Define Success and Build Foundations

There’s a quote often attributed to Alice in Wonderland that goes like this “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”

By defining our success, we at least have a fighting chance of achieving what we really want. Success is unique and special for each of us. Some of us choose tangible success – a gold medal, a degree, a prize, a certain life style and income. Others seek achievement in spite of physical, mental or developmental limitations. Still others seek leaving a legacy such as a breakthrough cure, exploring new horizons, or creating an innovative product or service.

This is not about judging our motivators, Rather, defining success is about clarifying what is really important to each of us. By asking ourselves questions such as…

What lights me up in the morning, or causes me to lose sleep at night?

What provokes me to take outrageous risks and throw in all the chips?

When we start asking ourselves these motivating questions, we become inspired to live a life that is extraordinarily fulfilling. To define success we must discover what “trips our trigger.” Not just forces us, but compels us to take life changing actions.

Henry David Thoreau once wrote

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favour in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”

When we define success, we can move confidently in the direction of our dreams and live each day putting foundations under those castles we build in the air.

Bearings, Key and Alternator

Paying attention to the signs and messages that show up in life and business can save tons of time, money, and energy. In the past several weeks, a team of 4 experienced car issues, which helped them avoid work and life issues that would have been so much worse.

It started with the newest and youngest member of the team having a "bearings" problem. Now, the definition of bearings is "the direction or path along which something moves or along which it lies ." Guess what? The bearings had to be changed. Often times, people choose a path that quite honestly is not the best. However, because they are on it and in it, they keep forging forward regardless of the consequences. Feelings of frustration, lack of motivation, overwhelmed and certainly tremendous dissatisfaction with self and others happen. When reviewing their current situation, the newest member of the team spent time evaluating their current direction and eliminated one time consuming job that was taking them completely off course. This change affected their thoughts and actions immediately enhancing the quality of their work and life.

The most senior member , the history and teacher"of the team had a key problem. It just would turn in the ignition. Now, the definition of key, "something crucial or central to the issue or problem." The key had to be repaired. This person at the same time started to experience some heart problems. The key, like the heart, is core to our performance and success. This team player had lost some of their purpose due to a major personal life change and was starting to act as if they were no longer needed. This couldn't have been further than the truth. Fortunately, the team pulled together to help this senior member see that they were absolutely essential to their success. As a team, they focused on validating purpose and contributions of each team player. Immediately, the sage of the group started to make some respectful health changes in diet and exercise that actually helped them to be relieved of some very distressing symptoms.

The last two team members experienced an alternator problem. Now, one definition of the alternator is to "charge the battery and to power an electric system when its engine is running. ..." A battery is a source of power for any engine and needs constant charging. How interesting that their alternators needed to be replaced. With the charge there was no power. The charger and the source, also two critical team players had been trying to pick up and take over rather than serve as support. They too had to pull back and go on a retreat, a vacation, so that they could recharge and re-gain power.

Fortunately, the team payed attention to the "car problems" before their life problems became too serious. They regained their bearings, found the key to their purpose and recharged their power in work and life.

Are You Effective in Leadership Style?

Numerous styles of have been shared over the course of time. In my research, I have decided to share two very specific theories which describe behaviors that demonstrate how effective or ineffective a leader can be.

In the 1930's, Dr. Levin, a psychologist, led a group of researchers in a study which established 3 types of leadership - Authoritarian, Delegative, and Participative.

• Authoritarian, also known as autocratic, was a style where the leader tells you how to think and act. It's the leader's way or the highway. A tremendous amount of distinction between the boss and the underlings and never the twain shall meet.
• Delegative, also known as laissez-faire, was a style where the leader offers little or no guidance and leaves the decisions up to the group.
  
• Participative, also know as democratic, was a style where the leader offers support and guidance. This leader actively seeks input and actually listens and responds to suggestions. In this type of leadership, the leader actually actively engages and participates within their team.

In the 1990's to the present, Dr. Paul Taffinder, an world renowned expert in leadership has been researching and publishing about seven styles of leadership. In 2006, Dr. Taffinder published these interesting styles of leadership in the book entitled, The Leadership Crash Course.

• The Transformational Leader is a style that transforms commitment and levels of performance, highly goal directed and willing to go against traditional approaches.
• The Enforcer is a style that are cautiously optimistic while driving towards very specific, defined objectives.
  
• The Deal Maker is a style that attracts followers because of the energy, enthusiasm and interest in the new and exciting.
  
• The Administrator is a style clear in what needs to be achieved and ruthlessly follow through.
• The Visionary is a style that inspires people to dream of greatness but fail to follow through.
• The Serial Entrepreneur is a style that is imaginative, but calculating, gamblers, displaying huge energy and commitment and sweeping people along with them because they make seemingly impossible challenges achievable
• The Spin Doctor is a style that seems to be everything a leader should be, but their behavior is inconsistent and self-serving.

These are two different approaches to defining styles of leadership. Both experts researched and identified traits and abilities that demonstrate varying degrees of effectiveness as a leader. At any given time, people will demonstrate any and all of these leadership styles. The question now becomes, how can we aspire to become like the traditional style from Dr. Levin's research, participative leader? And the next question, which in my mind now becomes imperative in this time of indecision, ineffective decisions, entrenched styles of leadership become truly transformational as Dr. Taffinder recommends?

I'm interested in your thoughts.

Capture the Loveliness

A few days ago, the east coast of the United States was beyond dreary and gray. For what seemed like endless hours, the landscape was battered by rain, sleet and snow. Life couldn't have looked or felt more ugly. The next morning traveling was difficult, if not impossible. Meetings canceled, I was faced with the drudgery of playing cleanup in the office.

Fortunately, I received a call and an excited voice on the other end asked, "Are you looking outside? It's glorious. The sun and ice on the trees looks like thousands of diamonds." I could almost see her smile and I definitely felt the joy in her voice. My eyes moved to the window. She was so right - there were diamonds everywhere.

A simple call, a wonderful gesture caused me to stop being upset and negative about having to change my plans for the day. My energy lifted and I found myself cleaning up, clearing up and revamping some of my business plans. The call also brought to mind the poem by Sara Teasdale called Barter.

Life has loveliness to sell,
All beautiful and splendid things;
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fire that sways and sings,
And children’s faces looking up,
Holding wonder like a cup.

Life has loveliness to sell;
Music like a curve of gold,
Scent of pine trees in the rain,
Eyes that love you, arms that hold,
And, for the Spirit’s still delight,
Holy thoughts that star the night.

Give all you have for loveliness;
Buy it, and never count the cost!
For one white, singing hour of peace
Count many a year of strife well lost;
And for a breath of ecstasy,
Give all you have been, or could be.

The call, the poem and taking time to reflect has caused me to re-focus and re-charge my thinking, my attitude and my actions. Wonderful, positive gifts from others and myself to see thousands of diamonds and capture the loveliness of work and life.

One Brick at a Time

"I don't know what my calling is,
but I want to be here for a bigger reason.
I strive to be like the greatest people who have ever lived."
Will Smith.

We are surrounded by limiting factors. Not enough money, costs are on the rise - health costs, fuel costs, life and work costs. It may almost seem better to cut back and limit. I would like to suggest that we change that mental paradigm and see each challenge, whether real or imagined, as an opportunity to find our own greatness
.

One of my favorite videos on You Tube is Will Smith's Wisdom - this is a much watch video -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSK_Likqv24 . One story that Will shares is a story about his father and building a wall. Smith's father instructs Will and his younger brother to build a wall. At first this seems like a daunting task, and then these two children - Will was 12 and his brother younger laid one brick at a time and in 18 months built a wall.

What a gift, Mr. Smith gave to his young sons. This wall stands today because two mere children were given a job and decided to lay one brick at a time. It didn't occur to them that the wall couldn't be built and so they built it.

Now, it only takes one kind word or expression of gratitude to change a relationship for the better. It only takes one dollar at a time to create an investment program. It only one word at a time to write a book. It one brush stroke at a time to paint a masterpiece.

If two small children can build a brick wall in eighteen months,than I certainly can improve my work, my life, my community "one brick at a time." How about you?