This post came from the Aestiva Solutions quarterly newsletter, the Campfire. To subscribe, click here.
Mistakes happen. Sometimes we make mistakes that impact ourselves and others, and sometimes we are impacted by the mistakes of others. Some mistakes are sweet and innocent, like a small child making an inconvenient mess, while other mistakes have major consequences. It’s the hard lessons learned in the School of Life. With years of experience in academic libraries, we’ve made our own share of professional mistakes while navigating the broadside of other’s mistakes. Admit and apologize, forgive and (try to) forget, rinse and repeat. Becoming a better professional and human requires this continual cycle.
This past summer Ruth and Eric led a professional workshop (PALNI’s Camp RIO Institute) with the theme Fight, Flight, or Freeze – Dealing with Failures. Four sessions over two days defined failure, looked at one’s own and then others’ failures, and concluded with redefining failure. Session three looked at handling others’ failures through a circles of concern, influence, and control framework. This framework, developed by Stephen Covey, distinguishes what one can manage directly, affect indirectly, and acknowledge as beyond one’s control.
After a classroom style presentation on this topic, we gave participants an hour of worktime to complete a workbook which included listing one’s professional challenges and then placing them within each of the circles. The workbook concluded with a reflection question: What are three tasks or concerns you identified that fall outside your circle of control, and how might releasing those help you focus your energy more effectively? The workbook is freely available thanks to PALNI’s Creative Commons licensing.
At Aestiva Solutions we bring heart and soul into everything we do. Anyone can make a big impact, but we seek to help our clients make big impacts the right way. Our workshops are mission focused yet fun, but more importantly seek to help professionals grow into better versions of themselves. If you are looking to bring fresh life into your organization after a disruptive year, consider partnering with Aestiva Solutions. We can create professional development to meet your needs and budget while focusing on what’s most important.