Here’s a thought for your next board meeting …
What can happen if you start in a new place — just for part of one meeting? Could you get some new oomph into the room?
And how might that new perspective ripple outward, influencing your community?
Hear what I learned from Sonja Garber, when we met late in the evening at the end of the year-long leadership program.
You can start with a question, something as simple as “Why are you here? What’s important to you about serving?” (So rarely do we talk about this, in the press of day-to-day business.)
Or maybe even: “In your life as a volunteer, when was a high point — a time that stands out, when you were most gratified, excited, or satisfied. Is there a story there?”
Sonja Garber is chair of The Center for Vital Community in Sheridan, Wyoming. I had the privilege of working on a community-building initiative in Sheridan; you can learn a bit more about it here.
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I facilitated a workshop recently in Juba, in southern Sudan. It was about developing ways to measure the effectiveness of peacebuilding, with participants from three states who are engaged in that work.
I knew very few of the participants, and they had already been in another, very intensive, four day workshop that ended the previous day. So I changed the room around, from the horseshoe shaped table, to five sets of tables and chairs, with bright paper and markers for the workshop, and some koosh balls on the table. (Everyone eventually picks them up and throws them around…)
And I started by asking people to pick someone they didn’t know, learn two things about them they didn’t know, and then introduce them to the rest.
But I also asked them to ask one more question, “What brings you joy in your work?” The answers were inspiring, and it seemed to create a different spirit in the room.
So I suggest that as a possible question people might consider. It seemed to work well for our group.
I can just imagine how welcome your query was, Rosemary. It would be if I were asked.
(btw, Sonja and Rosemary have a whole lot of experience in facilitating. Sometimes it sounds so easy. I learned the hard way long ago: test your questions before you try them in a group.)
P.S. One thing that’s so invigorating about the folks who choose to be here — on the site or in the workshops — as a place to stand as they change the world … is how they’re from so many places.
Rosemary is working in Serbia (usually), and Sonja’s from Denmark, living for the last long spell in one of the smallest towns I’ve visited in Wyoming.
The reason this is important is far beyond “exotic.” It’s important because hope grows when the world is in the room, even this virtual room.