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.

Week 29 - XLR8 The Passionate Leader

Nobody wants to hear this, but the food most of us are eating is slowly killing us or at least doing us more harm than good. Not because there are not healthy choices out there, but because we choose so many unhealthy foods. Most of us are not aware of the “dangers” that were well chronicled in “Food, Inc.” - a documentary I watched over the weekend. Watch the Trailer Since most of the readers of this blog are in the food business, we should be informed so we can make the choice to do the right thing for ourselves and our customers.

• Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year
• My favorite quote for the week of July 19^th – 25^th: “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they’ve never failed to imitate them.” – James Baldwin
• What was most alarming in the film, for a grandfather like me, is that one out of three Americans born after 2000 will contract early onset diabetes; among minorities, the rate will be one in two. It scares me just to think about what my granddaughter eats now. I will be having a conversation with my daughter about this movie.
• So what can you do for yourself and your family? Clink on this link: 10 simple things you can do. For those of you who attended our Leadership Week, remember the Jamie Oliver video – “Living with Change”, where they changed the school lunches? Most compelling was the positive health and behavioral changes that occurred.

• The Best Year of Your Life: Get Debbie Ford's Kit
• Week Twenty-Eight Assignment – Purify
• How about adopting some of the 10 simple things described above? An old computer quote is “garbage in – garbage out.” The same is true for the food we eat.
• Week Twenty-Nine Assignment – Bless Your Body
• It’s so easy to take our physical self for granted. It’s easy to forget that our bodies are a delicate gift – a temporary home for our souls. If you are overweight or don’t get enough exercise, you are paying a psychological price as well.
• How can you start to bless your body? There are three vital behaviors you can do every day – exercise on home equipment, eat breakfast, and weigh yourself daily. The National Weight Control Registry identified these vital behaviors for weight loss - tracking people who lost 30 pounds and kept it off for a minimum of six years.
• Since I have lost and gained back 30 pounds at least 10 times in my life, I thought I’d give it a try. I began last October and have lost 26 pounds - four to go. Pretty soon, the hard part will start – keeping it off.

• 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.

o This week, I had several conversations about two fundamental principles many of us more fully realize during our XLR8 YOU!! Leadership Excellence experience.

o First, until you accept total responsibility – no matter what – you will not be able to fully live your passions.

o Second, transitioning to leadership that will bring us fulfillment requires that you make different decisions. They are different because they are not made for our self interest, but for the common good. Not just the good of the company, but for our communities and the planet.

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.