I received yet another call today from a friend saying she was laid off yesterday. This is the third time in the last week I’ve gotten this call. The first call was a family member; the second call was from a colleague about an organization that had layoffs which included a lot of our mutual colleagues.

As I write this I am listening to radio news indicating that the stock market just went up after releasing a report that fewer layoffs occurred last month.

What’s really happening out there? What wave are you riding right now – the wave of optimism or fear and anxiety about the future? Or are you frozen, waiting for the next wave to hit? What is the wave – layoffs, restructuring, illness?

Get clear about your filters and screens. How are you viewing the events – world events or the specific events that make up the drama of your life story? One thing is certain, if you spend no time reflecting on these kind of questions, you will be at the whim of every news story or marketing scheme swaying your perspective, strategy and emotional life. Reflecting for insight to create “right” action is what creates sustainability.

Focused and disciplined reflection will help you stay grounded and ride the waves of the chaotic environment we find ourselves in – whether you are facing a layoff, closing doors of your business or venturing into untested markets. No one has a crystal ball – and even the “economic experts” don’t agree.

For bodily health, nothing replaces water – not tea, not juice, not milk. And your body craves and needs it to survive. You are more than 70% water. Most Adults are dehydrated.

For emotional and mental health – and business health – nothing replaces focused reflection – not jogging, not driving, not quick fixes. Reflection is the mechanism by which we gain perspective and integrate our learnings and process our life/business experiences. Reflection is the hydration we need to keep ourselves functioning and vibrant.

The Sage Leader stays hydrated through focused reflection that informs “right action.” Slow down to at least check your filters, just for today.

Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC                                     www.sagelead.com

I don’t understand why The Golf Writers Association of America boycotted Woods’s reading of his statement, saying the news conference should have been opened to all accredited media and the golfer should have taken questions. It was most honorable that he made such a deep and heartfelt public apology asking for forgiveness from his family, friends, fans and sponsors.

Let’s be honest with ourselves, it is very difficult and painful to admit our mistakes and transgressions to ourselves let alone broadcast it to the world. Is this about understanding and healing or making a buck? How much does the public really have “rights to” the details of a public figure’s private life especially at a sensitive time of healing when they have retreated from their public obligations? 

Yes, a lot of people have a financial and emotional investment in Tiger Woods – so he should be accountable to them for that, given he is a public figure. Beyond this, I don’t think it is necessary or “right” for them to dictate HOW he apologizes.

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

There has traditionally been a lot of talk and development about leaders developing good listening skills. It’s seems obvious and basic that this a requisite skill for a leader to be effective – to listen to their constituents in order to best meet their needs. It’s necessary to listen to your customers, to listen to your peers, partners, suppliers, and employees.

But first, and foremost, you need to listen to yourself – that inner voice that is constantly in the background. What is it saying? Is it a constant chatter, a chaos of noise, or a focused subtle drumbeat? We all have our inner voice – critic, partner, confidant.

Our “inner” constituent is our most important one. Unless we exercise tools and strategies to pay attention to what it is saying and quiet it, pay attention to it and/or direct it, we can never be fully present and able to listen to those constituents in front of us.

Just for today, take a deep breath in, count to 10, and exhale to a count of 10. Do this 3 times.  You have just created space in your head and in your day. What did you hear?

To help with understanding your inner voice, I highly recommend The Voice of Knowledge by Don Miguel Ruiz.

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

The sage leader is one who rides the turbulent wave of uncertainty and changing business paradigms. In order to do this and keep yourself grounded you need to engage in certain practices: Reflect, Connect, Invest.

Reflect to gain clarity on what you want and to gain insight on what is working and not working in terms of your own leadership getting you to where you want to go or where your organization needs you to go.

Connect with your colleagues to support and help each other grow and develop.

Invest in your and other’s development. This takes time and effort to build relationships that support your goals. I suggest thinking about not only ways in which you can be mentored or receive safe feedback and support but always ways you can mentor others, regardless of where you are at in your career.

© Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC

All of the top research in how leaders are best developed points to: they are best developed on the job or in life by meeting significant challenges. A key ingredient to codifying these learnings and development is through reflection. Reflection is really garnering the insights to cement the learnings so they become embedded in your being in how you operate. Development is realized when you have integrated your insight and action in service of what you want to achieve.

The sage leader operates in an integrated way from the inside out with consciousness – utilizing all your intelligences – body, mind, spirit (heart). All great leaders understand the profound implications of “know thyself.” And I would add – so you understand the impact you have on others and can consciously direct yourself, in a deliberate way, to achieve the results you want.

Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC

As a leader, leadership is about you and not about you. It’s about you, in so far as you can inspire and support others.

It’s about you to the degree to which you engender a sense of credibility with others.

It’s about you to the extent to which you have clearly articulated a vision and have communicated it to others.

It’s about you to the extent to which you have a following.

After this, it’s about other people. What do you do that helps others be all they can be? How do you achieve your goals together?

At the end of the day, leadership must be about listening and serving others – otherwise it isn’t leadership but an ego trip. Paradoxically, you must think about yourself in so far as you understand the impact you have on others and then turn the focus back on them. You can only be a leader if someone is following you.

You can only be a truly great, sage leader if you have a following where together, you are accomplishing something of importance to further the collective good.

Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC       www.sagelead.com

Happy 2010 and happy new decade! You have probably set your goals and plans for the year. Now is the time to strike the balance between keeping your vision clear and … Read more in our  January Newsletter

Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC           www.sagelead.com

It’s not yet a week from New Year’s and you are back at work. The first day back it is fun to catch up with everyone and hear about their holidays. You have a grace period to reorient back to reality.

The second day in, the slipslider invades. This is what I call what happens when you start to come off the high of your new year’s resolution. Day two it’s time to get serious. Whether it is an official resolution or just an intention, I invite you to focus on how you want this year to be different than last year. What do you want to create or get rid of?

If you really want to create a new and different experience this year then you need to velcro the energy and inspiration you had at new year’s to your brain so you don’t allow the potential for negative thoughts to invade and derail you. The sage leader understands that post-holiday and mid-winter blues can easily invade the best laid plans.

I am in Connecticut, USA, and we are under about a foot of snow…so it can be a cozy and hibernating or depressing – sun depletion time, depending upon what you allow in. I find the cold invigorating and the quiet of the snow inspirational. If you are experiencing the post-holiday letdown, make sure to invite in a blanket of comfort and something that will allow you to stick to your vision of the new you in the new year. You want it to be untouchable like teflon amidst changes – in your moods, in your team, in the economy.

Tenacity is the wisdom of success.

Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC      www.sagelead.com

Today is a full moon, a blue moon (full moon twice in one month) and a partial eclipse. Contrary to modern popular belief, this is not the time to plant the seeds for the new year. Instead you want to clean house and intention what you want to get rid of. What didn’t work for you in 2009? How about going into the new year lightening your load – whether it is being more stringent in what you take on or getting rid of old stuff. Old stuff can be clothes not worn in a year or outdated belief systems. Clean up and get with the times of what is current and works for you in the present.

2009 kicked my butt in terms of change - and some of it was painful. Often this pain can be due to our own creation – usually resistance. Here’s to transforming with grace and flow. Time to make room for possibilities…

It may be interesting to reflect on the last decade and dream about anticipated changes for the next decade. Many times we unconsciously recreate the same experiences. New things can only happen when you create the space. Time to shed and invite in true change. Why not?

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

Today is the time to work with nature’s energy of the new moon and plan for what you want more of in the new year. I am not talking about a resolution. Those don’t usually work past January 15th.

Take mental and emotional inventory of what you want more of next year. What served you, worked well. What didn’t you have this year that you want to have in your life? Focus on the possibilities - what you want to grow in your work and life. What you focus on expands and grows, and when you align it to the natural energies at play today, it makes it easier and more expansive.

Today is the day to plant the seeds on fertile ground. Befriend your imagination and plan for what if… What have you got to lose but the safety of what you currently know?

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