[il-talk] Some Thoughts...

[Bruce C. Paul]

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to let everyone know I apologize for the errant emails.  I finally found the calm place in myself I had before my mom became ill etc and expect to fade from the listserv soon enough.

As part of this process, I thought about some points discussed over the weekend.  In particular, I had wanted to understand how different personalities work/don't work together in an affiliate.

One thing these ideas about how people interact and what they can contribute emphasized (for me) was how long it takes to develop people into the mature individual who can contribute to the greater community.  When I look at how long people spend in positions like CEO or VP soon-to-be CEO, I also realize people need to be given the chance to make mistakes if they are going to succeed in any role.  

For my part, I see this as the great weakness of any member-driven organization.  Elected or appointed officials who can't make mistakes just won't learn.  In other words, when we find someone in the affiliate who might contribute we should nurture that person and realize we, as individuals, don't have all the answers.  I find this is my great weakness:  I don't like to make mistakes or accept anything but perfection.  Further, I don't suffer fools gladly.  Unfortunately, I can't teach anyone who is blind anything, since I only know physics and a few other esoteric things well enough to teach them.  Hopefully, those who can teach will help in this regard.  I don't think I have found my place here.  I like Freedom Link.  I also thought I could help with fund raising, but I felt I was making too many mistakes.  

I know no one wants to read my spam, so I will stop here.  Please feel free to give me your $0.02 on this topic off list s'il vous plait.

Thanks,
Bruce