Laser Provision: Great leaders don't just get things done; great leaders get things done through people. That's the definition of leadership. Unfortunately, all too many leaders neglect or even violate the people side of the equation. We become so focused on getting things done that the needs of people get stepped on or trounced in the process. "Do whatever it takes!" If that sounds like you, then I encourage you to read on. This Provision is an invitation to think again. The needs of people must always be respected, honored, and met; otherwise, results suffer and leaders fail to get things done. Read entire Provision...
Coaching Inquiries: What kind of attention do you pay to relationships? Do you inspire trust in the people you work with? What needs do you naturally pay attention to and honor? What needs are you more likely to overlook or neglect? How can you become a more holistic leader? Who can help you to get where you want to go?
To reply to this Provision, use our Feedback Form. To talk with us about coaching or consulting services for yourself or your organization, use our Contact for Coaching Form to arrange for a complimentary conversation.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Seven Archetypal Stories
It has been said that there are only seven archetypal stories. In his book, The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, Christopher Booker describes them this way:
Coaching Inquiries: What kind of stories circulate in your organization? What kind of stories circulate about you, as leader? Who could tell you the truth about that? How can you shift the stories that are being told in a positive direction? What kinds of things do you want to pay attention to in order to make that happen?
We invite you to Contact Us using our Feedback Form if you are interested in learning more about LifeTrek Coaching or participating in our Evocative Coach Training Program.
- Overcoming the Monster
- Rags to Riches
- A journey -- the Quest
- A journey -- the Voyage and Return
- Comedies
- Tragedies
- Rebirth
- What happens when someone breaks the rules?
- Is the big boss human?
- Can the little person rise to the top?
- Will I get fired?
- Will the organization help me?
- How will the boss react to mistakes?
- How will the organization deal with obstacles?
Coaching Inquiries: What kind of stories circulate in your organization? What kind of stories circulate about you, as leader? Who could tell you the truth about that? How can you shift the stories that are being told in a positive direction? What kinds of things do you want to pay attention to in order to make that happen?
We invite you to Contact Us using our Feedback Form if you are interested in learning more about LifeTrek Coaching or participating in our Evocative Coach Training Program.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Results Matter
Laser Provision: Great leaders get things done. Instead of getting attached to particular strategies, and then becoming disheartened when they don't work out, great leaders stay focused on universal needs, and then become energized for seeing them satisfied one way or another. That is the desire that burns in the heart of leaders. To see that desire through, great leaders cultivate optimism, creativity, and persistence. It may not be easy to get from here to there, but we can rise to the challenge and enjoy the ride. Read on to find out how. Read entire Provision...
Coaching Inquiries: What is your framework when it comes to your goals and desires? How optimistic, creative, and persistent are you? How could you strengthen those leadership muscles? What contribution could you make that would bring you the most amount of joy and fill you with the most amount of juice? Who could join you in that quest?
To reply to this Provision, use our Feedback Form. To talk with us about coaching or consulting services for yourself or your organization, use our Contact for Coaching Form to arrange for a complimentary conversation.
Coaching Inquiries: What is your framework when it comes to your goals and desires? How optimistic, creative, and persistent are you? How could you strengthen those leadership muscles? What contribution could you make that would bring you the most amount of joy and fill you with the most amount of juice? Who could join you in that quest?
To reply to this Provision, use our Feedback Form. To talk with us about coaching or consulting services for yourself or your organization, use our Contact for Coaching Form to arrange for a complimentary conversation.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Energy in Leadership
My friend and colleague, Marcia Reynolds, has written about the role of persistence in life and work, in her article "A Healthy Supply of Energy is Needed for Success." How do we know when to hang in there and keep trying? How do we know when to scrap a strategy and to head off in a new direction? She suggests that we conduct an "Energy Allocation Exercise" to chart our course and determine our path. Here's a synopsis of the exercise:
Coaching Inquiries: What is happening with your energy right now? Is it waxing or waning? What things give you energy? How could you do those things more consistently and joyfully? Who could support you in the process?
We invite you to Contact Us using our Feedback Form if you are interested in learning more about LifeTrek Coaching or participating in our Evocative Coach Training Program.
Step 1. Divide a sheet of paper in half. Label the left side "Can’t Control" and the right, "Can Control." Now think about the specific goal you’re struggling to achieve.The Energy Allocation Exercise is another way to get at the distinction between needs and strategies. Confusing the two always gets us into trouble. If our energy is dwindling or in short supply, then chances are we have gotten hooked on a strategy. When that happens, sorting through our priorities and possibilities can set us on the right path, all over again.
Step 2. Under "Can’t Control," list the aspects of the situation that you’re unable to change. Be honest with yourself. If the person’s mind you are trying to alter or the people guarding the policy you’re trying to revise haven’t budged in months, it’s safe to say you’re wasting your time.
Step 3. In the "Can Control" column, list the aspects that are within your power to affect. Include yourself--your willingness to deal with the situation, your mindset and attitude, and the emotions that you need to feel so you can shift out of complaining and into action. Include everything within your "response-ability."
Step 4. Return to column one, your "Can’t Control" list. How much energy do you put into these items, including complaining or worrying about them? These are your dead horses. You need to quit putting energy into what you can't control. You can kick your dead horses all you want, but they won’t budge. It may take time to bury a dead horse, but you’ll feel better when it’s over. As hard as that may be, heed the wisdom of George Bernard Shaw who said, "Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."
Step 5. Review the right column, your "Can Control" list. Which of these items are you working on now? Are there any you can commit to doing or beginning today? Place a check mark next to each item you will activate immediately. This is where you should expend your energy. Few excuses justify inaction in this column. If you feel trapped or helpless, direct your energy to where you can take charge.
Coaching Inquiries: What is happening with your energy right now? Is it waxing or waning? What things give you energy? How could you do those things more consistently and joyfully? Who could support you in the process?
We invite you to Contact Us using our Feedback Form if you are interested in learning more about LifeTrek Coaching or participating in our Evocative Coach Training Program.
Sunday, April 04, 2010
50,000 Daffodils
Thanks to CL for passing along this anonymous and beautiful story!
Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.
Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.
"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!" My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.
"But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this." "Carolyn," I said sternly, "please turn around." "It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."
After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, "Daffodil Garden." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.
It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.
"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn. "Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.
On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking", was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."
For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.
That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world ...
"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"
My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said. She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?" Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting.....
Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.
Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.
"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!" My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.
"But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this." "Carolyn," I said sternly, "please turn around." "It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."
After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, "Daffodil Garden." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.
It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.
"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn. "Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.
On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking", was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."
For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.
That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world ...
"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"
My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said. She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?" Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting.....
- Until your car or home is paid off
- Until you get a new car or home
- Until your kids leave the house
- Until you go back to school
- Until you finish school
- Until you clean the house
- Until you organize the garage
- Until you clean off your desk
- Until you lose 10 lbs.
- Until you gain 10 lbs.
- Until you get married
- Until you get a divorce
- Until you have kids
- Until the kids go to school
- Until you retire
- Until summer
- Until spring
- Until winter
- Until fall
- Until you die...
There is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
So work like you don't need money.
Love like you've never been hurt, and, Dance like no one's watching.
Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day! Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.
We invite you to Contact Us using our Feedback Form if you are interested in learning more about LifeTrek Coaching or participating in our Evocative Coach Training Program.
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