Collaborate

Martha McCormick on February 12, 2017

The cover on the New Yorker this week made me really sad. It seems the light of the Lady of Liberty has gone out. I just signed up to lead an effort in support of immigration and refugee rights. Not sure what I’m getting into, but it will be an adventure.

I love the diversity of Des Moines. It has increased so much since I started working here in 1980, and it still is not that great, but it’s much richer than it was.

When Republican Governor Robert Ray spread the welcome mat for Southeast Asian refugees and immigrants, he did a great thing. Since then, Des Moines has become home to a rainbow of people from all over the world. There are more than 100 languages spoken in the homes of DMPS students.

It’s exciting to walk through a grocery store and hear other languages and drive down the street and see people wearing traditional Burmese or Somali dress. We have restaurants where we can eat Mexican of course but also Thai, Indian and even Ecuadoran. Our neighbors who have come so far enrich us in so many ways.

But is this about to change? I hope not! We will work to continue the welcoming tradition of Iowa.

This week Shelly and I worked with a group of Ugandan college students who were visiting Drake University. It was a highlight of a team building session for the Adams Leadership Academy. They were so candid and open. They were so excited to experience snow!

When I asked them to close their eyes for a centering exercise, they were afraid I was going to hypnotize them! Shelly and I led them through Real Colors. Justine was the only one with a dominant “orange” personality so she and I worked out the “brightening” activity together, identifying joys, strengths, needs and values for our personality preference.

When I said good-bye to them at a reception Thursday evening, Justine was still asking how to achieve her goals. Collaboration, Justine, collaboration. We need ALL the colors to be successful.

Read a Book

Martha McCormick on February 12, 2017

Black History matters. We are at a critical juncture in race relations in our country. There is so much conflict and very little understanding.

This February offers some unusual opportunities for learning about the Black perspective on American culture and history. Fences is a powerful movie based on a play about a Black family in the 1950s and early 60s. I had such a strong reaction to the acting, which has been nominated for a number of awards. And won some too!

Another important film that is doing well at the box office and winning awards is Hidden Figures. It’s about the key role a group of African American women played in the space race. It’s got so much good stuff in it and moves fast enough that you can miss some things if you aren’t careful. I’m thinking of seeing it again.

But wait! There was a book before there was a movie! Wouldn’t you know? Speaking of books, I want to share a couple reading lists that can get us started down a road to better understanding the Black experience of America. Powell’s Books published this Black Lives Matter Reading List.

The New York Times ran a story about a group of teenagers who vandalized a historic Black schoolhouse in Virginia. Their punishment was to read a book a month for a year and report on it.

I’ve read some, but not nearly enough of the books on these reading lists. I can personally recommend these though:

  • Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
  • The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  • The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
  • The Help by Kathryn Stockett

So, take some time to see a movie or read a book. Then let us know what you think about them, and how they make you feel. And maybe even how you might change a little bit.

Black History Matters

Martha McCormick on February 2, 2017

What a great start to Black History Month. Attending a performance of Abraham In Motion wasn’t the mindless escape from reality I naively expected. I’ve been buying tickets to the Dance Series at the Des Moines Civic Center for several years, and I usually let myself be surprised at the three performances.

In other words, I hadn’t done my homework; didn’t check Kyle Abraham and his troupe out ahead of time. The three dances gave us lots to think about. The final image projected behind the dancers was a negative photograph–a line of Klansmen on horseback.

As European Americans, we don’t think about race very much. We don’t have to. That’s one of our many privileges.

We don’t recognize that Black history is a strong and intertwined strand of the history of these United States. When the first slave ship landed on America’s shores in 1619, its occupants began the learning and building that created the economy and infrastructure we enjoy today. Without pay. With abuse. It rarely occurs to us to think about this part of our history.

Last year Michelle Obama spoke about living in The Whitehouse which was built by slaves. Media made a big deal of that statement, but soon found that yes indeed, the first Black First Family was living in a home built by slaves. And presiding over a country built by slaves.

As we watched the Abraham in Motion tonight, I couldn’t help thinking about how much indignity, prejudice, persecution and hatred Black people have endured for the last 400 years. And still they dance. They make music and play tennis. Black people have helped us get to the moon, and they have developed food we eat every day.

And still African Americans endure discrimination in housing and education. They are killed in their innocence by cops who suffer no consequences. They crowd our prisons for crimes that are rarely punished when committed by white people.

I’ve done a lot of reading on the issue of race in America, and I still feel hesitant to write about it. I worry about offending. I’m not sure I have all the facts. Really, I’m pretty sure I don’t.

Today I listened to Krista Tippett interview Congressman John Lewis on her program “On Being.” He talked about love for everyone. Strong love. Love that can look a perpetrator in the eye with courage. This is the kind of love we need to take out into the world every day. That’s our homework.

Make Art. Cats Do

Martha McCormick on January 17, 2017

It’s winter in Iowa. An odd winter, but winter nonetheless. No snow to speak of; temperatures vacillating wildly from single digits to 40s and 50s. Yesterday an ice storm hit, but today temperatures in the 30s have melted it all away. No winter wonderland for us; we’re yearning for sunshine or snow to color gray winter days. I’m not the only one in the house with cabin fever.

Slipper Art by RosyThe cats have started doing art projects. This morning Rosy created the slipper piece, artfully arranging one of her catnip toys in my sheepskin slipper on the carpet by the front door.

Food Art by SilviaSeveral days ago my daughter sent me a photo of her cat Silvia’s work in her food bowl.

Tater continues to refine a fiber piece on the arm of our favorite brocade chair, in spite of consistent and considerable discouragement. Art Critics!

I have a book called Why Cats Paint: A theory of feline aesthetics. I tried to get my cat Bitsy to paint a number of years ago, with limited success. Cats are famously independent after all.

Bitsy and Martha paintingShe did check out the pastels and help me watercolor. I’m pretty sure I have some samples of her work tucked away in my drawer for refrigerator-quality projects. But now that Silvia and Rosy are showing real promise, I will definitely be organizing some cat-friendly studio space.

If cats can make art, we certainly can! Get over any fear that you “can’t draw” or that you’re “not creative.” Get out that yarn, those beads and baubles, tissue paper, scissors and brushes. Clear away the clutter and paint your world. It may be winter, but we don’t have to be stuck with gray and white!

Bitsy-with-Pastels

Suit Up and Show Up

Martha McCormick on November 9, 2016

Nobody died. But it feels like a tragedy of major proportions. We have a president-elect who has openly expressed contempt for women, people of color, immigrants, Muslims, disabled people and LGBTQ folks. What have we done? How do we respond to this?

I honestly don’t know, but I have some thoughts in this first 18 hours or so of pondering. My first reaction was that I don’t know if I can live in a country so hateful. Sometime around 2:30am the sky was bright, and I looked out several windows for the quarter moon I expected to see.

Instead I saw the sky filled with stars, unusual in the middle of Des Moines. The view of Orion’s bow and arrows gave me my first glimmer of hope.The constellation Orion

Somehow this morning I was still hoping to wake from a nightmare. But the stomach ache was real. What to do?

I got out of bed, put on my walking clothes and went for a walk. The sunrise was beautiful; the autumn colors magnificent. I decided my best response is to suit up and show up. Get dressed and do the work as best I can. Every day.Autumn leaves

We will need to take bigger steps as citizens if our country is to survive in any semblance of peace, fairness and justice. Take it local. Stand up for people who have way more at stake than I do. Be fierce, but diplomatic. Be a nasty woman, but with grace.

Volunteer for Poverty Simulation

Martha McCormick on November 6, 2016

We welcome anyone interested in participating in this meaningful and impactful exercise. Please contact Linda Hulleman at the WDM Chamber at 515-222-3679 if you would like to take part.

You Can Too

Martha McCormick on August 30, 2016

I can sweet talk, oh yes I can, but I choose to speak forthrightly. To declare, to proclaim. Speak now; find evidence later. But DO find the evidence. Don’t skip the hard stuff.

I’m known for outbursts, oh yes I am, but I choose to use my passion something like a fire tempers metal. Temper words. Anneal my words in the heat of experience. Smooth out the roughness.

I can be crazy, oh yes I can, but I deny others the chance to call me loose cannon. Crackpot. Be first to call myself out. Keep my options open.

I can lay on the schmooze, oh yes I can, but I choose to find traits in others worthy of my praise. A smile. An act of kindness. Acceptance of a responsibility. I choose to celebrate the precise. The smallest feature, the tiniest act.

I can storm, oh yes I can, but I choose to find the sunshine peering from behind the cloud. Go back to bed; start the day over. Again and again. Be the gentle rain that nourishes rather than the torrent sweeping the world away in its path.

I can wheedle, oh yes I can but I choose to drive a hard bargain. To pitch my position. Speak of what might be. Paint a picture of injustice and find solutions. Try my darnedest to get you on my side. Then end as friends.

How to become friends? Get to know each other. Isn’t that the way? Easy to dislike what you don’t know. So much more difficult to put down your friend than the one you’ve never spoken to. The person you have so much in common with.

How to talk to strangers? Break down the walls. No battering ram, no bullets through plate glass. Stone throwing is so Middle Ages. But perhaps a hammer and chisel picking at a small depression in the mortar. Expanding it bit by bit until it is the size of a peephole. Oh! Now I see you! Soon I can place my ear against the hole and you your mouth. Soon we can crawl through and stand beside each other. Progress is painful but necessary.

I can speak harsh words, oh yes I can. But I can heal too. With a touch. With a word. With a smile.

Blessings

Martha McCormick on July 15, 2016

I’ve read that violence is decreasing in the world. It’s hard to believe this as we are bombarded with acts of violence nearly every day. Everyone is a potential journalist; we all have instant access to recording devices. And viewing devices. It’s hard not to know about the latest violence. Unless you hide under a rock. It’s tempting.

Young black men killed by cops. Cops killed by snipers. Trucks driving through crowds of random people. Men and women willing to kill themselves in suicide vests. Drones taking out whole villages. It goes on until we weep. Until we cannot weep.

What to do in the face of it? The numbers don’t really mean much to me. The why I can sort of understand. Fear and anger seem to be flooding the world. When we get to the limit of powerlessness or the height of ego human beings go over the edge of decency. Of humanity. I do get the anger and the fear.

But I am searching. Many are searching. What can we do? How do we somehow put one tiny fingerprint of hope on this desolate landscape?

Pause. Think before you act. Think before saying the first thought that pops into your head. So often anger sends forth a bad word or a rude gesture. Driving can bring out the worst. I’m making an effort to consider that the person who cut me off is just in a bigger hurry than I am. Breathe. Don’t react. Offer a blessing for the person who angers you.

Read. Educate yourself. This list of books seems like a good way to learn about the experience of being Black in America.

Absorb culture. After watching “The Free State of Jones,” I wonder how anyone can deny the need for reparation to those who were brought here as slaves. And those whose land the Europeans stole.

See? It’s pretty hard to even write about this without sounding lame. Fake. Patronizing. When I say “you” I mean we. I mean us. I mean me. I mean I. I read something like this and think that the burden is unfairly placed on the shoulders of the Black boy, the Black man, the Black woman. It’s time for all of us to pick up our share of the load.

Strengthen Relationships

Martha McCormick on November 11, 2015

Whether online, at work or at home, I measure the quality of my life by the health of my relationships. How am I feeling about the people and organizations I connect with? What am I accomplishing through those relationships? Are they helping me grow? Or distracting me from my hopes and dreams?

Cyndy Erickson, Shelly Johnson and I presented a workshop recently at the Iowa Non-Profit Summit on strengthening relationships to achieve a more productive workplace. Key components of strong friendships and partnerships are communication, focus, continuing assessment and feedback. Not a simple task, but the rewards are great.

Jose, one of my Earth Heroes summed it up, “Miss Martha, when I’m special I work really hard.” In very few words Jose eloquently stated the key to education. It’s about the relationships. Between students and teachers and among students.

This fascinating article in The New Yorker says this about the creative process, “Like every element of ‘Hopscotch,’ we figured it out through conversation, testing, discovery, iterating.” Opera director Yuval Sharon has created an amazing experience in limousines and on rooftops in Los Angeles. The piece made me want to fly to LA to see it and I’m not even an opera fan!

I’m sure their conversations included honest feedback, one of the most difficult components of communication. How often do we avoid mirroring someone’s unproductive behavior to them? Or withhold the positive feedback that provides motivation and incentive for futher effort?

What are the costs of avoiding those conversations? Cyndy Erickson facilitates Fierce Conversations including delegation, confrontational and coaching conversations. It can be done as a one- or two-day workshop and could be combined with Real Colors or other professional development.

Real Colors is a personality assessment based on Myers-Briggs. We use it to help groups identify strengths and preferences. Then we build on it to develop better communication and stronger teams.

What is amazing to me, but perhaps shouldn’t be, is the way the group at the Summit received a brief centering/mindfulness exercise. More and more I’m using techniques I’ve learned from yoga to bring groups into the present as we begin programs. Giving permission and instruction for stillness and breathing seems to strike a chord among many.

For strong relationships, the ability to pause and breathe deeply is essential to overlooking minor annoyances, for gathering courage for the difficult conversation, for rewarding jobs well done.

Meet Cyndy

Martha McCormick on November 8, 2015

One of my dearest friends Cyndy Erickson is starting her own consulting practice–CE Consulting. She’s collaborating with us on some projects, and co-presenting tomorrow at the Iowa Non-Profit Summit. The topic is “Strengthening Relationships to Create a High Performing Team.” Read More about Meet Cyndy