Rebuilding a Core Team with nerdiness and heart
We’ve been hemorrhaging Core Team members! First, the institution switched 60% of the residents between two yards (which, for security purposes, are completely independent). Second, of the remaining Core Team members, THREE were transferred to lower-security prison (woohoo!! Big celebration for their achievements!). So, we’re left with one Core Team member.
To recruit and select new members, last week, we read 60 applications from prison residents looking to join the Core Team that organizes the TEDx event. Application review is always a quiet process, with everyone reading and evaluating separately.
When we finished, Connor looked up and beamed “I am so happy to have read all these applications! I learned so much!!!” When asked to clarify, “I never realized how much more impact a story creates over listing attributes and qualities. I see now that the stories said so much more in less words.”
In a number of applications, we read that the residents would bring to our program “positivity, tolerance, patience, organization, team player, creativity, team leadership, adaptability...”
Another, to express what he expects to learn, said that “As a kid, I once rode Space Mountain with the lights on. It was fascinating to see the inner mechanics that no one else normally gets to see.” In these two simple sentences, we learned and deduced that
He likes to understand how stuff works
He likes working behind the scenes, making the magic happen
He’s curious
These are all qualities we appreciate in a Core Team member. He’s now on the interview list!
Someone else is on the interview list for a very different reason. In this other application, one sentence caught our hearts: “I don’t make people feel small.” While this application did not present accomplishments or attributes, this simple statement showed heart. And THIS is our top recruiting criteria.
We create a safe space in which people uncover and ignite their brilliance. This man shows us a glimmer of something on which we wish to provide safety, fuel and space. This has become a design feature of our team creation. The leaders we select into our Core Team are not only the “cream of the leadership crop”; they are also residents in whom we see heart and desire to spark betterment in themselves and their world.