Feel yourself getting uptight simply looking at the title?
It’s not exactly a word that conjures up positive connotations!
This past Thursday and Friday…
I had the privilege of attending an incredible Global Leadership Summit.
It was telecast from Chicago.
The speaker line-up was simply amazing!
Jim Collins, Terri Kelly, Tony Dungy, Daniel H. Pink, Blake Mycoskie…
and THE Jack Welch…
to name a few.
That’s right.
I’ve attended a lot of conferences in my day…
and this one is hands down…
THE best investment of my time and money EVER.
Another speaker was a gentleman of less renown in the secular world…
by the name of Andy Stanley.
Andy is the senior pastor of a church in Alpharetta, Georgia…
that has a weekly attendance of more than 28,000 people.
He just turned 51.
The talk that he shared was not without huge epiphanies…
impact…
effectiveness.
It’s title?
The Upside of Tension.
This week…
all week…
we are going to talk about several of the things that he shared.
They are thought provoking…
conversation stimulating…
paradigm shifting…
principles.
And they couldn’t apply more…
to leaders…
and a Leadership Education environment.
I have thought so very much…
about what he had to say…
as it applies to my life as a wife…
mother…
mentor…
friend…
community leader.
Tension is defined in Webster’s 1828 Dictionary as…
1. The act of stretching or straining;…2. The state of being stretched or strained to stiffness; or the state of being bent or strained…3. Distension.
The premise is this…
Every “organization” has problems that shouldn’t be solved…
and tensions that shouldn’t be resolved.
Why?
Because in the resolve…
you simply create new tensions!
Real progress depends not on the resolution of those tensions…
but on the successful management of those tensions.
Here are an example of two tensions…
that we all need to manage regularly.
Schooling…
which according to the 1828 is…
instructing; teaching; reproving.
And Educating…
which is…
instructing; enlightening the understanding, and forming the manners.
He went on to explain…
that “problems to solve”…
are often mistaken for the tensions in life…
that need to be leveraged and managed!
Talk about thought provoking!
This week…
it is my hope…
that we will engage in interesting..
thought provoking dialogue together…
about all of the ways that we could make progress…
as leaders and mentors…
if we will learn to distinguish between problems and tension!
So…
put on your thinking cap…
even start taking the time to write down examples of “tensions”…
and we’ll meet up on Wednesday to begin discussing!
Don’t hesitate to share these in the comments section!
It will most likely broaden our options!
See you Wednesday!
And no…
I didn’t forget!
This week’s giveaway is also courtesy of Christy Gandara…
It is a set of two plexi-glass-like boards.
One is a “To Do” list…
the other is a “What’s Cookin’?” week day schedule- at- a-glance.
They’re convenient…
in that you use a wipe off Vis-a-Vis marker on each of them…
and start fresh both daily and weekly respectively.
They are decorated, of course…
and I will post a picture on Wednesday!
My brain has been going non-stop since Thursday…
and admittedly…
it is a refreshing change from my mouth…
is it not?!
I’m tired…
and I’ll see you Wednesday!
XO,
Teri, as always, timely insight from Tommymom! I am currently planning a training workshop for 500-700 PTA members to be held this Friday and Saturday…tension? Hmmnnnn….. No worries here, all will fall into place by then, I am certain! As for the awesome speaker list you referred to, I have had the pleasure of hearing Daniel Pink speak recently at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Sponsored by Boeing, and State PTA, he shared with us that our youth in traditional education is simply learning to the test and no longer thinking outside the box since the arts have been cut. THAT is why one of our classes this weekend is “PTA and the Arts”….We are making small changes to affect a larger goal; or at least are trying!
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Wow, that 1828 definition is insightful and totally changes my perspective on tension. Very cool. Your entire entry was also very insightful and I will welcome tension now instead of fearing it.
Tony Dungy is a great man, especially for the field he worked in. An anomaly. I just watched an interview of him this past weekend and was very impressed with his character. Wish I could have heard all those speakers. Thanks for sharing some of the content with us!
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So… I am thinking about tension as it relates to relationships in a family. And yes, this comes off of spending an intense week with my mother-n-law preparing for her youngest and last child’s wedding. TENSION!!! Family relationships are not relationships that we choose as in the case of friends or acquaintances. Oftentimes, there is tension when personalities conflict or paradigms are different. But, the tension that exists can cause tremendous growth individually and within the bonds of the family. Because relationships always involve two people, we can only control our side- how we treat the other person, how we react, etc. For this reason, looking at difficult relationships through the lens of “tension” as opposed to a “problem to be solved” is maybe more accurate?
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Teri,
I really like the idea of describing this balance between two good things as tension. It’s like the tension between the top thread and the bottom thread on a sewing machine or the tension on a violin string. When the tension on the violin string is just right it’s in tune. If it’s too tight it’s sharp and not tight enough you’re sure to “B” flat.
It seems that most things in this world that is half day and half night need that tension, balance, or tempering. We need both sleep and wakefulness, work and play, choice and accountability, service and self-reliance, heart and mind, nurture and admonision.
The challenge is that the tension has to be constantly adjusted. You can’t just set it and be done. It’s different for each individual, each experience, and each day.
Thanks for sharing Teri. You made me think!
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