XLR8 The Passionate Leader: (G + L + F = JOY!!!)

Weekly Inspiration: You Can Do It! (Click) Affirmation by Louise Hay from her 2010 calendar

• “I am free to be all that I can be”. The overwhelming majority of people reading this blog are certainly “free” to choose. But are we all we can be? Check out Wayne Dyer’s Excuses Begone! (click) or Debbie Ford’s The Shadow Effect (click) if you’d like more information about your self-imposed limiters. I know mine for years has been that I wasn’t good enough (see below – I still get a visit occasionally). Thankfully, I have changed that story.
• Speaking of a great story about all you can be, thanks to the Buffalo Division of Wegmans that passed along Steve Jobs' inaugural address @ Stanford in 2005 - "How to Live Before You Die." (click) It will be the most inspiring 15 minutes of your week! I love the final story that leaves you with this message - stay hungry…stay foolish. What great advice to live by.

An essential part of being all you can be is developing a discipline of periodically reviewing and revising your passions and markers. Below is my #2 “Passion” and my 2010 “Markers”. (Make a comment on the blog and share yours, then others can steal shamelessly - just give credit where credit is due.)

• My #2 Passion: Coaching Leaders who are passionate about personal and cultural transformation
• Implement a succession process at Wegmans that integrates the XLR8 YOU!!! Leadership Excellence process into Wegmans Leadership University after we retire in three years.
• Work with two new CEO’s implementing the “Building a Values Driven Organization” process.
• Identify a successor for The XLR8 Team, Inc., and begin preparing them to take over the business in 2012.
• Complete a Coaching Feedback Values Assessment – create a “Learning Action Plan”.

XLR8 The Passion Leader: The New Formula for Business – G + L + F = JOY!!! (This is the second excerpt from the introduction.)

The latest opportunity I had to write was available over the summer of 2007, but my demons of inadequacy got the best of me. Then, a few of the people I had spoken to about the book, asked me how it was going. I started out saying that I wasn’t going to do it and that really deflated me. As soon as I realized that I had no choice in order to lead a passionate life, other positive signs started to happen.

One of my most important teachers is Wayne Dyer. I know that he often does his writing on Maui in January and February, so I decided to get started in January 2008 during our vacation on Maui. My wife and coaching partner, Elaine, and I were sunning along the walk in Kaanapali when Wayne walked by. He looked our way for a moment, as I think he heard me say his name to Elaine. He kept walking and I watched him disappear around the bend. I didn’t want to chase after him, so shortly thereafter, I took a walk in the opposite direction.

I walked quite a distance and on my way back, I thought I saw Elaine and Wayne hugging each other for a photograph. By the time I got closer, Wayne was walking towards me, so this time I extended my hand and said hello. He knew I was the husband Elaine had just mentioned that would be crushed after missing this opportunity to meet him. We exchanged pleasantries and when I said how important his work is for me personally and with my clients, he stated: “Well, I guess we are on the same team, aren’t we!” Indeed we are, and this is how I knew I must write my book. I have that picture of Wayne and Elaine hugging on my laptop background and on my vision board as well.

The signs don’t stop there either. I set aside a week to continue writing in my spiritual home, the Adirondack Mountains, in April 2008. On the eve of my trip, I was invited to submit a story to be included in Wake Up Live the Live You Love - Empowered, along with a contribution by Wayne Dyer, which was published in January 2009 (if you would like a copy – e-mail me for a complimentary copy). When you put your passions out in the world, the world responds.

Be part of the book. Each chapter will feature a real life story or two pertaining to the content of the chapter. While I have some folks in mind, I’d love to hear from you! I wouldn’t be writing this book in the first place if you had not come into my life. Don’t be shy – yours may be THE story that inspires someone.