| Volume 1: Issue 8 | November 2008 |
|
In This Issue:
|  | |
|
Seems like everywhere you go these days, messages of gloom and doom abound. People are fearful about the future, and wistful about the past. The market is erratic and falling, people’s retirements are shrinking or gone altogether, and budgets and jobs are being cut in many organizations and corporations. And yet in the midst of it all, if you look hard enough there are still many things we can feel good about and be thankful for. In times like these, leaders are more crucial than ever. They have the potential to lift people’s sights to something higher and help them transform stress and frustration to resourcefulness and optimism. But before they can do this for others, they must first do it for themselves. And that’s exactly what this month’s executive briefing is about. I hope you enjoy it!
|
| |
|
You Can Be the Change We Need "Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. What if the only thing standing in your way of perfect peace, true productivity and the satisfaction of living a life of purpose – was your thinking? I won’t deny that the current state of affairs for most of us presents a great deal of pressure and anxiety that appears to be coming to an ear piercing crescendo. Frustration and turmoil seem to be a resounding theme – one that can become quite exhausting. And in this time of widespread uncertainty, I want to ask you a simple and potentially contentious question… What if everything is perfect just the way it is?
The greatest of change agents start by recognizing what they have to work with before they can create change that will be sustained. They assess their environment to determine what the best entry point for that change is before they make their move. They don’t waste their time worrying about things that are truly out of their control, like changing the weather. Instead, they focus their attention and energy on those things that they do have the ability to influence and start there. The greatest of leaders know that the most powerful and sustainable change must start from within themselves.
As an example, when you tell yourself a story about what is happening that leaves you feeling threatened, you may find yourself closing up and treating others with suspicion and mistrust. The way you are behaving toward people may well provoke a response in them that appears to validate your fearful story. However, in this scenario, it is very likely that their behavior is more of a reaction to the actions your story led you to take than anything else.
In the grip of this madness, sometimes the best thing you can do is indulge your mind with a variable that will allow it to do its thing. Go ahead and plug in the worst case scenario. If the worst possible thing happened, what would you do? Alloy yourself to sit with that question for awhile. Let the fear move through you and keep asking the question, what would I do that would allow everything to be OK? If you sit long enough with your question, you will arrive at some workable alternatives and reconnect with that part of yourself that is strong, resourceful and resilient.
© 2008 Diane Bolden. Synchronistics Coaching & Consulting. All rights reserved. WOULD YOU LIKE TO REPRINT THIS ARTICLE? Diane Bolden is passionate about working with leaders to unleash human potential. An executive coach and organization development professional with over 17 years of experience in leadership development, coaching and consulting, Diane has worked with managers, directors and vice presidents/officers in Fortune 500 companies and non profit organizations to achieve higher levels of performance and success by helping them to bring out the best in themselves and everyone around them. To receive her free special report on Ten Traps Leaders Set for Themselves ~ and How to Avoid Them, visit www.UnleashTheExtraordinary.com.
The Integrated Leader Program – October ’08 – March ’09 Ready to take your performance and leadership to a whole new level? Through a six month series of ninety minute webinars, you will leverage the Seven Secrets of Extraordinary Leaders™ to consistently get to the root of leadership challenges and opportunities you regularly face and handle them with greater clarity, focus, and ease. As a result, you’ll achieve and sustain desired results for yourself and your organization and show others how to lead through your example. You’ll also learn from interviews of Exemplary Leaders recorded and sent to you on a CD each month and benefit from private coaching offered on the first Wednesday morning of each month. The program kicks off on Thursday, October 16 with ninety minute webinars offered on the third Thursday of every month, each exploring different leadership challenges. For more information go to www.UnleashTheExtraordinary.com/ILP. To register, click on the registration link on the web page, or email us at Info@Synchronistics.net. A GREAT READ! - Slowing Down to the Speed of Life, by Richard Carlson and Joseph A friend of mine recommended this book to me and I have to say it is worth its weight in gold. For those of you who find your frenetic pace is making you crazy and feel that your mind is so cluttered that you can’t even hear yourself think, treat yourself to this book. It is loaded with insights and wisdom that will help you escape from the trap of circular thinking that keeps you from being truly effective and powerfully present. Published monthly. You are receiving this ezine because at some point in the last few years, you have opted to stay connected to Diane Bolden and/or Synchronistics Coaching & Consulting or have registered for one of our offerings. To change your subscription, see the link at the end of this email. To ensure that you continue to receive emails from us, add Diane@Synchronistics.net to your address book today.
| ||
No, I haven’t gone off the deep end. Bear with me here… One of the seven principles that I’ve observed the most extraordinary leaders consistently apply over the years is encapsulated in the word “responsibility” – not just in a moral or ethical sense of being accountable for our actions, but also – and perhaps just as essential right now – remembering that there is wisdom in recognizing that we have the ability to choose our response – and that the response we choose will have a resounding impact on themselves and everyone around us.
The thing that fascinates me about our current state of affairs is not so much what is happening, but the stories we are telling ourselves about what it means and the impact those stories are having on the way we are responding to it. When we react to things with fear, we end up amplifying that which we are afraid of and adding to the anxiety. Our fears drive us to act in ways that keep us from accessing our intuition and finding the answers that will truly serve us. Sometimes, we end up behaving in ways that make our fictional stories become real. 
Our fearful stories are like the viruses we protect our computers from. These nasty viruses are often embedded in emails that pique our curiosity or rouse our fear. When we unwittingly activate them, they spread often uncontrollably and we risk passing them to the computers of our friends, associates and countless others. The viruses corrupt our systems until they no longer function effectively. Like computer viruses, our stories have a way of spinning us out of control and interfering with our ability to rise up to our challenges to find the opportunity that is always there waiting for us to discover and leverage it.
Our rational minds want answers and security. They need to figure everything out and almost automatically occupy themselves with trying to sort through data to arrive at conclusions. The problem is that our minds are plugging imaginary variables into the equation that end up further exacerbating the anxiety we are already experiencing. When they are done with one variable, they plug in another and the churning continues, leaving us with an uneasiness that keeps us on edge.
Armed with the knowledge that you will be OK even if the worst possible thing happens, you can come back into the present and recognize your fearful thoughts for what they are – fearful thoughts. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got, which I pass along frequently is don’t believe everything you think.
In the present moment, devoid of your stories about variables that are truly unknown, you are OK. And when new events begin to unfold, if you stay in the moment and access your inner wisdom, you will know exactly what you need to do – or not to do – to be OK then too. And as you go about your daily life in this way, your calm resolve will permeate your interactions with others and through your example, you will help others to rise up to their challenges in ways that unearth the greatness in themselves as well.
Bailey
