Ahhh, the month of love.
In this month, many of us have love on the mind. Being an advocate of love myself, I too, find myself daydreaming of how grand the gift of love is in my life. Imagine for a moment, if we could harness the love we feel and translate that into our leadership. Now of course, I am not talking about romantic love. I am talking about universal love; the love we feel as one human to another. This love is honoring, valuing, and respecting each other. This is a love of Namaste, honoring the spirit of another. 
As leaders, we are taught to de-compartmentalize a love such as this. We are taught to remove ourselves from any emotion (including love) and be “professional” as if being professional makes us non-human or even worse, super-human. This practice, and many of us have gotten this concept down good, has propelled us in our careers, but also has left us empty.
Emotional intelligence teaches us to recognize our emotions and manage them in healthy ways. Managing our emotions does not mean shoving them down and ignoring them. We know from experience this only gives our emotions time to grow and mutate into emotions that are exaggerated, misdirected, and sometimes manifest in disease and illness.
Being professional does not need to mean being distant, aloof, uncaring, and impersonal. We are in a world of transition and change. We are in a world where many of us are creating new models for living. In this spirit and in the spirit of love, let’s create a new professionalism. Let's create a professionalism that stands for something powerful, serving, supportive, and love-filled.
I am thinking a new professionalism looks like this:
Present
Reflective
Open-minded
Free
Empathetic
Service-minded
Source-connected
Inclusive
Openhearted
Non-judgmental
Aligned with values
Loving
How would you create a new professionalism?
With love,
Maria
Our Collective Dream
Yesterday, in the United States, we celebrated the great Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.—his life, his work, and his love. He was a master orator, motivator, teacher, and a true love-based leader.
His most famous speech, “I Have a Dream” inspired us toward action for equality, justice, and love.
I have a dream, too. In fact, I am sure you too, have a dream... and I venture to guess that it is similar to my dream…a collective dream. That dream is the radical, necessary, ubiquitous dream of shifting from a world steeped in fear, to a love-based world.
Following are some inspiring words from Dr. King and a great lesson in leadership:
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Remember, it ALWAYS comes back to love, so why not just start with love?
“Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” As leaders, we must step out and up on faith, because what else do we REALLY have?
“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.” The time is NOW to return to our spiritual compass, guidance, and Source.
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” Again, simply, LOVE.
“A man can't ride your back unless it's bent.” Stand firm, erect in your power, and do not succumb to the fear of victimhood.
“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” The call of a love-based leader…to serve others.
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Love-based leaders continue to grow, learn, and live in wisdom.
“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.” Forgiveness, to give it and receive it is the POWER of LOVE.
“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.” Speak up and out; show up and lead.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” DO NOT die with the song of passion still in you.
“The time is always right to do what is right.” … and the time is always right to love.
Blessings and love to you my friends...viva the leadership revolution,
Maria
Choose Love
This is my first blog in the wake of last week’s insanity. Our children were stabbed on the other side of the world, our children on the other side of the country were killed, and our neighbor’s house was broken into and robbed. And there were many, many other infractions to our brothers and sisters. 
We must stop.
We must stop the violence.
We must stop the doomsday mentality.
We must stop revenge.
We must stop ignoring mental illness.
We must stop pretending there is no darkness.
We must stop destroying each other.
We must stop destroying our planet.
We must stop our apathy.
We must stop our ignorance.
We must stop our arrogance.
We must stop creating an insane world. 
We must stop living in ego.
We must stop choosing fear.
We must stop sleepwalking.
We must stop mindlessness.
We must stop separation.
We must stop pretending we are not connected to one another.
We must stop pretending that we not connected to the Divine.
We must shift to a force stronger than hatred, violence, revenge, and fear.
And that other force…simply…love.
Choose love.
I'm in! Are you?
With the intensity of divine love,
Maria
Ownership with Love-Based Leadership
As leaders, we hope to motivate and influence people to reach a goal. One of the most powerful ways to accomplish team motivation is through ownership. I do not mean this in the literal sense, such as stock options or formal partnerships. I am referring to the figurative sense of ownership – which could be equally powerful.
One of my favorite leadership quotes is by ancient Chinese philosopher and prophet, Lao Tzu, believed to be the creator of the Tao Te Ching, 500 years before the birth of Jesus. This quote by Lao Tzu simply and beautifully states the power of ownership:
With the greatest leader above them,
People barely know one exists.
Next comes one whom they fear.
Next comes one whom they despise and defy.
When a leader trusts no one,
No one trusts him.
The great leader speaks little.
He never speaks carelessly.
He works without self-interest
And leaves no trace.
When all is finished, the people will say,
“We did it ourselves."
In a love-based leadership organization, we trust our employees to problem-solve and innovate. We do not micromanage. We support our people with increased influence and motivation. Our organizations are more productive and our employees find meaning and satisfaction in their work, creativity, and ownership.
Do you participate in a love-based leadership organization with a shared sense of ownership? Please share your experiences.
With love,
Maria
Thoughts, Laws & Leadership
When is the best time to plant an oak tree? 
As we approach the end of a year and the beginning of a new, it is important for us to reflect on our stories. You know these stories; they are well-crafted and visited repeatedly for years and sometimes decades. These are the stories we tell ourselves, building beliefs and behaviors based on these tales. As Plato reminded us, perception is reality. Our thoughts create our perceptions and our perceptions influence our emotional, psychological, and physical response.
I am reading Marianne Williamson’s latest book, “The Law of Divine Compensation” and was struck by her discussion about how negative thoughts deactivate the divine law, which falls into three major categories: (1) negative sense of self, (2) anger, and (3) guilt. Wow – the big three!
This got me thinking how the big three derail other aspects of our life, including how we love others and how we lead. As we reflect on a negative sense of self, anger, and guilt, let’s explore the following questions:
Think about this:
When we step into awareness about our stories and thoughts, we come to realize that we can change those thoughts, and ultimately change our lives. What’s stopping you?
Twenty years ago.
When is the second best time to plant the tree?
Now.
With loving thoughts,
Maria
Leadership Forgiveness of Self: Part 2
Because forgiveness is a state of being, action is required to move into that place or that state. Like so many other lessons, avoiding forgiveness is not static. Anger leads to judgment. (He is so mean, disrespectful, or vindictive when did that to me. She is so arrogant that she didn’t even realize she hurt me.) Judgment leads to blame, and blame leads to resentment. Resentment is unresolved anger and resentment hurts us, manifesting in stress-related illness, anxiety, or depression. Resentment hardens our hearts paving a path of vengeance. We can lose ourselves in judgment, condemnation, and conflict, all the while wondering why we are not happy and content.
Forgiveness is a choice. We take responsibility for our peace of mind and happiness when we choose to forgive. Many leaders think if we forgive, it is for the benefit of others. The primary advantage is that forgiveness benefits ourselves, and the primary function is removing ego separation bringing us back into our right mind with God. To make this choice, we experience a miracle.
The process of experiencing the miracle of forgiveness is perception shifting. The change in attitude comes to us through grace. Cultivating a practice of forgiveness first begins with self-forgiveness. Dr. Robin Casarjian describes six steps to practice self-forgiveness in her book, Forgiveness:
By practicing self-forgiveness, always remember to be gentle with yourself, suspending judgment, allowing and receiving miracles in this holy space. The miracle and shift in perception and attitude gives us insight about others and ourselves.
Practice self-forgiveness…why? The reason is just as the old Loreal commercial said, “Because I’m worth it!”
With love,
Maria
This is an excerpt from my new book.
Leadership Service
Organizational and leadership models throughout history, and still today, are like authoritative kingdoms. The ruling king or queen sits on their throne (corner office in the executive suite) and the serfs and subjects (subordinates and “team”) support them in any way necessary. Oh, we have the right words today—team, collaboration, and empowerment—unfortunately, in many organizations actions do not match the words. We know consciously and unconsciously these models do not work; however, we do not know how to replace them. As always, we just simply have to turn away from fear and stare right into the face of love. In those beautiful eyes, we find our answers. 
Service paves the path of leadership. Through love and a love-based leadership model, we serve others, our source, and ourselves. To make this miraculous shift in our perception about service, we must consciously be aware of leading with a service-mindset versus a sales-mindset. Many leaders I know lead with a sales-mentality, seeking “buy-in” from those they lead. They obtain buy-in through persuasion, manipulation, and control. These techniques can be effective, but the leader will not get long-term commitment. A service-mentality shifts from what can you do for me? to what can I do for you? This is similar to the phenomenon in marketing and product development happening today. Find out what they want and we’ll build it replaces the old mental model of build it and they will come. Leadership focus is on service, instead of self-interest. Uh-oh, the ego is not going to like this! Exactly.
When leaders shift from sales to service-mindsets, organizations shift from a kingdom culture and hierarchical structure to community. I am not describing Utopia or something found only through rose-colored glasses; I am describing what can be, and what is in some organizations and communities. By serving and giving, we are more successful. The more we give, the more we receive; the more we serve, the more we are served. This again demonstrates that to wherever you put your attention, you will manifest that.
How do you demonstrate service instead of sales?
In loving service,
Maria
BTW - This is an excerpt from my new book!
Leading with Both Sides of Our Brain
Ask any successful leader or business owner what one of the most critical factors is for success today, and you will hear creativity. Now, more than ever, innovation and creativity are sought-after skills in organizations for their leaders. Old models steeped in scientific management and mechanistic thinking no longer serves our needs in this new era. As Einstein so eloquently reminds us, we must stop the insanity and look toward new models and creative ways of leading people and doing business. 
For decades, our American culture has devoted most curriculum and teaching models to developing the left-hemisphere of the brain. This is the part of the brain for logic, linear and sequential thought processes. This style of learning and development continued into colleges and universities where the mechanistic model of managing business and leading people remained a primary focus. Perhaps a nod to the “soft skills” of leadership appeared in the curriculum, but not until quite recently are we teaching these skills to leaders.
Many organizations now focus on teaching the soft skills in their leadership development programs because they realized a profound need for their leaders to have these skills in this new era. The soft skills to which I am referring are connecting with people, motivating teams, inspiring followers, creative thinking, innovation, quick decision-making and big-picture vision (strategic thinking and planning). Each one of these skill sets requires right-brain thinking.
The right hemisphere controls the left side of the body, is simultaneous, specializes in context, and synthesizes the big picture. Clearly, the ability to think quickly in today’s fast-paced world requires right hemisphere functions. I am not advocating tossing aside the value of the left-brain—our entire brain is a gift from God. I am simply seeking to focus on development of our right-brain functions. At this point, most of us have fairly well developed left hemispheres. After all, we have spent most of our lifetime educated and trained to use our left-brains. What we now need as leaders is to develop and reconnect with the processes of our right brains.
Lateral thinking is perception thinking, looking for creative and innovative ways of viewing the world. This process is not constricted by boundaries and limited beliefs; it challenges us to move into expansiveness, unlimited possibilities, and abundance thinking.
Are you ready for the shift?
With love from both parts of my brain and heart,
Maria
Steps to Leadership Self-Empowerment
I love the word empowerment, which means a state of being “in power.” According to Merriam-Webster, the word has three definitions: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” 
When we self-empower, we are the ones to give authority, enable, and promote the self-actualization of ourselves! We give ourselves permission to be the best we can be, to live the best lives we choose.
Stepping into your power includes the following actions:
One of my favorite quotes from Marianne Williamson describes self-empowerment:
Who are you not to be empowered?
With love and power,
Maria
Leadership Strategies to Unlock Your Passion
How do you discover, nurture, and live in your passion? It’s not as hard as you may think! Below are 12 exercises to discover and re-connect with your passion and purpose. 
Let me know how these strategies work for you! Can you add to the lists?
With love and excitement,
Maria
BTW - This is an excerpt from my new book!
Leadership Perception Shifting Exercises
Are you ready to experience one of the most powerful leadership tools? Perception shifting opens up your leadership understanding and builds leadership prowess. When we add tools to our toolbox of skill sets, well let's just say that perception shifting is plugging in and using a turbo charged tool. As promised, here are some activities to help exercise your perception-shifting muscle:
Remember that perspective shifting requires awareness, choice, and the willingness to be open to other possibilities.
With love,
Maria
BTW - this is an excerpt from my new book!
Leadership Power Tool - Perception Shifting
I love the story of Plato’s cave! The shadows of the people outside the cave, distorted images from the fire flames, created a dark reality in the recesses of the cave. What dark reality exists within the confines of the caves of our mind?
Thoughts are powerful; they are the seeds to ideas, beliefs, creativity, attitudes, knowledge, wisdom, and reality. Thoughts can be our best friends or our worst enemies. Not by happenstance do thoughts come to us, these powerful seeds come to us through choice. Choice and thoughts are action movements directed by us whether we are conscious of these activities or not. The key lies in awareness of these two incredible gifts.
Negative self-talk are weeds that have grown in our minds. You know these voices, since many of us have cultivated these over years and decades: 
Sound familiar? We could probably add to the list with little effort! Often these voices are steeped in fear, anxiety, doubt, guilt, and shame. Our behaviors are a reflection of our beliefs. If we believe the negative self talk, how it that manifested in our behavior with ourselves and with others? Do we find that we become stuck, unable to accomplish that goal or unable to overcome our fear of something or someone?
Perception shifting is one of the most powerful lessons for leaders. Perception responses are deeply ingrained in our realities and are foundational to the way we think, see, believe, understand, and behave in our lives. In Thursday’s blog post I will share with you some activities to help exercise your perception-shifting muscle.
With love,
Maria
Open Leaders
Living with two bulging, herniated discs can be a pain (no pun intended), especially in our rainy season, when my back seems extra sore. During a family barbecue, my sister, a RN, asked if I was experiencing pain. When I asked why she inquired, she said that I looked like I was guarding. This is a medical term indicating when a person has pain somewhere in their body they become rigid as though to protect the area from further pain or injury. We do the same in our lives with our minds and hearts. We protect ourselves from perceived pain, we guard. What other ways can we practice being open?
To be open, for many of us, means to be vulnerable. We’ve been open and been hurt; at least that explains some of the our experiences. Ego loves it when we stay closed and works over-time to ensure we do not enter openness. “Remember when you did that before and…” is one of the many voices of ego.
When we are open, the gates of Divine guidance, to intention, to the flow of Holy Spirit happen. Closing the gates of our minds and hearts is insanity. Why do the barriers to openness show up, guarding our sacred spaces? Ego, again is the answer. Blocks to openness manifest in the forms of negative voices cemented in our dialogue and culture. Evidence of this insanity in our workplaces includes statements like, Nice guys finish last, or when considering doing something nice for someone (a favor), If you do that for one, you’ll have to do it for everyone, or No good deed goes unpunished.
Opening our perceptions and inviting in the Holy Spirit through surrender, allows healing of the mind and heart to take place. Through healing, the ego no longer has hold on the barriers and blocks to the gates of openness. Just as a clenched fist cannot receive a gift, a closed mind cannot grow and a closed heart cannot receive love.
Steps to openness:
With an open heart,
Maria
What Does a Love-Based Leadership Organization Look Like?
In an LBL zone, love of Self, Source, and Others are present. We live the words so the words may live. People want to go to work, meaningful work in an LBL zone. A paradigm shift occurs in an LBL zone, where we discover a new way to do business based in part on ancient and traditional wisdom. In The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran described work in what could be an LBL zone:
It is to weave the cloth with threads from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.
It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,
And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you and watching.
Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. 
When LBL is practiced in organizations, several characteristics are present. The organization is fertile ground for knowledge creation, a learning organization. Power is shared, as is ownership of the work. Significance and celebration of others is ever-present in an LBL organization, adding to a meaningful work experience. A holistic approach to life, work, and spirituality is a way of life for those leaders practicing LBL, because LBL leaders honor themselves, their Source, and those with whom they work.
How would you describe a Love-Based Leadership organization?
With love,
Maria
Leadership Fear
We recognize there is only a limited amount of (money, people, projects, resources) and we will do anything to make sure we got most, if not all of it (money, people, etc). We tell our people they are important and they believe us because they are incapable of making any decisions on their own. We are the best because we said so. 
I was exploring the devastating effects of fear with a client recently and thought it may be appropriate to share an excerpt from my book, Love-Based Leadership: Transform Your Life with Meaning and Abundance. This piece describes what fear in an organization looks like…
“Increasingly, fear dominates our societies and most of our organizations. But you cannot fight fear directly. It is only possible to gradually supplant fear as the dominant emotion in our system of management by building respect, appreciation, and legitimacy.”1 LBL doesn’t look like fear, doesn’t smell like fear, and doesn’t walk like fear. “Perfect love drives out all fear.”2 LBL doesn’t just proclaim that people are important because it says so on the mission statement posted on the wall. LBL leaders do not say one thing and do another. An organization where LBL is not practiced is secretive: a fertile ground for non-truth. An organization without LBL is steeped in office politics and scarcity thinking. Information is not shared, it is hoarded. There is no sign of spirit. The focus and vision of organizations where LBL is not practiced could read:
“Too often managers and their organizations lose touch with their essence. This is true despite the growing evidence that companies with core beliefs and values that transcend the bottom line are, paradoxically, more profitable over time than companies that focus only on making money.”3
What are some other ways you have seen fear demonstrated?
In fearlessness,
Maria
Sources
1. Peter M. Senge, “Commentary.” Reflections, 2005, 6(2), p. 17.
2. 1 John 4:18 Holy Bible, King James Version
3. Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras, quoted in Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal, Leading with Soul, p. 41.
Delays in Leadership, Love and Life
As I started preparing for the day, I read this statement:
I let go of anything and everything that could delay my good in any way.
Hmmm…
Of course, as I so often do, I contemplated how this might apply to leadership.
Leadership is the action that motivates people toward a vision. Therefore, if the vision is the “good” in the above statement, we need to ask ourselves, “What gets in the way that could cause delay of achieving your vision?” In other words, what no longer serves you?
We discuss this topic a lot with our clients. It is a great exercise to stop and check-in with yourself regularly, asking, what no longer serves me?
Some possible delays to our good or vision may include:
Once you’ve identified what gets in your way of achieving your good or your vision, it is time to let it or them go. Time to move into action, ridding yourself of anything and everything that gets in your way. This is the time to start exercising your backbone instead of your wishbone. You are the architect of your life, the author of your book. This is not a dress rehearsal. If you don’t like what you see…change it!
What gets in your way, delaying your good, or your vision?
In love, and without delay,
Maria
Fear, Love and Leadership
I write and speak a lot about fear versus love. Fear is easy to identify. We definitely know when fear starts to creep in; our body becomes tense, blood pressure starts to rise, and feelings of anxiety emerge. Fear is not a good feeling! Why would we continue to go there repeatedly? Where love and spirit are internal to us, fear and ego are external. Turning to others for approval or acceptance, points us in the direction of ego, external to ourselves.
When we live in the past, we live in the ego. Reliving those events, involving externally generated relationships, can cause tremendous pain or hurt. Each time we choose – yes, it is a choice – to live in the space of fear, we give away our power. We give it away to people or circumstance – an external event. When we retain our power, we are empowered, living in a place of love and spirit. 
Fear paralyzes us. True, fear can be a motivator, but it is not sustainable. We cannot be motivated and live in fear for long periods without paying the physical, emotional, and spiritual costs of fear and stress.
Moving away from fear is one thing, but how do we actively develop love and ultimately integrate it with our leadership? In Love-Based Leadership: Transform Your Life with Meaning and Abundance, I outline eight steps to help develop love of self, love of source, and love of others:
When we align ourselves with love and spirit, abundance and joy flow into our lives. What other steps would you add to develop love of self, love of source, and love of others?
With love,
Maria
Leadership Discomfort
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: 
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:
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 electric energy and love,
Maria
Leadership Significance Instead of Success
I recently heard Oprah talk about success and significance in the same sentence. This got me thinking…
“Value” and “adding value” has become a buzzword in many organizations. I remember working for a homebuilder years ago, and adding value, along with value engineering were hot, sexy terms.
Like most buzzwords, their original contextual meaning got lost in translation.
Looking at the word, significance, I wanted to explore the meaning and essence of this luxurious word steeped in depth and richness. So… I started researching great thinkers on significance and explored quotes. I’ll share some of my favorites with you:
Next, I turned to Bing dictionary, and this is what I found:
Cool, this is a big deal, I thought! Of course, I immediately turned my attention to leadership and started thinking…what if we shifted our focus from success to significance? How would that look? How would that affect the way we lead? What do you think?
To your significance...with love,
Maria
The Leadership Revolution: A Call to Hearts
Welcome to my blog about leadership – specifically, leading with our hearts, with love. There is a movement among us, and that movement is an evolution in leadership. This evolution is so important and leaders across the globe are so passionate about the movement that it is a revolution…a leadership revolution with a call to hearts.
We know historically that a revolution is a revolt, an uprising against the standard, the status quo. That is exactly what we are seeing in leadership. Leaders are recognizing the power of this shift and smart leaders are getting on board, and finding great results in this movement.
Leaders are shifting from:
- Competition to collaboration
- Coercion to influence
- Secrecy to transparency
- Information gathering to information distribution
- Scarcity to abundance
… and this is just the beginning!
My hope is that you will join in this discussion and share your insights with all of us. I also hope that you will find great value in our information exchange and will share these resources with those in your sphere of influence. When we are empowered, we are powerful.
The plan is to post information, resources, food for thought and to facilitate a deep, rich discussion on three of my greatest passions – leadership, love, and life. After all… aren’t they one and the same?
I am looking forward to your thoughts about this leadership revolution, "A Call to Hearts".Viva la revolution,Maria