be remark•able!

"There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you." - Marianne Williamson

I know I quote A Return to Love endlessly, but as I sat in a meeting where we were basically being asked to 'tone down' our facilitation so that the participants wouldn't feel that they couldn't do the same because they didn't have access to the same resources we have, the line above kept on playing over and over again.

Every time we run a workshop or a training or any event for that matter, we are committed to do our very best with whatever resources are available to us. We bring in new ideas, new people, new energy and aim high. I am hard on my team and hard on myself, believing that we owe it to our participants to give them the very best we have to offer. Because they deserve the best.

Someone came up to me once during a workshop and asked why I hadn't been in front of the class the whole day. I explained that it wasn't my turn, that I didn't have any sessions to facilitate that day. "But," she said, "when you go up in front of the class it gives us courage and convinces us that we too can do the same. We too can stand up in front of a group of mostly men, and say what we want to say." In a heartbeat, I made the decision to always 'show up' and give my very best. Because you never know who you will be giving confidence to, who you will be inspiring to be even better than you are.

So when we are asked to lower our standards and give less because giving our best will make others feel that they cannot do the same, I take it very personally. And yes, it infuriates me because I know from experience that many who have taken part in our activities have gone on to do greater things than we ever even imagined. More than once someone has come up to me to share what they had done, their creativity being inspired by something we had done or something that had experienced during an activity we delivered.

If there are those who used lack of resources as an excuse to not do something remarkable, then all I have to say is that I find that inexcusable. Anyone can do something spectacular if they are committed, creative, inspired, and imaginative! Quoting both Tom Peters and Seth Godin, one must always be excellent and always strive to be remarkable.

It's not about you, it's about them. And they deserve the best that you have to offer. It's that simple. Choosing to give less so that others will feel better about themselves is condescending.