Video is of Gabriel Kline of the Odyssey Center for the Ceramic Arts
To be honest, I had some pretty clear ideas about what I would and would not do when I joined Leadership Asheville this year. I went all in for networking. Networking with fellow classmates, with staff, with sponsors, with the people we would go and visit. What I would not do is “leadership development.” Actually, I would participate in the leadership development activities (because I’m a rule-player-byer) but I would not get too attached. After all, once you’ve been through orientation week at Warren Wilson College, how many more trust falls do you need to do, really?
See, my problem is not with the intent of a lot of leadership development work per se but with what it often tries to accomplish in a relatively limited period of time. Don’t get me all flayed out on the filet table of personal transformation and just leave me there, buddy. In fact, I’m not sure I’m always interested in getting flayed out in front of a bunch of dudes I don’t really know or that I trust someone who is quick to do so. Unfortunately for my resolve, Leadership Asheville stretches over an academic year.
If I network with people long enough, I want get to know them. I want them to get to know me. So I have to take a little more risk. We were talking about risk today in our Leadership Asheville class. Actually, Stephanie Morgan from Stephanie’s Id was talking about taking risks. She was talking about the role of artists in putting their private selves out for public display. It’s a risky thing to do. But the risks she takes make it easier for me to take the risks I need to take to get connected to the people around me. That’s some leadership she’s developed right there.