My big parenting Ah-ha during a presentation to Salesforce Executives

I recently had the pleasure of presenting the value of Brené Brown’s work to a group of Executives at Salesforce. Everyone responded openly to share in the powerful social-emotional work from her latest book, “Dare to Lead.” Out of nowhere an incredible teaching moment hit me!  I could use this in my role as a parent.

My invitation in this exercise was to have people wander through the room where I had posted a number of values on placards.  The participants identified their top two values and shared in dyads as a way of deepening connection, building trust, touching their courage and stepping into vulnerability.  This exercise sparked incredible conversations.

Brené Brown says,

“Your values are who you are in your life - when no one is watching.  It’s what matters to you no matter what.”

While guiding the group through this process, I began to think about my values and of those closest to me and picturing what they might say while doing this exercise. My friends and colleagues came to mind and quickly following that my family came into focus. It was at that moment that I had a parenting ah-ha! I thought of my daughter and her values and how they differed from my own.

One of my daughter’s top values is order—she likes to have everything neat and tidy—while I am the opposite. I don’t mind some disorder or a bit of chaos at home. While this is a personal preference, it’s not one of my values as it is for her. It made me realize that I should be more mindful of the importance of her highly held value of order by making adjustments in my habits,  In this way she can feel that her beliefs are being respected.

This realization made me more self-aware about how my actions could affect someone else.  It’s a lesson we can all revisit. I know how often what we teach or encourage others to do is something that we need to work on in our own lives, and in particular, with our children. If we take the time to listen to our kids, then they may unknowingly show us areas in our lives where we need to be more attentive and aware.

When organizations (and parents) follow the lessons of “Dare to Lead” , we all win.  We will end up with a stronger, more open community of amazing leaders and young people (our future Salesforce Execs) who feel that their opinions are honored and heard.

I am thrilled to talk with you about your business and life and powerful ways we can impact your 2019.