Posts Tagged "Living the Leadership Choice"
Busting Up Bake Sales
This article was originally published at The Political Carnival If someone wants an issue to be front and center in American politics—do something to make Moms mad. The Obama Administration’s latest front in the battle against obesity, is the regulation of snacks and food that are not the requisite breakfast and lunch. First up on the firing line is the beloved bake sale. In an era of dwindling resources for public schools, bake sales are often the lifeblood of parent organizations, interest clubs and students saving for class trips. While obviously not the bastion of health consciousness, they are capable of brining in serious money for cash-strapped...
Read MoreLeaders Are Not Born or Made – They Make a Choice
I have been asked many times, “are leaders born or made?” The question reveals two important misnomers about leadership. First, is the fear that there’s some elusive leadership quality that they were not born with like Michael Jordan’s athleticism or Albert Einstein’s intelligence. Second, is the hope that they can learn what it takes to be an effective leader to compensate for any genetic deficiencies. Fortunately, the answer allows everyone to breathe easier as anyone who wants to be a leader can make that choice. Make the Leadership Choice. And Live It. Everyone has talents, strengths, and abilities that combined with their passion makes...
Read MoreWeekend Wondering – A Leading Holiday Season
The holidays often bring up the difficult juxtaposition of fantasy meeting reality. From childhood, we dreamed of special days filled with good food, fun times, and wonderful gifts. Often the reality of stressed out adults, parading by relatives rarely seen and toys not quite what we imagined pierced our visions and sent us spiraling into abyss of harsh reality. Before the holiday season gets into full swing, take a few quiet moments to reflect on your dreams for the upcoming festivities. Are you thoughts based in unrealistic childhood fantasy? Have you become an adult Scrooge defending against disappointment by remaining jaded? Are you basing your success during the...
Read MoreUsing Conflict As a Tool for Growth: 3 Steps to Resolution
This blog is an excerpt from Kathleen’s upcoming book Living the Leadership Choice. Join the Leadership Connection community to receive updates and exclusive content. “Whenever you’re in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging the relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.” – William James One of the greatest assets in a conflict is the ability to recognize that if people are fired-up enough to be angry there must be something they care a great deal about preserving and/or fear losing. As a leader, this is an opportunity to not only move past the conflict, but also to strengthen the existing...
Read MoreWeekend Wondering – When the Party’s Over
Are you feeling a bit down today? Or are you just getting revved up for the December holidays? Whatever your reaction to the post-Thanksgiving feast and Black Friday mayhem, it is likely an indication of our cultural addiction to intensity, action, and the resultant stress. We have all become so programmed to the tsunami of incoming information that some studies suggest that people are checking for new messages (of all kinds) as much as every 30 seconds! For those addicted to the urgency, a slowdown of e-mails, news feeds, and family texts cannot be balanced by the slew of Facebook Thanksgiving posts. So, the reaction is two-fold, either we sink into a stupor not sure...
Read MoreNeed a Job? Three Steps to Take Now
The fact that millions of Americans are unemployed or underemployed is not news. Although we seem to be engaged in Einstein’s infamous trap of ‘doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.’ Policy makers are debating how to entice businesses into hiring more people and the unemployed are angry and frustrated over the lack of available positions. Nearing record-breaking unemployment rates, perhaps it is time to consider a different route to finding meaningful, satisfying, and rewarding work in people’s lives. As we’ve discussed here before, creating jobs won’t help our economy. If you are looking for a job, or know someone who...
Read MoreWeekend Wondering – Thanksgiving, Families and Leadership
With Thanksgiving around the corner, this weekend is our last before the Holiday Season kicks into high gear. How are you feeling about the Holidays? If you are like most people, a host of emotions trailing back to childhood color our experience of the annual festivities. Thanksgiving has become the time when we gather with family and friends and toast the success of brave pilgrims weathering the challenges of a new world. That is until the food orgy, football games and familial disputes run us into the biggest shopping day of the year. One way to freshen our traditional feelings of thanks this year is to look at yourself and your leadership in a new light. Living the...
Read MoreIt Is Time to Face the Music
I enjoy idioms and the richness of our culture that creates them—and none seems more apt for our current situation than “it is time to face the music.” We have long since passed this point and the current litany of woes facing our country can be traced back to our collective reluctance to face the consequences of the conflicting views we hold about ourselves, our communities and our government. Our country was founded on the belief of individual freedom. The cornerstone of The Declaration of Independence, that each person has a right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” provides us with the government underpinnings of individual privileges and...
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