If at first you don't succeed... try (with your friends)
I began working on this blog post last week, from a hotel lobby in Philadelphia, as I prepared to head home from the Academy of Management’s annual conference. Every year thousands of management scholars and practitioners gather at this conference to exchange ideas, mingle, present new research, and rub shoulders with some of the field’s great thinkers.
This year was no different in many respects, but for me it was a turning point. Not only did I have the opportunity to be part of the team behind a very successful consulting workshop, but I also presented my doctoral research in a paper session. Paper sessions in my division typically consist of four scholars or teams of scholars giving a brief talk about their research, followed by discussion with the audience and one another about how their work is related and/or different. Tough questions are often asked and the caliber of researchers and practitioners in the room can be impressive to say the least.
This year I not only saw old friends and made some new ones as I always do, but I took more risks, bringing forth my own contributions to the field and standing in that space confidently. There are some great lessons to be gained from this experience. The importance of taking chances as a matter of personal and professional growth comes to mind, as does the importance of friendship when it comes to stepping out in front of the crowd to bring forth that which only we can contribute.
Taking chances can be daunting, especially if we have met with a less than warm reception in the past. Last year I submitted a paper to the Academy based on the same study and it was rejected. When that happened, I was blessed to have wonderful mentors and colleagues who believed in me and cared enough to allow me to lick my wounds and encouraged me to give it another shot. Now that I can look at it objectively, there were two problems with the initial submission. The first was contextual. I had submitted a highly theoretical piece to a practice-focused group- sort of like offering really good quality bacon to a vegetarian! The second was that the paper itself had some weaknesses. The writing wasn’t clear enough, although it had made perfect sense to me at the time. More explanation was needed and I had tried to combine too many ideas into a single paper. I had to let my ideas and ability to communicate them clearly mature and improve my paper before reentering the arena. Think of letting fruit ripen before sharing it. Nobody wants to take a bite of a bitter, green apple no matter how good the tree it came from might be. So I revised the paper and resubmitted it, but this time I knew which division to submit it to. This year the work was accepted, heard, and met with a positive response.
I was walked to the room by a dear mentor and friend who was unable to stay but insisted on supporting me nonetheless and when I stood up to discuss my research, several friends were in attendance, making the experience even sweeter. This brings me to the part about friendship. So often when we feel like we lack the courage to step into the arena with a new idea on our own, the support of our friends makes what seemed scary at first become appealing, even fun. The lesson in this experience is to cherish those friends who support us and try to do the same for them as well. Taking risks is a lot less scary when you have wise and wonderful people to discuss it with.
So how does this tie back to yoga? It’s simple. Research, scholarly writing, and speaking are processes. They are iterative, growing, changing, emergent acts of becoming. Likewise, we seldom get a new yoga posture right the first, second, or 100th time. It is the journey that matters. Falling is expected in both cases. It is part of learning to stand. Ideally we stand on our own two feet, but as scholars, business people, and as human beings we are very seldom truly alone.
So what about you? Is there a chance you want to take, something you want to try again perhaps? If so, why not marshal some support, take a deep breath, and go for it?
Copyright Gly Solutions 2014
