I Believe In Fairness, Fun, And Sharing What I’ve Learned With The People Who Make This Planet A Great Place To Live |
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For thirty solid days, November just kept on giving and at the same time, reminding me of my humanity.
Places started to open up and dozens of times I heard, "Oh! This is my first _______ in nearly two years!" Fill in the blank with restaurant, pub, play, movie, swim, face-to-face meeting, etc. It all felt special, which perhaps means I/we took some stuff for granted before. It's a good note.
November encompassed a workshop with my play, the rehearsal process, the live and digital performances, and the closing. I am very grateful to Northern Light Theatre for producing "The Great Whorehouse Fire of 1921" to start of their season, and for letting me watch their dream team executive every part of the process. Seriously, it was a mountain-top experience. Thanks also to David Cheoros for having the story idea, for writing it with me initially, for producing it at the Fringe in 2018, and for having my back the entire rest of the way. I hope you all have a person like David in your lives.
I enjoyed a few days of planning in Kananaskis, and it was great to meet a board in person and to witness them having space and time to gel as a team and get the big work done. I took a road trip to Golden (20 hours), Radium, Invermere, and Cranbrook. Breweries, mountains, and hot springs were just what was needed.
I finished another beer course through University of Alberta and did some training and exams for the Cicerone and Certified Beer Judging programs. Many hours of studying (the book-kind -- honestly!) was not enough and my results fell well short of what I expect of myself. I will figure out how to up my game in the new year. In the meantime, my Beer Advent Calendar is ready, so I've got at least one thing to look forward to every day. Oh, and I won an awesome beer fridge at an Elks watch party!
Speaking of the Edmonton Elks, the board cleaned house. President/CEO, General Manager, and Head Coach were all fired. As noted here before, I believe the board itself is part of the problem and so I will accept the invitation from the Board Chair to provide feedback.
Grey Cup is late this year, and I'm off to Hamilton soon. It will be very strange to not have Brian there (frankly, many things are strange). It will be a time of friends, fellowship, and football and no doubt many pints will be raised to his memory.
Whatever December means to you or brings to you, I wish you well and so much happiness.
/lmwe
“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.“ -- Groucho Marx
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Northern Light Theatre's run of The Great Whorehouse Fire of 1921 is complete. I need to thank everyone for everything -- reviews, interviews, podcasts, the production, the experience.
Liz Allison-Jorde, David Cheoros, Ellen Chorley, Mark Connelly, Darrin Hagen, Chris Hicks, Sarah Hoffman, Sue Huff, Kendra Humphries, Ian Jackson, Tony King, Twilla MacLeod, Louise Mallory, Gina Moe, Tom Murray, Liz Nicholls, Trevor Schmidt, Mason Snelgrove, Alison Yanota
Photo of Twilla MacLeod as Mrs. Smith and Sue Huff as Mrs. Hastings by Ian Jackson, Epic Photography. Directed by Trevor Schmidt and Stage Managed by Elizabeth Allison-Jorde.
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In conference presentations and this e-zine I've advised people to have courage when it comes to calling others to account for their board behaviour. Of course, this is true in the supervisor/employee relationship, too.
A recent article called Don't Soften Feedback (larahogan.me/blog) talks about the importance of not being too soft when delivering feedback because it can confuse the person receiving it. Highlights of the article include:
- You don't want to demoralize the person, but if you're fuzzy in your message and delivery, you are setting the person up to fail.
- Don't use the pandemic as an excuse -- it is hard for everyone -- and a too soft message might make the work even harder.
- Being clear does not mean being unkind.
Here is a summary of what to do:
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Learn how to succinctly state your point. This is also called bottom-lining. Use as few words as possible to say what your point is in one sentence. Don't rattle on.
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Distinguish the facts from your assumptions or judgments. "For each piece of feedback, get really clear about the who, what, when, and where. Your “observation” of someone’s behavior is the first part of the feedback equation, and it’s critical to remove your judgments and assumptions from any statement about the behavior you’re giving feedback about."
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Tie all feedback to business outcomes. "Explicitly connect the dots between the (factual and specific!) behavior you’re seeing from your teammate and the outcomes that your team or organization care about. If you can’t describe how your teammate's behavior directly relates to important business outcomes, don’t give that feedback."
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Filter peer feedback for bias. You'll need to synthesize other feedback you get. Be mindful of bias.
- Start with Heart
- Learn to Look
- Make it Safe
- Master My Stories
- State My Path
- Explore Others' Paths
- Move to Action
Whatever resource you use, find a way to be clear with your colleagues. Teams and organizations will benefit!
/lmwe
“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”
― Mother Teresa
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Things That Might Help
Your December
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Some People Who Made Life Better in November |
MaryJane Alanko & Bryan Perkins, JudyLynn Archer, Janis Dow, Dave Hughes, Brad Kane, Owen Kirkaldy, Lynn MacAskill, Pat MacDonald, Sherrill Macgilvray, Doug Macnamara, Kelly McClung, Jenny Narine, Andy Northrup, Erin O'Neill, Sheila Steger, Donna Stonehocker & Jim Gwartney, Genie Tchoryk, Theresa Tsoukalas, Elana West, Gerry West, Cathy & John Wood, Jill Wood
"We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives." -- John F. Kennedy
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Some Quotes I Like
"How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty.
And yet it all seems limitless."
-- Paul Bowles
"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials."
-- Lin Yutang
"Everything we think of as great has come to us from neurotics. It is they and they alone who found religions and create great works of art. The world will never realize how much it owes to them, and what they have suffered in order to bestow their gifts on it."
-- Marcel Proust
"Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs."
-- Farrah Gray
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Five Beers I Enjoyed in November
1. Golden Ticket Vietnamese Coffee Stout, Growlery Beer Co. (Edmonton AB) 6.5% ABV
2. Dunkel Kong Country Wheat-Dunkelweizen, Analog Brewing (Edmonton AB) 5.5% ABV
3. Darkwoods Porter, Wild North Brewing Co. (Creston BC) 4.7% ABV
4. Origin of Darkness Milkshake Imperial Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels w/Peanut Butter & Chocolate, Collective Arts Brewing (Hamilton ON) 11.6% ABV
5. The Nightman Cometh Cascadian Dark Ale, Irrational Brewing (Edmonton AB) 6.5% ABV
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“My life has a superb cast but I can't figure out the plot."
-- Unknown (but it sounds like me)
#BeKind
Linda & LUE-42 Enterprises
(With fond acknowledge to Douglas Adams & The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
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Linda Wood Edwards
P.O. Box 11021, Station Main,
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3K3
780.918.4200
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