Issue link: http://digital.corporatepress.com/i/255499
membership matters A number of years ago I reviewed a video titled "To try again… and succeed." The video was an animation of an eagle teaching an eaglet to fly. The eaglet initially feels small and unimportant in the world. It felt safe in its small and narrow nest, and needed the eagle to show it how to gain confi- dence. As the eaglet attempts to fly from the nest, it fails time and again. But the eagle believes in the eaglet's ability, caus- ing the eaglet's faith to become stronger, and eventually the eaglet tries again to fly…and succeeds. As the eaglet is in its maiden flight, its spirit soars, the world expands, and it is no longer afraid. The eaglet's strength and confidence compel it to pass on its newfound flying experi- ence to others, and becomes fulfilled. All this happened, because the eaglet had someone who cared and nurtured him. This video showed me how a person can feel unimportant, and how building self-esteem is an important part of life. There are too many people who don't realize that they can make a difference in their world. As they go through life, they may find their forte. Perhaps someone may instill this in the person, or it may come from a life changing experience. FINDING HELP IN DIFFERENT PLACES I have also kept for reference a journal article titled, "A Job Seeker's Guide to an Offer," which provides an insight of how an individual has failures in interview- ing for jobs. The article references the book, The Perfect Interview, which guides the person through effective interview- ing techniques. After the individual has failed on several occasions to land a job at a particular organization, this book provided the information for confi- dence during interviews. Success was the final result, after the individual learned the necessary techniques. The article presents several areas for confidence building. The selection pro- cess for landing a position within a com- pany provides for increased confidence. When the individual is on the job, the training and development program can give the tools to gain job knowledge and aid the individual in feeling important. The performance evaluation can provide a good feeling about performance. COMING TOGETHER Combined, this video and book give insight to the need for each of us to have venues for building confidence. Within APPA, there are numerous opportunities to gain confidence, which is instrumental in our professional development process. These include educational programs, committee involvement, utilization of metrics, networking, or something as simple as a membership. The APPA experience for us at Oklahoma City Community College has provided us with many venues to succeed on the state, regional, and international levels. Therefore, it is not a question of why APPA….but rather why NOT APPA!! J.B. Messer is director of facilities man- agement at Oklahoma City Community College, Oklahoma City, OK. He can be reached at jmesser@occc.edu. To Try Again…and Succeed By J.B. Messer Facilities Manager | january/february 2014 | 13