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Archive for November, 2013

Intentional Leadership — Month 12 — Belief

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , on November 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Well faithful readers, we are on the home stretch, as they say. Tomorrow we will begin the 12th, and final, month of our Intentional Leadership* journey. Over the next four weeks, we will focus on, think about, and take action in the area of Belief! It’s a fitting time of year for that — with the holidays coming up — don’t you think?

I believe each and every one of us is born with tremendous potential, and all the resources we need to reach it.

I believe each and every one of us can do all that we dream of and more.

I believe each and every one of us needs the support, insight, encouragement, and objectivity that is available to us only through a close friend or confidante…they see us as we cannot, and can provide us with new perspectives around how we interact in the world.

I also believe that too many of us fall short of our potential because our belief in ourself is not strong enough, and, as a result, we languish in our comfort zone, shackled with fear and doubt, and when we fail to live into our potential, we diminish others because we fail to share what we were meant to share with the world.

As Henry Ford said,

Whether you think (believe) you can or can’t, you are right.

Think of belief this way: It is the ignition switch that will launch you off the pad, if only you will hit the button!

Before we jump into the next four weeks, spend some time with your journal today and answer these questions:

What do I believe to be true about myself?

What do I believe is my potential as a leader?

What do I believe I am here to accomplish on earth?

What beliefs about myself do I need to accomplish my vision?

How have my beliefs about myself limited my ability to achieve what I have set out to do in the past?

What results can I attribute to my current self-beliefs?

*From the Intentional Leadership booklet by Giant Impact.

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Intentional Leadership — M11 Initiative — Wrap-up

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , on November 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »

If there’s one thing we must have learned so far through this intentional leadership journey it’s that leaders are active, not passive. They get things started; they take initiative. When others hesitate or do not know which way to go, Leaders know the way and show the way. Leaders do not succumb to doubt and fear, rather, they demonstrate courage and step forward  to move their teams/organizations ahead.

We’ve also been reminded that leadership is a process, a journey, and whatever we learn on our journey will have no lasting value until we apply it.

I encourage you to step forward today, to take initiative on something you’ve been thinking of for a while, but have hesitated on taking action. Send doubt and fear to the back of the bus, as they say, and step forward in strength, courage, boldness, and assurance that you are growing as a leader and making a difference for your team, your organization, and yourself.

If you never start, you’ll never get to where you long to be.

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Intentional Leadership — D5, W4, M11 — Initiative

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , on November 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

And so, we have reached the end of week four of our eleventh month on this Intentional Leadership* journey! It’s time, again, for our Friday ritual; if you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you know where I’m headed; if you’re relatively new, jump in, you might find this useful!

As you head into the weekend, I ask you to consider how you approach your weekends. Many people rush into it with a need for rest, maybe some idea of what they would like to do or get done over the weekend, but often just move through it haphazardly, seeing where the days and hours take them.

As we are focused on becoming more intentional, I encourage you to consider a different approach to weekends (or whatever days are your typical days off!).

How might your life be different if you took a more intentional approach to your time off? What might that impact? Energy levels, relationships, projects?

How might your Monday be different if you took the time over the weekend to prepare for it, in whatever way makes sense for you?

To get you started, here are some questions to ponder:

What do those close to you need from you this weekend?

What do you need from this weekend?

How much time and attention will you allot to rest, projects, fun, relationships, future preparation?

How do you want to feel on Monday? What can you do to prepare for that?

What do you have going on in the coming weeks or months? What can you do now to prepare for that?

I’ve been traveling a bit more than usual the past few weeks, which means I’ve not had as much time to devote to some administrative tasks; that’s caught up with me, so I will spend some time on those tasks this weekend, along with organizing my home office space (purchased a new desk recently, which resulted in a lot of rearranging and reorganizing…not quite done, but making progress and it feels good!).

In addition, I am working my way through a significant, life-changing transition, so have some thinking to do in this area, and some planning, as well — for the coming weeks and for many weeks into the future. I also have some speaking engagements on my calendar, so need to prepare for those audiences.

As usual, family time, exercise time, rest, and reading.

However you decide to spend your weekend, I hope it’s intentional!

“See” you Monday! We will start our twelfth and final month on our Intentional Leadership journey on Monday; watch for Month 11 wrap-up and Month 12 preview over the weekend.

*From the Intentional Leadership booklet by Giant Impact.

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Intentional Leadership — D4, W4, M11 — Initiative

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , on November 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »

As we come near the end of our month of focus on “initiative,” how could your life and the lives of others be different if you master the art of taking initiative?

What might that do for your career?

What might that do for your personal life?

I challenge you, today, to make taking initiative a core facet of your leadership journey.

If you don’t, what affect will it have on yourself, others, your organization?

In other words…what do you have to lose? What do you have to gain?

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Intentional Leadership — D3, W4, M11 — Initiative

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , on November 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Now that you’ve defined your BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal — see yesterday’s post, if this doesn’t make sense to you), spend some time with someone you trust today and share it with them. Ask them for their input on it, and ask them to join you on your quest to go after it (taking the initiative!).

Make note of their thoughts and insights as you discuss it. Then set some time aside, with this person, in several weeks to review the progress you’ve made toward reaching your BHAG.

What are you learning through the process?

How might you have approached it differently?

What help, support, encouragement did you get?

What more did you need?

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Intentional Leadership — D2, W4, M11 — Initiative

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , on November 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Last week, I spent a few days with a group of like-minded, growth-oriented people from across the US and Canada. We were talking about our dreams and what it takes to bring them to fruition (it was a lot more profound than this, but simply put, that was the focus). One recurrent theme was “Dream Big.”

Dream Big!

After all, what’s the point of dreaming if you aren’t going to Dream Big?!

And why wouldn’t we dream big within our organizations, as well? Typically, in organizations, we speak of the BHAG — or Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal (Thank you, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras), which is a “commitment to challenging, audacious, and often risky goals and projects towards which a visionary company channels its efforts.”

What BHAG would propel your organization forward?

How can you use it to inspire others?

What steps would you need to take to initiate this BHAG?

What will you do, now, to get started?

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Intentional Leadership — D1, W4, M11 — Initiative

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , on November 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

A number of years ago, when more and more companies started getting more interested in and involved with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental Stewardship, I was working as the Communications Manager for a food processing company. Having been in that position for several years, I had the communication duties well in hand and running smoothly. Looking for some new challenge to take on, I took it upon myself to become the company’s expert in CSR.

To do that, I read all the relevant material, followed the relevant blogs, connected with the experts in the industry who were also studying the topic. I attended conferences and networked with others in the industry responsible for CSR within their respective organization.

The CEO I worked for was pleased that I had taken this initiative, as he recognized the need to do something and didn’t have anyone else assigned to this role. I enjoyed it; it was interesting, I learned a lot, met a lot of bright people working in this area, and was able to guide the company’s position on CSR. The result was the inclusion of a number of key CSR-related initiatives built into the company’s next strategic plan.

I don’t tell you this story as a way to pat myself on the back. I was looking for something new to focus on and the opportunity presented itself. The point is, there are likely a number of issues within any organization that need some attention, focus, and solutions. And, you could be the person to step up and take one or more of them on.

What issue is there in your organization, right now, that no one seems to be dealing with?

What possible solutions can you come up with to deal with it?

What actions can you take to begin the process of moving towards a solution?

What resources will you need?

How will the organization benefit from your taking the initiative in this area?

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Intentional Leadership — D5, W3, M11 — Initiative

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , on November 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

It’s hard to believe we are nearing the end of week three of our eleventh month on this Intentional Leadership* journey! If you’ve been along on the journey for any length of time, you’re aware of our Friday ritual; if you’re relatively new, jump in, you might find this useful!

As you head into the weekend, I ask you to consider how you approach your weekends. Many people rush into it with a need for rest, maybe some idea of what they would like to do or get done over the weekend, but often just move through it haphazardly, seeing where the days and hours take them.

As we are focused on becoming more intentional, I encourage you to consider a different approach to weekends (or whatever days are your typical days off!).

How might your life be different if you took a more intentional approach to your time off? What might that impact? Energy levels, relationships, projects?

How might your Monday be different if you took the time over the weekend to prepare for it, in whatever way makes sense for you?

To get you started, here are some questions to ponder:

What do those close to you need from you this weekend?

What do you need from this weekend?

How much time and attention will you allot to rest, projects, fun, relationships, future preparation?

How do you want to feel on Monday? What can you do to prepare for that?

What do you have going on in the coming weeks or months? What can you do now to prepare for that?

However you decide to spend your weekend, I hope it’s intentional!

“See” you Monday!

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Intentional Leadership — D4, W3, M11 — Initiative

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , on November 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Spend some time with your journal today. Here’s the exercise:

Identify a long-term project for which you are responsible. Reflect on what you’ve been learning over the past couple of weeks and use those lessons to build a plan for taking initiative with your project. Write it out…

If you already have a plan in place, how can you integrate some of the recent lessons to make adjustments to it?

As this month’s focus is initiative, I must encourage you to take action! What steps can you take in the next couple of days to get started or move to the next level?

What actions could you take now that will smooth the path and make the project easier over time?

How would getting some of the key tasks completed help you to see ahead more clearly?

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Intentional Leadership — D3, W3, M11 — Initiative

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , on November 6, 2013| Leave a Comment »

We often can learn from the experiences of others, and we should take advantage of those opportunities (do not, however, misinterpret this to mean that you should always wait for someone else to try something new first!). Spend some time reflecting on a time when you observed someone close to you taking initiative in spite of fear.

What was the situation?

How did they handle it?

What was the result?

What did you learn from watching them go through this experience?

Now, think of a situation you are currently faced with in which you need to take initiative and have some fear about moving forward. Get in touch with the person from today’s exercise and tell them the situation you are in. As them for guidance on how they would handle it. Then, spend some time in reflection about what they’ve shared with you. In your journal, note some of the recommendations you think are worth following through on. Consider the risks, implications, consequences, and benefits associated with any of the actions you might take. Then, make a decision about moving forward.

What value did you receive through someone else’s experience? And what value do you place on having them as a trusted confidant?

It’s good to know we have support when faced with significant decisions and challenges, and can deal with them before they grow into something more unmanageable!

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