Week 7 - XLR8 The Passionate Leader

Valentine’s Greetings! I’m sure you share my gratitude for all of the love that surrounds you. For those familiar with my G + L + F = JOY formula, the “L”, love, is central. It goes beyond loving those around you by starting with loving yourself. Then, loving what you do in service of those who love what you do is the icing on the cake! Don’t forget to subscribe (box to the right) to get new blog postings directly. Sign up your whole team and share your thoughts and experiences together every week.

• Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year: Watch the Video @ Inspiration 365
• My favorite quote for the week of February 15^th – 22^nd: It’s not where you start – it’s where you finish that counts – Zig Ziglar
• This quote reminds me of how we start Leadership Week – completing our lifeline. We draw a line on a sheet of paper that begins with our birth and ends at a point 10 years past our current age. Above the line are positive experiences; below are the negative ones. On that page, place an “X” at the points in your life (above the line are positive; below the line are negative) that to you represent major turning points in defining who you are.

• I’m always amazed by people’s stories and the situations that have been overcome to get us where we are today and what we are looking toward in the future. Many people have taken this exercise back to their teams. If you’re one of those who have, please make a comment and share your experience.

• The Best Year of Your Life:
• Week Six Assignment – Become the Person You Want to Be
• If you haven’t already, tell those folks you chose what qualities you admire in them. Then, practice “feedforward” – ask them how you could develop more of that quality.

• Week Seven Assignment – Question Your Beliefs
• The conclusions we form as a result of our life experiences become the beliefs we hold about ourselves, others and the world.
• This fits into the quote for the week. Look over your lifeline and ask:
• What belief did I form as a result of one of the experiences I made with an “X”?
• Does this belief serve me today . . . in a positive or negative way?
• How do I change the negative belief?

• Creating a Culture of Leadership Development – Sharing Best Practices:
• In my travels this week, someone showed me a terrific vision board. They used a manila folder with an important picture on the front, with cut-out pictures and drawings taped and drawn in the inside. It was simple but elegant. He is leading a new team and was going to use this exercise and a way for the team to get to know each other. Brilliant!
• Please make a “comment” about a great leadership experience you had this week!

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Week 6 - XLR8 The Passionate Leader

Let’s stay on the topic of vision. Don’t forget to subscribe (box to the right) to get new blog postings directly.

• Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year: Watch the Video @ Inspiration 365
• My favorite quote for the week of February 8^th – 14^th: Choice, not chance, determines human destiny – Robert W. Ellis
• This fits perfectly with The XLR8 Team’s vision to help ourselves and others “surrender to the magnificence of our limitless possibilities.” I remember the elation I felt when we finished. I believe articulating this vision was indeed my destiny choosing me - providing an avenue to fulfill my purpose.

• The Best Year of Your Life:
• Week Five Assignment – Envision Your Best Life
• I hope you made some progress putting together your vision map. Add to it on an ongoing basis. Reward yourself every time you refer to it before making a choice.
• Week Six Assignment – Become the Person You Want to Be
• Whenever you admire a quality in someone else – whether it’s a strength, style, determination, or creativity – you can be sure that this quality also exists within you. If you want to discover your greatest self, all you have to do is notice who you admire.
• Next, think of a person you love and / or respect – someone you know personally or from afar. Identify three qualities that you appreciate the most about this person.
• Finally, begin each day this week with the question: “What action can I take to nurture these qualities within me?”

• Creating a Culture of Leadership Development – Sharing Best Practices:
• Thanks to Kevin for his comment last week about how DISC has helped with his self awareness. Check it out at the end of last week’s blog. We are back to work this week – looking for best practices to share with you.
• Please make a “comment” about a great leadership experience you had this week!

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Week Five - XLR8 The Passionate Leader

This week’s theme is vision. How will you change the world ~ through the vision for your life!!! I’m betting that the three people who took me up on my offer for the FREE MOVIE SCREENING of Wayne Dyer’s just-released movie “Ambition to Meaning” (see Week Four) will gain further insights into their vision. I’m looking forward to their “comments” in subsequent blog postings. Don’t forget to subscribe (box to the right) and get new blog postings directly.

• Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year: Watch the Video @ Inspiration 365
• My favorite quote for the week of February 1 – 7: A vision is a clearly-articulated, results-oriented picture of the future you intend to create. It’s a dream with direction. – Jesse Stoner Zemel (co-authored Full Steam Ahead with Ken Blanchard)
• The manifestation of those dreams are our passions. I read The Passion Test on an airplane to Aruba in 2006 and knew it had to be part of the XLR8 YOU!!! Leadership Excellence process. While I haven’t changed my top five passions, I do update my markers every year while I am here in Hawaii (a realization of a childhood dream).

• The Best Year of Your Life:
• Week Four Assignment – Look for What’s Right
• Right after I wrote this, someone who I let irritate me in the past did something that really annoyed me. It reminded me that when you make a commitment for something, that commitment often gets tested immediately, particularly if you need to work on it.

• Week Five Assignment – Envision Your Best Life
• Once you have created a vision or articulated your passions, create a Vision Map. Buy several of your favorite magazines, cut out pictures and words that inspire, uplift, and motivate you to realize one or more of your passions. Make a collage that is a visual representation of what you want to create in this area of your life.
• Lastly, hang your Vision Map someplace where you’ll see it daily. Pay attention to those opportunities that will undoubtedly arise for you to realize your dreams. Are you ready to say YES?

• Creating a Culture of Leadership Development – Sharing Best Practices:
• I got a call last week from someone who just joined an Executive Team I am working through The XLR8 Teams!!! Process with. He apologized for bothering me in Hawaii which was unnecessary because he made my day (it was raining anyway)! He was preparing to share his DISC Success Discovery Process (SDP) information with another member of the team and had a couple of process questions. Other than sharing his DISC with me, he hadn’t begun the SDP with anyone else yet. This process, while amazingly simple, has had profound benefits way beyond what I envisioned. Indeed, in some cases, it was the first step in their transformation process.
• Please make a “comment” about your experience with DISC / SDP, as it just might begin someone else’s transformation!

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Week Four - XLR8 The Passionate Leader

Thanks to those who took the time to comment (scroll down to the end of last week’s post): Lance Miller about XLR8 Teams!!!; Debbie McCue using concepts from What Got You Here Won’t Get You There; Chris DePumpo’s movie review of Wayne Dyer’s just released movie “Ambition to Meaning”. Don’t forget to subscribe (box to the right) and get this blog directly when the latest one gets posted.

• Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year: Watch the Video @ Inspiration 365
• My favorite quote for the week of January 25 – 31: Each of us will one day be judged by our standard of life, not by our standard of living; by our measure of giving, not by our wealth; by our simple goodness, not by our seeming greatness. – William Arthur Ward
• This is beautifully illustrated in Wayne Dyer’s just released movie “Ambition to Meaning”. FREE MOVIE SCREENING – to the first ten people who ask. Simply send me an e-mail. Check out the trailer - http://www.ambitiontomeaning.com/store/index ; click on “movie trailer” in the upper left-hand corner.

• The Best Year of Your Life:
• Week Three Assignment – Play!
• Blog your FUN! Mine started at my granddaughter’s baptism and playing with her afterwards. It continues now in Hawaii.
• Week Four Assignment – Look for What’s Right
• Think about someone in your life who irritates you, annoys you, or with whom you don’t see eye to eye. This week spend at least 10 minutes writing down everything that’s right about this person.
• Show the video “Celebrate What’s Right with the World” at a staff meeting. How do we get more of what we want? Ask!!!

• Creating a Culture of Leadership Development – Sharing Best Practices:
• Since Elaine and I are on vacation for a couple of weeks, it’s your turn. What are you doing with your Leadership Development that you are most proud of?

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Week Three - XLR8 The Passionate Leader

Congratulations to Keith Grierson – he was first to make a comment and won Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year. Thanks also to Pam Erb, Jerry Shelly, and Dave DeMascole for their comments. Don’t forget to subscribe (box to the right) and get this blog directly when I post a new one.

• Zig Ziglar’s Inspiration: 365 Days A Year: Watch the Video @ Inspiration 365
• My favorite quote for the week of January 18 – 24: Don’t be afraid to take a big step if needed. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps – Anonymous.

1. What is your BHAG for 2009 (Big Harry Audacious Goal – from Good to Great)?
2. Recommended Reading: Hot, Flat & Crowded by Thomas Friedman – he has a BHAG for everyone on the planet.
3. Please share your BHAG – we are all here to help!

• The Best Year of Your Life
• Week Two Assignment – Singing Your Praises

1. Award yourself 50 points for every person you shared your strengths with, plus 50 points for watching this music video from Wayne Dyer’s just released movie “Ambition to Meaning” (I’ll talk about the movie next week)

• Song Inside - http://www.ambitiontomeaning.com/videos/index?utm_id=2632

• Week Three Assignment – Play!

1. FISH!!!!!!!!!!!. Playing is essential. Not only is it fun, but it also renews and refreshes us, helping us better focus on more serious aspects of our lives.

• You are hereby ordered to schedule an activity that has no usefulness other than its enjoyment to you. Notice how your fun-loving attitude translates into other aspects of your life. Blog your FUN!

• Creating a Culture of Leadership Development – Let me know if you need contact information.
• Dave DeMascole & Lance Miller are doing great things with the XLR8 Teams!!! process
• Jerry Shelly has a great “Happiness List” – an assignment from What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.

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