A Matter of Respect

Posted on by Scott

uluruIn central Australia, there’s a huge sandstone formation called Uluru. It rises 1,142 feet above the surrounding flatlands of the outback. Discovered in 1873 by surveyor William Gosse, it was given the English name Ayer’s Rock; in honor of Sir Henry Ayers, the Chief Secretary of Australia at the time. At almost six miles in circumference, Uluru is striking landmark; seemingly changing colors depending on the day and time of day you view it. Since the 1950’s, Uluru has been sought out by tourists wanting to see it for themselves.

Many also want to climb it. It’s a steep climb and a chain handrail was added in 1964 to aid those making the trek to the top. About a third of visitors to Uluru have decided to climb, despite opposition from the locals. Uluru has great cultural and spiritual significance to the indigenous people, the Pitjantjatjara Anangu. Archeologists have found evidence of human habitation at Uluru dating back more than 10,000 years. The route of the tourist climb crosses a sacred dreamtime track, a route used by the Aborigines to commune with their ancestors.

As you can imagine, opinions differ on the morality of climbing Uluru. Some choose to honor the feelings of the Anangu. They are sensitive to how their actions impact others and seek out ways to enjoy the area without disrespecting those with strong ties to the land. Others see only their own interests. They view access to Uluru as a right and can’t understand why the simple act of climbing a rock would upset anyone.

Empathy is the ability to feel someone else’s emotions, and taking action to help. Those who can empathize with Anangu for example, can understand the pain of watching others treat a sacred place of worship as a tourist attraction. They can see how their own actions could easily add to the pain being felt, and so they alter their behavior in order to ease that pain.

Empathy is one component of emotional intelligence, and plays a key role in interpersonal relationships. At home, at work, and in the community – empathy is what connects us to other people and makes it possible for us to interact in mutually beneficial ways. A lack of empathy is often the cause of dysfunctional relationships and has been shown to be a factor in many studies of productivity and workplace satisfaction.

Experts offer the following tips to help develop your empathy muscle:

  • Put yourself in the other person’s shoes.
  • Show care and concern.
  • Acknowledge the other person’s feelings.
  • Ask questions to help you understand.
  • Mirror aspects of their behavior to build rapport.
  • Don’t run ahead of the conversation.
  • Don’t judge.
  • Show emotional support (trust and affirmation).

This past Friday, the last climbers descended from Uluru just after sunset. As part of an agreement with tribal elders, and bolstered by growing public support, this particular tourist attraction is now permanently closed. You can still hike around the base of Uluru, and there are plans for additional attractions that will help showcase the rock and its historical impact; but climbing is illegal and subject to hefty fines.

The reclusive indigenous people of central Australia are excited about the future; for all who visit Uluru. They feel a connection to the land that runs deep. It’s a connection they feel can and should be shared – with those willing to listen.

The Continuous Thread

Posted on by Scott

ChengI recently came across an article about Alfred Cheng. He’s an artist from Hong Kong who uses thread to create realistic portraits of celebrities. What’s amazing about Cheng’s art is that he uses a single thread to craft each of his masterpieces; and that thread is 5,000 meters long. That’s 15,000 feet of thread!

Cheng starts with a digital version of the photograph he wants to recreate. He converts it to grayscale, adjusts the contrast to create the right mix of highlights and shadows. Then he uses an algorithm to map out the precise method of wrapping his thread around over 300 nails he’s hammered into a circular frame.

As Cheng spends weeks wrapping the black thread around the nails in an intricate pattern, layers of dark begin to outline the portrait and fill in shadows to create the stunningly realistic images. His work requires incredible focus as a single mistake can ruin the work. He could get out of sequence, warping the image, or break the thread; wasting all of the work that came before that point.

I watched a video of Cheng working, and it occurred to me that we are all in the business of creating art.

  • Cheng works to create a portrait while we work toward creating profitable customer relationships.
  • Cheng analyses each piece to determine the correct spacing of nails and wrapping pattern. We approach each customer as an individual with their own specific needs.
  • Cheng depends on layers of thread to create a masterpiece. We layer positive experiences to build trust and loyalty.
  • Cheng uses nails to anchor his thread, linking one to another to reveal an image. We use various touchpoints (face-to-face, telephone, email, online) to weave an intricate web of service.
  • A single mistake by Cheng can ruin weeks of painstaking work. A single misstep on our part can damage or destroy a relationship.

We do have one advantage over Cheng though. While he labors alone, we have an incredible team working alongside us every day. I’ve never thought of myself as an artist, but I am proud to be associated with so many of you who dedicate yourselves to the art of improving the lives of your customers and coworkers.  Together, we create some amazing works of art.

Just Keep Running

Posted on by Scott

jogging-2343558_640On September 21st, nine year old Kade Lovell was entered into the St. Frances Franny Flyer 5k race in Sartell, Minnesota. Kade loves to run and had competed in other races, including cross country since the age of six. This particular 5k was part of his training for the upcoming Junior Olympics in Wisconsin.

Things didn’t go as planned for Kade, however. He started the race well, and had the lead as he approached the turnaround point. He saw the sign, but a spectator urged him to keep going. He did and inadvertently the 10k race which shared the same route. He later admitted “I was a little confused.”

Kade’s mother Heather was waiting on the sidelines near the finish line. When Kade failed to appear at his anticipated time, she wasn’t worried. Everyone has an off day and perhaps he just wasn’t running his best this time. But as the minutes ticked by, she grew frantic. When driving the race route failed to turn up any signs of Kade, she enlisted help to search for her son.

Sometimes, the small tasks turn into big ones. What we thought was a short, relatively easy run turns out to be much longer than anticipated. Maybe we took a wrong turn. Maybe we got some bad advice along the way. Maybe we just weren’t paying attention and forgot to stop running. And then suddenly we find ourselves in unfamiliar territory.

I don’t know about you, but my first instinct is usually to stop. I get a little confused because things are a little harder than I thought they would be. The road seems longer than I anticipated. I’m all alone and thinking “what went wrong?” Everything in my brain is screaming “This isn’t right. Bail out now before you go too far.”

But what if we didn’t stop at the first sign of adversity? What if we simply accepted the larger challenge that’s been presented to us and just kept going? Would we surprise ourselves? Could we accomplish something even bigger than what we’d set our sights on initially?

Kade’s uncle, a participant in the 10k event, heard from a spectator that a young boy was running the same race, and doing “really well.” It was Kade, running like the wind – spurred on by a combination of panic and fear that his mother would be angry with him for the mistake. As it turns out, Kade ran so well he won the 10k race. He finished with a time of 48 minutes, more than a minute faster than the closest competition.