Wisdom at Work

My power came on at 6 AM yesterday. I’m grateful! From 7 PM Thursday, 8/25 to yesterday. A long time; but a lot shorter than it’s gonna be for Biloxi, New Orleans, Gulfport and all the smaller places we’re not hearing about.

Talk about addicted. I’ve got a power jones that won’t quit! I can talk about the other things and experiences I had waiting for the power to come back on. A few of them were good. Most were not. Still, I’m very, very grateful. Civilization as we know it – email, cellphones (remember, they need charging and towers), computers, tv, air conditioning, hot showers, stoves and regrigerators is just about over in Biloxi and New Orleans. I’m grateful I’m not there. I’m sorry everyone there, is there. I wouldn’t wish five days without electricity in August, in Florida, on anybody. Then there’s the rain and standing water.

We’re chasing our tails with this whole energy thing – at least the way we’re doing it now. We use more power and need more power. That adds to global warming, which feeds the hurricanes. We’re living an unsustainable life style. Maybe we can all die before the final reckoning, but our children won’t. They’ll have to live with it.

We’re so bright, compassionate – think of the Tsunami, can’t we stop polarizing ourselves, talk with one another and figure out a better way? We can’t afford to go on as we are. The planet will take just so much, then shrug us off and we’ll be extinct like the dinosaurs. And we’re doing it to ourselves. Do we really need SUV’s in the city? How about thermostats at 75? Is it un-American to rough it at 77 or 78? Or to drive a car?

Client retention, quality customer service and the profits that flow from these are the reasons you want your people to take a vacation. Sharp people in tip-top condition do good work. Burned-out people don’t. They’re not pleasant to work with and they make mistakes. Plus, burned-out hulks are poor assets. After all, you’ve invested a lot of training, time and energy in them. Why let that investment and all that flows from it, go down the drain because you can’t get your head on straight and figure out how to manage the company well enough to see to it that everyone has at least 7 days off in a row, once a year?

Slap! Is it because you don’t know the rejuvenating effect of 7 days off in a row? Or, perhaps, slap!, despite all the evidence to the contrary, you believe you can take it with you? Or maybe you find solace in the heroic myth of the iron, macho man or woman who feels no pain and gladly sacrifices self and family for the good of the team. Or, and this is perhaps the hardest to consider, you don’t think of people in the firm as assets, but rather as easily replaceable hands, commodities, in a plentiful market. And one last slap, in this age of Outlook and super high-powered scheduling software, is it that you can’t figure out how to manage so that everyone MUST have a full week off?

Whew, that was rough, but if you’ve read this far, maybe now you’re willing to let go of whatever reasons you’ve been using for not making people, including yourself, take a week of vacation. Let by-gones be by-gones. It’s not too late. Start making it happen, now. You won’t lose face, credibility or business. In fact, you’ll actually gain in those areas. So, go for it! You can do it and it’s worth doing. Have a great vacation!

Two hundred years ago, in a kingdom far, far away, a Chasid, an optimistic Orthodox Jew, set out to find the kingdom of Heaven on earth. Having heard it was Pilsk, a day’s journey from his village, he set out at first light. When night fell, he prepared to sleep in an open field and taking off his shoes, pointed them in the direction he was going. As the Chasid slept, a rogue passed by and turned the shoes around. Next morning, the Chasid continued and as the sun set, came to fields, a town and faces that seemed familiar to him. He was puzzled but delighted to have found Heaven on earth.

Are you on a similar journey? Seeking the kingdom of Heaven on earth everywhere but in your own backyard? What gifts have you been given that you take for granted? What skills, talents, ideas, and yes, even body type – tall, fat, thin, stocky, do you have? Are you accepting and making the most of them? Or, are you like the Chasid, running away from them on a journey to Pilsk? And what about the rogue who turned the traveler’s shoes around? Was he really a rogue? Or was he perhaps, an angel in disguise? How many times have the seemingly terrible things in life bought unexpected benefits?

Anybody remember Ziggy, the great comic strip philosopher? He said something similar, “I’d like to take a vacation and get away from it all, but every place I go, I take myself along.” Claim your good now, as you are, where you are. Sure you want more and better. We all do. But you have to start with what you’ve got right now, by loving and accepting yourself exactly as you are, warts and all. So, what’s great about you, your profession, your community? Where do your strengths coincide? Perhaps right now, without ever going to Pilsk, you’re in the kingdom of Heaven on earth.

Like a successful marriage, a successful business alliance only happens when both partners come from strength and share a vision of being bigger together, than either could be on their own.

Your strengths, the value you bring to the alliance, rests on your soul work. Have you identified that yet? Good, if you did. What are you waiting for, if you didn’t? The leverage point in an alliance partnership is, what clever connections can you make based on your soul work and your partner’s soul work? What people, products and services can you bring together that have never been together before?

What solutions can your alliance offer that no one else can? Answers move businesses ahead. Solutions are answers in action. The real edge in today’s marketplace is creating ways to deliver your soul work, to leverage your authenticity, knowledge and expertise - what you already have. Who you really are, your skill, client base and wisdom, can, when combined with your passion, propel you and your partner to greatness.

How big, how great, can you be? The seeds are in place. Nurture them – weed, water, fertilize. It’s about flow, not struggle. You’re not alone. The right clients and partners are in place, waiting. Show them how partnering with you – your passion, intelligence and resources, is in their best interest.

Take an inventory, identify your soul work, and do more of it. That’s seeding, the first step. The ultimate goal is to only do, what only you can do, and outsource the rest. Next time, how to get out of your own way – weeding.

Ode to a spell checker.

Eye halve a spelling checker
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marks four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot wea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
and weight four it two say
Wheather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rie
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My spell checker tolled me sew.

Imagine yourself beside a clear mountain stream. The air is crisp and cool, birds are chirping. Nothing can bother you here. No one knows this secret place. The soothing sound of a gentle waterfall fills the air. You take a deep breath and look down into the stream. What’s that? It’s the face of the person whose head you’re holding under the water. Look! It’s the person who is causing the most stress in your life, right now! What a pleasant surprise! You let them up, just for a quick breath, then plop! back under they go. You allow yourself as many deep breaths as you want. There now, isn’t that relaxing?

How many of you saw the new Batman movie? Those who didn’t raise their hands, take time to see it. It’s a grand Hollywood confection with all the usual fast-paced, gloss and violence, but, sadly, without the sex. Though, Katie Holmes has come a long way from Dawson’s Creek. The movie not only has merit as entertainment, it also has merit as metaphysics and social commentary.

On the metaphysical level we get that Batman/Bruce Wayne must do the inner work first and that such work is an ongoing process, never really over. Bruce has to take responsibility for his own thoughts, feelings and actions first, if he’s to be of any value to society. By having Batman’s savior and mentor be his chief nemesis, the film also shows there’s no simple solution to complex problems, that authorities as well as appearances can’t be taken at face value and have to be challenged.

What’s most fascinating, is that elements from both parties: Republicans and Democracts claim the film and its hero as their own. In these days of real physical danger and erosion of public confidence and civil consensus, we have consensus around Batman, the new version, not the old version or the TV show, as a positive role model and what we and our society need right now. Way cool!

The stories we tell ourselves, one another and our children speak volumes about who we are, what we’re about and what really matters. So, let’s talk about this; get a discussion going. Why does this version of Batman resonate with so many disparate people and can we unite and find common ground in our appreciation of the caped crusader?

Willpower = P (priorities) + E (extreme self care)

In spite of your best intentions your hand reaches out to the potato chips, or chocolate, a trashy novel or the remote control. Nothing can stop it, but…willpower. Vital to healthy living, willpower is the psycho/social/emotional equivalent of the immune system. Without willpower we’d be overwhelmed. The formula, W= P+E, explains how to use willpower more effectively.

Begin by realizing that willpower, using the conscious mind to control the urges of the subconscious mind, is a very limited resource, like short-term memory. In fact, recent research has shown that willpower’s life span is so brief that, depending on the urges you try to control with it, it might not work at all.

Like first aid or a fire extinguisher, willpower is meant to function only as a quick response to a challenge that is just beginning. Once the challenge is off and rolling, and grown serious, forget about it. In fact, if used routinely to cope with a recurring challenge, the willpower mechanism itself becomes weakened and grows less and less effective.

The idea is to not put yourself in a position where you need willpower. Here’s how the W= P+E formula works to help you do that.

First, take care of the P – the Priorities. That means knowing who you are and what your life is about, being clear, focused, and actualizing your most significant values everyday. Next the E for Extreme Self Care. You take good care of yourself, have lot’s of fun and don’t get too much stress, too often. You set aside time to just be still and time to make your fondest dreams come true. So with, P + E in place, willpower will not be needed much.

Think about it. With priorities set and being worked on, and a habit of extreme self care in place, heavy duty challenges will be fewer. And, when the inevitable challenges do occur, you’ll be clear about them right away, and will be able to use your willpower appropriately. W=P+E. Let it work for you.

Continued from preceding edition. The Authentic Be-Do-Have Method - Be authentic first - happy, self-fulfilled, inner-directed; Do – act from that place and you’ll Have successes, that’s why it’s called Be-Have (ior) - shifts the focus from being just another job seeker to highlighting the authentic and unique skills and talents - the deliverables, you bring an employer. Doing the inner work makes walking the talk natural, which in turn, makes you more naturally attractive.


“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best to make you everybody else – means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting.” EE Cummings

Be clear who you are is more important than what you do.

Be confident your external effort will be driven by your core beliefs.

Be mindful - capable of paying attention to what’s going on inside you at any given time.

It all flows from: Be, Do, Have - the Law of Attraction; because all relationships are a reflection of the relationship you have with yourself, arising from who you’re being, right now.

Whatever you choose to have for yourself, be a resource of that for another. That’s why it’s called be-having. Behavior – having the experience of who you are being.

Your external effort will be in direct proportion to your internal conviction. You will produce exactly what you are thinking at any given time. The Authentic Be-Do-Have Method is the bridge between the external and internal beliefs.

Law of Attraction – You will attract the very people and circumstances you need at any given time.

Be clear every intention carries within itself the seeds of its own fulfillment.

Be confident that what you take out of a relationship is in proportion to what you put into it.

Be capable of attracting people to you, rather than chasing after them.

Name three people, living or dead that you most admire. What qualities, attitudes or values do you most admire about them? You have these, too, or you wouldn’t pick-up on them. It’s the Law of Reciprocity. These are qualities you probably want to nurture in yourself. Now, if that’s true, than it’s also true about what you most dislike in someone else.

People are anxious to improve their circumstances, but unwilling to improve themselves.

That’s because we don’t realize that our circumstances are a reflection of who we are. Whatever’s going on inside, is manifest outside.

The Authentic Be-Do-Have Method aligns inner and outer and makes you a hero as Lou Cassera defines it:

Honor self and others, recognize the pre-eminence of relationship
Encourage self and others; avoid bossing, control, and pep talks, instead, build community - a space to share and do good work
Respect self and others, do not limit, exploit or manipulate, but love, inspire, care for and enable all to be all they are capable of being
Open a space for self and others, don’t hold on to things, rather be in flow, and let go of ego, the greatest barrier to leadership

Just because society doesn’t seem to get it and seems to be tolerating a lack of integrity, even expecting it, doesn’t mean we have to. The prevailing message, “when all else fails, just lower your standards,” is a huge part of the problem. Use the Authentic Be-Do-Have method and not only will you stand-out from the crowd, you’ll have the kind of success everyone will envy.

Continued from preceding edition. The Authentic Be-Do-Have Method - Be authentic first - happy, self-fulfilled, inner-directed; Do – act from that place and you’ll Have successes, that’s why it’s called Be-Have (ior) - shifts the focus from being just another job seeker to highlighting the authentic and unique skills and talents - the deliverables, you bring an employer. Doing the inner work makes walking the talk natural, which in turn, makes you more naturally attractive.


Also, I’ve noticed that the better I feel about myself, the more effective I am in my work and life.

Whenever I’ve suffered, been in pain and ineffective, it was because I had conflict with my authenticity - between the truth I knew and the truth I lived. These times are our greatest teachers, opening us to insights and inspiration. They are not the times to do something so much as to know and be something.

People mirror back and reflect exactly what we need to learn about ourselves at any given moment. Relationships are a great teacher.

The Be-Do-Have Method - doing the inner work then taking responsibility for what follows is empowering. Because then, what follows is simply feedback, not punishment or judgment. It’s feedback about the effectiveness of your thinking, awareness and choices. It’s not about luck or chance. Using the Be-Do-Have Method let’s you can own your life, stop being a victim of the economy or market conditions and take control back. The # 1 reason people chose to work with someone is that they had a good feeling about the person, not the product or service they were selling.

People using the Authentic Be-Do-Have Method know they are the difference.

They create significant relationships starting with themselves. They’re not trying to imitate anyone or use a standardized script. Their heads (left brain) and hearts (right brain) are aligned. They’ve had the courage to look at themselves, at what’s working and not working, decided who they wanted to be; taken responsibility for themselves and decided to be themselves.

They’ve figured out that it’s easier to change themselves than to change others.

They’re clear on their intentions - who they are, and what values and qualities they can share.

They’re confident about how they can serve and what actions they deliver.

And, they’re capable of honoring themselves, others, and integrity; and are committed to the necessary effort to produce the desired result.
ing.
ip you have with yourself, and act from that space to be all
Be who you are, it is all you need to be.

Focus on what you like best and do it to the best of your ability.

You’ll realize more of your potential nurturing your strengths than trying to improve your weaknesses.
Tell your own truth. That’s what naturally makes you unique, differentiates you and makes you attractive.

You already know what you need to know.

You have a unique gift that no one else has.

Your journey is to identify it and do it to the very best of your ability.

WHY consider being authentic?
To be Whole;
To be Happy;
To be Yourself.

HOW to do it?
By being Honest;
Open-minded
and Willing.

A job search will be more successful, rewarding and effective if you’re aware that what you’re actually doing is selling yourself. And, one of the first rules of sales is that people buy for emotional reasons then use rationality to justify it.

That means making an emotional connection with the prospect – the interviewer(s), then helping that person make an emotional connection with what really matters to them. It’s called relationship selling.

It means the first and most important relationship is the one you have with yourself. Realistic, confident self-awareness is crucial. Success is an inside job. Knowing what success means to you makes it much more likely you’ll attract it. So, what is success to you? How does it feel? What are you doing?

Look within now, before trying to connect with others.

Think about the best relationships in your life. What’s the one thing they had in common? Mutual appreciation and acceptance – both of you accepted each other as you were. No pretending. Both of you were authentic. That means being honest, true to yourselves, not hiding anything important. Wouldn’t it be great to have more relationships like that with professional colleagues and especially interviewers?

The way to do it is to start looking within more, appreciating, honoring and showcasing your unique talents and gifts. A shift from looking out to looking in can work wonders.

Who you are being, is much more important than what you are doing.

Be, Do, Have – Be authentic, happy, self-fulfilled, inner-directed; Do – act from that place and you’ll Have successes. That’s why it’s called Be-Have (ior).

It’s a simple formula. But we rarely follow it. What formula do we use instead? Do-Have-Be. Do – work really hard, never mind at what, to Have the money to buy the things and you’ll Be happy

This works. But it’s more difficult and painful than the Authentic Be-Do-Have Method. If you’re authentic, the people you encounter in your job search will be authentic, too. You’ll have a unique “sales” relationship and a comfortable emotional connection each step of the way.

The Authentic Be-Do-Have Method shifts the focus from being just another job seeker to highlighting the authentic and unique skills and talents - the deliverables, you bring an employer. Doing the inner work makes walking the talk natural, which in turn, makes you more naturally attractive.

In many respects, it looks like the rest of the country, same roads, cars, houses, hills and mountains. But it's not. It's bigger, wider, grander. I'm changed. My sense of self is bigger, deeper, grander. The Mountain, Denali, also known as Mt. McKinley is emblematic. As we approached it from the south we saw many mountians, some 10,000 - 12,000 feet tall. "Which is Denali?" we asked. "It's not out. You can't see it." "But there are mountains everywhere and the clouds are behind them. Which is Denali?" "It's not out yet." The Great Room at the Lodge has rows of chairs facing the two story window thru which we are to see Denali. The mountains are even more impressive from here. "Which is Denali?" It's not out yet. "Where do we look? When will it come out?" It comes out of the clouds, nobody knows when. "When was the last time anybody saw it?" Ten days ago. "What are we doing here, then?" There was lot's to do, sitting there scanning, watching and waiting for The Mountain seemed a waste of time. Yet everybody said it was worthwhile. An hour later, when It emerged, I knew they were right. Snow capped, with one peak rounded and the other sharp, I'd been staring at it for a few minutes, before I realized it wasn't a cloud. Unbelievable! It simply dwarfed the other "mountains." 23,000 feet. "There it is!" I shouted, the first of the 30 or so people watching to see it. As the others saw it, they applauded, soon, the whole room was applauding. We are like Denali, you and I. Except we have to look within, not without. Greatness is there inside, waiting to emerge and fill our lives. We don't have to put it there, struggle and work. It's there already, God-given. With faith, nurturing work and applause when it emerges, we can have more of it in our everyday lives.