Why Collaboration is A #1 Skill For Our Future
June 6, 2010
wrong direction
Isn’t it obvious? That if we’ve been going in the wrong direction, that we need to go in the right one?
Our world has been too divided. It’s been power over, not between and we’ve been in a hierarchy for too long. It’s obvious that this has to change. But will it?
My belief is yes.
Not just because I have innate faith in human nature. I don’t really. We’ve sorely mucked things up. But more because I see the inevitable natural evolution of things and this one is on the horizon.
Collaboration is the single biggest key to our future for the simple reason that it’s the way that everything works.
If you think about it, the entire Universe was born as one big orchestrated event. It was a collaboration of multitudinous singular processes all happening at the same time.
Isn’t that amazing?
cosmic collaboration
cosmic collaboration
We were created out of dust and gas and cosmic particles all moving in one giant whole. We could never create an event like that with our own minds.
Our entire universe is a collaborative event.
So the point is – anything other than that is against human nature itself. It’s totally going against the grain.
But eventually the tides always turn. Whenever we’ve been going the wrong direction for too long, we always end up turning another way. It’s inherent in nature.
So I do believe our time has come.
The question is – how can we translate this organic movement of the cosmos and nature into something that is and useable in our own lives???
Big question! The answer is – we can begin to act like the universe itself and start now in becoming a collaborative force for change.
This is not as easy as it sounds because while collaboration is inherent in our nature, so is separation. It is installed in us as a decisive force. Just put yourself in a room with 10 opinionated people talking about something that truly matters to you and you’ll find the separatist part of yourself very quickly!
overcoming the divide
We don’t want to be join with others when things aren’t going our way. So true collaboration requires us to overcome this innate tendency to dominate and divide. And yes, we all have it. If you don’t know your own yet, start looking. It’s there.
This is an important key to collaboration, for once you harness the separatist inside, then you’ve got the reins to working together.
The trick is to become aware as soon as you feel that energy wanting to conquer or divide, you need to use your higher brain to override that. Keep in mind as you try to collaborate this force will come up. It’s the undertow to the rising of the wave.
So though these may be obvious, it doesn’t hurt to lay them out here. Some of the key skills to true collaboration:
- make it a point to really hear others point of view – this allows you to get beyond your own thinking
- make it a point to understand all sides and to see everything outside of your own opinion – this lets you join with others and work together for a common goal
- make your point less important than you feel it is – this tames that beast that always wants to make you right.
Not easy but doable.
True collaboration is a necessary way of living for our future. I want YOU to be the one to lead the way. Are you? Let me know what you’re doing about it.
I want you to be a force for our cosmic evolution. I know you are.
Let The Change Be YOU: Every Litter Bit Helps
November 19, 2009
“From a spiritual point of view, a leader is only a reflection of the consciousness of the people. Therefore, that leader will only be as strong and powerful as the people he serves. Bad leaders are meant to rouse us to take action. When we see something we don’t like in our leadership, it is to show us what is what we need to recognize and transform within ourselves.” Yehuda Berg, The Power to Change Everything
We are on the verge of a revolution. Not the militaristic kind but it is definitely time for a change. It is time to stand up and speak out. We need to stop complaining, stop moaning and get into positive action. No one is going to do it for us. It is up to us to lead the way.
There used to be a category of people called Leaders. Linguistically speaking, if there is a leader there must be a follower. But today we don’t have time to waste following others. Each of us in our own way need to be leading our own personal revolution.
What needs to change in you, your world, your household, your body or your neighborhood? If it needs to be done then guess who’s the one to do it? That’s right it’s YOU.
How many times do you go out the door, see some trash and walk on by? But then you come home, see that your neighbor dropped his cigarette butt on the sidewalk in front of your house and you get pissed.
I know I do because that’s exactly what my neighbor does and it really makes me mad. But I also noticed that I could feel very justified for being mad at him and blame him for the trash on my street. But the truth is, it’s up to me to change that, not him. This is what I mean by a personal revolution. I am choosing to be the change that I want to see.
So instead of knocking on his door and asking him to pick the butt up, I went inside, got my little baggie and picked it up myself. But then I realized that I couldn’t stop there. I went across the street and picked up a few more and now every time I’m out for a walk with Miss Sweetie, I pick up as many as I can. It’s up to me.
The only way to create a universal revolution is to create a personal one. And that’s not easy. It is not fun. It’s not fame producing. It doesn’t earn you any bread and butter. The only thing it does for you is to let you know deep inside that you are doing what it takes to create a better world. That’s it. That’s all you get out of it. If that’s not enough then this world is not going to change.
In picking up my neighbors cigarette butts I am not going to win an award or get written up in the paper. In fact no one really cares. But on a more universal level, if I can do those things that need to be done, without try to get a personal reward then I can sleep well at night. In other words, be at peace in my soul.
The gift is that my neighbors nasty cigarette butt made me realize that I need to go beyond the scope of my own personal pitiful annoyances and make the difference that I can, right here on my own street.
What about you? Where do you need to lead the way to your own personal revolution? What are you complaining about that you are leaving up to someone else to change? Think about it. It’s not pretty. If you truly find the honest nugget of what you need to change, you will get a kind of queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach. Like, “Ugh I know I need to be doing that but I don’t really want to.” That’s the one to go for.
I don’t honestly enjoy picking up cigarette butts, especially from my unconscious neighbor who could so easily put them in the trash! I annoys me and I’d rather be doing something else with my time, but I have to get beyond that annoyance and think about my other neighbors, the neighborhood and the world. Would our world be better if I picked it up rather than just complained? The answer is yes - Every litter bit helps!
Remember that saying? It’s true. Every tiny action, every tiny thought, every miniscule change that you personally make will be imprinted on the universe forever. And I’m not just getting meta-physical with you, it is scientifically true. Although the mystics have always been far ahead of the scientists in this regard, they are now catching up. Even science says that this is a good idea.
Change in one part affects change in all the others.
So today let the change be YOU. Don’t wait for President Obama or your neighbor or your neighborhood, today be the leader that you wish was leading our world.
Stop complaining and start acting. Well I gotta go. If I’m going to walk my talk I better get outside right now with my little baggie and start my morning pick up! Let me know how you are leading the way for a better world, starting now.
Yours in stories that change the world,
Annie
“Cut The Crap” Goes Live on the Radio
November 18, 2009
Today I had a wonderful virtual coffee with my new friend and colleague Thomas Magnum on his Virtual Coffee radio show. Boy was that fun!
Thomas is an inspiring and educated speaker and trainer who has a real knack for putting people at ease and creating connections. He was fascinated by the many levels of depth that storytelling provides for creating impact in your life, your message and business.
We had a great virtual coffee together, Thomas in sunny California and me in Philly-delphia. We both relate in the area of knowing that relationships are a most important factor in all transactions of life.
If you’d like to enjoy the show as I did, listen below and I hope you will get to know Thomas. He has certainly has a lot to share.
If You Need To Kick Some A_s, You Need the Right Shoes
November 15, 2009
Here’s the deal that no one ever told you, well no one ever told me anyway – if you need to kick some ass in this world, you need the right shoes.
Years ago I was doing some consulting work for a small family trucking business. Boy that was tough! It was a predominantly male environment and as you can imagine, my more female style of doing business didn’t really fit in. I a fish out of water! But I am feisty, fiery and oh did I mention hard headed? So I persisted.
One day I was running a meeting for the major players in the business which consisted of about eight men and two women. We were having a meeting, which I was supposedly leading, when all of a sudden a shouting match erupted between the CEO and his head salesman.
Like two bull walruses, they stood up and started tusking each other full force with their words. They were shouting and screaming and I thought, “Oh my god, what am I supposed to do about this?” I had never encountered this before in my work.
One thing you should know behind the scenes is that before this fight had broken out, I had taken off my shoes under the table. I am 4 ft, 11 inches small and in order to look more like an adult than a child when I sit in a chair, I usually take off my shoes and sit with my feet up. Most of the time no one knows about this. It’s my own personal secret to success. But this day being shoeless was not to my advantage.
When the fight broke out I was furious. I thought to myself, “How dare these two idiots interrupt my meeting!” Who do they think they are? One of them was the owner of the company, but I didn’t care. I was pissed.
Before my logical brain could give me advice, I jumped up and screamed at the top of my lungs, “Shuuuutt Up!” There was dead silence in the room and then everyone turned to look at me. The CEO and the salesman stopped fighting for a minute, then the meeting went on. But less than five minutes later, the fighting broke out again.
Now I was beyond fury, I was in the kick-butt zone. I jumped up out of my seat and ran towards the two fighting men. I put my tiny frame body right in front of Mr. CEO and faced off with Mr. Salesman and shouted at the top of my lungs, “If you don’t stop fighting right now, I’m leaving.”
The only problem was that if I left, I would be walking out without my shoes. I had left them under the table! Thank god they stopped fighting and I was able to go back to my seat and continue the meeting. Later someone in the group that had noticed that I was shoeless said to me, “Were you really going to leave without your shoes?” Yes I was gonna walk out, but boy would my feet have been cold!
So here’s the learning particularly for women – If you’re out there working in the world and times get tough….when you know you need to cut the crap and kick some you know what….then you really need to have the right shoes.
Later several of the men sidled up to me on their own and said, “Wow, you’re tough.” I knew that was my sign that as a small but feisty woman, I had proved my metal. But next time I need to break up a fight, I’m going to be prepared. I’m going to wear a nice spike heel, just in case. If you need to kick some “you-know-what” in this world, you definitely need the right pair of shoes!
Let me know what you think about these. :>)
I’m Annie Hart and I tell stories that change the world and I tell them raw and real because that’s not only what the world needs, but what the world is ready to hear.
Lead the Way With Story: Creating Trust & Credibility
October 25, 2009
Storytelling, definition by Annie Hart
An effective and congruent communication that embodies your commitment, your beliefs, your values and your vision.
This is part of a series on the use of storytelling in leadership. Leaders need to inspire and motivate others. They need to help people get along, collaborate and go where they haven’t been before. Nothing does this more effectively than the power of story.
Although the word story means many things to me, for the purposes of leadership, I’m going to give it the above definition, so that it will show you exactly how you create connection through story. To illustrate this effectively, I need to tell you a story.
Several years ago I was giving a presentation to a small family business that was not my typical client. One of the owners was a private client of mine who really benefited from my work and she wanted me to do some consulting for them. But I was pretty sure that the rest of the company wouldn’t see me as a natural fit and might not want to hire me.
So what did I do? The first step to building a connection is to get inside someone else’s story to find out how they think, believe and act. To do this I asked myself the question, What goes on inside of their world? This is how you discover the daily problems, frustrations and mindsets of whomever you want to communicate with.
The key to this is to do it from the mindset of sharing and the intention to build connection. When you begin by relating to our common human problems, then we start on the same page.
In business the number one priority is often the famous ‘bottom line’. But the key to a sustainable business is actually not the bottom line at all. People are the most important commodity of any successful venture.
As a leader, relationships should be of prime importance. If not then everything else will go downhill. The bottom line of is not and can never be number one,. Taking care of people comes first.
So by the time I went to give my presentation, I had already put myself in the mindset of the people that I was speaking to. I walked into a group of people that looked harried, distracted and uninterested, but I was prepared for this. So I started by telling them their own story.
I introduced myself briefly and then told them that I would be right back, and I walked out of the room. I returned minutes later, rushing in with a briefcase spilling papers and frantically talking on a cell phone.
I began my presentation all over again, but this time I was speaking at breakneck speed. “Hi I’m Annie Hart and I’m here to….” But imagine this with words flying at 500 miles an hour!
When I looked up they were speechless. Maybe dumbfounded is a better word. I paused and looked at them carefully. I asked, “What was that like for you?’
“That’s exactly like our daily lives!” they said. They couldn’t believe that I got them. I said, “How did it feel to experience me that way?” They unanimously said, “It was awful, very stressful and anxiety producing.” Exactly. Exactly like their daily lives.
This dramatic enactment of their everyday way of being, opened up a discussion of trust and openness, whereas just moments before they had considered me a complete stranger. So how did they accept me so quickly?
I used the power of story, THEIR STORY, to speak their language.
The key to rapport and building connection is to think about others. Ask yourself, what do they need? What are they going through? What are their daily lives like?
It’s not how can I get them to do what I want? It’s how can I understand who they are? This is one of the key skills a leader can have.
Each of you in your own way is a leader. Start today to think how you can get inside the story of others, so that people will want to follow you where ever you go.
And if you’re wondering if I got hired? The answer is yes, and continued to tell stories and build rapport for an entire year. Storytelling is a key to building trust and credibility through creating connection.
Connect With Annie Hart
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