My Grandkids want to get a Frog

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

I got to the "Y" this morning and BlueBell was at the front desk, I scanned my card, unlocked my office, put my stuff in the office, and then walked back to the front desk and moved my little button on the wall from "out" to "in".

As I turned to go back into my office Sabastian was standing there. 

With all this brain power available I decided to ask them a question that I have been pondering.

I told them that me grandkids want to get a frog, but I don't know all that "getting a frog" entails.

Bluebell said, "Well you need an aquarium, and some pond stuff to put in it."

I replied, "I figured that out already, but my question is around water. How much water do I put in the aquarium; how deep should the water be?"

Bluebell said, "That depends on the frog."

I replied, "Really?"

Sabastian then interjected, "Yes, some frogs like lots of water, some like a little, and some don't need much water at all."

I said, "Wow, I didn't know."

"Oh, yes," he went on, "In fact some frogs spend most of their lives out of the water, like 80% of their lives are on dry land."

I said that I had no idea about all that that, and when I asked the pet store they gave me a totally different answer.

Both Sabastian and Blue asked, "What did they say?"

I told them that the water only needs to be knee-deep, knee-deep.

I then went into my office, shut and locked the door before they could break the "Y's" code of conduct by killing the chaplain.

One of the things that I do for the "Y" is help develop trainings. don't get me wrong the Y-USA already has some really great trainings, I just add to a training or reinforce a training so whatever we are training on has a better job of sticking. I look around the association and talk with people; I ask them what areas they feel weak in or I ask the Execs what would be helpful for their staff to know. Sometimes Darryl just tells me to make a training that he would like to see. 

I like course creation, it is fun for me.

All that to say, I have been doing a lot of listening around our association lately and I think we need more training on speaking and listening. I am fond of saying, "Listen with the intent to listen, not the intent to respond." I notice that most people in society aren't really listening, they are just waiting for their turn to talk. 

I am also fond of saying, "Speak  with the intent of being understood, not merely heard." 

The "Y" already has a listen first training that is really good. I think we could use another training that comes at it from another angle that might help support that training. 

I will have a conversation with Darryl and see what he thinks.

In the meantime I will continue to do my best to listen, really listen, and to speak in a way that is easily understood. 

I will ask myself, "Am I really listening, or just waiting for my turn to talk?"

Do you ever wonder about this stuff?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger