EMAIL #71 - 18TH, MAY, 2020 - BUILDING CULTURE ONE EMAIL AT A TIME
Hi Team,
I was recently asked, "why do you write your weekly email's?" My initial response was to justify the significant amount of time I spend each week researching and writing these email's by using well worn terms like, personal development, effective leadership, growth mindset and core values. All of these are valid justifications and great reasons for me and my team learning new things and pursuing self improvement. But really they are secondary reasons for me personally.
I have come to realize that for me these weekly emails are all about creativity. Building is all about creativity and that is why I love it. After over 30 years of professional building, I know that to be creative for the long term you must always follow and feed your curiosity. My curiosity has lead me back to teaching and learning.
"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose." Zora Neale Hurston
Before I discovered building, I was a secondary school teacher for 4 years. So teaching people is in my blood, but it had been largely suppressed for 3 decades. A few years ago I started working with a business coach to grow my business. After several coaching sessions, my coach recognised my intrinsic interest in teaching and encouraged me to start writing a weekly email to my employees. Initially I really struggled with this weekly task and was very unsure of what to write about. Most of these early emails were really only summaries of what was going on in the business. But after 6 or 8 months I started to find my inner voice and learnt to write with more confidence.
This weekly email has now become part of who I am and is the core to DDB's learning culture. Over the last 3 years it has been a huge part of my personal growth and has re-ignited my passion for teaching and learning. I listen to multiple podcasts each week and always have a line up of books that I am reading. I have also discovered that I actually enjoy writing and I get a huge amount of satisfaction when I press send each Sunday afternoon. Yes it is a significant commitment and it regularly takes up a good chunk of my weekend, but in my mind it is well and truly worth it.
"The more you give to others, the more you'll get. Understanding this is the beginning of wisdom." Kevin Kelly
Thanks for reading,
stay safe and soldier on.
David
