Why I Write

Another one of those intriguing questions. I’ve thought about this a lot recently partly because of an article I read where a freelance, award winning journalist was bemoaning the fact that as a career, writing is a poorly paid profession. He was making a number of points but the one that really struck me was his discussion about how we may be turning the profession of writing over to hobbyists as opposed to well seasoned journalists. All of this, he argues, is partly the result of the internet, blogs and bloggers. So this made me realize that I needed to think more about my decision and choice to write and to share my writing with the world so to speak.

It is something all writers think about now and then I’m sure. In the process it really does help to clarify some things. For example, journalists, if they are any good at all, are hard working professionals who immerse themselves in research and fact finding. They dig, they interview, they write and rewrite but most importantly they make sure they have facts and quality sources. All of this slows reporting down which is one of the biggest concerns relative to the internet and its impact on good, professional, quality reporting. Stories get old very quickly these days and reporters, journalists and editors work in an extremely competitive environment. So thinking about all of this, it became pretty clear to me that I’m not a journalist and probably don’t have the wherewithal to be one anytime soon. I want to write and see the results more quickly.

So what about literary writing? Is that my style? Is that what I do? Perhaps a little, but I’m certainly no Hemingway or any other author that I can think of for that matter. But here’s what I know. I have stories and I have a little bit of a sense of how to convey them. I want my stories to be factually accurate but I’m not a fact checker in that very specific sense. What I really want to do is impact people and the way they think, the things they’re thinking about. I want to do it in as truthful a manner as possible,  but if a story I tell requires emotion I want it to be there in all of its glory. I want people to be able to feel and experience the topic or the subject. I want people to share in the journey - mine or others who I write about.  I guess it’s about soul and heart and feelings. All of those things that make us feel strongly about something. Stories do come from someplace we all know. They come from history and experience and many of us share those things in lots of different ways. Family, work, politics, spirituality, all of these are experienced and we have our own part of them. We also learn from them.

My Grandmother came to this country from a small village in Ireland. She traveled across the ocean with her sister and brother. She was 15 years old and the oldest of the three. She was a great storyteller and she never let too many facts get in her way as she told stories about cops in New York City or about cleaning seminarians rooms at Seton Hall or as she spun yarns about a character named Johnny McGlory back in Ireland. Her stories made us mainly laugh and sometimes cry. They made us think about that country far off that she missed so much. They made us understand that life wasn’t easy for everybody and that there were lots of different people in the world. Life lessons I guess. Her facts were in her memory of her experiences and her emotions were on her sleeve.

So perhaps I’m just a storyteller like her. Trying to tell the truth but also sharing emotion and feeling, as well as a few opinions along the way. I guess that’s some of why I write.

The Arts Experience, Geneva, NY

I've written before about The Arts Experience, a festival at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY. The festival is a joint effort between the Colleges and the Collaborative of the Finger Lakes. The festival kicked off yesterday, April 16th and is already off to what looks like a great start. The festival is a nice example of not only collaborative efforts but more importantly inclusionary practices where people with and without disabilities mix, mingle, learn, teach and experience together.

I have had the pleasure of being involved as a member of the steering committee that has lead the organizing effort. I must say that Mary Kelly from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Jean Jensen from The Arc of Steuben have done the major work of organizing, communicating and pulling people together and they really do deserve the credit for that. There have been many others, behind the scenes, working hard to make the event both enjoyable and valuable.

For those who aren't aware, The Collaborative of the Finger Lakes is an organization made up of 12 Chapters of NYSARC, Inc., a statewide organization that provides supports to people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities across New York State. The Collaborative represents those Chapters in the Finger Lakes region. They formed a regional organization a number of years ago to explore and identify ways that they, as separate organizations, could share and collaborate on various projects and in various operational areas. Over the years I served on the Collaborative Board as the executive director of one of the participating organizations. This group deserves a lot of credit for their initiative and their efforts toward collaboration. Their success has been limited, in my opinion, but they've certainly put forth the effort and hopefully will continue to explore all of the possibilities of collaboration. The Arts Experience is one of their successes and it is something that could easily be duplicated by other educational institutions and organizations across the country - and it should be.

To watch students, faculty and people with disabilities interact on a campus, helping each other get the most out of a particular event or workshop is something that is pretty significant. It's also very natural. If you're close by, find a time to visit and participate in one of the many events over the next few weeks. There is a link to an article here and a listing of events here. Take a look at these and you'll get a sense of the collaboration and inclusionary aspects of what's going on. And finally, if you can, visit The Arts Experience in person.

More On Collaboration - Part 2

As indicated in the previous post on collaboration, this is a topic that is extremely important in the current political and fiscal environment. Although I still question if a lot of money can be saved through collaboration, I'm convinced that better communication, support to customers and enhanced management practices can all be improved through collaboration. It's also, in my opinion, a necessary aspect and requirement for leaders and managers in any business today. Previously I've written about why collaboration is so hard. This is really a continuation of that discussion and an attempt to focus on the leader's role in collaboration.

I want to start out by saying, that like many others, I was not always a fan of collaboration. Perhaps fan is the wrong word. Like other people in leadership or management positions, I always had lots to do. Lots of fires to put out and lots of internal decisions that had to be made on a daily basis. I felt the pressures of outside sources, customers, funders, regulators as well as internal ups and downs, employee issues, facilities, etc. I also hired good people to deal with many of these issues. I was a product of the very common top down, up/down management styles and practices. I experimented like everyone else with newer methods with some degree of success and a few major failures along the way. But as my own management experiences evolved and as I grew in terms of vision and focus, collaboration began to make more sense.

I also had a number of colleagues and mentors who helped me get to that place where collaboration became such a strong focus. As I share these thoughts it's really important that readers realize that my experiences included successes and failures and that there was a good deal of discomfort along the way. I learned early on in my collaborations that trust was absolutely essential. Now let's be clear, I said trust. I didn't say anything about liking or disliking other parties involved. Obviously liking or disliking a partner or potential partner plays a role and in the end is important but trust is essential.

I've seen people begin the collaborative process and work hard for some time at creating the necessary level of trust among leaders/partners. Sometimes it's harder then other times but I think eventually people usually can get rid of all of the baggage and begin to trust others. It's a big deal when it happens and should be celebrated. Relationships do grow and evolve and as with almost everything we deal with - it's all about relationships.

But that's the first phase and first step of collaboration. Here's where it begins to get harder. Along this journey of trust and collaboration, the leader has naturally become more excited and has stronger beliefs about collaboration and that's a good thing. The trick though is how the leader passes that passion and vision on to the rest of his or her management team. Let's face it, part of why collaborative efforts are difficult is because they require more work, more effort, more meetings, more of everything basically - at least for a time. So you have to be a great leader to convince your team that this is a good thing, right? It's critical and this is where things can sometimes break down. The leader of an organization is convinced collaboration is good and necessary but others wonder and some resist. After all they were hired to do a job and all of this talk about cooperation, collaboration and partnerships just interferes with their real focus - to get that job done.

I've seen a couple of approaches. The one that always fails is the osmosis and delegation theory. Basically people will get it by doing it and since I believe in it, they'll believe in it. In the process, I'll send people to meetings with other partners and everything will be fine. They'll all learn what to do and how to do it.

The other one that has more chances for success but that can also fail is the proactive leadership role and approach. Here, the leader's passion about whatever collaboration is taking place or their vision about collaboration is talked about, discussed and debated at every juncture. Every meeting of the management team reiterates what collaboration is taking place and why it's important. It's always done with a passion. Other leaders are allowed to question and identify problems but no one gets away with not buying into the vision. This is really hard because some people may refuse to come along and they've had value over many years. The reality is that this is a juncture and bridge that will have to be crossed. You may find yourself with at least one less member of your management team if the vision isn't shared. The reality is that one person refusing to participate has the potential of killing all of your collaborative efforts.

The truth is that leaders need to lead in the area of collaboration, not delegate. This means more work for you. You have to attend meetings where teams or new partners are present. You have to help clarify goals and work plans. You have to anticipate and deal with the negative responses and barrier building vs problem solving. A leader with similar vision always needs to be present and participating, mentoring, developing. Peer groups need to be identified but cannot go off on their own without direction. Ultimately it will frustrate them and you. Organizations that succeed at collaborative efforts realize that they need this kind of commitment, that goals need to be set in clear terms and that people need to be supported in their work and in the end there has to be a pay off that's real and measurable.

Bullying

All of the interest and emphasis on bullying and anti-bullying activities is interesting to say the least. I certainly think these efforts are worthwhile and needed. Many of us or people we know have experienced some form of bullying - in school, in the workplace, in other social settings or by entities that we have to deal with on some sort of regular basis.

But here's what I find most interesting. We find ourselves needing to put all sorts of resources into anti-bullying activities for young people so that they end up with a positive view of themselves and others and, it is our hope, stop a bad behavior. In the meantime, they watch adults participate in bullying behavior on a regular basis - at home, on the news, in the movies, on tv shows, at the mall, etc. Most of what they see is done by adults, written by adults or in some cases encouraged by adults. It extends to our political parties and contests and how the news media is treated and how it treats subjects of stories. It extends to how government agencies treats citizens. It extends to foreign policy and religion. The things that are said and done in the name of gods and nations include substantial bullying.

The bottom line is that bullying is pretty well embedded in mankind's nature for whatever reason. It doesn't mean we shouldn't support or invest in anti-bullying efforts but we should certainly begin to recognize how big the problem is and how it is engrained in society as a whole. Kids are smart. They'll see it even if we don't.