[DareToCare] (11/13/2008)
And it times of massive change people need support, development and input on their NEW mindset. They need leadership development and not just any kind, but the kind that speaks to the future of business.
[DareToCare] (9/30/2008)
A Sixth Sense. Positive deviants have a high degree of self esteem, universal trust, and intuitive respect. Therefore, they seem to be tuned in to a extra sensory compass. This shows up in different ways for different people. For some it is a highly tuned ability to read people, for others it is a very agile grasp of structure, form and systems. Others have a very highly evolved sense of time and space. Whatever the skill, it is based on an ability to tune into the intuitive and have the courage and grace to act from this, with humility, not righteousness.
[DareToCare] (7/25/2008)
Most of my life I am an individual player. The beauty of this event is that it is all about the team, and throwing four strangers together into a very significant challenge for a long day, can, and did, create a most beautiful thing. It is what happens when four people come together in determination to achieve a common goal, working as one and four simultaneously. I once heard a definition of trust using a war analogy. Two people in a fox hole, under fire. Both need to sleep, so they decide to take turns. Would you trust the person to stay awake and watch out for both of you while you slept? Well, Speeeedy Quattro had that kind of trust. It was beautiful.
[DareToCare] (6/8/2008)
Really complex truths require an evolved human being to be able to be present to the truth. They see the patterns and pathways and are able to remove the excess story, emotions and verbiage from the complexity in order to reach the simplicity on the other side.
[DareToCare] (4/26/2008)
When I am in a conversation with another, listening until I no longer exist means to transcend my ego self in the conversation; to NOT have the conversation be about ME. I need to be able to get past all of my personal issues, my need to be right, liked, smart, good, nice. To do this, my focus needs to be entirely on you, and my deepest intention and desire to inhabit your world to the level of understanding and intimacy that will be profoundly felt by you. You, the speaker, will know that you have been completely heard, completely understood, and in the process, given absolute grace as the speaker. I do not need to agree with you, however, you will know that I have heard you at the level of soul.
[DareToCare] (2/11/2008)
So where does this leave me at 47, looking at my life fast approaching 50? No, my life did not turn out as I expected. My hunch is that the next 50 plus years will also not turn out as I expect. Maybe the lesson is to give up the expectation entirely. Hmm. What am I expecting? Probably more of the same old expectations - wealth and fame. And if this NEVER happens, how will I be with myself in that? Will I continue to consider myself a failure? Or will I realise that I have been fabulously successful. Off the charts successful.
My work now, and probably my biggest of all challenges, is to stay completely centred in my connection to my guidance, daily, hourly, moment to moment, and to honour this, to the letter, small and big. As my great teacher Buckminster Fuller says:
“So, I simply say, what you can do personally is commit yourself to what is truth. That’s all.”
[DareToCare] (11/30/2007)
Finally, we need the virgin goddess. Let me explain. The feminine archetype that we are missing is not a woman with balls, or a sex kitten. She does not rely on excessive testosterone to get the job done, like Maggie Thatcher, who was certainly appropriate for her time. She does not need to seduce with sexual mores. She is definitely a goddess, very comfortable in her own skin, and with her femininity. And she has the qualities of the virgin manifest in purity, freshness, new ways of being in the world. Her world does not rely on a man to complete her. (Or a woman). She can stand alone and remain in her power.
She has the capacity for the heartfelt softness of the woman, the ability to join with others in collaboration and without ego. She seeks partnership, not domination. Yet she can say no and be resolute.
[DareToCare] (10/13/2007)
However, if the value equilibrium if broken, if the forces of give and take are not neutralised or balanced, then a situation occurs where there is more give, less take, or more take, less give. This situation is unsustainable in the long term, both at the micro level, which occurs between two or more people, and at the macro level, which we are facing in our crisis of global warming. (This is a more complex discussion on the principle of values equilibrium, beyond the scope of this article. In simple terms, we have been, as a human race, taking far more value than we have been giving back, in respect to the earth/gaia/the environment)
From Great to Intentional Leadership (8/8/2007)
[DareToCare] (8/7/2007)
[DareToCare] (6/15/2007)
Everything else becomes very quiet. I used to think that people who gave up the fight were weak. However, I have learned that the world needs both fighters and people who surrender, and that both are good, and both can be bad. At times even in the fight, surrender is required. Surrender the struggle and still keep moving. Often I will have a mantra going in my head: "Let go and let God".
[DareToCare] (4/12/2007)
Change is difficult, uncomfortable. Emotions will be released. Many of us do not like to experience strong emotion (in ourselves or in others), and especially dislike losing control over our own emotions. The process can take a moment, or years. (Often the individual has some choice around the length of time. We can choose consciously to go after the change, or we can avoid it at all costs, even as it comes chasing us relentlessly.) We fear the other side, the unknown part of change. What will we have to be and do differently? What will life be like? What will we have to sacrifice? Will we lose money, or status, or have to move somewhere? It seems far easier to stick our heads in the sand and die. Figuratively or literally.
[DareToCare] (2/2/2007)
In both promise making and vow taking, there is one element that is critical for success. Full awareness of what we are committing to.
When you say to yourself that you are going to lose weight,have you considered what you are really committing to? Not just a diet, but a change in lifestyle, which is permanent? Let's not kid ourselves, that is what it takes to lose weight and keep it off. (Far better to tell yourself the truth and give up the fantasy that you are going to change your life, and accept being overweight, than to continually lie and deceive yourself).
[DareToCare] (12/7/2006)
The Political and economic systems and the political and economic leaders of humanity are not in final examination; it is the integrity of each individual human that is in final examination. On personal integrity hangs humanity’s fate. You can deceive others, you can deceive your brain-self, but you can’t deceive your mind-self-for minds deal only in the discovery of truth and interrelationships of all the truths. The cosmic laws with which mind deals are noncorruptible.
Cosmic evolution is omniscient God comprehensively articulate.
[DareToCare] (10/30/2006)
Those of us who do have the capacity, who do have the intelligence in our emotional, spiritual, physical and mental domains, need to develop greater compassion. We need to learn to suffer for those who cannot. We can do that in many ways. First it is through understanding and respect. As Don Beck says: “To speak to people at a level that they haven’t yet reached and expect them to understand is the height of arrogance”. This is what I have learnt in the last 6 months, a deep respect and understanding of a person’s process. And the acceptance that where they are is where they are. Or, as Clares Graves said: “People cannot be until they are.”
[DareToCare] (9/29/2006)
Denial can only exist if we have some awareness of our behaviour, even if it is at a very deep or hidden level. The key identifier of denial is defensiveness and upset, often observed as anger. If you notice yourself defending, or feeling upset about another person’s observation of you or your behaviour, then have a look at the part of you that is in denial. The two go together like the front and the back of your hand. If I have only innocence, there is nothing to defend. If I don’t know what I don’t know and have zero awareness, I have no defensiveness. I have only questions.
If I move to acknowledgement, I recognise truth. Herein lies freedom. I can make a choice.
#31 August 06,Perspective Changes, Accountability and Leadership in an Uncertain World, Part 2 (8/19/2006)
In this time of great uncertainty, where are you playing below the line? Who are you blaming, making wrong, judging? What stories do you tell yourself that keep you in the realm of the child? And where are you letting others get away with their blame and justification? For in choosing to live above the line, we also choose to address the source of our troubles both in our small world in the valley, and simultaneously, in the world as seen from space ship earth. In the immortal words of Margaret Mead, "Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has."
July2006, A New Chapter, Perspective Changes and Truth (7/12/2006)
On the ground, you look like my enemy. From the helicopter I can see that your people are starving and you are fighting to survive. (Any parent that I know would fight over the only bottle of milk that was available to feed their child...and likely fight to the death.) From the space ship we see that beyond the need to survive for food is a bigger threat that all people are exposed to; if we continue to live the way we live, the world will no longer support any form of life.
June 2006, Speak the Truth, New Directions and Resilience. (6/6/2006)
Do we at Syzergy think our work is important? You bet we do! We only have to look at world politics and some of our leaders to recognise that speaking truth seems to have low currency these days. Actually, if you want to get elected as a president, please pass the test on how to lie first. Either that, or be unable to tell the difference between truth and lies.
(In my local paper today, a great cartoon, the Premier of the State of Queensland handing out an L plate to the minister who is about to deliver her first state budget. She asks, “Is L for learner?” and the Premier says, “No, it is a lying permit, we all have one now.”)
Life as Feedback, March 2006 (3/1/2006)
Have a look at the world around you, what is right in front of you? Your work, your pay cheque, your bank account, the scales, your down time, the house you live in, your relationships. It is all feedback and points to the choices you have made. It is neither right nor wrong. It just is. If you are really up for it, looking at your life’s feedback squarely in the eye will reveal the truth. And once we have witnessed our truth, there is no going back. We can try to avoid it or deny it, but eventually we know we have to face it, and the sooner we do, the sooner life will open up to us again, and bring us more of what we want.
January 2006, The Conversation is the Relationship. (1/11/2006)
Take a moment to think about the most important relationships in your life. Are there any conversations that are not being had? And what about the other relationships, the ones with your co-workers, your suppliers and your customers? Is there a conversation that you know needs to be had? What is the cost to you and your business, your life, of not having these conversations, not just the financial cost, the emotional, physical and energy cost?
November 2005,The Paradox of Freedom. (11/29/2005)
As we seek more and more freedom, we are missing the very piece that gives birth to freedom. And here in lies the paradox. We have the illusion that freedom means no structure, no discipline, no boundaries. That I get to choose anything I like, when I like, how I like it, as the ultimate freedom.
[Emergence] (10/20/2005)
In Iraq, the heavily Red youth have very little to contain them. They have been taught that their religion is the only religion in the world, the GREAT religion, and yet they look out at the world and notice that they are living on the bread line. (One third of the Arab world lives on less than $2 per day.) And that the infidels are wealthy! They get angry and frustrated, and become easy targets for the Blue based leaders of the insurgency, who then give the Red youth their version of a Blue structure to live under. The question our leaders need to be asking is ~what Blue based structure can we provide for the Arab youth, that encourages the healthy emergence of Blue?~
[Emergence] (9/6/2005)
Gandhi’s immortal words say, “We must be the change the world needs done.” But what if the change we think the world needs is not going to do the most good. Maybe we have to do the change that the world needs doing to it. Maybe the best thing for Iraq is not an Orange Green democracy, but a Red to Blue autocracy, rather like the successful autocracy of Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore? Lee Kuan Yew took a nation with 5 ethnocentric groups, no local resources, and turned it into a stable, modern, wealthy country, without the overt Red bloodletting of Suddam.
[Emergence] (7/28/2005)
When we get our intrinsic desires met to the degree that they are important to us, then we feel fulfilled, happy, and our life has meaning. This is in distinction to short term happiness we get from having a nice meal, or going shopping.
When our environment supports our intrinsic desire, we thrive. Our work will be better, we will be happy and motivated and engaged.
[Emergence] (6/29/2005)
Typically, Flame Throwers, Radicals and Zealots are at war, whether they be Christian, Muslim, Communist, Asian, or White European. They will be at war with anyone who does not hold their beliefs, including their own people, the Ideologues, Moderates and Pragmatists. Even former friends who are not extreme enough in their beliefs can become the enemy.
[Emergence] (5/28/2005)
It is in this space..this gap…that our suffering as a human beings lies.
It is also in this gap that our self-esteem or lack thereof lies.
It is in the space between our word and our actions that our world is less to us.
It is in this space that few people rise that extra 10% and become the champions in their work and life.
When there is no gap between our word, either to ourself or others, and our actions, we demonstrate integrity, or wholeness, to the fullest extent. The absence of a gap equals alignment, high personal presence and trustworthiness. Who I am inside is what you get outside.
[Emergence] (4/25/2005)
Brick walls are fabulous things. They force us to ask better questions, or die in the lack of asking. They force us to be creative. However, I concede, when faced with a brick wall, our usual response is despair, frustration, and in some instances, hopelessness.
I hold the belief that there is no brick wall that doesn’t have a way through. Often it feels the opposite. Impossible, Can’t be done. No way.
We simply haven’t asked the right questions? We haven’t created the way. Yet. No matter how dire the situation, we always have more choices available to us than we are aware. Victor Frankl (author of “A Man’s Search for Meaning”) was faced with an extreme brick wall in the form of Auschwitz concentration camp. While his physical choices were extremely limited, he always had a choice about how he thought and acted within that extreme environment. He found meaning in a situation that few of us could begin to comprehend.
[Emergence] (3/22/2005)
Leadership is the effective communication of a powerful story. Our greatest leaders are integral. They can speak the right hand side of the quadrant fluently…they can do the ROI, and the high performance, and the systems. But if we examine the great leaders of the last 100 years, all of them also have lived in and spoken from the left hand side of the quadrant. Their speeches moved us, because they were emotional, and values based. They spoke from their hearts to ours, not from head to head
[Emergence--Personal Evolution for the Integral Leader and High Achiever] (2/24/2005)
The exemplary leader and integral leadership are one and the same thing. One cannot master what one cannot see. The ability to see more clearly is about being able to develop context, and to develop context, we need to develop through the stages (such as Spiral Dynamics, see www.spiraldynamics.net). The more evolved we are, the clearer the sight. This process is not a weekend workshop. This is a commitment to your own evolution. It requires a fundamental integral practise. Implemented daily. It requires working with coaches that challenge your way of seeing and interpreting the world. It requires willingness to sit in discomfort, to question the questions.
Extraordinary Leader#17, Feb 2002, Quit the No Win Game (2/25/2002)
If you place the racket on the ground, leave the court and refuse to pick the racket up again, even if they continue to hit the ball off the court, the game is over. It does not matter how hard your partner hits the ball, how frequently, or when: you no longer play. Game over. Even if they do backwards cartwheels, make threats; large or small, if you quietly refuse to pick up the racket, the game is over.
Extraordinary Leader#16 January2002. Dare to Care. (1/17/2002)
It is not enough for businesses to make a profit.Why are we (the Company) in Business?
What do we want to be known for?
What is our legacy that we are leaving for our children in this world?
How does our staff feel about us and the company? Are they proud to be a part of what we do?
How do our customers feel about us? Do they clap and cheer, or handle us with suspicion and fear?
How does our work affect the future of our planet? Are we adding to, or taking away?
How am I contributing personally?
Where do I play small/care less/blame/justify?
Finally, how would life be if I surrounded myself with people who demanded I play a bigger game in life because they know I am capable of this?
Extraordinary Leader#15, There is an Elephant in our Conversation! (12/18/2001)
In summary, all of our communication is the basis of life and work. All upsets, misunderstandings, wars and pain occurs through miscommunication. Be vigilant to possible elephants and get them out of your conversations the moment you become aware of them. Keep your relationships and conversations clean and clear and you will have fewer fires to put out, less problems and a freer life.
Extraordinary Leader#14: Servant Leadership, Fast Cars, and the Stuart O'Grady Fan Club (11/12/2001)
True leadership as a leader coach comes from a place of caring enough about people to hold them to be the best they can be. And in so doing, in not caring how we are perceived in the process. Ultimately, if we hold consistently to our belief in others being capable of playing at a different level of behaviour, paradoxically, they will respect us more. And yet, if we made the goal respect, and not service, the chances are we would not get respect, as respect is an outcome of how we show up in our relationships.
Extraordinary Leader#13 Accountability, Puck and Being a Coach (10/9/2001)
In this time of great uncertainty, where are you playing below the
line? Who are you blaming, making wrong, judging? What stories do you
tell yourself that keep you in the realm of the child? And where are
you letting others get away with their blame and justification? For in
choosing to live above the line, we also choose to address the source
of our troubles both in our small world in the valley, and
simultaneously, in the world as seen from space ship earth.
Extraordinary Leader#12, Organisational Structure, women and leadership and metamorphis (8/10/2001)
In ecology, we look at the effect the organisation has on the environment, the community outside the environment, as well as the relationships within. Hierarchies that are established within this theory are not based on domination and control, but on networks that are interlinked. Power is seen in the light of influence, rather than domination. This view is very different to the traditional model of the corporate world.
Extraordinary Leader #11, Success and the art of requesting. (6/11/2001)
*****************************************************
Contents.
LEADERSHIP: Defining Success.
RELATING: The Art of Requesting.
ON THE PERSONAL SIDE: Fame, running and getting out of the box.
ON THE BUSINESS SIDE: Safe Environments for Truth
UPCOMING EVENTS: Speaking at The Life Coaching Academy.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Extraordinary Leader #10, Responsible Relating (5/1/2001)
We each have behaviours that we have grown into, often times without conscious awareness. Manipulation is one such possible behaviour. Playing the role of victim is another one. Many people live out these behaviours without knowing that this is their way of being. The job of the coach and leader is to awaken people to their own blindness. In this action, transformation occurs, easily and effortlessly.
Extraordinary Leader#9. All I want for Christmas is to realise my Goals (12/13/00)
Have you ever noticed that as each year comes to a close, you wonder why you're still doing the same old things you promised yourself last year that you wouldn't do any more? And then there is your wish list of things that you would like to do, things that you always talk about but never eventuate? Well, you are not alone!
Research indicates that between 75% - 85% of people who set goals, abandon them. The findings of the study confirmed that the majority of adults abandon their goals before they are achieved. Often times the cause of this is the unpleasant nature of learning new skills, of doing things differently, or changing our ways of doing and being. Rarely do people focus on what they would feel like if they stuck it through the discomfort phase and got to the other side. How they would then feel after they had learned their new skill or behaviour, and had mastered the goal. Instead they focus on the unpleasant feeling now.
Extraordinary Leader#8 Step Over Nothing (11/3/00)
In the book, "Abilene Paradox" by Jerry B. Harvey, he refers to another book, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A report on the Banality of Evil, by Hannah Arendt. Arendt tells the compelling story of how the Jewish council played a collusive role in what became the extermination of the Jews. They compiled lists for the Nazis of people to be deported. They distributed yellow star badges and armbands on behalf of the Nazis. Meanwhile, the King of Denmark and the Danish Court took such a strong and united stand against the Nazis. They told the Nazis that they would not allow the Danish Jews to wear armbands with yellow stars. If the Jews had to wear one, then everyone in Denmark would wear a yellow star, including the King. Against such a united resistance, most of the Danish Jews where saved.It sometimes requires true moral resolve and clear thinking to recognise a tiny pea (in this case a little atrocity), and nip it in the bud. The benefits though of stepping over nothing, ranges from improved and sustainable relationships, greater peace and happiness, and a better quality of life - even life itself.
Extraordinary Leader#7 Playing above the Line (10/9/00)
I am reminded of the great Victor Frankl, survivor of the Nazi concentration camps and author of the book, "Mans Search for Meaning". Even in such extreme circumstances as Auschwitz, Victor played above-the-line. He did not get caught in the blame cycle, which would have been oh so very easy. In his choices he looked at himself, and his personal responsibility to his circumstances. Leaders, whether in the great arena of public life, or in the smaller but no less significant arena of organization and family, rise to greatness when they choose to play above-the-line.
Extraordinary Leader#7 Playing Above the Line (9/10/00)
I am reminded of the great Victor Frankl, survivor of the Nazi concentration camps and author of the book, "Mans Search for Meaning". Even in such extreme circumstances as Auschwitz, Victor played above-the-line. He did not get caught in the blame cycle, which would have been oh so very easy. In his choices he looked at himself, and his personal responsibility to his circumstances. Leaders, whether in the great arena of public life, or in the smaller but no less significant arena of organization and family, rise to greatness when they choose to play above-the-line.
Extraordinary Leader #6 The Coaching Formula (9/3/00)
The Coaching Formula.
Holding a bigger vision and listening until you no longer exist are the corner stones of coaching. Truth telling and trusting your intuition evolves from having focused and enhanced listening skills combined with putting aside your own agenda, to really hear what is going on for the other person.
Extraordinary Leader#5 "Superwoman, Superman - Time To Take A Sledge Hammer To The Myth! (8/1/00)
My sense is that we are reaching a breaking point, a point where the
superhero is overworked, has no life, and is a person who is no longer going to be a role model of success. Success as society defines it, needs a kick in the butt. Our children are demanding it. The statistics on the breakdown of the family unit, increased suicide rates, increased crime etc., are the writing on the wall.Leadership is not about being a superwoman or a superman. Leadership is
about choosing to be a role model, and leading a role model life with time to play, learn, be with family, be with friends, and to be present and available to your staff. You cannot be present as a leader if your life is filled with putting out fires and playing the role of the superhero.
Extraordinary Leader ~~Special Announecment~~ (7/18/00)
Extraordinary Leader #4 July 2000 Pinciples of Loose/ tight (7/4/00)
Having clear and simple rules, clarity of roles, well defined goals, and a clearly defined purpose create the "tight" - the boundaries in which you can operate. "Loose" then becomes the freedom in how we choose to play within these "tight" boundaries.
Extraordinary Leader#3 "Leader As Coach" (6/11/00)
Extraordinary Leader #2 The Warrior As Leader (5/5/00)
An Executive Summary Of The Feature Article.
Ultimately the game of win/lose is a game of power. Who has the most power? The game originates from a lack of self worth. We only need to get more power if we feel that we do not have enough to start with!
When I realised, this I started to rethink the game of the warrior with the sword. How much power do I need. What about myself do I not feel is enough? Where do I lack? Which game do I want to play?
Extraordinaryy Leader(previously Optimal Performance) (4/7/00)
The journey of the leader begins as always with your own journey. Unless you are working on your own leadership - the leadership of your self, the chances of powerfully leading others is remote.
[OptimalPerformance] (10/12/99)
[OptimalPerformance] (7-7-99)
[OptimalPerformance] (6/7/99)
Accessing Your Optimal State (3-12-99)
Currency in the Information Age (12/9/98)
Optimal Leadership (07/01/98)
Rules vs. Agreements (5-31-1998)
Following Your Bliss (05/01/98)
LifeSyle vs. Freedom (4/7/98)
Get a Life, Not Just a LifeStyle (4/1/98)
Welcome Issue | Selfishness (3/1/98)
