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Posts Tagged ‘Goals’

Intentional Leadership — D1, W3, M5 — Passion

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »

How are you doing this month, with clarifying your passion?

I want to tell you a story. One you may already be familiar with, perhaps…but maybe not some of the details.

I daresay we are all familiar with Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook. He had a passion for connecting people, and his passion carried him down an unknown road, many years ago. He was studying at Harvard, but decided to end his college education to pursue his dream…a budding on-line social network. He moved to California, lived in dingy apartments with his friends/co-founders, and worked at engineering Facebook, essentially penniless!

As you know, the web site took off at full throttle and grew by leaps and bounds. Zuckerberg and his friends worked hard to keep up with its growth.

As Facebook blossomed, it began to attract attention; a lot of attention! In fact, Yahoo! offered Zuckerberg $1 Billion (yes, that’s a “B” not an “M”!) to buy his site, he said, “No.” To many of us, that response might seem inexplicable. What could he possibly be thinking? A billion dollars is an enormous amount of money; more than most people ever even dream of, let alone possess. So, why would he turn down the offer?

Simple…Passion. Mark Zuckerberg is passionate about connecting people; he believes when people connect something powerful happens and he wanted to continue to help facilitate those connections.

While one may argue over how Facebook is designed and operated, some in favor and some against, it’s hard to argue that the company hasn’t been successful. And it’s beyond reason, at least to me, that something could be that successful without some passionate person (or persons) driving it forward.

Passion is the driving force behind life’s fulfillment. Thus, passion must be exercised and nurtured. During the course of your leadership journey, will be tempted along the way — and probably more than once — to sell out for comfort or security (or a number of other reasons). I urge you to not settle for less than the full extent of your dreams.

Take a few minutes today to reflect on a time when you were tempted to give up on your dreams. What happened? What did you do to keep your dreams alive?

You see, I believe you did not succumb to the temptation; if you had, you wouldn’t be here, today, reading my blog or other blogs exploring similar topics.

Who supports you and cheers you on as you chase after the desires of your heart?

What else do you need to keep your passion alive?

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Join me for a Free Call on Empowerment Mentoring Program

Posted in Food for Thought, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

As you know, I’ve been preparing to roll out a new mentoring program, and the time has finally come! It is called Empowerment Mentoring, and it is designed to empower you to really focus on where you’re headed and what you need to do to design the life you want to lead and move — with greater self-awareness and intentionality — proactively into your future.

As you know, I’m really passionate about the work I do; there’s nothing more energizing and exciting to me than working with and seeing people like you experience the life-changing “aha!” moments, gain new insights, reach new levels of understanding, and see your life — and its many possibilities — in new ways.

Empowerment Mentoring is a powerful program, and your life will not be the same once you get started.

Join me tomorrow night (Tuesday 14 May) at 7 PM EDT for this free orientation call. I will give you a preview of the material through a 15-minute teaching on the Purpose, Vision, Goals lesson. I will provide an overview of how the program will work, and answer any questions you might have.

I will also, this one time only, extend the discount I offered last week. If you participate in this orientation call and enroll in the program by midnight (EDT) 15 May, you may register for $597 for the full six-month program. I offer a 30-day money back guarantee, so what do you have to lose?

Here is the dial-in information:
559-726-1200
Code 569934

This is through Freeconferencing.com; if you dial from a landline, you may be subject to long-distance charges; if you dial from a cell, you may be subject to minutes charges (obviously, this depends on what kind of phone plans you have). This call will be recorded. If you aren’t able to attend the orientation call, but want to listen, send me a note and I’ll send you a link.

You may call through Skype, following these instructions:

  • Log-in to Skype
  • Select menu option “Contacts/Add Contact”
  • Add the SKYPE name: freeconferencing.5597261200 as the contact name
  • Select “CALL” button to begin dialing. To show the dial pad on Skype, click on “call” in the top menu bar and “show dial pad” or select the dial pad located in the bottom menu bar below dialing screen
  • You will need to enter the access code

NOTE: There is a risk in using Skype in that calls are sometimes dropped (less likely if you pay for Skype premium).

Please share this invitation with anyone you think might be interested!

I look forward to “seeing” you on the call tomorrow night at 7.

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Intentional Leadership — D4, W1, M5 — Passion

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Take a few moments, today, to describe what your life could be like if you lived out your passions each day.

What would that do in your life and the lives of others?

What effect could passion have on your leadership?

I’ve been working on painting this picture for myself, through The Deeper Path Coaching Cohort I was participating in. I have authored my OPUS (what my life’s masterpiece will be…) and am working on the refining touches. I will share it with you soon.

All I can say is, having this level of clarity about my passion and focus is both unsettling and exciting. Unsettling because I never thought this intently about what I wanted my life to be life, and it’s an intense process to go through. Exciting because having such clarity makes it ever so much easier to say yes or no to opportunities that arise, without a lot of contemplation.

And, I can say with certainty, that when I am working in my passion, people notice. I was blessed to have the opportunity to give a keynote presentation at a women’s leadership luncheon last week. One of the participants shared this feedback with me: “You were awesome. Your passion is palpable.” I’m thankful it’s so obvious!

Is yours?

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Intentional Leadership — D2, W1, M5 — Passion

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , on May 7, 2013| 4 Comments »

What are you passionate about? Can you name your top three passions? Out of those three, which one are you most fervent about?

Was there a key event – a defining moment – or circumstance that ignited your passion?

Do you remember the Jarvik-7 Artificial Heart? It was invented by Robert Jarvik. Jarvik was the son of a physician, who worked with his dad as he grew up and had some interest in medicine, but seemed more interested in art. One of his defining moments, driving his passion for the design and development of artificial organs was the passing of his father, who had died of heart disease after having open-heart surgery.

Your defining may or may not be quite this dramatic, but often, there is one.   

When you live through your passion, what effect does it have on you in terms of confidence and energy?

Again, when we are truly passionate about something, we typically move into the “discretionary performance zone,” operating above and beyond the minimum, to be sure, and often significantly higher than 100% effort!

Are you currently in a place where you get to live your passion each day?

If yes, describe how it is…

If no, describe why not.

 

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Intentional Leadership — Month Five — Passion

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , on May 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »

This month, our fifth on this intentional leadership journey, is focused on Passion.

Passion: The driving force that propels us to take on challenges and pursue dreams.

Passion is the inner fuel that drives each of us to excel; it’s our chief source of energy and supplies us with motivation.

Think about it: How much effort do you put into things you feel only “so-so” about. How much effort do you put into things you are passionate about? In performance management arenas, we see this as the difference between an employee doing just what he/she needs to do to get by (meet expectations) and an employee functioning in the “discretionary performance” zone — giving more than 100% effort towards his/her job.

Unfortunately, passion can run out.

In some ways, that’s what happened to Juliana Margulies, former star of the hit series ER and current star of The Good Wife. She left ER, even though the producers offered her $27 million to stay! She had other dreams, other goals, other passions she wanted to follow…and she did. And now, she’s back with another hit show. She wanted to do things that she wouldn’t have gotten to do had she stayed on with ER, and was wise enough to know that if she didn’t take the chance when she had it, she might not have it, again.

Before we start into our weekly process exploring our passion, let’s take some time today to ponder some questions which will help you get settled into thinking about this month’s theme.

In your life, what gives you the greatest fulfillment?

When has your passion been dimmest? Why?

What people and/or activities stoke your passion?

Of the people you know, who strikes you as the most passionate? Why?

As John Maxwell would say: “What makes you sing?”

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Intentional Leadership — M4 — Focus Wrap-up

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Another month has gone by; we are now one-third of the way through 2013! Time to wrap-up our thoughts on this past month’s topic: Focus.

My mentors frequently remind me to “spear fish” rather than “net fish” when I’m looking to build my tribe. While I might like to fantasize that everyone will want what I have to offer, and all will hunger equally for growth and learning, it’s not true! Not everyone is interested in growing, stretching, learning, becoming more. And that is ok; it is as it should be. You see, I want to work with a specific sub-set of the population and most likely, you are part of that group, if you are reading my blog.

Here’s where my focus is:

Imagine a world filled with light…light that allows clarity of thought, of beliefs, of values, of purpose, of vision; light that fills you with hope and the expectation of positive outcomes; light that fills your soul; light that allows you to see yourself – the best possible version of who you are truly meant to be.

Imagine this world inhabited by growth-oriented individuals, teams, and organizations seeking greater levels of awareness (of self and others), operating intentionally with thought given to outcomes and implications, striving to achieve higher levels of performance in whatever they choose to do.

Imagine a space that is safe and comfortable, yet stretches you at the same time. A space that is thought provoking and soul-searching. A space that challenges you to be, do, and have all that you dream of and long for.

Welcome to my world. I am the Sunshine and I am here to beam those rays of light on you as you grow into yourself and your potential.

This is my BIG DREAM as defined in the OPUS (my life’s masterpiece) that I am authoring. The whole point of working through the Deeper Path / OPUS process is to gain crystal clarity (FOCUS) on what I want in my life.

Grasping for everyone to work with me will leave me exhausted, frustrated, and likely without the quality clients I desire, and certainly less than the results I seek to achieve. For example, there are a lot of companies out there, many of whom could change their performance in amazing ways with the kind of focus I can facilitate, but they don’t WANT what I have to offer. And, truth be told, I don’t want to work with them, either! I want to work with the ones who want to improve and are willing to do the work to make it happen.

I also consider myself fortunate enough to have clear focus when it comes to peripheral opportunities. About 18 months ago, I was approached by the Executive Director of the state-level of a well-known, reputable charitable organization. She was looking for a new Board member who had communications and public relations background, which I do. She asked me to join her Board. I was flattered to be sure; who wouldn’t be? My expertise was recognized and she believed I could make a positive difference in the future of her organization. But I knew, even then, it was not part of my OPUS. I  knew my future was in growth and development, and perhaps in teaching others to communicate more effectively, but not in being the tactical communicator any longer. And, while I respect the work this organization does, it’s not in my area of passion. The answer to her request was easy, “I’m honored, but no thank you!” No regrets; it was, without a doubt, the right decision for me. And I chalk it up to focus and clarity.

I want to work with people like you, my faithful readers, who are interested in being, doing, and having more in their lives and are willing to take the initiative and make the investment to move forward into your future, your potential.

As a leader, it’s up to you to select the vision most worthy of your time and attention, and fix your gaze upon it. You will encounter numerous distractions on your journey and your ability to focus will determine your level of success and satisfaction with your results.

As we have spent this past month thinking about and working on Focus, what have you discovered to be the greatest distractions for you?

How will you stay focused on your journey, now that your level of awareness has been elevated?

Having talent is a good thing, but it’s not nearly as important as seeing a clear picture of where you’re going and staying focused on getting there.

I will leave you with this parting thought, from Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, which I’m currently reading:

What makes someone the best of the best in their chosen field? Talent certainly helps, but there is more to it than that. And there have been numerous studies focused on figuring out exactly what that something else is.

“The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert — in anything,” writes the neurologist Daniel Levitin.

What are you doing to get to your 10,000 hours? Or have you not quite figured out your area of expertise (focus), yet?

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Intentional Leadership — D4, W4, M4 — Focus

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

As we near the end of our fourth month, it’s time for more reflection.

Get out your journal and spend some time writing about what you’ve learned this week, and over the last four weeks, about achievement through focused tasks.

Then, take it one step further. Is there a destination you dream of reaching in your life and/or career?

What is your dream?

What are some of the steps you’ll need to take to start to build the momentum you’ll need to get there?

Take your first focused step forward today!

Looking forward to hearing where you’re headed and the steps you are taking to get there.

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Intentional Leadership — D3, W4, M4 — Focus

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Having done some reflection, let’s get some other perspectives. Today, gather your team or peer group together and cast a vision for the power of focus.

What are some examples of the positive results you have seen of increased focus in your own life that you can share with your team?

How can they apply what you’ve learned from your experience to something they are working on?

Challenge them to think about their top three objectives for the next month. Ask them to write them down and share them with the team. Also, ask them to make note of the potential distractions that could keep them from meeting their objectives. Take it one step further, and challenge them to develop a plan to eliminate or diminish those distractions.

Schedule a special team meeting for the end of next month to review your team’s progress toward their objectives, recount the distractions they encountered and how they dealt with them, and be sure to celebrate the achievements — accomplish due to clear focus.

Go ahead, write them down, now…What are your top three objectives for the next month?

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Intentional Leadership — D2, W4, M4 — Focus

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , on April 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Today’s the day to spend some time with yourself, reflecting.

Answer the following questions to help you explore the results of focus:

Have you ever finished several separate mid-size tasks in succession to one another? What were they and what was accomplished in each one?

When you focused on and finished these tasks, what effect did it have on you, on others, and on your company or organization?

What influence or trust did you gain from your peers for finishing these tasks?

When you finish tasks well, how can that build trust with others and create momentum to open up future possibilities for you?

The quality of the time you spend on these questions will define the quality of your answers, which in turn will affect the quality of your results.

As always, you will get out what you put in!

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Intentional Leadership — D1, W4, M4 — Focus

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

As we begin week four of our month on Focus, let’s consider the fruits of being focused.

Focus allows you to see through all the other stuff, the every day events that some might consider distractions, but what we really know to be simple, every day life, and continue to forge ahead toward your goal.

Focus allows you to keep going, even when things get hard and you want to quit, because you know the feeling of satisfaction that awaits you at the other end…when you have accomplished your goal.

Think back to what you may have read about the 1936 Olympics. Most of the world was focused on race issues, pitting white athletes against black athletes. Jessie Owens did not allow himself to get caught up in the rhetoric; he focused on running his race.

As he entered the Munich Stadium, Swastikas were everywhere; the stadium was filled with white spectators…including Adolf Hitler. As we know Hitler and his contemporaries viewed blacks as less than human, inferior to whites in every way.

If this was not a moment fraught with distraction and stress, I can’t imagine what would be.

What did Owens do? To be sure, he felt the weight of the moment. Win or lose, he knew there was risk regardless of the outcome.

While we can’t know what he was thinking, we need only to read the stories to know what he did. Jesse Owens rocketed out of his starting stance and flew past the competition to take the Gold in the 100-yard dash. He did the same in the 200-yard event. He also won the long jump and ran the lead leg for the 4 x 100 relay.

Clearly, Owens retained his focus on what he had set in front of himself, rather than allowing himself to become distracted by the loud and very obvious controversy. He achieved his goals; he earned respect; he brought hope to others.

While our situations are certainly less dire, we are still often surrounded by a wide variety of other issues, people, and situations attempting to grab out attention and divert our focus.

Effective leaders block out the noise, fear, and anxiety, choosing instead to retain their focus and move confidently in the direction of their visions, goals, and dreams. When you do this, when you display this kind of focus and courage in the face of adversity, you earn respect, give others hope, and build momentum.

What do you need to do this week to focus on your “100-yard dash”?

What benefits will you reap when you remain focused in the face of distraction and move confidently in the direction of your vision?

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