“Success” is one of those words that has a different meaning for just about everyone. What is success, really? How do you define it? More importantly, do you define success based on your wants and needs, or someone else’s? We are surrounded by reminders of what “success” is supposed to look like. Whether it’s making […]
Continue reading
Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn. -Mahatma Gandhi It’s Spring! As I sit here in my San Diego backyard, I can smell the warm air that is infused with the fragrance of lemon, lime, and orange blossoms, blooming wisteria, jasmine and rosemary. It’s […]
Continue reading
Whether you’re a CEO, a board member, an entrepreneur or leading a family, (or maybe more than one of those things) at some point, you will face a leadership transition – or two, or three! While the video below is focused specifically on arts leadership transitions, the principles I share are applicable to all of us. When first […]
Continue reading
“It’s your outlook on life that counts. If you take yourself lightly and don’t take yourself too seriously, pretty soon you can find the humor in our everyday lives. Sometimes it can be a lifesaver” -Betty White Happy Friday! As I thought about what to share with you today, everything I came up with was […]
Continue reading
Happy Friday! How do key stakeholders collaborate and lead in ways that inspire and motivate others to help get what they “want” for their organization? This week I’m in San Antonio consulting with 12 non-profit arts and culture organizations, to drill down on that foundational question as we launch a six-month Mastermind program for their […]
Continue reading
Click HERE watch the video. As someone who works with smart leaders, executive directors, CEO’s staff, board members, and entrepreneurs on a daily basis, I get asked a lot of questions about leadership. Over the years, I’ve noticed that there are common questions, patterns and trends that come up as I connect with clients and colleagues. In the […]
Continue reading
Happy Friday! Inspired by Valentine’s Day, this week I’ve been thinking about love! And… this extends into the workplace. What?! In his article in Inc.com about leadership at West Point, Bill Murphy, Jr. remarks that “Great leadership — at West Point and everywhere — has a lot to do with love. Not romantic love or […]
Continue reading
Mindfulness is a state of being fully present, aware of oneself and other people, and sensitive to one’s reactions to stressful situations. Leaders who are mindful tend to be more effective in understanding and relating to others, and motivating them toward shared goals. – William G. George, former CEO of Medtronic, and Harvard Business School Professor […]
Continue reading
A tired man was driving through a desolate, flat desert with only a lone tree that could be seen up ahead in the distance. He kept thinking “don’t hit that tree, no matter what, don’t hit that tree…”
The miles went on, his head nodded, and…as he swerved and frantically looked up to make sure he wasn’t going to hit anything, his eyes widened as he again locked in on the tree… right before he crashed into it.
In the span of five days, I heard variations on this story from three different leaders I respect (including race car driving, and snowboarding!). Two of them were using it to illustrate how they see me teaching clients the power and momentum that comes by carefully choosing what we focus on, and so that got me thinking…
I consider myself a good listener, but there are definitely times when I hear myself saying to both the organizations and individuals I work with: “blah, blah, blah… while everything you just said is true… NONE of it matters. And, in fact, we’re not going to spend any time on those issues.” Yikes.
“Those issues” often range broadly from “our classical music audiences are dying,” to “we have a dysfunctional board/staff,” to “I feel stuck in my current role.” Pretty significant facts and dynamics, don’t you think?
And yet, while “those issues” may indeed be impacting an organization, when I am immersed with my clients, I find myself focusing on two key things:
It’s so important to create a mandate, or an intention, or a common (and shared) goal. Once that is known, we can more clearly see why “it” must be achieved for the greater good.
The best way I know how to help people achieve anything that matters is to:
Without this two-pronged approach, it can be so easy to spend our time focused on the problems, which then leads to the creation “weakness based” strategies – which, by the way, can often appear as “best practices.” Often, this causes us to feel like it will require “force” of some kind create change.
Or worse, we create an acceptance that our problems cannot be addressed, because they are out of our control.
Instead, let’s focus on what we WANT to occur, why, and what currently exists that we can build upon, celebrate and leverage. This is not “just” positive thinking. This is leadership – and YOU can make great things happen.
The “Tree” will still exist, but your focus will be elsewhere.
To your success,
Kathryn
Happy New Year!
Have you ever wondered why it’s so common to set resolutions and intentions at the start of a new year? (and why they may not always stick?)
The turning of the page to a new year (and time in general), is a purely human construct that helps us measure things. It’s no different than using a tape measure to get the dimensions of your living room.
Years are like inches, miles, kilometers and gallons. They are just units of measurement.
When we see the dawn of a “new year” as simply the changing of the label from this unit of measurement to the next, it begs the question about why we make such a big deal about the New Year’s holiday, and more importantly, how we can make the MOST of this transition to 2017.
According to a University of Scranton study, 92% of all “New Year’s resolutions” fail. There are many reasons for this, but I think the most influential causes are two fold:
So, to maximize our success, live in our vision and be in alignment and in integrity with our purpose all year long, let’s use January as a time to set a clear intention for how we want to BE and what the impact of that will be on those around us in the year ahead… and shift this process to a regular practice.
I encourage you to set aside time over the next few days to give yourself this gift of clarifying your WHY around any new intentions or goals for 2017. What will happen when you achieve them? Why does this matter? To whom? What will the impact be if you don’t achieve what you set out to do? How will you feel?
Then, choose the embodied actions (thoughts, feelings, language, actions) that will support and create the possibility for “getting” what you want. Think about what small shifts you can make throughout your day and your week that can help bring new habits or practices into your life. Let’s do this for ourselves, and for the organizations that we lead, our families, our communities.
This is why I love my coaching work, and consulting with Board members and staff to leverage leadership transitions. When we take the time to pause and find clarity on our strategic trajectory, identify our WHY’s, and focus on our “goals of impact” – all while BE-ing in alignment with ourselves or our organization’s mission – AMAZING things occur!
Helping leaders and organizations create these shifts and clarity around WHY is where I shine as a coach and consultant.
If you’re feeling inspired, I invite you to schedule some time with me here to chat about what it would look like for me to guide you or your organization in 2017 to set and achieve YOUR intentions for this year and beyond.
To your success in 2017!
Kathryn