Release:
June 1, 2022

Women of NATE Today Newsletter
Volume 4, Issue 6

When I was asked to write this introduction to the Women of NATE newsletter, I was not sure what to write about, so I did a little research into past newsletters. Reading the wonderful advice, perspectives and challenges previous writers spoke about left me wondering, what can I offer the newsletter? Then my son suggested I talk about my favorite quotes/sayings.

I have a habit of collecting quotes or sayings that connect with me personally, motivate me and remind me to live the best life I can with what I have and where I am. I often send these to my children and of course they tease me for doing so, but that does not stop me. LOL

So here are two quotes that I wanted to share with you. 

“Life is too short to worry about what others say or think about you. So just enjoy life, have fun, and give them something to talk about.” - Tiny Buddha 

I think many times women (and men) hesitate or decide not to do something they enjoy in fear of what others will think. I have found myself in that position more often than I care to admit and the only thing that came out of it was regret for not doing it. Dance if you want, sing if you want, try anything you want. Enjoy your life for you, not for the approval of others.

“Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”- Robert Brault 

This quote hit me harder these past two years. Who would have thought little things like going out to restaurants, movies, seeing family and friends and even buying toilet paper would become big things? As things start to get back to some sense of “normalcy” I hope we all appreciate the precious time we can share with others creating memories and take time to “smell the roses” and appreciate the “little” things we get to experience in our daily lives.

Looking ahead, I would like to invite you to the 2^nd Annual Women of NATE Leadership Summit being held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Tuesday, September 20, 2022. The women on the Leadership Summit committee have been working tirelessly to create an event that will benefit all of the amazing women in our industry. This exciting one-day event will be filled with education sessions, a keynote speaker, a luncheon, and networking.

Online Registration is now open for the WON Leadership Summit, please go to the following link (https://natehome.com/women-of-nate/won-leadership-summit/2022-won-leadership-summit/) to find out more details about the sessions, schedule and to register for this event. If you would like to support and help promote your company, please consider becoming a sponsor for this event. Here is the link: (https://natehome.com/women-of-nate/won-leadership-summit/2022-won-leadership-summit-sponsorships/) to the sponsorship options still available.

Being a part of the Women of NATE has provided me with the support I never knew I needed from other women in our industry. Together we make each other stronger, and I cannot wait to see what we will accomplish next. For more details about WON and If you would like to be a part of WON or help in anyway, visit the NATE website at www.natehome.com.

Hope to see you in Albuquerque!

WON Profile: Chelsea Hood

Where will you find the Women of NATE?

Take Women of NATE with you!

Are you traveling for work or taking a leisure vacation? Take a creative photo holding a Women of NATE (WON) logo in front of a landmark that lets us know where you are. 

(Above) NATE WIN Liaison Molly Cooper took this photo during the Carolinas Wireless Golf Event. “Bloom where you are planted – or wherever you want to bloom. Do your own thing.”  

(Above) Women of NATE Committee Member Loui McCurley travels with her family to the Gulf of Mexico in early May.

Upcoming Events

When is Juneteenth? 

Juneteenth National Independence Day is a U.S. federal holiday. It was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Thursday, June 17, 2021. 

Officially known as Emancipation Day and also called Juneteenth Independence Day and Freedom Day, Juneteenth is a portmanteau word for June and nineteenth and commemorates the June 19, 1865, announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas and the emancipation of African-American slaves throughout the Confederate South. 

History of Juneteenth 

On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared the end of slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation. Two and half years later, and two months after the end of the Civil War, Union troops arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865, to find that news of the proclamation had not yet reached Galveston and that people were still being held as slaves in Texas. 

The leader of the Union Troops, General Gordon Granger then formally announced the emancipation from the balcony of the former Confederate Army headquarters. 

The reason why the news about the emancipation took so long to reach Texas is subject to speculation. One theory is that the messenger who was originally sent with the news had been killed before he reached Texas. A more likely scenario is that the local slave owners simply held onto the information, ignoring the emancipation order. 

Although the news of the emancipation reached towns at different times across the South, there was a collective decision to recognize 19th June as the date of the emancipation. The date of the proclamation itself (January 1st) wasn't considered as the people wanted to mark the date when the slave's lives were actually affected by the new freedom. 

The annual commemoration of this date, which became known as Juneteenth, was seen as a stabilizing and motivating presence in the lives of African-Americans in Texas, who despite their newly acquired freedom, still faced many uncertainties and challenges. 

Celebrations include parades, storytelling, barbecue, and baseball. Strawberry soda pop is the drink of choice and the building from which General Granger read the Proclamation is now a historic landmark. 

While Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States, it wasn't until 1980 that it was made an official state paid holiday in Texas, through the efforts of Texas state Rep. Al Edwards, D-Houston. Note that state offices are not closed but are staffed by a "skeleton crew." 

In 2020, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced that state employees would receive an additional 8 hours holiday on June 19th. 

According to the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, 49 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation to officially recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday or special day of observance. 

Recent Event Highlights

(Above) NATE WIN Committee Chairwoman Chelle Eischens of VIKOR visits with attendees in the NATE booth during Connect (X) in Denver, Colorado. 

(Above) Sean Cooper (far right) conducted an Authorized/Competent Climber/Rescuer Training with the ERI crew (Tom Sillman, Lori Glaser, Keith Unfried, Troy Knotts, and Wes Dossett. 

Attention, leaders: Don’t ever lie

Nothing erodes an organization like lies. Added up, they can cause irrevocable damage.

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Lie (noun): an assertion of something known or believed by the speaker or writer to be untrue with intent to deceive. (Merriam-Webster) 

I once worked with a dishonest leader. She took credit for her people’s work, she promoted her favorites, she wasn’t honest about the work her team did and why they did it, and she talked about people behind their backs. Strangely, she was also frustrated that she had an unhappy team. 

It is weird to me that I see such leadership behavior more often than I would have thought. I think a contributing factor is that we do not properly define the behavior the aforementioned leader engaged in. My opening line described it as “dishonest.” And while that is true, the term downplays what we are really talking about. It softens the edges of the behavior to help it resemble something less damaging than it actually is.

In reality, the behavior I described would better be termed lying. Lying evokes a much more visceral reaction than “being dishonest.” We are much less likely to tolerate lying than we are the vagueness of dishonesty. If we properly reframe being dishonest to call it what it actually is — lying — the word becomes more commensurate with the damage the behavior causes. 

For example, we can rationalize that trying to sell unimportant work to your employees as something important and wonderful is good for morale and engagement. We can think that while it is dishonest, it is somehow “good dishonestly.” But it is not. It is just a lie. 

Nothing good comes from a lie. Lies are the brick and mortar of evil in the world. They are the foundation from which most evil is instantiated. Lies that we tell others, lies that we tell ourselves; for every lie told, even if you cannot perceive it, and no matter the intent, the world is damaged in some way. The very reason lies exist is, ultimately, to cause harm. They are the loose change cast upon the ground by the devil, so to speak. And every time a coin is used, the devil grins. 

It is easy to lie. It is often convenient to lie. It can seem advantageous to lie. If a lie can get us what we want, or protect what we have, a lie can be seductively easy. And after all, we often have good reasons to lie: It is better for morale if our people don’t know the truth. We don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. We are good people, and we deserve what we want and need. We deserve the recognition. And so on and so forth.

Nothing erodes an organization like lies. If you want to disengage people, tell them lies. If you want to ensure that cynicism and distrust flourish in your organization, tell lies. If you want to ensure that people are not giving you their best effort and working hard to ensure your organization thrives, tell them lies. If you want people to leave, tell them lies. And make no mistake: You don’t have to tell big lies. Small lies will suffice. 

In my work over the years, I have had the fortune to have generally worked with good people. Some were truly rotten, but most were just like you and me. They came to work and did the best they could. However, they all told lies in one way or another. And these mostly small lies added up in their organizations. Sometimes, even things we don’t often think of as lies are indeed lies. Not giving effective and honest feedback is a lie. Promoting people who aren’t deserving is a lie. Not recognizing or diminishing good work is a lie. Stealing other people’s ideas without crediting them is a lie. Not being transparent about organizational decision-making is a lie. And if you think no one is looking or no one knows? Think again. Your people are always looking, and they usually know. 

It is easy to see how these little lies cause harm. It is easy to pull the thread on any one of them and see the concentric rings of harm that ripple out from them, damaging you and your organization and destroying trust and credibility. Added up, they can cause irrevocable harm. As they say, trust takes a long time to build and can be wiped out in a second. And trust is all you have in your organization. When people don’t trust you, you have nothing. 

The worst thing you can do as a leader is to lie. Avoid doing so at all costs. 

This article was originally published on the Chief Learning Officer website at https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2021/08/24/attention-leaders-dont-ever-lie/.