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Welcome!
This edition of Elements is dedicated to M for Motion. "M" could just as easily have been for "management," "metaphor," or "mentor"! Management was the obvious choice here, though, this time around. Though their skill sets overlap somewhat, leading is not the same as managing. Leaders require managers. A leader must know how to manage, as well as knowing, in any given situation, whether it is management or leadership that is needed. In the main, the majority of skills needed for leadership and management are actually very different. If you are curious about whether you are more of a leader or a manager, think of a specific situation and then complete the assessment at this link:
http://kathycannon.com/portfolio/swf/metad643_W3_LMSelfAssess.swf
Leaders are constantly in motion, fluidly moving with events. A search on "leaders and movement" turns up everything from the international to the local stage: terrorists, civil rights, recycling and elections. Leaders move themselves and others toward something different, a change to the status quo. Here is a funny video that highlights this point:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ
When you are not in motion you are stopped, stuck, doing the same thing or dead. This edition of Elements is about getting in motion and becoming unstuck. Last month I took an amazing two-day course called "The Bigger Game." It's about shifting your attention so you can keep moving, getting unstuck, moving towards your or your teams' personal or professional bigger game. There is more information and a book on the Bigger Game here: http://www.thebiggergame.com/index.html
In the last edition, I challenged you to do something different and hinted that I was going to, too. I had larger intentions, though in hindsight I only took baby steps towards them. I did not send out Christmas cards and I didn't buy a tree. Doing those things have become painful processes to me. Instead I made an electronic holiday card. This was fun to do. I got to review the past year in pictures and be creative, so that was a plus. Instead of buying a tree, I decided to decorate a ficus tree in my house with a few ornaments. However, that went over like a lead balloon. So I gave in to the holiday pressure, and at the last minute went outside and chopped down a 4-foot tree in my yard and brought that in. I'll get to try to reorient my family about the tree thing next year!
On the business side, I am staying in motion by reaching out more for allies and supporters who need the training I offer. Let's talk!
Gotta run,
Star
P.S. See you next time with "N" - for No or Never!
P.P.S Become a Fan on Facebook of "Star Leadership LLC"
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Things Leaders Know about Motion
Movement comes from energy and energy follows thought
Movement that is reflex or instinct bypasses our thinking mind, but in general, action that isn't preceded by thought is just flailing around
Movement forward is a dance ~ adapting, responding, and being proactive to stay in the spotlight where your goals are illuminated
How to move forward when stuck
That the movement is towards - not away from - desired results
How to get others in motion
When and how to increase the movement toward desired results
What movements to stop
How to redirect movement toward desired results
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Getting Unstuck
There are many ways to get unstuck and get back in motion! The Bigger Game is one way. If this approach is used properly, you or your team will never be stuck. The Bigger Game has been applied to both personal and business goals, and to individuals and teams. It helps you see where you put your attention, and when you are aware of where to put your attention to play a bigger game, you are never stuck. By being in constant motion, in energy and attention that is fluid and shifting, you advance toward your goals. The Bigger Game has nine areas that you can check yourself for and become informed about. The visual structure of it looks like a tic-tac-toe board. There is no right or wrong, or specific order to the way that you move through the nine squares, but all together they will give you a useful picture of where you need to be to play the bigger game.
Below is a summary of the nine playing squares, and questions to help you become informed and unstuck. The key is, without judgment, to become aware of what is helping or hurting you in moving towards your bigger game.
Comfort Zones - The familiar and easy, your conscious and unconscious routines related to behaviors, thoughts, actions, attitudes - things like TV, emails, worrying, perfectionism
Q: Is this particular comfort serving you in reaching your larger goals or is it not?
Hunger - Yearning for something more
Q: What do you want more of today? What will fulfill your own deep hunger as an individual or in the larger world?
Compelling Vision - Something that pulls you forward, makes you jump out of bed in the morning
Q: What are you about? Tell three people.
Allies - People who we need to play our game and those who resist
Q: What new allies do you need? What kind of help and support do you need, and who should you ask?
Investment - Resources, skills, time, money - essentially our investment in ourselves and our goals. What is needed to continue the movement forward, and how invested you are in making it
Q: What's the next investment you need to make?
Sustainability - Legacy, keeping it going, the game lives beyond and after you
Q: What do you need to keep your game going, to nourish and feed it?
Gulp - Being excited, thrilled, scared - all of which is a signal that you are playing a bigger game
Q: What's the level of "Gulp" you are taking today (on a scale of 1-10)?
Assess - Take a look at where you are on the game board, the strategies, planning and adjustments
Q: How are you doing in your game play?
Bold Action - Taking big actions that are "not business as usual"
Q: What bold actions will you take today?
Don't get fooled by the simplicity of The Bigger Game. I have been playing it for a short time and there is lots of depth and power in it. The book and website have some amazing examples of those already committed to playing a bigger game.
To learn more, attend The Bigger Game training, or buy the book, click here: www.thebiggergame.com
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Quotes on Motion
Our nature consists in motion; complete rest is death. - Blaise Pascal
Neither love nor fire can subsist without perpetual motion; both cease to live so soon as they cease to hope, or to fear - François de la Rochefoucauld
You control your future, your destiny. What you think about comes about. By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands - your own. - Mark Victor Hansen
The natural law of inertia: Matter will remain at rest or continue in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force. - W. Clement Stone
There is a natural hootchy-kootchy motion to a goldfish. -Walt Disney
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Training Upate and Upcoming Events
I have many affordable, interactive, fun workshops for managers, leaders, and other professionals. My specialty is offering practical, yet solidly theory-based, fun, interactive material that can be used immediately. I have designed all these workshops myself and customize them to respond to clients' expressed or evaluated needs. Click here to download a word document catalog of the most popular workshops that I offer.
If you mention me to a company or group that this type of training would be useful for, and they engage my services, I offer a variety of referral incentives for you.
Upcoming Events
March 22 - NHnetWORKS Job Seekers Group in Salem, NH
Awareness: Observe, Measure, Perform and Repeat: A tool for improving intangibles
To register contact: Nicole Tessier at Nicole.P.Tessier@nhes.nh.gov or 603-893-9185 ext. 99303
May 1 - I will be a speaker at Professional Development Day in Waltham, MA
http://www.pmimassbay.org/content/index.php?view=details&id=105%3Aprofessional-development-day&option=com_eventlist&Itemid=152
June 12 - I will be leading a full day workshop, "Coaching for Project Managers," in Northborough, MA http://www.pmicmass.com/news/Newsletter2010_01.pdf
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Elements
