No Excuses

One of the most important tasks of a manager is to eliminate his people's excuses for failure. ~ Robert Townsend ~

The difference between explanations and excuses is credibility.  How do you gain credibility?  By focusing on what you can do as opposed to what you can't do.  Never point fingers.  Loose the blame game.  Take ownership.  Always renegotiate.  Find a new path.  Ask questions.  Trust.  Try.  Coach. Turn frustrations into motivation.  Stay positive.  Don't complain.  Find humor. Make commitments instead of promises. Read the definition of credibility and live up to it, so you can teach others how to do the same.

1. Close your eyes
2. Breathe
3. Empty your mind
4. As thoughts come in, acknowledge and whisk them away
5. Focus on your breathing
6. Think about the affirmation:

I build credibility in myself and others.

Trust in Trusting

“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”
~ Ernest Hemingway ~

Just because someone is secretive or private, it doesn't mean you can't trust them and just because someone is willing to share, doesn't mean that they will share everything.  Regardless, you have to begin somewhere to find out.  You just have to be willing.   Some of you trust quickly and some of you trust slowly.  Whether quickly or slowly, you will have to trust at some point because the only way to discover is to begin to trust.  Both speeds of trust are valid but not for every situation.  Choose according to your goals.  Sometimes slow is good and sometime fast is better.  Better awareness will help you choose.  Mindful leaders have the confidence to trust and will pick the right speed for the right circumstances.

1. Close your eyes
2. Breathe
3. Empty your mind
4. As thoughts come in, acknowledge and whisk them away
5. Focus on your breathing
6. Think about the affirmation:

I will trust others at the right speed.

Make Fear Give You The Edge

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. ~Maori Proverb ~

For many of you there are very real and valid reasons to worry.  Fear keeps you alert and warns of danger.  It is a necessary part of your emotions.  Worry and fear will never go away for anyone.  The difference maker is how you deal with fear and worry.  You can let it eat at you and occupy important areas of the brain - where you need to think.  Use the alertness that fear provides to get focused.  Some leaders feed on danger and risk because it can be very exciting.    As a leader, know that risk means that you have the opportunity to grow and flourish.  With risk comes fear but with fear, can come bravery.  Trust that you will prevail and overcome.  Instead of fear ruling you - use it's energy to create success.

1. Close your eyes
2. Breathe
3. Empty your mind
4. As thoughts come in, acknowledge and whisk them away
5. Focus on your breathing
6. Think about the affirmation:

"I will use fear to my advantage - with it, I will be more alert and focused."

Leaders: Close Filters, Open-Minds

Be open.  And then the truth follows. ~ Gangaji ~

You use filters every time you read or listen to others speak.  Those filters are created by your values, beliefs and attitudes.  Often you will miss very important nuances and insight.  It happens this way - you will read a word or hear a phrase, perhaps see an illustration and it will trigger your brains memory.  It will cause a positive or negative reaction based upon your beliefs.  At that point your brain begins to look for information that supports your values, beliefs and attitudes about a particular topic.  If you feel the information is pleasurable then you will begin to look for ideas that support you, even if the information is not truthful.  You buy into whatever they are selling only because of a trigger.  You become too trusting. 

Conversely,  if you feel the information is acrimonious, then you will begin to miss the real and true meaning of the author/speaker.  You will close your mind in disagreement without fully processing the information.  You might even decide that you don't like the person and begin to judge them.  As a leader, try to control your filters so that you don't risk missing critical information that others share and losing valuable diversity that people with other ideas can bring.  You are not always right and you don't always have the truth.
 
1. Close your eyes
2. Breathe
3. Empty your mind
4. As thoughts come in, acknowledge and whisk them away
5. Focus on your breathing
6. Think about the affirmation:

"I will shut down filters and open my mind in pursuit of the truth."

Trust in Experience

Experience makes more timid men than it does wise ones. ~ Josh Billings

A young child will not go near a stove after they have been burned.  Even if you try to show them how to be near the stove safely.  They trust their experience more than a parent, thus, making them more timid and unwilling to try again.  As you become older you tend to become more risk adverse than when you where younger.  This probably explains why people such as founders of Dell, Facebook and Google were young when they started their companies.  They didn't yet know they could fail.  You will never be a strong leader if you shy away from experiences.  Once you become a leader, you must encourage those that follow you, to be willing to touch the stove again.

1. Close your eyes
2. Breathe
3. Empty your mind
4. As thoughts come in, acknowledge and whisk them away
5. Focus on your breathing
6. Think about the affirmation:

"I will trust in my experience and

show others how to trust in their experience, too."