Bring your best self to light - October 2006
We grow by recommendation. If you have found this useful, please forward to others.
If this has been forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up at www.annewalshcoach.com. You get a free 10 part e-course when you do...
Why love needs logic
One of the other activities I engage in as part of my self-employed life is work as an external assessor. This involves going in as part of a team to assess organisations against a standard document. There are usually 3 of us in the team and generally it is an interesting experience. Some of the things I have noticed in doing these assessments is:
- Passion of staff: The extraordinary level of motivation of staff...if the commitment and passion of staff in these organisations could be bottled, it would make a billionaire of someone...
- Person centred planning: The systems used in these organisations in terms of person-based planning for each individual could transform our educational system. Imagine a system whereby each student met with a personal tutor 4 times a year to review goals, progress and decide what they want to do next. Where each student gets support to do what really interests them. Utopia? no, it's being done already with people with disabilities...
- Student driven: In most of these organisations the learner has a huge input into how things are run. There is a huge respect for the learner as the centre of the organisation...
I often wonder at the transformation of our schools/educational systems if some of these systems were transferred over. It would mean a school system where AVERAGE wasn't the only criteria. Where being bright wasn't considered a difficulty, where different sort of intelligences were nurtured and acknowledged...sounds great, doesn't it?
However, one part I have noticed missing in action quite frequently is the presence of logical, strategic thinking...leaders can often spend so much time "caring" that they forget about "leading"...and the rigorous intellectual exercise of actually thinking through where the organisation is to go. This is where a business mind could contribute hugely to a "caring" organisation.
But equally, imagine a business being able to unleash the passion/caring that many of these non-profit organisations have in buckets. My sense is that this is where a leader could connect to a bigger purpose...if you make medical equipment...how would people act differently if they knew the components were going into the bodies of their friends and families...
Take Action!
If you own a business, do you need more logic or love? More service or more strategic thinking? What's a first step you need to take? Then what? Who do you need as support?
Master Your Money aka The Money Mistress:
This is now in the form of an e-book which you can check out here. £1 GBP from every copy sold goes to a charity in Cameroon.Guest Slot
This month my guest slot is from a fellow coach and friend of mine - Colette Clail. She's written a great piece about the importance of creativity..see below. She's also a regular columnist for the Irish Independent.
Getting Creative
Have you noticed that creativity is everywhere these
days? Even during the World Cup we were treated to a nightly discussion
about the creativity or lack of it in the midfield. Everyone seems to be
talking creativity.
This is an area that is close to my heart. I've always had a creative side
that, for the most part of my life, has been sadly neglected. It is only
relatively recently that I have started writing, drawing, painting and
generally getting more creative in the way I do things. I have even started
work on my first book!
Neglecting this part of myself had taken a huge toll on me and I began to
realise that until I acknowledged it and started giving it expression, I
would always feel unfulfilled and off track.
The interesting thing is there are a lot of people out there who are in a
similar situation. I see so many unhappy people waste away in careers that
do not give them an opportunity to express their creativity. Does that sound
like you?
I truly believe that we are all creative beings at our core. It's why we're
here - to create in whatever way we create best. So, how could we possibly
be happy if we're not doing what we're here to do?
Most of us equate being creative with producing great works or art or
literature. Not so. Being creative is about expressing who you uniquely are
in the world. It's about being true to yourself. Your happiness, your health
and your peace of mind depends on it. You owe it to yourself to honour your
creativity. And you owe it to the world to share your creative gifts.
So, what do you long to create? A satisfying career? A thriving business? A
balanced life? A painting or a book, perhaps? My new Autumn programme is a powerful step
by step process designed to help you identify your creative dreams and make
them real. See below.
"There's no scarcity of opportunity to make a living
at what you love. There is only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen."
Wayne Dyer
What's New for Autumn 2006?
Make Your Creative Dreams Real:
We all have creative dreams but we're so busy getting
on with the business of life and making a living that we put them on the
back burner. And what happens? Nothing. So take action to define your dream
and make it happen and in the process, experience a fundamental shift in the
way you see yourself and your place in the world. This project based
programme will help you become the predominant creative force in your own
life.
Format: 3 month project based programme
combining email and phone or face to face coaching
Want to know more? Email me at info@coletteclail.com
for more details.
Articles
You can find a listing of my articles at: http://www.annewalshcoach.com/articles.html
I'm now a guest columnist for The Nation. You can read my most recent piece here.
Bits & Pieces - A charity dear to my heart..REACH
REACH is a charity based in the UK for children with an upper limb deficiency. When my son was born 10 years ago with his right hand missing, they were the only source of semi-official help to us. Frankly, the medical system was of no use whatsoever. Therefore, I am happy to recommend you support the following charity.
http://www.justgiving.com/reachireland
Recommended - what I'm reading
John Connolly: The Book of Lost Things. JC has done it again...always innovative and surprising. This is a fairy story featuring children but written for adults. As always, the quality of the writing is superb, the villains are truly terrifying and the imagination is wonderful...there is a beautiful website to go with it as well.
Get unstuck and get going...on the stuff that matters: I got this as a self-coaching kit...and it's fabulous. Imagine a children's flipbook with the head, middle and feet in separate flippable sections. (In this case, it's Inspiring stories, Provocative quotes and Powerful models) done in conjunction with an Action Acceleration Sheet to "unstuck" you. Also, check out http://www.eightprinciples.com/ for a bit of quick inspiration...