Awesome Stories 227- Father’s Day Edition

/ June 20, 2015

This week Awesome Stories celebrates fathers with Dad life, inspired leadership, Minka, prison reform and finding our gifts.

Dad Life

Here’s a fun video to kick off our celebration of father’s around the globe. Thanks for all you do. Sometimes it’s being a role model, reading a bedtime story, paying the bills, providing a home, or just being yourself. Thank you to fathers everywhere.

Inspired Leadership

This is very inspiring and heart-warming for me. Brazilian CEO Ricardo Semler created a radical form of corporate democracy, rethinking everything from hiring employees, vacations, work/ life balance and more. His model looks for and rewards the wisdom of workers. He also helped set up a similar model for a couple of schools. Students and employees are encouraged to explore their passions and find their own wisdom. What if companies, schools and governments were run like this? What a beautiful world it would be! Read more about how to run a company with almost no rules.

Minka

Davina Pardo created this engaging documentary about two men who restored a 250-year-old farmhouse in Japan. It is a touching story and reflection on friendship, tradition, memory and home. I found myself very pulled into the story, pace, music and cinematography. I hope it touches you as well.

More Prison Reform 

Here is another inspiring story about prison reform. Brian Bergman discovered a passion for teaching yoga to prison inmates in South Africa. He co-founded, SevaUnite, to teach yoga and serve the prison population. It was a long process to get the prisons to allow his group to teach yoga inside the prisons, but now they have found both supporters and success. Yoga gives the inmates tools to deal with negative emotions, habits, and behaviors to enhance their well-being. Their Prison Freedom Project has now spread to staff and inmates at other prisons around South Africa. Brian has a vision for the government to back the programs as a simple and cost-effective way to help inmates and reduce crime.

Finding our Giftsfinding our gifts, Awesome Stories

This is a very heart-warming story about V. R. Ferose, and his mantra that Everyone is Good at Something. He discovered a passion for championing those with different abilities. Already an inspired leader as a manager, he found his real passion and purpose after the birth of his son Vivaan, who was diagnosed with autism. His search to understand Autism led to becoming a champion for differently abled people. He pioneered a radical commitment from his employer, SAP, to hire 1% of their staff as people with Autism. I love the premise of this article that we all have gifts to offer. How wonderful if we organized our world to look for and creatively use those gifts!

What gifts has your father given you?

Even those of us with less than ideal childhoods can find something good in our fathers. My father was mostly absent in our lives due to shift work, poor social skills and drinking. And still he fathered me, coached my little league team, provided food and shelter, and seeded my passion for photography. Finding forgiveness and compassion for my father has opened many doors in my heart and life. I am grateful for learning to express my feelings and communicate from my heart.

Happy Father’s Day!

 

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12 thoughts on “Awesome Stories 227- Father’s Day Edition”

  2. Fantastic! My dad? I have grown to appreciate him more and more as he has grown to appreciate us kids more and more. Every Saturday at 6pm we have a “date” I call him and we talk for how ever long he cares to. As he lives several hundred miles away, seeing him every Saturday is not an option but if we lived closer, I would imagine we would have a card playing, pizza eating date once a week! ❤

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  3. Cute dad video! But dads, please stop using Roundup–the monarch butterflies will thank you!

    Also appreciate your memories of your father. Mine too was less than perfect, but one of the things I appreciate is how he was almost always able to remove the splinters from my fingers with no pain!

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  4. Thanks for yet more awesomeness!!! Great Father’s Day content! Really enjoyed reading about Ricardo’s corporate/education/life visions. Although, I found it a bit disheartening that he can’t even give his schooling idea away…(don’t get me started on this!)

    As far as my farther’s gifts to me? He ran his own company for 25 years and taught all his kids the value of working our tails off in pursuit of our passions. But mostly, I’d have to say, he taught the value of possessing high morals and of respecting everyone. Doors and arms have opened to me from unimaginable places because of these two, seemingly simple, gifts.

    SO appreciate all you do to nurture this blogging community and keep the positive spirit alive, Dear Brad! 💖

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  5. Thank you my dear Shauna! Your father sounds like a wonderful man, father and role model. You learned his lessons well. 🙂 I appreciate you so much for your passionate support.
    Happy Father’s Day to you and your dad!

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  6. I am pleased you see the many gifts your Father gave.. When we are younger we do not always appreciate what gifts they gave us.. My own Dad could be very strict, but he would always pretend to be Santa at Christmas and ring me up with a Ho HO HO!… even when my own children were teenagers.. He showed his love in many ways… And I was privileged to be at his departing moment on his next adventure..

    Thank you Brad for the wonderful video 🙂 Big smiles.. and the awesome stories you have shared .. I enjoyed another Awesome Father’s Day here with Hubby and family visiting… Thank you my friend.. Hugs Sue

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  8. As always Brad great! But the documentary about the Minka was exceptional so well done thanks so much for sharing. I want a Minka myself. Just inspirational thanks.

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