If you are a high achieving leader, you love nothing more than a meaty challenge. How do you find your sweet spot of being energized by a challenge that will stretch, and maybe tax you, but not overly so? It’s in overcoming our greatest challenges that we can feel really alive and accomplished.

Yet there is a fine line between feeling the tension of a challenge, getting out of your comfort zone, and feeling the stress, pressure or overwhelm of being stretched beyond what you think you can do.
Do you have a sense of where this fine line is? Sometimes your anxiety can fuel you to seek alternative ways to overcome obstacles, and sometimes it can disable you.

If you are in tired, anxious, burnt out mode, you may have crossed the line.

A key leadership competency is as basic as taking a pause, deep breath, and to qualify yourself in any given moment. This is the first step required to recalibrate your frame of mind and be able to push past and through these feeling states. And yet it is the very feelings of passion, desire and drive that can propel you to proactive action.

Here is an exercise you can use in the moment of recalibration to presence yourself so you can think more clearly:

Bring the tips of your fingers together such as presented above. Close your eyes. Take an inhale breath through your nose, counting to four. Suspend your breath for a four count. Exhale through your nose for a four count. Increase the time as your lung capacity allows. Continue this cycle for 60-90 seconds.

Notice any sensations in your body. Notice your thoughts. Pay attention to the quality of your thoughts and the tension in your body. Does this challenge feel to be the right one – you are just growing and stretching? Do you sense excitement, love and passion? Or are your feelings still tense and not good? Is this challenge too much – beyond your capacity to manage?

If the former, how do you move forward knowing this moment will pass?

If the latter, what does it mean for you to admit this to yourself? What then must you do?

© Copyright 2016 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC. All rights Reserved.
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Susan is an executive coach and leadership & organization effectiveness consultant. She also teaches yoga and meditation – tools to keep one sane in insane times. She helps professionals step up to their fullest leadership and growth potential. At times this means overcoming their greatest fears or trauma and getting out of their own way to get important stuff accomplished. Please contact her for a complimentary strategy session. www.sagelead.com.

Breathe. You Have Arrived.

Breathe, You Have Arrived.

This is the sign that greeted me when I arrived at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health last weekend. I was there on a Kundalini yoga retreat. I practice and teach this form of yoga – not for my career, but probably because of it. What I mean is, it’s the pressures of life that fueled me to search for ways to unwind or better cope with my challenges.

The yoga lifestyle has given me tools and a way of being in the world that I wouldn’t have if I didn’t practice it. I teach yoga to master it. There is nothing like having to teach something that makes you really learn it.

First, and foremost, practicing yoga and meditation have given me a different relationship and experience of myself in relation to others and the world around me. “Breathe. You have arrived,” is geared toward people coming from the world to indicate they can now let go and relax because they are taking a break from it.

I saw so many ways to interpret this sign. When I pause to breathe deeply, I shift my energy to respond versus to react. Breathe, you’ve arrived at your destination in life – achieved what you hope to achieve. Once you’ve achieved a goal, you set your sights on a new goal. So, there is a never-ending sense that there is always something more to do or be.

After having a consistent practice for a number of years now, I finally really get why it is so important to breathe IN THE PROCESS of arriving, in the process of life. This enables us to be in the flow of life. We live in a culture that cultivates the necessity that achievement equals stress. Somehow if you aren’t stressed you can’t be achieving something of challenge or importance. When you are too stressed, it becomes near impossible to be really creative.

Some of the best advice I ever received is, you better ENJOY the work versus the title or thought of the work, otherwise you will be miserable and ultimately not effective.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately – what do I really enjoy? What excites me? What would I do even if I didn’t get paid for it?

I came back from this retreat feeling really refreshed, able to sink deeper into my practice and my life. Paradoxically it is the consistency and discipline of the practice that frees and lightens me up.

Reflection question: Where do you need to be breathing more deeply in your life? How can you be more present and lighter to the process of your life, not just focused on the end goal?

© Copyright 2016 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC. All rights Reserved.

Focus Friday: What to Do When You’ve Plateaued.

Tony Robbins gives great advice if you’ve hit a plateau, are in a rut, or too comfortable. You need something to get your mind and body going again.

• Read Something Inspirational.
• Engage in Intense Physical Activity.
• Be Crystal Clear on Goals & Learn from Great Role Models.
• Give Service.

This is all great advice. People can support you but ultimately it is up to you to make things happen and change your life. Getting inspired opens up your mind. Exercising energizes your body. Getting clear and seeing someone else do what you want creates a clear pathway. Giving service helps put things in perspective and generates good will.

Reflection question: What is one thing you can do today to shift your life?

© Copyright 2016 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC. All rights Reserved.

Focus Friday: The Empathic Leader and Self Care

There is a lot written in recent years about the need for a leader to demonstrate empathy when creating a safe, high performing culture for their constituents. When I refer to an empathic leader, I am not referring to someone who can demonstrate empathy. I am referring to someone in a leadership role who is considered a highly sensitive person – an empath. This is someone who feels what others feels and may often feel overwhelmed by this sensitivity and the environments in which they find themselves. Maybe they have been accused of being too emotional. For more information, you can refer to the work of Judith Orloff, MD, who has written a lot about this way of being.

Often people who are empaths shy away from leadership positions because, if they don’t have solid daily practices, exercising self care to manage this way being, they can be easily overwhelmed. Here is how it can show up: You are constantly stressed or overwhelmed. You are stressed by the deadlines and workload. You absorb and are stressed by what your employees feel consequently your employees feel that from you. It doesn’t matter what you say. They experience what you embody – your emotions and the energy vibe you give off. All the way around it creates a chaotic and unpleasant environment for you and for them.

The good news about being an empath is that you are aware (sometimes painfully so) of how everyone feels. The bad news is, you may take it all on and not filter it or distance yourself from it. When employees are stressed they want two things: the sense that their leader gets them and cares, and wants to, and can fix it for them – create calm or remove the stuff (people, deadlines, projects) that are stressing them out.

But you can’t give away what you don’t have. You can’t create calm if you don’t have calm. It generates from within you. For the Empathic leader the greatest thing you can do is, as the famous analogy states – put the oxygen mask on yourself! First, notice when you are feeling really stressed. Notice the source from which this stress is coming. Exercise extreme self care by mentally and emotionally, and sometimes physically distancing yourself from those employees who are negative. Sometimes you may be sitting in a meeting and it is just your mental or emotional orientation you shift if you need to still interface with them.

Then there is the single more important thing you can do to keep yourself grounded, or to re-ground yourself if you are feeling stressed: Have some kind of daily practice that keeps you centered within yourself. This could be: running, walking, meditating, doing yoga, journaling, talking to a trusted colleague over morning coffee, driving, swimming, prayers, affirmations, etc. It could also be an activity, practice, person or some sort of support group you tap into.

Whatever your “thing” is, do it for at least 20 minutes religiously everyday. This will give a certain baseline from which to navigate from. When you are really stressed, do another 20 minutes and another, etc. A leader’s job, like a parent, is the hardest one as people look to you for support, vision and help, especially when they are stressed.

At Sage Leadership Strategies, this is what we do well – hold the space for leaders to understand their patterns and enhance their approach for greater impact. If you know you can get better results with your constituents but just need some additional support to gain clarity and sort things out, please call us for a complimentary discovery session: 203-730-2103.

© Copyright 2016 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC. All rights Reserved.

Focus Friday: How Do You Maintain Your Leadership Filter?

First, what IS a leadership filter?

It’s how you personally filter and process information so you are passing on the right content and tone of your message to your constituents. Are you passing on stress, confusion, or clarity?
I had several conversations with clients this week about this very point. When you are on your email late at night mulling over some upset – do you fire off emails to your team or do you sit with it, filter and digest the issue? It’s about responding versus reacting.

When you react, you are being triggered by something and may come across emotional – tense or stressed. When you respond, you have paused and thought through multiple scenarios and carefully crafted your point of view or request.

A filter is not necessarily about how intelligent you are. It’s mostly about how you are managing your stress and triggers. Are you throwing up your “stuff” on everyone or communicating in a clear way? The first is charged and has a lot of negativity in it. Everyone is triggered by something. The more triggered you are, the more likely it is related to something that was either a traumatic or upsetting event that happened in the past and is no longer relevant, or a worry or anxiety you have about the future. In most instances a strong trigger is related to something that happened when you were a child and felt helpless. Your brain doesn’t always realize you are an independent, strong adult now and it can regress and act from that place.

The more time and workload pressure you are under, the more susceptible you are to throwing stuff to others unfiltered. I call this acting in your back-up style. This is where you literally want to make sure you breathe, pause and compose. By the very nature of it you may not be able to. This is where your amygdala gets “hijacked” The amygdala is a structure located in the temporal lobes of the limbic brain and has the role of memory, decision-making, and emotional reactions. When it gets triggered, I use the word “hijacked” because that is what looks it like – someone took your rational brain and your emotions are off and running.

What is the danger of this behavior? You are expressing (usually) negative emotions and passing the buck by generating stress for your constituents – direct reports, peers, maybe even boss – versus filtering and tempering the message and emotions so it can be received better. In other words, your reaction starts a chain of reactions or escalates things. When you filter, you also shape the message in ways that your constituents can either best digest it or act upon it. It’s not just a “pass through” of information.

So, a filter is not just editing what you say but how you say it. The tone is the most important thing people usually react to. Make sure it is music (a clear, less-charged request) and not noise (panic).
Reflection question: How do you manage your emotions when the stakes are high and the pressure is on?

At Sage Leadership Strategies, this is what we do well – hold the space for leaders to understand their patterns and enhance their approach for greater impact. If you know you can get better results with your constituents but just need some additional support to sort things through, please call us for a complimentary discovery session: 203-730-2103.

© Copyright 2016 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC. All rights Reserved.

Focus Friday: Setting Your Day With Daily Rituals to Support Your Success

It has often been cited that successful people have daily rituals that they practice first thing in the morning that supports them in accomplishing their goals.

If you don’t have a daily ritual, I encourage you to discover one. If you do, I encourage you to revisit what you do and why you do it. Why? To make sure you are setting the right tone to your day – in terms of attitude, mindset and content. When I don’t practice my daily ritual first thing in the morning, my day is usually off. I am not at the top of my game.

Here is my daily ritual: Once I am aware I am awake, I practice alternate nostril breathing while lying in bed. This rebalances my brain. I get up, wash my face, brush my teeth and take a quick shower and have a glass of warm water with lemon. I then go into my home office and sit on the floor. I write in a journal listing all the people and things I am grateful for in my life and then do my Kundalini yoga and meditation practice.

If I wake up late or have an early meeting and can’t get my full practice in (45-75 minutes), I will do at least a 15 minute warm up and the rest later. It is a non-negotiable for me to do everyday. When I don’t do it first thing, it doesn’t set my day the same way.

Since there is often a lot that is uncertain or unresolved in my business, my practice helps me lower my anxiety. I will often open a couple of emails that are daily inspirational videos or quotes to give me a lift. I then go to my calendar and to do list I drafted the night before to determine where I start my workday.

I will admit there are days where I check my email on my phone while lying in bed or just before I wash my face. (I do not keep my phone by my bed but in the bathroom behind a closed door so I have to get up and get it). What happens when I do this? I am setting my day in a reaction versus proactive mode. It is enticing to be in this mode. It really requires discipline to not peak at all those emails. Some are junk and some are urgent but not important. In any case, it does not put me in the drivers seat for my day so I am working on eliminating doing this at all until I have finished my practice. But it can be so enticing!

What are positive ways you set your day? Where are you vulnerable to jumping in, in reaction mode before breakfast?

© Copyright 2016 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC. All rights Reserved.

Focus Friday: The Journey from Trauma to Nurturance – Dentists Who Lead In Creating a Nurturing Environment

Dentistry, leadership and nurturing environment. Do all these words really go together in one thought? I don’t know anyone, other than my daughter, who loves going to the dentist. Most people hate going, perhaps because they fear needles, pain, the drill sound or just the unknown.

I myself had a really bad experience about eight years ago. The dentist I had been going to retired, and someone bought his practice. At that time, I had been going to the practice for probably about fifteen years so I stayed and went to “the new guy.” After one or two visits, he discovered a cavity, which I don’t recall having in the previous fifteen years. Here is where it gets hairy.

Ever since I was two years old, I have had an aversion to needles. I was hospitalized with pneumonia and had so many shots of penicillin that it created a hole in my skin and in my psyche. Since then I was terrified of needles. Today, although not pleasant, I can tolerate a poke in the arm. My mouth is a different situation – I’m a sensitive type and have a sensitive nervous system. Even though I practice yoga, and have strengthened it, it’s still sensitive.

But at this time, I had not yet developed a consistent yoga practice and when I went to “the new guy” to fill my cavity, here is what happened: He gave me a shot in my gums. I don’t remember being given a local anesthetic and I don’t remember feeling particularly numb after the injection. When he started to drill, it really hurt. I tried to bear it. Pain is a relative thing. How does one really, objectively know their tolerance for pain? I always say that, even though I am sensitive, I must have a fairly high level of tolerance since, after all, “I gave birth to my daughter without medication.” Shouldn’t that count for some kind of hero’s acknowledgement? It certainly wasn’t a cakewalk and required perseverance, stamina and a gritty will.

Back to the drill. After a while, it was so unbearable, and I felt so vulnerable – there with my mouth open and unable to speak – that I started to groan in agony. The dentist had many options at that point. Here is what he did: he said, “You can feel that?”
What did he think, I was groaning for jollies?
I said, “Yes, I can.”
“You can’t feel that. You shouldn’t be able to feel that.”
“Well I can.”

I don’t remember what happened after that – if he gave me another shot or not. What I do remember is I felt traumatized and shamed. It was a small office and when I walked out, I felt people, including the receptionist, looking at me since they could hear my groans. Was I a baby?

Here is what I did: I wrote a letter to the dentist about my experience – what it felt like for me in his chair. I encouraged him to think differently about how he practiced. I told him I was leaving the practice and I never went back. I sought a holistic dentist who replaced half of my mercury fillings (all paid for out of pocket!) without the trauma. I didn’t do anymore as it was costly and I didn’t want to upset more mercury in my mouth.

A year later, I asked around and had a friend refer me to a dental practice that was covered by my insurance. I have been going to this practice for seven years now. On my first visit, I told the dentist about my previous experience and what I was looking for. She listened and gave me all the time in the world. On subsequent visits, the hygienist does most of the work and the dentist comes in to check – and always with a smile and something upbeat to say. In this timeframe I have only had one small cavity until last week when I needed a crown. I have never had anything other than cavities so I was nervous over this procedure.

I am writing about this today because I had an extraordinary experience that shifted my previous trauma and sense of being taken care of. What happened in this practice is unbelievable.
On the day of my crown, I made it clear how sensitive and nervous I was and reminded the dentist of my traumatic incident. They walked me through in detail everything they were going to do. They handled this procedure so differently than that day eight years ago. First, they gave me a local gel anesthetic before putting a needle in my mouth. Then, they used an instrument, not their judgment, to gauge my level of pain.

After giving me a couple of shots of Novocain, they placed an instrument on my tooth, and had me place my hand on the instrument with the doctor’s so I was in control. I could pull it away when I started to feel it. The way my system works, I didn’t do that but raised a leg instead. The doctor got the message. This instrument had a measure and I had to get up to a score of 80 before they felt it was safe to start to drill. They were surprised, but not upset about how long it took. She kept giving me small dosed shots of Novocain, waiting and checking on my level of sensation. I lost track after six shots. Finally I was ready.

Before they started to drill the dental assistant suggested I could use my iPod. I put in my earplugs and they started to drill. The high pitch of the drill affected me. No problem. She gave me a heavy set of headphones. I turned up my yoga music, closed my eyes and breathed deeply. A couple of times I had a moment of sensation. They stopped. My eyes started to tear. I couldn’t help it. A couple of times I apologized for taking so long and being “such a project.” It also helped that I had my partner there who rubbed my feet during most of the procedure.

The reaction from the dentist and dental assistant was, “no need to apologize. You are just sensitive.” It wasn’t, “you are too sensitive.” It is what it is. They said, “This isn’t bad. There are people who are worse. You just have a hot tooth. It’s not happy. It’s okay.”

A procedure I was told would take ninety minutes took three hours. No complaints or attitude from anyone in the office – just understanding and patience. This was healing for me on so many levels. The entire atmosphere felt accepting and nurturing. I never thought I would use that word for a dentist, but I do. Even the staff in the office were so pleasant, helping me navigate the last month of my dental insurance.

I was so touched when I left that I hugged the dental assistant and the dentist. I now do not have the same sense of dread for future procedures. Because my nerves were tended to with care, I have a lot of nerve for next time.

I also reflected on all of my experiences with this office over time and decided that an office doesn’t just get this way by itself. This is an environment that is set and cultivated by the doctors – the dentists and leaders of the practice are the ones who set the tone. There is a pervasive sense of friendliness and that they are there for the patients and that they really care. Care is the operative word. It’s the water everyone is swimming in, and it’s infectious. I am overwhelmed with gratitude.

© Copyright 2016 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC. All rights Reserved.

Focus Friday: Are You Living In Passion or Stress?

Passion and Stress both harness strong emotions. Both move energy. It’s a question of what kind of emotion you are experiencing.
What is passion? It’s a strong, exciting feeling that energizes you and is generative – it builds on itself. The online Merriam Webster dictionary also gives the following definitions:

1. A strong feeling (such as anger) that causes you to act in a dangerous way.
2. A strong sexual or romantic feeling for someone.

Let’s focus on passion being a good thing, and something that enables you to tap into your life force energy. Specifically, let’s focus on harnessing your passion for your work and how you show up in your workplace.

First, it’s really important to know and notice what you are passionate about, and when you get ignited during the day. Often we experience the opposite.

Many of my clients complain about being stressed or show they are stressed-out more times than they are excited or turned on about something.
What is Stress?

1. A state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life, work, etc.
2. Something that causes strong feelings of worry or anxiety.
3. Physical force or pressure.

The operative words are worry, problems and pressure. You can be full or overfull with work and not be stressed. It all depends upon how you are holding this work in your thoughts, and what feelings you experience.

If it is work you don’t want to do, aren’t good at or don’t like to do, most likely you are stressed. If it’s work you love to do then most likely you are passionate and it feeds you in some way. How are you managing your personal energy? It’s about perspective.

It’s key to be clear on what gets you tuned in, tapped in, or turned on. You can’t do this just by thinking. You discover this in the doing of the activity and then notice what you experience by way of thoughts, emotions and sensations in your body.

We all have things we don’t like to do and maybe aren’t that good at, that are parts of our job. The key is looking at what is the ratio of stress versus passion you feel during the day.

My invitation this week requires courage. Courage means moving forward with a full heart. Stop doing what causes you undue stress and start doing more of what you are passionate about.

This week’s reflection questions: What activities give you joy and energy? What depletes you and feels like an obligation? How can you bring more of what energizes you into your work and workplace?

© Copyright 2016 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC. All rights Reserved.

Follow up Friday: Fluid Priorities

When I searched for an image for this post, I got all sorts things that portrayed “Fluid Priorities.” Many of the images were medical – how to know someone is hydrated, nursing moms, what do when someone is in shock, etc. I even got images related to oil changes.

This week’s reflection question was: How do you stay focused on the task at hand yet also aware of changing needs – so you can discern and adapt accordingly – all this while staying sane and ensuring you are getting the stuff done that matters?

Here is what I discovered: priorities can be fluid because they need to be – because your client’s needs change or the environment is changing. These are causes for the change that arise in your external environment, outside yourself.

Or priorities can be fluid because there is a cause for the change inside yourself: you are the one who is changing and maybe, perhaps not as clear on what should actually be your priority; you are at the whim of the urgent versus the important; or you are not sure how to respond to the changing environment so you keep trying different things to see what sticks.

When you change the priorities you are focused on, the key question is why? Here are some answers that make sense: the client’s needs change or your goal changed and that item is no longer important. Everything else is noise intended to distract you.

In my own reflection this week, I discovered that a lot of the reasons why my priorities were changing were because of static going on within myself – I wasn’t as clear on what my priorities should be. Sure, I was clear in the big picture sense of the word – delivering on client services first, marketing next and operations last. This works well in the short-term but not the long-term. If my operations suffer long-term eventually it will effect my client’s experience. This prioritized list is also so high level that it doesn’t always give clear criteria for deciding on what to focus at the next level of defining the task.

This question caused me to reassess where I was spending my time everyday; how was I allowing my calendar to run away from me? I questioned what return I was getting from my activities. This process reminded me that busy does not always mean productive or results producing.

Let’s look at the beakers in the image above. We can use these as a metaphor for how we think about priorities. Are they the right shaped container? Do they have the right color liquid in them? How full are they? What needs more liquid? Less liquid? Ultimately the answers all depend on what it is you are trying to achieve. It all starts with achieving clarity on what your goal is and how you can best get there.

So, too, in approaching your work: what resources and supports do you need to hold all that you do? Are you focused on the right goals? What is the tone or attitude you need to accomplish the tasks at hand? Whose help do you need? Where do you need to be aligned in approach and outcome? Where do you need to redistribute some of your energy or focus? How do you know? What are the results you are seeking?

This line of questioning landed me here: A primary focus of my business this year is to grow my executive coaching practice (I have a few spots available!) and to develop an online program to be able to help more people. In service of these two top priorities, I decided that, while personally I love to write and blog, business-wise, the amount of time I spend engaged in this activity is not the best use of my time. I made the difficult decision to, after six months of writing in this format (Magic Mondays and Follow up Fridays), to change what I am doing and how much time I spend on this task.

After today, I will be writing once a week on Fridays, highlighting a key topic, question or issue as food for thought to get you reflecting over the weekend and ready for a strong Monday. This doesn’t mean that I might not occasionally share an interesting article or provocative post. It means, I am not committing to it. I’m giving up one day, so I can redirect my energy in another area of my business.

So, my weekend reflection for you is: What do you need to let go of? Is there some activity you have been actively engaged in for a time that is not giving you the results you need – in terms of clients, dollars or your own peace of mind or satisfaction? Has the environment changed that requires you to redirect your efforts elsewhere? What is the difference for you between experimenting on discovering what clients respond to and aimlessly firing shots in the dark?

At Sage Leadership Strategies, we create the space for you to reflect on your opportunities and challenges. The outcome is greater clarity, ease and confidence in how to best move forward. We are all always in process. We do our own work too, so we can be most present for you.

Please call us for a complimentary discovery session: 203-730-2103.

© Copyright 2016 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.

True Confessions: Commitment, Consistency and Goal Achievement

I made a commitment to write in my blog everyday for 30 days (Nov 17 – Dec 16). I did this for several reasons:

1. To get more of my thought leadership public.
2. To strengthen my commitment muscle.
3. To unclog my mind, unblock my writing and be more consistent with it.

Today is day 31 – and I am celebrating that I did not miss a day – even over the Thanksgiving holiday! Goal Achieved! Woo hoo! While some days I may have posted at 10 pm, it still made it on that calendar day. Given all the other things I juggle, this was a huge commitment and achievement for me.

Before, I committed, I didn’t give this particular goal a lot of thought – as I typically would with such a commitment that required a daily consistent practice. I noticed an invitation email the day before the challenge was to begin. I said, I’m in, I’m going to do it. I had no plan – unlike me. I just said, I’ll figure it out as I go along.

After I said yes, my questions and fears began swirling: Would I have enough to say? Would anyone read it? Would anyone care? How am I going to do this with all I have going on? Is this really what I should be focused on right now? What if I set this goal and didn’t achieve it? It was more about my doing something I set out to do that I knew would translate to other places in my life where I need to channel more of this commitment energy.

A couple of times I wrote more than one blog entry in a day, and I had a few topics that I explored over several days. But generally, I allowed topics to surface on a daily basis. I felt like a hiker wandering in the woods, being guided by my internal GPS.
Here is what I experienced and learned:

1. When it’s not an option to not do it, I found a way – to find content or make the time.
2. Trust the process: On days when I had little time, suddenly an article surfaced that moved me so I felt compelled to write about it.
3. The more I wrote, the more ideas flowed. I started a writing journal to capture my thoughts for headlines for posts and ideas to be developed.
4. The practice of writing and reflecting helped me get clearer on my priorities and my message to the world.
5. The act of writing for public consumption forced deeper reflection and commitment.
6. Writing allows me to better connect to myself and how I process my life and my work.
7. I heard from people I didn’t know who found value in what I had to say, which gave me further encouragement.
8. I heard from former clients, colleagues and friends who found posts helpful.
9. It helped to know 3,000 people in my blogger community – learntoblog – were also taking this challenge. When up against a huge challenge, I really need to get support and energy from others because I do have moments of doubt, fatigue, etc. – and that is okay! Plan for it and expect it.
10. I need to trust my inner guidance (intuition) more. It will deliver even when I (my mind) doubt I can.
11. Any worthwhile challenge is going to push me beyond what I think my limits are.

So, I addressed all three reasons of why I took the challenge:

1. I got feedback that my thought leadership was of value.
2. I came through on my commitment.
3. My mind is unclogged and writing is flowing. Now, if I can just fix my kitchen sink that clogged today. 

Here is my plan going forward: To continue to write in my blog at least twice a week (magic Mondays and Follow up Fridays) and as the spirit moves me on other days. I will channel the daily writing into completing my book, which I have been challenged with finishing this year – a 2015 goal not achieved. I am giving myself another chance – another year. The difference this next year is me – my commitment and consistency with action and getting the supports I need when I have my moments of waver.

Here is what I now know for sure: When I make something a non-negotiable, I always find a way through any challenge or obstacle. Commitment is willing myself to take action, especially when it’s hard. When this happens to reach out for support and I will get it. It’s working with my wavering commitment that makes all the difference in my results.

Where do you notice a little waver you need to bolster? What resources do you have to help you with reinforcing your commitment?

I work with leaders to give them the support they need to discover the insight, strength and resiliency within themselves to overcome any obstacle or challenge. Since you can’t give away what you don’t have, I continue to challenge and strengthen my muscles in these areas as well. We always have the next level of growth to be realized!

You may contact me for a complimentary 30-minute strategy session as you plan for the New Year.

© Copyright 2015 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.

Know What Charges You & Stay Calibrated to Full

Yesterday, I shared about the woman business owner who had an outrageously long list of to dos she accomplished in a given day. Some might say this is what energizes her so good for her, go for the insane list! She’s engaged with her life and accomplishing a lot for so many people.

Yet, her email “Are You Ready to Quit” says otherwise. It comes down to knowing what really gets you charged up, energized, excited and engaged… AND to what degree.

Think of it like making a delicious boiling pot of soup. You have all the herbs and fresh chopped vegetables. You keep putting in ingredients to add to the soup’s complexity. You are enjoying creating it and it is stimulating your sense of smell. You continue adding ingredients. And then with the last pile of carrots, the pot overflows. The pot did not have the capacity for anything else.

So, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Having a challenge and a lot to do may energize you to a point. It’s important to know what that point is. With too much, you risk becoming ineffective, stressed, or worse completely burned out.

Calibration is key. Often we don’t know what our limits are until we have reached them. Then we have to scale back a bit to get back to that sweet spot of having our load be energizing and regenerating versus depleting.

Check-in with yourself today – where are you in loading up the ingredients for a juicy life? If necessary, recalibrate to full versus overfull. This is a key to staying resilient – paying attention and regrouping and refueling as necessary.

© Copyright 2015 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.

Playing with Relentless Focus

The greater the challenge you are facing, the greater the need to focus.

Whether it’s a goal you are trying to achieve or relationship you are trying to navigate, it’s probably a challenge because you either aren’t sure if, or how you can get the results you want, or you aren’t getting the results you want … yet.

In both cases, this can bring up all kinds of emotions – fear, panic, terror, frustration, intrigue, curiosity, excitement. Some people are energized by challenge and drive toward it. Others are overwhelmed or move away from it, if it appears to be too much. The key is perspective. How are you holding this challenge in your mind?

Even if you are the kind of person who loves a big challenge, you may still find yourself experiencing a range of emotions. Sometimes you may not be aware of your emotions and have your mind in overdrive on a push toward overcoming that challenge. If so, you may miss somethings with a linear relentless focus.

It is at this time, I recommend you put on your mindfulness hat and stop, pause, breathe and notice what is going on – with you and the other people involved. Lean into the situation with a more relaxed attention and you may notice some ways in which you are getting in your own way.

Relentless focus helps in striving to overcome challenges but, it doesn’t have to be intense and hard driving. It can have more of a quality of being relaxed, aware, consistent and persistent.
Try a different stance – perhaps more playful – just for today and notice if anything shifts.

At Sage Leadership, we are catalysts and enablers helping leaders maintain focus while facing significant personal or organizational challenges. Please contact us for a complimentary strategy session.

© Copyright 2015 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.

The Power of Freneticness & The Illusion of Productivity

Frantic energy is so strong – and it’s contagious. If this is what is showing up in you or your team, you want to make sure you are harnessing and channeling this excitement for directed, not wildly distracted action.

Thefreedictionary.com defines “freneticness” as: “from Greek phrenītikos, from phrenītis, brain disease…1. distracted or frantic; frenzied or, … insanity.” MerriamWebster.com cites this word as “filled with excitement, activity, or confusion : wild or frantic.”

Wow. It is a disease of the brain fogged by activity and confusion! Sound familiar?

Many organizations suffer from this disease because they are going through massive changes – either because they are growing or because they are not growing. One is trying to keep up with demand. The other is searching for demand.

Even though you may have a plan or strategy in how you are leading your team or business, plans don’t always reflect reality. People may not be clear on, buy into, or follow the plan. Also, when unplanned stuff happens – as is inevitable – then often adjustment to the plan goes out the window and busy reactions ensue.

When you notice you or your team are stricken by the freneticness disease, you must STOP the insanity, STEP BACK and ASSESS if you are actually on purpose – aligned and making progress toward your vision. If it is the former, then you will have the illusion of being productive. But is it the right kind of busy?

To keep yourself sufficiently inoculated against, or to recover from, the freneticness disease, exercise mindfulness and consider the following questions:

• What is the energetic quality of you, your team and your business – purposeful: on purpose and full or frenetic: busy and distracted?
• Where are you feeling frenzied?
• Where are you feeding the frenzy?
• Where can you stop, pause, assess and regroup for more purposeful direction instead of being jammed in swirling activity or back-to-back meetings.
• Are you and your team jamming and flowing or just jammed up?
• How can you channel the excitement to directed action?

© Copyright 2015 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.

The Yoga of Leadership

When I refer to the yoga of leadership in the business context, I am not referring to leadership in the yoga world but bringing a yogic mindset and practice to how you approach your leadership in business. My intent is not to condense the volumes written on each discipline here (yoga and leadership), but to open the door to an ongoing exploration of how both disciplines can learn from each other.

Business is about creating value for your constituents: business and client, leader and employee, or business and shareholder. To be a strong leader requires you articulate a clear vision, engage stakeholders in that vision, give people the support and resources they need to do their part to make that vision a reality, and recognize people for a job well done.

Yesterday I shared Stanton Kawer’s article, Yoga Made me a Better CEO. I love his subtext: “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.”

Of course yoga, if practiced consistently over time, brings you physical flexibility. Much of this happens from working with the patterns of your mind and emotions to accomplish what you physically didn’t think you could a mere few weeks earlier. The ultimate benefit of a physical practice is to foster mental and emotional flexibility that creates a resiliency and vitality of spirit. This flexibility enables you to make optimal decisions while navigating an often chaotic and uncertain world.

Yoga promotes a calm and clear mind, a strong body that is stress-resistant, and clear emotions – being clear on your emotions and the ability to clear negative emotions. When you embody all these states of being than you have a vital spirit typically engaged in purposeful activity. These are all ways of being that the 21st century leader needs to embody, and given the context of today’s business world, can be challenging.

Technology has compressed time, leveraged resources and connected people like never before. It requires that a leader have the mental stamina and emotional flexibility to make decisions quickly with very little information, change gears on a dime, and breakthrough their own internal barriers as to what is possible. There is a need to react quickly without being reactive. Often this happens in the context of a physically demanding schedule of long hours and traveling across multiple time zones while navigating high stress/conflict situations.

This is why mindfulness practices are so desired today. Yoga is about managing personal energy – how you move through life. Yoga literally means to unite or yoke together as one. It refers to the unification of body, mind and spirit. When a leader can embody this state of being within themselves, they create the conditions to support others in doing so. An individual in alignment, creates a team and an organization in alignment. When all are aligned, this creates the conditions for success.

Where do you feel aligned and in sync, within yourself, team or organization? What needs adjusting?

We work with all three: self-care for leaders, team and organization effectiveness.

© Copyright 2015 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.

Yoga and The Making of A CEO

I am a leadership and executive coach with over 25 years in business. I also teach yoga and meditation.

Some of my yoga friends have judgment about big business. Some of my business colleagues have judgment about new age yoga types. The reality is that each camp – yoga and business – have more similar practices and mindsets than they realize.

Both require great discipline and are about employing self mastery to achieve success. Self mastery cannot happen without the uniting of body, mind and spirit focused on an intention.

My business challenges give me fodder for the yoga mat. My yoga practice gives me what I need to face my business challenges – a calm mind, strong body, clear emotions and a resilient & vital spirit. They feed each other.

Stanton Kawer, the Chief Executive Office & Chairman of Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide, articulated the benefits of yoga for an executive so well: “yoga helps make me a more effective CEO by reorienting my outlook on life–my buoyancy of spirit.”

Check out his article, Yoga and The Making of A CEO, in Forbes, to get more details.

© Copyright 2015 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.

Follow up Friday: How Do You Stay Dialed In?

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Monday I asked you to reflect on where you can more closely align your passion with your leadership or how you can unleash other people’s passion and leadership. How do you say dialed into passion?

Here is what I noticed: While passion is an emotion, it starts and ends with the mind. Many of us have the tape running in our head that says, “this is what I LOVE to do…but this is what I HAVE to do.”

This is a mindset – a setting or set of messages in our inner landscape that is based on who we inherently are and our conditioning (messages others have given us). This statement says I can’t do what I love.

When your mind clicks into what you love, you know it, you feel it. When you are not in this space, it’s usually because you have given permission for someone else’s voice to override you. Claim yourself. Claim your passion.

It’s not an either/or situation. We all have things we don’t like to do but have to. When you approach the “HAVE Tos” from the perspective of being in your passion, they are easier to do, because you are loving the ride. It is a matter of degree.

Living in your passion 80% of the time, gives you the energy and positive attitude to address the 20% of tasks you don’t like. If the situation is reversed and you are spending 80% of your time on things you don’t like to do, then naturally you are going to experience a slew of negative thoughts and feelings (boredom, anger, depression, resentment) that will leave you stuck or in a downward spiral.

Passion is your greatest leverage and inoculation against being overwhelmed by challenge. Life can be hard. Who wouldn’t welcome more ease and flow? When you are dialed directly into your passion, it effects everyone around you and compounds the collective energy.

How do I stay dialed in?

I NOTICE where my mind goes and I am VIGILANT about LISTENING to my inner thermostat and RESETTING the dial when I need to turn up the heat. I NOTICE and LISTEN to what excites other people and ADJUST my actions to better support them.

How do you stay dialed in?

© Copyright 2015 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.

Inspiration & Presence = Better Engagement

BREATHE.

I’m a big practitioner of understanding the root of words – for clarity and greater impact.

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word inspire means, “inhaling, breathing in; inspiration,” from the Latin inspirationem … inspirare “inspire, inflame, blow into,” … “to breathe” in the literal sense, it’s the “act of inhaling.”

What’s the theme?

Breathing in. Breath is life. Breath is energy. Breath is creativity. It’s a taking in of – energy, ideas, words, people – their perspective and needs. As a leader, if you aren’t inspired – full, infused, overflowing, abundant – with life, activity and ideas – how can you expect it from others?

If others don’t have it, and you do, then your job as a leader is to create the conditions by which they get on fire, ignited from within. An average employee on fire is worth so much more than a highly competent employee going through the motions. When you are present and attuned to what your people care about, a resonance happens between you and they are able to make connections to experiences, ideas, or people that wasn’t previously possible. The momentum builds on itself.

Your presence matters. This requires that you seek to understand who they are and what they care about. In this way, you can make connections and build a bridge to get them more engaged. When you are both better connected to what excites you about the work, it flows and speed of activity ensues.

Where are you today? Do you need TO BE INSPIRED – to hear, see or read something that jazzes you? Or do you need TO INSPIRE – to better connect to those you lead? Take one step in the direction that will fuel the fire – within yourself or within or among your people.

© Copyright 2015 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.

Strategic Planning & The Power of Clicking

When you meet someone for the first time, within an instant you register a sense of them. You immediately feel a liking and want to move toward them or disliking and want to move away from them. Then you look for evidence to support this sense. Sometimes they surprise you with behavior that counters your initial gut reaction – either they grow on you or they do something that violates your trust or what “you thought you knew” about them.

When you click, you will forgive a lot. You can hear things from this person that, if said by someone else would put you in a space of denial or defense. Clicking is a short cut to getting and being in the flow, in the moment. There is no second-guessing. The dance of resistance or force doesn’t occur as it does in relationships where there is no click.

Paying attention to your gut is important. Your body doesn’t lie, but your mind might interpret the felt sense with a distorted filter. Use your conscious mind to make sure you are interpreting the signals accurately. Clicking expands your energy. If it’s positive energy, that will expand. If negative, that will expand.

When you experience the click, go with it if it lands you in an uplifting, creative and expansive place. If you click over a complaint, go with it if it helps you validate your experience. Stay with it to the extent it moves you toward focusing on constructive change. Leverage the easy, click relationships, as you will need this positive energy to manage your “nonclick” relationships.

This morning I experienced what I call a ripple effect of the click. I am enrolled in a yearlong mastermind group as part of my professional development. I clicked with two women and we formed our own support team to supplement our other activities. I got some direct feedback on things I needed to change. I believe 100% their objective is to support me without any static (competition, jealousy, hidden agendas, etc..). I was able to take in and work with this information, which took me to a more expansive place. If I doubted their intent, I would have closed down or rationalized my position. Instead, I shifted to a different mindset and energetic space.

My very next meeting was with a client with whom I click. I was able to give her direct feedback and she experienced a shift. The ideas flowed as we planned the offsite strategy meeting she is having with her leadership team in January.

This is the time for reflecting on the year past and projecting to the year ahead. Doing this with people you click with is exciting and regenerating. With people you don’t click, but need to work with, getting aligned may be more challenging, but it is crucial to your success.

Please contact me if you would like help planning or facilitating your next leadership & strategy meeting. Getting off on the right foot sets the direction and tone for the year.

© Copyright 2015 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.

Magic Monday: Managing Your P&L Is Not What You Think

Words of Manic Monday by The Bangles and modified by Susan Shaner. Musician: Dan Brodax.

Where can you find the magic at work today?

In order to get your profit and loss (P&L) sheet to where you want it, you need to better manage your passion and leadership (P&L).

I define a leader as someone who articulates a vision and gets people engaged and aligned in achieving that vision. It’s easier when the vision is aligned with your passion – what excites you, gets your juices flowing.

When you are on fire, you create the energy and conditions to light up everyone around you. When you do this, you are also unleashing other people’s passion and their leadership. One could lead people, projects or evolution of thought. Today, technology has dissolved hierarchies and traditional barriers. Thought leaders and innovators are emerging from all corners of the globe and pockets of organizations.

My friend Dan Brodax, who is singing in the Magic Monday video above, is a great example of entrepreneurialism, passion and leadership. He has a background in marketing and business development, and a few years ago, decided to finally pursue his two passions: music and helping people. Although he is not a trained musician or music therapist, he is healing people through music. His business is HeartSounds: Find the Way Back to Your Heart Through Song.

He takes his guitar on the road and visits assisted living residences. He gathers people in wheelchairs, walking, infirmed and cogent in hospital and community rooms, and hands out musical instruments. Dan not only sings very energetically, but he leads the residents through a musical experience, where they make music themselves. Last week, a 56 year old man, who could not talk due to a neurological condition, took pen to paper. His note to Dan said it was the happiest birthday he ever had listening to Dan’s music.

Dan is energized by getting folks who are sedentary involved in an activity. The residents are renewed by the music and the energy Dan exhibits. It’s a synergy that builds on itself. Dan markets himself as a Musical Engager. This is not a job title but a description he created to relay his unique service.

Today there is a lot of destructive passion exhibiting itself in unrest in the world and employee disengagement in organizations. What if the world was set on fire with aligned passion? Anything is possible.

This week’s reflection: Where can you more closely align you passion with your leadership? How can you unleash other’s passion and leadership?

© Copyright 2015 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.

Reflections in Radio Land: Holidays & Integrating Grief

Here is my first radio show with Xander Gibb. Thank you Xander! I enjoyed the show. We talked about celebrating the holidays, managing ourselves as multi-dimensional people, and our guest was Margaret Echeverria. She talked about her experience with her son dying from SIDS.

Xandermonium Episode 155

© Copyright 2015 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved.