Creating Tomorrow

“If the power to do hard work is not a skill, it’s the best possible substitute for it.”

(Source: James A Garfield)

 

Dear Friends,

Many things we learn from experience, but some essentials we can also learn by example. By taking a few minutes to look at the list below, we can all re-affirm the steps we have already taken towards important goals, as well as decide which additional steps we may need to integrate into the process of realizing our goals.

1. Know and accept where you are right now  - and where you’re not - in respect to your goal in order to move ahead with focus.
2. Be willing to step outside your comfort zone and do what needs to be done - say what needs to be said - based on your personal values, interests, ethics and convictions.
3. Seek out imaginative and challenging opportunities; don’t wait for them to find you.
4. Embrace clear choices and be prepared to say “no” in order to stay on track.
5. Find your own rhythm, synchronizing with external circumstances in order to be as flexible as possible in times of change.
6. Remember that the right amount of planning will empower - not stifle - you. Find out what the right amount is for you.
7. Be resourceful, seek support where needed, give it whenever possible.
8. Learn effective maneuvering techniques to avoid obstacles and unnecessary delays.
9. Stay in touch with yourself! Relax; renew; reassess; reframe.
10. Remain attentive to the present and focused on the future.

Trina

 

If the primary aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.”

(Source: Thomas Aquinas)

Dear Friends,

In their book, “The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge Into Action”, Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton highlight the discrepancy between ideals and actions in the corporate world, and give important insight into basic ways to successfully close the gap between the two.
Because companies are simply a sum of the people working in them, I believe the premises they detail in their book can also be adapted to apply to the people themselves.

Companies like yours and mine.

People like you and me.

That motivated me to develop a three-part self-coaching mini-series on podcast to help people (re-)discover direct ways they can bridge the gap between what they know they should do - and how they act upon that knowledge.

•  Part One: Are You Substituting TALK For ACTION?
• Part Two: Do You Suffer From “Fuzzy Logic”?
• Part Three: Does “Worst Case Scenario” Thinking Get In Your Way?

Trina

“For true success ask yourself these four questions: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?”

(Source: James Allen )

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* I haven’t done any of these recently, so I will blog insightful/inspirational quotes every Monday through to the end of the year!

Trina

Dear Friends,

This morning I was having a look at an article on the hurdles some corporate diversity management initiatives face I published under my 360° of Diversity banner over at ezinearticles.com (despite proofreading, I still discovered a typo…). While on the site I took a quick look at some articles about coaching and stumbled onto  one that resonated with me right away.

In “Coaching versus Managing” Craig Nathanson not only breaks down the “what for” of two main coaching objectives; he also gives some excellent tips on how to liberate coaching from a sideline existence and successfully integrate it into your everyday interaction with staff and team members.

To me, one of the most insightful bits of advice Craig shares with his readers is this:

“Too many times managers are quick to give evaluation and not positive feedback. Evaluation only serves to reinforce the manager-subordinate relationship, which is already understood. Feedback, however, given in the right place and time serves to help people understand that feedback is information and not a value judgment about the person.“

Especially now - when the overall economic atmosphere leaves people on every level of the hierarchical corporate ladder feeling wary and unsure - the success of an organization can depend on taking as much of the emotion out of the equation as possible and replacing it with behavior- and results-based direction.

Read Craig’s article in full after the jump!

Trina

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