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Category Archive: Personal Leadership

How To Maximize Your Confidence Every Day

Posted by on February 2, 2018

I think I have tried almost every motivational idea over the last 30 years to maintain the best possible attitude. I have gained a lot of momentum from the health benefits of routine workouts. I also am inspired by reading great personal development books and listening to podcasts. However, the one thing that has helped me the most is the major theme in this Fast Company post:

“If you’re anything like me, mornings can be mentally intractable. You wake up in a dark cloud and feel everything but positivity–as though you were an orphan in a Charles Dickens novel with nothing to look forward to but the obliterating comfort of your pillow, almost picturesque in your please-don’t-make-me-face-the-day despair.”

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How To Use Willpower In A Better Way

Posted by on January 17, 2018

This post was challenging for me because I have always viewed willpower as more of an account where you make daily deposits and withdrawals. I still believe that to be true but the idea that it is more of an emotional passion feeling issue that can fluctuate wildly has some credibility with my constant ups and downs. This Forbes post is worth the read if for nothing more than what to do when you get stuck:
“Do you want to make some self-improvements this year to become a better version of yourself? Avoid sabotaging yourself. Instead, become more attuned to your feelings and be kinder to yourself. This means being aware of and applying the latest research about willpower.”

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How To Recover From Burnout

Posted by on December 15, 2017

One of the most important things I do as a leader is to monitor the margin I have in all of the life accounts included in my Life Plan. I believe in work-life integration and not balance. This allows me to have a short term deficit in one area as long as my overall margin is healthy. However, when my margin is gone in multiple areas, I am in serious danger of moving into burnout. This HBR post will help you in regaining control:

“You feel exhausted, ineffective, unaccomplished, and cynical. Maybe you feel like no matter how hard you work, you can never keep up. Or that you can’t make your boss happy no matter how hard you try. And you’re beginning to question your professional situation: Am I in the right job? The right company? The right career? I used to feel passionate about going into work but now I dread Monday and can’t wait until Friday. Will I ever feel excited about my life and work again?”

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Habits That Keep You Primed For Success

Posted by on December 13, 2017

I am personally convinced that every leader who wants to reach their potential needs to develop a Life Plan. This plan will set both personal and professional goals with specific priorities to accomplish. If you do something long enough it will become a habit and eventually part of your character. This Forbes post is an excellent way to get you started:

“Habits matter. Good ones underpin our successes and bad ones undermine our health and aspirations. That’s why it’s important to intentionally build routines that align with what we want: a happy, healthy, successful life. If you know people who have achieved a goal that you also want to achieve, ask them about their habits!”

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How To Stay Healthy When You're Stressed At Work

Posted by on December 4, 2017

For years I took my health for granted and eventually paid a high price for my neglect. Sometimes its hard to accept that you have to make the hard decisions to eat right or work out before you gain the benefit of more energy and feeling better. These same healthy habits will also more than anything else help you deal with stress. This Fast Company post will get you started:

“Tis the season for stress. The holidays are crazy enough, but add in year-end deadlines and sales goals, performance reviews, and the news of yet another raise not given, and you can already feel your blood pressure rise. But there’s good news: You can still stay healthy, even when work is insane. It’ll just take a little extra effort.”

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How To Let Go At The End Of The Workday

Posted by on November 29, 2017

The biggest challenge I have as an executive coach is helping people create the margin they need both personally and professionally. The 24/7 connectivity world we live in has totally blurred all the lines between work and family time. Unless you assume the responsibility to lead yourself, you will eventually fail in one or both areas. This HBR post is a must read:

“Chris, a senior manager at a New York design studio can’t sleep. His mind is churning, thinking about the mountain of tasks facing him back at the office. Katrina, the production manager at a well-known publishing house is distracted by a work email at the dinner table. Her partner complains that she “never seems able to turn off.”

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8 Ways To Effectively Reduce Stress

Posted by on November 10, 2017

Most studies indicate that some stress is good for most of us because its pushes us to be able to do our best work. On the other hand, chronic stress is very harmful both to our performance and long term health. Today if you are in leadership, then you must know how to deal with this ever present reality. Great Forbes Coaches post:

“There are days when you can feel your nerves jangle and your teeth grit. There’s too much to do, and not enough time to do it in, and what you’re working absolutely must be right. A little stress isn’t bad, but chronic stress, especially high stress, can create long-term health issues. While some people try and ignore the issue and push through, it’s not the best way to cope.”

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3 Strategies For Setting Healthy Personal Boundaries

Posted by on November 6, 2017

It takes five times more character to say No to someone than it does to say Yes. We want to please the other person and in reality we don’t know at that moment what is really important from what is not. So we simply say yes, only later to regret the decision because we don’t have the margin to get it all done. This post by Rishawn Biddle is excellent:

“Sometimes you just have to say no. That isn’t always easy. But there are strategies that can help say no when you need to—and save your time, energy, and sanity in the process. Motivational speaker Byron V. Garrett, my former boss at National PTA, often says that you only have twelve hours a day to take care of business. This means culling away the drive-bys and extraneous requests that can take away from achieving your goals.”

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Effective Leaders See Themselves Clearly

Posted by on October 27, 2017

I never like it anymore when I hear someone use the phrase when they make a mistake; wow that was a blind spot. I guess we all have them but it should only be a once in a life time reason. Because from that time forward it’s an eyes wide open choice. Self awareness or character will determine your leadership potential in life. This post by Wayne Stiles is worth the read:

“I’ll never forget the day a fellow leader poked his finger in my sternum and severely criticized my leadership. I stood speechless, not because his words were true, but because his criticism mirrored the very flaws he manifested in spades. In censuring me, he revealed his own warped selfie—but this one wasn’t so funny.”

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5 Reasons Why You Need To Get Better At Saying NO

Posted by on October 20, 2017

This one concept has changed my life. I am by nature a task driven person and I will automatically just work harder and not smarter when the demands increase. I had an extremely hard time consistently saying No to many good things to have the margin for the best. When I finally completed my Life Plan and defined my Yes’s, that problem is now almost gone. Michael Hyatt is nail on the head again:

“I have a hard time saying no. Perhaps you do, too. I think it is more common than we think, especially for those who are empathetic or nurturing. We just hate the thought of hurting someone else’s feelings.

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