Kim Burkhardt's Blog, page 5

More on Maturing into Personal Authority

I have posted variously on learning to more effectively employ personal authority.  Finding one’s voice, being recognized in the community and workplace, etc.

In recent months, I have benefited greatly from a resource that I wouldn’t have expected to provide insight into learning to “stand up and be heard.”

I encourage everyone interested in learning to display authority to read James Fowler’s Stages of Faith.  While I read this book to satisfy a personal interest in how people in Western faith traditions experience faith development, the insights really apply to Westerners in general – whether or not we are personally active in faith development.  As the author explains in the book’s introduction, the series of six stages in the book apply even to secularists who wrestle with how to engage and develop psychologically with ” a person’s way of leaning into and making sense of life.”

In this book’s well articulated descriptions of six stages of faith develop, the author explains that most adults settle into and/or mature through stages three, four, and/or five  of “faith development” – with an optimal continued maturing taking us into stage five by the time we are in our later adult years.  Further, there are transitions between each stage; these transitions can be tricky to navigate and individuals sometimes get “stuck” in these transitions for various periods of time.

What I found in reading this book is that I had been stuck between stages three and four for some time.  This is a transitional phase where adults learn to find their own place in the world based on personal engagement with new adult experiences and subsequently develop their own sense of personal authority based on what we learn and how we develop through those experience, though the transition can be challenging.  Reading about this helped me understand why I’ve been so fixated on learning to better display personal authority – I had engaged in diverse adult experiences that challenged me in new ways, but hadn’t fully translated my newly developed worldview into showing the world my sense of “this is who I am now and my view is worth taking seriously.”  Fortunately, this Stages of Faith book demonstrates the pathway for getting through this  transitional phase where many people can easily get stuck and how to move into stage four and a sense of personal authority.

Thus, I recommend reading Stages of Faith for anyone working to find one’s voice and/or find one’s sense of how to better display personal authority in the workplace, community etc.; it’s possible that this book could help you transition into the place of personal authority that you are seeking.

Enjoy the read.

Maturing (not Aging!) into Displaying Personal Authority

I write and reflect at times on “being assertive” and “finding one’s voice” – in the workplace, in the community, etc.  I have written a series of articles on these topics: Agents of Success.

I recently came upon new insight on this topic in a book on the psychology of faith development – James Fowler’s Stages of Faith.  I encourage people interested in assertiveness and/or “finding one’s voice” to consider reading this useful book.  It provides universal insightful for both Westerners who are religiously active as well for those who are not as it describes stages of development that impact us – I think – whether or not we participate actively in religion.

In Stages of Faith, Fowler describes six psychology stages through which people of western faith styles transition as we move through live.  According to Fowler, most adults spend some or all of their adult years in what he insightfully describes as faith stages three, four, and/or five (with stage six only being reached by the likes of Ghandi or Mother Teresa).  While it’s not uncommon for some adults to stay in stage three of faith development, this is a stage that starts in adolescence and through which a mature adult will transition into stage four or beyond.   Adult maturity in a number of spheres – and levels – occurs meaningfully when we move through the transition from Fowler’s stage three to stage four.  Included in this stage three – stage four transition is “critical reflection” through which “the late adolescent or adult must begin to take seriously the burden of responsibility for his or her own commitments, lifestyle, beliefs and attitudes (page 182).”

Through this transition from stage three to stage four, Fowler writes of risks associated with not achieving a new phase of personal development – associated with stage four – in which we developmentally learn to to assume deep responsibility for our own life views…..in a manner in which people around us take us seriously as adults who display a personal sense of authority.

This sense of being able to display a sense of personal authority, I believe, relates meaningfully to our ability to be effectively assertive and to “find out voice.”

Stages of Faith is an important contribution to the understanding of human development.

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On Standing Up and Being Counted

I’ve been posting periodically about finding one’s voice and learning to be heard.  In keeping with that theme, I came across this post on Twitter today; thanks to  Mike Stuchbery @MrMStuchbery for posting it.

This is an important and articulate meme on making oneself heard.  Making oneself heard is a choice that we have a responsibility to make as well as a right that some of us must learn how to exercise.

I currently find myself achieving this “making my voice heard” in some instances, while having room for progress in other instances.   Keep on keeping on.

Willingness to lead at a difficult time takes courage

Willingness to lead at a difficult time takes courage. Hats off to Theresa May for her willingness to lead Britain in the face of Brexit.

I plan to continue watching Theresa May as she displays courage in leadership.

A recent news article here discusses how she plans to move forward with Brexit, an initiative she’s taking ahead in respect of “the will of the voters” despite her “remain” stance going into the vote.

Think tank for economic equity

There is a fairly new think tank based in D.C. focusing on economic equity.

If economic equity is of interest to you, I encourage you to check out the Washington Center for Equitable Growth.

I appreciate what this group has to say.  They provide thoughtful analysis of today’s economic conditions and the drivers of income inequality.  Kudos to the Washington Center for Equitable Growth.

Enlightening news article on career advancment

Juliet Eilperin’s recent article “White House women want to be in the room where it happens” is an insightful article on how to advance to higher levels in the workplace.  Definitely worth reading.  Find the article here.

Career Lessons Learned

What useful career lesson have you learned recently?   Here’s mine:

 

Pre-order: Bio of my Irish great-great grandmother

The book about my Irish great-great grandmother is now available for pre-order in Ireland, USA, and Canada. See book information here.  Woo-hoo for Harriet!

Please consider pre-ordering as a holiday gift for your Irish friends and relatives (Christmas, etc.).  Also, please tell any friends interested in Irish biography and history about Harriet’s book (thank you).

Communication skills I’ve improved upon via Facebook and Twitter

Concerns have been variously expressed about the “Internet Age” negatively impacting communication between people.  People will (do) spend too much time hooked to their computers instead of interacting in-person (thereby causing breakdowns in communication, increased depression), etc.

The negative impacts of technology on communication and human interactions (both real and potential) are important topics that should be addressed.

image source: Desert News

 

On the flip side, I also find I’ve had positive communication skills reinforced by participation on Facebook and Twitter.  These principles apply both online and in-person.

In order for one’s communications to be noticed and valued (career advancement, etc.), social media interactions demonstrate that one must:

Have something useful to say
Have a creative way to frame your message (i.e., be articulate)
Offer an interesting perspective
Get to the point (be succinct)
Provide visual appeal (photos online, professionally drafted memos and personal appearance offline)
Audiences only wants to hear your personal asides if you are a high-profile figure
Humor helps to hold an audience’s attention
Giving witty, easily-repeated sound-bites makes you memorable
Don’t wait to be heard.  Stick your neck out there and contribute to the conversation.
The people who are taken seriously are ones who make declarative action statements.
Make time to listen to others.  The more you give attention to others, the more they will engage with you.
Communications that take a long time to craft and ones that are spontaneously revealing are both often well-received.
Timing matters.  Posts on social media get the most attention at times of day when the largest numbers of people are online.  Likewise, in-person communication is most effective when delivered at a time when recipients will be receptive.

Individuals who apply these principles stand out and are noticed.

On writers and articulating one’s voice

A theme I’ve been reflecting on – and writing about – is that of articulating one’s voice.

I recently came across an article about how writers fail to find work when we fail to demonstrate our voice.  Writer’s clients want writers to have a ‘voice,’ meaning a perspective.  This idea resonates with the theme I’ve been considering, so I like Kelly Exeter’s article titled: “4 Places Writers Leave Money on the Table.”

I encourage writers to take a look at this article here.  Kudos to Kelly Exeter!