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Powerfully Present

Our ultimate responsibility as the leaders of our lives and careers is to be present every day.

In our March issue of Playing in the Gap! we explore ways to be more present and the benefits that result. Being strategic and learning are not possible without being present. Indeed you are doomed to be a follower of others, if you are not powerfully present.

Table of Contents

Stop the Insanity and Lighten Up
When Being Strategic Feels Insane
Risking the cash flow cash cow for something better.

I Have Something to Say 
What a Dog Named Katie Can Teach Us About Leadership 
Find rabbits and squirrels in your backyard of opportunities.

Yes, I AM Brilliant
What's Guiding Your Decisions - Your Head or Your Heart?
The key to making powerfully present decisions.

Why Can't I Go It Alone?
A Song by Susan Werner
We're making sure Lisa Negstad knows she's not alone.

Stop the Insanity  and Lighten Up
What's the Point? - by Karen Tax

I recently read What Would Google Do (WWGD) by Jeff Jarvis. It’s a book I highly recommend!

A useful idea Jarvis introduced is the “cash cow in the coal mine.” In the mid-1990s TV Guide wouldn’t risk a new practice of syndicating their listings to newspapers because “the magazine feared that would cannibalize the core product” says Jarvis. At the time, TV Guide was the largest selling magazine in America yet its circulation was steadily declining. TV Guide was trying to protect their “cash flow cash cow,” but in the process they became a dinosaur.

As I read WWGD, I was making a choice between focusing on my client work … or investing in being strategic and getting our next IAM product ready for market (Career Savvy 1.0 which I co-created with Diane Craver). I chose the latter. I cut expenses both in my business and at home, and I plowed on.

I developed sympathy for TV Guide as I navigated this choice. At times the fear and uncertainty was overwhelming. Would my choice pay off? Would the timing work out? How many clients was I losing as I threw myself into this strategic work? Giving up your cash cow is not for the faint of heart.

Two motivations calmed my fears:

1. Diane and I passionately believe that Career Savvy 1.0 is needed now - that job creation and innovation is key to emerging from the recession using more sustainable and holistic business practices.
2. I have dreamed of providing affordable, quality coaching to many people … while at the same time I have hoped to establish passive revenue streams.

I overcame my fears by being powerfully present with these two motivations; by having faith in the ways I know I create value, by following my passions and dreams, and by trusting that there will always be a place for me to engage in impactful and profitable work.

My ability to be powerfully present has put what sometimes felt ‘insane’ into practical perspective:

• I’m creating foundational pieces needed for my business to grow
• I’ve discovered new creative desires, new ideas, new energy
• I can’t imagine doing anything else with my time and energy

My strategy for stopping the insanity is to do what feels insane! Past experience has proven that following my heart and passions has wonderful and sometimes unexpected results. Regardless, I’m expecting the best!

I Have Something To Say
What a Dog Named Katie Can Teach Us About Leadership - by Diane Craver

A few years ago my husband & I were at his parents’ lake house for the July 4^th holiday. Along came this English Springer spaniel with fur missing all around her eye but the sweetest, most gentle personality you could imagine. We couldn’t find her owner, so my husband talked me into taking her home with us, and thus we embarked on life with Katie.

Katie had separation anxiety (the missing fur was caused by stress), and could not be left alone or she would get very destructive. We found out about an animal behaviorist, and worked with her to teach us behavioral modification to help with the separation anxiety.  This animal behaviorist suggested doggie daycare to give us a break from each other and teach Katie that we will come back for her. It worked! Camp Canine has been a blessing for all of us.

So what does a dog have to do with our theme this month of Powerful Presence? Hang with me...

After the holidays I went to pick Katie up and the folks at Camp Canine said that Katie was so cute because every day when they let her out to play in the big field, it was like a new day. Katie approached that field like she’s never seen it before. I laughed because that’s how she is every day. She sniffs every inch of our back yard for rabbits and squirrels like it’s the first time she’s been out there.

So, Katie’s approach to life got me to thinking about how her behavior relates to leadership. While it’s true that leaders need to focus on the future and set direction, many times they get so entrenched in what they think they know they forget look for new insights, question their assumptions, or have the courage to start over when things go terribly wrong.

I suggest that leaders may want to approach life like Katie does. Don’t take for granted that everything is still the same. Take a look at the “rabbits” and “squirrels” in your proverbial back yard. What opportunities are right in front of you if you just look and ask others to look with you? Don’t hunker down during this economy and hope for the best – create opportunities for yourself, your work, your life!

Yes, I Am Brilliant
What's Guiding Your Decisions - Your Head or Your Heart? - by Lorraine Cohen 

Does it matter?

When we make decisions without bringing our heart into the equation, the outcomes can be very different and less fulfilling.

For example, if you are feeling a lot of fear about the recession, you might be thinking, “Ok, what do I need to do for …myself, my family, my business, my future, my security, my sanity….. so I can be/feel peacefull, in control, responsible, safe…..?”

While that’s a logical question to consider, the energy and motivation behind your thinking and decision-making process is fear. Fear-based decisions rarely bring lasting peaceful and fulfilling results; they usually perpetuate more fear and can generate guilt, doubt, and regrets.

The key is listening to the voice that whispers to you, trying to get your attention over the noise in your head.

Do you listen?

Five indicators that help me make powerfully present decisions:

1. Do I feel excited and juiced? Am I rationalizing, trying to talk myself into something, reacting from fear or shoulds? Am I being influenced by the enthusiasm of someone else and getting caught up in their excitement and urgency, especially when there is money involved? Now, I stop, take a few breaths, get quiet, tune into my body and “feel” into the idea. When I listen, I always know whether something is right for me.
   
   
2. It “feels right” and comes from an inner knowing that is very peaceful within me. A decision that feels scary or uncomfortable is still the right choice when it comes from “my gut” intuition and instinct.
   
   
3. The message repeats, catching my attention two to three times. When I have a thought about something that pops up a few times in my mind or from a person, TV, radio, newspaper….. I’m taking action.
   
   
4. I feel happy and lighter. When I was in LA I realized I was out of alignment with many of the choices I had made with my business. When I returned, I cleared several things off my plate and the relief and stress release was immediate.
   
   
5. God/The Divine/The Universe is the SOURCE of my supply. All the abundance and good that flows into my life is not dependent on what I DO; it is more about who I am and how aligned I am with my life vision.

So, what is guiding your choices and actions?

Why Can't I Go It Alone
May I Suggest - by Susan Werner

Lisa Negstad is busy with client work and tending her Mom who just broke her arm. We offer to you the lyrics to this song by Susan Werner instead of Lisa's usual musings from the wilds of Minnesota.

May I suggest
May I suggest to you
May I suggest this is the best part of your life
May I suggest
This time is blessed for you
This time is blessed and shining almost blinding bright
Just turn your head
And you’ll begin to see
The thousand reasons that were just beyond your sight
The reasons why
Why I suggest to you
Why I suggest this is the best part of your life

There is a hope
That’s been expressed in you
The hope of seven generations, maybe more
And this is the faith
That they invest in you
It’s that you’ll do one better than was done before
Inside you know
Inside you understand
Inside you know what’s yours to finally set right
And I suggest
And I suggest to you
And I suggest this is the best part of your life.