Week 34 - XLR8 The Passionate Leader

I had the opportunity to meet the founder of Soul Purpose Institute and fellow “West Irondequoiter”, Steve D’Annunzio. We met through his brother, Chris, who we have hired for various projects around the house. A coincidence? I think not. A synchronistic event? Time will tell, but I couldn’t help thinking that we have a lot that we could learn and offer each other at this particular time in our lives. He also gave me a copy of his book, The Prosperity Paradigm which espouses what I truly believe, which is that you will make a much greater living by making a much greater life.

• Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year
• My favorite quote for the week of August 24^th – 30^th: “You can have TOTAL success when you balance your physical, mental, and spiritual, as well as your personal, family and business life.” Zig Ziglar
• The older you get, the more people you will know that need some type of catastrophic event to pay attention to this truth. The Leadership Excellence process examines all of these areas and strives to help clients self-discover the importance of balance.
• The two most common “presenting” imbalances are physical: overweight and out-of-shape; and overwork – often with the caveat - “but I love what I do!” As the saying goes, no one says: “I wish I spent more time at the office” when on their death bed.

• The Best Year of Your Life: Get Debbie Ford's Kit
• Week Thirty-Three: Give Up the Blame Game
• OK - I am 100 percent responsible for 100 percent of what shows up in my life.
• Week Thirty-Four: Find the Gifts of Your Shadows
• Our shadow, or dark side, contains all the parts of ourselves that we resist, dislike and/or try to hide. Which part of our TOTAL success is blocked by this shadow? Who might help you reveal this shadow and turn it into the gift it is blocking?

• Creating a Culture of Leadership Development – A Drop for Your Bucket!!! Send an electronic drop or comment by going to the blog (click on this blog’s heading – Wake Up the Passionate Leader above) and click on the “comment” icon at the end of this week’s posting.
• Check out Dave’s comment on last week’s blog. Also, thanks to several people that gave me feedback this week – including some as simple as that they are enjoying the blog.

To date, we have 219 subscribers. Our goal is 1,000 by year end. We need your help!!! Invite a friend, colleague or sign up your team this week.

Week 33 - XLR8 The Passionate Leader

One of the most important things we can do is to break the negative cycles in our lives. I love the Adirondacks and wanted to take a couple of days off. I was prepared to go alone, since Elaine had appointments, but my son Andrew volunteered to come. That would have never happened with my father for many negative reasons. More importantly, that will happen with Andrew’s children.

• Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year
• My favorite quote for the week of August 17^th – 23^rd: “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” Zig Ziglar
• When people complete their top five passions during Leadership Week, a key observation is how they will leave the world a better place. Leadership is not about self interest but rather what we can do for the common good.

• The Best Year of Your Life: Get Debbie Ford's Kit
• Week Thirty-Two: Admit You’re Wrong
• How many times this week did you ask yourself what’s more important - being right or being happy?!
• Week Thirty-Three: Give Up the Blame Game
• As long as we blame others for any circumstances in our lives, we diminish our power to learn and make changes. Blaming sets us up for victim-consciousness, which has become the disease of our time.
• This week, take an honest look at where in your life you may be blaming others for your circumstances. Next, allow yourself to see what you could learn and create if you became 100 percent responsible for 100 percent of what shows up in your life.

• Creating a Culture of Leadership Development – A Drop for Your Bucket!!! Send an electronic drop or comment by going to the blog (click on this blog’s heading – Wake Up the Passionate Leader above) and click on the “comment” icon at the end of this week’s posting.
• We conducted a day-long planning retreat for a small 70-person organization this week. The current President, only two years into the job, is trying to break down the hierarchical, arrogant leadership style of his predecessors. They tried a similar meeting last year that did not go as well as they hoped to say the least. The President stuck to his guns and tried again this year with a new facilitator. Thanks to his continued commitment to participative management over the course of the year, the day exceeded their expectations.
• While they were very complimentary about how we conducted the day, the learning is that building an empowered culture takes time. Moreover, the ideas generated and the enthusiasm for them will make all the difference.

To date, we have 217 subscribers. My goal is 1,000 by year end. We need your help!!! Invite a friend, colleague or sign up your team this week.

Week 32 - XLR8 The Passionate Leader

We have done a number of XLR8 Teams!!! Team Building days recently with some high-functioning teams who want to get to the next level. As you know, I am a fan of the “Simple Truths” books and DVDs, so here are my two favorites to show at the end of the day for inspiration. Show them to your team and see how you can Finish Strong and get that last degree to 212.

• Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year
• My favorite quote for the week of August 9^th – 16^th: “The history of free men is never really written by chance but by choice; their choice.” – President Dwight D. Eisenhower
• One of the popular team relationship building exercises is the Lifeline. You draw a horizontal line in the middle of a blank piece of paper with “birth” on the far left edge and “X” a couple of inches from the right edge representing today. You then look over your life and place dots representing times in your life that helped to define who you are and what you have become.
• Those are the times when you had to make critical choices. Leaders make choices that build off the “learnings” that the high or low point represented. Are you at one of those points now? What are your choices? Choose wisely!

• The Best Year of Your Life: Get Debbie Ford's Kit
• Week Thirty-One: Seize the Day
• How did you seize the day! Share it with a comment below.
• Week Thirty-Two: Admit You’re Wrong
• Whenever two people are at odds with one another, it’s usually because both people are trying to be right. This week, notice what your need to be right costs you in terms of energy, intimacy and peace of mind. Ask yourself what’s more important - being right or being happy!
• Take Wayne Dyer’s advice – the six words that can bring you more peace and happiness: “You know, you’re right about that.”
• This was also on Marshall Goldsmith’s Happiness List – “How many times did I try to prove I was right when it wasn’t worth it”.

• Creating a Culture of Leadership Development – A Drop for Your Bucket!!! Send an electronic drop or comment by going to the blog (click on this blog’s heading – Wake Up the Passionate Leader above) and click on the “comment” icon at the end of this week’s posting.
• A Leadership Team did a great job writing their inspirational statement to an XLR8Forward addressing their lowest score on their XLR8Teams!!! Assessment.
• Respectfully resolving conflict openly and honestly is important to model our expected behaviors, remove barriers and understand each other’s motivations while boosting morale & allowing us to move forward with buy-in and support of the team!
• Next, they will pay attention to when this does happen, tell a story sharing their feelings and most memorable aspect of the experience. Lastly, they will suggest Start/Stop/Continues on how the team and they personally can do better.

To date, we have 211 subscribers. My goal is 1,000 by year end. We need your help!!! Invite a friend, colleague or sign up your team this week.

Week 31 - XLR8 The Passionate Leader

Take three minutes this week to view and listen to Earl Nightingale’s The Strangest Secret Movie. He was my audio father for over twenty years. Every month I would get a cassette. On one side was his message for the month. On the other was a guest with his/her message. In 1989, as I was driving on the thruway, a new voice on the cassette told me that Earl had died. I cried for 20 miles. Now, I never get tired of hearing his voice. Enjoy!

• Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year
• My favorite quote for the week of August 2^nd – 8^th: “Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” – Carl Bard
• Since the 6^th is Elaine’s birthday, I chose the quote for that day. Happy Birthday!!!
• Whenever anyone we are working with gets a new Leadership position, we always recommend The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins. After reviewing the key elements to pay attention to, we choose the top 2 or 3 to focus on.

• The Best Year of Your Life: Get Debbie Ford's Kit
• Week Thirty – Nurture the Child Within You
• Ask your parents, siblings or other relatives what you were really good at when you were 5 – 8 years old. Studies have shown that this skill or trait is linked to your ultimate fulfillment in life. Are you still using it?
• Week Thirty-One – Seize the Day
• Pick a day this week when your schedule allows for some unstructured time. Now ask yourself: “If I were going to seize this day and live it with such passion that I’m sure to remember it in a year’s time, what would I do?”
• Share that experience with all of us. Do it and comment!

• Creating a Culture of Leadership Development – A Drop for Your Bucket!!! Send an electronic drop or comment by going to the blog (click on this blog’s heading – Wake Up the Passionate Leader above) and click on the “comment” icon at the end of this week’s posting.
• So what happens if people cannot get an A? We do all the things that Ken Blanchard describes in Helping People Win at Work, but it’s not working. Perhaps a different seat on the bus is the answer - one more aligned with that individual’s strengths. I don’t mean transferring them to another department hoping it will work out there. We have to know what strengths are needed for a particular job and what that individual’s strengths are. Sometimes we just can’t make that person successful at our company. If we are constantly dealing with our poor performers, who is working with the star performers?

To date, we have 208 subscribers. My goal is 1,000 by year end. We need your help!!! Invite a friend, colleague or sign up your team this week.

Week 30 - XLR8 The Passionate Leader

What made your week special this week? Here’s what made mine ~ I got a note from someone who was going through the DISC Success Discovery Process with one of her direct reports. She was thanking me for being able to help and seeing someone say Ahaaa! That ahaaa goes both ways!!!

• Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year
• My favorite quote for the week of July 26^th – August 1^st: “Husbands, if you treat your wife like a thoroughbred, chances are good you won’t end up with a nag. Wives, if you treat your husband like a champ, chances are even better that you won’t end up with a chump.” – Zig Ziglar
• The first Family First weekend @ Bristol Harbour is tentatively scheduled for November 14^th & 15^th. We have been asked by numerous Leadership Week attendees to schedule a couples DISC relationship-building weekend. We will be getting more specific information out to people soon, so SAVE THE DATE. We decided to schedule it and see who shows up! What’s the worst that could happen; Elaine and I have a romantic weekend together!!!

• The Best Year of Your Life: Get Debbie Ford's Kit
• Week Twenty-Nine Assignment – Bless Your Body
• Anybody besides me who is taking the National Weight Control Registry’s advice? Have you exercised on home equipment, eaten breakfast, and weighed yourself every day this week? Let us know the results?
• Week Thirty – Nurture the Child Within You
• Saturday was my granddaughter’s second birthday party. I was moved by her innocence, beauty and open heart. We all were that way once. Find a picture of yourself when you were under the age of five. Gaze into your eyes, acknowledge and praise your many gifts. Appreciate how they are still a vital party of your life today.

• Creating a Culture of Leadership Development – A Drop for Your Bucket!!! Send an electronic drop or comment by going to the blog (click on this blog’s heading – Wake Up the Passionate Leader above) and click on the “comment” icon at the end of this week’s posting.
• Building on last week’s acceptance of total responsibility, several people were complaining about their people not meeting their expectations.
• Upon further questioning, they admitted that they may have a different perception of what success looks like. Once we determined what that was in their eyes, their assignment was to make sure the party in question understood it as well. Then, it is our job to pay attention to when progress is being made and show our support and appreciation.
• Ken Blanchard has a new book that helps with this entitled: Helping People Win at Work – “A Business Philosophy called Don’t Mark My Paper, Help Me Get an A”. I’d suggest this as the next book your team reads together.

To date, we have 202 subscribers. My goal is 1,000 by year end. We need your help!!! Invite a friend, colleague or sign up your team this week.