Turning the Page On the Calendar

Seeing a long-time project finally come in for a landing always feels good. Today, I sat in a room at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with more than 100 representatives from area cultural and media organizations to celebrate the launch of #RVA's first collaborative, regional calendaring system.

A result of the 2008 Cultural Action Plan for the region, the calendaring system is not a public events calendar. Rather, it is a behind-the-scenes repository of regional events and activities -- a one-stop database for organizations holding events, and a one-stop resource for media looking for a comprehensive list of regional events. The new system was designed by a small team at the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau (RMCVB) over the past two years.

Their first brainstorming session in May of 2009 pulled together dozens of stakeholders from the cultural, media and technology communities. It was among my first paid gigs as Floricane started to gain momentum. One of the nice things about the process is that the result is far better than we could have imagined two years ago.

The results of the work done by Katherine O'Donnell, Stephanie Kenney and the RMCVB team was in evidence at today's calendar system rollout. And while it should change the way hundreds of organizations share their event information, and give local media a great tool to curate their own unique calendars, it will be almost entirely invisible to local residents -- who will ultimately benefit most from the new system.

Following Through

The Floricane team facilitated a relatively new nonprofit board through a day of organizing and planning earlier this summer. The group ended its day with a laundry list of homework – new committee structures, policies to be written, tracking down new board candidates.

At the invitation of the organization’s executive director, I dropped into their latest board meeting to check in and see how things were going.

Each of the committees had made real, tangible progress. The board came to the table ready to act, voting on committee recommendations. There was a clear agenda. Meeting materials were well organized. The meeting ended on time.

Color me impressed.

There is nothing particularly magical about what this organization has done – unless you count a tenacious executive director, a committed board and a new staff member who pays attention and gets things done.

All of which, when you come to think about it, is pretty magical.

Current Work: October 2011

With apologies to A.A. Milne, the Floricane team is pretty excited to celebrate three years of relationship building and change making in November.

We've worked with more than 100 organizations throughout the Richmond region and across Virginia to help strategize, focus and develop leadership, and create the conditions for positive transformation.

We can't thank you enough for your support during this exciting time, and a special thanks to the following organizations who we're celebrating our anniversary with -- on the job.

• Library of Virginia
• Richmond Association of Realtors
• Virginia Trial Lawyers Association
• Virginia Oral Health Coalition
• Virginia Dental Association Foundation
• Rx Partnership
• Virginia Clean Cities
• Bon Secours Richmond Health Systems
• The James House
• Greater Richmond Chamber
• Bonner Center for Civic Engagement
• Virginia Poverty Law Center

Playground Perspectives: Behavioral Cues (October 2011)

It's a lesson every parent learns. I imagine most of us bat .300 during the 18 seasons our children live full-time under our roofs. That might be generous in my case.

Improving your batting average is important, whether you're raising children or leading a team. Feedback is onetool that is both misunderstood and misapplied in most organizations. At its best, feedback is information. At its worst, it's a distraction from the real levers of change. I learned this particular lesson from Charlie and Edie Seashore, who have been in the thick of organizational change work since the 1940s.

"Feedback," Charlie challenged a group of us several years ago, "is the least effective way to change someone else's behavior."

He waited for that to sink in, and then he repeated himself.

"Feedback," Charlie continued, "is the least effective way to change someone else's behavior. Changing your behavior is the most effective way to change someone else's behavior."

Do as I do. Walk the walk. Model the behavior you want to see. There are a dozen ways to slice it, but each of us have people in our lives who look to us for cues to guide their own behavior.

What's interesting to me is how the cues change over time.

Thea started by watching what her mom and I do, and mimicking and reflecting us. But I've noticed lately that she's charging ahead with her own life, driven by her own impulses. More often than not, when she looks to us now, it's over her shoulder -- and she's looking for subtle cues of permission, approval or dismay. What she sees when she looks back at us has an immediate impact on her behavior.

That sort of makes it important that Nikole and I both manage our emotions appropriately. When we misstep, she stumbles.

I can be pretty terrible at this -- especially after a long week of "being on" at work. When I get home tired, I stop leading with my self-awareness and my core values, and my personality style and emotions jump to the front of the train. I get hijacked faster, and the signals Thea receives trigger her faster -- on bad days, I suspect Nikole wishes I had just stayed at work.

Nikole plays in this space much better than I do. She's more empathetic, and she slows down to be engaged in the moments where I am accelerating. On good days -- and Nikole has more good days than I do -- we can all feel it hum.

Psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi calls that hum "flow". I call it relaxing. My family, my team and my clients all deserve a higher batting average. How's your swing?

Letter from John: October 2011

Last month, our team gathered around a table with the creative wordsmiths from Zuula Consulting. We've known Deanna and Meghan for several years, and were excited to engage their talents as we to develop a shared language around our business, our community and the work that we do.

We started with music. Seriously. The Zuula team asked each of us ahead of time to identify a song that represented our company, and out popped the very eclectic mix of U2's "Elevation"; the iconic "We Are the World" from the 1985 USA for Africa effort; and the peppy but political "Dream Machine" by Mark Farina. Can you see a common thread in the three songs? We did.

We migrated from music to explore some deeper concepts: emotion, connection and transformation. We explored what we collectively imagined Floricane to be at its best. In short order, a real sense of shared perspective began to emerge in the room.

A few discoveries (or rediscoveries) from our time with Zuula:

• We bring meaningful connections, a relevant process, fresh perspective and the freedom to dream to our engagements. 
• Our biggest competitor? Surprise. Our own egos, and that difficult tension between hubris and self-doubt. 
• A gift we bring? Intentional space that can create a shift for individuals and teams. Opening windows of possibility, provides our clients a glimpse of a different future. 
• Our aspiration: To help our clients dream, leap and change - and by doing so, change our community, and the world.

It was refreshing to hit the pause button during what turned out to be our busiest month of the year, and to allow someone else to do the facilitating. Our brief time with Zuula opened new windows of possibility for our team, and we think you'll be excited by some of what's already drifting from the room.

Playground Perspectives: Writing Our Stories (September 2011)

During our summer weekends at her great-grandfather's riverfront home in Deltaville, Thea found a home in a hammock.It was where she and Nikole went to watch the sun rise over the Chesapeake Bay each morning, and where she and I joyously swung in the late afternoons as the sun set across the Rappahannock River.

"Swing me faster," she would cry out as I stood in the grass pushing the thickly woven tangle of rope.

And suddenly -- "Not so fast, Daddy!" as the hammock tilts toward the horizon.

I found myself alone on the hammock one recent evening, reflecting on the memories we are beginning to create with Thea.

A consultant I know is fond of saying, "When we're on our death bed, no one says, 'Bring me my stuff, I want to touch it all one more time.'" Rather, we want to be surrounded by our memories, our stories, those of our friends and families able to gather near.

All of us leave memories, stories and lives in our wake every day. In our best moments, we are as enriched as the people we touch. At our worst, we fray the edges -- we spill out.

Helping to create new stories for Thea is a deeply rewarding product of the way Nikole and I have decided to parent her.

While we're very intentional about wanting our daughter to experience a life full of relationships and activity, most of what we create with her is driven by her enthusiastic discoveries and the basic business of day-to-day life.

We have a child that loves to do things -- collect bugs and acorns, make puzzles, explore the city's nooks and crannies. She loves her simple, weekend visits with her Omie to play with an oversized, meticulously crafted dollhouse, and weekly excursions with her MeMaw to art class or to get ice cream.

Lately, she's craving stories -- of my first dog, of my dad, of my first day at school. She's reassured that her mother and I have pasts not too dissimilar from her life, and takes simple joy from hearing about our childhoods.

We come full circle.

I watch my daughter live her own, unique reflections of my childhood -- a little richer, a little happier. I watch my shadows grow smaller as her life becomes more fully her own.

"Faster!" and then, "Not so fast!" as summer draws to a close.

Letter from John: September 2011

In preparation for a five-month leadership program we're designing and facilitating for a diverse group of 35 leaders, managers and influencers at the Library of Virginia, I've been re-reading a slim, yellow book -- "The Art of Possibility".

Written by husband-wife team Benjamin and Rosamund Zander, it is an affirming read that inevitably triggers debates between the optimists and pessimists in any given room. Ben Zander is the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, and his perspectives are deeply rooted in the world of music. They resonate with me. They're also deeply optimistic.

Among his lessons: Leading from any chair. Being a contribution. Giving yourself an A.

The notion of giving yourself an A is what has triggered the most debate among previous groups I've facilitated. The idea is simple -- as you begin an effort, step into the future and imagine "giving yourself an A" at the end of the project or activity. Then map out what you did (will do) to earn it; write yourself a letter from the future describing it. Take it a step further and give an A to people around you -- assume the best, set aside your judgments, ask deeper questions about what might really be going on, provide encouragement and direction.

One of the hardest things to do over the past three years of running my own business has been to give myself an A. There have been big moments in my Floricane life where an A just seemed too hard to achieve. Moments when my confidence flagged, when I wasn't hitting on all cylinders, when money was not just tight but the meter was running in reverse, fast.

Fortunately, I'm surrounded by a lot of people who are willing to give me an A -- my wife, the Floricane team, friends, clients, and a plethora of smart mentors. In moments of self-doubt, nothing beats having a handful of good graders surrounding you. Finding ways to give yourself an A, and looking for opportunities to give others a solid grade, can have a huge impact.

It's powerful stuff, and its surprisingly simple. Aren't most things that make a difference?

Current Work: August 2011

Our team is pretty excited about our current mix of clients, as well as some of the recent work we've completed.  Here's a sampling of some of the activity that has kept the Floricane team on our toes this summer:

• Strategic planning for Virginia Clean Cities
• Staff strategic retreat for the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement    
• Board strategic retreat for the Virginia Oral Health Coalition    
• Leadership and team development for the Library of Virginia    
• Leadership and team development for the Richmond Association of Realtors    
• Team development for Bon Secours Watkins Center    
• Insights self-awareness training for Mentor Richmond    
• Insights self-awareness training for the Software Consortium    
• Board development for The James House