“March is zipping along!” commented Pres. Matt this noon. These past few sunny days have surely been inspiring and invigorating as we get closer and closer to Spring. Now if it will just warm up a bit, right? We had a smaller turnout of attendees, (I counted 22), at today’s meeting, and Matt thought that it was because some folks didn’t do the homework he sent out in an email!
After his initial welcome, Pres. Matt had us join him in reciting The Pledge. Alex gave The Blessing. In this season of reflection and renewal, she asked The Lord to guide us and give us wisdom to help others. She reminded us of the Four-Way Test. Today, we welcomed guests Sharon, and Willow. Jack and Sharon were present for the Zoom Meeting in more than one way. Jack was “zooming” along the Thruway, heading west at 73mph, returning from the Mohawk Valley! The Program for this noon took on a different format, where we were invited to share our thoughts and reactions to a video and an article that we were to have previewed (homework assignment…).
Patrice gave a summary of this morning’s Board Meeting, where Susan gave The Board a financial update. Though this past year has been challenging, things are looking better for the Club due to generous donations from various sources in the community. Sherry reported on the Trout Derby. On-line participation continues to increase. The stickers are selling and the buttons are being sold at Sutton’s. The cost of the trophies has already been taken care of in this year’s budget. We have received a New Member Application from Sue Dominick, sponsored by Jodi. The Board approved her application and hopefully, Sue will be inducted as a New Member soon. Some of the upcoming Spring Events are the Trout Derby, which will be held April 1st-4th, and The Great Grape Race will be on May 8th. The trees for Arbor Day will be delivered to the Elementary School. The Gavel Dinner will be held (outside) at Brew and Brats on June 28th, 6:00pm. Many Members should have received their vaccines by then, and therefore it should be safe to gather outdoors. John said that the tents are going up May 1st. Tom noted that all the Awards will be given at that time. Skip will check with the caterer. Many thanks to John for his kind offer! Tom also prompted us to reach out to Karen, whose husband, Clayton is experiencing some serious health issues, and to Deb, who also is recovering from a health setback. Judy has sent cards to them. Thanks, Judy! No applications from RYLA have been returned yet, but Matt seems sure that we will have a suitable candidate to represent Naples Rotary. John suggested that it might be beneficial to have a “Go To” Person who would represent Rotary in all of our events. The idea will be explored further by The Board. A suggestion was made that a special section should be established on Club Runner, listing the various committees and their coordinators. The By-Laws will be checked, and we will revisit this item at the April Board Meeting.
Sherry added a few more updates on the Trout Derby. As mentioned earlier, the on-line participation is going up. The money garnered from the Raffle at Caruso’s will go to the Derby. Stickers are being sold at Jodi’s, and buttons are available at Sutton’s for $5.00. Thank you Sherry and Micah for all you are doing to make this annual Spring event happen!
Jodi noted that there is an exquisite Barn Quilt, created by Deb L., which is being raffled at the Café. Many Raffle Tickets were sold over the weekend! The Quilt Tickets are one for $6.00, and three for $10.00. Jodi added that the Winter Wanderland over the weekend brought business to their friendly establishment! Caruso’s also supplied 75 bagels for the high school kids, ordered by a person in Minnesota! Thank you, Jodi, and Mark! Your Café is a jewel in the center of our community!
As previously mentioned, today’s Program took on a slightly different format. Matt had asked us to view a video, and to read an article. The video focused on how to turn a group of strangers into a team, while the article was entitled, “What Google Learned From Its Quest To Build A Perfect Team”. We were to have done this “homework assignment” over the weekend to be prepared to take part in a group discussion at today’s meeting. We learned from this assignment, that components such as communication, vulnerability, efficiency, and problem-solving are part of what it takes to create a successful team. We also learned from our small group discussions that humility, curiosity and willingness are necessary factors in helping a team to operate successfully, as well.
Matt shared a meaningful quote by Dalal Haldeman as a springboard for our discussion. “Individual talents get magnified many times over through the collective lens of an effective team.” Indeed, when strength can be found in one another, when members speak in the same proportion, and when there is sensitivity to others within the group, a team climate is created, known as “psychological safety”. This climate thrives on interpersonal trust and mutual respect among its teammates.
Thanks to the technical skill of Bruce, we were able to divide into Break-out Sessions, whereby each group focused on the following prompt provided by Pres. Matt.
“When you think about highly effective teams, what aspects make them high functioning?” Each of the “Break-Out Rooms” was given five minutes to develop a list of attributes that would contribute to a high functioning team. Afterwards, a spokesperson from each group gave a summary of its discussion. Many ideas overlapped, so here is a listing of the thoughts that were generated: good leadership, collaboration, willingness to listen to new ideas, flexibility, positivity (not being fearful of failure), re-imagining, maintaining a vision, keeping things moving as a leader, allowing for communication, and recognizing the strengths of each individual.
The Google Study, known as “Project Aristotle,” found that when this climate of Psychological Safety is formed within a team, that team is considered “higher performing” because it has developed the security to admit its mistakes and learn from them.
We also viewed a short video by Amy Edmondson, who stated that the work that we do must be inter-dependent. To create the Psychological Safety Climate, leaders must do the following: 1. Frame the work, 2. Model flexibility and 3. Embrace messengers. “This was the perfect video for Rotary, because we have a purpose!” exclaimed Matt.
Matt rounded out our discussion by inquiring which aspects of the article and video surprised, pleased or concerned us, and if there were any questions. Some of the members such as John, Jack, Bruce, Tom, Alex, and Jodi gave valuable feedback. The consensus was that a high functioning team encompasses humble leadership, equal participation, active listening, mutual support, showing appreciation and maintaining harmony. Tom added the frosting on the cupcake when he said that Pres. Matt models this humble, effective leadership, as have recent Past Presidents, who would be Tom, Jack, John, Bo, Mike and Skip. (I had to add PP Tom because he is too humble and modest to praise himself!!) The programs have been stellar, yet today’s format provided a nice diversion! Thanks so much, Matt, and thanks for the way you’ve helped to maintain the “psychological safety” of our wonderful club!
Many Happy Bills came from members who really enjoyed the program. Being able to reflect on what makes a “Team” (i.e. Naples Rotary) function well was very helpful!
Tom appreciates that we help other members during times of need. Jack had kudos for those who were involved with the “Winter Wanderland.” (Thanks to Wayne and Blanche for hosting the Walking Tour of Historic Naples Landmarks.) Jodi appreciated being outside near Skip’s and Judy’s as she chased her pup. John and Sherry have a new “fur baby” named DeeDee, who was part of the “French Livingroom Crew” at the meeting! Pres. Matt was pleased with today’s conversation. He thanked Jodi, who provided him with a steaming hot cup of coffee before his day at school, even though Caruso’s wasn’t open! Helping others out, - that’s what Naples Rotarians are all about!!
Bo had the Rotary Moment for us today. Back in the late 80’s, Bo did a Make-Up Meeting (for Rotary) in Borås, Sweden, which, being a fairly large city, had many Rotary Clubs. Ironically, the club Bo had chosen happened to be the same club of which a former teacher of his was also a member! Bo jogged his teacher’s memory when he reminded him of how he graduated, even though he hadn’t “made the grade” in Gym! Apparently, it was the only subject with an exclusion, so Bo said it was beneficial to both concerned!!
There was a message from PP Mike J. He wanted to know if anyone could guess how old the Naples Rotary Club would have turned back in February. The answer was 82! That’s eighty plus years of doing good in the world! 😊 “Stay safe, stay healthy!” said Pres. Matt encouragingly. Enjoy your week, everyone, and we’ll gather for the second Evening Meeting of the month next Monday, March 22nd. P. S. Happy St. Patrick’s Day too!!
We have just learned of the passing of Clayton, Dear Husband of Our Karen. Our prayers, thoughts, and love are with Karen and Her Family at this difficult time.
