GOOD MORNING…HAPPY FRIDAY!
FFA Fundraiser- The Graham High School FFA has begun its annual River Star Farms fundraiser for the year. Funds raised help support student travel, competitions, and other great opportunities the chapter provides for our members. FFA members will be happy to assist you in ordering online or from the catalog. If you need an FFA member to contact you send an email to hunter.roach@grahamisd.com or kendall.lisle@grahamisd.com. The GHS FFA greatly appreciates everyone’s support of our chapter!
Lady Blues Volleyball- Congratulations on the come from behind victory on Tuesday over Clyde! The Lady Blues will be at North Central TX Academy this afternoon for a 4:30 pm match. GO LADY BLUES!
Graham Steer Football- The Steers are on the road this evening vs Glen Rose. Kickoff will be at 7:00 pm. GO STEERS!
Lady Blues and Graham Steer Cross Country- Good luck tomorrow at Mineral Wells!
United Way: Invest In Graham- Please consider donating to the Graham Area United Way. The Graham Area United Way annual campaign is an excellent example of how Graham supports Graham as 100% of your donation stays in our community. The Graham Area United Way supports- BETHEL CHILDREN'S DAY CARE CENTER, GRAHAM BACKPACK BUDDIES, GRAHAM CRISIS CENTER, GRAHAM GIRLS SOFTBALL, MEALS ON WHEELS, SALVATION ARMY- GRAHAM UNIT, SENIOR CITIZENS CENTER, VIRGINIA'S HOUSE, YOUNG COUNTY CHILD WELFARE BOARD, and YOUNG COUNTY 4-H CLUB. Your support will make a difference in our community… Invest in Graham!
Graham ISD 2022 Duck Derby Teams- Click on the Link Below to Support Your GISD Team With Their Duck Derby Fundraising Efforts!
4 Blind Men & An Elephant…
Today’s story was recently shared with me by our Woodland Assistant Principal, Mrs. Katy Morris.
Once upon a time, there lived four blind people in a village. They were good friends and always lived together.
One day, while walking through the village, they came across a lot of noise from a certain direction. That noise made them very curious and they walked in that direction. After walking for a bit, they met a big gathering crowd that was cheering for something. Upon enquiring the people, they found out that someone has brought an elephant to the village to show to people.
The blind men got excited as they had never come across an elephant. They requested the owner to let them touch and feel the elephant, as they could not see. The owner was kind enough to let them come closer and let them see and touch the elephant.
So, these four men, unknowing of the size of the elephant, positioned themselves to feel the elephant. One man touched the elephant’s trunk, one stood near the leg, another one near the stomach, and another one touched the tail. They all began to touch and sense what kind of animal is the elephant.
After taking their time to sense the shape and size of the elephant from their positions, they thanked the owner and left the place, and began to talk to each other and describe the elephant.
The first man – Elephant is such a great animal, it seems exactly like a thick and flexible rod.
The second man – Oh really, I do not think so. It's more like a giant pillar and it does not move.
The third man – Come on! I don’t know what you touched, but the elephant is like a giant wall.
The fourth man – No no, you all are wrong. The elephant is like a rope, very thin and very hairy.
All four men kept arguing and fighting with each other till they reached home. They ended up being upset with each other and did not talk to each other for a long time.
You may have heard this story before, haven’t you?
All four men were right from their own perspectives and angles. They had described the elephant as they had felt and touched it. They were all saying the truth. However, none of them knew a complete truth i.e., how the elephant truly may have looked.
Now let’s compare this to the office environment and to people who we work with.
Remember the instances when your fellow colleagues, peers, or team members have argued defending their corners, their views, and stories.
Have you been part of any of these situations where there have been heavy arguments between the leaders and ultimately it turns into an ego-clash?
Have you heard any statements like, ‘He/she never understands’, ‘He/she is absolutely not adaptable’, ‘He/she is just so stubborn’ and likewise?' or simply 'He/she never listens to me.'
Do the above statements resonate with you? I am sure they do.
Let’s continue to build on our blind men and elephant story forward. So, the four blind men continue their argument about the elephant.
A wise man was watching them from a distance, he thought he had enough and went up to them and asked what happened. One of the blind men explained the entire situation to the wise man.
The wise man took them back to the elephant, and he made them sit near it. The wise man then took some clay and built a small model that resembled the real elephant.
He sat with the four blind men and explained the elephant and how it looked. He then handed over the clay model to each of the four blind men and explained how the real elephant looks, especially starting from the point of view they had.
He had each man begin in the same fashion they had done with the live elephant and then each man was able to explore the entire elephant using the model to get some idea of how the elephant may look.
He then took each of the men back to the real elephant and asked them to imagine the elephant again. This time, even though they started from a different position than they started again, they were able to really imagine the elephant better.
In the end, all of them had the same idea and were able to find their own path to imagine the elephant, exactly in the same way.
We all see arguments, perceived politics, people being defensive about their own stories, and then ending up in fights/disagreements and sometimes ego-clashes.
Real leaders act like the wise man in the story. They focus on making the bigger problem easy enough for everyone to understand, providing the opportunity for everyone to see the big picture, allowing a space for people’s own perspectives, and more importantly allowing dissent in the opinions.
The perspectives/opinions of people are based on their experience, their life stories, and which part of the elephant they have seen. We need to realize that people could be right from their point of view and help them build the path from their context to the common bigger context.
Successful leaders work relentlessly on building a shared vision, explain “WHY” for everything, align people towards a common mission and make people feel part of their journey to success.
Are you one of these?
HAVE A NICE DAY…TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND OTHERS!
CORNY JOKE OF THE DAY:
How did the cats end their fight? (Scroll down for the answer.)
They hissed and made up!
