I recently participated in a discussion on all the attributes one should consider when selecting a leader. My colleagues had a lot valuable insights and ideas. We created a hug, unwieldy list.

Through it all, I suggest ensuring one essential attribute - an effective leader in this day and age is someone who can quiet his/her mind, to listen internally to be a clear conduit for her own ideas and inspirations - and then ready to listen intently to her constituents before speaking. This shows up by her ability to cut through all the noise and chaos and carve and communicate a clear path that enlivens and focuses people.

Mindfulness is a rare but essential practice in today’s climate. What are you doing to cultivate your own attunement?

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

Todd Shea was a drug addict and a musician living hand to mouth. One would hardly call him a leader. The tragedies of 9/11 in NYC started the shift of his addiction from cocaine to rescue efforts around the world. With no medical training or a college degree, he started a hospital in Chikar, Pakistan. For more information on Todd, you can read about him in last Thursday’s New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/world/asia/25kashmir.html?th&emc=th.

I highlight Todd’s story to make this point: Many people shy away from the word “Leader”… or say, “Leaders are born not made,” “I don’t possess any leadership qualities and skills.” I believe everyone has potential to be a leader and leaders are developed not born or “made.” … And the greatest way leaders are developed is by stepping up to the challenges they experience in their current job or daily lives.

When something hits your core and you have passion about it, when you want something badly enough, you will figure out all sorts of ways to make things happen – and enlist others to help you. When you listen and pay attention to the concerns of those around you and allow yourself to be effected by them, this is leadership – serving others. The next step is figuring out what you need to do to make things happen and getting people to listen and follow you. Sometimes it’s just getting out in front of the crowd. Todd saw a need and filled it. He didn’t get caught up in his head with worries such as: “I am not qualified…who am I to do this?…. what if I don’t have enough money?… what will people say?”

Passion is the cure for inertia, paralysis and disconnection from yourself or others. I invite you to identify your passion and step up to the plate to go after it – despite all the reasons not to: not educated enough, not connected enough, not enough money, not skilled enough. ENOUGH!

Leadership qualities start with GUTS. Grab the courage and you can figure out the skills along the way. Many successful people have worked this way. Oprah didn’t have a business plan.

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

I just finished reading Crazy For The Storm, a memior by Norman Ollestad. It is an incredible story about leadership, love and courage found by an 11-year old boy – the only survivor of a plane crash in which his father and father’s girlfriend were killed. He shows how dedicated focus can help you achieve your goals, in his case it meant life or death. I was riveted and read it in one sitting. It is also incredibly well-written as he explores his relationship with his father. Great father/son bond book.

We all have stories where we have had to face difficult challenges that give us inspiration and learnings to help us conquer other obstacles. Maybe your story hasn’t been as dramatic but it is important to know and embrace your story. This gives you information about what motivates you and where you can dig deep to find your strength and optimism when you need it.

Who has been an inspiration to you? Where have you been tested? What skills and personal traits helped you overcome your toughest challenges? How can you you call upon those resources today?

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

The “hashing out” I mentioned in my last entry, step#2 refers to dealing with what is not comfortable or you don’t agree with. The thing about change – whether it is reorganizing a function, getting a new supplier or taking on a new client  - is that it requires doing something different. Many times, we want to play it safe or just be “efficient” by repeating the SAME experience. Sometimes there is a balance point between systematizing processes and being open to discovering what is unique and different -or better yet, possible.

With budgets tight, this is necessitating challenging our assumptions or previous experience about what is really required to accomplish a job. It also requires more than ever to have the difficult dialogues across your teams to create synergies – REAL synergies. Sometimes this can be especially hard when you are dealing with teams with a lot of history.

Here is an experiment to try when you are working on revisiting or finalizing your tactics. To get TRUE leadership alignment: just for today - approach your colleague not from the standpoint of what you are going to give UP or dig your heels in on, but instead with what you are going to GIVE and ask questions and try to understand the other’s position fully, seeking what is possible.  This is a very simple orientation but it often is not implemented and can reap huge dividends. I’d love to hear how it goes…

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

Work-Life Balance is a common phenomena that I hear many people seeking these days. I prefer the term Work-Life Integration because “balance” is a relative, dynamic term. We may not be able to have the scales perfectly tipped in all areas of our life – time for ourselves, our family, our community on top of a demanding career – every single day, week or month.
This past Tuesday morning, I had just sat down at my computer, having blocked time outside of client projects and marketing efforts, to sit down and write. AAH! I was so looking forward to some quiet, dedicated focus time to collect my thoughts. No sooner than my butt was warm in the seat did I get a call from the nurse at my daughter’s school. She fell and hurt her ankle and was in a lot of pain. It wasn’t even 9 am! I picked her up and we spent a half a day between the doctor’s office and the radiologist – diagnosis – bad sprain, and crutches for a week.
Well the timing was perfect as I was supposed to be having lunch with a client an hour away. Fortunately, she cancelled early that morning so I was in a position to pick up my daughter. Instead of cursing the cancellation and the situation with my daughter as ruining all my plans, I saw it as a rare opportunity during the weekday to spend some quality time with her – we laughed together when the nurse practitioner was considering a diagnosis of some rare disease that effects teenagers heels’ when they are growing. No, it didn’t hurt before her fall – it was just an injury! I was also happy to hear that, the reason my daughter injured her ankle is because she was so happy she was skipping down the stairs (not the best idea) and decided to just skip a couple of steps. Any parent of a 12 year old girl navigating puberty bursting is happy to know their child is happy – in school no less! Our connection helped keep things in perspective and by the time I did get back to work, my ideas had been furthered or shaped differently due to the break. Back burner thinking is the genesis of many a break-through idea.
My daughter came back home, read on the couch while I typed away on the computer. Fortunately I have my own business which gives me some flexibility to work when and where I want. However, when I was at IBM and GE I also had some flexibility in my roles there as well. This is a privilege that did not exist as recently as 15-20 years ago. And one that the current generations early-in-career or entering the workforce (Gens X, Y and Millenium), now insist upon. The labor shortage predicted in 2012 will require more employers to be open and creative with different kinds of arrangements.
What struck me about the pediatricians office at 10:00 on a Tuesday morning is that it was quite busy and not all with sick children – and probably 80% of the parents were fathers! YES, MEN JUGGLING BABIES AND BLACKBERRYS. Some looked like they were either very mellow or stay at home dads. Others, were working away on their Blackberrys or talking into their cell phones. In all cases, they seem to be attentive to, and know their children. I can assure you, when I was growing up, this would have been a VERY rare sight.
So, Work-Life Integration is important to, and effects MEN as well as women, and not just those who are married. It’s about having the opportunity to do creative, high impact work and have a life. It may be about taking time out in the workday to care for a sick child, attend a baseball game or meet the cable guy – and either working through lunch or doing work after dinner or taking a break that rejuvenates you with great gusto toward your work. How we think about time and space – what we get done where and when – needs to change to meet the complex needs and pace of life today. How do you limit your thoughts of what is possible with yourself or your employees? How do you integrate your life to create work that is relaxed and productive versus frenetic and on-the-fringe of burn-out?

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

I am breaking the last (?) taboo of “the corporate world” – to talk about energy, spirit – those intangibles that we all know exist – that really move us, give us meaning, and make a difference in how we are, how we feel, how we think and how we behave. Every leader and organization wants people’s passion and commitment. Who wouldn’t? But guess what? We are messy, complex, contradictory HUMAN beings and sometimes the road to desire – achieving what we want – is a rocky one. Can we have real commitment without people’s emotions, spirit, energy? Emotion is energy in motion. You don’t have this, you are stuck. This is the stuff we need to move, shape and create our world. Sometimes we have to walk through the mud – vent, disagree, etc. – before we get to the clarity and true agreement. This is sustainable growth – working with what is really going on, on all levels.
“Growth” is an interesting word. Growth can be hard work and painful – it doesn’t always feel good. But sometimes we need a kick in the butt to get out of our comfort zone. Boy was my “growth spurt” uncomfortable for me! It felt like a spurt on steroids. I had to be almost hit over the head to get a perspective on what I could and couldn’t control. But growth can also be fun, joyous and energizing. It’s all of life. To get the results you’re after with yourself, your team or your business, you can’t do this just in your head, you also need to be fully present – in your body and engage your emotions. …and to invite and give permission for others to do this.
When you show up for work on Monday morning, guess what? You bring all of you – head, heart and body. And at the end of the day, amidst bosses, colleagues, spouses, kids, friends – you are your starting and ending point. You can only change you.
But you, you can change!
So, hang on and come on an adventure with me! Let’s blow open the doors of our assumptions and mental models of who we are and how our life or our world should be – to get to what all of it is and can be!

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

I am the Founder of Sage Leadership Strategies. I am very happy you’ve landed here!
I have had an unconventional career and life characterized always by living from the inside out.
Over ten years ago, I was in a leadership position and found myself at a company that was going through an acquisition and a merger right after I came back from maternity leave. I experienced all of the crazy behaviors and dynamics that that kind of environment generates. I assume like you, I have navigated some difficult terrain in both my personal and professional lives. Why do we say it like that? It’s really our one life with different aspects. During this time, my marriage fell apart and I was suddenly a single mom with a six month old baby. Other life events happened all within a four month period: I negotiated my way out of my old job, negotiated my new job at a different company, finalized my divorce, my daughter contracted a rare blood disorder, I bought my first house, moved, and my mother was diagnosed with breast and colon cancer.
As a result, I am passionate about these topics: striking a balance of “taking charge” – leading your life and career – and working with the wisdom of recognizing what unfolds (or smacks you in the face!); how to best position yourself to take advantage of emerging opportunities; resiliency; holistic health and balancing work and life. I’ve learned that a great way to change my consciousness or perspective is by managing my energy in a different way. I’ve also learned the universe has a sense of humor and can dish up a great set of growth opportunities mischievously disguised as troubles or obstacles.
I love the adages:

“Wherever you go, there you are.” (Attributed to Buddha)
“How you do anything is how you do everything.”

I look forward to learning about you – to co-create a learning community of seekers committed to their own development. Whether you are a CEO, executive, entrepreneur or a former corporate person on another track – and want more integration/alignment, better results and fulfillment with your life and work – Welcome!

Let Sage Leadership Strategies help you identify and resolve that which keeps you, your department, or organization from executing your business strategy or realizing your goals. Let us work with you to discover key leverage points and your core passion for your work. Invite us to join in partnership to transform you and your team from living by a daily to-do list to answering a calling—your calling.

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