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A PROCESS FOR WISDOM

Shandel Sutherland • Apr 18, 2024

FOREST OR A TREE

How do you look at life? This may seem like a silly question or even too broad of a question, but it is one that I ask often. I’ll put it this way, how often do you find yourself focusing on a tree when you have the opportunity to see the forest?

To be clear, I am not intending to come across as obscure or even ask a number of esoteric questions. BUT I do desire that whoever reads this will pause for just a moment to consider the question and gain full awareness of how they are looking at life.

My “why” for this is simple and can be immensely helpful for redefining success or fulfillment for oneself.

Research from Dr. Rowan Bayne suggests that only about 25% of people actually think about the Big Picture. Or in the context of this discussion, know how to look at the whole forest versus just zeroing in on a tree.

In other words, with nearly 8 billion people on this planet, that means that only 6 billion actually consider the big picture! Focusing more on the immediate moment than the big picture seems futile, from my perspective.


CLARIFYING QUESTION

What would happen if you only made decisions that impact you today, tomorrow, or even just this month?

If I am being overly transparent, I would do three things, almost immediately.

  1. I would go grab a glass and pour myself a double of my favorite whiskey this month (neat of course, I’m not a Neanderthal).
  2. I would click this link to order a dozen doughnuts on Postmates.
  3. I would begin smoking a CAO Gold Perfecto (inside, mind you).

I would likely be able to all of this inside of 5 minutes flat. (If you were living for just today or tomorrow, what would you immediately go do?)

Maybe you’re thinking, “Alan, this sounds rediculous but it’s a free country, why don’t you then?”

 Well, first and foremost, I value my health. Second, I am working to play the long-game by keeping the big picture in mind. And if I can fast-forward to what my overall well-being will likely be when I turn 60 years old, during which I know I’ll want another 20-40 years of quality life left at that point.

Therefore, it helps me “reverse engineer” what I need to do today in order to cultivate the health needed to increase the likelihood that I accomplish my goal for the “60-year old version of myself”. In other words, looking at the big picture helps me brush off immediate gratification and learn to embrace delayed gratification.

In light of the value in looking at the big picture versus having a short-term mindset, permit me to take a figurative “hard-right” and drill into a very practical application of this principle as it relates to social media.

We’ve already discovered how many people there are on this planet (nearly 8b), only 6 billion of which likely think about the big picture. Recently, Hootsuite uncovered that nearly 4 billion people are using social media!



THEREFORE, MORE THAN EVER IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THERE BE A PROCESS FOR OPTIMIZING ONE’S IMPACT FOR GOOD ONLINE AND ESPECIALLY SOCIAL MEDIA.

SOCIAL MEDIA & LEADERSHIP

When social media began to really gain traction in the business world, I was in middle management. Nearly all of the early 00’s I was running youth and community programs. In 2007 or 2008, during a weekly staff meeting, I was actually reprimanded in front of my co-workers for, get this, NOT being on social media enough. What the what?!

I definitely learned my lesson as I began to “engage” more. While I phased out myspace, I did begin using twitter and Facebook more often. I said some things I should not have, posted certain things that were unhelpful and thus we get to a tool that I have been developing over the years and is more relevant today than ever.

In the spirit of transparency, I don’t remember where I got the “3 by 10” portion of this tool, but nonetheless it will help you immensely.


“FIVE10 BY 3” EXERCISE

I call it the “FIVE10 by 3” exercise, mainly so that it was catchy enough to remember to follow the process. The name is the actual exercise broken into two phases.  It begins with a 5-minute practice.

Phase 1, think about what you’re going to say or share online, then wait 5 minutes.
Phase 2, after the 5 minutes have passed and you still want to speak your piece, get ready to share online and consider how you will feel 10 minutes AFTER you have shared, then 10 months after you have shared, and finally 10 years after you have shared.

Once you’ve thought through things like…

Does your post add value? Does it align with the vision you have for your life? This social media exercise is a lot like bowling with bumpers.  It ensures that you keep the big picture in mind while you contribute to the relevant conversations at the immediate moment.

HERE’S A SNAPSHOT OF THE EXERCISE


PRACTICAL APPLICATION

In closing, my aim and prayers are that we can remember the value of having people disagree with us. As Socrates thoughtfully stated…

“Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults.”

This process will help you be true to yourself AND equally thoughtful in how you impact others. It is important to remember that the way algorithms work is to share or auto-populate information that you appear to be interested in. Therefore, without realizing it, we can create echo chambers for ourselves, instead of a diverse group of people that are sounding boards. 

Furthermore, if we can begin utilizing the “FIVE10 by 3” practice, it will help us keep the big picture in mind. We increase the likelihood of considering the future and then being able to “reverse engineer” the things that are good for us. Practices that cause us health, vibrancy and even create friction but in order to learn and think more deeply.

Learning and thinking more deeply tends to generate more empathy and love for one another. We all need more of that.

The outcome here is that we become MORE human.  This will help to pursue justice and healing! We need that more than ever.


I’D ENCOURAGE YOU TO DOWNLOAD THIS EXERCISE AND PRINT OFF A NUMBER OF COPIES THAT YOU CAN KEEP WAITING READY FOR YOU. OR MAYBE YOU NEED TO SHARE THIS WITH YOUR TEAM SO THAT WE CAN ALL HAVE A VOICE THAT WILL IMPACT OTHERS FOR GOOD, EVEN OR ESPECIALLY VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. ALL WHILE COUNTERBALANCING THE BIG PICTURE AND IMMEDIATE MOMENT.



Pulling for you!


Alan Andersen

TAKE THE TIME TO INVEST IN YOURSELF BY INVESTING IN OTHERS

By Shandel Sutherland • 21 Apr, 2024
3-MINUTE READ As a leader, what are you missing that would help you achieve “the next level'? Chances are it is a person. Even more likely it is a person who is in the next room or down the hall from you at this very moment! Yet, we sit stressed and maxed out as they sit underutilized and bored. They desire meaning, mentoring and challenge, while we desire initiative and productivity. Still, both parties sit in their comfortable and familiar rut. This is a very poor utilization of assets and leaves huge profits on the table. THE ART OF INVESTING Think of your time as you would your money. A wise person thinks in a long-term manner about their money and how to spend and/or invest it for the greatest ROI (return on investment.) Consider the focus, time, and energy you devote to making, saving, and investing money for a specifically defined purpose. Now, that is exactly how you need to approach the time you invest in the people in your sphere of influence; and it is an art. A skill that must be learned and then uniquely applied according to each individual who can share in accomplishing the goal. STEPS ON INVESTING IN OTHERS 1. You must have clarity about what you are trying to accomplish. What outcomes you want to focus on and why does it matter? Is the vision compelling enough to get others involved and want to share in the ownership? 2. Focus on the few things only you and you alone can do. What are the unique strengths that you bring to the vision that no one else possesses on the team? What are the other things or tasks you are currently doing (and yes, we know you can do them well) but others could do just as good if not better? Make a list and identify the ones that steal the most time. 3. Find people that have the strengths and abilities to do the tasks you have identified. Before you approach them, work through all the fears you have about delegating, letting go, and giving up control. You may need your coach for this portion. 4. Connect with the person you would like to delegate your tasks to and make sure you have plenty of time to talk it out and get buy-in. Share your vision and your goal of investing in the person's professional and personal growth by passing on these specific tasks. Press for push back, find all the holes together, make sure you have healthy conflict to vet out all their fears and share your concerns as well. 5. Train the person on how you currently do the task. A: Show/tell them how to do it. B: Do it with them. C: Observe them as they do it for you. D: Coach them as they do it without you. E: Trust them as they do it alone. F: Check in often and create space for continuous improvement. You have just invested in one of your people and they are feeling empowered and trusted. Equally as important, you have just opened up a huge amount of time to operate in your strength and talent which you alone do best. It is now time to do it again and again until you are only operating in your strengths! What do you think about investing in yourself by investing in others? Your Coach,  Shandel Sutherland

HOW'S YOUR TEAMWORK?

By Shandel Sutherland • 21 Apr, 2024
3-MINUTE READ Teamwork is a method that aligns employee mindsets in a cooperative and usually selfless manner towards a specific business purpose. Today there is no business or organization that doesn’t talk about the need for and value of teamwork in the workplace. Some things cannot be accomplished by people working individually. Larger, more ambitious goals usually require that people work together with others. Because of this, teamwork is a desired goal of many businesses and organizations today. People who have well developed teamwork skills easily form relationships with mutual respect among diverse types of people. They understand the strengths and weaknesses of others and place a high priority on the success of their department and/or organization. People with strong skills in teamwork support team decisions and share responsibility with team members for successes and failures. How do you develop your own skills in Teamwork? • Show respect for all other people and display sincere interest in them as individuals. • Work on improving or enhancing your communication skills. • Give positive feedback as often as possible. • If you have a difficult relationship with someone, work to improve it through self-awareness and respect for differences. • Be enthusiastic about your ideas but don’t be overbearing or domineering when you express them. Try not to interrupt other people and listen to their ideas carefully before you disagree. • Discuss your ideas with your teammates until you agree. • Be willing to step back from a disagreement and cooperate. • Teach yourself not to be defensive. Think of negative feedback as opportunities for improvement, not personal affronts. • Be tolerant of others. Recognize that others’ viewpoints are as important to them as yours are to you! Self-observation Ask someone you trust to help you identify times when you come across as overbearing, domineering or intolerant of others. Keep a log of your behavior over the next month or so. Then, try to answer the following questions as you look at your notes: • Are there patterns to your actions? What are they? • Do you interrupt often in meetings or conversations? Do you interrupt certain people more often than others? • Are you particularly sensitive or domineering on certain topics or with certain people? • How does your behavior make those people feel and/or react? If you discover you would like to build your teamwork skills or the skills of your team, we would be glad to be part of the process. Your Coach,  Shandel
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