Accelerate Your Search™ Now

Leaders hold the key to solutions for their teams. Leaders who own their journey and story, share in a way that teaches others, and continuously work to write a courageous ending, know that life is still a struggle at times. It’s all a part of the journey. They know that leaders of all abilities experience life and work and ever-present challenges. They also know that the responsive and responsible leader has a key to progressing through these challenges in a way that provides guidance and direction to the team that she/he leads.

Challenges exist. Leaders who are aware of what matters now and what is truly important, view and handle challenges differently than those who get stuck in the challenge. They have a unique key. It’s the key to their success and the success of their team.

In my work with clients and their teams, I guide them through work and life challenges and keep them on the tract to success. Learning on the journey is an experience that benefits us all.

I have a client who’s had a tough first quarter. His company is facing financial woes of serious levels and, of course, this is impacting his team.

Some of the distress can be attributed to the economy. Yet a major part is due to three errors of a freshmen employee’s continued poor judgement. Let’s take a look at those three, correctable errors:

• lack of knowledge
• limited insight
• need to be viewed in a specific manner

My client is not communicating effectively in a way that supports his senior team. The senior team [all with ten or more years in their roles] is failing to hear from him what is important and what matters.

They [the team] are frustrated with his style and his ability to personally remain calm and peaceful in the middle of the current events. It gives them a sense that he doesn’t experience the stress and concern in the same way that they do and this creates a divide, instead of a sense of cohesiveness in the face of adversity.

They admire and want his key to a more meaningful, satisfying and joyful trek but, without communication, it seems like they are doing it wrong. They’re stressed, concerned, and anxious and his calm demeanor only serves to heighten their concerns, increase their stress, and raise their anxiety. Each of them has no idea how to have calm and satisfaction. They could learn if he shared his key with them.

Things are tough. The team is stressed, fearful, and, in some cases, falling apart. Their leader is following up, holding people accountable, and getting work done, amid emotion, conflict and, sometimes, the extraordinary push-pull of people.

The call of distress from one of this leader’s team came on a day when my own challenges for the first quarter have been tough. These are the times I am most true to myself and cautious to do my best not to compromise who I am, and, sometimes, that can be very hard for me.

My question for the caller was: “Do you really want his calm, peace, and level of satisfaction?”

The reply: “Yes.”

Follow up question: “What are you willing to look at and/or change to have it?”

His reply: “I don’t know.”

Follow up: “Give that some thought and we can set up a career chat call on [day and time] to discuss your answer.

Often people want what others have. Calm, peace, meaning, and a level of satisfaction rarely come without the willingness to give up something.

If you are ready for a change and your own career chat give me a call.

For businesses, teams and individuals, January is filled with recapping the prior year’s results, impacts and challenges and looking ahead to the opportunities in the new year.  Over the last several decades I have not only done this in my business, but also in my personal life.

Taking stock of accomplishments, challenges and impacts helps me discern areas I need to shift or adjust.  This allows me to move to the next level and to find more meaning and satisfaction in my work.  I try to complete the process by mid-January.  Doing so almost always improves my impact and results going forward.

Last month as I looked at business, team and personal results, I found myself both filled with joy and profoundly sadness.  My work allows me to meet and work with so many professionals, executives, leaders, and teams of organizations that are inspiring, motivated, driven and reaching toward and achieving remarkable impact in the world.

But, why did sadness show up so profoundly as I reviewed the prior year?

Simple.  The Friday before I sat down to complete my recap I had an experience in which I found myself unable (or unwilling) to honestly and openly look at the behavior of another.  In the event, I judged the person’s behavior as directed toward me — I felt it was about my value as a person.

I was upset and, in fact, I got very little sleep that Friday night.

The story I was telling myself began to cloud my view of the past year and I couldn’t bring myself to complete my year-in-review that weekend.

Sadly, the story was not reflective of the previous year’s results, nor was my judgement about the person’s behavior correct.  My inner voice was defining the entire year based on one event . . . and how I wasn’t enough.  Luckily, I reached for the “pause button.”

Thank goodness I did.  By Tuesday I was able to tap into my own quiet space and willingness to look at the event, the year, and the true results.  I was also willing to look at the sadness and the joy for what it was.

It was a year of shift and transformation.  The prior year was filled with failures, lessons, bridges crossed, and successes. It included supporting and helping many people, leaders, and teams achieve their goals.  It was an impactful and meaningful year.

A review of the year usually offers me many insights.  The greatest insight from the past year for me is the fact that I have been more willing to stop and press pause.  Pausing created many important shifts for me.

For the coming year, the impact of this insight is a profound reminder that the behavior of others is a reflection of the state of their relationship with themselves and not a statement about my value.

Transformation occurs one moment at a time. I am grateful for NOW.  A simple pause, allows me to create space and willingness to be present.

The biggest insight from last year?  Continue to use the pause button.

Did you do a review of the prior year?  What insight did you gain?

What will you continue to do this year?  What will you stop doing?

Share your thoughts below.

Stepping forward into a transition or transformation may feel uncomfortable.  When you have been doing something for a long time, feeling pulled to explore something new and different may find you feeling unsteady — without your sea legs.  For many successful people stepping forward in this way is an act of courage and vulnerability.

Brene Brown tells us, “Vulnerability – the willingness to show up and be seen with no guarantee of outcome – is our greatest measure of courage.”

You get to choose whether or not to step forward.  For those of you with a track record of success, I offer these words of caution:  Beware of your judgement.

Being really seen and showing up does not guarantee a specific outcome.  However, not stepping forward DOES guarantee that you will stay where you are.

If you love where you are now, great, you are all set.  Keep doing what you are doing.

But, if you are searching for meaning, purpose or more satisfaction and find yourself in a place of judgement, look around.  You may be your first and most harsh judge.  Use this week to look at how you show up to yourself.

At the end of the day, assess your work.  Look at your physical space.  Write down what you see.  Then, write down your judgements of what you saw.  Question those judgements.  Ask yourself, “What did I learn about how I am showing up?”

Post your comments below.

Are you ready for more meaning and satisfaction?

Is it time to stretch yourself and be visible?

Updating your LinkedIn profile and being visible online is an easy place to start.  Join us for a conversation, “Be Visible on LinkedIn-Start Your Shift.”

The phone rang and the question was, “Why do they hate me?”

The person asking is a member of team I’ve worked with for some time.  This team leader set an intention to impact the team’s service at all levels before his retirement.  As a person, and a leader, he is legendary for his service focus.

The caller is always professional, liked by all new customers and those who casually interact with him.  He provides adequate service and has solid enough performance to maintain a place on the team.  However, he is seen by the team as a person unaware of several of his BIG blind spots.

We ALL have blind spots and this team knows that well.  In fact, all team members except the caller have identified many personal blind spots.  By doing so, they impacted results, fulfillment and increased their personal satisfaction, adding fun and joy to their work.

As the leader’s retirement approached, the team was deeply involved in hiring his replacement — interviews had even occurred earlier that day.

I confirmed the “they” he referred to was the team.  Then, knowing the team as I do, my reply was a question, “How do you know they hate you?”

I was immediately met with resistance and defiance (“No one is going to fire me or make me quit!”).  Then the caller hung up.

His resistance hung in the air around my desk for a bit.

The caller was stuck.  The story was spoken, believed and holding the caller in place.

What questions are you asking?  What stories are you telling?

Is your story creating resistance to satisfaction and fulfillment?

Have you created resistance that is holding you in place?  Share your thoughts below.

Ready to align awesome?

Contact me to discuss how the power of questions and coaching can transform your life, your results and your impact in the world.

Doing the work you love, living your purpose and having impact is fun and amazing!

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.” ~Rumi

A year of infinite possibilities has ended.  This year begins.

What are you seeking for yourself, your career, and your team?

You may be seeking more connection, more fun, or more impact.  Or you may be seeking a simple end to your transition period.

If you felt the ups-and-downs of the past year and bounced from overwhelm to focus, the quote from Rumi may make your skin crawl.  The last thing you want for this year, in your career quest, is confusion.

Do you want growth to the next level in your career and industry?

If so, pause and look at the clever actions and tactics you have been working at furiously.  Now, decide if you want an impact that varies from the past.  If so, are you willing to do something different?

A transition or transformation will not happen in a day — but it can begin today!

The wisdom and knowledge gained from your experience coupled with your distinguishing talents are ready to carry you forward. There is a generous spirit in this time.  To leverage these things seek out a conversation that sparks curiosity.

Yes, stepping forward alone works.  Forward progress will happen.  But, conversations with others can be game changers.  Learning and growing with support offers an entirely different experience.  If you are tired of trying to sort out everything on your own, making just small incremental steps, seek out a new exchange.

If this year calls you to examine your work, purpose, and impact in a new and different way, consider joining me for a Career Chat and share some time with others exploring how they will change their game this year.

For the next few weeks I am setting up Career Chats. They are short 30-minute conversations hosted on Wednesdays and Saturdays intended to inspire you, prompt questions, and/or create anticipation.  Sign up up to get the schedule and find more information.

If you are ready to pause from your action perch and explore what is next for your career, I’ll look forward to chatting with you.  If you are wondering what we will talk about, sign up and bring your questions, wisdom and knowledge and prepare to listen and share with others.

If you would rather have one-on-one support, go here.

Do the work you love, live your purpose, and have impact.  You are amazing!

Life is fun and satisfying when you align awesome.

Contact me to discuss how the power of questions and coaching can transform your life, your results, and your impact in the world.

“Until we can receive with an open heart, we are never really giving with an open heart.” ~Brene Brown

This is an amazing time of year.  As the year is drawing to a close there is a unique spirit in the air.

Business focus shifts. People smile and care in a little different way.  In this season, giving flows with ease.

How do you give and receive?

How does your team give and receive?

When I watch how people give and receive I see joy, purpose and connection.  I also see awkwardness, discomfort, and sadness.

The latter observation is why I started this post with Brene Brown’s quote.  My view is there is a very interesting connection between the willingness to receive and what is given to you by the universe and people.

I have to admit it, I have always been a better giver than receiver.

Once, years ago, I yelled at a girlfriend for putting food on my plate in a restaurant.  The food was given with love and care, yet I could not accept it.  After a scene, raised voices, and hurt feelings, my friend who had graciously shared her food with me, pointed out how selfish I was in her view. Her scolding has stuck with me.  The sorrow and hurt look in my girlfriend’s eyes are, to this day, a visual reminder that receiving is an art and skill.

Being open to receiving shapes who we are, how others care for us and what comes to us.    That day I learned my giving set the stage for others to be open to giving.  Minutes later, when I lacked the ability to receive, I experienced another shift.

We are often taught the art and skill of giving as a child and thus have much practice at it.  Cultivating the skill and art of receiving can be much more challenging.  It was and is for me — it is not a skill I began practicing in earnest until I was in my twenties.

Have you cultivated the skill of receiving gifts, feedback, and compliments?

Will you open your heart and demonstrate your receiving skills?

What might be the impact if you receive as well as you give?

Are you open to the opportunities receiving might bring?

Thank you for reading and receiving this post.

Doing the work you love, living your purpose, and having impact is fun and amazing!

Ready to align awesome?

Contact me to discuss how the power of questions and coaching can transform your life, your results, and your impact in the world.

If you read my blog regularly you may recall a recent post about “drift.”  Over the last year I have discovered much about the impact of drift in my own life.

This year one of my coaches, Laura Clark, has helped my explore my personal drift on a much deeper level.  One discovery in my work with Laura has been the power of experiencing the drift like the wind on my face.  I am also learning to use my own strengths in new and different ways — including asking powerful, and tough, questions.

Most people who know me, including my clients, will tell you I ask tough questions . . . and now I’m learning how to use them to help others who are experiencing drift.

If you are seeking more satisfaction, meaning and fulfillment from your career, it could be time for you to ask the tough questions, too.

WARNING:  Tough questions can cause discomfort, uncertainty, and doubt.

Before you blow by and quickly answer each question just to move on to the next task, I challenge you to pause.  Pause and feel the wind on your face.  If you are inside, pause and feel the temperature of the air in the room on your face.

Here are a few very powerful questions:

• Who am I?
• Where am I?
• Why am I here?

Do you feel the wind or temperature?

During the last year as I have focused on each of these questions in a new and deeper manner, I have rediscovered the power each question truly holds — and, the edge and discomfort of each question.

Whether you are on the edge of transition or transformation, these questions may be all you need to launch you to the next level.

This week, pause and answer these questions.  Answer them as they call to you.

Have a comment, share it below.  If the questions will serve someone you know, share this post.

Do you want to discuss your answers and how they impact your career, business and work?  Let’s talk. I  am happy to schedule a career chat with you.

Doing the work you love, living your purpose, and having impact is fun and amazing!

Ready to align awesome?

Contact me to discuss how the power of questions and coaching can transform your life, your results and your impact in the world.

Is November the new January?  Maybe.

I attended a recent event where a theme emerged:  “November is the new January.  Start now, why wait.”

While I smiled and listened my discomfort became palpable.  I started to shift in my seat and even my handwriting changed to reflect this unconfortableness.  Having used this year to shift habits of doing just for the sake of doing, I was feeling my personal resistance to rushing time.  I no longer wish to fill my days with action for the sake of action.

I was reminded of the retail mantra, “Action now, beats action later.”  This mantra and the ensuing habits had their costs, but I also realized the mantra did improve results and had served me well for years.

After further thought, I realized I had set several intentions for 2016 that I could take action on right now.  Not to rush time (the source of my discomfort), but to simply engage in action now.  There is no reason to wait for a date on the calendar.  Now is the best time to begin.

I have no idea if November is the new January, but I now know it is the best time for me to take action on my intentions.

How do you use a calendar?

The insight I gained from the October conversation was that I was allowing a calendar to co-create a start date and put me in a holding pattern for action I wanted to take.  This was a BIG insight for me.

Does the calendar put you in a holding pattern?

Do the cycles of the calendar provide a guide or a crutch?

Do you have a calling or action you could start now?  Why are you waiting?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on action and “November as the new January.”  Share your thoughts below.

Doing the work you love, living your purpose and having impact is fun and amazing!

Ready to align awesome?

Contact me to discuss how the power of questions and coaching can transform your life, your results, and your impact in the world.

In life and in work it is important to challenge what you “know” by searching for proof.  It is easier to look for proof than you might imagine.

You don’t need piles of books or a long study course.  Simply ask yourself the appropriate questions.  One of the most powerful is simply, “How do you know?”

Follow that question with another powerful one:  “Is it true?”

It is one thing to “know,” it is significantly different to experience.

By examining your “knowing” with the simple, powerful question, “Is that true?” you are quickly called to look for the proof of what you know or what you think you know.

(If you want to learn more about the power of uncovering your truth through the process of asking questions, visit Bryon Katie’s website.  Her book, Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life, is great, too.)

As a transformation facilitator, I help others directly experience situations by unpacking and examining their life experiences.  Experience changes concepts, ideas and theories.

The power of experience shifts you.  Your reality shifts with experience.

Each of us has thousands of experiences every day, each one of them different.  Through the course of a day our experiences begin to run together.  Yet, each of those individual experiences has the power to provide irreversible shifts.

Earlier in my life, I spent little of no time even aware of many of my experiences, let alone taking the time to unpack or examine the situation.  Why?  I thought it took too much effort, too much time.

The reality is that experiencing and looking at the proof doesn’t take all that much time and, in fact, can actually provide you more hours in your day.  Awareness can do that.  Simple questions, like those mentioned above, will help you look for proof and change your life . . . now and forever.

If it is time for you to look at your experiences and see the proof, let’s talk.  Ready to align awesome?

Doing the work you love, living your purpose and having impact is fun and amazing!  Contact me to discuss how the power of questions and coaching can transform your life, your results and your impact in the world.