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Posts Tagged ‘Planning’

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 — 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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Intentional Leadership — D5, W2, M5 — Passion

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

What are you discovering this month, with our focus on Passion? Are you true to yours?

Will you incorporate your passion into your weekend plans?

I’m looking forward to some adventure, exploration, fun, and preparation for the Empowerment Mentoring. Starting my first cohort on Tuesday and am really excited to go on this journey with the determined souls who have enrolled.

As you prepare for your weekend, consider these questions:

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

For me, aside from my immediate family, it’s friends. A close friend experienced a mild stroke several weeks ago, and this will be our first opportunity to visit and see how she’s doing and what we can do to brighten their day.

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

A little of all of the above for me.

What is on your calendar in the coming weeks, and on your mind, that you need to prepare for, set aside time for, think about?

Set yourself up for success and plan for those things…otherwise, all those distractions (aka real life!) will take you off on some detours.

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

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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 — 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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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 — D5, W3, M4 — Focus

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , on April 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Happy Friday! Time for your Friday ritual.

Are you like many, so excited to have made it through another week that you rush into the weekend without giving it much thought? Or do you take the time to thoughtfully plan ahead, considering the attention some of your relationships might need, or the rest or reflection time you might need? I’ve been working at this, since we started this journey together in January. I don’t always get it just right, but I am much more thoughtful about my weekends these days, and what I can do to think ahead and plan for the next few weeks, as well.

This weekend, my plans are to rest and prepare for a couple of big events coming up in the next couple of weeks. Of course, there will be play time, as well; one cannot not have play time with a six-year old!

While I did get my flowers planted, I didn’t make it to the nursery for the lavender, and I could freshen the mulch in my beds. I have some fine-tuning to do on the keynote presentation I will be making on Wednesday during the Women in Leadership Luncheon put on by the Mid-Ohio Valley Chamber of Commerce. That’s going to be a fun event! The theme is What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, based on the best-seller by Marshall Goldsmith. In addition to my presentation, we will offer a self-assessment on global leadership for the attendees to work through and discuss; great tool for increased self-awareness and potential growth and change opportunities in the future. In the afternoon, we will have a panel of successful women in various stages of their careers who will share their stories of points in their career where they stumbled and had to learn new behaviors to support their growth to a new level of their work.

If you haven’t read this book, and you are feeling stuck in your work, I recommend you pick up a copy; the answer may be quite plainly spelled out in the book!

There are, of course, a number of other things going on these days, but these are the big rocks for my weekend.

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

With our attention turned to “focus” this month, what has changed for you in how you look at and plan your time?

Who will command your time and attention this weekend?

What activities will you fit into the weekend?

What planning or preparation do you need to do for the coming weeks?

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

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Intentional Leadership — D3, W3, M4 — Focus

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

How many projects are you currently working on? Today, let’s focus on just one.

Pick one and recruit some others on your team, or within your organization, and strategize how to get it done. Then, ask each person to write down all their thoughts about the potential distractions that could keep you from completing the project. Share everyone’s list of potential distractions, then as a team discuss how you can eliminate or protect yourselves from the distractions.

As a team commit to the actions defined above and to remain focused on the project until it is completed. Agree to a plan and move forward.

First step: Name the project.

Second step: List the names of the people you will recruit to help you.

Third step: Describe how they can help you.

Fourth step: Take action!

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Intentional Leadership — D2, W3, M4 — Focus

Posted in Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Step back in time, briefly, and think of a time when you were focused on a task and then became distracted. Now, get out your journal and write about what happened. Describe the circumstances and the factors that led to the distraction.

With this new level of awareness, what recurring factors easily distract you when working on tasks or projects? What are your top three most frequent reactions?

Awareness is the key, so now that you are thinking clearly about your most common distractions, you can develop a system that will allow you to manage them.

Depending on what your distractions are, your management system may be about starting some new behaviors, stopping some existing behaviors, or implementing new behaviors.

For example, if your distractions are emails, phone calls, and unexpected visitors, perhaps you could create a different environment for yourself to work in, uninterrupted. Log-out of your email. Turn off the ringer on your phone and/or send it straight to voice mail. Close your door — with a “Please do not disturb” sign on it.

I worked with someone once who used “traffic lights” on his office door to let his co-workers know if it was ok to enter his office. If the light was green, he was working on things that wouldn’t be negatively impacted by an interruption. When the light was yellow, he was interruptible if the issue was really important (he defined what that meant for him and his team). If the light was red, that meant he should be interrupted ONLY if there was imminent danger of death and destruction! Of course, this system took some educating within his team, to understand what the lights meant and how to determine if what they were about to interrupt him with was really important in the grand scheme of things, or was important only to them in that moment.

So, what is your plan for retaining your focus and dealing with common distractions? Develop a plan that will work for each of your most common distractions. Once you’ve mastered the top three, refocus your attention on the next most common distractions. Over time, you’ll be amazed at how much more focused you are and how much more control you have over how you spend your time, rather than how you may fall victim to distractions.

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