My Power of Moments
For those of us who attended the All4One Staff Rally last month, Dan Health really made us think about the Power of Moments. I left invigorated to consider how I might up my game a bit by going the extra mile to make the Y a special place for our staff, our members and the broader community.
In thinking about how I would do this moving forward, I reflected back on some of the small, but powerful moments I’ve seen at the Y through the years that have stayed with me.
- A day camp staffer put together a bumpin’ playlist for rides out. Some parents even got out of their cars to dance in the Y driveway with our counselors!
- Kids at overnight camp when they celebrate their birthday in the dining hall. Their name is called out, they run around the mess hall and get a cake to share with their cabin.
- At a very difficult time in my life, a co-worker stopped me at the Y, put her hand on my shoulder and prayed for me. Powerful.
- A youth counselor built a fireplace mantel, strung it with lights and hung it over his head for the Christmas in July theme day. When the kids entered the gym, he was plugged up in the corner.
- At one of our Y’s a facilities staff member, every day, stops what he’s doing to help an elderly member get out of her car and walk into the building – rain, sleet or snow.
- I walked into a branch one day recently to find a group of about 15 members crocheting together. Just talking, laughing and crocheting. It reminded me of my grandmother!
- At the Camp Excel Swim Meet last summer, the Finley YMCA recruited volunteers to cheer for kids. That was their sole role, to clap, scream, whoop and holler until every single kid finished their lap. Who doesn’t like to be whooped for?
- In 2007, former YMCA CEO Don Cheek sent me a personalized typed letter telling me that my presentation at this Lion’s Club meeting was excellent. It was impactful enough to me that I’ve glanced at it almost every day for the past 17 years.
None of these moments were hard to create, save building the mantel perhaps, but all left a peak as Dan Heath described it. Are we building peaks day in and day out or are we solely “fixing potholes?” Both are important, but the peaks are what impacts people in remarkable ways.
Let’s keep building!
