The best gift we can give loved ones over the holidays is to truly be present.

“The holidays are a good time to renew your heart connection with people. Make that your focus and priority. Spend more time enjoying people and their holiday spirit and it can help rekindle your holiday spirit. A great way you can enjoy more of the holiday spirit is by keeping your focus on genuinely appreciating and caring for others. Ask yourself each morning, ‘Who can I show a little more appreciation to, or who can I express more genuine care for today?’ It can be as simple as opening the door for someone or telling people that you appreciate them. Genuine gestures of care and appreciation are often remembered long after the holiday glitter is gone. You’ll find this is a fun gift for others and a big gift to yourself.”

Excerpts from Tips To Prevent Holiday Stress And Avoid Faking The Holiday Spirit article, Huffington Post Dec. 2009 by Doc Childre and Deborah Rozman, Ph.D

Courtesy of the Institute of HeartMath:

“Into your heart, pour generous quantities of love and care. Stir gently and sincerely. If the mixture is lumpy, add compassion and forgiveness and continue stirring ’til the lumps are dissolved. You may find bubbles of hope rising to the surface. Taste-testing at this point is encouraged. Although you will find the mixture already flavorful, you can enhance it by adding appreciation.
Appreciation for the qualities of your heart, for friends and family, or for this special time of year are all excellent flavor choices. Garnish with a sprig of joy and serve in large spoonfuls to everyone you meet this holiday season.”

I just came across an article in the Wall Street Journal written several months ago where Jack Welch commented that there is no such thing as work life balance, particularly for women. You bet he got strong comments!

Here is my take: I think work life balance is all about choices based upon what you value. As with all choices there are trade offs and consequences. The big debates come into play when you reflect on what your actual career aspirations are and what is doable in terms of what you want in life – whether it is to take time off to have children and not work or work part-time or whether you just want to work full-time and have a life. Do you live to work or work to live?

If you have CEO aspirations, there is a prevalent paradigm that exists that it is not possible to become CEO or achieve high executive levels and have a balanced life. I say this depends… on who you are and your work culture.

Technology has introduced a lot more flexiblity in terms of where and when we work. It’s up to us humans to push back on workload and not try and do it all this week or this month.

Do I believe it is possible as a woman (or man) to “have it all” – a primary passionate relationship, close connection with your kids and creative, lucrative and fulfilling work? ABSOLUTELY!!

…Maybe not in the same, hour, day, month or year, but over the course of your life. It’s a question of when and how. What do you really want and are you willing to pay the price? Be honest with yourself – you’ll save yourself a lot of time and effort long-term.

Copyright 2009 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC      www.sagelead.com

Thank you to my friend Denise for these wise words today.

“May the following poem give you some tasty food for thought.

Being a professional in the field of leadership and organization assessments, I have seen everything – instruments that have been rigorously validated by Ivy League PHds to those that have been thrown together using color coding by amateurs. I am always on the lookout for something unique, meaningful, relevant and with some level of rigor and science behind it.

Last year while attending the National Association of Energy Psychology’s Conference in Alberquerque, NM, I met Roberta Coker, who was administering Hand Dynamics’ Life Purpose Fingerprint Assessement. I consider myself an open skeptic – always exploring new and different things with a critical eye. At first I thought, “Okay, this looks like some new age ‘who hoo’ thing.”

After she administered my handprint, explained it’s meaning, and I questioned her methods – I was sold on there being some validity to this assessment.

This system is based on empirical data, like modern psychology. It’s been around for 30 + years. It’s not predictive, like a fortune teller. But it can give you useful information outlining a blueprint of your inclinations, potential and nature – at a soul level. I know this word “soul” is not very “corporate,” but think of it as something core to who you are at a deep level.

It’s methods are based on those used by the FBI to identify unique characteristics. Your fingerprint patterns, unalterable and unchanging since 5 months prior to your birth, are coded in your DNA. With all the change happening in the world, isn’t it nice to know that at at least your fingerprints don’t change? For more information, check out Roberta’s website for not “just another tool” to help with cultivating self-awareness & understanding.

Her methods are based on the work of Richard Unger.

Copyright 2009 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC       www.sagelead.com

Huh?

What is the energy and intent you “put out there?” If we are all connected, then whatever we do can act like a ripple in a lake – it can spiral and escalate. Do you want it to be a gentle ripple in the water or a world war 3 bomb that displaces everything in your wake?

We recently watched Morgan Spurlock’s Where in The World is Osama Bin Laden?

It reminded me of the difficulty and misunderstanding I had with my insurance agent (wrote about August 19th). It helped me understand why walls build up and people reinforce perceptions and negative feelings  … it’s up to us on a small scale everyday to keep our side of the street clean – all we can control is our own integrity.

For me, it ultimately is a question of managing my emotions and reactions so they don’t escalate and I can have an authentic two-way communication with another person. We too often think we have communicated when we speak and “get something off our chest”… we need to hear and understand not just the words of what someone else says but their motivation and intent.

Our challenge lies in neutralizing our emotions or seeing beyond the other person’s emotions – and yet our emotions give us much needed information. So, how do you balance accessing and feeling your emotions but not letting them run you?

Copyright 2009 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC        www.sagelead.com

Today is the Fall Equinox, marking the transition from summer to fall. There are equal parts sunlight and darkness everywhere on the planet. No discrimination. And the moon tonight will be unusually large and bright.

Before the days of readily available food for most people, life was hard. People farmed the land and provided sustenance for themselves. Weather was unpredictable and so this time of year when the harvest was bountiful, gratitude became important.

But today, what do we do? We take for granted the food that we have and the other great blessings of shelter, clothing, family, friends, meaningful work.

Use today or tonight as a time to express gratitude for what you have or to reflect on what you want to reap more of in your life – focus, discipline, love, peace, support. What you focus on multiplies.

Copyright 2009 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC    www.sagelead.com

An ancient text – the I-Ching – has words of wisdom we can all heed when faced with obstacles. Nature can be our greatest teacher, if we let it. Pause and Build Strength.

“When flowing water … meets with obstacles on its path, a blockage in its journey, it pauses. It increases in volume and strength, filling up in front of the obstacle and eventually spilling past it….  

“Do not turn and run, for there is nowhere worthwhile for you to go.

Do not attempt to push ahead into the danger … emulate the example of the water:

Pause and build up your strength until the obstacle no longer represents a blockage.”

This can be counter-intuitive.

Where do you need to pause to be strong like water? Have you noticed obstacles dissolve when you don’t immediately react? Experiment, just for today.

Copyright 2009 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC         www.sagelead.com

It’s never too late to Wake Up! Effect Conscious Leadership in your own world. We all know the healthcare (or disease care) system is a complex issue but instead of feeling overwhelmed, do something within your control to effect change, starting with you and then your circle of influence in your family and community.

I challenge you to do just ONE thing today to improve your overall health and well-being. It may be to just close your door and eliminate one item on your to do list and just breath for 10 minutes!

Thomas Dahlborg, Executive Director at Hygeia Foundation d/b/a True North Health Center, posted on a Linked In Forum today, one of the most articulate comments on the topic of health care reform I have seen. Check it out:

“John F. Kennedy spoke these words in his inaugural address on January 20, 1961:

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

How does this apply to health care reform?

In the health care debate the question is often asked:

“Is health care a right or a privilege?”

In line with President Kennedy here is a third option:

“Health care is an obligation.”

We are obligated to and owe it to ourselves and to our families to take care of our own health. To eat right, to exercise right, to get enough sleep, to find healthy options to relieve stress, to stop smoking, to drink alcohol in moderation, to develop healthy relationships, to work to maintain an optimal weight, to ensure optimal conditioning prior to engaging in sports, to wear a bike helmet when riding a bike, to wear a safety belt when in a car, to follow scientific-based prevention guidelines best suited to you as an individual, to make one’s health a priority, to develop and manage a health care related budget, and so much more.

Living up to these obligation alone could significantly improve the health of individuals and communities and lower the cost of health care more than any reform option currently on the table. Living up to these obligations could literally change the world.

Beyond the personal obligations articulated above we also have obligations to identify barriers to good health, to identify the root-cause of these barriers, and to stand up in community to break these barriers down.

These barriers include, but are not limited to:

- Environmental barriers to good health such as pollution, chemicals in our foods, food production techniques, and more

- Political barriers to good health such as the politics of stakeholders in the health care system (insurers, politicians, providers) worrying more about themselves than about the greater good of the community

- Financial barriers to good health such as balancing the inability for some to afford high-quality, value-based health care with the human need to give, to earn, to be needed, and to be honored

- Reimbursement barriers to good health such as primary care physicians having to generate 25-30 or more relative value units (as patient services are referred to in the health care world) per day (clearly not based on the good of the patient) and physician practices having to make up financial shortfalls by ordering more and more ancillary services and driving up the cost of care

- Other access related barriers to good health such as cultural, language, education, limited number of high-quality physicians in rural areas, and more

We have voices, we have our energy, and we have our obligation to stand up, to get involved and to make a significant difference (and not wait for our country to do it for us).

What can we do for our country to significantly improve the health of individuals and communities? Much…starting with living up to our obligation to take care of ourselves and our families and our communities.”

AMEN Thomas!

Yes and no. To an extent.

The New York Times today ran an article: Mining The Web For Feelings, Not Facts.

While I agree that there are some really sophisticated algorithms that employ advanced analytics to categorize feeling and opinion-related data, I highly doubt we can get beyond 80% accuracy. As the article indicates, there are too many nuances with our language. Let’s not be deluded to think that a computer can pick up on irony, puns, or double entendres.

And, I certainly hope we don’t get to this point.

It’s a scary proposition to think that our feelings and opinions will one day read like facts. Facts have their purpose, being undisputable. And sometimes it doesn’t matter what the facts are: people still have feelings or opinions about things that may, indeed, not be based on any facts or despite the facts. Largely people’s views are based on their perception or interpretation of the facts. And, with the explosion of social media, many times the online twitter frenzy is ruled by this kind of activity – giving a point-of-view, opinion, feeling about a product or service with few facts considered or one fact unduly weighted over another.

We have to acknowlege that our emotions and intuition rule our lives and decisions more than we would like or care to admit. That’s okay – as long as we are clear that they are not facts.