When I am facilitating a class for executive leadership I will ask my executives a series of rapid-fire questions:
*How many of you are concerned that the level of stress in your lives is so great this it seriously threatening your health?
*How many of you have no time for yourselves?
*How any of you are too exhausted to truly enjoy your families when you are with them?
*how any of you are feeling frustration, fear, and even anger about your job~ and your future?
Almost without exception, every person in the room raises his/her hand in response to each question I pose!!!
Then I ask...
*How many of you sleep 8 hrs a night? (No hands)
*How any of you sleep 6 hrs? (A few hands go up)
And, most execs raise their hands at 5 hrs/night! FIVE hours!!!
Wow!!! And, now I will also add that 60% of execs making over $100K believe they will be forced out of their jobs in the next year! Can you say STRESS???
The stresses at the office are not the only stressors execs have...most have children, a spouse, or even more challenging...they are a single parent. These challenges add immeasurably to the level of everyday stress.
The solution to the long hours, frequent travel, and endless pressure to perform is to find ways to cut the sources of stress in your life, right? Wrong! The trick is understanding how to turn it to your advantage. Do you have a plan to help you meet professional challenges? Do you know how to get 'revved up" by stress instead of fatigued by and anxious from it? If not, you might want to get a plan in place soon...
If you need help call us, we can help you attain a better balance between your personal and professional life and achieve new levels of physical, mental, and emotional flexibility.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Before you take a leadership role...
Before people take on leadership roles, they should do an honest assessment and ask 2 questions of themselves:
1. What is the purpose of my leadership? If you answer power, prestige, power, and money you risk losing your purpose and feeling fulfilled! There is nothing wrong with external gratification as long as they are combined with a deeper desire to serve something greater than yourself.
2. What motivates me to lead?
Unfortunately, when you want a leadership role to gain power over others...you look to others for satisfaction and acknowledgment of your status.
If you are having a difficult time staying grounded...look at your external gratification and take an assessment. Have you lost the ability to lead for your own inner satisfaction? Are you looking for supporter to tell you what you want to hear? or Are you honestly trying to make a difference in the world...
1. What is the purpose of my leadership? If you answer power, prestige, power, and money you risk losing your purpose and feeling fulfilled! There is nothing wrong with external gratification as long as they are combined with a deeper desire to serve something greater than yourself.
2. What motivates me to lead?
Unfortunately, when you want a leadership role to gain power over others...you look to others for satisfaction and acknowledgment of your status.
If you are having a difficult time staying grounded...look at your external gratification and take an assessment. Have you lost the ability to lead for your own inner satisfaction? Are you looking for supporter to tell you what you want to hear? or Are you honestly trying to make a difference in the world...
Monday, July 19, 2010
Leadership and your supportive relationships..
The Most Important Person to Your Leadership...who is it?
Your support team starts with having at least one person in your life with whom you can be completely vulnerable and open, warts and all, and still be loved unconditionally. Often that person is the only one who can tell you the honest truth.
Most leaders have their closest relationships with their spouses, although some develop these bonds with other family members, a close friend, or a trusted mentor. When leaders feel unconditionally loved by another person, they are more likely to accept themselves for who they really are.
What could be better than an environment of trust where people feel strong, know who they are, and know they can contribute?
How are you doing with the relationships in your life? Are you spending enough time? Are you building a trusting environment in all areas of your life? Who is your support person...support team?
The world will shape you if you let it.
To have a sense of yourself as you live,
you must make conscious choices.
by John Donahoe, President ebay
Your support team starts with having at least one person in your life with whom you can be completely vulnerable and open, warts and all, and still be loved unconditionally. Often that person is the only one who can tell you the honest truth.
Most leaders have their closest relationships with their spouses, although some develop these bonds with other family members, a close friend, or a trusted mentor. When leaders feel unconditionally loved by another person, they are more likely to accept themselves for who they really are.
What could be better than an environment of trust where people feel strong, know who they are, and know they can contribute?
How are you doing with the relationships in your life? Are you spending enough time? Are you building a trusting environment in all areas of your life? Who is your support person...support team?
The world will shape you if you let it.
To have a sense of yourself as you live,
you must make conscious choices.
by John Donahoe, President ebay
Mental model of star performers...
A mental model is the cognitive map within your mind that guides your behavior. It is similar to a map you use when setting out on a road trip to a new destination. That map guides you in making decisions regarding both our destination and the path to take to reach it. A mental model also influences how you approach your work. It will influence the questions you ask, the goals you agree to support, and solutions you recommend for getting there. When working from a learning framework, your focus is to identify and address capability needs.
If you asked your CEO which of the following s/he values most in an employee,what do you believe would be the response?
1. Employees who knew more, had greater skills and competencies, and scored higher on relevant tests
2. Employees who were busy all the time.
3.Employees who consistently produced outstanding results that supported corporate goals and initiatives.
My experience, indicates that across industries and levels..the dominant choice is 3.
Within every role in an organization, there are individuals who routinely and consistently produce greater results than do their peers. They are called "exemplary performers". They may or may not be the brightest people on the team. They may or may not have the longest tenure. They may or may not have a degree from a prestigious university.
So, then what is the difference that differentiates the stars from standard performers? How do your stars produce outstanding, measurable, and consistent business results? How do you keep your stars performing at top levels?
And, more importantly...how do you keep yourself as a "star" performer?
If you asked your CEO which of the following s/he values most in an employee,what do you believe would be the response?
1. Employees who knew more, had greater skills and competencies, and scored higher on relevant tests
2. Employees who were busy all the time.
3.Employees who consistently produced outstanding results that supported corporate goals and initiatives.
My experience, indicates that across industries and levels..the dominant choice is 3.
Within every role in an organization, there are individuals who routinely and consistently produce greater results than do their peers. They are called "exemplary performers". They may or may not be the brightest people on the team. They may or may not have the longest tenure. They may or may not have a degree from a prestigious university.
So, then what is the difference that differentiates the stars from standard performers? How do your stars produce outstanding, measurable, and consistent business results? How do you keep your stars performing at top levels?
And, more importantly...how do you keep yourself as a "star" performer?
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Engage and enjoy this activity to figure out what you should be doing...
Get to a quiet spot and give these questions your full attention. It will help guide you, step by step, to arrive at the answers to some of your most important questions in your life:
1. What do I want to do?
2. Why do I want to do it?
3. What is the most significant adversity or obstacle I will face as I attempt to do it?
4. What strengths do I have, and which strengths do I need to forge to make it happen?
5. How will I feel when I accomplish this?
Did you just read this activity or did you actually do it? Change begins with action... if you really want to change, you must have a starting place...
1. What do I want to do?
2. Why do I want to do it?
3. What is the most significant adversity or obstacle I will face as I attempt to do it?
4. What strengths do I have, and which strengths do I need to forge to make it happen?
5. How will I feel when I accomplish this?
Did you just read this activity or did you actually do it? Change begins with action... if you really want to change, you must have a starting place...
What's the difference between skills, talents, and strengths?
Do you use these terms interchangeably? Perhaps you think they are the same thing. Let's take a peek at what they mean...
Skills defines are those things you're relatively good at, whether innate or learned.
Talents defined are skills that you have a natural ability to do well. They still may have to be refined and developed further, buy you have a natural ability to do them with relative ease.
So, to confuse matters what about the definition of strengths...this is where we see the real difference. Strengths are deeper skills. They are more overarching and sometimes less specific than skills are to a given task. Our dictionary defines strength as "an extremely valuable or useful ability, asset or quality."
Strengths might encompass several skills!!! Notice...strengths are not minor abilities, but assets of tremendous value. Skills are a subset of strengths.
For example, asking good, probing questions to learn what a customer needs is a skill. Using the answers to those questions to shape customer-centered solutions is a strength.
Strengths make you stronger for all of your future endeavors.
I tell my clients/leaders to tap into their strengths when they take a 360. Why? Because that's where they are going to get the most impact. It's an interesting process as most people focus on the weakness aspect of their 360. It's a mistake. Always focus on your strengths to drive forward your career, your life, and your innate potential.
Become who you are meant to be!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGODurRfVv4
What are you doing to hone in on your strengths?
Skills defines are those things you're relatively good at, whether innate or learned.
Talents defined are skills that you have a natural ability to do well. They still may have to be refined and developed further, buy you have a natural ability to do them with relative ease.
So, to confuse matters what about the definition of strengths...this is where we see the real difference. Strengths are deeper skills. They are more overarching and sometimes less specific than skills are to a given task. Our dictionary defines strength as "an extremely valuable or useful ability, asset or quality."
Strengths might encompass several skills!!! Notice...strengths are not minor abilities, but assets of tremendous value. Skills are a subset of strengths.
For example, asking good, probing questions to learn what a customer needs is a skill. Using the answers to those questions to shape customer-centered solutions is a strength.
Strengths make you stronger for all of your future endeavors.
I tell my clients/leaders to tap into their strengths when they take a 360. Why? Because that's where they are going to get the most impact. It's an interesting process as most people focus on the weakness aspect of their 360. It's a mistake. Always focus on your strengths to drive forward your career, your life, and your innate potential.
Become who you are meant to be!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGODurRfVv4
What are you doing to hone in on your strengths?
Are you all work and no play? How's that working for you?
Are you all work and no play? How's that working for you?
Have you watched the movie, The Shining? It seems if you’re all work and no play you’re not only dull but apparently you’ll also end up completely crazy. Ok, so maybe you won’t end up running through an abandoned hotel with an ax, but focusing ALL your passion and energy on work will eventually start to significantly affect your outside life, family and relationships.
We all want to succeed in our business ventures, but at the same time it is important to remember we must keep up the delicate balance between work and the other aspects of our life. Here are 10 tips from top CEOs on how they successfully manage to maintain a great life/work balance…
http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/03/improving-work-life-balance.html
How do you maintain a successful life/work balance?
Have you watched the movie, The Shining? It seems if you’re all work and no play you’re not only dull but apparently you’ll also end up completely crazy. Ok, so maybe you won’t end up running through an abandoned hotel with an ax, but focusing ALL your passion and energy on work will eventually start to significantly affect your outside life, family and relationships.
We all want to succeed in our business ventures, but at the same time it is important to remember we must keep up the delicate balance between work and the other aspects of our life. Here are 10 tips from top CEOs on how they successfully manage to maintain a great life/work balance…
http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/03/improving-work-life-balance.html
How do you maintain a successful life/work balance?
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