Running for Office Equals Personal Growth - Who Knew?

In previous years, when someone newer to ADF asked me for my opinions on the elections, I shared with them who I voted for and why.

But this year, as a candidate for the Mother Grove, I've found myself thinking about this a bit differently. I'm trying to approach this as a leader, rather than as "just another member." I am finding my change is attitude a bit fascinating, really. When asked by a grove member what I thought about the election and how they should vote, I paused before answering.

First and foremost, I found myself wanting people to make informed decisions when casting their votes. I want them to know as much as possible when casting their votes. Their votes mean more to me that way.

So I didn't just tell them about the people I voted for, I told them what I know about the people I did not vote for, also, and I tried to keep it as unbiased as possible. I pointed them to the questions answered by the candidates, so that they can read the responses for themselves, rather than getting the information through my filters.

And I thought about how to handle this going forward. If asked where a candidate stands on an issue, I will share their response to the questions. If they did not provide an answer, or if their position is still unclear, I will be honest and say that I do not know. But I will also suggest that perhaps they could ask the candidate directly, or offer to ask on their behalf.

So far, I have only had to reach out once to clarify something, for my own understanding, and I am happy that I did, because it led to a good conversation with another candidate. A conversation I might not have otherwise had.

The entire election process has already proven to be a source of personal growth in that it forced me to actually examine my own motivation in answering the questions. And now it has provided me with further growth in helping me define where my boundaries and personal integrity lie.

This makes me happy, my own personal Ides of March.