What is your Personal Vision?

Do you have one? If so, is it clear, still relevant, and compelling?

Ideally, you want your goals to align with your vision. This is how you sustain energy and commitment to achieving your goals. It puts all your goals in context of why you are doing what you are doing—what is the bigger picture for you.

We work with senior leadership teams a lot, and sometimes, they are hesitant to bring in an outside consultant to support them in reaching their next level of effectiveness. The thinking is, we are smart, ambitious, successful people, so why can’t we do it ourselves? Sometimes, you can.

Right after I finished filming today’s Sage Tidbit video, I received an email from a colleague: “I just wanted to check in to see if we needed to clean up from the way we left things.” I so appreciated this reach out—that they did it and the way in which they did it. I interpreted this as their being sensitive to the possibility that their words or tone may not have landed with me in the way intended.

Words, Thoughts and Feelings Matter.

Today, I’m sharing a story about one of my clients, Mark (name changed), and how he was able to honor his late father's advice while he was meeting some leadership challenges in terms of how he developed the leaders who reported to him. In Mark’s story, he was protecting a leader who he perceived to be weak, but in doing so, he was allowing harm to come to other employees. Sometimes we can do harm by not doing anything.

Here, in the United States, many of us are digesting the results of the Presidential Election. Some people are celebrating and excited about the future and some are scared or terrified about the future. Regardless of where you are, it is important, now more than ever, to build bridges and seek to understand the other person’s point of view.

All results start with a thought. It’s important periodically to take inventory on WHAT you are thinking and HOW you are thinking about what you are thinking, since your thoughts directly impact your behavior and results.

Once you have clarified your goal and really believe it is possible, and see yourself achieving it, AND take consistent action aligned with your goal, THEN it’s about making sure you measure what will give you the information you need that helps you know you are making the progress you need to in order to achieve your goal.

Last week, I talked about belief and the power of the mind and what’s possible. You can think and believe all you want but if you don’t have accompanying action, not a lot is going to happen. So, it’s not ALL about JUST believing. It’s most important to engage in action that is aligned with what you believe.

When we are in a state of "anything is possible," we are uplifted, optimistic, we can "rise above it all" and BELIEVE. THAT is the key. BELIEF.

How can you Power-On your belief that It (insert your aspiration here) – or anything - is Possible?

Leading with Head and Heart

That is what it means to be an integrated leader – one who embodies being connected to themselves and others, and who can also rigorously think through complex problems. Easier said than done!

What does this REALLY require?

Today I’m sharing Amy’s* story: A leader who was already very successful and had just been promoted and given a much broader role in the organization. She was a dynamic doer and adept at mentoring and educating her people. They looked to her for answers. Her challenge was being an even more strategic leader who needed to learn about...

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness…” An often-quoted passage from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, that can describe the world today.

Which city do you want to live in? It’s about conscious leadership and deciding who you are and how you want to find meaning and contribute regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in.

Here are the 2 Cs: Clarity and Commitment; here are the 2 As: Agreement and Alignment.

I work with senior leadership teams and find that, in order for them to be performing at their best, they need to effectively address these four areas.

Today, we are focused on focusing and prioritizing. I use the present tense because, in this day of upheaval, uncertainty, constant change and where many people undiagnosed have ADD…attention deficit…difficulty focusing. We all need help, at times, to stay focused, and refocus, as things change and new information emerges. 

At the end of all my coaching engagements (which typically last 6-18 months), a question I often ask is, “What did you learn about yourself in this process?” Today, I share a real-time reflection from one of my clients...

What is the balance point of striving and push yourself and your team to achieve your goals and accepting what is, that maybe it’s not meant to be – you are not meant to achieve that goal?

How you balance cultivating a culture of care while holding your people accountable for their performance?

Last week, we established that having energy and vitality are what enable you to do life well and perform well, sustainably, at work. Today, we are going to discuss the impact that nourishing Relationships have on your vitality.

Having energy and vitality are what enable you to have a sense of well-being and do life well and perform well, sustainably, at work. What gives you a sense of energy and vitality in your life and/or work?

We are starting to offer Sage Sense Tidbits. A tidbit is a small morsel…of inspiration, insights, or lessons learned/tips to reflect on and digest over your week.