A Reflective Blog
As spring weather starts to peek out from behind the gray clouds, we love to see the return of our feathery friends. These amazingly sleek birds, Sandhill Cranes, showcase their vibrant colored heads and dramatic long legs to our staff throughout the spring and summer. We believe they nest in the long grasses of the marshy area around our building. It is a joy to see their natural beauty, but in all fairness, we need to startle them away from our front doors by making loud noises because they are causing damage to our property.
The Sandhill Cranes, who we have named Henry and Stella, enjoy our front door because it is a mirror for them as the daylight reflects off the glass. They get to gaze at themselves in wonder at their own beauty or, perhaps, they are intrigued by the reflection in the glass because they wonder about their own existence and purpose in life.
Okay…maybe we are personifying them a little too much. However, we and many of our community partners can take a lesson from Henry and Stella. What if each spring, organizations reflect on their own goals, ambitions, missions, and plans to succeed? Examining how we can better use the resources offered by our employees, community partners, customers and other stakeholders, allows us to ask questions. Do I really create enough effective partnerships? Are we duplicating efforts because someone else is already doing this activity/program/business adventure? Will the staff have time to accomplish this to the highest quality? Where are their resources to support this initiative? It doesn’t matter if you are a nonprofit, business, entrepreneur, school or community coalition. These questions need to be asked. Through this reflection, you will most likely find areas that you need to consult with more partners and/or revamp some of your goals.
Each year, we see our Sandhill Crane friends, and it is a great reminder for us to step back, look in the mirror, and examine the direction of our efforts and our goals.
How can we all do better to truly benefit our community?