Numbers, numbers, numbers.
We live in a world where we want to quantify
everything. How many friends I have on
Facebook. How many steps I walked on the
pedometer. How many calories in that
double cheeseburger (do I really want to know?). We are bombarded with numbers and statistics
to the point that we truly can become immune to their impact.
However, numbers can help tell a story so let me share some
with you. Please really get what these
numbers represent and don’t take them lightly.
It would be a mistake to do so.
80. In 2012, for the first time in LeaderShape’s
history, eighty sessions of The LeaderShape Institute were held from Doha,
Qatar to Toronto, Canada to Boston, Massachusetts, to Eugene, Oregon and dozens
of locations in between. Eighty
afternoons of reading Tomorrow’s Headlines, eighty opportunities to learn a
different perspective, eighty more moments to realize you still can make a
difference in a very complex world.
Perhaps most importantly, we now have eighty other communities who
actually felt what a just, caring, thriving world feels like even if only for
six days.
4,068. So eighty sessions is the big story, but
there are 4,068 other stories that are more important. Over four thousand stories that were heard,
told, added to, and shared in a way that they perhaps were never done so
before. That number represents the total
number of participants who have attended The LeaderShape Institute so far in
2012 and we still have two more sessions this month. Each one of those participants came to their
session whether it be a national session or hosted by another organization with
an idea about leadership, many of them thinking that they have learned what it
means to lead prior to LeaderShape. We
believe that they all are better equipped to lead with integrity, adopt a
healthy disregard for the impossible, and create the kind of world we all want
to live in after leaving on Day Six.
Those stories are all different and yet all the same. Stories of struggle, joy, confusion, and opportunity. We all look forward to hearing those stories
for years to come.
46,246. All of those stories are now blended with
graduates from years past to create the LeaderShape story. What a story that is. Those of you who have read Malcolm Gladwell are
familiar with the concept of the “tipping point.” The game I play from time to time is what
number of LeaderShape graduates will be the tipping point for achieving our
mission. Is it 46,247? Is it 50,000 which we will hit in 2013. Is it 100,000? When will we have reached the number that
leading with integrity is now the norm?
I like playing this game because it gets more exciting every year. I may not now when it is going to happen, but
I know for sure that every year we are getting closer. Not a bad game to play…do you agree?
1. Finally, the
most important number has to be one. Bet
you saw that coming if you were paying attention. With all of these wonderful numbers this
year, they don’t mean anything if LeaderShape ever loses track of “the power of
one.” Each new participant, each new
staff member, each facilitator, each food service worker who serves us at a
session, each person that decides not to go to LeaderShape because they have
“more important things to do.” It is all
about the one. One conversation that
changes a mind. One idea that comes
during a long walk with your family cluster.
One day when you decide to raise your game. One moment that defines a life.
We all must never lose sight that numbers are made up of a
bunch of “ones.” Don’t care how much
money you have; I care how you spend that one dollar. Don’t care how many leadership positions you
have held; I care about what you are doing in the one you hold now. Don’t care how many participants have gone
through your program; I care about whether one is different because of their
experience.
Measure that.
-Paul
