See Through Scotomas!

I was getting my nails done yesterday and got into a discussion on life and living with Renee, who does my nails. This is no unusual situation as Renee and I often wax philosophical during our once a month nail time together. But for some reason our discussion struck a self-reflective chord yesterday.

I walked away… nails brightly polished, thinking about my own personal scotomas or blind spots. I cleared the clutter in my life this week, but how about the hidden clutter in my mind!?

I know there are things that I know about myself. But as with the iceberg metaphor from psychology 101, there is a vast area that lies unseen beneath the surface of consciousness. Others seem to know these things about us, but we ourselves often remain clueless about many of our own behaviors.

Leadership demands self-awareness and self-awareness takes both intention and attention. You have to intend to see yourself the way others see you. So here are 5 things you (and I) can do each day to bring some of those blind spots into view:

1. Start with intention. Intend to increase your awareness of your own blind spots! Intention includes determination and resolve. Resolve to become more aware of yourself, your words and behavior every day.
2. Stop blaming others or anything outside of yourself. Take personal responsibility for what shows up in your life today.
3. Pay attention to the cues that others send during your interactions with them. People often send us signals, yet we remain clueless. Read the clues – body language and facial expressions speak volumes.
4. Review your day. Take 5 at the end of each day and review the results. Check your feelings; they will clue you in to what kind of a day you had. Then ask yourself what you can do tomorrow to improve!
5. Renew yourself each morning. Do your toothbrush visualization of a great day. See yourself enacting the improvement you promised you would make at the end of yesterday.

Aloha for now from the beautiful islands of Hawaii! Trinidad

Reflection to Action – Clear the Clutter!

As you know, clutter keeps us from experiencing total clarity in our lives. This holds true in both our personal as well as our professional lives. Stuff piles up over time, especially if we have a family! If you want to be clear and focused, make sure the physical space you inhabit is clear of clutter!

So the opportunity this week is to look at your life through the lens of this question:

Have you cleared the clutter in your life to produce the kind of clarity you want?

And here is the challenge! The next time you step into your car, look in the back seat. Are there books, napkins, discarded Starbuck cups, kids sunglasses and extraneous paraphernalia all over the floor?Get the kids to help you if need be, but clear all clutter out!!

When you step into your office on Monday morning, take a look around. Then open each of the drawers and files. Check out the clarity in those ‘hidden’ places.

Here is the rest of the checklist:

• The house
• Bedrooms
• Kitchen – and kitchen closets
• Family room
• Home office
• Den
• Bathrooms
• Garage
• Yard – front and back
• etc.

And have fun. If it’s overwhelming, make it a family project and spread it over the next month!

Remember: the result of clearing the clutter is clarity, clarity equals power and power equals effectiveness!!
Aloha from the beautiful Hawaiian Islands!  Trinidad

Self-Reflection October 18, 2009

What is one thing you could do this week to contribute to your team and/or organization that would make the biggest positive impact for everyone involved?

Once you have answered this question, move to action. Say what you will do; then do what you say!

IronMan

Each year Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii hosts one of the most prestigious IronMan events on the planet. The IronMan is a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and at 26.2 mile run.

About a week before the event begins participants, their families and support teams flood into town to prep for the weather and water conditions of this special race. They come from all over the world bearing their countries flags and their country’s honor!

The excitement building to the race is palpable. Spouses, children and parents flood the streets and fill the restaurants for a week in advance. The fervor peaks on the morning of the race with 600 volunteers prepping from about 3:30am for the ocean swim and lining the course at their stations.

At 6:00am the top contenders explode into the water followed by nearly 1700 others a few minutes later. What a day! Families and support teams count the hours and track their loved ones progress on the internet.

Here is a pic of a man crossing the line to become an IronMan. If you look closely you can see him dancing a jig over the finish line (in the circle). It was a day long to be remembered and I’m glad I was there!

See the results of the race at  ironman.com

Self-Reflection to Action

Life is whirling at nanosecond speeds these days. It seems from the numerous emails I’ve received lately, that this hyper-speed is spinning many people off center. This isn’t surprising given the speed and impact with which the future is hitting us.

YouTube can be launched in 2.5 seconds while emails are traveling 3,000 miles in just 2.4 seconds. Most phones these days serve as mini-computers allowing us to access our email, search the net, and listen to music all at the same time.

If you have happened to feel as if you’re spiraling outward from your inner core, the self-reflection question for this week is a question that will bring you back to center. If you’re feeling balanced and in control the question for the week serves as a reminder to stay focused. Either way, have fun with it:

Am I on track with my personal life purpose? And…

What are three things that I can do this week to leverage my life purpose or to re-align my life and work with my purpose?

Much Aloha from the beautiful islands of Hawaii, Trinidad.

Self-Reflection to Action

Ask yourself the following question every day for five days:

“What is one thing I could do today that would deliver the greatest amount of improvement in my relationship with _________?

Fill in the blank with one person every day. This might be a personal or professional relationship.

Remember that an idea that stays in your head is dead! So each day act on your answer. Do what you said you might do.

Again, where we put our attention is where we get the result! In this way by  week’s end you will have done something special with, or for, five different people in your life. Further, you will have nurtured five different people or five different relationships that are important in your universe.

Much Aloha from the beautiful islands of Hawaii, Trinidad

Philosophy of Leadership

W. Edward Deming was one of my mentors. He was the man responsible for TQM (Total Quality Management) and the rise of Japan after WWII. When I was with him he made a powerful statement that forever impacted my life and teaching. He said, “It is impossible to lead without a philosophy of leadership!”

To this day my time with Deming is held dear to my heart and I took him at his word. I went home days later and spent the next two weeks clarifying my own philosophy. And ever since that day, I have inspired others to clarify their philosophy. People tell me that they have gained great value out of putting their thoughts to paper.

I recently received a post from one of an Australian educational leader, Lyn Godfrey. She had missed the last day of the program but wanted me to know that she had completed her philosophy. You can view it in its entirety as a comment posted on The Creative Edge dated September 8th ’09.

I wanted to share the last few lines of it with you as I felt it a good reminder of our mission as we work with others.

“As a leader it’s important to lead from the ground,
‘Cos synergy of others is something profound.
The decisions you make and the time that you share
Are important to show you’re what you declare.
The talk that you talk and the steps that you take
Make your journey through leadership credible and great.”

Thank you, Lyn, for taking the time to share your thoughts with us!

For those of you who would like to write your philosophy of leadership, and easy way to start it is: As a leader, this I believe…

Again, much Aloha from the beautiful islands of Hawaii… Trinidad