Peace of Mind Organizing

Changing lives

24 February 2009

Last night I heard a great NSGCD teleclass called “Strategies for Becoming an Effective Change Agent,” given by my friend Janine Sarna-Jones, CPO® of Organize Me in New York City.

The class got me thinking and I was fortunate to have a nice, long chat with Janine on the phone this morning. When I think about what organizers do, “change agent” is really a wonderful description. NAPO stresses that professional organizers transfer organizing skills to clients (which differentiates us from people who simply create organizing systems for others).

Transferring skills is important. But what we do feels like so much more than transferring skills to me. Janine defines “change agent” this way:

A change agent guides, supports and motivates others to create systems and methods of behavior that are compatible with their values and aspirations.

That’s a brilliant encapsulation of what I try to do with clients. And it’s got me all jazzed up.

The work that most professional organizers do goes beyond changing the physical space we’re working in. Helping a client create lasting order means helping them create systems and habits that support that order.

Inherent in being a change agent is helping clients identify their values and aspirations. That’s huge. Marilyn Paul’s wonderful book, It’s Hard to Make a Difference When You Can’t Find Your Keys: The Seven-Step Path to Becoming Truly Organized (which I blogged about last month and which Janine cited during her call), does a wonderful job of helping readers identify their purpose in getting organized as well as their vision of their organized life.

Janine’s talk was so content-rich that Louise Kurzeka, NSGCD’s Teleclass Director, got on the line midway through the class and suggested that we address the second part of her class in a separate teleclass, to be held in the spring. Janine handled that beautifully and was able to elaborate on the material she’d already covered.

If you’re an NSGCD subscriber watch for the new teleclass to be listed. If you have the premium level of membership, you should be able to listen to last night’s class in a few days, if you weren’t able to attend last night. I recommend it highly!

Tagged with: change agent, janine sarna-jones, motivation, nsgcd

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