Be BIG: Step Up, Step Out, Be Bold
This week I want to focus on the concept of "Being Big." In Be BIG: Step Up, Step Out, Be Bold, authors Katz and Miller open by saying: "I am daring you to think bigger, to act bigger and to be bigger. I dare you to think creatively. I dare you to...lead and inspire others. I dare you to build character. I dare you to share." This opening is so compelling, and it directly relates to the courage needed to do the cross-sector work that we are all engaged in. The book is divided into three central sections.
In the first section of the book, titled "Me," Katz and Miller break down how we are taught to be small and why we need and should want to be bigger. This is about, “the ways we have learned to act small and the messages we tell ourselves that keep us small.” We act small for many reasons, including staying in our comfort zone, trying not to be seen, silencing ourselves, and feeling like we don't matter. Being “Big” requires everyone to be bold -- to dream big, think big, and show up big. Fully showing up takes courage -- to say what you think, take ownership of what you say and do, and tell people what you need. Imagine what we could do if we were all so bold and everyone we collaborated with was, too!
In the second section of this book, “You,” the authors break down the ways we keep those around us small (intentionally or unintentionally) by putting “you” in a box based on what I already know about "you" and what I perceive to be your limitations and expectations. They describe how we make others “invisible” to us by not paying attention, listening, noticing, and talking over “you.” This section moves us toward a crucial step in our work as intersectoral leaders and strengthens our ability to see our colleagues, partners, and stakeholders as “big” as they really are! To do this we need to take our blinders off, question assumptions, see others' points of view, see “you” as more than a little box, and see “you” fully. We need to reach out and engage with “you” and support “you” in doing your best work.
In the last section of the book, "We," the authors explore ways we avoid working together and ways we can combine energies to produce something bigger. This is about daring to do our best work collaboratively and is something we should strive toward during this final phase of Growing, Sustaining, and Transition.
image from amazon.com