Everyone Has Gifts

Guiding Principle One: EVERYONE HAS GIFTS

With rare exception people can contribute and want to contribute. Gifts need to be discovered. Gift giving opportunities must be offered. Strong communities know that they need everyone. There is unrecognized capactity and assets in every community. Find it.

Discuss this principle by sharing your own ideas - or by answering one of the following questions:

What are your gifts?

How do you contribute your gifts in the community?

Have you ever experienced a time when you wanted to give your gifts, but were not able to? What were the barriers?

How do you discover other people's gifts?

What place or environment do you find it easiest to discover gifts?

Tell a story about a community that is using everyone's gifts.

Do you think there is unrecognized capacity and assets in your community? How do you know? What are you willing to do about it?

What ideas do you have for ways that we can do a better job at finding people's gifts?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ron Irvine on March 25, 2010 at 6:53pm

What ideas do you have for ways that we can do a better job at finding people's gifts?

Everyone finds meaning in life in one way: identifying one's gifts and contributing them. (sounds like something from Toronto, right?) I see this to be true over and over and over. There are some basic steps of awareness that must be in place to find people's gifts.

1. Know the gifts are there. Whether I can see them presently or not, just know they are there. Believe this: if a person is human they can communicate, they have gifts wanting to emerge, they have a purpose on earth . . . something to contribute.

2. Become aware of your mental models, your assumptions about people. Do not pre-determine that someone has nothing to offer. An example: I met with a guy today that I had in elementary school 20 years ago. Because of his limitations in communicating due to his autism, I realized today that I assumed his intelligence was limited back then. Today, recognizing that assumption, I listened and heard him. I'm now convinced that he is probably more intelligent than I am in many ways. My assumptions out of the way, his gifts naturally emerged.

3. Listen deeply with your heart. Believe the person. Believe in the person. Ask questions for understanding. Open your mind, heart, and will to this person and to the possibilities. Be amazed. Stand in wonder of the human spirit as the gifts emerge.

4. Follow your heart in a "progression toward compassion".

Permalink Reply by Ron Irvine on March 25, 2010 at 8:54pm

Correction: Not "There are some basic steps of awareness that must be in place to find people's gifts." But rather "There are some basic steps of awareness that must be in place to SEE THE INNATE GIFTS IN EACH PERSON."

I needed to be consistent with my premise.

I'd love to hear your opinions and experience regarding this.

Permalink Reply by Terri L Coleman on July 26, 2010 at 4:29pm

Per Becki Pauls I am posting this as she felt it might be helpful to the group:

When we are out roving we don't have a set of specific questions. We do try & keep it as natural as possible. We start out by introducing ourselves as neighbors who just want to get to know them & find out what their gifts & talents are. We ask them what they are good at or what do people say you are good at?? Some of our conversations have ranged from 15 mins to 2 hrs. I carry a notebook & I ask them if they don't mind I would like to record some of their information. A camera is helpful too. Before we take any pictures we do ask for their permission. It is a lot easier if you start with the people you know or are familiar with.

Permalink Reply by Becki Pauls on July 27, 2010 at 5:18pm

Thanks Terri! This is good stuff! I hope that you and the others at Broadway can continue to share here on Inclusion Network! You have a good thing going! - Beck

Permalink Reply by Linda Keys on July 28, 2010 at 6:05am

Thanks Terri - that little snapshot of the way you work is really helpful to me... I'm looking into developing an ABCD project and I anticipate using those sorts of questions. I like the very intentional way you keep things natural and informal. And the camera is a great idea.
Thanks again,
Linda

Permalink Reply by Alistair Welsh on February 28, 2011 at 9:25am

Thanks all this is a helpful conversation. We've recently been involved with Connie and others in facilitating an event in Scotland following the Pathfinders approach. This focussed greatly on people's gifts and capacities progressing to a plan in how they can contribute these in their community, aiming for greater community connections as an outcome.

The plans people made have been a big reminder for me of the importance in exploring and finding people's gifts and how good person centred plans are at putting this at the heart of things e.g. MAP - who is the person and what are their gifts, Pathfinders being based on personal futures planning.

This has also reminded me of a process I was fortunate to explore with Jack and John in Glasgow around 2000ish which was a facilitated process towards identifying 'hidden gifts' and recognising how you bring them. I still have the process information and have been preparing recently to revisit and share this with the facilitator's network in our organisation. It'd be an excellent tool for people to have in their collection both for the people we support and our staff.