You’re Invited: To Celebrate Our Book Launch & Beyond!

377028_10151043037557083_218040194_nIn September of 2012 I launched a book with 20 other co-authors that are deeply passionate about the overwhelming need for Character-Based Leaders to Instigate A Leadership Revolution in our world.

  • The need is still there.
  • Our passion was spot on.
  • And the book received great reviews.

However, it was a first book for most of us and there was so much we didn’t know.

One of the biggest learning’s was that after more than a year of collaborating, writing, and editing our book…   Getting it published and celebrating wasn’t the end of the story – it was only the beginning.

How Are First Impressions Impacting Your Organization?

A few years ago my husband and I moved to a new city in a new state.

Shortly after our move we began visiting churches. (In all of our other moves we visited one church and kept coming back.)

  • This time we decided that we wanted to know what all of our options were before we joined one.
  • And if we liked some of what we observed we attended more than once.

That decision quickly became a fascinating opportunity to observe towering strengths, glaring weaknesses, powerful vision, synergy or the lack of it – and a whole lot more!

Our observations apply to workplaces too!  

…Which one sounds like your organization?  

Executives: Do you have the courage to sit and listen?

Your team has just offered you the gift of honest feedback, will you open it or return it?

Have you ever had someone that works for you ask you for a meeting? …Try to share a concern with you? …Or passionately try to share an idea?

How do you react when that happens?

 Have you ever considered that they are bringing you a gift?

  • The person that is coming has chosen to take a risk and invest in you and in the organization.
  • No matter what their title is – they have knowledge and experiences that you don’t have.
  • No matter what their role is – they see things in your organization that you don’t see.

~ Thank them for their courage.

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. ~Winston Churchill

Leading Up: When to accept, speak for change or move on…

Sooner or later we will all find ourselves in a situation where we could be leading up…

  • And will will need to choose to either accept what is happening, speak for change, or move on.

Each time I find myself in that situation the words below grow more powerful…

God grant me…

 The serenity to accept the things I cannot change.

The courage to change those I can.

And the wisdom to know the difference..

 Last week I read a very powerful article by Alli Polin that emphasized how leadership thrives when two people work closely together and titles don’t matter.

Continuous Improvement: Cures The Two-Year Itch

Several years ago I had a long but fun job interview. In that interview I was honest with my prospective employer about my strengths, my passions and my need to be challenged.

I pointed to my historical pattern of two years of achieving in a role, before I got bored and needed to learn something new and needed to make a greater difference. (Which usually meant I moved on…)

The interviewer smiled and nodded and shared that he had the same problem. …Until he came to work in this company…

He had my attention.

I had his attention.

And I got the job.