Making good Mondays is like making coffee -


The week is before us - like the coffee pot - waiting to brew. Making it good is a matter of choice, luck, creativity, patience and acceptance of the outcome.

Currently at Making Good Mondays

Active elements on this page: Occasionally I will publish a new blog post, but I write mostly at other sites.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Are you one of the leaders?


When you go into work on Mondays, are you expected to show leadership? I was a director of a department at a nonprofit before I retired. And, as such, I got some management training in addition to my Masters in Clinical Social Work. In upcoming posts I will share a few of the resources that proved to be very helpful. Today I'll highlight Douglas McGregor's (of "Theory X, Theory Y" fame) ideas on teamwork, from "The Human Side of Enterprise." Here is his list of characteristics of an effective work team:
  1. The "atmosphere" tends to be informal comfortable and relaxed.
  2. There is a lot of discussion in which everyone participates.
  3. The objective is well understood and accepted by the members.
  4. Members listen to each other.
  5. There is disagreement.
  6. Most decisions are reached by a kind of consensus.
  7. Criticism is frequent, frank and relatively comfortable.
  8. People are free in expressing feelings as well as ideas.
  9. When action is taken, clear assignments are made and accepted.
  10. The chairman of the group does not dominate.
  11. The group is self-conscious about its own operations.
Not long ago my favorite boss passed away. It was under her that I first came to believe I could exercise leadership. She was responsible for seeing to it that I got the best management training available from United Way where we worked. She even taught me how to handle our resident "curmudgeon with a heart of gold." I will be forever grateful to her for enriching my life. I never really got to express that to her fully enough. This post is in honor of her. It is the next best thing I can do.

If you have a boss you sincerely like and admire, or perhaps a mentor, take the time when you can, to let them know how they have helped you. If you do this, you are on the right path to leadership yourself.

My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about politics.

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References on Spirituality -- Favorites from my old collection

  • "A Return To Love: Reflections On the Principles Of a Course In Miracles" by Marianne Williamson. Harper Collins, 1992
  • "A World Waiting To Be Born: Civility Rediscovered" by M. Scott Peck. Simon and Schuster, 1993
  • "Chicken Soup For the Unsinkable Soul" by Canfield, Hansen and McNamara. Health Communications, 1999
  • "Compassion in Action: Setting Out On the Path of Service" by Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush. Bell Tower Pub., 1992
  • "Creative Visualization" by Shakti Gawain. MIF Books, 1978
  • "Finding Values That Work: The Search For Fulfillment" by Brian O'Connell. Walker & Co., 1978
  • "Fire in the Soul" by Joan Borysenko. Warner Books, 1993
  • "Further Along the Road Less Traveled" by M. Scott Peck. Simon and Schuster, 1993
  • "Guilt Is the Teacher, Love Is the Lesson" by Joan Borysenko. Warner Books, 1990
  • "Inner Simplicity: 100 Ways To Regain Peace and Nourish the Soul" by Elaine St. James. Hyperion, 1995
  • "Insearch:Psychology and Religion" by James Hillman. Spring Pub. 1994
  • "Man's Search For Himself" by Rollo May. Signet Books, 1953
  • "Mythologies" by William Butler Yeats. Macmillan, 1959
  • "Myths, Dreams and Religion" by Joseph Campbell. Spring Pub. 1988
  • "Passion for Life: Psychology and the Human Spirit" by John and Muriel James. Penguin Books, 1991
  • "Peace Is Every Step" by Thich Nhat Hahn. Bantam Books , 1991
  • "The Heroine's Journey" by Mureen Murdock. Random House, 1990
  • "The Hope For Healing Human Evil" by M. Scott Peck. Simon and Schuster, 1983
  • "The House of Belonging" poems by David Whyte. Many Rivers Press, 2004
  • "The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth" by M.Scott Peck. Simon and Schuster, 1978
  • "The Soul's Code: In Search Of Character and Calling" by James Hillman. Random House, 1996
  • "The World Treasury of Modern Religious Thought" by Jaroslav Pelikan. Little, Brown & Co., 1990
  • "Unconditional Life" by Deepak Chopra. Bantam Books, 1992
  • "Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation" by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Hyperion, 1994
  • "Zen Keys: A Guide to Zen Practice" by Thich Nhat Hahn. Doubleday Dell Pub. Group, 1974

About Me

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A retired counselor, I am equal parts Techie and Artist. I am a Democrat who came to the Southwest to attend college. I married, had kids and have lived here all my adult life.