Spring is upon us and we are all getting ready for all that it means in the Recreation and Parks/Quality of Life Sector. Join us on Friday for part four in the series “Becoming a Community Builder ”.
In this upcoming webcast, we will discuss how to become a catalyst for citizen responsibility. We will be discussing how to motivate and create buy-in in others and how to use that buy-in to get things done. Stayed tuned for this webcast on Friday, April 30th at 10:00 am. Just click on this link to join the webcast: http://acecommunities.ca/community-builder/
Don’t forget to get the most from the program, make sure you watch all the videos from previous sessions! See this link for the video archive: http://acecommunities.ca/community-builder/archive/
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
· Participants will be able to identify the steps to effective engagement.
· Participants will better understand how to develop and apply strategies for generating buy-in from stakeholders they work with and serve.
· Participants will learn motivational techniques that assist others in taking ownership and giving their best.
See you then!
Ian Hill
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I think I have found my happy place – I am a catalyst for citizen responsibility! Yeah… I am celebrating this because I struggled last month. I admit it. I’m not exactly the best when it comes to big picture thinking – the third ACE competency for being a community builder. I know that I often do get tangled in the trees. I love to take action, hit the ground running, and get others involved. These are all good things but not the best for evaluating the big picture.
When I took the competency test this month, however, I realized that it was now my time to shine. As outlined by the indicators, I too fully believe that people have both the right and the responsibility to shape their community. I love hearing diverse opinions and viewpoints. And I truly love to connect people with others and to resources. In fact, this is exactly what I do at ACE Communities as the Creative Cultural Liaison.
We are a perfect fit.
Now this is not to say that I can’t greatly improve. I’ve had many discussions with Ian about the value of being a good listener. Not a passive listener or a kinda-listening-but really-wanting-to-speak listener, but an active and engaged one.
In a recent conversation I had with Jennifer Peddlesden, a community leader in Chestermere, she commented on the slippery role that communication has played in her community. It is something, she acknowledged, that has either rallied or splintered Chestermere… she has seen it. And I believe her. Communication is a powerful thing – for good or for evil.
So that is my commitment to improvement this month. I am going to learn how to not only truly listen but to really hear what people are saying – not what I WANT them to be saying. I’m going to investigate people’s listening types (as in whether they are an emotional based or value based listener, ect.) and how that affects me as a catalyst for social responsibility.
I’ll report back soon! You listening out there?
Janet
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Listening to people is complicated. One thing that I will always remember from my chats with Ian is that people are complicated too. So, if you really want to make an impact on someone, you really need to know their communication style.
Some people, he says, are fact-based listeners. They hear the facts and make up their minds up about your position based on that. Others are emotional listeners so their ability to listen to you can swing with the emotional tides. Others are value-based listeners…. Then you can be active or an inactive listener… or a too busy to listen listener. Oh – the list goes on.
Like I said, listening to people is complicated.
At the moment, I think I might be the dreaded ‘Too busy to listen” listener. I admit it, I have purposely typed harder and faster whenever my husband pops his head into my office for his dreaded update on the Maple Leafs (but can you blame me?). I’ve multi-tasked during conference calls and wore my headset to chat with my mom as I fold the laundry at night. I wonder now at the little nuances I have missed by keeping my hands and parts of my brain engaged with something else.
And so the inactive listening must end if I am going to be able to train myself to be better community leader.
What I need to try and be is a compassionate listener. That is my goal. The Compassionate Listener stops whatever he or she is doing, turns, faces the communicator and gives that person complete attention.
The Compassionate Listener watches both verbal and nonverbal messages to understand what the speaker is saying beyond the words. This person rarely turns away from a speaker and rarely talks about him or herself. If you’ve experienced a Compassionate Listener, you know that you walk away from the experience feeling heard, respected and energized.
This is my goal. No more multitasking for me… its engagement all the way. Now where did I put my headset?
For more listening styles see this great article by Joan Curtis: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/What_is_Your_Listening_Style.html