"If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
This quote from the famous German poet was our "Thought of the Day" for our second class at the Musick jail in Irvine and it resonated fully with the women in the class as they inch closer to their release dates and contemplate who they'll be and how they'll live their lives upon re-entry into society. [Please note that we started this class last Tuesday with 10 participants and we had 8 with us today as the other 2 were released from custody.]
When asked what the quote meant to them, one participant said that in the past she surrounded herself with friends that accepted and supported her lifestyle of "doing nothing and getting into trouble" and that she now seeks out people who "make me uncomfortable; people with goals, people who want to work, because it makes me want those things too."
This led to an open and honest discussion about qualities necessary for success on the job as well as barriers to success such as a felony record, child care, transportation and intangibles like, the ability to get along with co-workers and not bringing your personal life into the workplace. The class was broken up into small working groups and asked to come up with solutions for all of the barriers they had identified, the result was truly remarkable! Not only did they find multiple solutions for the barriers, they agreed that they no longer had anything standing in their way of ultimate success - everything is in your attitude towards it!
We wrapped up today's class with a fun and memorable exercise about communication. After demonstrating and practicing a proper handshake we then asked the class to make two teams to do an excercise of one-way vs. two communication - they truly learned quickly that you can't get much done efficiently or correctly without being specific in what you ask for and without the ability to ask questions for the sake of clarity!
With those lessons in mind, we sent them off with materials to review in preparation for next week's topic: Get to Know Your Customer and Going the Extra Mile.
We'll have another update for you all next Tuesday afternoon about our classes progress, until then, please share your thoughts with us, we want to hear from you!
p.s. Some great news from a Working Wardrobes client who has participated in and completed a number of our programs, including the Customer Service Training:
This week she celebrated her 1 year anniversary in a position with a high-end retailer! She says she loves her job and is looking at another promotion opportunity shortly!
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