Tag Archives: Self-Leadership

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Learning to Leverage Your Strengths

...That often show up as a weakness

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Have you ever struggled to figure out how to leverage a strength that is coming across as a weakness?

If you’ve ever watched popcorn pop, you’ll understand one of mine.

One little kernel heats up, flies into the air and explodes into light fluffy happiness. POP!

Then a couple more kernels join the fun! POP! POP!

Then a few more! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!

Soon the party is in full swing, as the noise, chaos, and joy increase rapidly! POP! Pop! POP! Pop! POP! POP!!! POP!!!!

That’s me and…My popcorn brain

 

For many years I sat in meetings:

  • Excited by the challenge of problem solving.
  • Fueled by the opportunity to be creative and to collaborate.

And frustrated because I could not clearly articulate what was happening inside my brain.

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What are you speaking, hearing and believing?

What your mouth speaks, your ears hear and your brain believes!

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I was recently helping my 9-year-old neighbor with her homework. She’d had a long day at school, and we’d been studying for an hour and her brain was tired!  As I pulled out the last book we needed to study she said, “I can’t do this!”

Immediately I interrupted, “Oh honey, don’t say that! Because…

[Tweet “Whatever your mouth speaks, your ears hear and your brain believes!””]

"I can't do this!"She immediately plugged both of her ears and said, “I can’t do this!”

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Are You a Rule Maker, Rule Breaker or a Rule Faker?

Who are the rules for? Why were they created? Are they working?

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A series of events has me thinking about rules.

First I thought about the Rule MAKERS I know.

We’ll make this rule because it will make MY job easier!

Then I thought about the Rule BREAKERS I know.

I follow ALL the rules… EXCEPT

Then I thought about the Rule FAKERS I know.  

This rule is here just for our protection – I don’t care if it is followed or not, but if the authorities ever come, I can show them our rules.

[Tweet “Do you know any Rule Makers, Rule Breakers or  Rule Fakers? “]

And then I started to wonder if the makers, breakers and fakers ever considered these questions before they made a rule, broke a rule or pretended to have a rule. 

Who are the rules for?

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Pop, Soda, Coke… Right Word = Getting Heard

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When my husband and I were first married we moved three states away from where we had grown up.

And quickly learned that the carbonated beverages we had been consuming for our entire lives were not called POP.

  • In this place they were called SODA!
  • A few years later we moved south and learned that no matter what flavor of carbonated beverage we wanted to consume we needed to order a COKE – and then name our flavor of choice.

As we’ve continued to move I’ve kept a mental list of others…

  • When you throw something away do you CHUCK it or CHUNK it?
  • When you hold onto something have you KEPT it or KEP it?
  • Do you have a kitchen COUNTER or a kitchen BENCH?
  • Does your car have a HOOD or a BONNET? A TRUNK or a BOOT?
  • Do you cook with CORIANDER or with CILANTRO?
  • When you are talking about a friend that is not your spouse… Are they your FRIEND or your MATE?
  • When you go to the store… Do you use a shopping CART or a shopping BUGGY or a TROLLEY?

As fun as the game is – does it really matter what you call it?

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Is forgiveness an overlooked leadership skill?

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If you’re like me – You believe in the faith-based and health-based reasons to practice forgiveness.

But have you ever considered that forgiveness might be an important leadership skill?

In the book Picking Cotton, two people share their true story:

  • They are both 23.
  • She’s white, a senior in college with a 4.0 and looking forward to starting her career, marrying her boyfriend and having a family.
  • He is a person of color, working, and has a history of making some unwise choices.

One night she is at home alone and a man breaks into her apartment and rapes her.Picking Cotton

She is able to escape and eventually identifies this man as her rapist.

He insists that she is mistaken.

She is convinced that her memory is correct and makes a strong witness for the prosecution.

He is convicted and goes to prison for 11 years. (In spite of the fact that he continually says he is innocent, in spite of the fact that he meets the man in prison that actually committed the crime, and in spite of the fact that his blood type does not match the blood type found at the scene.)