Friday, January 23, 2009
Letting Go to Allow Things to Happen: Dead Blackberry Story
I couldn’t believe it – my BlackBerry’s track ball was stuck. What a disaster. I depend heavily on my BlackBerry for setting appointments when I’m out and about, looking at my calendar, looking for phone numbers and checking on my task list. All I could do was click to answer the phone and type in a phone number, if I knew it by heart. I had to wait 3 days for my new phone. It seemed like purgatory to me! Because of my phone insurance I couldn’t even go to a store to buy a new one.
On the morning of the third day, I was driving to an early meeting, still fiddling with the track ball hoping for a miracle, when suddenly it got stuck on a loud ring. Oh oh. Now I couldn’t shut it off at the meeting and I couldn’t move it back to a dial position for a call I had to make. Yes – the number was on a sticky note on my printed calendar – so last century. Just when I thoughi it couldn’t get worse….it did!
Fast forward to later that afternoon. I was standing in my kitchen. I took a deep breath and surrendered to the universe. I decided to just let go of my anxiety and dismiss my BlackBerry problem from my mind. Clearly stressing hadn’t yielded any results.
I picked up my blackberry to put it in my office and having done so often in the last three days, I just ran my finger over the trackball. It moved!!! It moved up, down and sideways – all was well…but not until I let go!
I am asking myself the following question: What would happen if I surrendered other anxieties – like will all my clients bolt because of the economy? Just breath….
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Leadership Begins with Self-Leadership: Purpose is the Fuel
Do you ever wonder why some people succeed more easily than others?
My theory is that the underlying fuel is passion and purpose. If you are clear about what makes you tick, what puts that fire in your belly, then work is not a four letter word.Having a purpose is like having a strategic plan. All ideas, decisions and adventures can be held up next to your purpose to see if they are in alignment.
Purpose and passion inspire and motivate others. Isn’t that the magic formula for a good leader?
