LEARN HOW TO BRIDGE THE GAP WITH PRESENT, INTENTIONAL, AND AUTHENTIC COMMUNICATIONS!

Posted by John McIntyre on Jan 07, 2022
 
 
 
 
Rotary Meeting: January 4, 2022
 
 
WELCOME/GAVEL IN
 
PRESIDENT BOB MILLER (First US Community Credit Union) gaveled in the meeting at 12:11pm, welcoming all to our first gathering of the New Year. He noted that several intended participants in the day’s meeting were unavailable and so it was possible the meeting run shorter than usual, which he hoped would cause no one heartburn.
 
 
THANK YOUS
 
 
PRESIDENT BOB thanked the meeting greeters KATHE NATHAN and BRIAN MURRAY (Bender Insurance Solutions), pre-meeting musical mood-setter ELFRENA FOORD (Foord, Van Bruggen & Pajak), Pulse Reporter JOHN MCINTYRE (Mercy Foundation), Wine Reception sponsor/pourer SURRENDER SINGAL, and JOHN SWENTOWSKY (Swentowsky Photography) for capturing images of today’s meeting.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
 
TOM BACON (Bacon Commercial Real Estate) provided his thoughts for a new year in the lyrical context of Neil Young’s “Thrasher,” penned about Young’s breakup with Crosby, Stills & Nash, feeling that they’d lost some of their musical integrity by trying to please, “the man.” TOM’s takeaway was to stay “authentic,” and to “be true to you” through challenges, and that “the best fork in the road is the right one,” which reminded this recorder of Yogi Berra’s admonition, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it...”
 
 
 
CLICK HERE to watch TOM deliver this thought for the day.
 
 
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
 
PRESIDENT BOB led the club in saluting the flag and our country.
 
 
INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS
 
No guests visiting or prospective Rotarians joined us for this meeting.
 
 
HEAD TABLE
 
PRESIDENT BOB announced those who graced the dais today:
  • Chair of the Day SARAH HODGE 
  • PRESIDENT BOB MILLER
  • Speaker JENNIFER EDWARDS (Winning Street Ventures, Co-founder, How to Bridge the Gap)
  • KATIE MCCLEARY (Founder 916 Ink, Co-founder, How to Bridge the Gap)
 
CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS
  • KATHE NATHAN – shared the need for blood and encouraged members to go to Vitalant. KATHY HERRFELDT (Home Care Assistance Sacramento) noted that she’d signed up to give blood with the KCRA blood drive, which is another great option!
  • SARAH HODGE – reminded all that Golf 4 Kids is coming, May 6th! Don’t forget to come out for the benefit of physically impaired children of the Sacramento area.
 
LET’S GO FOR A RUN
 
 
 
 
 
 
  • KATHY HERRFELDT shared that her Home Care Assistance business was cited by her network as the worldwide leader in Client Retention for 2021. She chipped in $100 toward her Eddie Mulligan to commemorate this recognition.
  • PAST PRESIDENT WES YEE (Yee Dentistry) rose to acknowledge Jim Phillips in honor of his recent 92nd birthday. Wes marked the occasion with $100 toward Jim’s Eddie Mulligan.
  • PAST PRESIDENT JIM LEET (retired) then rose to honor DICK OSEN (Retired) on the occasion of his 58th wedding anniversary with $100 toward his Eddie Mulligan.
  • Not to be outdone, DICK OSEN acknowledged the occasion, noting that he and Judy started out in Minnesota in 1957… Dick contributed $250 to mark the event.
  • ERIC SOLIS (Solis Financial Strategies) rose to share about his daughters’ successes and contributed $100 towards his Eddie Mulligan.
  • PAST PRESIDENT THOM GILBERT (retired) celebrated that his daughter is moving back to Sacramento to take an accounting job (not with Gilbert & Associates…).
  • Speaker Jennifer Edwards could hold herself back no longer and plunked a $20 on the dais, elbowing President Bob aside and sharing that her niece will be traveling to Italy with Rotary Youth Exchange, which she acknowledged will change her young niece’s perspective on the world (true enough!).
  • President Bob, when he could get the mic back, acknowledged Jim Relles for his generous $1,000 gift in memory of his daughter Alicia.
 
SPEAKERS: JENNIFER EDWARDS and KATIE MCCLEARY
 
 
 
 
We had the pleasure of hearing from the authors of the forthcoming guidebook “Bridge the Gap” that’s focused on being present, intentional and authentic: communications is about showing up. They opened by asking whether or not members had thought through and made New Year’s intentions. Some shared examples: wasting less food, spend more time with family, more meditation, mindfully slowing down and being thoughtful about actions, completing a (third!) book manuscript. Each was acknowledged and probed a bit with the Rotarian to learn more about their motivation and intended outcomes.
JENNIFER and KATIE shared how very different they are from each other – one conservative, one liberal; one amply tattooed, the other not; one a Christian, the other a Buddhist – yet these differences are small compared to how each is similar to the other. This is especially true in their commitment to connecting and communicating, and belief in the power of curiosity.
 
 
 
 
 
 
They shared some visual aids: first, the “Chinese finger trap,” which shows that the harder you pull, the more stuck you become. Conversely, if you lean/push in, there’s release. Next, JENNIFER used two pitchers of water to show how we respond to pressure: when under pressure, we’re like the full pitcher – at that point can we handle more? No… JENNIFER poured more water into the already-full pitcher with the excess pouring to the floor (onto a well-placed towel). She and KATIE then made the point that pressure undercuts our executive thinking and floods our systems with cortisol, which “hijacks” your brain for up to 27 hours. They suggest there’s a better way, including ways to dial down the impact of cortisol.
 
 
 
 
JENNIFER and KATIE also took the opportunity to mention many concepts that we can integrate into our way of thinking- to help us succeed in our relationships, both professional and personal, and everything in between:
  • One-way communication vs. two-way communication: we’ve been taught that two-way conversation is polite and meaningful, but this results in often talking past one another. They suggest one-way conversation is better: Using “tell me about…” inquiries show respect for and interest in the other person, reducing their stress and giving them permission to direct the conversation comfortably. Thus, it increases their capacity to connect and to receive information. When we show up ready to listen with curiosity, we build trust and relationship.
  • Mirror Neurons – these are neurological impulses that, like a pheromone, wordlessly convey meaning/sensation. We need to release these mirror neurons, especially if it is causing pressure (giving that too-full-pitcher feeling). How to do this? Recommendations were:
    • Find space for silence
    • Deep, cleansing breaths
    • Find a place for a private “temper tantrum” to release the anxiety.
  • Successful leaders convey (consciously or unconsciously, verbally or non-verbally):
    • Here’s what I know
    • Here’s what I don’t know
    • Here’s what you can rely on me for…
 
CLICK HERE to watch JENNIFER and KATIE’s full presentation with questions and answers at the end.
 
 
NEXT MEETING
 
PRESIDENT BOB invited Sergeant-at-Arms GIULIANO KORNBERG (Sac Opera/Philharmonic) to share next week’s plans; GIULIANO noted that next week we will be in the same location, The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, and that Professor Charlie Bamforth of UC Davis will focus on the effervescent topic of Beer.
 
GAVEL OUT
 
PRESIDENT BOB concluded the meeting at 1:20pm.

 
UPCOMING MEETINGS AT A GLANCE:
 
 
  • 1/18/2022- DARK- Martin Luther King Day (Observed)
 
  • 1/25/2022- TBD