(O)pportunities: Destination Unknown
Each of us carries our own personal definition of opportunity based on past experience. To some, the definition may be centered on growth while others may view opportunity as a means of fear and resistance to change.
August 11th, 2009 - Posted in ABC's, Uncategorized, attitude, change, emotional, habits | | 2 Comments
(L)eadership - Negotiating The Slippery Slope
We all know people who positively lead others and get things done. They seem to have been born with the ability to take people to a place of empowerment and help them them reach their goals. Most of them possess the same characteristics:
- have a positive attitude
- forward thinking vision
- ask questions
- look at the big picture
- discover and use other peoples strengths and talents
- negotiate conflict well most of the time
It looks simple, easy and transparent. Others think of them as mentors and personal advocates.
No one is born with the ability to lead. We are not given sprinkles of leader ability. The truth is that everyone has the opportunity to learn and develop into a leader. Along the way we learn, stretch and grow into leadership in small ways.
Leadership as a slippery slope no matter what position or situation you find yourself in. We can sabotage our own good intentions as these actions appear normal to us.
What does the slippery slope look along our way to wiping strong leadership and replacing it with self inflicting sabotage.
- We become more of a friend with the people we lead then a leader. Whoops, we fall when we need to deliver bad news as to not hurt the “friendship”. We want to be liked more than lead.
- Being extremely empathetic. This looks like “I feel your pain!’” when being told that another can’t come into work or do this or that for various reasons. Leaders need to care but not to the point that someone takes advantage of their empathy… and it WILL happen.
- Refusing to be the role model that we want others to emulate. You were chosen as a leader so step up and show the world what that looks like. Others will rise or fall to that expectation. Raise others up not push them down with your role as a leader.
- Telling others that we do not agree with a management decision and why. Although we might not always agree with decision, we can position it so that our “opinion” is kept out of the mix. If you don’t buy in to it, then they won’t either.
Leave your ski’s at home and take the safe way down. Leading others in business, family or personal can be a rewarding and growing experience.
May 19th, 2009 - Posted in ABC's, Uncategorized, attitude, intellectual | | 0 Comments
(K)now The 5 Areas of Beautiful Strength
I walked into a national sporting goods store and saw a Nike tee shirt with the phase “Strong is the new beautiful”. Up until then, I never thought about beauty or health in that way. With so much media attention paid to an “image” of beauty, we sometimes lose focus on what beauty and strength can be in other life areas. This also apples to men as beauty and health are gaining a greater focus on their side of the fence.
I stopped to think about if I was developing strength in the five areas of strategic wellness: physical, emotional, intellectual, social and occupational. Where is my strength in each area? Am I working towards strength? If not, let’s get to the big WHY?
- Are my muscles strong to lift and bend? Are they lean and flexible? Can I stretch and just plain move?
- Have I dusted out the cobwebs of any emotional issues or pain and begin to heal the past hurts?
- Am I doing enough to educate myself by attending free webinar’s, reading, blogging, joining online user groups for support and inspiration and attending professional development classes?
- Then there’s the social aspect with community, friends and family. Have I been reaching out, going out and or just plain being out? With the busyness of the past few months, we tend to hunker in for the long winter.
- Finally, am I planning on reaching my full occupational potential? If yes, what plans do I have to increase my value as an employee and reach new heights in my career?
Our hearts desire can be strong. Each of us will ask our own strength questions to see how heart healthy we’ve become. Beauty follows with confidence, joy, youthful expression and a positive attitude of wealth and happiness.
Be healthy and fabulous!
Sandra
April 22nd, 2009 - Posted in ABC's, Uncategorized, attitude, emotional, health, intellectual, occupational, physical, social | | 0 Comments
(J)ustifying Our Measuring Stick
Where you ever in a conversation where you didn’t totally agree with someone. Your kinda looking at them sideways trying to understand their point of view but are not quite getting it. This happen to me recently. Jim was telling me how he “coached” a co-worker into looking at their own personal measuring stick to measure results.
Jim was approached by a co-worker, Kevin, and given a great compliment. Basically, that the job he was doing was “great” and that Kevin could never measure up to the work ethic or results of Jim on this particular project. Jim commented that we have our own personal measuring sticks on how we measure results. Kevin should use his own measuring stick to find his own “job well done”.
I agreed with Jim on using his own personal measuring stick. The first person we need to please is ourselves. That’s what produces our self confidence for the future. In contrast, our measuring stick is made up of many inches.
- Inch one -past personal and professional experiences
- Inch two -family upbringing
- Inch three -work ethic
- Inch four - failures in life and business
- Inch five - successes
- and … so on
But ….. what if …. our personal measuring stick is too low and we use this as a way to quit, avoid and not strive for success.
Joining my own thoughts to Jim’s would look like this.
We have our own personal measuring sticks on how we measure results. We should visualize a measuring stick that is much longer. Those inches should reflect a variety of expectations
- what is required to complete the job
- how my management team will measure me on a “job well done”
- how does this fit into my personal and professional development plan
- the areas of growth I need to be successful
- s-t-r-e-a-t-c-h-i-n-g and g-r-o-w-i-n-g even though it’s uncomfortable
When we stop striving we settle. Right now in history, we have tremendous opportunities. Regardless of the economy or our financial status, we can continue to stretch ourselves to prepare for a greater future. Our measuring stick should be growing by yards as our experiences and development increase. We are forging the inches on this stick to be even better for future opportunities.
Keep adding inches to your personal measuring stick. To stop striving is settling. Status quo may not always be the way to go.
Be healthy and fabulous!
Sandra
September 16th, 2008 - Posted in ABC's, Uncategorized, attitude, change, intellectual, occupational, performance, productivity | | 1 Comments
