E013 Adrian DeCoo Helping People is Rewarding
Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 13
Date: April 26, 2022
Participants: John Webster, Julie Wilson, Sammy Damaren, Cameron Earnshaw and Sheila Webster
Guest: Adrian DeCoo
Start times and Segment Segments:
[0:00:19] What’s On Your Mind: Julie and John chat about a quote by Zora Neale Hurston: “There is nothing to make you like other human beings so much as doing things for them.”
[0:10:09] Expanding Minds Interview: [Social Wellness] Adrian DeCoo recounts experiences where helping other people is rewarding.
[0:27:57] Adventures of the Starving Artist: Cameron describes chord functions. We hear examples of their differences and how they make us feel.
[0:34:58] Move That Body: Sheila and Sammy have fun talking about exercise fads over the decades.
[0:40:12] Running Popup: The answer to the great philosophy questions of the ages is: pay attention to the things you touch every day? You’re kidding right? Yes, well half-kidding.
[0:41:44] Flipside of the Coin: A source of contention over the years: stretching. It shouldn’t e a source of contention.
Quotes and Take-Aways:
John – You deserve to spend time on wellness. You deserve to be well. There are so many pressures in the world that tell us it’s selfish to care for yourself. We’re trying to say, “it’s not”. We’re not saying be greedy or do things you shouldn’t do. We’re saying, “you’re worth it”.
Adrian – When we think about service to the community [helping the community] and service to others, we give a lot. We give of our time and of our talents. Most of us will also say we get a lot more out of it personally than we give into it. That’s probably why we do it.
Adrian – Service when you do it right and honestly and without strings, it’s very rewarding. I know that personally from my years working with Rotary. Rotary has as its motto, “Service above self”. That’s truly the case when we look at the things for the community, for others, for people internationally. A lot of times we do this without having any idea how the recipient feels or who the recipient is. We do it anyways because we now it’s the right thing to do or it makes us feel good. There’s intrinsic reward there, because we feel the need to do that.
Adrian – I understand that the greatest reward that people look for in the business world is individual recognition from their immediate supervisor, but I also know that’s only true if three conditions exist: (1) it must be sincere; (2) it must be immediate; and (3) it must be specific. All three of those conditions must be there. If that’s true, people really like what they hear.
Adrian – [When it comes to working with newer generations] How good are leaders at listening? How good are they at asking questions? How good are they at understanding what they’re hearing. That’s really the sin we commit sometimes. Sometimes we disagree without understanding. It’s okay to disagree or not like something, but it’s not okay to not understanding it. The ultimate goal in listening and asking is the reward of understanding what’s really going on. Young people like that. They like being heard. You don’t have to like it or agree with it, but you sure have to understand it. You can only understand it by asking questions and listening.
Adrian – The beginning point of providing help to people is that simple concept of ask and listen. If you don’t ask what do you need, how can I help, or is it appropriate for me to help, then we may be being judgmental by our actions. We are just saying this is good for your, or you should take this because it is good for you. That doesn’t make a lot of sense. What makes a lot more sense is for us to try to understand what’s going on here. We understand that by asking and listening.
Adrian – We’ve started to look at how can we understand the indigenous peoples issues better. I’m underlining the “understand”, not how can we help them. How can we understand them, because until we understand, then we can’t help.
Cameron – The three chord function types are tonic, subdominant and dominant.
A tonic function is like the home base of our key. It feels stable and complete. We can finish whatever thought, musical or otherwise, we’re trying to convey.
When we look at the subdominant function, we get a more unstable feeling. It’s a semi-stable felling. It sets up an expectation for something more, but it doesn’t give us an expectation about what that might be, specifically. It takes us from a place of stability to a place of instability and we don’t know where we’re going next, but we know it’s something.
The dominant function is the most unstable function of all. It owes that to a tri-tone. It’s a crunchy, rubby, dissonant sound.
John – The things you touch every day are important. Don’t scrimp on the things you touch every day.
Bulletin Board Quote brought to you by Cameron: It was banned in sacred music, because it was known as the devil’s interval.
Guest Information: Adrian DeCoo has been an active member of the Kitchener Rotary since 1986 and currently the 100th President of the club. He’s volunteered much time, including on many training sessions for Rotarians over more than 20 years. He’s received multiple awards from Rotary for his service, which are called Paul Harris Fellowships. Adrian is a founding partner in the training and organizational development firm of Great Lakes Learning Inc., Waterloo, Ontario. For more than 35 years he’s had extensive experience working with a variety of clients in areas of leadership training, developing vision, values and mission statements, team building and helping organizations evolve. He’s a Co-author of three training books: Instructor Skills for Occasional Instructors; Ask & Listen: Essential Workplace Leadership Skills; and Working Together: Leading and Facilitating Teams. Adrian is also on the Board of Directors of the amazing organization, KidsAbility, which helps thousands of children with different challenges to reach communication, social, physical and behavioural goals.
Kitchener Rotary Website: https://kitchenerrotary.ca
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Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila and Julie