Author Archive
Today is a Snow Day.
One of those days you loved as a kid but tend to dread as an adult. With our increasingly busy days it can be just one more unexpected complication. One that can frustrate us quite a bit.
In the midst of rescheduling phone calls, juggling work schedules, and rearranging my day, it crossed my mind that maybe this is one of those Life Lessons that I should be paying attention to.
I could view today with a Half Full (or Quarter Full) view, focusing on the challenges and frustrations it brings. Or, I could look at as an unexpected opportunity.
We get so busy that it often seems like there isn’t enough time in the week to spend good, quality time my kids. Couldn’t I think about this as an expected opportunity to spend time with them?
So I decided to view today’s Snow Day as a Speed Bump on the Road of Life. Speed bumps are reminders not to go to fast, to slow down. I decided that I could change the way I viewed today and think of Snow Days as Play Days with the kids instead. I might not be able to play all day (darn it), but I can engage with them for at least part of the day.
My mental metaphor of a speed bump was going along pretty well and then I got an unexpected second dose of life’s imperfections.
It appears that for the past two weeks, any voice message left on my work phone went into “limbo land.” This is not the only technical glitch I’ve seen this month. I know that emails I been sending to at least one individual had not arrived. Whether they were lost in the outbound stream from me or lost in his inbound stream we don’t know. I only know that I’m glad I chose to follow up a third time just to be sure we had closed the loop.
I could have gotten angry about the missed VM, but really, what’s the point. It won’t change history. It’s an uncontrollable situation like the Snow Day. What I can (and did) do is follow up where necessary and explain. No, it’s not the same as the “my dog ate my homework,” excuse. It’s simply a fact of our technology dependent communications. Technology breaks down. It doesn’t always work.
This was a good reminder for me that just because I hit send or left a message that does not mean it was received. Too often of late, I’ve observed individuals getting frustrated with one another when there is incomplete knowledge of a situation. It’s all back to expectations. Are we expecting perfection and perfect knowledge or do we recognize and adjust to life’s challenges and the speed bumps along the way?
When things go wrong with technology, I find myself using the metaphor of Gremlins visiting. I don’t know what happened, it simply is. It was outside of my control.
What I can control is my response. Am I going to let those speed bumps annoy and frustrate me? Or might I ask myself to consider whether those speed bumps might serve some greater purpose?
My epiphany for today was that Life is not about Perfection, it’s about Imperfection.
We talk about taking the time to dance, finding the joy in the moment, the beauty in a sunrise. We often tell, share, or repeat a myriad of these little life lessons. But do we value and live by these lessons all the time or only when we have time for them? Might that be why life sends us speed bumps? A reminders to “stop and smell the roses”?
A piece of humor a friend sent yesterday ended with “Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile.”
While I “received” the message yesterday and did enjoy, I think that today I truly “got it.” I need to do these activities even more than I already do. More importantly, I need to do them when presented with days full of speed bumps, not just on days with smooth sailing.
Life is about Imperfection not Perfection.
I need to share the joy of imperfections, laughing along the road of life. Living in the moment, as best as I can. After all, no one is perfect. Every minute I spend in anger is a minute I did not spend in joy.
Here’s to the imperfection in all of us. To finding ways to enjoy them, rather than being frustrated by them. May you live, love, and laugh often. Preferably all the time, rather than just when it’s convenient.
Oh, by the way, the dog has actually eaten the homework in our house. Along with toys, glasses, a wallet etc. As I sit here and type, I am reminded that I am looking through dog scratches on my lenses. I can either choose to focus on them, which is quite distracting, or I can choose to try and ignore them. I’ve found that if ignore them for a few minutes, I can typically read “past” them. The eyes and brain make adjustments. The glasses aren’t perfect, but they are good enough. That, I decided was another of life’s lessons.
You can choose to look past the imperfections and still see with clarity.
A few weeks back I wrote Are You an Entrepreneur? … or Maybe Not? In that article I mentioned a book soon coming to market by Carol Roth, The Entrepreneur Equation. I’m thrilled to announce that the book has arrived. Not only has it arrived, it arrived in true Carol Roth style.
I met Carol last year at the World Business Forum. She is a savvy female executive, who not only plays in the big leagues, she does it on her own terms and with her own style. If you doubt that, check out those pink shoes! Carol has never shied away from hard facts and uncomfortable realities, especially when it comes to the business world.
Carol’s book can help you answer more than just “Could I be an entrepreneur?” but rather “Should I be an entrepreneur?” We all probably can be if we wanted it bad enough. If we threw enough time, energy, and money at it. However, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. You can jump off the roof of a house, but should you. It’s your choice.
The Entrepreneur Equation outlines a framework for both new entrepreneurs evaluating whether to start a business as well as current entrepreneurs who are overwhelmed and overworked or even evaluating the future of their business model. It’s unlike other books out there that promise “seven steps to success”. To quote Carol, “those seven step are B.S. - entrepreneurship isn’t one size fits all.”
Success as a business owner is dependent upon your own circumstances, goals and objectives at any given time. What’s a good risk/reward tradeoff for you is entirely different from what’s a good tradeoff for anyone else. Carol’s book gives you a framework to maximize your own personal success, based on your goals and objectives, not someone else’s.
During this week, you can take part in Carol’s Power of Three. So what is The Power of Three (other than a Charmed episode)? Well, for every copy of The Entrepreneur Equation you pre-order through http://theentrepreneurequation.com/special-offers/ by February 18, 2011, you:
1 - Help yourself (or perhaps a client, colleague, friend or family member) stack the odds of success in your or their favor;
2 – Help a small business succeed, as Carol will match your purchase by donating a copy to her non-profit partner SCORE (www.SCORE.org) to give their volunteers another tool to help them grow successful small businesses; and
3 – Help both Carol and myself to achieve our personal goals of spreading this important message and seeing this book succeed.
In addition, if you buy even just one book through the site, you will also receive a free 3-part audio series: Strategies for Getting Your Company, Your Product or Yourself on TV & Other Free Press with Emmy award winners, TV anchors and PR veterans, as well as Carol’s own insights on how she landed her tv pilot deal and other press.
Check out Carol’s other offers, which includes an amazing contest where other entrepreneurs have offered generous prizes, such as Michael Port (private mentoring session at his house worth $1999), Les McKeown (a seat in his Predictable Success workshop worth $3500), a strategy session with the amazing Liz Strauss, a mega-star membership to Online Videopolis (worth $2364), and many, many more. Visit http://theentrepreneurequation.com/special-offers/ for details and to purchase.
Want to know more? Here’s a few of the examples of those “right questions” in the book :
- Are you going to create a “salable” business, rather than a “jobbie” or a “Job-Business”
- There’s a great chart in the book that breaks this down.
- How are you with your personal finances?
- If you can’t manage your own finances, then “you shouldn’t be an entrepreneur trying to manage a business (and implicitly, the business’s finances)“.
- Are you willing to put in a LOT of hard work and practice?
- The “Secret” of success is not just a great idea, a positive attitude, and venture funding.
- Are you a “Santa or an Elf”?
- Are you better at giving direction, or taking direction? If you are the latter, it will be very, very hard to run a business on your own.
- Are you “too smart for your own good”?
- Do you have problems giving up control over anything because “nobody can do it better than you”? Carol has quite an interesting take on this one.
I highly recommend this book to anyone even remotely thinking about starting their own business – it’s a great reality check that covers all the bases. It’s caused me to stop and assess where my own business as well as what my personal goals and objectives really are.
Here’s to Doing Your Own Math (not someone elses) and finding your own answer to The Entrepreneur Equation. Whatever your answer is, it’s the right one for you, rather than for someone else.
Back to that unique Carol Roth style, here’s a link to a story about her Carol Roth doll. It’s fabulous. Here’s a link to win one of the Carol Roth dolls for those who are interested. And yes, I did enter the contest myself.
- Nigel Marsh at TEDxSydney
Work/life balance is a topic that has gotten a fair amount of press in the last decade or so. My observation is that it has been an increasingly difficult thing to achieve with the advent of “social media” and the ease of communication via email. There are so many channels and ways to connect…but are we making the right connections, the important ones?
I found a wonderful 10 minute video by on this topic from TEDxSydney. You can pack a lot in 10 minutes, let me tell you. Nigel Marsh is the author of “Fat, Forty and Fired” and “Overworked and Underlaid.”
As this is a Ponderings & Insights article, I’ve got some questions for you to ponder:
- Do you find it difficult to balance work and life?
- How do you define the balance?
- What do you do to set boundaries?
- What timeframe are you measuring with? A single day, a week, a month or something else?
- Do you have a clear idea of where life ends and work starts?
- How do you define work?
- How do you define life, what do you include? (e.g. is working out really “life”, for me it isn’t)
- What would your ideal day look like?
Here’s an interesting quote from Nigel’s video (click here to see the video):
“There are thousands and thousands of people out there living lives of quiet, screaming desperation who work long, hard hours, at jobs they hate, to enable them to buy things they don’t need to impress people they don’t like.”
So here are some of the thoughts and insights I took away:
- Some jobs choices and careers are fundamentally in opposition to balance.
- Many of mine have been.
- Time to do a bit of reassessment…at a deeper level that I already had been.
- There are multiple dimensions that need to be cared for – the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual aspects of each of us.
- While I do know this, I’m asking myself if I am focusing enough on balancing all of them.
- Should I “schedule in” meditation time or is perhaps even needing to schedule it in a sign of a potential issue?
- Small things matter. That there is great value with focused time. Especially with your kids.
I know I’ve reached a critical point with the last one. One of my daughters has twice said this week that I am on the computer too much and has directly asked me to get off. She went on to talk with Dad about computers - that she thinks people use them too much. Not just our family, but everywhere. This wisdom…from a 9 year old.
We tell our children that winning isn’t everything but are we demonstrating that. I wonder? How often are we letting our Ego drive decision making and run the show? It needs to be heads and hearts together – feeding the mind, emotions, and soul in equal proportion.
It’s time for us to have a family meeting and talk about balance. How we want to interact. How we as a family want to define balance. Our definition of success, not the Ego’s definition. It’s time to really ”put the money where the mouth is” as the saying goes. Or perhaps, better stated as choose the option with less money, but more family time.
I don’t know what you thought, but for myself, Nigel’s ideal day doesn’t sound so bad to me. I wonder how many of us wish we had days like that? How life might truly be different if we did? Could we do this? Something to ponder. That, and how am I really going to spend my day today. What boundaries will I set? What activities will I participate in?
Here’s hoping that you find ways to have more special moments, more connected time, and more…
The Energy Elephant. Do You Bring Positive or Negative Energy?
This morning one of my favorite bloggers, Jonathan Fields, had an interesting story about a creative marking approach. Jonathan’s article made me smile (as it often does) but at the same time left me feeling a bit hollow. The marketing example he shared was funny and seriously creative.
The pitch was to shop while you are bored at work. It even included a “Boss Button”. You press the button if your boss walks buy when you are shopping. Your shopping screen is covered with a page showing ”corporate jargon” and a fake pie-chart. I agree, it was funny. I applaud the creativity.
What bothered me was the root of the humor. The humor wouldn’t have held true if it wasn’t directed at a fundamental underlying problem or experience.
- How people feel at work, their emotional state.
- What they bring to work (i.e. attitude)
- How they are using their time, or rather not using their time (i.e. manifestations of boredom/procrastination).
Here’s a link to Jonathan’s article if you are interested.
Here’s the comment (ok, rant) I left on his site.
At the same time I was laughing, I was also quite sad and feeling a bit depressed. Why, at what the “work world” seems to have come to. The attitude people tend to bring with them to work, and how many spend their day…not working.
Often times it’s not just “the company” at fault when the environment is poor. It’s also what the employees bring or don’t bring to the metaphorical table. Positive energy breeds positive energy, negative breeds negative.
There is a great difference between procrastination and boredom. Much of what appears to be boredom is actually procrastination. It’s not that they don’t have things to do, they don’t want to do them.
Just imagine if everyone kicked in gear, left the attitude at home and wanted to make a difference not matter where they were or what they were doing. That they recognized that they may not be at their optimal job doing what they love best but that a) they were employed, b) were lucky to be employed, and c) could have a positive impact wherever they are.
What they are doing doesn’t have to be forever, but rather than making the worst of it couldn’t they make the most of it for both themselves and their employer. After all, they took part of creating the situation. They accepted the job offer…otherwise they wouldn’t even be there.
Own up and own your experience. Ok, rant over.
My questions for you to ponder today are:
- What attitude do you bring with you to work?
- Are you bringing your A game?
- Do you look for ways to make positive changes or do you wait for others to “fix” problems for you?
- Do you ever reflect on the fact that you are privileged to be employed, yes privileged?
- If you don’t feel priviledged, go read about the state of the world. Don’t just rely on what you see around you.
- If you are employed, you likely have a roof over your head and food on the table. Many people do not.
- What might you accomplish today if you “turned off” the unnecessary social media? I hear complaints (and complain sometimes myself) about the overload of information.
- How much of that is within your control?
- What are you doing to yourself?
If you are unhappy with where you are, I encourage you to remind yourself that it doesn’t need to be forever. Things rarely are, even when we want them to be. In the interim, bring your A game. Make a difference where you are at this moment in time. Just think about how things around you could change if you did. As I said in my rant above, positivity breeds positivity and negativity breeds negativity.
Are you adding positive or negative energy when you are on the job? What can you do to change things for the better? Bring the Attitude of Gratitude on-line and into your life. It makes a difference. Really, it does.
Hum, time to take my own advice and buck up little doggie. I’m thankful for:
- The roof over my head – even if I dislike my too large mortgage that comes with it.
- My mostly healthy family – which is better than seriously unhealthy or passed on.
- The ability to read and to write – many cannot – and I couldn’t write this article without those basic skills. (ok, who snickered out there…thinking maybe it would be better if I didn’t have them)
- The fact that I have those extra lbs. on the hips. After all, they indicate that I have food available to me, unlike many in the world.
I’m also thankful that you found it in your heart to read this entire article. Really, thank you. May we all find ways to move ourselves and others from the negative to the positive side of the equation.
P.S. Tomorrow I’ll work on writing my list without the qualifiers attached. One step at a time, one day at a time. All forward progress, not matter how small, is good.
Almost everyone has friends of some sort or another. Just like people, friends come in all shapes and sizes. Some we may have had for years, some maybe just for a day. Not all of them necessarily close or good friends. In fact, most are likely to be surface or what I call social friendship. It’s not the length of the relationship that we should be measuring, but rather the quality of the relationship.
Social friends can be great for when you just want to get together to do something and don’t mind (or even necessarily want) a serious conversation. They can be great for lighthearted fun.
While I value all my friends, I value my true and authentic friends the most. In fact, I expect I could live fairly happily with only a handful of authentic friends and no others.
Why, because authentic friends are the people who accept you for who you are. My observation is that while social friends may listen, they aren’t really all that interested. Authentic friends listen and generally do not judge. They know all your idiosyncrasies and like you anyway. You must admit it, we all have idiosyncrasies. Some of which drive others around us crazy.
I think it is important to choose your friends wisely. To invest your time, attention, and emotional energy on those that are truly authentic already as well as those that could become authentic.
- Who would you miss if you could never talk to them again and what about them would you miss?
- Who would you not miss if you didn’t see them again?
- Do you have friends that you feel drained after interacting with them?
- Who do you spend your time with?
If it is predominately people in the second category I’d like to stop and very seriously think about why is that? What are you getting from those interactions? Is perhaps a spouse getting something from your friendships but you are not? If you answer not much (or something like that), I’d like you to very seriously ask yourself why do you hold on to those friendships, whether they are really important, and what would be the worst that would happen if you stopped spending time with them.
If you are spending much time with people in the third category, the one that leaves you drained. My strong advice is run for the hills if you can. Ok, well first you should do the same analysis for the second category. It may be that this person is just having a rough patch in life and leaning on you quite a bit. However if the person is chronically in a rough patch you need to ask yourself if they actually want to get out. Maybe they are gaining something (e.g., time, attention, financial support) from living in crisis mode.
Here’s the “Backstory” (and hopefully a laugh or two)
Earlier this week, Cranky and Depressed Faith showed up for a while. She was feeling tired, frustrated, and down about some things that had happened. I vented a bit via email to two of my friends, friends I put in the authentic category. It was nice to feel like I could talk with someone about how I was really feeling. The first, Gail, was great about helping to reframe some things and telling me to cut myself some slack. She was right. I had real reasons to be tired and feel overwhelmed. I was adding additional pressure to myself that I really didn’t need to. The second friend helped me through their honesty and through humor. Chris did not judge, he simply said I’m here, I’m your friend, and I’m available to talk. Chris’s email helped me to feel better all by itself. To simply know someone cared about my mental and emotional state. Chris went a bit further when he sent along a second email. One I’d like to share.
Faith
Ok – this is the best I can manage on the run! Will have to tide you over for a bit until I can manage a better response!
Chris
A paraprosdokian - A figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part. It is frequently used for humorous or dramatic effect, sometimes producing an anticlimax.
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I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn’t work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.
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Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
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I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.
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Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
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The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on the list.
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Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
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If I agreed with you we’d both be wrong.
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We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.
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War does not determine who is right – only who is left.
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Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
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The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
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Evening news is where they begin with ‘Good evening’, and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.
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To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
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Some people are like Slinkies … not really good for anything, but you can’t help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs.
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I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
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I saw a woman wearing a sweat shirt with “Guess” on it…so I said “Implants?”
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Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
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Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
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Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America ?
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A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
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You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
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The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!
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Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won’t expect it back.
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A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you will look forward to the trip.
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Hospitality: making your guests feel like they’re at home, even if you wish they were.
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I discovered I scream the same way whether I’m about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot.
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Some cause happiness wherever they go. Others whenever they go.
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I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not sure.
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I always take life with a grain of salt, plus a slice of lemon, and a shot of tequila.
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When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.
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You’re never too old to learn something stupid.
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To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.
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Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.
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Some people hear voices. Some see invisible people. Others have no imagination whatsoever.
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If you are supposed to learn from your mistakes, why do some people have more than one child?
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Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
In Conclusion
I was in complete stitches when I got done reading the list. Getting this list was the final step in kicking out Cranky and Depressed Faith. I hope it too made you laugh. If not at all, at just a few.
Authentic friends. They are the one’s that can lift you up when you are down, “get you” but still like you, will go to bat for you, and are willing to share your life journey – if even for a day or two.
How do you get more authentic friends? By being more authentic yourself. It’s that simple. Like the old cereal commercial with Mikey. “Try it, you’ll like it.”
A Final Word of Thanks
Gail and Chris - Thanks for helping lift me up when I was down. Your work here is done.
Elaine - Thanks for working with me to take our friendship to the next level. To be authentic in all our interactions from this point forward. You just need to say what you are thinking and not make me work so hard to read between the lines! As I said before, you have my permission. Use it. No guilt required my friend. :-)
I recently read an extract of a book called Never Get a Real Job written by Scott Gerber. If you would like to see the extract, click here. While I appreciate the fact that Scott is direct and honest about the challenges of entrepreneurship, I do not care for his tone or the way he “devalues” what he refers to as a “real” job.
Scott believes that for Gen Y, working for someone else is a fool’s game. Not only do I disagree, I feel it is extremely short sighted. He paints both Gen Y and entrepreneurship with too broad a brush.
I’ve personally seen both sides of this equation, working for a company and working for myself. Both have a myriad of pluses and the minuses. There absolutely is something great to be said about regular hours and a regular paycheck. There absolutely are jobs, roles, projects that people enjoy where they aren’t working for themselves. Scott doesn’t seem to think so.
Entrepreneurship is a 24×7 role, particularly at the start. Did you know that up to 90 percent of businesses fail within the first five years? It’s important that you think long and hard before you invest your precious time, money and energy. You must be committed mentally, emotionally, and financially.
There are times in your life where it’s likely a better ”fit” to be an entrepreneur than others. If you care about individuals outside of yourself – say a spouse or children – the impact to their lives also must be factored in. That “real” job that Scott dishes so badly can provide lots of time for your family that you won’t have when you are trying to start your own business.
To me, the decision to start a business should be based on desire, personality, drive, and interests, not your generational group. Being an entrepreneur is not always better than working at a company. It’s simply different. It’s a different choice that either does or does not make sense to the individual, and only at that point in time. You might reach a different decision at a different point in time.
I worked in the corporate world first, for nearly 20 years. Now I work for myself. As the owner of a small consulting firm, my business builds on everything that I learned over the last 20 years. I cannot see doing the type of consulting that I do now as a recent college graduate, MBA or not. It would not have made sense. The experiences that I gained working for Accenture and Deloitte are priceless in reaching the point that I am today and doing the kind of work I truly love, high impact Strategic Change and Lionhearted Coaching.
There can be great value and great reward in “real” jobs. In fact, there are many individuals for which entrepreneurship is simply not a good fit.
Something I particularly disliked is Scott’s reference to the cliché that “whatever doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.” I have many more years, challenges, and experiences that tell me this is not always true. Real life lessons, from the trenches, both in the corporate world and as an entrepreneur. To me, sometimes the greatest strength comes from saying No, this did Not make me stronger…but that’s OK and I’ll move on. It’s the moving on that is critical.
In my experience (both personal and observed), this cliché can add to individual’s feelings of failure when they don’t feel, believe, or have the ability to come out stronger. It can, in the end, make a situation worse rather than help the person if you hold to tightly to that belief.
Part of my root concern regarding his books is that that there may be social pressures for Gen Ys. That they may feel they “ought to” be an entrepreneur. You should be an entrepreneur if there is something that are passionate about. If you have the internal drive and motivation to do so, not because it’s what your generation does. Isn’t that really the same as Boomers working in traditional structures because that is what their generation does?
It’s about who you are, what you are passionate about, where you feel you can make an impact, and yes, balancing all the dimensions of your life. Priorities change over time. Make sure you are doing the right thing for you at the right time, not just doing what you feel you “ought” to.
For my money, I’d wait for Carol Roth’s book, The Entrepreneur Equation to come out. It’s due out March 8, 2011, but you can pre-order it now on Amazon. Carol is a straight shooter and will help you do the math to find out if entrepreneurship is right for you. Here’s a link to Carol’s web-site if you want to find out more about who she is, her advice, and her new book.
Carol’s book can help you answer more than just “Could I be an entrepreneur?” but rather “Should I be an entrepreneur?” We all probably can be if we wanted it bad enough. If we threw enough time, energy, and money at it. However, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. You can jump off the roof of a house, but should you. It’s your choice.
Does your lens distort what you see?
I’d like to begin by asking you to reflect on this famous quote by philosopher and mathematician René Descartes.
- “I think, therefore I am.”
I expect that most of you have heard this phrase before, but have you stopped to think about what it might mean? Both what Descartes intended as well as other ways it might be interpreted? What did this phrase bring to mind for you? If you would like to read more about René Descartes and the origins of this phrase, click here.
I’d like to now pose another question.
- What’s the value of self awareness?
For some of you, your first reaction might be “what is self awareness.” To me, self awareness is simply being aware of yourself – your thought patterns, your motivations, your typical as well as atypical behaviors. It’s about knowing who you are, what you believe, and how you operate.
We are always interpreting things. Always and forever, we cannot help it. What has come before, the past, influences how we presently see things. What we are currently thinking about, recent experiences, our current emotional states, as well as our intended outcomes affects how we perceive things in both small and large ways. Are you conscious or unconscious of this?
Another way you might think about self-awareness is as the ability to step outside of yourself to observe yourself. In this manner, you become both the actor and the observer. The more self-aware you are, the more innately you do this – both consciously and unconsciously.
Everything we do is viewed through our personal filters and lenses. I personally prefer to focus on lenses, as this implies that I can both recognize it and have the ability to remove it. Filters, while useful to notice, are more difficult to impact directly. As a side note regarding self awareness, my preference for lenses over filters could be considered a filter/lens itself…
When self awareness is very low, the outcome is frequently a distortion – of events, of emotions, and of statements made by others. As self awareness goes down, our bias and skewing of information, data, intentions, and people goes up. Conversely, the more self aware you are, the more you can reduce the filters and/or lenses that you apply and see with clarity.
As we become more conscious of ourselves and these elements, I believe that we are better able to “remove” what I refer to as the various “lenses that we place over our eyes.” We gain the ability to question your own thoughts and reactions. As a result, we are able to become more objective in our evaluations and interpretations.
The more self aware we are, the closer we automatically align our outward behaviors with our inner standards. We become better able to observe when they are not in sync.
With this new context, I’d like you to once again think about this question for just a moment.
- What’s the value of self awareness?
Now let me pose a series of questions to you:
- What’s the value of your own self awareness?
- What’s the value of interacting with another individual who is self aware?
- What would be the value of higher self awareness in general, in all people?
Now some more questions – none of them trick questions, just reflection questions, I promise.
- What frame of reference were you using for the initial question? Yourself, someone else, in general?
- How did thoughts/reactions to the first question compare to the next three?
- Did you have yet another viewpoint than the three I mentioned? If so, what triggered that viewpoint?
Let’s now take it a step further…
- What’s the value of a manager who is self-aware?
- What’s the value of a leader who is self-aware?
I don’t know about you, but those questions give me some serious food for thought. I can see real changes happening if the level of self awareness went up.
Wondering why I mentioned “Color” in the title? A “tip of the hat” to the old saying about “wearing rose colored glasses”. No, I don’t want, nor do I wear rose colored glasses. That being said, I do believe that a little pink hue is better than the dreary old grey I see too much of these days. My hope is that we can all find ways to make our lenses a bit more clear. To remove those various layers of color, one at a time. To see ourselves and others with better clarity.
If you haven’t already, I invite you to read two prior articles, Stop, Look, and Listen and A Matter of Perspective, Experience, and Imagination. Why you ask…because they might just help you with your own self-awareness and awareness of the world around you. And that my reader, is the entire point of this article. Cheers.
Where are you now? Where do you want to be?
My last post referred to Maslow’s Hierarchy. For those unfamiliar with it and/or interested in more details, Maslow’s basic needs are as follows:
Physiological Needs
These are biological needs. They consist of needs for oxygen, food, water, and a relatively constant body temperature. They are the strongest needs because if a person were deprived of all needs, the physiological ones would come first in the person’s search for satisfaction.
Safety Needs
When all physiological needs are satisfied and are no longer controlling thoughts and behaviors, the needs for security can become active. Adults have little awareness of their security needs except in times of emergency or periods of disorganization in the social structure (such as widespread rioting). Children often display the signs of insecurity and the need to be safe.
Needs of Love, Affection and Belongingness
When the needs for safety and for physiological well-being are satisfied, the next class of needs for love, affection and belongingness can emerge. Maslow states that people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation. This involves both giving and receiving love, affection and the sense of belonging.
Needs for Esteem
When the first three classes of needs are satisfied, the needs for esteem can become dominant. These involve needs for both self-esteem and for the esteem a person gets from others. Humans have a need for a stable, firmly based, high level of self-respect, and respect from others. When these needs are satisfied, the person feels self-confident and valuable as a person in the world. When these needs are frustrated, the person feels inferior, weak, helpless and worthless.
Needs for Self-Actualization
When all of the foregoing needs are satisfied, then and only then are the needs for self-actualization activated. Maslow describes self-actualization as a person’s need to be and do that which the person was “born to do.” “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, and a poet must write.” These needs make themselves felt in signs of restlessness. The person feels on edge, tense, lacking something, in short, restless. If a person is hungry, unsafe, not loved or accepted, or lacking self-esteem, it is very easy to know what the person is restless about. It is not always clear what a person wants when there is a need for self-actualization.
The hierarchic theory is often represented as a pyramid, with the larger, lower levels representing the lower needs, and the upper point representing the need for self-actualization. Maslow believes that the only reason that people would not move well in direction of self-actualization is because of hindrances placed in their way by society. He states that education is one of these hindrances. He recommends ways education can switch from its usual person-stunting tactics to person-growing approaches. Maslow states that educators should respond to the potential an individual has for growing into a self-actualizing person of his/her own kind. Ten points that educators should address are listed:
- We should teach people to be authentic, to be aware of their inner selves and to hear their inner-feeling voices.
- We should teach people to transcend their cultural conditioning and become world citizens.
- We should help people discover their vocation in life, their calling, fate or destiny. This is especially focused on finding the right career and the right mate.
- We should teach people that life is precious, that there is joy to be experienced in life, and if people are open to seeing the good and joyous in all kinds of situations, it makes life worth living.
- We must accept the person as he or she is and help the person learn their inner nature. From real knowledge of aptitudes and limitations we can know what to build upon, what potentials are really there.
- We must see that the person’s basic needs are satisfied. This includes safety, belongingness, and esteem needs.
- We should refreshen consciousness, teaching the person to appreciate beauty and the other good things in nature and in living.
- We should teach people that controls are good, and complete abandon is bad. It takes control to improve the quality of life in all areas.
- We should teach people to transcend the trifling problems and grapple with the serious problems in life. These include the problems of injustice, of pain, suffering, and death.
- We must teach people to be good choosers. They must be given practice in making good choices.
Reference: Psychology – The Search for Understanding by Janet A. Simons, Donald B. Irwin and Beverly A. Drinnien West Publishing Company, New York, 1987
The Backstory
I have been thinking a lot this past month about the fact that I am a bit out of whack as it relates to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Ok, so how many of you are thinking “what’s that?”
Maslow’s hierarchy is something I learned about back in college. Something that has stuck with me and has demonstrated the power of a good model and/or metaphor. For those unfamiliar with this model, Maslow’s hierarchy falls within the domain of psychology and was first proposed by Abraham Maslow in 1943. He explains this model in his 1954 book on Motivation and Personality.
Now you might be thinking “that’s a very old model – 60 years! - does it really apply today”. While there are those out there that argue with specifics – typically other psychology theoreticians – his model really is very solid overall. If you want to read details of the model and the criticisms, you can find them on wikipedia.
I have personally found Maslow’s hierarchy useful in:
- Understanding where I am
- Understanding where others are
- Understanding where I want to or should focus time and energy
- Identifying what is most needed and how to best help
- Answering the question “are you solving the right problem?”
I’ve observed that some business interventions (and social too) are geared towards higher levels when the people who are in the midst of the change really need help with feeling that the lower levels are stable. Something for you to think about during your next Change Program… How might this affect how you craft Communications?
Maslow’s hierarchy is often seen as a pyramid. The idea being that you are climbing to the top. At the top of the pyramid is this concept of self-actualization.
Self-actualization (in my terms, not necessarily Maslow’s) is when you reach that place of full potential. You are becoming the person you want to be, what you are capable of, and expressing yourself and your beliefs. You are truly living who you are. However, to reach this level, all the other levels must be in place and stable. In order to self-actualize, you must first master the four levels of needs found below: physiological, safety, love, and esteem.
Recently I’ve been feeling like I’m sliding backwards. I also know that I am not alone in that feeling these days. With all the chaos in the world these days - layoffs, business challenges, foreclosures – it can be hard to find time and/or energy to focus on yourself. Where you truly are and who you truly want to be.
I’ve been thinking about the fact that I want to be working on level 5, but that I seem to be living in the chaos of level 2, safety. Safety you say? Well in Maslow’s hierarchy, safety includes the roof over one’s head. I find it hard to write, share, and support others the way I truly want to when faced with the on-going stress of keeping the house over our family’s head. Sound like anyone you might know? Yourself maybe?
The Story
If you have been reading my recent posts you will know that I have been talking (and thinking alot) about Elephants. Today I realized that I have the big, hairy, ugly Elephant sitting on my shoulder with his trunk shoved into my ear repeating these phrases (or something similar):
- “you are not good enough”
- “you can’t keep up”
- “you are letting other people down”
- “who are you to think that you can write those books”
Mighty Mouse as envisioned by Sydney Purvis, age 8 upon hearing this story. ~~~@o:>
Guilt, guilt, guilt. I’m sure you’ve been there, felt that. Anyone saying “been there, done that”?
Ah ha, I went. There’s an Elephant. It’s hitting on my Maslow’s level 4. I can name it. It’s the Insecurity Elephant. I can own it. I can change it.
So I decided to take action. To get out my Mighty Mouse to fight that Elephant. I’m going to own that Elephant and then kick it off my shoulder – metaphorically that is.
So here’s my Mighty Mouse ~~~@:> (who I designed earlier today when emailing a friend). Mighty Mouse, go to work my friend. ~~~@:> SQUEEAAKEEEEE!!!
Whew.
In addition to helping myself mentally, when that metaphorical squeak resounded earlier today I thought hey, something to share. Something to send out to the readers with hope that it helps, even if just a bit. Bonanza, something that I can do related to Maslow’s level 5! So here I am tonight, writing.
Mighty Mouse might be small and often overlooked, but small things can have big impacts. (Just ask the lady who gets a small box with an engagement ring in it) Biggest isn’t always best. Our self-dialog isn’t always helpful. If nothing else I hope that my Mighty Mouse makes you laugh, even if only inside. Laughter truly is good for you…in more ways that we often realize.
I ask you to join me. Let’s take some control back. Maybe it will last for just a day, maybe for a week. But that’s better than before.
So I’m sending out my Mighty Mouse to visit you. When in need call to Mighty Mouse. Feel free to ask Mighty Mouse to help you with any of the Elephant(s) on your shoulder. Don’t be afraid to send them to visit a friend too, Mighty Mouse travels well over email after all.
Here’s a Mighty Mouse for you. ~~~@:> SQUEEAAKEEEEE!!!
The concept of courage has been front and center in my mind lately. For those of you reading for a while, you may have observed that I have been building up to this. There are connections, both directly and thematically in many of my blogs about driving change. Most specifically within The Revolution of One, Stop, Look and Listen, Anatomy of a Change Agent, Penguin Leadership, and Being Lionhearted©.
I believe that we are at multiple crossroads. I see the need for significant changes within businesses, within the political arena, and within social structures. All three of these are connected in multiple ways across multiple dimensions.
I’ve come to the conclusion that we don’t just need Change Agents, that we need Lionhearted Change Agents ©. That to truly drive the changes we need, more people will need to step out of their comfort zones. Many of us need to be more courageous more often. We must be aware of “social norming” and combat it at the source. Not just how we act, but also how we react.
After writing Being Lionhearted©, I posted the following question in Linked In.
What does courage cost? How is it rewarded or suppressed? It takes great courage to drive long term, sustainable change? What can be done to build courage in today’s environment?
I had several motivations for doing this. Not the least of which was to generate a dialog within a group of individuals who should already be Change Agents. To ask them to think further and deeper about courage. To encourage and challenge them to become more courageous themselves.
One of the participates in the on-line dialog is Bill Treasurer. Bill is founder and Chief Encouragement Officer at Giant Leap Consulting (GLC), a courage-building company. Bill established this company in 2002 to help people and organizations live more courageously. He is the author of Courage Goes to Work, a book about how to inspire more courageous behavior in workplace settings. His first book, Right Risk, is about how to take smart risks. It draws on Bill’s experiences as a daredevil athlete. Personally, I can’t imagine diving off of 100 foot platforms like he did! Yikes. Talk about Courage.
I had a chance to speak voice-to-voice with Bill regarding his background and experiences. Bill believes “…that with less fear and more courage, workers take on harder projects, deal better with change, and speak up more willingly about important issues.” I agree wholeheartedly with him.
Bill’s view is “…that individually and organizationally, people can generally be divided into two camps: safety-seekers and opportunity-seekers. During times of heightened anxiety or uncertainty, such as NOW, the Camp Safety swells with refugees. There is a danger in this flight to safety. Just when our organizations need us to provide ground-breaking (and tradition-defying) ideas, we are, instead, hunkering down underneath our desks.”
Below are some of Bill’s tips for helping you be more courageous at work. This list was extracted from his latest article, The First Virtue.
- “Be Mindful of the Risks of Not Risking. The risk of inaction is usually more perilous than the risk of action. As you consider a risk, be clear about the dangers of not taking the risk, too.
- Ask the Holy Question. Here are the four most important words you’ll ever learn in the English language: What do you want? Most people don’t take the time to answer that question with specificity. Those who do, however, are in a much better position to figure out the actions they need to take in order to get what they want.
- Have Something to Prove. Take on challenges that cause you to have to prove yourself to yourself. When the going gets rough, having something to prove can be a source of energy and motivation.
- Make Forward-Falling Mistakes. Making no mistakes is just as dangerous as making too many. Have a “mistake ratio,” a good balance between not making enough mistakes and making too many. As long as the mistakes you make are forward-falling, you’re making progress.
- Harness Fear. Fear is a normal, natural and necessary part of the work experience. While uncomfortable, fear has energy, and that energy can be useful when facing tough challenges. Harness your fear by spending time with it. The more you experience the thing that you’re afraid of, the more desensitized you become to it.
- Jump First. The best way to encourage those around you to be more courageous is to be more courageous yourself … first! Ask yourself, “When was the last time you did something courageous that probably left a favorable impression on the people you work with?” In other words, when did you last jump first?”
You can learn more about Courage Goes to Work, Bill’s international bestseller, at www.couragegoestowork.com. Bill’s newest courage material, Courageous Leadership: Using Courage to Transform the Workplace, comes out in early 2011. It’s an off-the-shelf courage-building training program being published by Pfeiffer. Personally, I can’t wait to see it.
My hope is that you can find a bit more courage within yourself. That you not just Own Your Elephant , but that you Find Your Lion Inside. That you take positive action rather than just observing or standing aside. It takes time, courage, and energy. I’m hoping that you can find a bit more inside yourself and join my Change Revolution. Cheers.
I had the wonderful opportunity to talk to Rick Maurer one-on-one this week. He is the pioneer of facilitating the open discussions we can now have about Resistance. During our conversation he shared some of his personal evolution to becoming the Resistance Guru.
Rick not only shared his thinking with me, but allowed me to bounce some of my current thinking off of him. I enjoyed the compare and contrast – the open dialog.
For those of you who don’t know who Rick is, here’s extract from his bio: “Rick Maurer, a renowned change management expert, speaker and bestselling author, educates audiences on how to get results from major change without headaches, cost overruns, and hidden problems…or Change Without Migraines™.” Click here to get to the full bio and web-site.
Rick broke down the way he thinks about resistance and change into four groups:
- Knowing – Do you know what to do
- Doing – Practicing what you need to do
- Hidden Commitments
- Hidden Beliefs/Culture
To my way of thinking, the first two are easy to discuss. Everyone is willing to talk about them. The greater challenge is in the last two.
One of the insightful statements he made was when you understand why people resist, you can understand why they support. Rick used the visual of a person leaning in or leaning out during a conversation about support. Me, I’ve almost always leaned in. I am insatiably curious and have a genuine interest in others as individuals – their thoughts, desires, and goals. I wonder how often we actually talk about what makes people support projects to change themselves or their actions?
I think that there are a myriad of elephants hidden in those last two. What are the underlying beliefs that are causing resistance? Until we can deal with them more overtly, change initiatives will continue to fail at the alarming rate that they do.
As for myself, I’m going to be talking about those elephants. I hope that you will too.
If you aren’t feeling like it or are concerned about doing so, I challenge you to ask yourself where the resistance is coming from. Take a look at the four groups above. See what you might discover about yourself. Good luck!
After the World Business Forum 2010 I took advantage of being in New York City and went to see Wicked on Broadway. All I can say is that the current cast is Amazing! While I am enjoying the CD from the original cast, the voices of the current leads are even better. My metaphorical hat and standing ovation to Mandy Gonzalez (Elphaba) and Katie Rose Clarke (Glinda). Both their individual voices as well as the blend was superb. Andy Karl’s (Fiyero) dancing and singing brought a smile to my face.
As I watched the story unfold I was amazed at the number of important messages embedded within the story itself. It almost felt like a life lesson while watching the wonderful cast dance, sing, and entertain. I’ve commited to my children to take them to see it soon. I feel that not only would they enjoy the story but that there are life lessons they can observe. It also gives us a platform for discussing situations and behaviors.
A few of the elements of the story include:
- Being true to yourself and your beliefs
- How people are measured and valued
- Caring for, helping, and supporting others in need
- Social pressures
- Giving everyone a chance – recognizing them for who they are inside and not just outside
- How the labels given to history and the “spin” change how we view things
- The “spin” the Press does and the true power of that spin - to completely mislead and misrepresent
- The value of working together - In one song Glinda and Elphaba sing about “…together we are unlimited…”
During the show I kept thinking over and over about the importance of understanding the “backstory.” The true history of a situation. Not what was fabricated by the press and those in power.
If you’ve seen The Wizard of Oz, you know that the Wicked Witch of the West is the “bad guy.” You know this, absolutely know this for sure.
However, once you understand the backstory, the true history, you learn:
- Elphaba, The Wicked, had a truly generous heart. She was extremely loving and kind.
- The Wizard isn’t actually kind and helpful. He is actually a “bad guy” in many ways, working the system and manipulating others.
- Glinda (formerly known as Galinda) begins the story as very egotistical and grows through her relationship with Elphaba.
- Glinda faces the choices she has made and accepts responsibility for them – changing herself in the process.
- Glinda and Elphaba initally loath each other.
- They evolve into best friends by looking inside, understanding, and valuing each other as individuals.
- Elphaba was painted as Wicked by the Wizard and the Press Secretary for trying to help others and standing up to injustice.
- While Elphaba was persecued for being Being Lionhearted © she never gave up on doing the right thing, no matter the cost. She accepts the “label” of The Wicked in the name of doing good.
So what does this tell us?
- You need to look at the history, the drivers and motivations, not just the current situation.
- You should challenge “labels” given to people and seek to truly understand, not just accept them at face value.
- Look for the person inside, not just the outside they show the world. They might be quite different.
- Understanding the backstory is critical for understanding the truth of any current situation.
The truth is out there. May you Stop, Look, and Listen to find it. For those interested in knowing more about Wicked the Musical, here’s the description from USA Today.
“So much happened before Dorothy dropped in. Long before that girl from Kansas arrives in Munchkinland, two girls meet in the Land of Oz. One – born with emerald green skin – is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular.
How these two grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good makes for “the most complete, and completely satisfying, new musical in a long time.”
Pictures from www.gershwintheatre.com
I see myself, do you? I'm looking at you. Are you looking back?
During Day 1 of the World Business Forum 2010, I had the opportunity to talk with a group of fellow bloggers over lunch. While describing what it is that I do, Carol Roth, said “you’re the Elephant Whisperer.” Wow, I thought. That’s dead on.
While I’m not sure I could have labled myself The Elephant Whisperer ©, Carol nailed what I was all about. I feel that I can and now actively ”own” this label. Here’s a portion a recent article by Carol about our lunch and the power of calling out an issue.
“There are so many times when we have a personal or professional issue and are afraid to address it. But how can you expect to solve a problem if you don’t identify that it exists in the first place?
Putting a name on the monster that is causing small or big issues immediately lessens its impact. Once you name it, the willingness to address the issue allows you to move on, instead of staying stuck in limbo forever.”
Carol is a deal maker, author, business strategist and advisor to corporations, small businesses & aspiring entrepreneurs. She is frank, straightforward and insightful. You have spinach in your teeth? She’ll let you know. She can also make you laugh which is much needed in business these days – at least I think so. Go here to read Carol’s full article.
In my area of practice, Strategic Change, Organizational Change, and Cultural Change, the biggest barrier, I’ve found are the elephants. The cultural norming. The reactions as much if not more so than the actions. All those things that are going on that no one wants to talk about. Just because they aren’t talked about doesn’t mean they aren’t there and are not affecting your business.
Our country (Carol and I live in the US) is at a crossroads. Actually several. If we are to address the changes that are needed – in both business and social arenas we must talk, really talk about the issues. Not just the symptoms, but the underlying issues and root causes. Therein lies the elephant. We don’t want to talk about root causes. Doing so would force us to look to closely at ourselves.
You might consider calling myself The Elephant Whisperer © involves a bit of an elephant itself. If we don’t want to talk about elephants, why would I even want this moniker? Why have I taken this term and owned it mentally and emotionally, going so far as to rename my book? Because I see the elephants and I talk about them. I want to inspire and provoke others to do so too.
I’ve taken the mirror to myself. Studied who and what I am. It’s scary at times, but well worth the end result. My elephant? It’s my directness and candor. It can (and has) made people uncomfortable at times.
I challenge you to face your personal elephant. The one in the mirror. Understand who you are, what you are about, and own it. I believe doing so is a key step to being able to talk about other elephants. Know yourself. Your true motivations and your own elephants.
I applaud Carol and her directness. I could immediately tell that she knew who she was and what she wanted. She has an abundance mentality not a scarcity mentality. She balances sharing openly and honestly with having a solid business background and well defined goals. This girl rocks! I can’t wait till her book comes out next year.
Wondering if I should coin her as the Spinach Talker? Food for thought? (yes, pun intended). The Red Shoe Writer? You’ll understand that one better when you see her book cover (book is due out Q1 2011). Think I should ponder that a bit more, though I must confess The Red Shoe Writer is growing on me…
In the mean time, get the mirror out. Find your own elephants and face them down.
Cheers and good luck both facing and owning your elephants.
Have we crossed the Ethical Crossroad?
For those of you who have followed me for a while, you know that I made the decision earlier this year to not get involved with the Twitter Craze. For the back story on this, you can read To Tweet or Not to Tweet.
This past week I became part of the Twitter Craze as a result of my involvement in the Bloggers Hub at the World Business Forum 2010. My original plan was to focus on writing articles with minimal tweeting. That certainly didn’t go as planned, not at all.
After getting Tweetdeck that morning, I somehow managed to tweet 170 times. Forty during the first speaker alone – well, it was Jim Collins… The next day 190 tweets. Twitter craze, I have arrived. Eh gads, what happened?
- I found that I was mentally engaged by the speakers. Not just thinking about the words they said but implications.
- I noticed that many tweeters in the Bloggers Hub focused on quoting statements.
- While this is quite useful, I wanted to push the conversation further.
- I wanted those following on the Hub to be challenged – to ask themselves questions.
- While I occasionally did include a quote, I focused on interpretations, observations, thoughts, and questions.
I was feeling a bit more hip, involved in social media in a way I wasn’t before. Yea me.
Then during Jack Welch’s talk, I slammed into a wall. An ethical wall. One I had bumped into the week before but hadn’t realized was so pervasive.
During the interview with Jack Welch, I was startled, yes startled when the interviewer asked if he tweeted for himself. What? People are writing under other people’s names? That doesn’t seem right to me.
Here’s the tweet I immediately sent out to the Hub:
- “I struggle with even asking if someone is doing their own tweets. Something seems fundamentally wrong if you are not.”
I am happy to report that Jack does tweet for himself. Go Jack!
On Day 2 I noticed that one of our Hub bloggers was tweeting under another very well known person’s name. Huh? This bothered me. Quite a bit. So those tweets I thought were coming from Famous Person X aren’t written by him? Have we crossed an ethical gray area and why do I seem to be the only one concerned?
There are a number of things to ponder:
- Are we misrepresenting information when a tweet is posted under Person A’s name but was written by Person B?
- How much more influenced are you by an idea when “written” by Famous Person X. What does that tell us?
- Are we more willing to buy into an idea because of who said it than because of content of the idea?
- How many other times and in what other ways does this happen?
- Why does an individual feel the need to have someone else tweet and blog under their name?
- What are the motivators and factors involved?
- What are the risks?
- If we believe that someone is really putting out a significant volume of work by themselves when they really are not, what kinds of incorrect comparisons are we making relative to what they can and do accomplish vs. what we do?
- Might we view ourselves negatively compared to an unrealistic benchmark?
Am I just too naive or idealistic to think this shouldn’t be done? I can understand “brand management”, but at what point does it cross a line?
I personally vote for substance over volume, for not choosing the “popular” name for name’s sake. Yes, there are ghostwriters for books, but in the end, the creative elements and creative content is provided by the author. They participate every step of the way. Can you really claim that content comes from the author named when the post is 140 characters long and the “author” never read it?
It is one thing to blog and tweet as part of a company, as a representative of a company. It’s another to tweet and blog as another person. Yes, it might be “on their behalf” but isn’t it really a mis-representation of the truth? I think so (and so does my spouse who was kind enough to be my reviewer for this blog).
My personal conclusion remains a blend of To Tweet or Not to Tweet and my recent experience I will:
- Tweet for myself.
- Minimize the amount of tweeting and retweeting I do.
- It must have value, not just be noise or be about ”look at me, look at me.”
- Choose time with my family over being constantly on-line and available.
- Continue to question the ethics surrounding the use and mis-uses of social media.
- Continue to elevate this issue. To question the precedent that is currently being set.
- Be clear if someone else is tweeting on behalf of my brand – it will be clear that it is not me, rather the brand.
- Politely say no and explain that why I am uncomfortable if someone asks me to tweet under their name.
It’s not just about this step that concerns me, it’s about the next step and the one after. What line might we cross in the future if we so willingly and easily cross this one? How does this impact copyrighting, creative use, and other legal situations?
It seems like something we should be concerned about. Something to pay attention to and challenge. Ethics are important, really important. We think the truth is out there, but is it really what we think, or has it been mis-represented?
Is this another Elephant in the room? I think that this might just be the On-line Ethics Elephant. I think it should be talked about. Do you?
Are you taking steps to build Greatness?
The opening speaker at the World Business Forum 2010 was Jim Collins. What an opening!
The following article written by my colleague Maureen Metcalf of Metcalf & Associates. While I tweeted away during the event, she focused on writing blog articles. Rather than reinvent the wheel so to speak, I will be posting the series of articles that she wrote. Here’s the first of Maureen’s articles.
“Mr. Collins spoke about the syntheses of Good to Great, Built to Last, and how the Mighty Fall. Sustaining Great Results - What does a Level 5 Leaders do?
1. Combat Hubris through ruthless self examination. Level 5 Leaders are committed to the truth over the image they have of themselves and their companies. They understand that only through rigor and discipline in thinking and action will the success continue long term. They have the courage to ask the tough questions about their companies and themselves that enable them to face changing times.
2. Combat the desire for too much too quickly. Level 5 Leaders understand the “right pace” for long term sustainable growth. If a leader is building an organization that will last for 25 years and even 100 years, what does he/she need to do today to move forward 1 step today? Great leaders build the team who can execute on goals and values impeccably then expand. They regroup and recharge and plan before each next step to ensure successful implementation.
3. Face the Brutal Facts and Act – Level 5 Leaders are willing to face the brutal facts and take the difficult action. With a 25 year vision, clear values and principles, they make the tough decisions that will produce long term sustainable progress because it is what needs to be done. This can mean making major changes to projects or products they value and may have created.
4. Commit to Discipline and Rigor – Level 5 Leaders know that there are no quick fixes or short cuts to greatness. Daily discipline and right action from all employees creates great results. These results are not immediately visible. Success is a combination of quick wins and long term daily actions aligned with the organizations’ goals and principles.
5. Commit to Creating Value – Level 5 Leaders meet a need in the community that is not being filled by others. They are driven by passion and commitment to improve the world – not for fame. They do what they do because at their core they are doing what they are called to do. By responding to a larger purpose, the leader is able to make the tough calls at times with high personal cost. They are able to make the toughest of calls.
Level 5 Leaders create long term value for their companies, employees, communities and the world by taking these actions.”
Faith here again – If you are interested in building Level 5 Leaders, I highly recommend talking with Maureen as business is building Level 5 Leaders. You can visit her web-site for more information both about Level 5 Leaders and her companies services.
Are you Being Lionhearted © or are you just one of the crowd?
The second day of the World Business Forum 2010 is complete. The speakers today talked about economics, the environment, politics, culture, product selection, survival, and the film industry to name a few. One theme that emerged for me was the need for courage.
This is something that I have been pondering for a while. The courage that it will take from many individuals, both on their own and working together to drive true, lasting, sustainable change.
Do you have the courage to:
- Focus on the Long-term, not just the Short-term?
- Change the way you make decisions?
- Make the less “popular” choices?
- Make the choices for sustainability?
- Speak the truth, not just what sounds good?
- Dig into the details, not just the sound bits?
- Be a Leader, not just a Manager or Executive?’
- Talk about the Elephants in the room?
- Change yourself?
Courage comes from many places and many sources. But must come from within to be sustained. Are you courageous? I’m working on my Lion’s heart. Come join me.
More to come about Being Lionhearted: The Courage to Change © soon. In the interim, see the WBF Bloggers Hub for comments and questions about being courageous.
Book to come – ebook or other tbd.
In the interim, visit the Ponders & Insights over the next weeks and months for more on this topic.
I would love to hear back from you about how you are courageous, when and where you have had the courage to change, and what you feel it takes to stand up and go against the crowd to do what you feel is right.
Do you have stories about having the courage to change yourself and to be an example to others? If so, I would love to hear them.
