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Intentional Leadership — D5, W2, M6 — Perseverance

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

We have come to the end of week two…Friday’s sure do seem to come quicker these days, especially when one is really busy.

I’ve been in Guatemala City all week, working with John Maxwell, EQUIP, and my fellow John Maxwell Team-mates preparing for and teaching Transformational Leadership to groups of leaders from the seven streams of influence: Government, education, business, media, arts & entertainment, the faith community, and family. We have been teaching the principles shared in John’s 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth (this is really powerful material; if you are at all inclined toward growing yourself, and you haven’t read this, I highly recommend it. In fact, I take that one step further and recommend you join a Mastermind Group on this topic and work through the book with a small group of other growth-oriented individuals so you can learn together and from each other), as well as 15 values inherent in transformational leaders.

It’s been an amazing, invigorating, exciting, educational, and fun week. I’ve stretched and grown. I’ve helped others stretch and grow. I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone in many ways. I’ve met some amazing new people. I’ve gotten to know so many of my JMT Team-mates so much better. I’ve discovered new opportunities I hadn’t even imagined. We donated a variety of materials and supplies to some orphanages; I brought art and school supplies, primarily.

Tomorrow, we will have our last teaching sessions, and after lunch we will be the guests at a huge party celebrating our investment in this effort of transforming the culture of Guatemala. What an amazing opportunity this has been!

So, you can see, my weekend will not be a typical time of rest and restoration! Saturday will be quite full and I will be traveling on Sunday.

What will you do with your weekend?

What relationships do you need to build, nurture, grow…repair?

What activities would you like to spend time and energy doing?

What do you need to do to be prepared for the start of a new week on Monday?

What do you need to be thinking about and planning for, for the next few weeks?

Have an intentional, enjoyable weekend!

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Intentional Leadership — D4, W1, M6 — Perseverance

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

Time to get your journal out and spend some time writing about the following questions today (and, really, over the next week — if you want a fuller experience with this):

Why is taking the first step to persevere so important?

What factors may help you to take the first step?

What can you gain by persevering in your personal and professional life?

Of course, I can speak only for myself…but it really takes a lot to get me to quit on something I am interested in or passionate about. I have to have exhausted every avenue I can imagine to make something work before I move on. And I rarely have a Plan B! I generally approach things with this mind set — I may not know everything I need to know, or everyone I need to know, and I may not feel as if I have every resource will need right in my immediate grasp, but I trust that those things will become available as I need them, I will learn along the way…and unless it’s nuclear physics or brain surgery, it doesn’t occur to me that I can’t succeed.

So…if it’s a true passion, I just keep going!

What about you?

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Empowerment Mentoring — Follow up

Posted in Food for Thought, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

If you weren’t able to join us on the Empowerment Mentoring Orientation call last night (14 May 2103), but are interested in listening to the recording, send me an email or leave a comment and I’ll send you the link.

If you’re interested in transforming your life, you want to be in this process with us!

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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 — 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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Where is your “here” and what “there” are you striving to reach?

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

IMG_0165Several months ago, I participated in a Mastermind Group / Book Club exercise with some people from an organization I belong to called Outside Counsel. The books was What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith. I loved it!

Goldsmith describes 20 behaviors that cause people to get stuck in their careers (although work life is really the focus on the book, Goldsmith acknowledges these behaviors permeate all aspects of a person’s life), even though the behaviors may have actually served the person well at an earlier point in his/her life.

This made a lot of sense to me, as I have lived it. I grew up in circumstances that drove me to become a very self-sufficient, independent, over achiever. I did everything myself, not expecting or accepting help from others, because I had learned — from experience — that you couldn’t necessarily count on others to be there when you needed them. The behaviors I built around these beliefs served me well for a long time in my younger years, and even for a while when I entered the working world after college.

I reached a point, however, when those behaviors no longer served me and, in fact, became destructive. You see, it’s not possible for one person to be completely self-sufficient, to be all things to all people, to be an expert in everything. And, frankly, it was exhausting!

I eventually went through some painful experiences that caused me to become more self-aware and to effect some significant changes in my life. I changed my thinking about needing other people, inviting them into my life and my work, asking for help, and understanding that the end result of working with others is much more than I can accomplish solo.

This is the foundation for a keynote presentation I gave today at the Mid-Ohio Valley Chamber of Commerce’s second annual Women in Leadership Luncheon. I used my story and intertwined it with the concepts Marshall Goldsmith so eloquently outlined in his book, and offered it to the ~160 attendees as a learning opportunity. It was truly the highlight of my week, so far. I have to admit, I’ve been looking forward to this day for some months now, as I felt so lucky when the Chamber’s Executive Director accepted my suggestion for using it as the theme for the luncheon.

I had a great time working with the luncheon’s planning committee; a diverse group of talented, creative, focused women who planned and presented a great day of learning and connecting opportunities for the business women of this area.

My intent was for each person to have at least one aha! moment, one new insight, a new perspective, and that when they left the conference center today, they could say without a doubt, “Attending this event was truly worth the six hours of my life that I spent on it today.” You see, I do strive to entertain people when I have the opportunity to speak, but more than that, I want to make people to think, to learn, to grow. I want to share something that will have changed someone’s life, even if in just a small way.

I hope I didn’t disappoint!

I encourage you to take a few minutes right now to think about your current “Here”…not your physical location, but where you are in your work, your learning, your relationships, your growth, your career. Then give some thought to the next “There” you long to get to. What will it take to get you there? What skills will you need to develop? What behaviors will you need to stop demonstrating? What behaviors will you need to cultivate?

Click here to see the newspaper coverage.

Please, share your stories!

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Intentional Leadership — D3, W2, M4 — Focus

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

Now that you’ve defined the skills necessary for success in your current role, and are actively working to sharpen at least one of them, let’s think about who can help you.

Who do you know who can help you deliberately develop the skills required in your role?

While you surely have an extensive network and a long list of contacts, create a list of specific people who are key players with respect to your position. Designate each one based on expertise and associate their names with the skills from the list you created yesterday. Think of them as your “inner circle” with respect to sharpening your skills in this job.

On a piece of paper, make two columns. In the left column, list your top ten skills, one per line. In the right column, list the people you identified above who can help you with each specific skill on your list.

Contact at least one person on your list today to help you with something specific.

You know, people are flattered when we recognize their skills and abilities; they want to know that others recognize their talents and competence. You can win in two ways with this exercise: First, you sharpen your skills, and second, you will likely develop a stronger connection with the people you reach out to.

What are you waiting for? Get started…

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Intentional Leadership — M2 Relationships — Review

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

We’ve just spent the last four weeks focusing on relationships and the critical role they play in our success as leaders. As the poet John Donne said, “No man is an island entire of itself; every an is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”

Each and every one of us is a piece of a bigger whole. While we might like to think we can do it all ourselves, we cannot. And it leads to a very isolated and lonely existence. I speak from experience here, as I think I’ve shared in previous blogs. I used to believe I could be “Superwoman” and do it all myself…but it’s exhausting, disheartening, and discouraging. The results were never as good as they would have been had I involved others. And I often found myself feeling resentful of others for not stepping up and doing their part; why would they, when I made it clear I didn’t need or want them!

We do not live in isolation, but in relationship to others. Real connections with others offer joy and give our lives meaning. They push us to be better than we would be alone, to reach greater heights than we could ever climb alone. Rich and lasting relationships require time, commitment, and self-sacrifice, but their benefits more than compensate for the investment.

If you take some time to think about leaders you respect, you’ll realize they have built rich “relational” bank accounts; they have developed strong relationships with a variety of people and get energy and sustenance from them. When you truly invest in others and nurture your relationships over time, they are sometimes the only stable, consistent thing you can count on in uncertain times.

In fact, when times get tough, experience, hard work, and talent alone will not save you. If you need any kind of external support — a job, money, advice, hope, mentoring, help, or even a client…your extended circle of friends and associates will be the place to turn to meet those needs. However, if you have not invested in relationships, you may find yourself standing alone.

My questions to you are these:

What did you learn about yourself with respect to relationships over the course of this past month?

What are you doing differently as a result?

How are your relationships changing as a result of your taking different actions and demonstrating different behaviors?

How different are your results, with this new perspective?

What will you do to intentionally invest in the lives of others?

On Monday, we will move into Month 3 of this Intentional Leadership Journey, focusing on Excellence. Again, I am sharing this with you as I walk through this same journey, based on the Intentional Leadership booklet I received through the Chick-fil-A Leadercast (created by Giant Impact) that I attended in May 2012.

Let me know how this journey is changing your thinking and your performance.

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Intentional Leadership — D4, W4, M2 — Relationships

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

Time to get your journal out. Take some time today to reflect on the response you received from your intentional act of service yesterday.

How did your action affect your relationship with that person?

How did your self-less action strengthen your family or team?

When you’ve given that some time, reflect on the actions you have taken this month to add value to others, to encourage them in their potential, and to put your team’s agenda in front of your own. What new synergy has been created on your team as a result of your leadership in relationships?

Speaking from personal experience, I can attest to the fact that when I am intentional about doing things for others — when I focus on touching their heart before I ask for a hand — I reap the benefits in many ways. I form deeper, stronger relationships with others, which is far more satisfying – for me, anyway – than shallow interactions. I learn from them. I am better able to to help others because I come to understand who they are and what they need. And I have to say, I love doing the acts of kindness.

Sometimes it’s a stretch trying to tailor an act to someone specific — to do something for them that they will actually appreciate, rather than giving them something I think they should have. For example, last night, I brought home a bag of Jelly Belly’s for my husband — I know he loves them! Quick, simple, results in a smile.

What has your experience been?

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Intentional Leadership — D2, W4, M2 — Relationships

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

Let’s focus on ourselves today. Take some time today to answer these questions:

Describe a time when you heard the ideas of others and valued them.

Describe a situation in which you were willing to sacrifice your self-interest for the good of the group.

Describe what is going on in the lives of your colleagues.

How are you helping develop and grow those who work with you?

Are your employees coming to you and letting you know what is affecting them so you can help?

Each of these questions describes humility-based leadership. Based on your answers, how do you rate as a humble leader?

Remember: You will get out of these exercises what you put in.

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