Calling: Key to Collaboration?
In an interview at Willow Creek’s Leadership Summit yesterday, David Gergen, CNN politcical analyst and professor at Harvard’s JFK School of Government quoted philanthropist Patty Stonesifer, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” A big, “hmmmm” hit the audience. Notetakers wrote furiously. Tweeters lit up the system passing along the quote around the world.
Did Mr. Gergen strike a deep chord? I would say “Ya think???”
My take from this and other things said at the conference: COLLABORATION is key! We want it. We need it. We recognize we can do MUCH more together than we can do apart. And when people and organizations collaborate, missions get accomplished, visions implemented, wealth created, lives changed, the hungry fed and the sick healed. “When the water rises, all the boats rise.”
Collaboration is key to any endeavor larger than “me.”
BUT: As you likely know from experience: COLLABORATION IS HARD. Why? Because people exist. Conflicts of interest exist. Competition exists. Egos exist. You exist. I exist.
So, shall we throw the baby out with the bath water? Skip collaboration.? When in doubt, “I’ll do it BY MYSELF thank you!” Stay small. Forget going far. Just leave the pain at the door.
NO! Not if the stakes are high and the mission matters. So then what?
Might it be the answer to unleashing collaboration really come down to people knowing and engaging their calling? That’s right: Doing what they were made to do.
Think about it? If I knew with confidence what I was GREAT at, GIFTED for and GOD-INSPIRED to do – and you did too, might we be BETTER equipped to collaborate? Might organizations with a clear calling work with other organizations with a clear calling? Doing things they never dream possible with their limited resources of people, time and money?
I’ll just leave this out there for now. But I’d love to engage others in this discussion. I, for one, happen to believe there’s something here VERY MUCH WORTHY OF DISCUSSION … even more. WORTHY OF DOING!
Comment, Twitter, e-mail, facebook, or call me! I’m all ears.
Ah, the Western view of the individual being the center of the universe gets questioned and people say ‘ahhh’ and are all a-twitter.
In our spirits, I think we know we’re not to go it alone. It is a lonely, self-pitying, or at least self-absorbed journey that way. Some don’t seem to notice.
I’ve seen a few leaders pursue their own calling sans collaboration, and treat other people like bit players in a self-centered autobiographical story, as if to say, ‘they only exist as bit players in MY story.’
Wouldn’t true collaboration require us to not only make room for, but celebrate the stories and callings of the people who choose to join in on the pursuit?
I can’t help but relate this to Elizabeth Gilbert’s comments on nurturing the creative self – that we need to separate ourselves from believing that the genius lives within us in order to keep us from self-deprecating paralysis when things are not going well; or from egotistically believing that we’re the source of all inspired genius that emerges when it does go well.
If I’m not mistaken, ‘inspired’ can be taken to mean ‘God-breathed.’ And, God promised to show up where two or more are gathered in His name. Hmmm.
Thanks for the food for thought, Jeff.
Love your comment/questin: Wouldn’t true collaboration require us to not only make room for, but celebrate the stories and callings of the people who choose to join in on the pursuit?
I agree. Wonder what difference it wold make if we saw our own “genious” out there as Elizabeth Gilbert said (As posted in video on http://www.Ted.com) Seems like her story hit a nerve for we self-despising artist types who question whether we’ve got something worthwhile “inside.”
while i agree with you according to my general experience and belief. i wonder if in some cases maybe one person, a king or a dictator, could go quite far. hitler went quite far. but perhaps you would say his ego was his down fall and the ALLIED forces took him down. he probably had advisors as well. at the very least, i believe some individuals can have more clarity of vision and lead from a more commanding style rather than a democratic style. what exactly do we mean by collaboration? surely not everyone gets a vote.
I guess you could say these dictator types weren’t really operating out of “calling” but more self-serving power. I don’t think anyone would say that Hitler was about collaboration… more like coercion! I think that when we find ourselves feeling the need for coercion, there’s something out of line. We can’t be operating out of our “best.”
As for the commanding leaders, I agree. I don’t think you can lead a military unit to the battle by collaboration. Howevever, I do think there are times when commanders would serve for the long term when they found ways to collaborate. I do think this could make for an interesting discussion among leaders Marc. So appreciate your thoughts!