WE Not ME. My hope and desire for us today is to understand our personal power, personal responsibility and how it affects our personal performance. When that happens and those areas are in alignment the ME translates to the WE.
Let’s first look at gratitude. Per Webster, the definition of gratitude is “An emotion of the heart, excited by a favor or benefit received; a sentiment of kindness or goodwill towards a benefactor; thankfulness.” I love this definition because it expresses what helps ME, and what it does for WE. So, as we are internally grateful for the benefit of our job we express externally to others whom we work.
Everyone wins when I decide that what I am receiving has value. Gratitude is an emotional thankfulness that helps, strengthens and further promotes the WE.
It is easy to be grateful for the obvious or large events. It is rare to find the obvious or larger opportunities to NOT be made up of smaller incremental pieces. When I can do this then gratitude becomes part of my day, throughout the day, rather than an occasional event.
My favorite mentor, in the Quality Movement, is Stephen Covey who before his passing was a psychologist with remarkable insight into what it takes to become the most we could be for ourselves, that we might become more for others. Stephen’s work included, “Principle Centered Leadership”, “Inside-Out Approach to Change and Quality”, and “First Things First.” Most notably, Mr. Covey created “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”
When I think of the TEAM concept, I often refer to Stephen Covey. For many, TEAM stands for Together Everyone Adds Merit. Drawing on Covey’s instruction on alignment, when defined, alignment means, “a position of agreement or alliance” and “proper positioning”.
From a mechanical standpoint, certain equipment won’t efficiently operate unless aligned. Equipment wears out quicker and doesn’t perform as well while it is misaligned. The same is true for us. Therefore, we need alignment. It is what Stephen refers to as the Inside-Out Approach. We start at the personal then we proceed to the interpersonal. That spreads to the managerial and then finally to the organizational. I love the simplicity of the approach. Whether we agree or not, everyone in this room influences the entire department. Some influence is profound and some is subtle, but it is impossible for this to not be true. We all need to be the best person we can be for THE WE Not ME.
Here are some things I recommend to help ensure we live in the WE and not the ME.
- Start each day with a positive affirmation of who you are as an individual
- This is an internal position that must be taken and should be separate from our external environment
- Perform a check-up from the neck-up
- I do this by developing a daily periodic routine of re-examining where I am at emotionally, mentally and spiritually
- Become what I call a “pre-active” person. Let me explain
- Be aware of who your “irregular people” or maybe your “miserable people” are and daily prepare for them because they can turn a sunny day dark
- Make it a point of helping someone else have a great day. Getting out of “me” can turn my whole day around
- Always know that there is a more negative side of the coin
- Become known as a person who is always positive and one who looks on the bright side regardless of the circumstances
Robert Pardon
Robert is the Recovery Guy. Getting clean and sober on April 25, 1986 has given me the insight and practical skill set to not only stay sober, but to also re-invent myself to the person I always wanted to become. Showing others how to do this is my life goal.
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