I was able to jump on a plane at the last minute Thursday night to accept the invitation I received from Thach Nguyen to attend his program Mental Journey to Millions Live! in Irvine, California. While I was grateful to receive the invitation a couple of weeks ago, it didn't appear that I would be able to attend because of a previous commitment AND I had an intuition that I would be going. My intuition was correct. There were some changes to the program I was delivering at San Jose State University and I just said, "Yes" to the opportunity to hear and support Thach and his co-leader Matthew Ferry. Not surprisingly, when I saw Thach Friday night what did he say? "I always knew you would be here." Sometimes when I am creating and connecting with others, it feels a little magical. This was one of those times.
So the program - this is a great jump start if you have been putting off creating, living, and/or working from your vision and values. Ferry's energy and entertainment value are over the top. Thach is a humble, funny, fountain of wisdom and experience. The two put on an energizing performance complete with giant visual graphics and inspirational music. Here is a short summary of the highlights.
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When and where do you place your attention? This is a simple question and the answer may not be as easy. There are countless moments during the day when you hand over your attention to the auto pilot, perhaps in handling prolific email, an unengaging conversation, or the repeat performance of routine interactions such as saying "Good morning" for example. Ever bump into someone in the hall or at the coffee pot to hear, "Hi, how are you?" and no one sticks around to hear the answer? Ever do that one yourself?
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It's been awhile, since January actually, and I am tempted to make excuses for falling off the face of the blogosphere. I've got plenty of good ones. Managing my company and leading training programs keeps me pretty busy. Business is good. I have been teaching at San Jose State University with Marci Rinkoff, CPCC of MBR Coaching and I am making considerable progress in my vision to positively impact millions of people. The Coach Approach will be going to India to lead two training programs for industry leaders in New Delhi and Mumbai in a few weeks.
I also have some pretty lame excuses. Don't have enough time. Nothing compelling to write. And, anyway you look at them, they are just excuses. Excuses get in the way of forward progress. They give us permission to take our eye off the ball, to lose focus, miss commitments, get mired in details and forget about the bigger picture. When you find yourself in this boat, it's a great time to turn to your allies.
Allies are partners in your success, sometimes knowingly and sometimes not.
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I've been away for a bit and I am back, refreshed, energized, refueled and in action after attending the Success Summit 2006 in Palm Springs presented by Success Strategies Institute. SSI is the world's fastest growing coaching firm specializing in real estate and headed up by an incredibly young and inspiring leader, Tom Ferry.
Unfortunately, I missed Brian Tracy but I got to hear Thach Nguyen, a Seattle based real estate agent and philanthropist who made over $50 million last year and just turned 36 on May 18, 2006, Matthew Ferry, Tom's brother and quite of bit of Tom's wisdom and inspiration as well. My next five entries are going to be a recap and personal debrief to capture the learning for myself and share some of it with you.
I captured the most from Thach Nguyen.
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The
good news is that when moving through failure, when you get to the point of
making amends and looking at the commitments you can make in the future, you
are well on your way to recovering. Beware of the temptation to expedite things
by apologizing. While apologizing is sometimes what is needed, oftentimes it is
the result of the group’s desire to quickly get out of the discomfort of the
failure zone.
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Leaders inevitably lose credibility when they don’t take responsibility for failure. And, it is impossible to move past the failure, to recover, without taking responsibility. So, what does it mean to take responsibility? If
you continue to lead through the failure and have honestly assessed
your actions and your impact, taking responsibility is a natural next
step.
You quite simply must speak about the failure.
Continue reading "Leadership Skill: Take Responsibility for Failure with Clarity" »
I often experience an “A Ha” moment with clients when we discuss the
difference between “being good” and “looking good.” In this context, I
use the phrase, “being good,” to describe consistently acting in
accordance with your values. When facing failure, looking good may not
be an option. Being good is always an option and in fact, is the most
powerful form of leadership in difficult situations.
I wrote
yesterday about actively leading through failure, rather than defending
or retreating from it. One of the ways you begin to do that is to get
real with yourself and those impacted by the failure.
situation.
Continue reading "Leadership Skill: Getting Real with Failure" »