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Posts Tagged ‘Intentional’

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 — D1, W2, M5 — Passion

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

What happens when passion is incongruent with principles?

Surely, any of us could recount numerous tales of leaders passionate about what they did, but were unprincipled in how they pursued their passion.

Consider Benedict Arnold. He was a general in the Revolutionary Army, and a distinguished general, at that. He was bold, daring, and creative. He earned the admiration of his fellow soldiers and countrymen. At one time, he was clearly a hero…especially in consideration of his performance at the Battle of Saratoga, widely regarded as the turning point in the War of American Independence.

Unfortunately, his drive was not supported by strong values. He was an egomaniac, needing the admiration, attention, and recognition of others, he was more focused on personal gain that on the welfare of his country. When he began to feel under-appreciated by his peers, he turned his attention to the British and conspired against the Americans. He went so far as to develop a wretched plot to surrender a strategic fort at West Point to the enemy. Fortunately, the plot was foiled.

He fled to the British side and died unceremoniously in England, known as America’s most notorious traitor.

What is the motivation behind your passion?

What drives you to be a leader?

How strong are the values that form your foundation?

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Intentional Leadership — D5, W1, M5 — Passion

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , on May 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Another week has gone whizzing past, for me, at least! How was yours?

Productive and fulfilling, I hope.

Today is going to be an amazing, busy, brain-stretching, new connections kind of day. Today is Chick-Fil-A Leadercast day! I am sponsoring the event at the University of Charleston and I’m so excited — this is my PASSION! Leadership, personal growth, communication, connection with friends old and new and clients old and “to-be”! Today is going to have it all!

And, I’m officially rolling out the Empowerment Mentoring Program today. It’s a great program; if you haven’t checked into it, yet, you should. It might have something for you. Click here for more info, or click onto the Mentoring page of this site.

Having shared all of that, where are you at on this first Friday of our fifth month of the Intentional Leadership journey? What are you learning about yourself and your passion?

And what do you have on tap for the weekend? Have you given it any thought…planned ahead?

It’s somewhat warm, humid, and rainy as I write this, and I am so looking forward to this weekend.

I’m really thinking about rest and family time this weekend. I’ve had a lot going on over the past six weeks, and with these last couple of big events having come and gone, I can slow down briefly.

What about you? What’s on your list this weekend?

Who really need your attention this weekend? You? Family? Friends? People you’ve not yet met?

What really needs your attention this weekend? Is it projects, rest, relaxation…?

What thoughts do you have about the level of focus you are applying to your life?

What’s in store for you this weekend, next week, and in the coming weeks? Are you taking the steps to set yourself up for success and fulfillment?

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

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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 — D3, W1, M5 — Passion

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

Today, pick an activity linked to your passion in your personal life.

Schedule a time in the next week to live out your personal passion. Describe, in detail, what you will do. What does it look like, feel like, sound like? Who is there with you? Paint a vivid picture!

Also, pick an activity linked to your passion in your professional life. How can you live out that passion today?

What will that look like, feel like sound like? Who will be there with you?

Make time today to enjoy your passions…if you don’t, tomorrow will be here before you know it, and you won’t ever have this exact opportunity, again!

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Intentional Leadership — D1, W1, M5 — Passion

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

I’ve been a professional communicator for 20+ years. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to explore nearly every aspect of corporate communications over the course of my career: Advertising, marketing, public relations, community relations, media relations, fund-raising, and internal communications. Having worked my way through all of those audiences, I was most interested in internal communications. In fact, for some time, you could say it was my passion — at least in terms of work.

You see, I’ve long believed that if you take good care of your employees, they will take great care of your business. So, they have always been my primary audience, and certainly first priority in any communication effort. However, over time, I lost interest in being the tactical communicator, and refocused my efforts on teaching my colleagues to become more competent, confident communicators themselves. I’ve been moving in the direction of developing others for a long time, and was moving down that path before I realized where it was leading me.

I’ve since been fortunate enough to have the epiphany about my true passion in life! Yes, I do still believe in taking care of one’s employees and that they will take care of your business; that hasn’t changed. But my beliefs about that have expanded enormously. It goes far beyond just communicating with them; it’s about developing them, helping them recognize and reach their potential.

Today, I can tell you my passion is for development — mine and other’s. I am passionate about personal growth, leadership, effective communication, and building healthy, smart teams. This passion is so strong, it is nearly all consuming. I see opportunities for growth in nearly everyone and every situation I encounter. I am driven to work on these opportunities — pouring into others everything I am able to share, with a focus on adding value to others — nearly all the time.

In fact, it’s not work any more…pursuing this passion is my opportunity to create my life’s masterpiece; to be able to blur the line between work and leisure.

Have you wrestled with finding your true passion in life?

Take some time today to describe your journey of discovering your passion up to this point.

Follow your passion, and success will follow you. ~Arthur Buddhold

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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 — D5, W4, M4 — Focus

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

It’s been a beautiful, sunny, warm, and really great week here. Hope you fared as well.

I am still on a bit of a high from my speaking engagement on Wednesday, at the Women in Leadership Luncheon put on by the Mid-Ohio Valley Chamber of Commerce. My plans are to rest and play… mostly! And, yes, there will be some work. On my business, on Empowerment Mentoring, on Women in Leadership Luncheon prep, but mostly fun. A lot of women worked hard over the past few months to pull it together, and it all worked smoothly.

What’s in store for you this weekend?

What relationships need your attention?

What time and space do you need for yourself?

What projects are you working on?

What do you need to do to set your self up for success in the coming weeks?

My community has a neighborhood yard sale twice a year, so I’ll be in the garage all of Saturday morning selling all that “stuff” we were sure we needed, and may have for a while, but no longer do…Hoping someone else loves it as much as we did once and will have a use for it.

Have some reading to do to catch up. I’ve been so focused on What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, that I’m a bit behind on my reading list. Just started Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. I loved The Tipping Point, so I’m confident this one will be engaging, as well.

Have some homework, so to speak, in preparation for my trip to Guatemala in June with John Maxwell, the John Maxwell Team, the John Maxwell Company, and Equip.

I am preparing to roll out my new Empowerment Mentoring program next week at the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast, and will start those lessons mid-May, so still a little work to do there to set the program up. It’s going to be great — I have really great material, and am really excited to be able to offer these lessons to my tribe!

And I have some contacts to make, following up on requests for information and new people in my network.

Exciting times, indeed!

Have an intentional weekend, and I’ll “see” you Monday!

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