4Cs + FAA = Change. To create true, sustained change in your life you need:

Courage, Competency, Compassion, Commitment + Focused Attentioned Action.

Courage: Take a stand for or against something that you want to be different – whether it’s losing weight, being a nicer person, being a stronger leader. These all require you to think about yourself differently, do things differently and have a different experience of yourself and yourself in relationship to others and the world around you.

Competency: Have or acquire the problem solving tools or skills you need to make the change. If you don’t have them, acquire them or solicit someone else’s expertise.

Compassion: Exercise it with, and for yourself when you come up less than successful. If you are lucky, it will happen that you will not succeed on the first or twentieth time. This is a test of your commitment to your goal and an ingredient that strengthens you and teaches other lessons yet to be revealed. Feel with, be with your emotions in this process or you will marginalize your results.  When trying to change, you will have emotions! They give you information about what is happening and what might need to be adjusted.

Commitment: You are tested to stick with it, not matter what! Get the resources or supports you need to bolster this, if you need to.

You can have the rest, but if you don’t have FAA, you won’t create change. Period.

Focused: Stay on it! Minimize distractions. Put on blinders, if you need to.

Attention: Pay attention to what you are doing. Pay attention to what others say or how they receive what you are doing.

Action: No change happens without actually doing something different. When you act, your thinking or perception can change also. This reinforces your positive, focused attention.

© Copyright 2012 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.               www.sagelead.com

You cannot separate peak performance from passion, focus and wellbeing. This implies wellness and being-ness. Good health, presence and peace of mind are equally important to top performance as is knowledge and skill. Being interested – focused and passionate about what you do is critical to your success over time. How you attend to something says everything about you and your results.

Our culture focuses so much on over-the-top dynamic doing that we forget that we are human beings not human doings. We are not endless wells of energy but need filling up with what nourishes us to expend more energy – to be infused with a spirit not just a flat obligation.

Have you ever experienced that flow where you are totally focused, working hard on something but also completely relaxed and at ease? Is this a paradox? No. This is the way we are meant to be. Our minds complicate our expression sometimes.

I’ve had “the flow” when painting a picture, facilitating a workshop or reading to my daughter. They all take focus and a certain amount of skill, experience, knowledge or talent. I enjoy these activities but how do I know I am “really on” and performing them well?

Ultimately it’s about other’s feedback and the objective results. Does the painting evoke thought and emotion in others? Is paint skillfully applied? Do workshop participants understand and respond to my questions? Did they learn something? Did their learning effect their life or job performance? Is my daughter engaged in the story? Did the way I read the story engage her to step into another land or character’s mind?

Identify something you are good at and love to do. Can you do more of it? I guarantee this will impact all areas of your life and work.

© Copyright 2012 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.               www.sagelead.com

Yep.

If you’re a star can-do person – then set your sights on higher or different goals that rock your world.  What will really test this attitude so you know where it’s coming from and how strong it is?

To achieve self-mastery, you must be willing to break beyond your current level of success or competency. This is how you get to the next level of success and can only be done by embracing different kinds of challenges. It’s like strengthening a muscle. To lift a weight you actually break down the fiber of the muscle. With a day or two of rest in-between the heavy lifting, this exercise makes the muscle stronger. Rest is key as it allows for integration and a rebuilding.

What do you need to breakdown (eliminate or reduce) or exercise more of to make you a stronger leader – more in control of yourself and therefore better able to influence others?

• Breakdown could be your apathy. What has you numbed or defensive to caring about how others experience a challenge? What buttons do they press in you? Where do they need more of your support? How deep do you have to dig to be present to their perspective?

• Exercise could be a strength that is not fully leveraged. Are you showing your team how you stay positive and can-do despite repeated obstacles or setbacks? How do you transfer this strength to them? A positive team in unison can move mountains.

Ultimately all activity is comprised of exercise, breakdown, rest and build up for optimal results. In leadership development terms, I identify rest as reflection. Stepping back and integrating what you are working (or pushing) on helps you understand if you need to make an adjustment on the breakdown, exercise or rest (let it go) piece of the equation.

© Copyright 2012 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.               www.sagelead.com

Fall down 7 times, get up 8. This is an ancient Japanese proverb. I’ve been told the literal translation is: “Always rising after a repeated fall.” Sticking with it after not getting the results you want, time and again. That is dedication.

Commitment requires you to be resolved no matter what challenges life throws at you.

Meditation requires you go back to your breath or focal point, no matter how distracted you get. Just keep bringing your awareness back. I had many stops and starts for years before I was able to develop a consistent, daily meditation practice. And I was only able to do this with an energy lift from my class while going through an intensive teacher training on the subject. Yep. It took that much effort to get me to stick with it most of the time. Am I perfect at it? No.

Because I am human and I allow life to get in the way, I occasionally miss a practice. The point is to keep trying with the knowing that I can get back to it and it produces results.

Am I perfect at all my commitments? No.

My belief is that if I keep trying, I will achieve my dream or goal.

Ultimately it comes down to expectations and reality checks. Do you expect yourself to get it, whatever “it” is on the first, second or third try? Do you give up? Or do you learn from failing and trying again? Why does our culture not value failure as being the ultimate teacher – if one chooses to get up again? When was the last time you practiced compassion and forgiveness toward yourself?

Commitment, Meditation: off-focus 7 times, on-focus 8. In these times of ADHD, we could all use a little discipline and re-orientation now and again. Perfection not required. Only those with an open heart and willingness need apply.

© Copyright 2012 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.               www.sagelead.com

I find exploring myths, symbolism and how stories affect us, help us create meaning and sense of our lives.
A couple days after the New Year, I was in my office when my assistant yelled to me, “Come quick! Look!”
“It’s like Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds!” Ew, I thought.

Out the bay window I saw dozens of crows descending on the property – with no apparent motive or place to go. Over the next half hour they proceeded to fly back and forth between our property and the neighbors – and then dispersed. We were curious – what’s going on, what does this mean??? We googled – A few notes:

There are a myriad of perspectives – mythical, poetic, scientific, and those we make up ourselves.

The American Society of Crows and Ravens says that crows “have nothing to do with what we think about them. Death and suicide are our problems, not theirs.”

Dr. Kevin J. McGowan from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology says, ”The poetic term for a bunch of crows is a ‘murder.’ No scientist calls them that, only poets. Scientists would call it a flock.”

One reference said crows congregate on lawns to eat grubs. But they didn’t look like there were eating. Besides, what’s different about the lawn this year than last?

A shaman site said: ”Crows are adaptable to all environments and will eat almost anything, they can survive in almost any situation. …They are surrounded by magic, unseen forces and spiritual strength. If a crow enters your life, get out of your familiar nest, look beyond your present range of vision, listen to the message(s) in its caw and act accordingly.”

I just finished a year where my house was literally turned upside down – botched home renovation infecting every room, leaving us homeless for a while – my daughter started high school, step-son started college, both my parents had major medical crises, I had a major milestone birthday and my clients went through dramatic changes. So, the upheaval of 2011 forced me to get out of my comfort zone big time – to rethink my life and business and act accordingly.

It could be grubs, but I choose to see the flock of crows as a sign for 2012 to expect the unexpected, expect surprise visitors, and if I pay attention – this “magic” can take me to a broader perspective with unforeseen possibilities.

What are you doing to ready yourself to seek and take advantage of the “magic” opportunities coming out of nowhere – or to look for the sublime in the benign?

© Copyright 2012 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.         www.sagelead.com

An Entrepreneur is someone who “organizes, operates and assumes the risk for a business venture.”

In a recent Teds video, Cameron Herold says we need to be raising more of our kids to aspire to be entrepreneurs, leaders who create jobs, versus getting good “safe” jobs. Even with MBA students we groom them to get corporate jobs. Key tips:

• Teach your children not to waste money.
• Teach your children to save a large percentage of the money they make from an early age.
• Ask your kids to look around the house and yard and come back with a proposal of what needs to get done and how much they would charge for it. Negotiate with them on the final fee.
• Make one night a week story telling vs. story reading at bedtime. Give them 5 items and ask them to make a story about it. This teaches them to think on their feet, develops creativity and polish and confidence with speaking.
• Foster in them the following: attainment, persistence, tenacity, sales, handling failure, boot strapping, speaking, leadership.

I believe that developing a comfort level with taking and managing risks, and working into the unknown are skills and character traits that will only increase in demand in the 21st century.  Why not identify kid’s entrepreneur potential in school versus just slotting them on the talented math, English or science tracks?

These times are screaming for applied creativity in business ventures. What if your entrepreneurial spirit and appetite for taking risks were fostered in school? These can best be addressed, as Herold says, by remembering when you were a kid and all things were possible. It’s time to dream and play. And never give up.

…Or in some cases let there be white space.

Whether you are leading your business, life or family, I suggest exercising more of just one behavior that can make all the difference: manage the white space. This means:

• Giving yourself more breathing room
• Exercising the option to say no more
• Not jam-packing your day by scheduling every minute

If you’re like me – a recovering perfectionist – I sometimes schedule down time – I block an hour or two, a day or a week.

Allow downtime where you do things to foster:

• Insight
• Integration
• Reflection
• Creativity
• Renewal and Energy

If you can’t manage yourself and your own energy, then you can’t manage or lead your constituents: whether they are your board, employees, customers, spouse or children.

Since all relationships ultimately are connected to the relationship you have with yourself, and you are all you can control – it starts and ends with you.

The white space is the seed that ultimately leads to being more present. The ability to be more present will give you all the rest: answers and support you need to manage whatever comes up this year.

If 2011 was a year of challenge and transformation, 2012 promises to be a year of possibility – integrating and solving the seemingly impossible…magic!

© Copyright 2012 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.         www.sagelead.com

My Grandmother was born in 1899 and died in 1991, with a full life at 92 ½ years of age. My daughter was born in 1997, 102 years after my grandmother.

I was talking with my daughter today about embracing change – how this is one of the most important skills for life, particularly for her generation. I used a few examples of changes that took place in Grandma’s life to illustrate what she had to adapt to and how radically her life changed. I mentioned flying, cars, TV. They didn’t exist at all or in the form we know it when she was born. There are many other items she witnessed come into usage: modern refrigerators, dishwashers, ovens, etc. What we take for granted today were radical changes that impacted Grandma’s life – whether it was saving her time on daily chores, giving her access to entertainment, knowledge or greater freedom in traveling. She experienced as many radical changes in 90+ years as we have in the 20 years since her death.

I wondered how fast and new these inventions really were. So, I searched the Internet that Grandma never knew. Here is what I discovered:

1866 First prototype of a steam engine, which would later evolve to the automobile; cars commercialized in the 1920s.

400 BC first curiosity with flight, Leonardo DaVinci’s theories of flight 1480s; first Wright brothers’ flight 1903; airplane flights commercialized 1930s

1878 First concept of an image in motion; 1950s Television was commercialized

1947 Genesis of technology that was the basis for cell phones; commercialized in the mid 1990s

1965 First development of technology used to construct the Internet; popularized in the 1990s; commercialization of products via “the web” 2000s

Many of the technologies we use today seemed to have just been invented and yet parts of the technologies have existed in different forms or changed for commercial exploitation. What’s stayed constant from Grandma’s to my daughter’s life is ongoing experimentation, improvement, and evolution for greater adaptability. In all cases, the need to master handling change has not changed. It is just becoming more of an imperative as the pace of change is increasing and becoming more widespread – not just with product life cycles shortening, but with societal and political institutions requiring change to keep pace with the implications technology imposes.

I wonder – what Grandma would say about the world we live in today?

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

All great things are born out of chaotic, forming – creative – energy. So this is a time of great transformation potential!
How do you manage yourself amidst the chaos swirling around you – whether it is the fluctuation of the markets, your business or the temperaments of those around you?

You get your own energy in sync and balanced – to stay grounded and nimble in the creativity space. Be – embody – the calm in the eye of the storm.

Tomorrow, I am leading a Naam Abundance Meditation at UUCD at 24 Clapboard Ridge Road, Danbury, CT . A $12 donation goes to the space.

This is a music meditation and we will focus on synchronizing your energy to optimally take advantage of these crazy times!

Open to the public – with or without prior meditation experience. Bring a pillow, yoga mat or something comfortable to sit on.

You can experience better focus, more relaxation and optimal decision-making using Naam Brain Tools™.
Come to our monthly Naam Abundance Meditation and experience the difference. This will lay the groundwork for a prosperous life or business.

We meet once a month on the first Saturday of the month. Tomorrow is our next Meditation 12-1, at:
24 Clapboard Ridge Road, Danbury, CT.

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