Fulcrum Point Partners

I won 2 tickets to see Donna Summer perform. I never had seen her and was excited to go. She sounded great. Her new album, based on the songs she performed, was memorable, fun, current and relevant. She had a great stage with dancers, musicians and video.

She couldn’t dance.

She couldn’t even move gracefully.

How ironic the woman who spawned a new type of dance (disco) doesn’t have a beat. The most she did was waving her arm up in the air a few times trying to keep in time with the music.

I find this hilarious.

I also find it inspiring.

A woman who can’t dance and has no graceful moves managed to help invent a type of music which revolutionized the 1970’s music and dance scene.

What if Donna had let her lack of moves stop her from going into singing and specifically into singing music people dance to?

Sure the dance craze known as disco might have still happened but how different it would have been?

This gets me thinking and inspired because:

• Just because I procrastinate doesn’t mean I can’t motivate others.
• Just because I might handle some of my own difficult situations ineffectively doesn’t mean I can’t show others how to shift out of these more efficiently
• Just because I haven’t gotten national recognition yet for my work doesn’t mean my work and outcomes are any less relevant

I’m good at doing all those things and doing those helps others and also helps me continue to grow.

And heaven knows, if Donna can sing dance music and can’t dance, the possibilities are endless!

Work Values*

1. Flexibility
2. Adaptability
3. Stability
4. Predictability
5. Being Innovative
6. Being Quick to Take Advantage of Opportunities
7. A Willingness to Experiment
8. Risk Taking
9. Being Careful
10. Autonomy
11. Being Rule Oriented
12. Being Analytical
13. Paying Attention to Detail
14. Being Precise
15. Being Team Oriented
16. Sharing Information Freely
17. Emphasizing a Single Culture Throughout the Organization
18. Being People Oriented
19. Fairness
20. Respect for the Individual’s Right
21. Tolerance
22. Informality
23. Being Easy Going
24. Being Calm
25. Being Supportive
26. Being Aggressive
27. Decisiveness
28. Action Orientation
29. Taking Initiative
30. Being Reflective
31. Achievement Orientation
32. Being Demanding
33. Taking Individual Responsibility
34. Having High Expectations for Performance
35. Opportunities for Personal Growth
36. High Pay for Good Performance
37. Security of Employment
38. Offers Praise for Good Performance
39. Low Level of Conflict
40. Confronting Conflict Directly
41. Developing Friends at Work
42. Fitting In
43. Working in Collaboration with others
44. Enthusiasm for the Job
45. Working Long Hours
46. Not Being Constrained by Many Rules
47. An Emphasis on Quality
48. Being Distinctive – Different from Others
49. Having a Good Reputation
50. Being Socially Responsible
51. Being Results Oriented
52. Having a Clear Guiding Philosophy
53. Being Competitive
54. Being Highly Organized

*from Academy of Management