Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Surprise, surprise?


Hollywood seems to be surprised with the success of the film, Straight outta Compton.  Are you surprised?  I know I am not.  Hip hop used to be ours and now it is global.  The film shares a big chunk of hip hop history, particularly within the west coast hip hop scene.  The film has already made over 100 million dollars.  Not bad for a tale about five guys from L.A.'s Compton, U.S.A.

For me, NWA was the influential rap group that led the west coast rise of hip hop.  I remember when Ice Cube  became a solo artist, I did not connect him to NWA as easily as the others.  His album, America's Most Wanted, had such an east coast sound (probably because of the production of the album which was recorded in New York), I almost did not recognize Ice Cube.  It is one of my favorite hip hop albums still.

Naturally, I was among a diverse audience  viewing the film in New York. I was happy to see all ages, genders and races.  The marketing for the film was brilliant.  Telling a story is one thing, building your audience is another.  We need to continue to tell our stories and we also need to work to share them.  My favorite social media tool is the Straight Outta (fill in) memes.

I know that time did not allow completeness of all stories from the film.  I was disappointed not to see any follow up of MC Ren and DJ Yella.  MC Ren was a strong lyricist and dominated the group after Ice Cube departed.  I guess a story told by mostly males, unconsciously or consciously left out the female presence in hip hop at the time.  J.J
Fad's Supersonic was apart of the Ruthless history.  We did not see Michel'le or even Yo-Yo.

In the movie, Ice Cube describes NWA's music as "reality rap."  This is a huge part of my love of hip hop, telling the stories others won't and can't tell.  The only thing is if hip hop raised you like me, you know there were some holes in this story.  Since the story is not complete, I am looking forward to more sides of the storytelling.  Well audience we can await similar films.  I am ready.



Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Know thyself


I recently had some awareness during a recent conversation about the difference between knowledge of self and self-awareness.  I have noticed that when we speak of knowledge of self, there is a lot of cultural heritage and/or history involved.  As opposed to self awareness where you take note of your responses to situations, your personal patterns and behaviors.  Both allow you to get to know you and there is still a difference.

Self-awareness can operate on many levels.  There is the concept of self value which is how you see and hold yourself within yourself.  There is self esteem which is how you see and hold yourself in the face of others.  Finally, there is also self worth which is what you believe you deserve based on the value you place on yourself and the value you are to others.  Self-awareness helps us move through all of these levels.

Self esteem always seems to be analyzed because we are an external focused society.  I hear the word consistently in conversations regarding younger generations.  Perhaps we should be focused on how we impart both knowledge of self and increase self-awareness.  The more you know about yourself, the better you are at making the best decisions for yourself.  The better you are about adjusting to new and sometimes unexpected circumstances.

With the recent release of the film about NWA, Straight Outta Compton, this all remains me of that Ice Cube song, Check yo self.  How can we check ourselves before we wreck ourselves without self awareness.  The self knowledge and introspection need to be there.  The popular philosopher, Socrates stated over and over again to know thyself.  As one of his most famous quotes goes, "The unexamined life is not worth living."

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

How to community build


My dreams work when my team works.  This is the best way to build community.  Transforming our work team into a functional family may be a desire of any manager.  We spend so much time with our work family.  We need to make the absolute best of it.

As a community builder, I believe in using management and leadership skills at the same time.  I believe there to be a difference.  Managing is about making the best decisions for you and your team while leadership is about maintaining your best qualities.  Team work is about a lot of the "C's," communication, community, common goals, clear direction and cooperation.  Though leadership you set the example and through your management you set the course of action.

I feel so fortunate to be apart of such great teams over and over again.  As a community builder and community manager, here are some tips from a manager prospective:

Get to know your team: The best way to know your team is to know the strengths and weaknesses of everyone on it.  So get to know your team, professionally, where do team members thrive and where can they be challenged?  I believe each member should be put in both positions for continual growth.

Be there:  As a manager, it is your priority to meet with your team, individually and as a group.  These scheduled meetings should be a priority as well as making time when situations come up and need to be addressed.

Feedback: Most managers only work with a one way feedback structure.  To be more effective, be sure to open at least a two-way path, where you are giving and also receiving feedback.  You want to make opportunities to receive feedback from all angles and almost everyone you work with even if they do not report to you directly.

Culture building:  I enjoy beginning and maintaining community traditions, this helps build community.  Getting community together to celebrate, honor, recognize achievements and important days that mean something to community members is certainly beneficial and fun.

Professional Development: Professional development is how you can support your team members to work on their weaknesses and overcome some challenges.  Some team members will understand what help they may need, others you may have to advise and encourage.  Introduce team members to mentors, coaches, trainings and websites.  I have always built in professional development opportunities into the regular staff meeting time.  Learning in community helps community build.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

What is transformation?



For me, transformation is more than just change.  It is an improvement process.  I guess it is another buzz word we have heard for some time now.  It's larger than change because personal transformation involves physical, mental , spiritual and cultural advances.  This is a thorough, radical and intentional growth.  I admire butterflys for such a transformational process.  I wish that I could have and go through what seems to be a seamless journey.

I was very much inspired after completing another 21 day mediation led by Deepak and Oprah, entitled Manifesting grace through gratitude.  It talked a lot about what you need for real transformation, gratitude, openness, and finding success through inner fulfillment.  Such centering thoughts included, "My personal reality begins inside me,... I find true success through inner fulfillment,....My highest self is with me all the time,....My true self shines with its own light."

The journey of transformation is about being in your body, feeling your feelings and being grounded in your values and beliefs.  Increasing your self-awareness and self-discovery only leads to being fully the person you were meant to be.  This is all about living your best life; living the life you were intended to live.  I like the way Dr. Robin Smith describes her journey of self discovery from Hungry: the truth about being full, "There had been sightings of me-times when I could feel, see, touch and taste my true colors." For me this describes the intention of transformation; to connect with our true self.

Dr. Robin Smith also goes on to describe what she calls the "Painful P's,"  among them pleasing, proper, perfection, pressing, pushing, promoting self and proving.  I could see how easily any of these Ps could interrupt a change process.  This is much of the outside influences that slow us down from getting to our openness, and real thoughts of influence.  It feels that the word reinvent gets attached to people who are able to transform.  They are usually folks who are open to taking themselves to another level.  When you connect with the higher self that is present all the time, it is easy to reinvent yourself or should I say transform?