It’s obviously (as we discuss now) the most important question of all when you’re discerning the appropriate choices and environment in which to spend your days. 

Who are you? & What do you believe in?… astoundingly important questions in life.

In the progressive lifecycle of professional life, there is no one way course.  Instead, the course is similar to the progressive lifecycle overall, it ebbs and flows and weaves in and out, at times directions unforeseen.  However, one thing remains constant – the need to grow, change, and challenge oneself in new and different ways. 

As you look upon the New Year – think about the ways you’ve changed & challenge yourself to examine the following:

• How have I changed in my focus at work
• What is important to me now that was not as important 5 or 10 years ago
• What are my goals for my professional career and how does that mesh with my personal life
• How can I take a deeper look at my needs and motivators along with the interplay of my accomplishments
• Who am I and what do I want to be

The New Year is always a time to look back with reflection and opportunity for growth and learning, and to look forward with the force of excitement for new experiences and challenges.

Happy New Year & best foot forward to all.

How often do you ask yourself that question?  The answer doesn’t really matter – the point instead is that we all often ask that question.  The problem is that the value of mistakes is not quantifiable, and that’s simply because there is no such thing as a ‘mistake,’ in my book.  The same way I don’t believe in the concept laziness (more about that and the factor of motivation at another time).  Instead, the essence of a ‘mistake’ involves a complex weave of factors in life that bring us to thoughts of error.

In order to move forward in life, we need to assume a certain degree of risk.  Now the ‘magnitude’ of that risk is an individual choice, which some can handle more than others.  There is great variation in the way individuals evaluate the same situation (think Election Day yesterday), however, at the end of the day we all come back to the same place – ‘what degree of risk am I willing to take & how do I evaluate my efforts’?  If you need help answering that question:

• Seek feedback from a variety of sources
• Accept that every move involves risk and move forward with your plan
• Be willing to stop, evaluate, and proceed as needed
• Remember there will be no change, without movement
• Understand that movement is a process, which cannot begin without risk

Whatever you, or your company does, do not remain stagnant, for that only indicates fear of change and the potential for future loss – while your competitors keep it moving.

• Something new is about to begin
• An opportunity to learn something different is an option
• An opportunity to grow new skills is about to happen
• An opportunity to see things in a different way has presented
• An opportunity to experience things in a different way is now
• An opportunity to connect to people in a different way is an option
• An opportunity to work in a different way is no longer simply an ideal
• An opportunity to challenge habits is more present than ever
• An opportunity to be more effective has arrived

In sum, change = opportunity.  However, we all know that it doesn’t always feel that way.  Instead, it can feel overwhelming, worrisome, and cause us to feel regretful.  What’s imperative in the ability to grow and enhance one’s unique skill set and the aptitude to remind one’s self that change is good, change is opportunity, change leads to more change in the ever moving process of progress in our lives.  That’s true of all types of growth, personal & professional.  I see it happen daily, again and again, the concerns are there, but the process moves along and the outcome is always opportunity, in some way – at times expected, at times not.  It’s normal to feel nervous about change, so don’t beat yourself up about it – simply embrace that fact that change brings on a variety of emotions, YET remind yourself that change = opportunity.

In the recent months, we at LOE have particularly watched some awesome change successfully occur in companies where strategic focus, team building, and combining branding & marketing with organizational development led to prosperous outcomes.

Download Team & Executive Coaching case studies here:  http://linesofexcellence.com/services/

So what can you do about it? Instead of fretting about what was supposed to happen, what you hoped would happen, consider this: monkey wrenches enable

1) Strategy evaluation
2) reorganizing
3) Creative thinking
4) Expansion of ideas
5) Opportunity for employee growth
6) New analyses of current, past and future
7) Change for some who need just that
8) Opportunity in a way previously not realized or foreseen

“Everything we do has some effect, some impact.” His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Every once in a while we find profound examples of personal and leadership development trajectories. These are great moments essential to the teachings of leadership skills, highlighting personal honesty, integrity, leading by example, motivating teams, seeing the forest through the trees, and the ability to admit when things have gone array. All leaders, and human beings for that matter, need to take a step back and evaluate their path at different points in their lives. For some, the opportunity to re-evaluate is thrust at them from an external source of tension, which appears to be the case for many executives in this current economy. At other times, a personal change occurs from within. Either way, a true transformational leader identifies and acknowledges the opportunity and seeks greater growth and transformation during these times. Case in point – Citigroup’s CEO Vikram Pandit. Here’s a leader who last February took a step back and for reasons either personal, professional, or a combination of both, determined his salary to $1.00 per year until the company was back to acceptable fiscal health. Yes, you read that correctly – one dollar annual salary, no bonus. True, I can psychically hear many of you saying ‘that doesn’t account for compensation beyond salary and bonus.’ Nonetheless, in the short term, what it does signify is a commitment and responsibility for him to Citigroup and its success. In the long term it points to a level of ethics and responsibility that needs to be at the forefront of business management. This could explain why terms like Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Entrepreneurship are getting millions of hits on google these days.

My life shattering to do list ….

• Just think about it.

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