Photo by Doug Finstad
by Michael Shaw
Tonight, ushered in the beginning of individual distillation in thought. The GATCT team welcomed back the monthly roundtable discussion where ideas are presented, opinions express and positions challenged. All in the hopes of driving each participant to thing broader and deeper with regard to their own positions.
This evenings format was a roundtable discussion. The topic before the group, Professional Self-Development: When, Where, and Why. I would like to thank Mike, Mike, Ryan, Kevin, COL Chasteen, and our surprised guest MG(R) Simmons (you never know who will drop by a table for a chat) for making tonight’s inaugural gathering a spring board for future events.
The discussions tonight brought a couple points to light that I would like to share.
Self-Development is in the gravitational pull of two immense characteristics, 1) knowing one’s own personality and 2) a need to ensure lifelong learning. The strength and or weakness of either of these traits can cause one’s self-developmental orbit to tilt off axis or spin uncontrollably.
Self-development is what one makes of it. Events such as church or volunteering can be as developmental as the latest biography on Churchill. But, for such progress to take place, we need to be present physically, mentally and emotionally present.
Self-development is a deliberate process. One should understand the goal or objective they strive for. As Simon Sinek’s book is title “Start with Why”. While the text may cover great leaders inspiring subordinates to action, we too as individuals must understand the “why” in our own actions.
For all those currently rolling their eyes and believing this is the same subject just ground a different way, I challenge you to pause and look deep at what you are doing for self-development, the time you may or may not be committing to the process and write down the excuses you are telling yourself as to why you can or cannot do something. Are you truly self-developing or are you going through the motions? Is this process really important to you or are you phoning it in? What we discovered tonight is that regardless of the passion one person has for a topic or method, each of us must stand and face our true selves in the mirror.
Join the GATCT team ext month for a Skype conversation with Joe Byerly, creator of the successful and popular blog “From the Green Notebook." Time, date, location and topic are still under review. We look forward to the next chapter.
Here are a list of books and articles that were included, mentioned or talked about during tonight’s events.
For a larger variety of books on the topic of learning, here is an insightful link: Best Books on Learning: 70 Great Books on Learning Faster.
Books
How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything - Rosa Brooks
The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition - Caroline Alexander
Articles
See below for the outline notes that guided tonight’s discussion.