Today’s post needs very little introduction. As our tribe gets older and grows, we reach the point where more and more members are in flux. We lose some as they move on to bigger and better things. We gain others as they realize what they were missing in their life. The writer of today’s post is one of the most incredible people I’ve met in her year and half tenure with November Project DC. She’s headed out for now but we have a feeling she’ll be back to visit. This is Fansu’s story:
“The world is hungry for goodness and it recognizes it when it sees it – and has incredible responses to the good. There is something in all of us that hungers after the good and true, and when we glimpse it in people, we applaud them for it. We long to be just like them.” – Desmond Tutu
Aloha DC! My name is Fansu and I’ve been coming to November Project DC since 1/1/14. I’m in the Army and recently moved to Hawaii after two years in DC. Before I left, I asked Steve if I can write a guest blog about what NP has meant to me this past year and a half. He graciously agreed to post my ramblings.
In the Army, we talked about and emphasized leadership in all that we do. We have regular leadership OPDs (officer professional development). I took leadership classes as part of my continuing military education. I’ve worked with and for great leaders. Of the many examples I’ve seen and studied, NP is one of the clearest examples of leadership at its finest I’ve ever came across in over 16 years of military service. This hit home recently when I attended a 2-hour lecture on positive leadership. It’s on a Wednesday (meaning post-Lincoln workout) so I was positively pumped and ready to sit on my 5th point of contact for 2 hours. Positive leadership, in short, involves four strategies – positive climate, relationships, communication, and meaning. The combination of these four strategies will result in what’s termed “positively deviant” performance, an outcome or result that dramatically exceeds common or expected performance. It could just be coincidental that this lecture followed my post-Lincoln workout, but NP immediately came to mind.
When I showed up on the steps of Lincoln over a year and a half ago, I didn’t know what to expect. It was really cold, it was really early (the morning after New Year’s Eve no less), and this guy named Danny was unnaturally animated on such a cold and early morning. Rounds of hugs, well-aimed F-bombs, and horseshoe later, I was intrigued and I don’t know why. I’m an introvert after all and while not a hugaphobe, hugging strangers and attack hugs are not typically in my wheelhouse. It had also been years since I bear crawled anywhere. Friday workouts were just starting, followed shortly by Monday hill workouts. I continued to show up, even to the Friday workouts that forced me, on a weekly basis, to venture into DC from Northern Virginia. Those who know me know that I’m averse to riding the metro. I literally get sick. Driving is also a pain since I never know if I can find parking in DC. Yet I continue to show up week after week and before I know it, I was not just fit, but getting results that way exceeded my expectations after a series of nagging injuries. Just by showing up Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I started getting PRs on half marathons and marathons even though I didn’t do any long runs beyond 10 miles. Even 10 was rare. 4:20s is my average marathon time without training. My Army Physical Fitness Test scores were also skyrocketing.
How did my personal “deviance” come about? And how did NP go from a handful of people during the wee hours of the morning to hundreds of people pounding the stairs of Lincoln in a few short months? I attribute this positive deviance to the “hunger” for the good and the true. We all recognize it when we see it and react in extraordinary ways to the good and the positive. NP embodies all four of the positive leadership strategies effortlessly – positive climate, relationships, communication, and meaning. A positive climate is created each time we show up with a smile on our face, thankful for the others who also showed up to share an hour of their day with us. And is there any doubt about the positive interpersonal relationships that NP created? You only have to run through one NP cheer station mid-race to experience the positive energy. You also only have to experience an early morning “f@#$ yeah” when asked “y’all good” to understand the simplicity of positive communication. Whoever thought a few well-aimed F-bombs can do more to generate positive energy than a whole sleuth of words? Lastly, NP has built such a lasting sense of community among all who attend, regardless of their fitness level and age, that the ripple effect will be felt for years. 19 tribes and counting!
For all of you who’ve been coming to NP, you know how positively deviant it is. Treasure it. It’s so incredibly good, incredibly true, and incredibly deviant. Celebrate the deviance that is NP. I’m so grateful to have met all of you beautiful and extremely fit weirdos. You’ve changed me for the better. Those of you who have not tried NP, why haven’t you? Just show up and experience the deviance for yourself.
Thank you Steve, Kaelan, and Danny for the absolutely positive deviance you’ve created. #traverbal?
Aloha love!
