At the end of each day, our goal is to be healthy, happy and whole.
When we listen and observe every situation going on in our world, all that really matters is that we want our loved ones to be healthy, happy and whole.
People will express many different types of behaviour to honour their heart and protect their loved ones.
It may not make sense.
Perhaps our goal is to consider how that other person may think?
We all think differently.
It’s not our goal to think like each other.
We are all individual and when we think with our head and heart aligned it allows openness to see the world through someone else’s eyes. 💙
“One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself .”
-Lucille Ball
Often times when I am giving a keynote speech, I love to use the phrase, ”Growth always comes from the valley.”
The quote above from Lucille Ball speaks to me and provides alignment for the valley analogy.
We all land in the valley.
When we are faced with difficult times, hard decisions, change, transition, our first thoughts have emotion.
When we have time to pause, reflect and embrace mental calmness, we can move forward with logic.
Keep the faith in yourself.
Be your own BFF.
It’s okay to have and be confident.
If you don’t believe in yourself — how do you expect other people to believe? 💙
When I hear these two words it brings me back to my youth and the famous song that coined Aerosmith’s success — Dream On.
Life is and can be completely interesting if we leave room and space to explore and think of the possibility of our dreams.
Having our dreams come true:
Takes Time
Requires Clarity
Welcomes Vision
Having an open heart
A will to create something bigger than ourself
I wanted to share the lyrics of Dream On and see where you are in your own journey of imagining something bigger than yourself. 💙
Lyrics – Dream On (Aerosmith – Release 1973)
Every time that I look in the mirror All these lines on my face getting clearer The past is gone Oh, it went by like dusk to dawn Isn’t that the way?
Everybody’s got their dues in life to pay, oh, oh, oh I know nobody knows Where it comes and where it goes I know it’s everybody’s sin You got to lose to know how to win
Half my life’s in books’ written pages Storing facts learned from fools and from sages You view the earth
Oh, sing with me, this mournful dub Sing with me, sing for a year Sing for the laughter, and sing for the tear Sing with me, if it’s just for today Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away
Oh, sing with me, sing for the year Sing for the laughter, and sing for the tear Sing it with me, if it’s just for today Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away
Dream on Dream on I dream on Dream a little, I’ll dream on Dream on I dream on I dream on
Dream a little, I’ll dream on Dream on Dream on Dream on I’ll dream on Dream on Dream on I dream on
I am always intrigued by lists that individuals gauge their success by.
Top 20 under 40
Expert in…..
A million followers
A million likes
The list is not what we work for.
A list does not show the work or failures.
It doesn’t give imperfection a chance to show up or be portrayed as part of the success equation.
Obscurity is welcoming.
Success is laying your head down on your pillow each day knowing that you showed up, did your best and honoured who you are — a heart-centered leader. 💙
As I held my beautiful granddaughter E today, my thoughts about the word thought and how others elevate my heartfelt spirit for life brought a smile to my face and joy in my heart. 💙
I was taught to try everything — even if I failed, I tried!
Teaching through living is incredibly important.
The last two years have shown us that we can transition and achieve many things — and it can look and feel a bit different.
Real-world practical skills are so important.
I’ve heard employers and HR professionals elude to candidates being ’book smart’ or ’academic smart’ and it lends for a great conversation.
My dad taught me how to change the oil in my car, change a tire, change the furnace filter, etc. He wanted me to approach basic life tasks with ease and also not be afraid to try.
What real-world tasks can you teach someone today? 💙
While this simple list of 4 agreements may seem easy to read, live by and practice, it’s a daily practice and habit to maintain.
It also leaves room and an impression that imperfection is also welcome.
Mindset, behaviour and attitude play a big part in modelling the four agreements and also being a heart-centered human being which allows your leadership to align beautifully.
This is a great list to keep in the forefront of your mind and on a post-it note for a daily view as it’s truly a welcome mat to master the art of heart with equanimity. 💙
This past week has offered me a new version of what it means to see and pause for the celebration of life.
A new baby is born and the feeling of wonder, awe and excitement is in the air and engraved in my heart forever. It’s a celebration of a new life.
A young man’s life is taken and we pause to celebrate his life. The wonder and awe of what he was able to accomplish in a short time, yet he was taken from the world.
It’s a ping-pong game in my heart and a physical feeling of complete sadness.
It’s a ping-pong game in my mind as my thoughts go from a level of love that cannot be measured to the depths of sadness for a baby who grew into a young man and is here no more.
Time is non-refundable.
Memories are forever locked in our hearts, mind and soul.
Embrace today. Be present. Live in the now.
Tomorrow is not promised which makes the present even more special and our choice and option to live in this space. 💙
To develop crystal clear intuition requires focus, clarity and silence.
To promote creativity we enter into Theta.
Theta is associated with the behavioral states of alertness, attention, orientation, and working memory including the enhancement of cognitive and perceptual performances.
Quietness.
Solace.
Clarity in thought achieved by intention.
Imperfection fully unveiled with acceptance and transparency.
Intuition management is one of the best cognitive tools to develop and have in your toolkit. 💙
We are conditioned from such a young age to do so many things ”right” which I believe leads us to being a young adult who wants to chase and pursue perfection.
The downside to this perfection is that it’s completely intangible.
Enter the unlearn-relearn model.
How many memories can you rethink about your childhood?
What did you love to do?
What haven’t you done in decades?
What is the first memory to bring a smile to your face?
Riding a bike?
Buying some penny candy?
Running and jumping in puddles?
Singing in the rain and not caring who is watching?
The best life diet is loosing the weight of what other people think.
Be a kid today, I would love to hear the memory and activity you choose to do! 💙
I love to pause each day and embrace all that I love in the present moment.
The summer affords us so many beautiful places, spaces, people and things to embrace.
I am loving sitting on our dock and enjoying all that Mother Nature gives us. The ripples in the lake, the direction of the wind, the beautiful, warm sun.
I sit and enjoy the sounds.
I feel my heart beat.
I purposely listen for my own level of quiet.
I watch and listen to the wind in the white poplar trees.
I marvel at the songs of the birds and wonder what they are saying and communicating to each other.
I sit in awe as a mother swan awakes with her six new baby swans.
It’s time to move over IQ and EQ, DQ is taking the forefront!
Every day, business executives make decisions, both large and small, positive and negative.
All of these decisions impact employees, consumers, shareholders, communities, and even the entire society.
To make these judgments in a moral and ethical manner, we must, in my humble and evolving opinion, adopt the fundamental characteristics of a leader.
Today’s and tomorrow’s successful leaders must possess a triple threat of leadership skills: IQ+EQ+DQ.
In other words, they must exhibit a mix of two familiar characteristics, namely intelligence and emotional intelligence, as well as one that I believe has not been talked about or utilized — decency (aka DQ).
DQ indicates a leader’s sincere desire to do the right thing for employees and coworkers – a heart-centered approach!
DQ is ensuring something positive for all co-workers and ensuring that everyone feels respected and valued. ❤️
✅ More self-aware (Quality #3 – Self-Care) ✅ Trusted by their employees (alignment with Quality #2) ✅ Interested in developing their skills (Alignment with Quality #7) ✅ Prepared to enjoy new experiences or ideas ✅ Attentive listeners (Alignment with Quality #13) ✅ Bring forth an intrinsic approach to their thinking.
Is this quality in your leadership toolkit? 💜
Download Heart-Centered Leadership Poster (now in 20 languages) here 👉https://www.dropbox.com/s/btapm9o6ttffgr5/HCL_20.pdf?dl=0
Leaders worldwide are cognitively ahead in their thinking with accuracy and precise vision.
At the same time, most C-Suite leaders are 7-10 years ahead. Yes, 2029 to 2032.
Our brain represents 2% of our total body weight, and it also accounts for 20% of the body’s energy use.
On a typical day, we utilize about 320 calories for thinking.
We feel, in our thinking, given the current climate around the world and the continuance of leading unprecedented times.
Adam Grant has published the blah feeling as languishing. He coined it “the middle child of mental health.”
Other leaders have shared with me that they feel malaise or even melancholy.
Leaders allow the space, time, and feelings to “BE.”
They honour all these feelings, yet a business must look ahead and continue to survive in the current pandemic climate.
Leadership keeps the ship pointed to the north star and at the helm.
They lead with all the elements of their talent and the attributes they bring to business acumen.
I’ve had the chance to witness and be of help to leaders on both sides of “VUCA.”
As you may already know, VUCA is an acronym first used in 1987 and introduced by the U.S. Army War College to describe the more Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous world we’d entered at the end of the Cold War.
By early 2017, Bill George, a prominent executive and board member, wrote in Forbes that our uncertainties had increased so much that we’d entered VUCA 2.0. And that was long before the disruptions of COVID.
Bob Johansen from the Institute of the Future suggested that leaders transform VUCA into Vision, Understanding, Clarity, and Agility.
C-Suite leaders who’ve successfully shifted their focus have achieved the shift by reviewing, repositioning, and reassessing their organizations.
In following this shift as part of my executive coaching practice, I’ve enjoyed seeing specific leadership challenges developed by Center for Creative Leadership:
Honing effectiveness
Inspiring others
Developing employees
Leading a team
Guiding change
Managing stakeholders
The connection between all six of these leadership challenges is people.
My definition of leading these challenges is simple—heart-centered leadership (VUCA 2.0).
Heart-Centered Leadership is honouring your connection with people.
I have a personal mission on this quest. I spent 21 years managing disability claims and lost five executives (3 VPs and 2 C-Suites) to cancer twelve years ago. I vowed to them that I would leave the generalist space and become a preventionist to ensure that leaders could lead without jeopardizing their health and emotional wellbeing.
Now in my 12th year, I know I made the right decision. 💜
After another week of ‘heavy’ in the world, I’ve done what many organizations are implementing for their staff. I am migrating to a 4-day work week for the summer.
I am gifting myself all Fridays off for June, July and August.
When we can self-audit our own discipline and structure we can do the same amount or more work in less time.
A time to BE in nature.
To live on the water and bask in the glorious sounds that Mother Nature provides – a true gift.
When we slow down, we do more.
When we embrace less, it opens up space to be creative and think without pressure, deadlines or stress.
When we can sit and BE outside it’s truly meditative.
While I can’t make logical sense of what is happening in the world, my heart is hurting. 💔
To be a heart-centered leader, self-care daily is vital. That white space I talk about all the time. It’s non-negotiable.
I’ve got a lovely outdoor office to write my book and this makes me happy.
It’s also inviting and allows my creativity to be at it’s best while hanging out with the beautiful sounds of birds and the ability to hear the wind in the trees.
I watch, listen and observe all the different children around the world.
They are some talented young leaders around the globe.
These children have dreams, goals and future aspirations.
Young people look to adults for mentorship, leadership, the ability to learn, the fostering of failing forward and the welcome of always being in a safe place.
Leadership for the future is the children all around us.
Do you know that you are loved in this exact moment?
When we can have the ability to embrace and know that we are all loved exactly the way we are in this moment, it allows pure growth and space for imperfection.
Join me in the land of imperfection. It’s truly the sweet spot! 💙
I embrace all my wrong doings and convert them to learning moments.
Removing self-judgement and negative connotation is a daily practice.
Laughing at oneself daily is enjoyable, fun and relatable.
When we embrace who we are wholeheartedly, that’s imperfection at it’s best and it shows the deep inner work of who we are and that are self-awareness lies in the forefront of our being. 💙
