Preparing for the move has included some tough decisions.  Do we really need to keep the faded print that we won’t hang on the wall anymore…just because my parents gave it to us? (No.) Do we need to keep the big clunky, chunky 10 year old TV….just because it still has a clear picture? (No.)  Should we hold on to my grandmother’s porcelein coffee and dessert sets…even though we just display them but don’t use them?  (Yes!)

Taking our teams into the future requires the same examination and, sometimes, very tough questions and answers.

Are you retaining people on your team who were once team leaders but aren’t willing to learn new skills for continued success?  Are you tolerating less than good productivity because a team member is a really nice person and great at organizing pot lucks?  Are you hanging on to processes that don’t work, just because that’s the way we’ve always done it?  Are you investing too much time trying to ‘save’ someone, when they have proven to be unwilling to save themselves?  Are you asking people to follow you, but you aren’t being a good follower yourself?

The right questions today can set the stage for a bright future.  I’m keeping that in mind with every item I’m choosing to take with me to our new home.  We all need to consider that as we take our teams to our new future.

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.

Monday evening, a front line customer service representative from one of my teams sent me a lovely email, sharing a story about a friend of his.  The crux of the story was that while training for a local 5k, the runner learned important life lessons; namely, the difference between “not quitting” and “keeping on.”

The last lines of the story have stuck with me since.  I shared them with all of my teams in this week’s Wednesday Wisdom (weekly quote posting on our internal portal.)  A new co-worker was having a really rough day found some meaning in the quote.  And, here I am, on Thank You Thursday, still thinking about it.

I hope you’ll be thankful to read it, too:

Somehow, in the midst of the struggle of the run itself, something deeper in me focused on an un-lowered bar of measurement.  I didn’t win the race on the road…but something was won in my head and in my heart…

And that something is at the root of hope that what my dreamer’s eye sees will one day be fully and finally realized – bar not lowered an inch. And that is what keeps me keeping on.

Keep on.

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On the way home last night, I found my exhausted self being sucked in to the downward spiral of “Woe is me” self- talk.  Fortunately, I also have enough self-awareness to see where I was heading.  I stopped, almost as soon as I started.

I thought about the millions of people who don’t have a job at all and would be thrilled to have too much work to do.  Countless other people may never have the opportunity to travel the country and see the Rockies like I did – even if it was a business trip!  Hundreds of thousands people have also struggled with the real estate market the last few years; we are in a great position now.  We are lucky to have so many options for my next home.  I am blessed to have all that “stuff” that needs to be packed.

We all have days and even weeks like the one I described above.  It’s all in our perspective, though, right?  We can choose to wallow in self pity or we can choose gratitude.  I choose gratitude.

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One of the strategies she shared definitely applies to what we do everyday.

We all have big goals, in both our personal and professional lives. Sometimes, our goals can be so daunting they almost paralyze us. Alison suggested chunking the big goals into manageable increments. She shared this story of her experience as the team neared the mountain’s summit:

On the way up to High Camp, we were at 26,000 feet. This is called the “death zone.” At 26,000 feet, your body is slowly dying. You are taking 5 to 10 breaths for every step. After we made it to High Camp, we headed to the summit at 10:30 pm. We needed to be at 29,300 feet to reach the summit. I got overwhelmed as I did the math of how long it would take to get there by taking a step, 5 to 10 breaths, another step, and so on. I took the strategy of breaking it down into smaller increments. I picked out a rock a few hundred feet in front of me and focused on making it to the rock. Then I would find another goal.

Instead of worrying about going another 3000 feet, she set her sights on the rock a few hundred feet away. Then, perhaps another rock a couple hundred feet ahead. By setting smaller goals aimed at the larger goal, the task seemed more manageable and the goal achievable.

What big goal do you have? If you are sometimes overwhelmed by the magnitude of it, try Alison’s strategy. Set smaller goals, always moving in the right direction. Reach them, create new ones, steadily moving toward the big goal. Soon, like Alison, you’ll reach the summit of your Mount Everest, too.

If you are interested in the rest of Alison’s strategies, click here to read her story.

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.

The clip below is just under two minutes, but provokes a meaningful activity to assess your ability to make other people powerful -  known in our leadership model as the “enable others to act” practice. On The Leadership Challenge website, this practice includes this description, “Leaders…build spirited teams.”

I love that description…spirited teams.  Dictionary.com defines spirited as “having or showing mettle, courage, vigor, liveliness, etc.”  Imagine the possibilities if we all built spirited teams!

How can you judge the spirit of your team?  One way is to look in their eyes. 

As you move from desk to desk and speak to your team members today, or perhaps the next time they gather around a table for a team meeting, look into their eyes.

What do you see?

As Zander suggested, if their eyes are not shining, ask yourself, “Who am I being that my team members eyes are not shining?”

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.

For example, consider these:

Let People Know You Care  (Chapter 4)

Keep Your Word Every Time  (Chapter 6)

Decide What Is Not Necessary  (Chapter 16)

Remember to Notice Things Today (Chapter 24)

Rise To The Occasion Often  (Chapter 28)

Thank Others For Their Efforts (Chapter 29)

Discover What Makes Other People Tick  (Chapter 37)

Listen With Your Whole Heart  (Chapter 41)

And one of my personal favorites…Build Yourself A Small Library!  (Chapter 21)

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.

Leading Beyond Your Comfort Zone

“Any challenge that invokes your fears, conflicts or issues is, by definition, outside your comfort zone.”  That sentence starts the last paragraph of this week’s newslink, and that sentence is what grabbed my attention.  My comfort zone has recently been shaken up – and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  If you’re in a comfort zone or being nudged out of one, this article is for you.  Click HERE to read Steve Tobak’s commentary, published March 6 on CBS MoneyWatch.com.

Newslink: Leadership features articles about the development and practice of leadership skills in today’s business world.

The problem is that they also brought the dog home. To their house. Where I’m visiting soon. And, I’m afraid of dogs.

I never had pets growing up. Well, that’s not entirely true. We had goldfish, but I’m not sure that counts. Most of my friends had dogs or cats. My husband’s family had a dog. Pepper was very well-behaved and friendly. None of these animals really bothered me too much.

Today I am thankful that, even as a “seasoned” adult, there are still opportunities to overcome fear.

Over thirty years ago, when I was pregnant with our firstborn, one of our friends had a “crazy” German Shepherd. This dog was HUGE and very jumpy. Several times, during thunderstorms, the dog even jumped through a porch window! During one of our visits to their home when I was nearly nine months pregnant, the monster dog jumped up on me, knocked me off balance, pulled a hole in my shirt, and scared me half to death.

I haven’t gotten over that experience.

A lot of people just don’t get it. I hear things like, “It’s just a puppy.” “That was thirty years ago.” “Get over it.” “Why won’t you try?”

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Sigh.

We’ll see what happens. I know I want to see my grandson much more than I want to avoid the puppy. Maybe I’ll have a breakthrough. Or, maybe I’ll just manage my fear. Either way, I won’t let it get the best of the grandma in me.

I like to collect sayings on different topics.  You never know when a little extra inspiration might be needed!  Below are a few of the items I’ve pinned to my “Positivity” board.  Enjoy!  (Then, go set up your own Pinterest account and start pinning!)

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.

The movie is the true story of recently widowed father of two, Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon), who decides to buy a run-down wildlife park and move his family there to give everyone a fresh start away from sad memories.

Of course, memories aren’t so quickly left behind and running a zoo isn’t easy, either!  This heartwarming story takes viewers through the evolution of the family’s grief and recovery, with a sprinkling of humor.  One of the life lessons in the story is something handed down from Mee’s father to him, and from him to his children:

You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.

Think of these words when you’re about to have a difficult conversation; be brave enough to say the first words.  When attempting to do something you’re unsure of, twenty seconds of courage will get you started.  When choosing a new path, bravely take that first step.

When making New Year’s resolutions later this week, be brave enough to think big!  What do you want to change?  What do you want to start?  What do you want to stop? Remember, all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage.  Something great will come of it.

Happy 2012!

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.