Showing posts in the category “Inner Self Defense”

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• January 26, 2021
  26Jan2021

  The Power of Noticing

  

  I'm very fortunate to meet many wonderful coaches, trainers, and consultants in my day to day work. Janice Cohen is one of those people. Specializing in healthcare leadership, Janice supports those who support us. I've worked with Janice and watched her courageously coach leaders to discover their personal strengths and values, and the behaviors and experiences necessary to meet these challenging times.

  I loved her recent post, which struck a chord that is near and dear to my heart--the power of noticing. I think you'll enjoy and learn from it, as I did.....

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• January 12, 2021
  12Jan2021

  What is Leadership Presence? -- Finding Center, Accomplishing Purpose

  

  Power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose...."

  ~ Martin Luther King, Jr., "Where Do We Go From Here"

  "Presence" can be tricky to define, and "leadership presence" trickier. Google searches produce thousands of pages and hundreds of thousands of hits. We're interested, it seems, in knowing what they mean, whether we have them, and how to acquire them.

  Fact is, we all have presence--a quality of mind, body and spirit that is us. Sometimes our presence is more evident to others, sometimes less. Sometimes we feel big, sometimes small and contracted.

  When we walk into a room, we influence the people and the environment in that room by our presence in it. It has changed because of us. And we are changed by our experience of what is already there.

  If you're aware of energy flow, you'll observe these changes when people enter and leave, and you'll gain awareness of how you can be more intentional about the influence you have.

  How would you describe your unique presence? ...

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• December 29, 2020
  29Dec2020

  Rock Balancing and The Art Of Presentation

  

  I have the pleasure today of introducing you to a cool dude and important person on my Power & Presence team--Kirk Roberts. Like my priceless V.A. Tracie Shroyer, Kirk is a longtime partner who keeps my outward facing image looking good in the world. Kirk designed my Power & Presence website, and makes sure it stays friendly, timely, and relevant. 

  Kirk is all about clarity, simplicity and power--in his designs and in his writing.

  Kirk is also a clever and insightful blogger. His interests often coincide with my own--centered presence, clarity of purpose, and the power of curiosity--and I thought you'd enjoy his recent post, "Rock Balancing And The Art Of Presentation"....

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• December 1, 2020
  1Dec2020

  Shifting Attention: Finding the Gift

  

  The way we know is fateful... Human beings and organizations move in the direction of what they inquire about. 

  ~ Jane Magruder Watkins, Appreciative Inquiry Theory and Practice

  Tell me a story about the best Christmas, best Hanukkah, best holiday season you ever had. What made it so wonderful? Who was involved? What about that time makes you remember it so vividly? How did you contribute to its special qualities? Write the story down if you like.

  As you think about this special time of year, what do you think is at the heart of the holiday you celebrate? Can you look for that this season?

  Sometimes, when the world feels upside down, fear and anxiety dominate our thoughts, and we forget to appreciate the gifts all around us, and especially the beauty and joy of this season. It happens to me, too. Just like any practice, however, we can get better at shifting toward what's good, what works, what is there to be loved and appreciated....

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• November 17, 2020
  17Nov2020

  Simple Gifts: Making the Most of LIfe's Ki Moments

  

  Simple Gifts: Making the Most of Life's Ki Moments is a CD I created several years ago about taking time to notice the moment we're in rather than rushing throught it to get to the next. I've been listening to it recently--a respite from election and pandemic worries and a reminder to return to the present moment, the Now. 

  As we approach the holidays, I'm giving away some CDs to emphasize how crucial it is these days to take a moment (or several) to come back from the distractions that call us away from ourselves....

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• November 3, 2020
  3Nov2020

  Difficult People Are Angels Sent To Help You. No, Seriously.

  

  In Which My Difficult Neighbor, Who I Don’t Like, Teaches Me Something

  Many thanks to Joe Dunn, Executive Coach, for his guest post....

  Bob The Neighbor

  I have a neighbor. Let’s call him Bob (it’s not his name). I really, really don’t like Bob, and apparently he doesn’t like me. The details don’t matter a lot, but ten years ago Bob and I got into a nasty altercation involving my young son. It was bad. We got close to having lawyers involved. It was never resolved and since then we ignore each other, cross to the other side of the street when we pass. Ugh.

  This seems unlikely to change. When I think about Bob, I get angry, and a little scared. The sheer rage with which he yelled at me was frightening, and, from my point of view, completely unjustified. Together we entered that place of complete incomprehension, that state where a person becomes the Other, something not quite human, impossible to understand, and definitely not on our side.

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• October 20, 2020
  20Oct2020

  Email Apnea--Building Body Awareness

  

  Have you heard of email apnea? Suffer from it? I wasn't aware how many people have been writing about it since Linda Stone first named the phenomenon. Stone worked for Apple and Microsoft before beginning a writing and consulting career. She has coined other phrases, too, such as continuous partial attention, and often outlines the detrimental consequences of too much screen time.

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• October 6, 2020
  6Oct2020

  Everyday Miracles

  

  When I started writing this post I wasn't exactly sure what was going into it. I knew the title--"Everyday Miracles"--and the gist, that there are everyday blessings that we take for granted and even stop seeing, especially in this time of fear about pandemics, violence, and polarization. And these miracles are what make my Life--make it worth living. How can I not be present to them?

  These thoughts came to me during a morning meditation when I opened my eyes for a moment and noticed my surroundings. It was still dark, but I could see most of the first floor of my house. There was the dining room table, the hutch, the artwork, and my living room with its furniture and books and videos and CDs barely showing in the moonlight that filtered through the windows.

  So I went for it and started thinking of all the things I could be grateful for but forget about because they are just there every day.

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• September 22, 2020
  22Sep2020

  Batter Up!

  

  I'm delighted to share a new post from my friend and fellow blogger and coach, Carrol Suzuki. As Carrol says:

  Listening is an endangered skill in today's quick-bytes, hurry-up world. Although listening is one of the most neglected business skills, it's possibly the most vital. The good news is listening intention and capacity can be learned.

  And that's what Carrol does--helps us become attentive and authentic listeners. She's also a great blogger. Enjoy!  ....

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• August 25, 2020
  25Aug2020

  Awase in the Time of Covid

  

  by Aaron Cass

  The word Aikido (合気道) is made up of three kanji. The first character, 合(ai), may be translated as ‘harmony,’ ‘confluence,’ or ‘agreement.’ This kanji can also be used on its own as the verb 合わせる(awaseru) meaning to ‘match,’ ‘fit,’ or ‘join together.’ If I wanted to set my watch to someone else’s we would 時計を合わせる, tokei wo awaseru, ‘set our watches to the same time.’

  In the context of training, much of our practice is 合わせ稽古 (awasegeiko), or what might be called cooperative practice. We refer to the person who applies the technique as 投げ (nage, ‘person who throws’) or 取り (tori, ‘person who executes the technique’). The attacker, who later finds himself on the receiving end of the technique, is called 受け (uke, literally, ‘person who receives’). These are prescribed roles, and in class we alternate between them with our partners as we practice.

  One of the greatest criticisms of Aikido on the Internet--for those who pay attention to these sorts of things--stems from this approach to training. When uke attacks, he knows he’s going to be thrown or pinned. As nage, we know we’re going to ‘win’ and successfully apply our technique to the other person because that’s our role. The criticism then becomes that Aikido is merely an elaborate performance in which people take turns falling down for one another like some sort of martial dance....

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