This requires Downtime, Discipline, Rewiring your Brain.

I went away in January by myself on a caribbean retreat. I was offline, completely disconnected for two weeks. I had coverage at home and work – worry-free! I did a lot of thinking, writing and walking on the beach. Ah – no more noise! My system calmed down and I found my own voice again. It was heaven.

This was a stark contrast to what I experienced upon “re-entry” back into the atmosphere of 21st century constant availability. I came back to a snow crisis, client needs and a backlog of emails. I tried to do too much, too quickly. I got sick. This slowed me down. It helped me see that I need to be more disciplined in saying “no,” deferring or delegating. I continued my meditation practice.

McKinsey’s article Recovering From Information Overload offers some additional strategies.

If you’re already overloaded, here are the key points – information overload makes us anxious and we need to focus, filter and forget.

Easier said than done!

The “need” to be connected constantly is an addiction – we get hooked into fear – of missing something, not being current, etc. We can rewire ourselves for greater capacity and reduced reactivity which allows us to be more selective, proactive, clearer thinking.

My (edited) McKinsey comments:
Changing this behavior comes down to better self-management.

1. Understand and manage your own motives,
2. Enforce team norms for support – initially this may require outside support,
3. Rewire different neural pathways in the brain to not be reactive.

We give our clients concrete tools to calm down the mind and rewire the brain for response versus reaction. When one leads by shifting their energy, it impacts everyone around them – their family, their team, department or organization.

© Copyright 2011 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved. www.sagelead.com

There is a time to lead and a time to follow.

The true calling of a conscious leader in these changing times is recognizing which is which.
The complexities, dependencies and crises of today call for leaders to carry a lot.

How much do you carry?
When you can’t carry, how do you know it?
When you can’t carry, what do you do?
When you can’t carry, how do you ask for help?

When you can carry, what do you do?
When you can carry more because you feel full and you need to release your talents and gifts, what do you do?
When you can carry, how do you ask – what can I do to help?
When you can carry, how do you make it okay for others who can’t carry?
When you can carry, how do you care for others who can’t carry?

When you are upset at others who can’t carry, how do you recognize yourself in them?
When you are upset at others who are carrying, how do you recognize yourself in them?
We may all – leaders and followers – have our time of being in both places.

The conscious leader discerns when, and in what context to lead or follow.
Care.
Care.
Care.
But do not neglect Self-care.
You must make it okay to leave and come back to this, otherwise you will not lead from a full cup.

© Copyright 2011 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved. www.sagelead.com

We are 6 days into the new year, and I don’t know about you, but the speed of change is picking up – the tension is palpable wherever I go. Even if changes are positive or desired, it can still feel like an unmanageable blast.

When it feels as if everything is, or needs to happen at once. What’s a leader to do?
Go slower.

Right.

2011 will be a year of transformational change – with things coming out of nowhere. With this kind of activity, it can feel like your head is spinning – multiple demands, uncertainty, going into unknown territory.

This is exactly when you want to take a deep breath and pretend someone has hit the slow speed button on your life movie. Or, as my brother says, imagine you are walking in peanut butter. This will give you a chance to hit the pause button to allow your brain to process what is happening to make better decisions.

When we live in a microwavable world, we think if we wait 10 minutes to respond to that email, text or phone call, we’ll miss that deal or be unacceptably behind on the to do list. It’s all an illusion and a matter of perspective. I chucked my microwave a long time ago and in those extra two minutes waiting for that water to boil, I’ve conjured up all sorts of great ideas.

© Copyright 2011 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved. www.sagelead.com

Our personal growth division is offering another Manifestation Workshop on October 15th, 6-9 pm, in Danbury, Connecticut.

In an evening, you will gain greater access to your creativity, intuition, and resilient nature to help you better achieve your dreams and goals. This workshop will be informative and experiential in nature. You will have the benefit of creating powerful alliances with like-minded seekers. Sign up by October 1 and receive an unbelievable 35% discount!

Past workshops have included people who have worked on a range of goals and dreams such as career transition, retirement goals, weight reduction and relationship issues.

This is ideal for you if you need a boost to dissolve the obstacles to achieving the success you desire and deserve! Click here for more information or to Register Now.

See what past participants say after 40 days:

“I am finding that I feel more confident in expressing myself…less torn between alternatives, less fearful of anticipated (imagined) responses from others.”

“I am grateful for these new beginnings, for the clarity and energy I feel.”

” The mudra for lessening attachment helped me maintain some calm within a rather frenetic atmosphere.”

Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC     www.sagelead.com

By this I mean recreation, not reinventing your career. I mean having real downtime so you can come back to your problems and challenges with renewed energy and different insight. AND ENJOY your life – AND the PROCESS of your life.

Yesterday was my birthday so I took the day off. I usually do on this day. If you can’t take it off on your birthday, then when can you? Afterall, if you can’t celebrate you, how can you expect anyone else to?

What did I do? In modern, American terms: NOTHING. NO-THING.

Nothing PRODUCTIVE.

I slept in, lounged around while my husband serenaded me on guitar. I picked up my bongo drum and joined in. I meditated, did yoga, wrote in my journal, and got my family (teenagers, sans electronics) to go for a hike in the woods with me. Sounds very hippish? It was a heavy dose of taking in and reflection. And then I topped it off with a high calorie, decadent dinner out – lava cake and all!

No, I am not recreating the movie Eat, Pray, Love. I’ve been doing this on my birthday all my life. The key is to periodically do this throughout the year. I work hard and am a driver by nature plunked down into a culture that reinforces these attirbutes. So, if I don’t manage myself – who will? The rewards are integration and renewal… and living from a full versus depleted cup.

Pick a day in the week where you are intentionally NOT productive and do all the things you love. Experiencing productivity withdrawal? Guilt? Then start small and pick at least an hour or 30 minutes. This nothing thing is actually productive. I dare ya. Try it.

Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC   All rights reserved.   www.sagelead.com

With a lot of fear and negativity circulating on the planet these days, I have been aware of strengthening my positivity muscle.

Recently, my daughter and I took a trip to Stowe, Vermont, for a girls vacation. On the drive back to Connecticut, we stopped at restroom in a gas station. We’ve all had occasion to visit some of these seedy locations. I was pleasantly surprised at how supplied and sparkling clean it was.

When I returned the key, I made a point of saying loudly how wonderfully clean and pleasant the restroom was – that, indeed, it was the best I’d ever experienced.

You should have seen the look on the cashier’s face, “Really? Wow. Thank you. I just cleaned it.”

“Well, it’s a joy.”

“Wow. Thanks.”

By acknowledging a largely thankless job I noticed a visceral shift in the body language of not only the cashier, but everyone else waiting in line.

It’s too easy to point out what doesn’t work. Try - just for today – to acknowledge what does work and where others add value. You might just sprout something new.

Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC   All rights reserved.   www.sagelead.com

I’m noticing a general sense that things are “heating up” – and I don’t just mean because it’s summer here in the Connecticut/New York area.

Perhaps this is due to a variety of reasons – ongoing uncertainty with the economy, getting laid off, having too much to do in a given day, going nuts keeping up with technology – but people’s fuses and capacities are getting shorter and tighter.

This is a sure sign of stress overload – operating with an overtaxed sympathetic nervous system – the flight or fight syndrome.

This leads to people saying things they don’t mean or saying them in a mean way. Everything starts and ends with the power of the word. Whether you are finding yourself in a tense meeting trying to do the impossible with less, working against insane deadlines or you are looking to find more meaning in your work – what you say and how you say it are key in these changing times.

Before you say something to the ‘wrong’ person, at the ‘wrong’ time, in the ‘wrong’ situation, take a moment to cool down your nervous system. If you feel the temperature rising, the most basic way to cool down and “detox” the moment is:

Take a slow, deep inhale through your nose to a count of 8, exhale through your mouth with an “o” shape to a count of 8. You can add: bring in positive feelings with each inhale; discharge negative feelings with each exhale.

Do this 3-11 times. This will allow enough pause and space in the conversation and energetic exchange for a shift to happen. Then open your mouth to respond versus react.  It is only in the present moment that we can truly change anything. And it starts with ourselves.

Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC   All rights reserved.   www.sagelead.com

Okay, so what is quantum entanglement and what does it have to do with the workplace?

Marilyn Schlitz, President of the Institute for Noetic Sciences in San Francisco has asked the question: “Does our consciousness have the capacity to reach out and connect to someone else in a way that’s health-promoting?” (BTW: Dan Brown based his lead character in his book, The Lost Symbol, on Marilyn and the Institute).

To me, science is catching up with what many of us have known intuitively. So quantum entanglement is described as ”Once two particles have interacted, if you separate them, even by miles, they behave as if they’re still connected.”  So far, this has only been demonstrated on the subatomic level but Marilyn and her team are investigating this possibility with human relationships.

Dean Radin, a senior scientist at the lab wonders: “Could people in close relationships — couples, siblings, parent and child — also be ‘entangled’? Not just emotionally, and psychologically — but also physically?”

I suggest, we think about this concept in terms of our working relationships. I’m sure you have taken worries about work relationships (your boss, co-worker, customer) home – and vice versa – brought feelings about personal relationships to work. There has been a lot documented on the physical effects of stressful work environments. I’m sure at some point you have experienced a stressful work relationship.

What would it feel like if these were joys – charges, positive feelings – about your work relationship? What would it feel like to be engaged with a helpful, positive entanglement? Choose one relationship today to focus on to boost your immune system and allow the other worries to fall away. Just for today.

Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC   All rights reserved.   www.sagelead.com

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What’s included: 30 minute initial consultation, four 1 one hour sessions, in-depth resource workbook, paperback book. Optional: demonstration of technology available for additional purchase.

Your part: doing some reading and exercises in between our meetings and applying the tools and insights. Offer expires June 10th. We can only offer this program at this rate for one month and after this, it will go up. Sessions may be in-person or over the phone. Call today for an appointment at  203-730-2103  203-730-2103 or email at info@sagelead.com.

What are you doing today to create more heart in your world? What you do, how you be, how you show up – all create ripple effects. You effect those around you which effects those around them, and so on. What is the effect you are creating as it ripples miles and miles beyond you? These days, with technology, you can be viral around the world within minutes versus days or months a hundred years ago. Big impact. Bu what KIND of impact?

How are you a bridge, a conduit for information, people or resources?

Now is the time we all must join forces. We are seeing much more collaboration taking place – whether it is governments, or large or small companies. Everyone is looking for solutions in “hard times.” However you get there, it seems that the growing consensus is – we can only survive together. The only way out is through.

How do you keep connection – despite how hard it is? How do you maintain yourself, your family, community or organization in these tenuous times? Everyone wants freedom and choices. With freedom comes responsibility. Think about this word: response – ability. It means having an ability to respond.

The way that we create greater ability to respond and dialogue for complex solutions is to create safe containers for people to discuss and explore alternatives. I don’t care whether you are talking about national healthcare, nuclear disarmament or divorce, the principles and challenges are very similar.

What has happened to our ability to create these safe containers long enough for the deeper dialogues to surface? Please check your ripple at the door or none of us will get out of this global mess alive.

© Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC    All rights reserved.      www.sagelead.com