Have you seen them? During recent travels, and in recent facebook postings (that’s right, where all wisdom lies), I’ve been seeing pictures taken with the Selfie Stick: that telescoping tool that holds your cell phone at the end and allows you to take a picture of you and your friends, without having to ask someone to help you, and that doesn’t show your nostrils and facial hairs.
I’m sure you’re wondering what I’m doing writing in a leadership blog about Selfie Sticks! As I coach leaders, I often find my clients challenged with beliefs around being competent, in-control, and autonomous. To be transparent, one of my fears in life has been around being dependent on others and needing help. As life so often does, I was forced to face that fear during a very challenging family illness. I discovered that people felt honored to be able to give back the help and support that I had offered them. It deepened our connection, our friendship and our love, and I learned a very important lesson, which was that I cannot exist alone, and the journey is a whole lot more fun when surrounded by others.
I find the same pleasant surprises when I ask strangers to take my picture with my BIG camera, and they, in turn, ask me to take theirs. As with children and pets, it serves as a starting point for conversation, for connection, for discovery, that so often leaves me with a smile on my face and warmth in my heart.
So, I don’t mean to slight the Selfie Stick in any way, and, in fact, I’m a bit envious that I didn’t think of the idea myself! And, I am impressed with our culture’s desire for independence, as compared with community and collaboration.
I will resist the pull of the Selfie Stick, and will ask your forgiveness for the close-up pictures of nasal hairs, or the pictures that encompass more depth, because I’ve asked for help.
I’m sure you’re wondering what I’m doing writing in a leadership blog about Selfie Sticks! As I coach leaders, I often find my clients challenged with beliefs around being competent, in-control, and autonomous. To be transparent, one of my fears in life has been around being dependent on others and needing help. As life so often does, I was forced to face that fear during a very challenging family illness. I discovered that people felt honored to be able to give back the help and support that I had offered them. It deepened our connection, our friendship and our love, and I learned a very important lesson, which was that I cannot exist alone, and the journey is a whole lot more fun when surrounded by others.
I find the same pleasant surprises when I ask strangers to take my picture with my BIG camera, and they, in turn, ask me to take theirs. As with children and pets, it serves as a starting point for conversation, for connection, for discovery, that so often leaves me with a smile on my face and warmth in my heart.
So, I don’t mean to slight the Selfie Stick in any way, and, in fact, I’m a bit envious that I didn’t think of the idea myself! And, I am impressed with our culture’s desire for independence, as compared with community and collaboration.
I will resist the pull of the Selfie Stick, and will ask your forgiveness for the close-up pictures of nasal hairs, or the pictures that encompass more depth, because I’ve asked for help.
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