17 July 2007

Thoughts from Dad

I have a great friend in my Dad. He takes time to listen to me. He tries to help me. Our conversations are not so much about some grand conclusion as they are about exploration and discovery. Recently he sent me an email follow up to a conversation we were having. Here's what he wrote:

1. I am different. So I need to figure out how others think, because they don't think like I do.

2. Learning about change is not changing.

3. Most people agree that improvement and change is needed, until it means they have to change.

4. Getting someone to want to change is hard.

5. The power of the group, has something in it that facilitates change. (Carl Rogers)

6. Most leaders say, "You need to do this... You need to change... Good luck! See you later." Instead of, "You can change. I can help."

7. It's important to setup an environment that balances building the person and getting the job done.

Man, I love my Dad.

3 comments:

JGF said...

He is pretty wise. Did you ask him if he learned these lessons the hard way? Be interesting to find out how he came about them ...

Anonymous said...

Thanks for that... great wisdom from someone who sounds like an awesome dad!

David Weiss said...

I don't know if he's say it was learned the hard way. He's traveling right now, so maybe when he gets back he'll chime in. What he does say to me all the time is that "education costs" you can learn from others or learn by personal experience, but it all costs, time and money.