| Welcome
Businesses, workplaces, and individuals go flat when the people
behind them run out of energy and creative juice. Every leader,
every individual, needs to take time out for continuous learning,
reflection, and self-renewal. Businesses and workplaces also need
to be renewed. You have to consciously inject newness into yourself,
your strategies, your team, products, and services.
One creative tool is to ask effective questions. Questions serve
to deepen self-knowledge and awareness and lead to increased creativity
and innovation.
Ask yourself:
- What skills/attitudes/behaviors will enable me to introduce
newness into my life and work?
- Look at the workplaces/businesses you admire and ask yourself:
what works?
- Look at the people you admire and ask: what is it they do
well that works?
- Look at your own life and the small changes you successfully
introduced over the last year, and ask yourself: what worked?
Great businesses and happy lives are built upon the positive
energy of what works (see article
on marthastewart website inspired by one of my seminars).
Failures teach us what doesn't work and are important learning
curves. Learn from your failures and move on. Positivity attracts.
Your personal brand
Having a strong personal brand also makes a big difference. Your
brand is built upon your image and behavior. You are what you
reflect and that transparency comes across in the work you do
or the services you provide. Your ability to deliver is a reflection
of who you are and what your professional life/business stands
for. You bring out the best in your team members and clients when
you yourself are congruent.
Leadership is not about holding a position of authority or directing
people and events from above. Many modern leaders, especially
women, are modeling leadership from below or from behind. They
act as guides and references for their team, coaching, sharing
decisions, holding the vision, and calibrating their values and
organizational culture. True leadership is about shining a light
as a model in every sphere you touch, whether at home or at work.
It's about seeing each situation as an opportunity to inspire
and influence others positively.
Here are some simple practices that work for
me:
- Getting up early in morning
- Loving what I do
- Knowing my mission
- Being connected to a network of people who are making a difference
locally and globally
- Having a strong personal brand
- Dovetailing assignments
- Being around people who tell me the truth
- Silence
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