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LRC Email – Negatives Can Be Positives

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Here’s the email I wrote Leadership Reno County alums today:

We’ve been thinking this month about the temperature and raising the heat, using KLC’s Raising the Heat resource.  Today, the simple reminder I have gets at something we often fail to remember.  We tend to think of raising heat as negative and risky (and, at times, it is).  However, sometimes apparent negative things can actually be positive. 
Consider: WHAT ARE THE POSITIVE CONSEQUENCES OF RAISING THE HEAT?
■ You provide an example for others and create a culture that raises the heat when necessary.
■ The result is always better than you imagine. It’s always easier than you imagined, too.
■ It can reveal what is on people’s minds and put others things to rest.
■ It creates new energy and the opportunity for alliances.
■ It can catalyze self-discovery
So there are many benefits to be found in raising the heat.  What are you waiting for?

Have a great day…

LRC Email — LRCPlexVipr3D Radar

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Here’s the email I sent out to Leadership Reno County alums on 5/20/13:

Don’t you love those snazzy names that meteorologists have for their radar systems?  The subject line of this email is my attempt at coming up with something for our group.  We need some sort of radar that helps us in diagnosing the situation when raising the heat, or, as KLC’s Raise the Heat resource asks, “How do you know when to raise the heat?”
Some answers:
■ If you are the only one doing the work and things are going slowly.
■ When time pressures are requiring action.
■ When people are bringing “elephant in the room” type issues to your attention outside the main group meeting time.
■ When you aren’t feeling satisfied with the amount of progress.
■ If you aren’t doing any of the work.
■ When you feel burning questions inside of you that aren’t being addressed.
(It was noted that it may NOT be time to raise the heat when you have severely entrenched opposing views.)
So, again, as the weather warms, let it be a reminder to you that you may very well need to engage in an act of leadership and raise the heat.  And see if it doesn’t help us make progress on issues in our community we care about deeply.  To that end…

LRC Email – Hopin’ for a Heat Wave

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Here’s the email I wrote to leaders in Reno County this AM:

Yup, we’re back on the weather again.  While last week, I spoke of taking the temperature as a way to diagnose the situation, today, I want to encourage you to raise the heat.  Now, raising the heat affects things (even here in KS where we bemoan the cold weather and hope for warmer temperatures knowing that it will inevitably produce those tornadic May storm cells).  Raising the heat in our civic environs may be a risky adventure.  That’s why our raising of the heat must be purposeful and skillful.
Here’s one installment and simply a portion of the KLC’s Raise The Heat resource which gets at how we can raise the heat:
■ Use silence. Don’t jump in and answer the question for others. Let them do the work.
■ Allow more time. Tough issues will surface and progress will be made if you allocate enough time to let a group stew.
■ Grab the bull by the horns and declare a way forward after receiving input from others. Movement often raises the heat and gets people to engage more fully.
■ Lay out the consequences of inaction.
■ Define the roles of individuals and organizations, thus formally placing responsibility where it is needed most.
■ Use humor.
■ Provide an external reality check on the situation.
■ Identify the elephant in the room.
■ Ask open-ended questions.
So, as you consider how you might engage in an act of leadership by raising the heat, do it skillfully, purposefully and creatively so that we can make progress on those areas we care about deeply.
Hopin’ for a heat wave…

LRC Email – The Weather, Temperature and Reminders To Diagnose

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Here’s the email I sent out to leaders in Reno County:

It seems like every time I’m engaging in conversation with a casual acquaintance these days in Reno County, our dialogue turns to the weather.  Something like, “Will this winter ever end?” is offered as a talking point.  This caused my mind to jog to leadership competencies.  Most of us pay much closer attention to the physical weather than we do to the temperature of the leadership opportunities in which we are found.  When the weather is chilly, we’ll grab a jacket or sweatshirt to raise the heat.  When our situations seem to be cool, we wouldn’t think of raising the heat, because that might offend someone (or at the very least, we’re not willing to think of ways to skillfully intervene).  Today, I have a simple reminder: Take The Temperature.  This is part of diagnosing the situation. Taking the temperature might help us understand what’s happening and, in the end, help us make progress.   
A simple graphic on taking the temperature is found in KLC’s Pocket PlayBook: 
You can see that there are all kinds of ways of moving around this scale.  As we take the temperature, we get information that helps us step in to engage in an act of leadership (we’ll talk more about raising the heat next time).    
So, yes, the weather outside may be frightful.  But use it as a reminder to diagnose the situation by taking the temperature of your leadership opportunities and see if we aren’t able to make progress on the issues we care about deeply. 
With you in this amazing journey…

LRC Email – Once Upon A Time

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Here’s an email I wrote today to leaders in Reno County…

Howdy, Leadership Reno County People (sorry I was in TX last week)…
We’re all storytellers.  Whether it’s coming in from that long weekend to share our exciting exploits with others in the office or simply catching up with others by remembering when we did this or that, story looms large on the horizon of most of our lives. 
One of the contentions of the KLC curriculum is that to make progress on daunting issues, it requires that we act differently, that we engage in acts of leadership in different ways and this includes taking time to diagnose the situation.  The Quick Guide provides 2 questions that relate to story and help us come up with good diagnosis:
1) What’s our story about what’s going on here?
2) What story do we imagine others connected to our issue are telling?
Examining the story helps us diagnose the situation so that we can engage in acts of leadership in more skillful ways that propel us in the direction of progress.  Story matters.  So, next time you here someone sharing about “once upon a time” remember that dialing into this story might help you make progress on an issue that you care about. 
With you in the story of Reno County…

LRC Email – A United Purpose and Moving Ahead.

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Here’s the email I wrote to Leadership Reno County Alumni on Monday, 4/22:

Good morning.  First off, welcome to the new alumni that have been added to our list.  We had a great event last Thursday at KFSA.  Thanks again to everyone who made that happen.  As we mentioned at that event, the Leadership Reno County Alumni Associationwebpage is now live.  Also, if you are on Facebook and haven’t “Liked” us yet, head over to the LRC Alumni page and give us a like and you’ll receive updates there.

Wanted to put out a quick word on the mission of LRCAA: “To facilitate the connection of alumni of the Leadership Reno County program in order to manifest continuous civic leadership development and involvement.”  From start to finish what both LRC and LRCAA are about is civic leadership development and involvement.  We believe that if people are connected and tied to one another with a common purpose, we will be able to achieve progress on the issues we care about most deeply.  It isn’t all pies and pizza, though (insert whatever thing you like).  Engaging in acts of leadership is risky.  It will require continuing to adapt our leadership skills and taking smart risks.  But it’s amazing to be a small part in the progress of things we care about. 
So, let’s think purposefully for a sec and continue to be about the work of helping our community make progress one baby step at a time.

With you to that end…