Building the mental rolodex with cascading conversations!

I wanted to take a minute to reflect on my experience participating in Minnesota Rising’s Cascading Conversations Tour, so far.  The Cascading Conversations Tour was designed to help build trust between two people through one-on-one conversations. I have been fortunate enough to have Cascading Conversations with all kinds of people – friends, colleagues, complete strangers, acquaintances, etc., and needless to say: no two conversations are the same. 

Using the Minnesota Rising Blueprint as my guide, each conversation starts out the same, but that is where the similarities end. To be perfectly honest, I cannot recall off hand exactly how many people I have hosted in a Cascading Conversation, but I can tell you that each conversation has provided me an opportunity to learn, grow, and understand other people’s perspectives. Every single conversation has had an impact in my daily life.

Sharing stories is one of the most effective ways to build trust. Even when I have a Cascading Conversation with people that I already know, I am always surprised by their answers and I find that I always learn something new about the person. Throughout the conversation, people share stories from their past, their hopes for the future and advice to take away. I store these take-a-ways in my mental rolodex, and apply these words to live by as I need to. The part that is truly unique about these conversations is how deep they go and how invested you become with what the Tour is creating.

If you have not had a chance to take part in the Cascading Conversation Tour, I want to personally invite you to join in the Conversation! Email me at heidismith2002[at]gmail.com.