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Ray Spadoni
Foreign welcome to Leading Organizations that Matter podcast about leadership and how we find meaning, purpose, joy and impact in our work. I'm your host Ray Spadoni and today's topic is Are you unbalanced or disintegrated? I once had a conversation with the pastor of my church, Father Tim, about the possibility of increasing my involvement and time commitment to his community. I remember saying, quite sincerely at the time that I had a lot going on in my life that I felt as though I was in a never ending battle to spin plates. If you get the reference to the old variety show routines where someone ran back and forth across a row of very thin and wobbly poles, spinning plates across the tops of each of them, the idea was to prevent some from falling. It was one part gymnastics and one part comedy and it left an impression on me. Obviously. I rattled off all the various commitments that I had in my life to him, naming each dish I was spinning. And then I said, I'm looking for a way to get all of these priorities in balance, but right now I'm feeling a little unbalanced. He paused for a few seconds, deep in thought it seemed, and then said something I have thought about often. He said, ray, you talk about trying to be more in balance, but but it sounds to me as though you would like to be more integrated. Interesting. Balance versus Integration. It's something to ponder when you have a number of priorities or plates spinning. Perhaps finding some balance is the answer. Or maybe, as Father Tim was suggesting, we need to get to reach a greater sense of integration where all of our priorities aren't necessarily competing with each other for our time and attention. Well, that conversation was a long, long time ago, and I've spun up plenty of plates over the years, including some new ones since back then. Some have stayed up, some have fallen, some have fallen and crashed into pieces altogether. I guess that's life. But here I am now, managing my own consulting and coaching practice, taking classes at night, developing some new training products and and keeping up with all the various personal commitments I have as well. Earlier this week I was thinking about all the plates I'm now spinning and had two thoughts. First, spinning plates is part of my identity. If I'm being completely honest, I like the fact that I seem to be able to do this reasonably well. And second, I have remembered Father Tim's question and so now I'm wondering if I'm out of balance or not necessarily fully integrated. To me, balance comes into play when it's important and healthy to maintain a reasonable and workable relationship between and among all the things in our lives that are important to us, that are necessary, that we like to do, that other people count on us for. Integration, though, is about the harmony, the cohesion between the various parts, including our behaviors, our emotions and thoughts. Integration gets into how we find meaning and purpose in our work and life. It's about our sense of self, how we manage internal conflict. And it's about self awareness. When we look in the mirror, what do we see? Who do we see? And does that line up with what and who others in our lives see as well? When someone is well integrated, they accept and even honor their various parts. They use meaning and purpose to navigate, challenge, and integrate difficult emotions. Don't avoid them or pretend they don't exist. Balance is important in life, but I dare say that integration is more important. In fact, perhaps lack of integration surfaces through a sense of of being out of balance. In any event, it can prove to be a limiting factor. It can create barriers, it can reduce performance, and it can generate needless conflict in our lives. So the next time you are evaluating an important decision, or planning your future, or considering the work you do in general and whether it brings you meaning and purpose, ask yourself whether you are approaching life as a unified whole. That level of awareness can change how you view your choices and ultimately, which plates you decide to spin. Thanks for listening. Leaving a positive review and letting others know about this podcast will help a great deal. My mission is to help empower organizations that matter by supporting those who lead them. I offer coaching, mentoring and consulting services. You can learn more about me and my work@racepadoni.com.