Women in the LEAD

Intentions VS. Goals

Intentions Rather Than Goals

"I think it’s far more important to talk about “intentions than

goals, as your intentions are guided by your “inner voice.” And is fueled by a sense of purpose."

Robert Allen makes the following distinctions that I feel carry wisdom and important information.

Goals                                                                     Intentions
External motivation                                     Internal motivation
Whim, fancies, appetites                             Deep needs, desires
Happiness in end                                        Result journey is the reward
Future oriented                                           Now oriented
Unnatural                                                   Second nature
Dissatisfaction                                           Fulfillment
Imitation                                                      Uniqueness

Create intentions that have meaning to you and your life. Do not be influenced by others. Hear your own voice within. Life holds many possibilities for each of us. Enjoy your life and love it with full clear intentions!

                                                                                                Maureen Simon

WOMEN: TRANSCENDING Fear and Doubt

Do you see something out there that you truly want, but your fear and doubt keeps you from accomplishing it? Or do you find there seems to be just one single missing "piece to the puzzle" that would help you transcend all the barriers holding you back?

Do the questions Can I? Will I? ever paralyze you? Does the new and different scare you? Here is a little inspiration to help you TRANSCEND these mental blocks that stand in the way of most of us from time to time.

I have a card in my top desk drawer that was sent to me years ago. I taped in there on purpose, so it would be lost and I could rediscover it often. When I need that extra little bit of courage to take the leap on a decision, new project or some other adventure, it serves as a just-in-time coach. It says...

THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT.
Don't STOP
GO!
Run
JUMP
Take to the STARS
Dive IN
RACE
Embark
Pursue
LEAP
Vault
Onward!
Open the DOOR
ENTER
S.T.A.R.T.

"If all objections were considered, nothing would ever be tried." Unknown

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center
Home of Women in the LEAD

PERFECTION CAN BE OUR WORST ENEMY

“Nothing would be done at all if man (women) waited until he could do it so well that no-one could find fault with it.”

Cardinal Newman

Perfectionism can be our worst enemy.  It is important to make a start at what we want to create in life.  There is never a perfect moment.  Everything that we produce and create does not have to be perfect.  The journey and road that we travel is so important.  We must enjoy the journey.

Enjoy your life.  Do your best without killing yourself.  Do make a move.

Maureen Simon

WOMEN: Michelle Obama Adds a Crack in the Ceiling

Michelle Obama added another large crack in the glass ceiling when she delivered her powerful message opening night at the Democratic Convention. If you didn't have a chance to see it live, it is a message and presentation you will not want to miss. Listen in now. Part 1   Part 2

Michelle set an example for us all with lessons that can easily be applied to our own roles as leaders through her message, presentation, and elegant style. Below are three observations I made as I watched through tears of joy and pride seeing a woman broaden the world's view of womanhood:

1. BIG LEADERSHIP: Michelle let her big leader skills radiate from her. She left the accusations, hype, and hurts outside and looked up and out to a grander vision. We watched "the cream rising to the top." She also let her gratitude shine through her words and her honoring of Hillary and Joe Biden and those who came before her. There was a confidence, humility, and generosity that only comes when a leader is big enough inside to hold the diversity of thought and reality of the outside world. She did. Lesson: Big leadership is much more attractive and influential than being a victim.

2. 360 DEGREE VIEW: Michelle came to us with a willingness to allow us to take a look at her with all her many dimensions of being a woman. We could see her as a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a patriot, a global citizen, a teacher, and a successful, accomplished, professional a woman of subtance. Her life and work became a prism that vibrantly seemed to sparkle and light the room. A good friend and I even noticed that she was comfortable with herself --- no jacket :-) --- she was willing to "be all of who she is." Lesson: Leaders are at their best when they are open and willing to let others discover who they are.

3. WOMAN IN LOVE: For a few minutes, Michelle invited us in to get a glimpse of her love story with Barack Obama. It was nice to invited and warming to see her with her man and her beautiful daughters. Lesson: There is something compelling in a woman in love with her life, her work, and chosen role.

What observations did you make that we could apply to our own leadership?

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
Author and founder, Global Dialogue Center
Home of Women in the Lead

My New Book! Putting Our Differences to Work (June 2008)
The Fastest Way to Innovation, Leadership, and High Performance
Learn more: www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com 

Join me for monthly online dialogues --- Next DATE Tuesday September 9

Winners Create Other Winners

“The winners edge in self-dimension is to have a worthy destination and look beyond yourself for meaning in life.  The greatest example of self-dimension a winner can display is the quality of earning the love and respect of other human beings.  Winners create other winners without exploiting them.  They know that true immortality for the human race is when a caring, sharing person helps even one other individual.”

Denis Waitley

Watching the Olympics, this quote became real to me.  The moments that touched my inner being were the moments when the competitors and teams came together after the winning to congratulate each other.  The respect and joy they showed each other was touching.  Through the training and effort it takes to win, these athletes push the sport to new levels and inspire the next generation of athletes to stretch themselves and break world records. 

• Where in my life am I a winner and a leader? 
• How can I create other winners from my strengths? 
• What is the first step that I will take to create a winner? 

Maureen Simon

WOMEN: Imagination and Resiliency

Managing things in life...and in our work has taken on many dimensions as women have assumed roles in a very turbulent marketplace and workplace. The landscape of leadership also continues to change. Leading takes place wherever --- it is as local as sitting at our computer in a cafe or on the beach or whatever we call "office" --- and global and collaborative as technology and distance can take us. Amidst all the churn and uncertainty, it continues to tug at us, doesn't it?

I came across a writing in Davide Whyte's classic, The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America, that speaks to the realities of management and leadership that we often overlook or miss all together. He writes:

"Part of our difficulty is that we send the same strategic part of ourselves that loves order out to embrace the disorder in the world and scare ourselves to death because the strategist, or manager, in us cannot deal with the terrifying revelations hidden in life's unpredictability. Life simmers for long periods and suddenly without warning comes to the boil. Markets collapse, good products don't sell, factories burn down, the wrong people are fired. The right people are suddenly promoted---to the wrong positions. Isn't this the truth? A manager manages, but only a human soul gifted with imagination has the resilient artistry to live and work with forces that call for deeper strategies than containment."

Have you stopped to appreciate your human soul that has been gifted with imagination enough to make you ever resilient to all that is around you?

Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
Author and founder, Global Dialogue Center
Home of Women in the Lead

My New Book! Putting Our Differences to Work (June 2008)
The Fastest Way to Innovation, Leadership, and High Performance
Learn more: www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com

Join me for monthly online dialogues --- Next DATE Tuesday September 9

You Can Never Have A Happy Ending At The End Of An Unhappy Journey

You can never have a happy ending at the end of an unhappy journey; it just doesn't work out that way. The way you're feeling, along the way, is the way you're continuing to pre-pave your journey, and it's the way it's going to continue to turn out until you do something about the way you are feeling.

Abraham Hicks – Excerpted from a workshop in West Los Angeles, CA on Saturday, August 6th, 2005

Though it hardly seems that way, feelings are a choice.  We can notice that we are feeling badly and choose not to give it power over us.  How do I know this?  I know from personal experience.  In a very awkward family situation, I realized I was faced with three options: To leave and feel bad, to stay and feel bad or make a choice to have a good time.  When I chose the latter, I found that I actually had a good time.  Since then, I have used that experience on many occasions.  Try it…it will work for you as well.

Maureen Simon

WOMEN: Wisdom for Becoming Extraordinary

Timing is everything. When you least expect it, something or someone shows up to put just the right words together for you --- the ones you needed to hear --- needed to remember. A friend of a friend passed this message on to me today. The process again validates how much we have to share with one another if we are willing and open to receive each other's wisdom:

"Go forward with steps that never leave any trace. Accept everything that confronts you with a positive attitude......Just make sure you aren't trying to avoid the things that are coming, and don't try to cling to the things that are leaving. Become a brave person who is never stained by anything or attached to anything. Become a true human being, a person who is both the most normal and the most extraordinary."

Excerpt from No River to Cross
by Zen Master Dae Haeng

Are you ready to receive it? Are you ready to be extraordinary?

Say, YES!

Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center
Home of Women in the Lead
author, Putting Our Differences to Work

Feminine Leadership

“Today people want to be involved in the leadership process, to be co-creators.  In the new form of leadership, it is no longer doctrine that creates a following; it is dialogue. It is more valuable to be able to engage than to influence. Command and control has shifted to collaboration and empowerment.”

Barbara McMahon “Crossing Over” in Enlightened Power

The feminine model of leadership supports and allows for dialogue, collaboration and co-creation.  Women are pre-disposed to leading and living in this fashion as we often hold dominant, feminine energy and traits.  I always ask myself, “How will the world be different when we wake up to these great gifts, own them and deliver them fully in our world.”  Use your imagination; envision something

fantastic.

Maureen Simon

WOMEN: The Fear of Being Accepted?

This morning I read a piece written by Emmet Fox in a favorite little book of his called Stake Your Claim: Exploring the Gold Mine Within. FYI--- Emmet Fox (1886-1951) was one of the most popular and influential spiritual leaders of the twentieth century and the author of many books, including The Sermon on the Mount and The Ten Commandments.

In the writing I came across this morning, How Much Do You Demonstrate?, Emmet is telling how people often come to him enthusiastic about achieving their goals and "heart's desire," yet are discouraged that even when they believe, the good things are not demonstrated in their lives and work. His response is one in which you might relate:

"Of course, most of these people really are demonstrating all the time. They are demonstrating in accordance with their inner convictions. The point is a subtle one because outwardly they may desire a certain thing, but inwardly the y have a fear of demonstrating it." He goes on to share a couple of examples. Here they are paraphrased for us:

"I knew a woman that kept looking for a new job. He needed the job and wanted a really good one. In a visit to my office, she confided that when she went for an interview with a prospective employer, although she needed and wanted the opportunity, underneath she was afraid the employer would say yes."

Emmet also told about a woman who kept auditioning for a singing part, but always at the back of her mind was the fear that she might be accepted!

It seems most of us are constantly balancing our "outer desires by our inner negative thoughts and feelings. Does this sound familiar? Unfortunately, it is impossible to demonstrate positive if you are thinking negatively. Emmet Fox offered this advice:

"It is only when you rid your mind of these negative feelings that you will being to demonstrate the things that you really desire."

Are negative thoughts sabotaging your dreams?

Here is one ACTION to try this week:
Every time you think negatively. Replace it with two positive thoughts repeat them several times.
One of my favorites is inspired by Yogananda: I can. I must. I will. I am... 

Best...
Debbe

Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center
Home of Women in the Lead
author, Putting Our Differences to Work