|
|
|
| |
| October 29, 2005 |
|
|
| Despite record numbers of books on leadership telling us what leaders must be and what they must do to be effective, leaders across society seem to be less effective with each day. One key reason is that leadership theory has always assumed a positional advantage that is quickly eroding in our fast and flat world. Until very recently, many leaders could achieve positive results over the short- and medium-term, despite their lack of personal preparedness, because of certain positional advantages over those they led. In particular, they had superior knowledge, mobility, and communication. These advantages placed them closer to a perceived reality than those they led. And people followed them, over the short- and medium-term - because they perceived them to be closer to reality. Today, however, technology operates as a powerful equalizer. These positional advantages are gone. Those being led have equal knowledge (via the Internet), mobility (via the ability to work anywhere for any entity), and access to communication channels (via e-mail, blogs, chatrooms, instant messaging, mobile phones, podcasting). Today, a leader must be closer to actual reality. Those who are closer to what is real will lead those who are more distant. How does one navigate toward actual reality? By practicing, and ultimately mastering, personal leadership. Personal leadership is all about identifying, accessing, and developing deep personal energies that bring one closer to what is real. |
| |
|
| |
| October 23, 2005 |
|
|
| A friend of mine, in discussing relationships, brought up the concept of the A-R-C Triangle. He said, in essence, every relationship is a three-legged stool. One leg is affinity. Another is reality. The third is communication. If any one of the three goes awry, the relationship falters. And the faltering of one cannot be overcome by either of the other two. Think about it. With every relationship in your life that works or doesn't work, you can find the reason in the A-R-C Triangle. Of the three, communication is probably the one we are best able to control. Thus, if we want good relationships, we better be consummate communicators. To emphasize this even more, in an existence that consists of a system of relationships, effective communication is nothing less than a critical survival tool. |
| |
|
| |
|
|
| Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way, a cult guide to developing the artist within, says that an artist merely channels universal energy. Thus, when nine out of ten people in the corporate world tell me, "I really don't have any artistic talent," I agree. I say, "You don't. None of us do. Creativity is a basic condition of the universe. The real question is whether you are open to it. If you are not, then you are defying the basic nature of life. This resistance will tire you out and you will die younger than you should and completely frustrated. If you are, the energy of the universe will flow through you, infusing you and everyone around you with energy and growth." Until I was forty years old, I was convinced I was not an artist. Then one day, a dear friend said, "Yes, you are, and here are some brushes, canvases, and paint." Within a few days I opened to the possibility that I was an artist, and a year later I was selling my paintings for thousands of dollars. |
| |
|
| |
|
|
| I am tired of research. I am tired of focus groups. I am tired of market studies. I am tired of facts. A lot of times, I am tired of other people's opinions. I mean they literally tire me out. I think we cling to these out of fear. It feels like the safer route. The reality is that it diminishes our energy, as do all fear-based thoughts, emotions, and actions. It is an abdication of our responsibility in life to connect with energies deep within us and this existence we share. A few years back, I befriended something we were all gifted with: a powerful source of inspiration - a knowingness, an intuition - that is embedded in this ubiquitous energy that binds everything that is. Everyday, I find this intuition is my best guide, and I feel tremendously empowered by this finding. |
| |
|
| |
|
|
| A CEO client of mine called a couple weeks ago. His SVP of Sales had blown a key sale. This guy had blown it so badly that he would probably lose his job. Millions of dollars were lost and it was due entirely to his neglect of the prospective sale. I asked the CEO, "So we know the SVP blew it. What is your responsibility?" He talked for awhile about all the things he had done correctly in leading this SVP. I said, "Yes, sounds like you did a lot of things right, but what is your responsibility for the lost sale?" In this conversation, he couldn't find any. He called yesterday and said, "I have been thinking a lot about my responsibility. What the SVP did was irrelevant to me. He was merely a faceless figure in "what is." And "what is" is the only real thing we have. In this case, it is a lost sale. I own "what is." Thus, I didn't select the right SVP for my sales team. I didn't work closely enough with him. I didn't maintain my own contact with key potential customers. I wasn't clear enough in articulating the importance of this sale. I am completely responsible for this situation." Ahhhh! This dude completely gets it. |
| |
|
| |
|
|
| There are a number of studies, many out of Princeton, that scientifically prove our ability to use our intention to influence conditions and the course of events. Interestingly, there are studies that prove that multiple people with the same intention have an even greater ability to influence conditions and the course of events. Even more interesting are the studies that show that the presence of love between the people increase that ability even more. I have always been blown away by one comprehensive study that shows that our present intention can affect the results of a past event provided that we don't know the results of the past event. This isn't bullshit. This is science. And yet, we feel so damned powerless most of the time. We have an extraordinary amount of power within our intention. First, we have to believe it. Then, we have to practice it. |
| |
|
| |
|
|
| Here's a simple test: For just one day, carry around a little journal and note down every time you either resist in your mind something suggested, directed, or requested by someone else. If you are like most people, you will be shocked at your tally at day's end. And most of you will then say, "Yes, but I had good reasons. For instance..." But try not to react and instead just be aware of your resistances. Now here's a little suggestion: For one day, never resist a thing. Not one thing. Not in your mind. Not expressly. Just try it and be open to it and your life will never be the same. |
| |
|
| |
|
|
| The overwhelming majority of us learned, as a by-product of our "maturation", how to resist "what is". We felt pain in response to something, so we became closed to situations that might involve the same pain. This is fine for many things, but our maturation knew few limits. For example, if our peers teased us in our youth for speaking up in class, thirty years later we still avoid situations calling for public speaking. As adults, we have a crippling excess of fears and fixed beliefs. These fears and fixed beliefs, however, are incongruent with a dynamic, rapidly changing world. Resistance to "what is" actually causes more pain and drains our energy. Opening to "what is" becomes liberating and energizing. Not only are we no longer afraid of the unknown, we solicit energy inputs from any and all directions and dimensions. We constantly seek to widen the net for possibilities, and resist nothing. |
| |
|
| |
|
|
| I have known hundreds of leaders who ultimately blew up, or at least rendered themselves ineffective, because their behavior was distorted by some fear-based stimulus, usually something buried deep within them since childhood. They acted out of anger, rage, envy, insecurity, guilt, or greed. Sometimes these behaviors resided squarely in their persona. More often, they resided in their shadows. They were sex addicts. They lied. They cheated. They undermined others. We were born with clarity of thought, emotion, and behavior, but somewhere along the way that clarity becomes distorted. Again, it usually happens in our childhoods, and is caused by our parents, sometimes inadvertently by well-intentioned ones, and sometimes recklessly by abusive ones. If we clear it out, we do fine. If we don't, our relationships usually blow up. And leadership is, by definition, relationship. |
| |
|
| |
|
|
| When we choose to be present, we begin to understand that everything, absolutely everything, is energy, and we can begin to function effectively as people and as leaders. And when we embrace everything as energy - every piece of matter, every non-particulate, every thought, every emotion, every action - we begin to see and feel everything within us and outside of us very differently. Irrelevance is gone. Everything matters. Everything is connected by one ubiquitous energy. And this energy has specific properties. The recognition of this produces two profound effects. First, we quickly realize that we are in synch with the true nature of our existence. We feel a sense of peace because we are now in the flow of life instead of denying or resisting its true nature. Second, and more important for the leader within us, we start to see relationships between everything and we begin to get a sense about how we can affect those relationships to achieve a desired result. We feel more empowered than ever before. |
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
Inquire about booking David M. Traversi to speak or lead workshops
|
| |
 |
| |
A New Leadership Paradigm!
A National Bestseller!
Check out David M. Traversi's much acclaimed new book, The Source of Leadership™ Eight Drivers of the High-Impact Leader. Click here for more information.
|
| |
|
| |
Join The Source of Leadership™ Community
Click here to join the network of leaders and potential leaders dedicated to radically transforming the state of leadership and the performance of leaders everywhere. |
| |
|
| |
The Fruit of the Masters. Click here for our highly coveted list of recommended books on leadership, personal growth, and related topics.
|
| |
|
| |
The Source of Leadership will send you a daily tip designed to help you stay at the top of your leadership game. |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| |
| |
|
|
