Link: http://gaian.com/view_newsletter.php?id=33

Power of Empathy

December is here. Santa Barbara has been an interesting place to be this year with a theme of ash falling. The Zaca fire that burned to the north of us for the summer months put a lot of powdery white ash over the countryside. It was everywhere, in the trees, on the ground, on every building. Every time the wind blew you would get what looked like a little snow flurry. Fire was flying from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, after following 100 miles of smoke blowing across California.

Just when we thought we were finished with it, we had this recent round of fires and the Santa Anna winds, which then blew in old ash that was more like charcoal. It is amazing to think of how much of our countryside burned. Trying to imagine 100,000 acres is a big chore. Now take that up 3 or 4 times to begin to get a scope on the magnitude of the burn site.

Now, for us, it is just the ash. For those farther to the south of us, it is the reality of the fire and the associated devastation. There is the reality of evacuation. I have had my own experience of evacuations due to hurricanes when I lived on the Gulf Coast. I know the experience of picking your way through a damaged neighborhood to see what is left of your home. When my wife was a child, they lost their home in Malaysia to floods. In each of our ways, we can relate to the experience that occurred in Southern California. Over 1,000,000 people out of their homes. We continue to hear of these massive and broad-reaching events, whether it is drought in the East, hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, fires in California, or war in the Middle East, most of us only hear and watch with a morbid fascination.

What would happen if we actually stepped into the emotional reality of these events, and allowed them to guide our intuition into some sort of positive action? What would happen if we truly tried to feel what is going on in our world? This call for empathy is the subject of this newsletter. Our world is changing and we need global action, we need global leaders.

So, take a few minutes, take some notes, and change your life.

Cheers,
Jeff

Except where otherwise noted, this content is
licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Link: http://gaian.com/view_newsletter.php?id=31

Leadership Transitions- Have you Reached One?
I write today just having finished outlining a chapter on Global Leadership. My personal mission in developing leaders is to support a group of people who truly understand what it means to think globally. Our world truly needs people who think from the broad systems perspective, and are ready to take on the challenges of problems that extend beyond national borders, that are outside of our native language, and are for the good of all humanity. They need to be inclusive and understand the true power of creation that comes from shared intention.

Leaders of this sort have to grow out of the idea that we are defined by what we can do, or our technical competence. While technical skills are important, we know that success as a leader comes primarily from who we are, not what we know (expect for that part that is what we know about who we are). So, the evolution of leadership skills comes through expanding our roles, whether or not we change jobs, and increasing our ability to see the big picture and connect with people through influence.

Today's message is about the Leadership Transitions. As you may have seen in my writing and approach, about 90% of success in entry level jobs is through the use of skills related to technical ability. At the other end of the job spectrum, about 90% of executive success is from skills related to emotional intelligence. As a person moves through different roles, this progression does not necessarily happen smoothly and automatically. Sometimes, in fact, it gets stopped, skipped, or missed. This can be an important thing to understand when you see a leader who seems to be underperforming.

So, take a few minutes, take some notes, and change your life.

Cheers,
Jeff

Link: http://gaian.com/view_newsletter.php?id=30

The Power of Intention

Last week I had a speaking engagement titled "Living with Intention". This is a powerful issue for all of us, yet it tends to be talked about only in select venues. Like many other issues related to leadership, it can be viewed from the highest perspective in more abstract ways, or from the most immediate moment-to- moment perspective of how we live our lives. Today's article is the second, about how we use intention in our daily encounters.

So, with that, my intention here is to provide a brief, thought-provoking article on Intention, and the power that provides to a leader. As always, I want to point out that we are all leaders, with the first lesson of leadership being to lead our own path. So, no matter what you do for a living, take a moment to think about the leadership you exhibit in every conversation, in every interaction, and in every engagement.

Leadership is an on-going process. We are each explorers on a journey through an undiscovered life. How we lead that life is our choice, each minute, each day, each week. If we choice to repeat our actions daily, without thought to what we are hoping to create, then our future can be reasonably assured to very closely resemble our past. However, if you want a different tomorrow than you are experiencing today, get in touch with the Power of Intention.

So, take a few minutes, take some notes, and change your life.

Cheers,
Jeff

Link: http://gaian.com/view_newsletter.php?id=29

The power of Saying "And"

I just attended the 'Consciousness in Action' conference for the Institute of Noetic Sciences last week, and have reconnected with many of the truths that initially put me into this business and have kept me there over the years. One of the things that really struck me was a description made by one of the presenters about many current practices of spirituality. He called them collectively "decorated narcissism". That was quite an interesting and provocative statement.

He was describing a tendency of many people to adopt a practice that is more about how they portray themselves to the world, while neglecting what they might create or influence because of the abilities they have developed through that practice. In my early education, I studied the Age of Enlightenment extensively. In that literature, there was a generally held opinion that gaining deep insight inherently demands charting a new path for oneself. It is then one's responsibility to create a different, more enlightened future.

As I continue my own mission of education and transformation for leaders, I will be increasing my focus on global responsibility and global leadership. This is my mission. Our world is at a place that demands forward-thinking and active leadership at a level well past where we have been focused. As I also heard last week, "each of us holds some part of the answer". In these articles, you experience glimpses of what I believe to be my part of the answer. Let us each put our best part forward. Our world and the world of our children deserves that.

So, take a few minutes, take some notes, and change your life.

Cheers,
Jeff

Link: http://gaian.com/view_newsletter.php?id=12

The Power of Saying No

Summer has finally arrived in Santa Barbara, and productivity here is reaching higher levels. I count my blessings every day to be able to live and work in this beautiful part of the world. Our client base continues to grow, and at the same time, we learn more about how to engage efficiently and effectively.

My current book project on Inspirational Presence is moving along, and I am finding some spectacular leaders to participate in the research portion. Look for more information to follow on this. Also, if you are interested in participating, look for more information below.

As I live out this life of working with leaders and leading my own organization, I often find myself in the position of learning my own teachings. Sounds a bit strange, but the truth is that we all live in a house of mirrors, and at all times we are getting reflections of how we are at the same time we might think we are only seeing others. That said, it is important that we begin to understand what part of our own reflection we are seeing when we are looking at another person.

The article today is just such an example. This is a topic that I continue to learn as I teach it. So, take a few minutes, take some notes, and change your life.

Cheers,
Jeff

Except where otherwise noted, this content is
licensed under a Creative Commons License.