Leadership and Change

Those who have never loved and been loved by an animal, have a part of their soul yet unawakened. - Unknown

This past week, I had been selected for one of the highest honors at my workplace. I was selected to spend a week at Leadership Training Institute. I and seventeen others began the week learning about change, how to institute it and how to manage it, and then went on to learn team building, leadership and other motivational things. I met some very interesting people, and some of us decided we would maintain the friendships we built. Others of us will be meeting to continue to mentor each other.

One of the most fun facts for me was that I was the only girl there. Those of you that know me, know how much fun that was for lil ol hyper-competitive me.

Oddly enough, one of my favorite things I pulled away from this was that I was witness to five amazing smiles. Yes, honestly, it was the smiles that I remember most as I sit here re-living it in true Pisces form.

And I'll tell you why. Smiles define a person.

5. We have one man, who had a serious look as he tried to pay attention to the material, and then would see the humor and let out a burst of air and then a smile would break out. As I watched him, it seemed that the smile often surprised him and that was half the joke.
4. We had one man who I work with frequently, and is just known as a nice guy. He's always smiling, and everyone always loves him who meets him. You don't even have to get to know this guy to know he's just a NICE GUY. You know? He has a young baby and life is good for him, and I pray for him that nothing ever changes, and that life continues to bring him good fortune and joy.
3. The man who brought our food and took care of us had an amazing, brilliant smile that lit up his face. He loved his family, people, and his job. As one instructor mentioned, sarcasm is our number one export in New England, and this man had it in spades. He didn't even know me but instantly saw in me another sarcastic, full of life person and we spent the week getting to know each other and ribbing each other. His favorite moment, I bet, was when I was trying to get out to explore the gardens and he had to explain how to open the door. Oh, boy, was that a trip - don't ever ask a sarcastic man how to get out of a building.
2. There was a man there from Hong Kong and Thailand, although he himself was Vietnamese. He sat next to me on the first day and said at the beginning of the week that his goal was to get to know each person in the room. And he meant it, not just their names, but who they were. He started each day SHOUTING into the mirror "Have a happy day" and explained that a good day was not good enough, he needed to have a happy day. When he smiled, his whole body vibrated with energy just looking to get out and hit you with positivity. He loved people and loved meeting them and it showed, and you couldn't help but love him. He was my second favorite character from the week.
1. My favorite man and also my favorite smile was a Scotsman, and an amazing man. He was so, so serious, and then suddenly and surprisingly, this 1,000 watt smile would break out and I would just feel the joy rising in me from my gut, and I would have to smile with him. When I did, the joy I felt was just completely throughout my body. He had smiling eyes, like we Irish like to talk about, and I never did quite figure out what color they were. :) I found myself hoping and wishing that he would speak more often just so I could hear his melodic accent. (Which was not Scottish, by the way)

I was impressed with him for many reasons, but one was because one of my main drivers in life is continuous self improvement. This man in the short week I got to know a little about him shared a few "faults" about himself in an honest and refreshing way. He was there to learn, and he did not accept mediocrity. Some of the others seemed to want to allow it in during some of the exercises for the sake of simplicity and ease. He is a more surprising and interesting individual than I believe he gives himself credit for. Although I bet his wife is fully aware of how amazing he is. Of all the men there, I found myself continually noticing the many similarities between us, and perhaps that's why I liked him so well. Don't we typically get drawn to those who are most like us?

So, perhaps I'll post some lessons about leadership some time soon. Right now, I have to walk my dogs and then go on a huge, long bike ride out in the woods of New Hampshire with friends to try to burn off some of those calories from the amazing quantities of food they shoved into us this past week.

I'll post the pictures of the event when I receive them.