in shade. Another type of grass does well in shade, but burns to a crisp in full sun. Under the trees, I planted an ornamental grass that can grow in shade and hold its own in the fight with the tree for moisture.

If I tried to use one type of grass for every part of the lawn, I would have large bare spots. No one grass flourishes in all areas and conditions. I have to pay attention to what flourishes where. When I plant grass in an area that has both sun and shade, I mix the seeds of two types of grass. Then, I wait to see which one will end up doing best in that area.

People are like grass in that we don’t flourish under all conditions. We can function and even create success under most conditions, but to truly flourish, we need to find our unique nourishing environment. When we identify our best conditions, things are easier. There is a sense of flow and ease.

We can’t define our flourishing space until we do some self-examination. Here are some questions to help you determine your best environment:

 Do you prefer working with people or working alone?

Do you like getting lots of attention or do you prefer to work outside the limelight?

Does a frantic pace rev your engines or do you prefer a slower pace?

Do you like lots of interaction with others?

Does working as part of a team appeal to you?

Do you like working in a noisy place or a quiet one?

Do you enjoy being creative?

Is collaborating important to you or would you rather do it your own way?

Do you like recognition?

Do you enjoy public speaking?

Is the purpose of your work important?

Is making money a top priority?

Do you like challenges?

Is possible promotion important?

Do you want to be surrounded by people who are similar to you or do you enjoy people with diverse views?

There aren’t right or wrong answers to these questions. Just like grass, people grow and perform best in environments suited to them. We can struggle along and do a good job most anywhere, but to truly enjoy work and reach our full potential, we need our flourishing space.

Another way to define our best environment is to think back to times when we felt like we were in our groove and things were easy. What was the environment like in those times? We can learn a lot by examining our past.

People often say that they don’t know what they like. That’s common. How can you know if you like something if you haven’t experienced it? The solution is to get out there and try! Once you take a job or create a certain environment, pay attention to what you like and don’t like about it. Make a list! You might decide that you want to work from home at least two days a week. Maybe you like doing data analysis, but you hate answering phones. Perhaps you like being in charge and want to start your own business! It’s like planting two types of grass and seeing which one does best.

As you move through your life and career, look for environments that give you more of what you like and less of what you don’t like. Each job, whether volunteer or for pay, should be closer to your ideal than the last one. You get to craft your flourishing space over time. It only requires you to pay attention and choose intentionally.

For a little bit of fun leadership development, join 53 Leadership Challenges at KathyStoddardTorrey.com.

Want to go further with your professional development? Check out the courses offered at PositiveEffectLeadership.com.

If you are interested in taking your career to the next level quickly, contact me for a sample coaching session at KSTorrey@tapferconsulting.com.

Lesson 8: Getting to the Root

22 Tuesday Nov 2016

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Lessons for Life and Leadership from the Lawn

I wanted to name this series “Lessons from the Garden” because it sounds nice and gardens are beautiful. However, I kill plants inside and out on a regular basis so that seemed misleading. In truth, I spent much of the summer of 2016 weeding my front yard. It wasn’t glamorous and didn’t result in anything with splendid color. I toyed with the idea of “Lessons from the Yard,” but I thought that title made it sound like I was in prison. I decided on “lawn,” and whatever you call it, I learned a lot sitting in the grass for a summer.

 Lesson 8: Getting to the Root

Sometimes I went out to weed in the yard as a break from other work. I wouldn’t have my sharp-pointed weeding tool or bucket. I would just roam the yard looking for random weeds.

Some weeds come out in one piece no matter what the ground conditions, but most weeds break off if you don’t use a weeding tool when the ground is dry. I watered patches I planned to weed the night before. However, on those impromptu weeding sessions, I often broke off the leafy top of the weed and left the root intact.

When you remove the top of the weed, the lawn looks good for a while, but the weed grows back. The root gets bigger, stronger, and more difficult to get out. You end up having to break the top off over and over again. I was solving the problem for the moment, but creating more work for Future Kathy.

One of my main goals in life is to set up Future Kathy for success. She is always very grateful when I do. I take time in the evening to plan the next day so Future Kathy can just sit down and get started in the morning. I try not to over-eat so Future Kathy won’t groan in agony and get fat. Breaking off the top of the weeds was making things look good, but it definitely wasn’t helping Future Kathy.

Like most things in life, you must get to the root of the problem to really fix it. Unfortunately, that takes time. To truly get rid of a weed, I had to sit down, use a sharp weeding tool, and dig down to the bottom of the root. It’s the only way to make sure that it didn’t return and that Future Kathy didn’t have to deal with it again. To get rid of other problems in life, you also have to take time to find the root cause and get rid of it.

Chronic challenges like being late, losing things, and always feeling frantic can be eliminated mostly if we dig down to the root of the problem. If you are chronically late, what creates that situation? If you can’t find your keys most mornings, put a hook on the wall and make a habit of hanging the keys there. Yes, it’s a bit of a hassle and requires some concentration. However, once it’s a habit, you will never have to look for your keys again.

Perhaps you are late because you just don’t give yourself enough time. Setting the alarm 15 minutes earlier until you can get out the door on time might be an easy solution. A “landing pad” by the door can save a lot of time. A landing pad is a place where you put everything that you need to take with you. It can have keys, papers, backpacks, etc. Instead of frantically gathering things at the last minute, we plan ahead and make a pile.

It’s impossible to know what the solution to a challenge is until you dig down, find it’s root, and get rid of the root problem. Just like weeding, it generally takes some time to deal with the root, but do it once and you will never have to deal with that particular challenge, or weed, ever again.

 

 

For a little bit of fun leadership development, join 53 Leadership Challenges at KathyStoddardTorrey.com.

Want to go further with your professional development? Check out the courses offered at PositiveEffectLeadership.com.

If you are interested in taking your career to the next level quickly, contact me for a sample coaching session at KSTorrey@tapferconsulting.com.

Lesson 7: Don’t Let the Ivy Job Distract You

15 Tuesday Nov 2016

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Lessons for Life and Leadership from the Lawn

I wanted to name this series “Lessons from the Garden” because it sounds nice and gardens are beautiful. However, I kill plants inside and out on a regular basis so that seemed misleading. In truth, I spent much of the summer of 2016 weeding my front yard. It wasn’t glamorous and didn’t result in anything with splendid color. I toyed with the idea of “Lessons from the Yard,” but I thought that title made it sound like I was in prison. I decided on “lawn,” and whatever you call it, I learned a lot sitting in the grass for a summer.

 Lesson 7: Don’t Let the Ivy Job Distract You

Toward the end of the summer, my enthusiasm for weeding began to wane. I was trying to finish the job before I went out of town for a couple of weeks. I had saved one scraggly patch of hard ground that was full of weeds for the end. I was probably hoping that I wouldn’t have enough time to get to it – but I did.

That last challenging strip was near a fence. On the other side of the fence was ivy that was growing through the fence. Pulling the ivy off the fence was a job that needed to be done. I considered pausing in my weeding and diverting my energy to ivy removal.

It was tempting. I’d been weeding for a couple of months and the last piece of lawn was tedious work. Pulling ivy off the fence was relatively quick and gratifying. However, if I took on the ivy job, I would not have time to finish the weeding.

When we are working on a project in life, there is often ivy there to distract us. A task or project that is worthwhile, but not something we intentionally planned to do, is an Ivy Job. An Ivy Job is a temptation because it’s different and maybe easier than the main work that is on our list of things to do. The Ivy Job could be checking social media or calling to check on a friend. Or, it could be putting the new shower curtain rings on the shower curtain – which is exactly the Ivy Job that I just let myself get sucked into when I took a bathroom break. It’s important to realize that the Ivy Job is a distraction! Don’t get distracted! We want to finish the main job that we started.

If we have planned in alignment with our priorities and an Ivy Job is not on our list, then it isn’t something we should be doing at that moment. Knowing what’s a main job and what’s an Ivy Job takes some consideration and a clear picture of your short- and long-term goals. The key is to decide each evening what three things you are going to accomplish the next day that will move you toward your goals. Those three things are the main jobs of the day, and they should be finished before any of the day-to-day Ivy Jobs. If you know what’s important, it’s easier to stick with it and not get sidetracked.

Even if we know the task is important, it takes self-discipline to stay at a job beyond our motivation. Sometimes our energy and enthusiasm wane. Luckily for us, self-discipline is something that we can strengthen and master. It’s like a muscle; the more you use your self-discipline, the stronger it gets. We can do workouts for our self-discipline just like we work out at the gym.

One of my favorite self-discipline workouts is doing the laundry. Anyone leave the laundry sitting in the washer? Dryer? Any flat surface in the house? If you want to observe a married couple argue, ask them about their laundry procedure. It’s a trigger for almost everyone – and a necessity of life. We all have to get our laundry done so let’s do it right and use it for self-discipline practice.

The first step in any job is to make time for it and to commit to doing it. We start with the intention of finishing completely. It’s a mindset. I think of it as finishing strong. When I get tired in the middle of a task or project, I remind myself that my goal is to finish strong.

A mantra can help. It’s just a phrase that you repeat over and over to yourself that’s a reminder of what is important to you and why. When my motivation starts to flag, I say to myself, “Kathy, you are not a wimp or a quitter. Get going and finish strong. Make yourself proud.”  Leaders are finishers. Great leaders don’t leave unfinished jobs strewn about in their wake. Leaders get things done completely and pay attention to the details until the end. They finish strong.

For our self-discipline workout, we start by committing to do the laundry. Then, we choose a time when we can see it through to the end. Having a plan is important. I might start the whites or regulars and then go run an errand, but when the dryer stops, I am ready to fold and put away the laundry. Clothes that sit in the dryer get wrinkled and can create more work.

Once the dryer stops, go get the clothes, fold them, and put them away. Boy does that sound simple! It can be if we don’t use a lot of emotional energy fighting the process. Take a breath and don’t give the laundry an emotional charge. It’s just laundry. It needs to be done. Remind yourself of the satisfied feeling of finishing a job. Come up with a mantra and repeat it to yourself. Keep in mind that you are practicing self-discipline. It’s all about finishing something worthwhile that isn’t fun. Successful people can do that. You can do that.

After a while, getting the laundry folded and put away is a task that you can do with ease. You have the correct mindset; it’s a necessary task and a worthwhile use of your time. Your self-discipline muscle is stronger, which makes it easier to power through a job to the end even if it isn’t enjoyable. You don’t get distracted by the Ivy Jobs. You remind yourself with your mantra that finishing every job is something you do because you are a person who finishes what you start. You finish strong. It’s amazing how good that makes you feel.

For a little bit of fun leadership development, join 53 Leadership Challenges at KathyStoddardTorrey.com.

Want to go further with your professional development? Check out the courses offered at PositiveEffectLeadership.com.

If you are interested in taking your career to the next level quickly, contact me for a sample coaching session at KSTorrey@tapferconsulting.com.

Lesson 4: Peaky Blinders Syndrome

25 Tuesday Oct 2016

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front-yard-picLessons for Life and Leadership from the Lawn

I wanted to name this series “Lessons from the Garden” because it sounds nice and gardens are beautiful. However, I kill plants inside and out on a regular basis so that seemed misleading. In truth, I spent much of the summer of 2016 weeding my front yard. It wasn’t glamorous and didn’t result in anything with splendid color. I toyed with the idea of “Lessons from the Yard,” but I thought that title made it sound like I was in prison. I decided on “lawn,” and whatever you call it, I learned a lot sitting in the grass for a summer.

Lesson 4: Peaky Blinders Syndrome

During the summer, I watched a British TV series called Peaky Blinders. It’s a post-World War I story about soldiers turned gangsters in England. It is a cool, but violent, show. I am not recommending that everyone watch it, but it does illustrate an interesting concept.

The Peaky Blinders gang had elaborate schemes to make money and gain power. There are three seasons out right now and somewhere in the first season, the leader of the gang began to promise that they would go legit. He said that they would become a legal operation after this “one last job.”

Obviously they haven’t become boring, legal businessmen; the series would be over! They keep doing “one last job.” However, we all get stuck waiting for or doing “one more thing” in various aspects of our lives.

When I started working in the yard, I would head out the door with the intention of working for a certain period of time. However, I almost always stayed out longer to do “one more thing.” I was going to finish this strip or get that one patch of weeds, but then I continued to do one more strip or one more patch. I named this phenomenon Peaky Blinders Syndrome in honor of the gang that constantly is doing “one more job.”

We can become victims of Peaky Blinders Syndrome in situations when we need to set boundaries. We might think, “Well, next time that coworker puts me down, I will say something.” We don’t really want a confrontation so we put up with it one more time.

We can suffer Peaky Blinders Syndrome with our friends. We all have had a friend that takes advantage of the relationship. He or she gets us to pay or do things that we really aren’t interested in doing. Sometimes this friend talks all about themselves and doesn’t listen to us. Instead of speaking up or ending the friendship, we tell ourselves that we will deal with it next time.

The worst case scenario of Peaky Blinders Syndrome is with addictions. One more of anything beyond what we decide to consume or buy can be a problem. If we talk ourselves into one more drink or one more pair of shoes when those things aren’t in our best interests, we are stuck in a very destructive version of Peaky Blinders Syndrome.

On the grandest scale we tell ourselves that we will be happy enough or rich enough when this “one thing” happens. When it does happen, we still aren’t happy enough or rich enough, and we continue to wait for the one next thing.

We fall into Peaky Blinders Syndrome for a couple of reasons. First, we are doing something that we like, something that brings us pleasure. That isn’t all bad! It’s only a problem when we are ignoring other things we want to do or when it becomes an obsession. Sometimes I stayed out in the yard because weeding was more enjoyable than the tedious tasks that waited for me in the house.

We can also fall into Peaky Blinders Syndrome because we are avoiding a confrontation or something we don’t want to do. We tell ourselves that we will put up with the unhelpful situation or person one more time. It can be hard to stand up for yourself if you aren’t skilled or experienced at doing so.

So, ack! What’s a person to do to avoid Peaky Blinders Syndrome? First, set limits. Really draw a line in the sand and mean it. A limit can be a budget or note in your calendar. When I worked in the yard, I set an alarm on my phone.  It’s important that it’s a firm limit that you really mean!

Second, create some accountability by telling people what your limit is. You might tell a friend “I want to be out of this job in one year” or “Here is what I am going to say the next time Fred makes an inappropriate comment.” It helps to know that someone is going to ask if you are on track and not existing with Peaky Blinders Syndrome. I would tell my husband when I planned to come in the house from weeding, and if I was later than 30 minutes past my deadline, he usually would come and check on me.

Outside accountability is helpful; however, it’s important not to shift the responsibility to someone else. They are your support, not your police. It’s not their job to stand over you and make sure you do what you have said you want to do. Ultimately, the responsibility is yours.

Finally, if you find that the behavior feels compulsive or you can’t ever stand up for yourself, it’s time to get professional help. Talk to a therapist, coach, or both. There are professionals who can help you create the life that you want, a life free of Peaky Blinders Syndrome.

For a little bit of fun leadership development, join 53 Leadership Challenges at KathyStoddardTorrey.com.

Want to go further with your professional development? Check out the courses offered at PositiveEffectLeadership.com.

If you are interested in taking your career to the next level quickly, contact me for a sample coaching session at KSTorrey@tapferconsulting.com.

Lesson 3: Taking The “Im” Off Of Impossible

18 Tuesday Oct 2016

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Lessons for Life and Leadership from the Lawn

I wanted to name this series “Lessons from the Garden” because it sounds nice and gardens are beautiful. However, I kill plants inside and out on a regular basis so that seemed misleading. In truth, I spent much of the summer of 2016 weeding my front yard. It wasn’t glamorous, and it didn’t result in any splendid color around the lawn. I toyed with the idea of “Lessons from the Yard,” but I thought that title made it sound like I was in prison. I decided on “lawn,” and whatever you call it, I learned a lot from sitting in the grass for a summer.

 Lesson 3: Taking the “im” off of impossible

 When I weeded the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the road, I had a lot of interaction with my walking neighbors. When I worked in the yard away from the sidewalk, sometimes people would speak or wave, but not always. However, it was impossible to pretend that I wasn’t there when they had to walk within a foot of me.

In the beginning, the comments were not positive. The work was slow. That strip of grass was mostly a strip of weeds. The passersby said things like “aren’t you in the same spot as yesterday?” and “I have Roundup you can use if you want to get that done.” Sigh. On the whole, they were not very encouraging. Even I began to wonder if weeding the yard was indeed possible.

However, I had a plan and a vision, so I plodded along. I made progress on the strip of grass and as I got close to the end, the tenor of the passing comments changed. They said things like “it’s looking good!” and “you are almost there!” Same people saying more positive things because now they could see that it was possible.

By continuing to weed and move forward, I proved to them that it was a task that could be accomplished and that I had the determination to do it. Once they began to believe it was possible, and not a waste of my time, they became more encouraging.

As leaders, we want to make things possible for other people by our example. I am a pretty assertive person, probably more assertive than most women. I’m not afraid of trying things, looking like a fool, or standing up for something that I believe in. Many times throughout my life, women have come up to me and said, “You will be so proud of me!” Then they go on to regale me with tales of how they stood up for themselves or spoke confidently in an interview. They usually say, “I was standing there thinking, ‘What would Kathy say?’” Ha! I’m honored and proud of them. Imitation is one of the sincerest forms of flattery. Great leaders are people that others want to emulate.

When we lived in North Carolina, our next door neighbor was an older woman that my husband and I helped out sometimes. One of our jobs was to check under the house after a heavy rain to ensure that the sump pump was working. One weekend when my husband was gone, the sump pump wasn’t working. So, I went under the house and stood in the dark in about two and a half feet of water littered with swimming and dead camel crickets and checked the sump pump. It was just as gross as it sounds.

Fast forward a few years, I now live in Alabama, but keep in touch with my friend in North Carolina. She called one day and said, “You are going to be so proud of me!” After a deluge of rain, there was water under the house. She went in, set the sump pump upright, and got it running. She said, “I thought, ‘If Kathy can do it, I can do it!’” I was proud of her and she did do it! It goes to show that you never know which of your actions will inspire others.

Although I work to be an assertive and kind role model, I also am inspired by the accomplishments of others. I first noticed that someone could make the impossible possible for me with my beloved Veronicas. In 2006, I went through a six-month certification process for the Coaches Training Institute with eight other women and our leader. Our group was called the Veronicas, after the flower.  At the end of our time together, we began a tradition of sending emails to each other on Friday with a list of what we were grateful for that week. We called it Grateful Heart Friday.

Over the years, the Veronicas have turned out to be a powerful and motivated group of women. They are fellow coaches of varying ages who are out in the world getting stuff done. One has written for Huffington Post. Two have written books. One is successful corporate trainer. Another travels the world. Several have successful businesses. Every time one of the Veronicas accomplishes something, it makes it possible for me to accomplish. If they can do it, I can do it!

Don’t read that last sentence with a nasty, sarcastic tone. I don’t mean it in a disparaging way. I love these women. They each had a dream that they accomplished, and I admire them for it. Their achievements are hugely motivating and inspiring to me. They make things possible for me by doing them.

I originally called this concept of showing others what can be achieved by doing it yourself the 100-Dash Phenomenon. In my head, I had a story that no runner was able to break the 10-second barrier for many years. Then one day someone did! Once everyone else saw that it could be done, it became a more common occurrence. That is a great illustration of the concept, and I’ve carried it around with me for years! Unfortunately, it’s not true.

The 10-second barrier for the 100-yard dash (not to be confused with the current 100-meter dash) was broken in 1890 by John Owen. He held the record with his time of 9.8 seconds for 16 years. I thought maybe the results for the 100-meter dash would be different, maybe that’s what I was thinking of. Nope. Jim Hines ran it in 9.95 seconds in 1968, and his record held for 15 years. It was such a disappointment to find out that my perfect illustration only existed in my head! Then, I reasoned that running the 100-yard dash is limited by the human body’s capabilities and not a good example anyway.

I turned to the internet for a new story to illustrate the concept. Someone has to have talked about something seeming easier to do once seeing it done by someone else. When I searched online, I found articles about being threatened by the success of others which got me thinking. What if I had been threatened, rather than inspired, by the Veronicas’ success? It seems that there are different ways to view the success of others. As always, we get to choose. Do we look at the world through the lens of fear and jealousy or the lens of appreciation and support? Why would the success of any of these women, or anyone anywhere, threaten me?

It’s an interesting concept to think about. For the record, you are unique and whole. You are not in any way diminished by someone else’s success. Thank them! They’ve made it feel more possible for you.

When I think that I might want to do something, I look around for people who are already doing it. Inspiration and motivation can come from some strange places. My latest role model is an Australian hippy who regularly drops the F-bomb. She’s not the most likely inspirational candidate for a politically-correct leadership coach. However, she has an excellent business sense that my MBA brain appreciates.

Her name is Leonie Dawson and she has created a multimillion-dollar business that offers training for entrepreneurs. She has created a business that mirrors the vision in my head; a vision that has felt too big sometimes. How can I ever get there? Now I know it’s possible and I have a guide. My business won’t be just like Leonie’s, and my success will never be a threat to her. Just by achieving, she is helping me. It’s a good idea to be open-minded about what your role model might look like.

If you have a big dream, go out and find someone who has achieved it or something similar. Study them. Ask them! Many people are very generous in sharing how they got to where they are today. It’s so much easier when you know how they made it happen.

If no one is out there doing what you want to do, you get to be the role model. Chunk down the vision into small steps, and prove to yourself and others that your vision is possible. You might help the next weeders who come along with a big dream and a big yard.

 

 

For a little bit of free and

 

fun leadership development, join 53 Leadership Challenges at KathyStoddardTorrey.com.

Want to go further with your professional development? Check out the courses offered at PositiveEffectLeadership.com.

If you are interested in taking your career to the next level quickly, contact me for a sample coaching session at KSTorrey@tapferconsulting.com.

Lesson 2: Tom Sawyering

11 Tuesday Oct 2016

Posted by in Lessons From The Lawn

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Lessons for Life and Leadership from the Lawn

I wanted to name this series “Lessons from the Garden” because it sounds nice and gardens are beautiful. However, I kill plants inside and out on a regular basis so that seemed misleading. In truth, I spent much of the summer of 2016 weeding my front yard. It wasn’t glamorous, and it didn’t result in any splendid color around the lawn. I toyed with the idea of “Lessons from the Yard,” but I thought that title made it sound like I was in prison. I decided on “lawn,” and whatever you call it, I learned a lot from sitting in the grass for a summer.

 Lesson 2: Tom Sawyering

One afternoon, I was sitting in the shade of a big tree in our front yard. There was a light breeze, and it wasn’t terribly hot. It was, in fact, pleasant. It was a great day to be outside sitting in the grass.

My husband came out to see how I was doing.

“It’s great,” I said. “Very peaceful and relaxing.” He began to walk around in the shade. He was looking down and checking out the weeds. I continued to pull weeds in my Zen-like state.

He pointed down and said, “These are the ones that I like to pull. They usually come out in one piece.”

“Yes,” I said, “that particular patch has the big ones so you can make progress quickly. I did one like it over here. It was very satisfying and fast.”

My husband sat down in the grass and started pulling out the patch of weeds. Then he paused a moment and said, “You just “Tom Sawyered” me, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” I answered. “Yes, I did.”

In our house, we’ve made a verb of Tom Sawyer’s story of whitewashing the fence in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. In Twain’s tale, Tom Sawyer’s punishment for some wrongdoing is to go out and whitewash the fence. As Tom woefully begins to paint, he sees the friend that he least wants to see coming toward him. It’s Ben, and he knows that Ben will taunt him for having to work on such a glorious day.

Tom thinks fast and begins to act like he relishes the work. He acts like he is so engrossed in the task that he doesn’t see Ben approach. Ben interrupts Tom’s whitewashing and says he’s going swimming, and it’s too bad that Tom has to work.

Tom responds, “What do you call work?”

Ben says, “Why, ain’t THAT work?”

Tom goes back to whitewashing and says, “Well, maybe it is, and maybe it ain’t. All I know, is, it suits Tom Sawyer.”

Brilliant! Ben is hooked! It looks like Tom is having fun whitewashing the fence, and Ben wants to have fun, too! Ben barters an apple for the chance to work. Tom spends the afternoon using his technique on all the boys who pass by. He ends up with a pile of treasures and a fence that has three coats of whitewash.

You have “Tom Sawyered” someone when you convince them that what you are doing is enjoyable and fun, and they join you of their own free will, without you asking them to do it.

I have a friend who can get me to go along with her and do some pretty tedious things because she not only makes them sound like fun, she makes them fun. She is whole-heartedly in the moment and enjoying herself. That joy is contagious and attractive – people want to be around it. She has gotten me to organize events, go to football games of teams I don’t follow, and go shopping! I don’t like shopping! However, it’s fun when I go with her.

“Tom Sawyering” is an excellent leadership technique. Really, it’s a necessary skill for leaders who want to enroll people in their vision. You may have a vision that I can follow logically. I can see how it’s useful to the organization. However, I’m not going to get engaged in achieving the goal until I see you fully engaged and passionate about it. If you can make it a fun challenge, I’m in. You will have “Tom Sawyered” me!

I looked up the Tom Sawyer story when I started writing this blog. Interestingly, Mark Twain and I came up with two different conclusions as to why Tom was successful at getting other boys to whitewash the fence.

Mark Twain wrote that Tom “had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it – namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.”

I think Tom was successful in making the other boys want to paint because he was engaged whole-heartedly in the activity (or acting like he was). Tom hooked the other boys with his enthusiasm. He didn’t have to make it hard to attain in order for them to want to paint.

However, Tom did pretend that he couldn’t let anyone else take over the responsibility that was entrusted to him, and he made them bargain for the chance to paint. He refused to hand over the brush until the other boys had bartered with marbles, pieces of glass, and other treasures. He’d already gotten them to want to whitewash the fence by making it look like fun. Then, he used their desire against them in negotiations. It’s a two-step process. First, he creates a desire by seeming to enjoy the painting. Second, he negotiates for things using that desire as a bargaining chip.

My friend “Tom Sawyered” me into shopping with her. I “Tom Sawyered” my husband into pulling weeds. I also “Tom Sawyer” participants in my leadership workshops into making Playdough sculptures for a feedback exercise. “Tom Sawyering” is a powerful tool. When you go out into the world, be sure that you “Tom Sawyer” for good (or fun) and never evil! Think twice before you hold out for an apple.

 

 

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Lesson 1: Chunking Down the Vision

04 Tuesday Oct 2016

Posted by in Lessons From The Lawn

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front-yard-pic

Lessons for Life and Leadership from the Lawn

I wanted to name this series “Lessons from the Garden” because it sounds nice and gardens are beautiful. However, I kill plants inside and out on a regular basis so that seemed misleading. In truth, I spent much of the summer of 2016 weeding my front yard. It wasn’t glamorous, and it didn’t result in any splendid color around the lawn. I toyed with the idea of “Lessons from the Yard,” but I thought that title made it sound like I was in prison. I decided on “lawn,” and whatever you call it, I learned a lot from sitting in the grass for a summer.

Lesson 1: Chunking Down the Vision

First, you need a vision, also known as a goal. It needs to be something you want to create or achieve. If the end state of your vision feels exciting and invigorating, then you are on the right track. The best visions also feel a little overwhelming. They look like they might be too big to accomplish!

My vision was to weed the front yard by hand. I could see the finished product of a beautiful expanse of chemical-free grass. I wanted to create it. I looked forward to spending time outside, and I was committed to using as few poisons as possible. However, you can see from the picture that it was a big yard, and there were a lot of weeds. I couldn’t face it all in the beginning. It seemed like too much for one person to accomplish. So, I chunked it down into smaller pieces.

I decided to start with just the grass on one side of the sidewalk that led to the front door. From that area of grass, I picked a smaller piece that was directly in front of the house. It would give me a beautiful weed-free view out of my front windows.

I created a grid on that first piece. I started at the house and worked my way down the sidewalk. When I got to the sidewalk that runs by the street, I turned around and did the next strip back to the house. I went out at dawn when it was cool, and I would work for an hour or so. It took me about a week to get that small section done, but it looked great! I could see the possibility for the rest of the yard. Anything I did was an improvement.

Then, I took on other pieces of the yard. I set time limits and concentrated on the process. I celebrated each accomplishment. Each section that I completed gave me more confidence and motivation. I began to believe that I could get the entire yard done.

I used the same method of Chunking Down the Vision when I created my first online course. I had “Create online classes” on my to do list for years! It was a big vision, a huge goal that was completely overwhelming. Finally, I chunked it down into smaller steps and got started. The first item on my list was “Find a web designer.” Finding a web designer that could see my vision and wasn’t intimidated by it took about six weeks of interviews. Then, I started working on down my list of small tasks.

The big difference between weeding the yard and creating an online class was the predictability. The weeding process didn’t present many surprises. Maybe there were a few more weeds than I expected sometimes. I did learn that only a few cute clover leaves can mean a gridlocked mess of roots. However, I just took it section by section and everything went according to plan.

The creation of the online class took me places I never planned to go. When I started recording the first video, I had to do it over so many times that I couldn’t stand to do it again. So many things about it were not good.

I took my first detour off of the planned path by creating YouTube videos to practice. YouTube videos weren’t in the original plan, but I needed to master recording video and audio before I could move on. It took lots of tries and in the end I owned a camcorder, an external audio recorder, and I knew how to edit videos in Adobe Premiere.

Once I figured out how to create acceptable quality videos, I was ready to begin recording the class again. Learning about video and audio wasn’t one of the original steps, but it came up. So, I broke that new goal down into small steps and got it done.

You can use the same system for your big vision. First, is it a vision or goal that you really want? I get such a feeling of peace and satisfaction when I look out over my weed-free, chemical-free lawn. Does the vision of your finished product or outcome make you feel motivated?

Second, is the vision big enough? The best goals are big ones that feel a little overwhelming.

Third, chunk it down! Write out the small steps you must take to get started. Chunking down also works for things like “Do the taxes.” Ack! Break it down. For example, the list might look like this:

1) Download IRS forms.

2) Collect/find W-2s.

3) Find receipts.

Doing just one thing a day will move you toward the finish. Once you get started, it’s easier to keep going.

Fourth, celebrate the chunks. When you finish one step of a process, bask in the glory for a few minutes. Revel in the feeling of accomplishment. When I finish writing this article, I am rewarding myself with 15 minutes outside in the grass.

Finally, don’t be afraid of the unplanned detours. Sometimes you get a shortcut. Sometimes you get a longer scenic route. Stay on the path toward your vision and you will get there.

For a little bit of fun leadership development, join 53 Leadership Challenges at http://bit.ly/29RYzx0.

Want to go further with your professional development? Check out the courses offered at http://bit.ly/29PcAQD.

If you are interested in taking your career to the next level quickly, contact me for a sample coaching session at KSTorrey@tapferconsulting.com.