Mending Nets

*Note: The following text is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.

Bill Berthel

Welcome to the Get Emergent Podcast. The Get Emergent Podcast guides leaders to creatively strengthen relationships and improve the performance of their leadership and those they lead. We like to provide concepts and ideas that you can turn into pragmatic experiments to help you develop your higher potential in your work and in your leadership. We hope that you’ll find some better practices to apply in your work. I’m Bill Berthel.

Ralph Simone

And I’m Ralph Simone. So Bill, I’m really intrigued by today’s title of our podcast. I know we talked a little bit about it, but I am really interested in where we’re going to take it. The title today is Mending Nets. How did we come up with that, and what does it mean?

Bill Berthel

Yeah, so this concept of mending nets is something that was written in the book Four Fish by Paul Greenberg. He’s an amazing marine biologist who tells stories really well. He was telling the story of 19th-century fishermen who would purposefully take that stormy time—when things were uncertain, when seas were too rough—and use it to mend nets. I’m guessing leaders can maybe equate that to what’s going on currently in some of their organizations.

Ralph Simone

Sure.

Bill Berthel

They would mend nets, they would sharpen tools. The commercial fishermen, the crews that did that work during stormy times, would be out to sea faster and would fill their ships with healthy catches sooner than the sailors who were sleeping, drinking, or doing other things instead of taking care of their tools. The stories were beautiful. Mostly men—these sailors would be in circles, singing together, literally meditating together while sharpening tools and mending nets.

Ralph Simone

Fascinating. As you were telling the story, the phrase that came up for me was “minding the gap.” I was just restudying the nine principles of conscious living by Bill Harris, and this idea of being okay with whatever happens. But it’s using that downtime, at least in this fisherman story, as an opportunity to get ready for whatever is next.

Bill Berthel

And it’s not a hectic getting ready. It was actually a little bit of a slowing down. It’s a very intentional getting ready. Yes, there was productivity in fixing tools, mending nets, sharpening tools, but it wasn’t hard work. That was a key piece. These sailors were sitting, sharing stories, singing together, aligning physically, spiritually, and in a way, in stillness—getting ready.

Ralph Simone

So they were spending some of that time relating, very much so. You know, it reminded me of a recent coaching conversation with a client. They had a reduction in business—a softening in the market. They actually had a small reduction in force. It was interesting how he was responding to it. It doesn’t mean there wasn’t an initial concern or feelings about parting company with people who had worked for the organization, but he seemed to be using the time in a non-panicked way—thoughtfully strengthening relationships through one-on-ones, giving people more exposure to customers. Doing things people often make excuses for not having time to do, but doing them in a, as you said, non-frantic way. Really cool.

Bill Berthel

It created a counterbalance. Greenberg shared the story in the context of modern-day commercial fishing and the problem of overfishing. The subtitle of his book is The Last Wild Food. He brought this counterbalance idea to success—not only for the fishing vessel but for the ecosystem in which that vessel operates. If we take that into leadership, it’s not just about the benefits of intentionally slowing down and preparing ourselves when perhaps the work isn’t as available or when things seem uncertain. That could be investing in self-development, team development. It’s also healthy for the ecosystem—for the organization’s clients and community—not to be frantic.

Ralph Simone

It seems to build on this thing we talk about often: expenditure and renewal. You fish the sea and then allow the sea to replenish itself. Everything has a season.

Bill Berthel

That’s right.

Ralph Simone

I think technology has caused us to blur that so that it feels like there’s only one season. I think it makes many people not okay with the natural changing pace of seasonality.

Bill Berthel

I love that idea of seasonality. This may or may not resonate for every organization, but most organizations I’ve worked in or with had some type of seasonality—high peaks, low peaks. That made sense. I came from manufacturing; it was a consumable good. We had an amazing back-to-school season and had to ramp up in early spring to manufacture through the summer for that autumn high-sales season. If we missed mending our nets and sharpening our tools and producing properly, we would not have had a successful back-to-school selling season.

Ralph Simone

I got it.

Bill Berthel

We’d be backordering, there’d be upset customers who couldn’t get the materials they needed. That was almost like a lobe on a camshaft—the larger section where we did the work, the narrower section where we were cleaning, prepping the shop floor, working with vendors to ensure materials would be available. We had very complex formulas in our products. The lack of one material could mess up all of production. So there was all of that preparation that wasn’t frantic—it was strategic. It was typically at a slower pace that rebuilt the organization to then get into the larger part of the lobe where we were grinding, working, and putting stuff out.

Ralph Simone

I think many listeners can relate to that. For example, in public accounting, we just passed April 15, which is tax filing day. There’s a lot of auditing and closing of the books, then personal filing. That’s a peak period of activity. But to execute that effectively, you’ve got to be mending the nets before that. As you were telling the story, it reminded me of the seventh habit from one of my favorite books, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. Habit seven, which some argue should be habit one, is “sharpen the saw.”

Bill Berthel

Yeah.

Ralph Simone

Make that an important activity—the mending of the nets, the sharpening of the tools—so that you’re ready for that period of full-out activity.

Bill Berthel

Yeah. I’ve worked a lot of my career with creative people, mostly painters. This reminds me of a story. I was talking to two guys who ran one of the most successful decorative painting and faux finishing businesses in the Midwest. That’s a hotbed for paint manufacturers.

Ralph Simone

Right.

Bill Berthel

I asked them, what do you guys do to recharge? Their answer: on a beautiful spring day, they would get their lawn chairs out, all of their brushes and tools, sit in the driveway at one guy’s house, and spend all day just cleaning their brushes. That was the highlight of their work.

Ralph Simone

Interesting.

Bill Berthel

Like mending nets. They would share stories, reflect on the great work from the previous season, and look forward to the next season—all while hanging out in the driveway cleaning brushes.

Ralph Simone

I love that story. This isn’t nearly as compelling, and I don’t know that I’ve ever shared this with you, but one of my favorite activities, which I find quite meditative, is tuning up my shoes.

Bill Berthel

Yeah, there we go.

Ralph Simone

Cleaning, conditioning, and polishing them. I used to love treating myself to a professional shoe shine when I was in a large airport.

Bill Berthel

Oh, cool. Yes.

Ralph Simone

I remember one guy saying, “You ask an awful lot of questions,” because I appreciated their artistry, how they did it. So I started to integrate some of that myself. Shoes are important—they take you to your work. When I’m cleaning and conditioning my shoes, I think about all the places they’ve taken me and will take me.

Bill Berthel

Yeah.

Ralph Simone

It’s not quite as powerful as the guys in their lawn chairs with brushes, but that’s a tool of our trade—the shoes that carry us to engagements.

Bill Berthel

It doesn’t have to be only while the storms are present or the seas are too rough to fish. But I think we might be in a time like that now. There’s a lot of uncertainty. No matter where you are politically, there are concerns and a lot of change happening. This is the time to invest in mending your nets. For leaders, that can look different. I’d like to suggest one or two ways, and I bet you have some as well.

Ralph Simone

Sure, sure. Why don’t you suggest a couple?

Bill Berthel

I think it’s about revisiting your leadership presence—why you lead. Really revisiting your values as a leader, your leadership purpose and mission, and getting realigned or calibrated with what that means to you. I think that is a mindfulness practice we can do multiple times throughout our careers. I really encourage leaders to get back to their own values, mission, and purpose—not just the organization’s. There’s usually overlap, but make it about you. Some leaders tell me that feels selfish. Yeah—be selfish. Make it about you and get realigned with your values, your leadership mission, and purpose.

Ralph Simone

That’s excellent. It reminds me of something I’ve been doing recently, from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way—writing morning pages. Morning pages are three pages of extemporaneous writing about whatever’s going on for you. One of the activities was to remember the things you used to do as a kid that re-energized you, and then do some of those things now. You might have to do them differently. For example, playing baseball alone in my side yard was one of those activities. It tapped into my love of baseball and my imagination. I used to make up player names.

Bill Berthel

Oh, cool.

Ralph Simone

I may or may not be able to do that as easily now—though I guess there’s no reason I couldn’t. But going to a baseball game could have a similar effect. Connecting to something that was a form of mending the nets, emotionally grounding. The morning pages helped me remember re-energizing activities that I no longer do.

Bill Berthel

Yeah. I can imagine that getting back into a youthful mindset might involve less self-judgment and give you an opportunity to shed some of your experiences—to get back to something more primary for you. I love that idea.

Ralph Simone

I think there’s less self-judgment, less fear.

Bill Berthel

Yeah.

Ralph Simone

It’s just: this is happening, and we need to move through it and come out the other side. I don’t know if it’s better—but just come out the other side.

Bill Berthel

Yeah, absolutely. I think for leaders, this is a place to invest not just in self, but in others. This is a great time to practice your mentoring and coaching. Whether that’s selecting one or two people in your workplace or focusing on team development, really hone your skills as a mentor and coach—take an active interest in developing others. To me, it’s a buy one, get one free: someone else gets developed, and you develop as well.

Ralph Simone

What you’ve conjured up for me, Bill, is making a list of the things you don’t or can’t get to when your calendar is really full.

Bill Berthel

That’s awesome.

Ralph Simone

This is an opportunity to identify those and take action on activities that would fit the category of mending nets or sharpening tools for you.

Bill Berthel

Yeah. You might have “hard tools” to mend. This is the agricultural model—farmers get their plows ready before they hit the soil. What tools are in your workspace? Maybe it’s time to reconfigure your office so it feels new and refreshed. Maybe it’s time to brush up on some technology skills that you’ve been limping through. You don’t have to tell anyone—it’s not about confessing. If your leadership involves high craft or hands-on work, maybe it’s getting re-acclimated to some of the bench work your team does. Maybe it’s about getting those hard skills in play again—sharpening those tools.

Ralph Simone

Great ideas, Bill.

Bill Berthel

The key takeaway for me—you know, Ralph, I’m a hobbyist woodworker and really enjoy that space. I have a beautiful set of sharpening stones still in their package. I’ve been refusing to break the seal because they’re so pristine. But I’ll make a declaration here: this weekend, I’m going to open them up and sharpen some tools. The tools need it. The package doesn’t.

Ralph Simone

Good for you, Bill.

Bill Berthel

Good for you, Ralph. Thank you.

Ralph Simone

Appreciate it. Thank you, Bill.

Bill Berthel

Hey folks, thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed this episode and that you’re looking forward to more. We hope this inspires you to think about mending your nets, investing in yourself, and investing in your team. Take this opportunity to do just that. You can listen to a new podcast twice every month here at Get Emergent or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thank you for listening. Take care.