Sustain your enthusiasm

New Mexico Business Journal, Nov, 2001 by Michael Kroth, Patrica Boverie

WE RECENTLY MADE A PRESENTATION AT A CONFERENCE CALLED the Arts for Life/Artes Para La Vida Learning Institute. The conference was sponsored by VSA arts of New Mexico (VSANM), an organization whose mission is to celebrate the creative power of individuals with disabilities and educate through the arts. Leading the conference was a remarkable woman, Beth Rudolph, VSANM's founding and current executive director.

Beth has been with VSANM since it was a project of the City of Albuquerque over 20 years ago. Executive directors of nonprofit organizations are akin to CEOs of for-profit organizations. They report to boards of directors, are responsible for bringing money into the organization and providing needed services, and lead staff. In addition, they usually have volunteers to recruit, motivate, and retain. It's one of the most demanding jobs around. When we talked to Beth she told us that she had recently read that the average time an executive director stays with an organization these days is only six years. We wanted to know how she had kept her enthusiasm and love for VSANM for so many years. Her story reveals four key factors.

Understand Yourself

Her path to VSANM began with her love of the arts at a very young age. Later, when she moved to New Mexico, she began working with people with disabilities. At VSANM those two interests are intertwined. It turned out that she had a learning disability that hadn't been diagnosed in school. Her path turned into a journey that helped her find herself. "I found out why I had this interest because it was all about me, it was about my family, and learning who I was. And I think that's part of the passion thing. When [your work] helps you understand who you are, why you tick, it's a journey of discovery."

Know What You Can and Can't Change

An early mentor provided wisdom to her about what to focus on that has guided her since. "When you are in an institution as a passionate person you want to make change, you really have to assess where the change needs to happen and what's possible. There will come points in your life where you can be the change maker. There are other points in your life where you need to change because the institution or wherever you are working isn't ready for the change you want to see happen..." You have to be able to make the decision, she says, about where change can happen and where it can't.

Foster Learning and Creativity

Learning, for herself and helping others, has been an essential part of maintaining her enthusiasm and commitment. "Seeing people grow, for me, has been really reinforcing." "For me, what's kept me going is that's it's continually been a learning environment. I learn so much, and I think learned that learning isn't always a positive experience. That's a hard one to learn." You often learn the most, she says, from your biggest mistakes. VSANM's national organization provided her early and excellent training and incredible learning experiences. One of the things she discovered was that everyone has the capacity for creativity

Asked about the direct application of the arts to work, Beth says "I know that, despite much adversity and low pay what keeps people coming to the work that we have to offer is the opportunity to be hands on everyday creating things and seeing other people create things...I've learned that everybody has the desire to create."

Creativity generates interest in work of all kinds. "When I hear, for instance, people from the labs talking about what excites them about their work, what they're talking about are the same things and the same processes of creating that excites artists."

One VSANM program Beth talks about which fosters and celebrates creativity is the Buen Viaje Dancers. Comprised of people with and without disabilities, "What [they] bring to people is a connection with their own joy and their own passion. ...What Buen Viaje shares with people is that all of us can, will, and should dance whether you're working from a wheelchair, can only move an eye, or whether you are a professional dancer who has committed your entire life to dancing."

Find "Aha" Moments

Helping create "aha"-- moments of insight--has also been important to Beth. "That's why I got into teaching in the first place. One of the things I've learned from VSANM is that those moments may be really teeny When somebody is severely disabled the 'aha' moment may be a flick in their eye, but that that makes a difference for a person." That was not something she knew about before she started working with people with disabilities.

On November 7, Beth will be leaving VSANM. She feels like it is time for a change in the organization and that for both personal and professional reasons she needs to move on to something else. She still holds "the [VSANM] mission

near and dear and believe it has incredible resilience and strength." What a gift her life has been to so many people.

What can we learn about transforming work from Beth? One, find work that helps you continually understand yourself. Two, recognize the things you can't change, and concentrate on those you can. Three, always seek learning, creative environments. Four, create 'aha's" in your life and your work. And finally, don't forget to dance.