“Who are your competitors?” was a question people asked me as I started my work here at CEF, and as I consulted with people about how best to market what we do. I understood the purpose of the question, but I never liked it.
What if we stopped seeing people who offered like training services as competitors but rather as collaborators? What if we saw the work of making the world a better place a process of connection, alliance, and collective amplification instead of individual gain? With CPS, I am exploring these questions with other leaders in Buffalo and beyond.
I see our CPSI community as emblematic of this collaborative spirit. At CPSI, people who lead classes, also attend others’ classes. They share tools and wisdom. They reach out to each other when they need training support and resources. They collaborate; they do not compete. I want to cultivate more of this in our work.
Whenever I apply deliberate creativity to this work, I automatically self-reflect and wonder if I am walking my professional talk in my personal life. “Am I being collaborative or competitive with myself?” is the question I found myself asking this week.
A few challenges came up for me where I found myself comparing past experiences and reactions to current experiences and reactions. It can be really difficult not to judge past acts as “bad” in some way. Taking a collaborative approach to my memories, experiences, and actions allows me to integrate all parts of myself and my life, and the various circumstances within different times of my life, to appreciate myself in a more complete way.
When I move from judgement/competition to acceptance/collaboration, I deepen my self-compassion and understanding — and I can do the same for others. How can you collaborate with yourself and others to foster greater success and understanding?