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Challenges

Nine Words to Strike from Your Vocabulary

I’m off to guide a team retreat – and last night, to prepare, I created a swear jar. You know – the kind where if you say a bad word, you add a predetermined amount of money to the jar, creating a small (and visible) penalty.

We’ll do the same in the retreat, however the swear words won’t be the typical four letter words we think of. The words we will be creating mindfulness about, in the quest to eradicate them from our vocabulary, are words you use all the time. As do I.

These are words that undermine our effectiveness. Our personal agency. That negate our momentum toward positive action.

What are the words that will cause loose change to move from pocket to swear jar? The list includes…

Leadership

The Importance of Developing Capable, Community Leaders

My belief is that the stronger the leaders are within a community, the healthier and stronger that community is.

Sometimes it’s hard to understand why things matter until we envision the opposite. So, what can happen when there are a lack of strong, community leaders? Problems can arise that many American communities are already facing.

Now is the time to look at community leadership differently and think about developing capable, community leaders. Learn more by reading this blog.

Uncategorized

Complimentary Leadership Resources (Webinar & Audio Blog) by Evergreen

Over the past month, we’ve added two, complimentary leadership resources to Evergreen Leadership’s website. First, attend my webinar, Passing the Torch: 3 Strategies to Develop the Leadership Your Community Needs, at the end of October. Second, we now offer complimentary audio lessons and accompanying discussion guides that will allow your team and your peers to deepen your skills and lead well in today’s world.

Learn more about these exciting, new resources in this blog post!

Renewal

Mindful or Mind full? 10 Simple Techniques that Foster Mindfulness

Mindful or Mind Full? Which are you most of the time? There is a big difference, and that difference shows up in many ways. The benefits of mindfulness are plentiful – for your mental health, your physical health, your relationships and your work.

But, mindfulness is a practice – and it really does take practice. I am continually both surprised and unsettled at how difficult it is to maintain a clear mind – for just 5 minutes.

Here are 10 simple ways you can begin to foster mindfulness and the benefits of doing so.

Performance

10 Reasons Slowing Down Can Serve You Well

Do you recall Aesop’s fable from your youth – the story of the race between the tortoise and the hare? Of course, any sane person would scoff at the idea of the turtle winning the race. But as the story unfolds, the overconfident hare takes a huge lead, and believing he can never be overtaken by the turtle, gets off the path and takes a nap. We all know how the story ends.

Today, I, like many others, feel the heat of the race. The pressure to do more, go faster, keep up. And we, in spite of exhaustion, sacrifices to our health, and dents to our most valued relationships, try very hard to run as fast as we can.

There are many reasons to slow down when your pace is consuming you or unsustainable, and here, I name ten.

Goals

How Rich are You in These Eight Forms of Currency?

Money. Cold hard cash. Moolah. We strive for it, obsess about it, and work hard for it.

We generally make money the primary measuring stick for so many things – value, importance, effort, ease. In my work as a director of Indiana Voice of Women, we’ve begun exploring how to expand beyond using money as a measuring stick. Based on the work of Ethan Roland and Gregory Landau, we are framing our resource discussions around eight forms of currency.

So, I’m curious. What might happen if you measured worth based on these eight forms of currency instead of just one?

Leadership

Leadership 101: What You Do Matters. What You Don’t Do Matters Too.

Sometimes leaders think that communication is what happens when they make a presentation. Or send an email. Or hold a meeting.

In fact, leaders communicate every moment of every day. In their words. By their actions. With their inaction. Because people are watching and adjusting – sometimes to the subtlest of cues.

The minute you step into a leadership position, no matter what level, others begin to look to you for direction and guidance. And as such, what you say is important. Words matter and you can use them to further the worthwhile purpose you are leading. You can also, if not careful, use them to derail and detract and to detour effort.

This post helps you focus your non-verbal cues so that you can lead with clarity, congruence, consciousness.

Learning

5 Criteria to Evaluate Your Training and Development Investment

Spending your training and development money well is important. Invest it well and people grow and thrive, as does your organization.

But here’s the hard truth- your investment can be wasted if retention is low and learning transfer is even lower.

That’s why I’ve created five criteria to evaluate your training and development programs that are important whether you develop your workforce from the inside or hire outside experts. Programs that meet this criteria will be good investments and will increase learned skills; programs that don’t aren’t worth your valuable time and energy.

Community Builders

Evergreen Leadership’s 2016 Community Builders Retreat

When the 2016 Community Builders were packing their bags for Evergreen Leadership’s Connect & Create Retreat, they knew two things.

1.) They had been nominated and chosen as one of Evergreen Leadership’s 2016 Community Builders Award winners. 2.) They were heading to Wooded Glen Conference Center to meet their fellow award recipients at a 24-hour retreat filled with the promise of building relationships and developing leadership skills.

Learn more about our 2016 Community Builders and our exciting time at the Connect & Create Retreat by clicking the link below!

Goals

SMART goals or HEART goals?

Lately I’ve been wondering if SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based) goals only represent a tiny part of what really matters, what really makes a difference, what really makes for a life worth living. For I’ve seen what happens when we create SMART goals, especially when we are going to be measured (and rewarded) for them in a work setting. We think small – remember they must be achievable. We divide our work into small fragments, losing sight of the overarching purpose. We document the doable into a tiny time box.

I wonder what would happen if we also created HEART goals, ones that are: Holistic, Enduring, Aspirational, Really matter, and Timeless.

The reason SMART goals are effective is that they provide a way to break big things into smaller pieces that can be measured. However, you have to know what the BIG thing is. My suggestion: start with a HEART goal and then, and only then, create SMART goals in support of it.

Some examples …

Evergreen Leadership Blog