November 2024 – Page 3 – leadership dots

leadership dot #4436: makeup

November 10, 2024November 9, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

During a recent hotel stay, the bathroom included a dark gray towel embroidered with “makeup” along with the usual array of white linens. Presumably, people had been using the lighter towels to remove their glamour goo, thus permanently staining them. Instead of spending time trying to bleach them or fighting the problem, the hotel enacted its own solution with the dark towel.

Is there a similar problem your organization faces that could be wiped away with an equally simple fix? The answer doesn’t always have to be lofty.

leadership dot #4435: old books

November 9, 2024November 8, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I’ve always been a reader and for most of my life, I purchased the books that I read. If I could apply one concept from the book, I kept it. As a result, I have amassed quite a collection of non-fiction.

And now I am faced with the question of what to do with them.

They surely aren’t the kind of books you put in the Little Free Libraries. The county library only wants books within the last year — they have enough old books of their own to dispense of. Many are specific to higher education or the issues surrounding it.

I guess the trick is to enact a system that regularly reviews and discards — so that things are removed as gradually as they are accumulated rather than all at once. But it would kill me to just put precious books in the recycle bin, even one at a time.

I am attached to these volumes — just as people become attached to now-out-of-date policies or practices or relationships that no longer serve a purpose. Even for things that are no longer useful, it’s hard to let go.

leadership dot #4434: write-in

November 8, 2024November 7, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I was part of a team processing write-in ballots from Tuesday’s election. I’m not sure most people know that anytime a voter fills in the circle on the ballot, they’re casting a vote. And all those votes are recorded, even if the write-in line is left blank.

So on Wednesday, a team of us had to handwrite a tally sheet for each write-in vote, including counting the “blank,” “none of the above,” “N/A,” “none,” “anyone else,” etc. We also had to write and count all the preposterous votes, including those for Taylor Swift, Peanut the Squirrel, P’Nut Squirrel, Aquaman, Elmer Fudd, Bugs Bunny, and the perennial favorite, Mickey Mouse.

While our work was important for the few service positions (agricultural council, soil and water board, etc.) where the write-ins will actually determine a winner, for most of the afternoon it was a bureaucratic exercise that did nothing but waste taxpayer money.

Voting is not a joke. If you don’t care enough to research who to vote for, leave the ballot alone.

leadership dot #4433: emperor

November 7, 2024November 7, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplett1 Comment

Marcus Aurelius wrote this in his Meditations:

“This one thing is worth much: to keep on living with truth and justice and in good will even among liars and unjust men.”

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leadership dot #4432: neighbor

November 6, 2024November 5, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

One house on a prominent road displayed signs for all the Democratic candidates. Their next-door neighbor featured almost the whole slate of Republicans. I imagine that both of them voted yesterday, effectively canceling each other out. I know it happened in my household and I imagine in many other places.

But today, the voting is over and both houses must live with the results. For four years.

I hope both parties remember that the person who displayed those opposing signs is still your neighbor. They may live down the block or in the next state, but they’re still your neighbor. I wish you the grace to treat them as such.

leadership dot #4431: Election Day

November 5, 2024November 4, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I spent 8 hours yesterday processing absentee ballots — verifying, opening envelopes, counting and recounting. It is not a fun job but it is an important part of the process. You can’t help but look at some of the ballots as you prepare them for the machine and what I can tell you is that some people voted for her and some people voted for him. Polar opposites as they may be, they have each appealed to some segment of voters.

I can also tell you that the line of people waiting to do early voting was literally a full block long for the entire time the office was open. People waited over an hour to cast their ballot for their candidates of choice. Even though it meant that we would ultimately have to count all those ballots, it was heartwarming to see people care enough to wait.

This election is going to be close — on the local level as well as state and federal ones. Don’t miss your opportunity to express your choice at the ballot box today.

leadership dot #4430: mentor

November 4, 2024November 2, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Some people are fortunate enough to have a mentor to guide them on their professional journey. A mentor can be wonderful, offering the mentee wisdom, guidance, a sounding board, and professional development opportunities. I personally have benefitted greatly from what I have learned from mentors throughout the years.

If you have a mentor, I hope you don’t become so enamored with the relationship that you are blinded to their faults. Everyone has challenges and makes mistakes along the way. Ask them about the lessons they have learned and the insights they gained in retrospect. In addition to soaking up your mentor’s guidance, be alert to what they are doing wrong or what you would do differently.

The goal of a mentor/mentee experience is to make the mentee stronger. Sometimes, that can happen by learning what not to do.

leadership dot #4429: rule book

November 3, 2024November 1, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

You are probably familiar with Rules of the Road, the booklet that contains all the details drivers must know before passing their licensing test. I was surprised to learn that there is a companion version of Rules for Safe Driving on the Airport Surface.

This booklet provides the procedures for ground vehicle operations in an attempt to avoid “a runway incursion.” The driver likely knows how to operate the vehicle, but needs to supplement that knowledge with an understanding of Air Traffic Control instructions, airfield signs, runway markings, lighting, aviation terminology, and security. I flunked the self-assessment!

Maybe your organization needs its own “Rules” book to help newcomers learn the specific language, policies, and practices crucial to your organization By providing them with the key behaviors in a digestible form, you can avoid workplace incursions and help them safely navigate the culture.

leadership dot #4428: hope jar

November 2, 2024November 1, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

After a meeting at a partner’s office, I was invited to make a Hallows’ Eve Hope Jar. This tradition encourages people to fill a jar or container with what they hope to harvest in the coming season.

The activity was fun from a crafts standpoint — there were so many different materials and textures from tiny clothes pins, pearls, rocks, glitter, and even moss. But it also caused me to think more deeply — what did I want to harvest? Perseverance? Harmony? Wealth? Luck? Resilience? Love? Stability? Courage? Even though I did not have to limit myself to one, it still required some reflection before I filled my container.

As we move closer to the end of the year/new year, perhaps you can craft your own Hope Jar, even if it’s just a metaphorical one. Telling the universe what you need makes it more likely you’ll put your effort there and will it into fruition.

Thanks, Liz!

leadership dot #4427: Pac-Man

November 1, 2024November 1, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I have a special affinity for the Pac-Man video game as my brother and I played it for hours and hours when I was in between college and graduate school.

It never occurred to me at the time, but a friend pointed something out that got me thinking of other ways the game is a helpful time management analogy.

You need to eat the Pac-Man dots one at a time; there is no “super-eater” that can gobble them all at once. The same is true with your tasks — unfortunately, you need to chase down each aspect of your project until there are no more. Sometimes, you’re more successful than others, but even if you eat them all another game will pop up. So it goes with project work, laundry, meal prep, and just about everything out there. It’s a continuous effort to complete as many things as possible without being eaten by the ghost (deadline). There are dead ends, backtracking, and moments of glee — and then you insert another quarter.

My hours with Pac-Man were lots of fun. I’ll keep them in mind and start to see each task as a little dot for me to gobble up!

Thanks, Brian!