Kit Prendergast, PCC
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Category Archives: Inspirational Leadership
Fire & Ice Again in Northern Nevada
I’ve been writing about resiliency, hope and optimism in this blog weaving in real life stories. Here is another example of how our routine lives can suddenly be changed forever. Here’s what happened.
Fire . . . just when we thought Northern Nevada was through with its share of community crises another huge wild fire hit Reno last Thursday afternoon, January 19th. The winds were blowing at 80 miles an hour with gusts of over 100 miles an hour – not terribly unusual for our upper desert. But one accidental spark over in Washoe Valley was enough to begin a fire that burned 3,700 acres of rugged sagebrush; ranch land, horse pastures and 20+ houses.
As a wall of fire crested the ridge right above our local high school and just down from our house my husband and I zipped over to help our good friend, Yvonna Estep, evacuate her home. Within minutes Yvonna, along with all her neighbors, was packing up her dog, cats and personal belongings into her car as the police were going door to door enforcing the mandatory evacuation. We left a hastily scribbled note on the door saying the house had been evacuated – important for the final sweep. As for us there was no time to waste . . .
Ice . . . the irony was that it was snowing so hard on the Donner Summit that it was difficult for the California Interstate Fire Services to make it over the mountains to help Reno. After all, fire trucks usually don’t carry snow chains. I never heard the end of the story but I’m sure they finally made it – they always do.
So later that night, over a glass of wine, we huddled around the news to learn that temperatures had dropped and with the beginning of a snowstorm down here in the valley the fire was being contained. It took another full 24 hours for the highway between Reno and Carson City to be reopened up for local residents to return to their homes. When I drove through on Sunday morning the rebuilding had already begun.
This is our 5th major community crisis for Northern Nevada in as many months. We’ve been on national news too many times. But no doubt Nevada is resilient and will rebuild. That’s hope and optimism. And there’s truly never a dull moment in Northern Nevada.
Break the Habit of “Scrambling”
As January picks up speed, I’m committed to consciously use my time and energy even more carefully this coming year. As an extrovert, it’s easy for me to get involved in lots of activities and projects. But as I get older and a bit wiser, I realize that “less is more” when it comes to managing my time on a daily basis.
Leaders, managers and worker bees all do it . . . scrambling about to get multiple tasks done at work and even at home. It easily can become a habit – a behavior that we expect of ourselves and as a result, others expect from us as well. But the consequence is that nothing really gets done well. We make silly mistakes and waste precious energy redoing tasks because we weren’t paying enough attention or we “didn’t have time” to do it right the first time. Sound familiar?
“Scramble” Less to Get More Done
So here’s something to experiment with . . . simply slow down both your thinking and your actions. Catch yourself when you start to scramble and coach yourself to do or think of only one thing at a time. Concentrate. That’s often a big challenge because of all the noise in our lives. But when you do you will be pleasantly surprised by how much more effective you are. You actually get more done. And there is a ripple effect of feeling more in control, relaxed and focused. It’s a great feeling – try it!
Rocks, Sand & Your Time
I’m delighted that Les Murray from the New England Chocolate Company, Salisbury, MA sent me the following time management tip this week. Les is a regular reader of my blog “Conversations with Kit” and along with his wife, Jayne Murray, are chocolate extraordinaire entrepreneurs at www.newenglandchocolatecompany.com.
I’ve used this time management visual in my past training classes and totally agree with Les that this is a wonderful way to think about prioritizing your time and energy. You may have even seen it done in a time management class – it’s been around for awhile. I like visuals like this because we remember them better over the years and this truly is one of the best.
Here’s how it goes . . . the class instructor starts with asking you to think about what “Big Roles” you fulfill at this time in your personal and professional life. These may be as a mother/father; spouse; son/daughter; business owner; employee; student; community volunteer etc. Next, list for yourself several smaller things that also fill up your daily life but are not considered “big”. Examples may be time you spend paying bills, doing household chores, doing errands, sorting paper clips etc.
The class instructor then takes out a big jar, some sand and some rocks. He explains that the small things are represented by the sand and he then pours the sand in the jar. It fills up quickly. Now he asks the class participants to assign their big roles to each one of the rocks. After that is done, he tries to put the rocks in the jar. But there is no room – the sand has taken up all the space. What to do? The class discusses this and quickly decides to take the sand out and then put the rocks in to the now empty jar. The rocks go in first – the big roles that each class participant identified that they most cared about. Now the instructor pours in the sand and you guessed it, the sand fits quite easily around the rocks.
And in Les’ words . . . “the moral to the story is that each one of us only has 24 hours/day, 7 days per week. We sleep 8, we work 8 and there are 8 hours that we have for ourselves. If we allow the “sand” to fill our lives then we never have any time for our larger roles, those that we care most about.” Les goes on to remind us again to plan our time and energy carefully so that we are doing what is really important to us in this chapter of our lives – like eating wonderful Belgium chocolates from the New England Chocolate Company!
Be “Interested” & “Interesting”
Bruce McGregor, age 93, is true Irishman and a delight! Bruce is one of those people that is both “interested and interesting”. Bruce, and his twin brother Bob, have been close friends with my Dad (also 93) for years and years. Bob is now deceased but Bruce continues to live here in Reno and to work part-time as a calendar salesman for a local company.
So what makes Bruce special? One always feels that you have Bruce’s undivided attention – that he is genuinely interested in you. Even as kids, my twin sister and I always enjoyed Bruce. He always was there with a laugh, interested questions and a secret stash of trinkets in the trunk of his car to pass out. We felt special because he made us feel special.
So years later, and even though he wears hearing aids now, Bruce can definitely keep up with any conversation over a glass of wine. For example, Bruce joined me last week at a wonderful Northern Nevada Red Cross Wine Tasting fund raiser www.nevada.red.cross.org. As I watched him meet and greet the significantly younger crowd I was impressed with how Bruce can engage others through his genuine interest in them. He truly is “interested” in what others have to say.
Be Interesting as Well!
But the other side is just as important. Bruce is “interesting” as well. He and his twin brother traveled extensively throughout the world. There is not a country, city, town, train, cruise etc. that Bruce can’t remember and tell you which road to take; a great restaurant to eat at and the best hotel to book. Before any trip I make sure to consult with Bruce. And being Irish, Bruce always knows the best deals as well!
What a treat to know Bruce and what great lessons he can teach all of us. This is what I continue to learn from Bruce . . . to always strive to not only be genuinely “interested” in others but also to be “interesting” as well. I need to take every opportunity to go and do – to learn and to grow. And I encourage you to do the same. You’ll be pleasantly surprised that others will gravitate to you and you both will enjoy the richness of each other’s experiences and lives. That’s great for your personal life and your professional career as well.
Story Telling is a Powerful Career Skill
Stories are wonderful! As a professional career coach, I am asked all the time how you can best present your skills, knowledge and experience to a potential (or current) employer. It’s actually quite simple. Telling an engaging story that highlights your strengths is one of the best ways to do it.
Learn How to Tell a Good Story!
Do you get a little nervous and tongue tied when asked to describe your accomplishments in job interviews, an annual performance evaluation or even in networking events? That’s normal. It’s not that you don’t have anything to say – actually you have lots to say – it’s just getting it out there smoothly, briefly and with enough pizzazz to keep your listener listening.
So try this . . . story telling. Everyone loves a good story. And people remember a good story because it creates a visual image for them. We come alive telling stories and listening to stories. Stories are very powerful but they do take planning to avoid the tale going on and on.
Here’s how to design your story for maximum impact. Think of an accomplishment in your professional life that you are particularly proud of – it’s best if it highlights your individual strengths as well as contributions from a team. Now describe it in one short paragraph using the C.A.R. format.
- C = Challenge (the challenge you faced)
- A = Action (the action you took)
- R = Results (the positive results that occurred)
Now the icing on the cake is to tie the story in with the value you can bring to this new position or the continued value you bring to your employer. This is what your listener really cares about – what can you do for them to solve the challenges they are facing.
Do one story and now do a couple of more. Create a cheat sheet for yourself with the C.A.R. format. For each story hit each of the three points briefly. Practice out loud a couple of times but don’t overdo it. You want your natural enthusiasm to come through as you’re telling the story. If you get stuck call me – I would love to help!