emotions

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90% OF THE THINGS YOU WORRY ABOUT WON’T HAPPEN by Cameron Morrissey

“If you listen to your fears, you will die never knowing what a great person you might have been.” ~Robert H. Schuller

“One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his greatest surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t.” ~Henry Ford

There isn’t much upside to worrying. It’s stressful and typically unproductive. One of the big lessons I have learned over the years is that it also wastes time. It wastes time because most of what we worry about simply doesn’t end up happening. All that time spent thinking about what you would do goes to waste because it was unlikely to occur in the first place. Now let me draw a quick distinction. I’m not talking about worrying about getting the central functions of your job taken care of, that’s your job. I’m talking about all of those incessant and small negative thoughts that come into your head when you seemingly have any free brain space. It is these things that “might” happen or “could” occur that just add worry to your day. But if you think about these, how many of them came into being? Not many.

Read the rest here:  http://www.cameronmorrissey.com/blog/90-of-the-things-you-worry-about-wont-happen

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Leave a comment Posted on Coaching, Communication, Development, Leadership, Productivity, Professionalism

What is the Secret of Team Building?

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by Deepak Chopra, MD
February 20, 2013

What creates the best teams? I teach a course at the Kellogg School of Management Northwestern University for executives. It’s called “The Soul of Leadership,” and over and over again the question has come up, “What creates the best teams?”

So here are the three ingredients of best teams:

1. They have a shared vision, which they feel deeply
2. They are emotionally bonded.
3. Every member of the team compliments the strengths of every other member in the team. That’s it.

The best examples of these of course are sports teams. When you have two teams with basically equal competencies, the team that wins is the one that has those characteristics (the one’s listed above).

So once again these are: a shared vision deeply felt, emotionally bonded, and third where every member compliments the strengths of the other. There’s a lot more that goes into team building. Shared vision is the first thing, but emotional bonds means you are free of emotional resentments, grievances, jealousies of the other members of the team. You understand their emotions and they understand your emotions. You communicate in a way that displays or is authentically an expression of affection, attention, and appreciation.

And finally beyond emotional freedom and emotional bonding there is also emotional resilience. You know how to get over the ups and downs of life. So there you are–and you compliment each other’s strengths. So you know in soccer, the forward and the goalie and the quarterback all have strengths and they compliment each other, but that’s true of anything in business as well.

So where my strengths, for example, are: futuristic, adaptable, strategic, and maximizing my energy–and also thinking in a way where I can connect everybody else. My weaknesses sometimes lie in execution so I compliment that weakness with people that know how to execute. Okay. That in a nutshell is what creates a great team.

https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130220203702-75054000-what-is-the-secret-of-team-building-ask-deepak?_mSplash=1&sessionid=rIyX-gvye_e1ql83AwGJ

Leave a comment Posted on Communication, Leadership, Management, Ownership

Three Leadership Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

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by Dan Black

The main reason why a leader falls comes from their inward life. This is because a leader’s inward life shows through in their attitude and behaviors. If not carefully protected or guarded out inward life can lead us to a collapsible failure. Below are three leadership pitfalls and some practical ways to avoid them:

1. Faulty Character-

A leader who has faulty character is prone to make unwise and unethical choices. You can become a successful leader with weak character but if you want to sustain your success it requires strong character and integrity. This is because a faulty character eventually leads to a leader’s downfall. Turn on the news and you will hear about many leaders who have fallen because of weak character.

Leadership expert and author Warren Bennis said, “Successful leadership is not about being tough or soft, sensitive or assertive, but about a set of attributes. First and foremost is character.” To maintain a high level of character I suggest following your core beliefs and values no matter the situation or circumstances. Settle with yourself that you will not compromise when it comes to areas of your core. Also chose to live by the Golden Rule.

2. Pride-

Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction.” Pride is dangerous because it causes a leader to think they are better than they actually are. They see themselves through an unrealistic lens. Pride can:

Prevent you from learning, changing, and moving into your potential. It causes you to think you have “arrived” in your knowledge and abilities.
Bring division between yourself and your people. It can prevent you from seeing things through their viewpoint or perspective.
Cause you to make unwise, uncalculated, and high risk decisions which affect yourself and your organization. They think they are a modern day superman.
To prevent pride become self-aware of your inward thoughts and personal talents (both strengths and weaknesses). Daily clothe yourself with humility and adapt a servant mindset.

3. Un-managed emotions-

When a leader is not able to control their emotions they allow current feelings to dictate their attitude and actions. This causes a leader to be driven by emotions and not the team or organizations purpose, goals, or vision. A leader with unmanaged emotions will have a hard time leading self and others well.

To control your emotions requires knowing and understanding your current emotional state then using your emotions for a positive result. Become aware of anything that might prevent you from controlling your emotions. This can happen when you don’t receive enough of what you’re personally need, like food, sleep, or relaxation. Even the best leaders have the potential to not manage their emotions when they forsake what they need. Be intentional about Developing Emotional Intelligence.

Read more from Dan at: http://danblackonleadership.info/