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Posts Tagged ‘Intentional’

Intentional Leadership — D2, W1, M6 — Perseverance

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

Story telling is a powerful way to teach lessons and learn from others. Think about some of your favorite movies…are there some on your list that are about people who persevered against sometimes unimaginable odds or the story of an athlete who overcame extreme difficulties to excel. Aren’t these the stories that grab at your heart strings and pull you in?

How about the story of Nick Vujicic? Born with a rare disorder characterized by the absence of all four limbs, Nick is an internationally known motivational speaker; clearly undaunted by what most of us would consider impossible odds.

When we see, hear, or read these stories, we cheer the people on and want them to succeed.

What story of perseverance comes to mind for you? Why do you remember it?

What makes stories of perseverance memorable?

Why do we find it hard to believe that we can succeed?

This question reminds me of a comment one of my mentors, Paul Martinelli, made last February during a teaching about reaching for our dreams. He said, “I believed it was possible for all of you…but not for me.” Why do we believe it’s possible for others to overcome the obstacles and beat the odds, but not for ourselves?

Describe a time when you persevered? What was the outcome? What was your reward?

I would love to hear your story!

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Intentional Leadership — D1, W1, M6 — Perseverance

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , on June 3, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Are you familiar with the story of Theodor Geisel? He was a writer and illustrator. Many years ago, having written and illustrated what he thought was a very clever children’s book, he set off to find a publisher. Filled with enthusiasm, he went to the publishing houses to share his work, confident one of them would love it as much as he did and agree to publish it. One-by-one he went; and one-by-one, 27 publishing houses rejected the book — 27 rejections!

Feeling quite dejected, and understandably so, following his last publishing house rejection, Geisel bumped into a friend who happened to work for Vanguard Press. He explained to his friend what had happened. He even threatened to go home and burn the manuscript! We have no way of knowing what motivated his friend — pity or true support of Geisel’s work — to take up the cause of getting the book published, but he did get the book to press. Soon after, Geisel’s first children’s book, And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street, was published under the author’s pen name: Dr. Seuss!

By the time he passed in 1991, Geisel had written more than 60 books as Dr. Seuss; selling more than half a billion copies around the globe, his stories changed the way we thought about and measured children’s stories. Imagine what we would have missed, had Geisel not bumped into his friend that day…if he had gone home and burned the manuscript. What if he had given up after the first, tenth, or even 20th rejection?

His story is just one great example of perseverance and the rewards we may reap if we persist. As a leader, you will encounter multiple (and sometimes inexplicable!) sources of resistance to your initiatives and ideas. You will experience times when you doubt your abilities. You will be tempted to quit. But know this: If you press on and pick yourself up after you stumble and continue to press forward, your influence may extend farther than you ever dreamed.

For today, ask yourself this: What motivates me to keep going when I encounter obstacles?

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Intentional Leadership — Month 6 — Perseverance

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

The reality of leadership is that it requires hard work and regular investments of energy and sweat!

As a leader, there will be times when you encounter resistance. There will be times when you question whether the time, energy, and effort are worth it. There will be times when you feel like giving up. What you choose to do in your darkest moments will define you as a leader. When adversity comes to call, will you fade into the background or will you persist in fighting to move forward?

The truth is, nobody advances in leadership by coasting to the top. Leaders are distinguished by struggling upward through the daily grind.

Consider the story of Nelson Mandela. He was convicted of treason and sentenced to a life of hard labor in prison for his anti-apartheid convictions. For 18 years, he lived in a cramped cell and toiled in a rock quarry. Each year, he was allowed 30 minutes with a visitor and could receive and send only two letters. These were his only opportunities to communicate with the outside world.

It’s reasonable for you to assume that since I’m telling you his story as a lesson in perseverance, you already know what choices he made with respect to fading away — allowing some pretty depressing circumstances to alter the course of his life — or choosing to persist.

His perseverance and strength of character over those 18 years he was incarcerated earned him the respect of everyone, including his prison guards! Rather than drifting into obscurity while in prison, Mandela boosted his image while in prison. When he was released, he emerged with a higher profile than ever and leveraged his influence to bring about liberty and a democratic South Africa.

No small feats, indeed!

As we move into month six on our Intentional Leadership journey, take a few minutes to consider your responses to the following questions:

What unfavorable conditions are making your leadership difficult?

What steps can you take to remove or neutralize the sources of resistance on the job?

How might you grow stronger by enduring these hard times?

What rewards might you receive if you persevere through the toughest aspects of your job?

We will be digging deeper into these thoughts in the coming weeks. I’m looking forward to working through them with you.

In the meantime, have an intentional day!

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Intentional Leadership — M5 — Passion Wrap-up

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

These past four weeks, we’ve focused on passion. We’ve gained a clearer understanding of what passion is, what our passions are, and how it rallies around purpose and supplies leaders with energy.

At the end of the day, our appetites matter just as much — if not more than — our aptitudes! What we are passionate about, fired up about, driven by, is much more important than what our skills are…because passion will drive us to move forward with a force beyond our wildest imagination, if we allow it to!

Before you can lead with confidence and force, you must first understand where you want to go, and why. What consumes your thoughts? What grabs your attention, tugs at your heart, and won’t let go?

Once you discover your passion, nurture it. Life will assault your passions, disappointment will assault your passions, and responsibilities — and, yes, self-limiting beliefs and self-imposed constraints — will try to crowd it out and keep you from pursuing your passion. I encourage you to be strong; refuse to bury your passion under life’s many challenges. Passion is the key to finding fulfillment in life.

Consider what Henry David Thoreau said:

Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.

I encourage you to not let this be an apt description of you. Take the time to discover your passion. Then nurture it, feed it, allow it the time and space to grow. Harness it to your leadership and the song you sing will outlive you.

Having only recently (within the last few years) allowed my passion to be fully acknowledged and developing my dream and plan to move forward into my potential and my vision, I can say from experience, it’s an amazing, exciting, energizing, reinvigorating, fun adventure. I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

So, what are you passionate about? And what are you doing about it?

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Intentional Leadership — D5, W4, M5 — Passion

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , on May 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

It’s Friday, already! Guess it’s not surprising, having had Monday off for Memorial Day (at least in the States…).

It was a busy week and went quickly for me. I find that happens when I am totally engrossed in what I’m doing. Had the honor and privilege to be involved in a unique event this week; not necessarily related to my passion, but I could see the passion in the others involved…and it was fun. Have to say I so enjoy watching others when they are living out their passion. And, I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fly an F-35 Lightning II Strike Fighter Jet simulator…it was fun. I kept the world safe from some bad guys, did my victory rolls, and landed my jet safely back at Nellis Air Force Base (bit of a rush, I must admit! Oddly similar to the experience of driving an ambulance with red lights and sirens, flying past all the other traffic — including a police car…but that was a long time ago, in another life!).

Needless to say, it was a full week, and I am so looking forward to this weekend. I have some “me” time planned Saturday afternoon. Will spend time with my family, do some writing, and work on content for the next lesson in my Empowerment Mentoring program: “You are Perfect.” This is powerful content and I’m having fun with it. And, with my trip to Guatemala just 10 days away, I have a lot of work to do in preparation for that.

What about you…what are you up to this weekend and in the weeks ahead?

As you know, I encourage those I work with to be intentional — thoughtful about how they spend their time and energy. I hope you are taking this to heart; it makes a tremendous difference in what you are able to accomplish and how you feel about yourself in the process.

I look forward to hearing the stories of what you are up to!

Have a great weekend, and I’ll “see” you Monday!

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Intentional Leadership — D4, W4, M5 — Passion

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

Let’s look into the future. Imagine what your life will be like five years from today.

How old will you be? Where do you envision yourself? What will you be doing in your life? What kind of people will be around you?

Today, give some thought to what would happen if you actively pursued your passion — daily, starting today — for the next five years. How would that impact you, your life, and the lives of those around you?

Now, give some thought to what will happen if you allow your passion to dim and fade away. What will your life, and the lives of those around you, be like in five years?

Which scenario do you prefer?

Now, what will you do about it?

As they say, the best time to plant a shade tree is 50 years ago; the second best time is today. If you are truly passionate about something, don’t wait to get starting…time is slipping past and each minute that goes by will never come again!

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Intentional Leadership — D3, W4, M5 — Passion

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

As I believe I said earlier this week, Passion is contagious! As your passion grows, you will attract others who want to join in your passion. Have you given any thought to how others can add value to, and at the same time be enriched by participating in your passion?

I have! Fortunately for me, my passion and others go hand-in-hand. In fact, if it weren’t for others, my passion would be fairly dissatisfying. Of course, I will follow my passion to grow myself, but as I’m on a mission to change the world one encounter at a time, by helping others grow into their potential, as well, my passion requires others to participate.

What would happen if you invited one other person to join you in your passion today?

Here are some examples of how this could work:

If your passion is to encourage girls to reach their potential through sports, what if you and a friend coached a girls’ sports team?

If your passion is to write, what would you achieve by inviting a creative friend to join you in some creative brainstorming to develop some story ideas?

If you are passionate about fighting or curing a particular illness, enlist a friend to join you in supporting an existing or developing a new fundraiser for the cause.

If your passion is around creating an engaging, team-oriented, productive work environment, enlist a co-worker to imagine ways to bring some new creativity, energy, and fun to the team.

Right now, name something you are passionate about and finish this sentence:

Today, I will invite…to join me in …

Now, get out there and do it!

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Intentional Leadership — D2, W4, M5 — Passion

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , on May 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

As we are nearing the end of our month of exploring our passion, where do you want your passion to take you in your life?

Are you able to describe a a dream connected to your passion?

There’s a lot of power in getting it down on paper. Having recently gone through this process, with The Deeper Path Coaching Cohort I participated in, I can say it’s an eye-opning experience! If you allow yourself to really work through it, it can change the course of your future.

What role does your passion play in your personal and professional lives?

What effect do you want your passion to have on others?

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Intentional Leadership — D1, W4, M5 — Passion

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , on May 27, 2013| 4 Comments »

Passion is contagious.

Are you familiar with the story behind the Susan G. Komen Foundation? Yes, the one focused on finding a cure for breast cancer.

More than 25 years ago, Nancy Brinker promised her dying sister she would devote herself to fighting breast cancer, and she did. She named the foundation after her sister, and set forth the vision of raising awareness of the disease and supporting research towards a cure. As you know, the non-profit resonated with the population and quickly grew. Brinker’s passion and focus attracted survivors, supporters, researchers, and more.

Two years after she formed the foundation, Brinker was diagnosed with breast cancer herself; she refused to allow her condition to keep her from advancing the cause of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. She continued to host fundraising events and secured corporate sponsorships, as she was winning her own battle with cancer.

Her passion was contagious…it lit the fires of so many others and the foundation grew by leaps and bounds. Passion is similar to lighting one candle with another; Brinker’s passion sparked the passion of those she touched on her journey. By 2008, the SGK Foundation had donated over $1.2 billion to research a cure for breast cancer and to promote education about the disease.

It’s fair to say, largely due to the Foundation’s efforts, the five-year survival rate of women with breast cancer has increased from 74 to 98 percent, and more women than ever are having regular mammograms.

Is your passion tied to a core belief or commitment in your life?

At what cost are you willing to pursue your passion?

What would be the impact if you pursued your passion?

What will be the impact if you allow your passion to dim and fade away?

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Intentional Leadership — D5, W3, M5 — Passion

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I am loving this month’s topic — Passion! I would say, of the topics we have covered so far, this is the one I feel most aligned with, as I have been giving myself permission to recognize, express, revel, and demonstrate my passion much more openly over the past 18 months. In fact, with the self-assessment we did earlier this week, I can honestly say I’m between 8-10 on most of the measures. It feels good.

What about you? We’re just about to start week four of our fifth month of this intentional leadership journey (how is that really possible?!!)…which topic has resonated with you the most, so far? Which one do you need to spend more time and energy on? Personally, I need to spend more time on focus. I know what I need to be doing, but I don’t always stick with my schedule and stay as focused as I would like; so I continue to work on that.

Now it’s time for our Friday ritual! It’s a holiday weekend, at least for those of us in the US. One might imagine it would change the way you’ve looked at this weekend, since many take the opportunity of a day off to extend their weekend and go on trips. We are staying home this Memorial Day weekend; last year, we spent it exploring Baltimore’s inner harbor — that was a really fun trip!

For the weekend, I will attend a birthday party with my son. I see this as a good opportunity to get to know some of the other parents better. I will get more sleep (have been running short for a couple of weeks now), maybe even make the time to watch a movie (that would be decadent!).

You see, as I am so focused these days on moving more deeply into my passion area, I typically spend most of my free time pursuing it in some fashion — reading, working on growth plans, going through John Maxwell curriculum, developing new materials for workshops, teaching opportunities, and mentoring…I don’t spend much time on what is typical “fun”…but what I do spend my time on is truly fun for me.

In fact, I will be working on lesson 2 of the Empowerment Mentoring program, all about being in one’s comfort zone…sounds cozy, but if you are interested in growth, it’s not a good place to hang out!

What about you? What’s on the agenda for your weekend and the coming week?

Who will you share your time and attention with? How will you spend your energy?

And are you thinking about the coming weeks? I’m headed to Guatemala in a few weeks, to teach Transformational Leadership with John Maxwell and our amazing team…so I have some homework to do — learning about the culture and the people, etc…

As always, no shortage of opportunities or demands on your time and attention, I’m sure. I hope this journey is helping you to invest your time and attention more intentionally. After all, this is the only life we get!

Have a great weekend, and I’ll “see” you Monday!

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