Leadership Choices Today are Tomorrow’s Results

August 13, 2013 DrMaria

“Yesterday was the birth of today. Today is the birthplace of tomorrow.” ~ Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye spoke those words at the Motown 25th Reunion show that aired on television in 1983. Simple words with a profound message.

Today, many of our organizations are spiritually bankrupt, halls walked by zombies, the living dead. The grim reaper has become the human resources director handing out yet another layoff notice, or the boss giving you yet another task because someone else has left the company. Too many organizations discourage deeper forms of communication, emotions, and intimacy, opting instead for superficiality.

If we continue down this path, the same path that got us here, we are doomed to fail. Boleman and Deal stated in Leading with Soul, “Spiritual bankruptcy ultimately leads to economic failure. The deeper cost is creating a world in which everything has a function yet nothing has any meaning.”

Life gives us many opportunities to learn lessons and if we fail to learn them the first time, we get the opportunity to experience the lessons again and again until we learn them. George Bernard Shaw wrote, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” If we want progress, abundance, and new way of life then, we must as Gandhi stated, “Be the change we wish to see in the world.” Instead of following a path full of limitations, let’s construct a path illuminated with choice and abundance.

Are you in?

With love,
Maria

Processes, People, and Grace

August 8, 2013 DrMaria

There are many leadership books that talk about processes and policies. “The tragedy of our time is that we’ve got it backwards. We’ve learned to love techniques and use people. This is one of the reasons more and more people feel alienated, empty, and dehumanized at work. Many organizations today would be surprised at how much more people would be willing to give of themselves if only they felt loved.”1 Organizational leaders have been serving the processes and the policies, not the people.

As the Rev. Dr. King, Jr. said, we need a heart full of grace. Grace is found in love. Grace is the knowledge that you’ve been blessed, and so you respond by giving freely to others. Grace personifies elegance, politeness, and generosity of spirit. Our generosity of spirit is shared in an Love-Based Leadership organization. An organization steeped in love, is an organization steeped in grace.

How do you see grace manifested in the workplace? As always, I love hearing from you.

With love,
Maria

Freiberg, Kevin, and Jackie Freiberg. Nuts! Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success. New York: Broadway Books, 1998.

LUV and Manufacturing

August 6, 2013 DrMaria

Two of my favorite examples of Love-Based Leadership (LBL) in action include Southwest Airlines and Semco.

Southwest Airlines has demonstrated repeatedly that a holistic, loving focus (they are the “LUV” airline!) has brought abundance and meaning to their leaders and employees. They learned that when employees are trusted to make decisions, and when they have ownership of their work, they often come up with better solutions than those the company could have found. They responded much quicker to customers’ demands and the employees directed their energy toward innovation, seizing unique and creative market opportunities at critical times. “The Southwest story demonstrates over and over that people will act responsibly and do more than expected when they are given the freedom to think on their own.”1

The manufacturing company, Semco, demonstrated great love for their employees with the change from the traditional models of doing business to an organizational culture that honored and respected their people. As Ricardo Semler, CEO put it, “To survive in modern times, a company must have an organizational structure that accepts change as it basic premise, lets tribal customs thrive, and fosters a power that is derived from respect, not rules. In other words, the successful companies will be the ones that put quality of life first. Do this and the rest—quality of product, productivity of workers, profits for all—will follow.”2

What LBL organizations do you know of and how do they demonstrate LBL?

With love,
Maria

1. Freiberg, Kevin, and Jackie Freiberg. Nuts! Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success. New York: Broadway Books, 1998.
2.0Semler, Ricardo. Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World’s Most Unusual Workplace. New York: Warner Books, 1993.

Wakeup Call!

July 30, 2013 DrMaria

When sleeping women wake, mountains move. ~ Chinese proverb

I love the power of this statement. I would like to expand it to read, “When sleeping people wake, mountains move.”

The most obvious interpretation of this is when we get into our day with focused attention; we get a lot of work done.

But ahhh, as we know, Chinese proverbs go much deeper, and so do I, so let’s get right to it!

When we “wake up” from unconsciousness, we move obstacles and barriers to love – also known as fear and ego. Our fear and ego sometimes feels like mountains. The only way to “move” the mountains is to eliminate the fear and ego with the supreme power of love.

We can only know the truth of love with consciousness.

It is time to set the alarm – this is a wakeup call! Good morning mountain movers.

What practices do you do to stay “awake” and conscious? I always love to hear from you and sharing your insight.

With love from your fellow mountain mover,
Maria

Better Late Than Never

July 25, 2013 DrMaria

Several years ago, I had a tremendous learning experience regarding forgiveness.

My mentor, a consultant hired by our corporate office specifically to mentor me for one year, leveraged the difficulty in the relationship I had with our division general manager to his advantage. By indicating that he was still needed beyond his contract (due to the strained relationship between the division general manager and me), he prolonged his lucrative consultant income for another two years.

I was eventually relieved of my managerial role and the consultant continued his monthly visits to manage and lead my department. I was hurt and resentful. I became exhausted carrying this load of pain and then I finally realized that holding this anger was not honoring or serving anyone, least of all, me.

After reconnecting with my spirit, I knew that I had to forgive him. The next time he was in town, I apologized for my behavior and told him that I forgave him for his part in reinforcing the wedge between the divisional general manager and me.

The immediate sensation I had was lightness. I could hardly believe how physically light I felt, and I remember holding on to the edge of the desk as it felt like I was going to float away. I was nearly giddy with delight and wondered what had taken me so long to get there.

What is keeping you from forgiving someone or yourself? The weight and burden are only hurting you. Free yourself with the amazing gift of forgiveness.

Better late, than never…

With love,
Maria

Soul Stirring

July 18, 2013 DrMaria

I love today’s dialogue of finding meaning and purpose. Listening to and honoring your heart’s call honors your soul, your core, and your very essence. When we are aligned with our soul, with our spirit, we are authentic, abundant, and at peace. Meaning is not a destination, but a way of life, like the air we breathe. There is no better way to achieve well being and love for ourselves than aligning with our spirit.

When we do not care for our souls, we end up with what Albert Schweitzer referred to as, “A sleeping sickness of the soul. Its symptoms are loss of seriousness, enthusiasm, and zest. When we live superficially, pursue no goals deeper than material success, and never stop to listen to our inner voices, we stunt our spiritual development.” How do you develop your spirit? Spiritual growth and development manifest through inspiration. Do what you love and you’ll find that you love what you do. Music, art, nature, and literature are a few of the paths for inspiration.

What stirs your soul?

With love and a whole lot of stirring going on,
Maria

Prayer, Meditation and Leadership?

July 16, 2013 DrMaria

What in the world, do these three things have in common?

Everything.

As leaders, we have a responsibility to lead and inspire with clarity. In our busy world, we often don’t take the time to just think and get really clear about the vision and more importantly, the path, systems, and steps necessary to realize the vision.

And even worse, we think we have to get there on our own.

Well, the good news is that we are not on our own.

Prayer and meditation are ways we connect with our Source. Stillness and silence are also paths to feeling that connection with the Universe. French philosopher and scientist Blaise Pascal stated, “All man’s miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone.”

Through stillness, we obtain clarity. When we have clarity, we have time gained. Time gained comes to us because we have a clearer picture of the problem or dilemma and see an unobstructed path to follow.

I cannot think of a more cost efficient use of time. The return on investment with time spent in silence with our Source is abundance beyond our wildest dreams.

As always, I love hearing your thoughts.

With love,
Maria

Tell the Truth

July 11, 2013 DrMaria

We must learn to honor ourselves with truth. By being honest with ourselves and not allowing others’ non-truths into our psyche, we acknowledge that we love and respect ourselves.

By respecting ourselves, we don’t accept other’s false realities. Iyanla Vanzant recognized that, for most of us, it isn’t difficult to tell when someone isn’t being truthful with us; the challenge is how to call them on their non-truth. She suggested we reply, “While that may sound truthful to you, it doesn’t feel truthful to me.”

What a great line! When we are truthful with ourselves, we remember our divine nature and we do not let anyone treat us with a lack of respect or dignity.

What are your thoughts about truth telling and truth receiving?

With love,
Maria

Micromanagement is a Four-Letter Word

July 9, 2013 DrMaria

Micromanagement is really just FEAR-Management.

In the workplace, fear-based leadership is manifested in a number of ways. We see fear in leadership when employers do not trust the employees to do the jobs for which they were hired. Many managers are fearful of losing control, resulting in micromanagement. Micromanagement is a classic display of fear.

I once had a student challenge me when we were discussing micromanagement in class. He thought the concept was exaggerated. I then shared with him an experience I had while working with a homebuilder. We were opening up a new community in a different state than our corporate headquarters. After we selected a mailbox and a holiday green color (the same color as the community logo), management asked that we paint the mailbox we selected using the exact same green paint and then ship it back to corporate headquarters for the company president to approve the mailbox and paint color!

What are your worst micromanagement stories?

With love,
Maria

Let Freedom Ring

July 4, 2013 DrMaria

Happy Independence Day to all of my fellow Americans!

Today is a day that we celebrate life’s freedom with gratitude. I have a very long list of life’s freedoms for which I am grateful. Topping that list is my ability to make choices.

And we always can make a choice…always!

Dr. Viktor Frankl, one of my greatest mentors, was a brilliant psychiatrist captured by the Nazis and imprisoned in a series of concentration camps. His notes of his work and all of his possessions were seized. Stripped of everything, literally and figuratively, he was given a number to replace his name. “The experience of camp life shows that man does have a choice of action,” Frankl stated in Man’s Search for Meaning, “Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress.” Dr. Frankl realized this truth when he wrote, “What alone remains is ‘the last of human freedoms’—the ability to choose one’s attitude in a given set of circumstances.”

Those are very wise and applicable words then, and today. When we place ourselves in a victim role, we are victims. We do create our own realities. However, we have a choice in how that reality looks, as co-creators. We can choose to create a different perception, a different reality.

Let freedom ring!

With love,
Maria

The Bull S#%T About Power

July 2, 2013 DrMaria

Let’s break open the lid on the belief that power must be kept tightly in order to be effective – BULL S#%T!

Power, like abundance and love, multiplies when you give it away.

That is why I cannot understand why leaders are so afraid to share power and empower others.

Power multiples when you give it away – really!

Boleman and Deal wrote in Leading with Soul, “When people have a sense of efficacy and an ability to influence their world, they usually seek to be more productive. They direct their energy and intelligence toward making a contribution rather than obstructing progress or destroying their enemies.” At Saturn automobile factories, employees are empowered to stop the assembly line any time they see something wrong. The employees have pride and ownership in their product and they are the quality control.

Another benefit of shared power is the reduction in conflict. We often suppress our feelings when we feel powerless. When this happens, our anger can only be contained for so long, then the conflict and anger comes spewing out, often times in a rage. Empowered people empower others. In a Love-Based Leadership organization, shared power equals shared ownership. You cannot have one without the other.

Have you empowered someone today? If not, what is holding you back?

With love,
Maria

You are Branded!

June 27, 2013 DrMaria

Branding and image consulting are terms we’ve no doubt heard, typically in the context of marketing. Have you thought about your brand? No, I am not talking about the company for which you work—I am talking about YOU!

What is your brand, your leadership image? Are you respected because you’ve earned it or are you feared because of your title? What is the first thing your people think about when your name comes up?

Some of us may say that we don’t care about what others think about me. Really, is that really true?

As leaders, our primary task is to motivate and influence others toward a vision and/or goal. If others are not buying our brand, then we don’t really have followers.

How can we consciously create our leadership brand? Follow these 5 simple steps:

Intentionally determine what you want your brand to represent.
Reverse engineer the steps necessary to develop and create that brand image.
Be accountable to doing the work – find an accountability partner or coach who will be honest about your progress and a resource when you are stuck.
Be vulnerable and do spot checks with others to see if you are on the right track (in other words—ask!).
Celebrate your successes along the way.

For more information on image, check out this previous blog post, Leadership Impression.

Please share your progress and aha’s! I love hearing from you.

Love,
Maria

Words, Words, Words

June 25, 2013 DrMaria

Words are powerful.

Recently in the news, we see yet another celebrity immersed in backlash for words spoken. True, as Maya Angelou stated, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” It is those words that we speak that create such an emotion-filled response.

Thoughts are powerful, but only because thoughts are steeped with words and stories we tell.

As leaders, we have a huge responsibility to be thought-filled of our words, the vehicle, by which we communicate.

Let’s not just be conscious and strategic in the words we don’t say, but even more responsible in the words we do say. Do your words lift up or pull down? Do your words encourage or diminish? Do your words inspire or de-motivate? Are your words love-fueled or your words fueled by fear?

Remember, leadership is powerful—use your power wisely.

In love,
Maria

Delegate is a 4-letter word

June 20, 2013 DrMaria

For many of the leaders I work with, delegation is a real struggle. Leaders resist delegating because we are so accustomed to doing the work ourselves. Many times, fear will rear its ugly head, thinking that if we want the work done correctly, we must do it ourselves. And then there is the time issue of communicating and training others to complete the task for us.

Ahhh, but the benefits of delegation far outweigh the negativity that surrounds this illusive skill. When we delegate, we have more time for our high-priority tasks and we actually get to experience the joy of completing our tasks! Delegation increases our productivity and is a much better use of our resources. Delegation gives us freedom.

True, there are some tasks best kept to ourselves such as personal matters, confidential activities, crises, and activities that are specifically delegated to us. However, we can delegate paperwork, routine tasks, technical matters, tasks with developmental potential, and employee problems.

Since we are not born with the delegation gene, we must learn this skill. It’s not as hard as you think! Just follow these four simple steps and you will be delegating before you know it:

Explain the need for delegating, including the reasons why you selected that person to complete the task.
Clearly set the objectives defining responsibility, level of authority, and deadlines.
Develop a plan to achieve objectives, resources, and give the authority necessary to obtain those resources.
4. Establish an accountability plan with checkpoints.

Now go, delegate, and prosper!

With love,
Maria

Change What?!

June 18, 2013 DrMaria

Sometimes when I start working with new clients they are afraid that I am going to change them or that they have to change who they are to be better leaders. The reality is—to be the best leader you can be, you must be authentic.

Authenticity is what attracts followers and speaks to people’s heads as well as their hearts.

In coaching, we set goals for directions in which we want to move. We identify roadblocks or barriers that keep us from the movement we desire and create strategy to overcome those barriers.

Oftentimes those strategies may include a course correction in the path we already started. We may uncover some limiting beliefs we have about others or ourselves that may be holding us back. When that happens, a beautiful event occurs – we get to choose if we want to keep those barriers or change our course.

This is an important point to remember: we are not changing ourselves; we are changing our course of action.

As always, I love to hear your thoughts.

With love,
Maria

A Leg up on Legacy

June 11, 2013 DrMaria

We all leave a legacy, whether by choice or unconsciously. So why not intentionally create the legacy? Do you really want someone else to define your legacy? Meaningfulness, is feeling a part of something bigger, as big as a legacy.

The yearning for something more is evident in our society. Work-related illnesses are on the rise, and stress reduction workshops are everywhere. Proof of peoples’ desire for a more spiritual and holistic life is on grocery store shelves, in advertising, and in kitchens and baths across America. Spiritual practices such as yoga, prayer, meditation, and aromatherapy are creeping into offices and boardrooms, which are far from the practices that have guided American businesses since the 18th century. The evidence is out there—we want more!

I invite you to discover a model of leadership that can help you realize meaning, abundance, and can inspire and motivate those around you in meaningful experiences. Let’s be a part of something bigger and let’s start now! Let’s be love-based leaders.

Viva la revolution!

With love,
Maria

With or Without Meaning

June 6, 2013 DrMaria

Did you know the majority of heart attacks occur around nine o’clock on Monday mornings? “

One study showed that the most common factor in these heart attacks was that the victims were people whose work had become joyless striving. In other words, they could not find meaning in their work, and their lives had become so out of balance that, one Monday morning, their bodies said, You are not going to work today. Zap.”1

I remember a discussion I had with the general manager of a regional division, discussing with him the importance of finding meaning in work for our employees and leaders. His response was, “I think meaning at work is over-rated.” Overrated? We spend the vast majority of our adult lives at work.

One of the primary purposes of a leader is to inspire vision and motivation in those he or she leads, and few things are more inspiring and motivating than meaningful work.

If we don’t have meaning…what do we have? We must know the "why" behind the things we do, we are at unrest and certainly unmotivated.

As always, I welcome your input. What is the most meaningful aspect of your job and why?

With love,
Maria

1. J. A .Autrey, & S. Mitchell, Real power: Business lessons from the Tao Te Ching (New York: Riverhead Books, 1998), p. 23.

Putting on the Leadership Suit

May 30, 2013 DrMaria

Many organizations use the term leader when defining certain management positions. However, a title does not make a leader.

My Grandpa Jaime used to say, “You can put a suit on a bum, but he is still a bum.” One may put the title leader on a person, but he or she may or may not be a leader.

Most definitions of leadership have one over-arching similarity, vision. Creating vision and motivating followers toward the vision is the fundamental foundation of leadership. If there is no place to lead (vision) and no one to follow, then leadership is absent.

I define leadership as the act of inspiring and motivating others toward a vision. I don’t believe it needs to be any more complicated than that.

How do you define leadership? Remember to share your thoughts below!

With love and leadership,
Maria

Are You Afraid?

May 23, 2013 DrMaria

As a leadership coach, I am always excited when a powerful question or statement crosses my path or better yet, slams me in the face! Yesterday, I had such an encounter. Seth Godin got my attention when he stated, “If you’re not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it’s almost certain you’re not reaching your potential as a leader”. He was talking about the discomfort we sometimes feel as a leader and furthermore, when we identify the discomfort, we’ve found a place where leadership is needed. His list includes:

Standing up in front of strangers
Proposing an idea that may fail
Challenging the status quo
Resisting the urge to settle

I DO love those moments that move me out of my comfort zone and into what I call a “seat squirming” state. I know when I start squirming, I am onto to something, and that something is usually growth!

Of course, I also like to state things in a positive frame, so my list may look something like:

Motivating people in the direction of a shared goal
Creating and innovating with others, living in a synergy zone
Thinking outside the box and trying something that “hasn’t been done before”
Pushing myself and others to live in creativity and authenticity, even when it may be more work

My list not only feels good when I put it on, but it moves me beyond comfort to electric energy. What are your thoughts? Comfortable? Discomfort? What would you add to the list? As always, I truly appreciate your insight.

With love,
Maria

Energizer Bunny Leader

May 16, 2013 DrMaria

Health is underrated. We take the sensation of feeling good for granted, and that good enough feeling propels us to keep going beyond reason like the Energizer bunny. A. J. Reb Materi wisely observed, “So many people spend their health gaining wealth, and then have to spend their wealth to regain their health.” Looking at health holistically, we must understand the importance of maintaining or reclaiming health in mind, body, and spirit.

Living a healthy lifestyle is one of self-care. I am not talking about bubble baths and pedicures—although both are great fun—I am talking about loving yourself first before you take care of others. This is especially challenging for many of my female clients, because we are nurturers and helpers by nature. However, helping and nurturing requires you have a source from which to extend. If you are empty, how can you give or help?

Remember, this is not a dress rehearsal. This is it! Live well.

With love,
Maria