One of the teamwork exercises I experienced in two different leadership academy programs I attended is getting into a circle with six other people and pointing both index fingers toward the person across from you. Then bend your knees and place a hula-hoop horizontally in the middle of the circle supported by all the fingers, then attempt to raise it up horizontally while everyone in the circle begins to stand up together. Everyone moves at a different pace and a different way and that’s where the challenge begins.
I’ve been a firm believer that there are many ways for 1+1 to equal 3, especially working in communities. But, I am also a believer that 3 X 3 = 9. Sounds too simple, but if we are traveling toward a destination in a row-boat, if you and I will pull the oars together, we will arrive sooner with less effort than if we row independently. I think the same is true if we find one or two more to join us and we all are pulling the oars in unison, it can mean we might have more rapid progress with again the same effort. That can mean that we all need to be willing to sacrifice some individuality for the greater good of the group and that is where the effort can become stalled or we wind up traveling in circles, not closer to the destination.
We will be rolling out our new strategic plan for the next 3 years by the end of this month. This will guide our thinking, efforts and resources with all the aspects of our organization. Reviewing the definition of how we describe who we are and what we are going to do does not happen over a cup of coffee, but lots of viewpoints from the community and internally with yes, several cups of coffee. We must be in relationship with many others in order for us to make every pull on the oar count for as much as it could. This valuable exercise helps us consider where to step on the gas and maybe where we need to let go of baggage we are dragging just because we have been doing it for several years or decades as the case may be.
This month we are celebrating our 35th anniversary. We have some wonderful organizations, Mutual Bank Charitable Foundation and The Kroger Co. who have stepped up and awarded us with a total of $35,000 as a matching opportunity during July and August. So every dollar donated can turn into 2 dollars of impact during this 2 month period. Over 35 years this organization has changed a lot. From various methods we have implemented to get food out to struggling families to our latest development with a holistic approach working with families in long-term relationship building that will break the cycle of poverty. We would like to have new conversations with businesses and organizations to help strengthen the community efforts that are currently being executed. These holistic efforts need the 3 “T’s” -Time, Talent and Treasure to equip motivated families from the resource pool toward lasting change that they create. Reach out to us to see how we might pull on the oars together and make 1+1=3 a reality, better yet 3 X 3 = 9.
Tim Kean is the President and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana. The Second Harvest Food Bank network of 115-member agencies, programs and 22 schools provide food assistance and self-sustainability skills to more than 68,000 low-income people facing hunger in Blackford, Delaware, Grant, Henry, Jay, Madison, Randolph and Wabash Counties.