At the end of our Friday night service, the rabbi says, “connect with those around you” as we turn to the final prayer.
People sitting one, two, or three seats away from each other move to stand next to a human in order to “connect”. What does that mean? And does it have the same meaning to everyone?
If we go to the internet for a definition, it both makes the answer clearer and murkier: “bring together or into contact so that a real link is established”. What does bring together mean and is contact the same for everyone?
The point became timelier at a recent HorseTalk: Lessons in Leadership. The instructions read to “move a horse” through the obstacle course without being “connected” to the horse in any way.
First the group had to decide what connected meant. For one person, a touch on the arm did not constitute “connected”. He claimed it required a bear hug in order to connect. Another person raised a different question. They were given permission to talk to the horse, but was that being connected? Don’t we stay connected to far away people by talking with them by phone, facetime or zoom? Talking is necessary on all of those platforms in order to stay connected.
What seemed like a simple rule, “move a horse without being “connected” appears to not be so simple. Perhaps a lesson from this exercises is for each team to agree on the team’s meaning of the words they use. #leadership #connect #HorseTalk
