Leadership Rowan [Future Perspectives] ~ September 2011 Session

Erik Lipscomb
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Renewal

Back in September I participated in my first day long Leadership Rowan session.  The theme of the day was Future Perspectives.  We heard several speakers from within the community, from a local farmer talking about utilizing drip irrigation to a small business owner discussing challenges that small businesses face. We also got to tour Catawba College‘s Center for the Environment (an environmentally conscious building), the local water plant and a local museum (Salisbury, NC has a planetarium!).

All of the activities and speakers were eye opening. Fascinating. I learned so much.

But the very first speaker, Alan King, a former school administrator talked about one thing that I classify as a Star Principle.

Decay

Alan King talked about Renewal versus Decay in your life and endeavors.  Simply put, Renewal moves you forward and Decay rots you from the inside. To Renew you must seek new experiences, you must be curious about the world around you, you must be excited about what you are doing, and remember…attitudes are contagious!

I’ve heard Greg Alcorn, (our CEO) mention before that if you’re standing still, you’re falling behind.  This is the same principle!  If you are not constantly Renewing yourself, your knowledge, your beliefs, you are Decaying.

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King mentioned 3 mindsets that lead to Decay.

  1. Apathy ~ Simple enough.
  2. Moral Emptiness ~ King noted the importance of personal integrity.
  3. Over-Rigidity ~ Lastly he talked about the ‘we can’t do that‘ mindset.
I have often read about and heard co-workers talking about the overly rigid mindset.   It is generally acknowledged that an overly rigid mindset is not in the best interest of innovation and creativity.  Innovation and creativity mean change.  And change is hard!  Have you ever come up with an idea and been met with “That won’t work” or “We’ve tried that before”?  I’ll admit that I sometimes find myself ( me!) saying this very thing to my boss.  He wisely says, “Don’t tell me we can’t do it. Tell me how we can.”  And poof.  I’m back to my regular old self, finding solutions to our marketing problems.    For me personally, the overly-rigid mindset is an, albeit small, weakness.
What’s your weakness?  Do you find yourself apathetic at times? Read about what motivates employees here.
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