June 2002 AGGMAN People

Consider how rewarding your personal and professional relationships are, depending on whether you are involved in them or committed to them. Whether it’s a significant other, boss, business partner or customer, being committed makes a significant difference in the success of any relationship. The main reason is because our level of attention is so high and our effort so consistent. It’s a shame more people don’t apply that philosophy to other endeavors.
Imagine that you and a friend go fishing every morning. While walking along the banks of a river, part of your conversation always includes how nice it would be to fish the other side of the river. One particular morning, you and your friend make a pact. You make a commitment to one another that you’ll cross the river today and fish the area that you’ve been talking about for weeks. When you get beside the river, your friend points out a rock and says “I think we can wade out to that rock and jump over to that fallen tree.” Then you say, “Yes, and it looks like we can walk across the fallen tree to where that flat rock is. From there we can wade to that overhanging branch and pull ourselves toward that other group of rocks…”
Before now, you never cared how close any rock might be to a fallen tree, but today their proximity means everything. The fallen trees and rocks are much more than fallen trees and rocks; they are stepping stones for crossing the river. Isn’t this interesting? The river hasn’t changed one iota. The trees and rocks are the same. You and your friend haven’t changed either, but your entire conversation and experience of walking along the river is unlike any you have had before. Up until now, you’ve talked a lot about fishing on the other side of the river, but no progress has been made toward that end. All that’s changed now. On this day, you have fresh eyes to notice, and new energy to act on opportunities for accomplishing your objective. The only difference between today’s walk and previous walks is that a commitment is in place to wind up with a different outcome.
The above scenario shows what becomes possible when we bring a commitment to our wish list of things we’d like to be better. So, what’s on your wish list that would make your home or work life more fulfilling and rewarding? Is hiring and retaining good people on that list? Working better as a team? Improved relationships with neighbors? Having a closer relationship with your spouse? A more safe work environment? Taking a well deserved yet overdue vacation? Gaining more market share? Restoring a customer’s confidence? For most of us, there are at least a few areas at work and home that we wish were improved.
It’s important to realize that wishing and hoping for things to get better is the lowest form of human existence. In doing that, we say, “I’m powerless to cause/create desired outcomes in my life.” On the other hand, when you commit to something, you establish a very different and powerful mindset—that, “This is important enough to find a way to do whatever it takes to create the results I want.” With a commitment, rationalizations go away and old excuses no longer remain valid. Making a commitment doesn’t mean you have all the answers. Your commitment sets into motion a process whereby the answers will come. The famous mountain climber, Hilary, described this process when he said, “Commitment is the first step, then everything else lines up.” Even if you have no idea what to do next, you’ll figure it out by noticing previously missed opportunities, just like stones in a river that become a bridge to the other side.
I recently spoke to a friend who oversaw production for a major aggregates company for years. We were talking about the value of being committed to a worthwhile effort and the difference it makes. He shared an example of how his commitment to reducing costs and safety worked in the above manner after an acquisition.
He had to transfer his mindset to the people at the new acquired company. After they became committed to the concept of a safer, less costly operation, they noticed the opportunities to create it. They started cleaning up dozens of old motors and worn out equipment, previously kept around as if they might one day come back to life and run cost effectively. Once that junk was hauled off, the environment from a safety standpoint was vastly improved, and a lot of money was saved. Not only that, this new mindset carried over into other aspects of the operation, creating the same result—all because a renewed commitment was put in place.
Transforming your wish list requires that you write and complete the following sentence, “I am committed to ________(area of improvement).” The next step is to sign off on your agreement with yourself. Sign your name under the written statement and tape it somewhere (a wall next to your desk, the dashboard of your vehicle, the refrigerator door) where you will look at it several times/day and be reminded of your new priority. Your promise to yourself will have a similar effect of the promise you make when you sign a new contract to do work or receive services, only you’ve given your word and entered into an agreement with yourself. New expectations are in place and your attention is now focused—laser sharp, where it wasn’t before.
The final step is to ask someone interested in your success to hold you accountable by asking you daily. They should be willing to ask: “What have you done today to further your commitment?” You’ll be amazed at what happens with this accountability for your word. Your integrity is on the line, and you’ll be moved to take action—not because someone else thinks it’s a good idea, but because you told yourself you wanted more out of life. My favorite definition of commitment is: “Doing what you said you would do, long after the moment in which you said it, has passed.”
Building in accountability, along with reviewing your written agreement to yourself, keeps you focused on the task at hand and makes the above definition a powerful descriptor of your life.
Remember the joke about how the chicken and hog contributed to the breakfast of bacon and eggs? The chicken was involved. The hog was committed. Being committed to something or simply involved in it are two very different ways to begin each day. When you find yourself in a complaint about your state of affairs, you are involved in it—thinking about how nice it would be if things were different. In making a commitment to a new result and building in accountability to create that result, you’ll see that everything you wish for is merely a commitment away from reality.

Bill Dyer is a professional speaker and trainer for Quantum Leap Resources, in Greensboro, N.C.

Tilcon Strikes Gold with Rock Land Exhibit

By Therese Dunphy

Rock and art are not two words we often use in the same sentence, but a recent New York art exhibit underscored the influence of one on the other.
“Rock Land: Artists Working in Stone”, an exhibition organized by the Arts Alliance of Haverstraw, presented a unique opportunity to educate the community about its most precious resource, stone. It also helped its sponsor, Tilcon New York, win a 2002 Gold Medallion for Community Education from the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association.
The exhibit was “an exciting and innovative step toward celebrating, through stone, both the economic and artistic importance of Rockland County,” according to Tina White Anton, Haverstraw Arts Alliance executive director and curator.
“Many of us take the landscape and stonescapes of Rockland for granted, but the sculptor appreciates it,” said White Anton. “Stone carvers look at quarries as a source of material and beauty.”
“The rocks and the landscape made me settle here,” said Rade Vilotijevic, a sculptor originally from Belgrade, Yugoslavia, who exhibited one of his larger works.
Jeffrey Fleisig, an environmental landscape photographer, displayed his photographs of natural and manmade “stone-scapes” throughout Rockland County, including dramatic shots of Tilcon’s operations.
Ted Ludwiczak showed a portion of his environment of stone heads that cascade down his yard to a nearby river. He said that he was inspired by the mysterious monumental heads of Easter Island.
Other art included carved Moai heads by Santi Hito, photographs of stone domes by Michael Georges, sculptures of natural cliff formations by Grace Knowlton, animal sculptures by Carroll French, large scale anemographic forms by Jeff Burtch and sculptures by White Anton.
Area residents responded to the display with enthusiasm. Originally slated to run from January to March, the exhibit was extended an additional month to accommodate the positive public response and number of visitors.
In addition to generating community good will, promotional materials and newspaper articles explained the nature of Tilcon’s business and how its products are used.
For Tilcon, the exhibit was only one of its community relations initiatives. Others include partnerships with local Head Start programs and Boy Scout troops, volunteer efforts for the American Heart Association and the fire department, and materials donations.
“Tilcon’s proactive community relations program continues to evolve as we look for opportunities beyond the traditional school science programs and open houses for meaningful ways to interact and donate our time and resources,” said Joyce Watson, public relations director. “We routinely evaluate the fit of Tilcon’s goals to that of an organization in order to maximize our outreach efforts and help the community in the most beneficial way.”

Artist Jeffrey Fleisig’s photos were one of many types of rock-related art featured at the exhibit.