What do you stand for as a leader, as a parent, as a friend, family member, citizen? Sourcing ourselves from what we stand for, versus what we are against, provides the kind of fuel for our fire that generates more energy than it depletes and can inspire others along the way. At Dorrier Underwood, our weekly writing practice these days take the form of letters to one another. Nancy Dorrier’s recent letter on “Stands” to consultant Laura Neff was so inspiring, others have asked for it, so we decided to share it with you, too. May it source your leadership well!
Nancy D Letter to Laura 5-14-20
Some notes about the distinction: Stand, Taking a stand.
Here I stand I can do no other.
Everything is made up.
You are made up.
You are standing every second for being alive, for being a contribution, for resting, for being a vegan, for being a good friend, sister, wife, daughter. And a colleague!
All stands.
Didn’t just happen.
Happened and happening because you say so.
So stand is your word.
You give your word and shape the world to match your word.
Not the other way around. It is commonplace for the world to shape our word.
Taking a stand and being your word is not commonplace.
You stand for the dogs and chickens and cats.
You stand for laughter and making friends.
You stand for growth and development and learning, yours and anybody’s you can get your hands on.
You stand for Robert and his commitments to his father, and to his son.
You stand for his being a musician and storyteller. You stand for his participation in Burning Man.
You stand for his wanderlust.
You stand for his being nurtured as well as challenged in his marriage.
You stand for wellbeing and for eating lower on the food chain and for taking care of the planet.
You stand for being coached and having it enhance and broaden your power and the quality of your life and life itself.
When you lead this conversation, you can ask people to see and name what they already stand for.
And you can give them a chance to invent a new stand that they then will do everything to fulfill.
We stand for this is a great place to work and express yourself. We stand for we have awesome careers. We stand for our strategy for increasing our value to our clients. We stand for our personal income increasing year over year substantially.
I love you. I love our partnership. I love our magic. I love the idea of you resting when you read this.
Nancy