Next week, 10/17-21, APM will have our semi-annual Integrity & EEO Spotlight Week. I encourage you to participate in the week – join conversations hosted by Team Managers, engage in the OutageBuzz social media posts, and “THINK”.

What is “THINK”? Well its an acronym that provides helpful questions and guidance on how we can think before we speak. See below picture.

My goal today is not to steal the thunder of next week, but rather to tease it. I do want to share three ideas that may inspire you to participate.

Make a specific commitment to practice THINK. There is some good guidance in the materials on how to THINK before you speak. Put that into action by making a commitment (see below image for a SMART commitment). For example, one way to think before you speak is to Listen Carefully. How can you listen carefully? A commitment I make to help listen carefully is to wait 5 seconds before responding to someone. This allows the person to complete their thought without interruption and feel like they have been heard. This also allows me to focus on understanding them while building space to understand before responding. And I also try to first respond with a follow-up question, again to better understand the person versus trying to get my $0.02 opinion in response.

Enjoy some personal learning around THINK. When I got a preview of the materials, I quickly recalled two enjoyable experiences that built my THINK muscle.

• I was introduced to the concept “Clear is Kind. Unclear is Unkind.” by a couple of our leaders who follow Brene Brown. I encourage you to read this article and watch this short clip.

• I was introduced to the book and movie “Wonder” when our oldest daughter Maddie read the book in school a few years ago. In it is a quote from a teacher, “If you have a choice between being right and being kind, choose kind." I encourage you to learn more about the book and watch the movie.

-Jake