Week 38 - XLR8 The Passionate Leader

I’m sure many of you are not US Open Tennis followers, but last weekend Serena Williams, who I usually root for, completely lost it at the end of her semi-final match with Kim Clijsters. She berated a lines person badly over a foot fault and was penalized a point – match point. Her press conference was an embarrassment – no awareness that she made a complete fool of herself, something I can identify with, having lost my temper and saying awful things. She issued a statement on Sunday night, which was obviously written by her legal council and publicist. While saying she’s only human, it came up way short for me.

Come on Serena or anybody else who loses it. Own up to your bad behavior. It doesn’t matter if the call was right or wrong, or whatever other “outer” excuse (blame) you have (other players do it all the time – right John McEnroe?). YOU chose to behave badly. Apologize and ask for forgiveness. Promise your fans that you will act more respectfully in the future. Then it gives us a chance to be human as well – compassionate!

For more on how you might recover from a bad outburst, check out Ron McMillan’s (Crucial Conversations co-author) latest newsletter. Recovering From an Outburst Perfect timing, Ron!

• Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year
• My favorite quote for the week of September 21^st – September 27^th: “Learning is not compulsory, neither is survival.” W. Edwards Deming For those of you that don’t know, W. Edwards Deming was known as the “father” of quality and continuous improvement.
• The second set of questions asked at the beginning of our coaching relationship of “Are you ready, willing and able to be coached” are:

1. I am fully willing to do the work required to get me where I want to go.
2. I am willing to stop or change the self-defeating behaviors that limit my success.
3. I am willing to try new things even if I am not 100% convinced they will work.
• While a coach can help keep a person on task, the individual must be willing to take direction and follow through - even though skeptical of the reasons or results.

• The Best Year of Your Life: Get Debbie Ford's Kit
• Week Thirty-Seven: Walk in Another’s Shoes
• Did walking in another’s shoes allow you to feel more compassionate or connected to this person?
• Week Thirty-Eight: Have Some Fun!
• Believe it or not, most adults need to be reminded to take time out for fun. Trained as we are to get things done, we often devalue or neglect this most important aspect of life.
• Make a list of 10 activities that you’d do on a regular basis if your life were dedicated to having fun. Schedule at least one of these activities.

• 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.
• I had an interesting conversation this week with a colleague about the use of God in our work. The first person I heard use the “G” word was Ken Blanchard. He was not imposing his interpretation of God on anyone. He simply challenges us all to make up our own mind about a power greater than ourselves.
• Some marketers were concerned that his use of God would limit his market. It’s bad advice. I know very few people who are not attempting to figure out the “G” word in their lives. We both are admirers of Wayne Dyer who states that it doesn’t matter how you pronounce the “Ah” in your God… Buddha, Allah, Krishna to describe the infinite intelligence of the universe.

To date, we have 234 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 37 - XLR8 The Passionate Leader

As I mentioned last week, my daughter Laura discovered her passion and love for teaching during the June 2002 XLR8 YOU!!! Leadership Excellence kick-off week. When she got clear and focused on her “Soul Purpose”, as my colleague Steve D’Annunzio calls it (Soul Purpose Institute), then the law of creation kicked in. Laura created favorable conditions for reality, in this case a teaching opportunity, to actualize since that is what she really…really…really…really wanted!!!

Although she graduated from Geneseo, she wasn’t in the teaching school, so she had no certifications. She decided she would substitute teach while putting her plan for certification together. She was called in on the second day of school the following September because the regular teacher never showed up. Laura made a real connection with these students. Long story short, Laura taught all her classes for the entire year and she was off and running!

• Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year
• My favorite quote for the week of September 14^th – September 20^th: “Progress involves risks. You can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.” Frederick B. Wilcox
• When we first engage with a new client, we ask them to complete a simple checklist entitled: “Are you ready, willing and able to be coached?.” Here are the three questions in the “ready” section.

1. I have the time to invest in myself.
2. I can make and keep appointments with myself to work on this material.
3. There is a gap between where I am now and where I want to be.
• When people cancel appointments repeatedly because they haven’t completed assignments, or we have to chase someone down to make an appointment, we ask them to recommit to these questions. If they can’t, then they are not ready!!! It’s okay ~ when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

• The Best Year of Your Life: Get Debbie Ford's Kit
• Week Thirty-Six: Choose Powerful Interpretations
• If you found an interpretation that builds self-love this week, add it to your Happiness List. (those statements you repeat to yourself daily.).
• Week Thirty-Seven: Walk in Another’s Shoes
• When we aren’t being treated with the love, respect or tenderness we desire, we have two basic choices. We can defend our position and try to prove that we’re right, or we can look at ourselves through their eyes.
• Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Imagine that this person is sitting in front of you. Allow yourself to feel what life is like to be in their shoes ~ trying to be in a relationship with you. Does this allow you to be more compassionate or connected with this person?

• 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.
• I had a great conversation this week with someone who is about to begin their “graduation” process. We have been working together for 18 months and throughout this time, this individual was always upbeat and happy. That isn’t to say he didn’t have professional and personal challenges. He did, however, say to me that our formula for happiness (G + L + F = JOY) has inspired him to help others understand it, too. He stated that it will stay at the top of his development plan ~ to live it and to teach it.

To date, we have 232 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 36 - XLR8 The Passionate Leader

It’s back to school. Thank you to the teachers who love what they do for our kids. My oldest daughter, Laura, is one of them. She found her passion and love for teaching during our kick-off leadership week in June, 2002. She just graduated from college and didn’t know what she wanted to do in her career. Her mom was a teacher in our community’s urban school district and got burned out by the system. She did not encourage Laura, due to her experience, which is understandable. Laura, however, discovered she was born to teach and each year leaves her mark on the children of the world.

• Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year
• My favorite quote for the week of September 7^th – September 13^th: “Character is the total of thousands of small daily strivings to live up to the best that is in us.” Lt. Gen. Arthur Trudeau
• As coaches, we are also teachers. In my opinion, the best coach of all time is John Wooden. He defined success as the peace of mind attained only by self satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable. He never talked to his players about winning - just doing their best.
• Take a look at John Wooden's Video on True Success – it’s 17 minutes long – but I’ll guarantee you’ll learn a lot in those 17 minutes. Open it and save it for later.

• The Best Year of Your Life: Get Debbie Ford's Kit
• Week Thirty-Five: Forgive Yourself
• If that thought returns – say to yourself – “I have forgiven myself for that.” Don’t waste any more energy on it.
• Week Thirty-Six: Choose Powerful Interpretations
• You can make that above-mentioned forgiveness more powerful by choosing the lesson you learned from it. When you think of that situation or circumstance from your past, think of the lessons it taught you.
• This interpretation either adds to the quality of our life or takes away from it. This week, choose the one that builds self-love.

• 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 love it when people send us things to include in this blog. Here is a quote someone would like to share with you. It is particularly pertinent since he recently achieved a very important goal. Congratulations!!!
• “We are at our best, and happiest, when we are fully engaged in work we enjoy, on the journey towards the goal we’ve established for ourselves. It gives meaning to our time off and comfort to our sleep. It makes everything else in life so wonderful, so worthwhile”. – Earl Nightingale
• As I’ve said on this blog in the past, Earl Nightingale was my audio Dad. He was best known for a book entitled: The Strangest Secret. It was one of the first audio programs I listened to. It is also a Simple Truths book and DVD. Watch the 3 minute video

To date, we have 230 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 35- XLR8 The Passionate Leader

Edward Kennedy died this week. Not withstanding your politics, he helped us all in ways we probably don’t even realize or in some cases appreciate. Of the many things I read and saw about him this week, I identified most with his letter to the Pope. He spoke of his many imperfections and his attempts to leave the world a better place - despite his mistakes and shortcomings. He asked the Pope for his prayers and forgiveness. I hope he forgave himself because I believe that’s what matters most.

• Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year
• My favorite quote for the week of August 31^st – September 6^th: “You can have everything in life you want if you just help enough other people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar
• This quote is one that I saw quite a long time ago that remains one of my favorites. It really speaks to servant leadership. I just took the time to look at my top passions, particularly the one that I’m having a little trouble “getting”.
• I am rethinking what I have to give - how I can serve more - in order to realize more of this passion. Take a look at your list of “wants”. What is your “giving” opportunity?

• The Best Year of Your Life: Get Debbie Ford's Kit
• Week Thirty-Four: Find the Gifts of Your Shadows
• One of my shadows has been “not being good enough.” One gift is the constant striving to get better. Another gift is helping other people deal with and overcome my old shadow.
• Week Thirty-Five: Forgive Yourself (If Teddy can do it, so can you)
• Self-forgiveness is the key to living an extraordinary life. By making a courageous choice to forgive ourselves for our mistakes and shortcomings, we liberate ourselves from the bonds of our past and open the door to a new future.
• Are you holding on to something that makes you feel unworthy or undeserving of receiving everything life has to offer? Write it down and then tear it up. Think about why you are worthy of your own forgiveness.

• 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 have been doing a lot of XLR8 Teams!!! work lately. As you know, I love to show “Simple Truths” DVD’s. I like to start a session with: Change is Good - You Go First and conclude with Finish Strong. Check them out!

To date, we have 225 subscribers (the biggest weekly jump in a while!) Our goal is 1,000 by year end. We need your help!!! Invite a friend, colleague or sign up your team this week.

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.