There are people who believe spiritual life is inextricably interwoven with being religious. Some people are convinced they can only experience spiritual life in a church or other sacred location. They see spiritual life as dependent on where they are, what they do, who they know. They think spiritual life needs help to reach them; they need to do their part. My experience of spiritual life is a little different. Yes, spiritual life in us can be inspired and strengthened... Read more
November is the month we get a gratitude booster shot. Several people I know keep public gratefulness journals in November each year. Each day we read their expressions of thanks for aspects of their lives. It can be helpful to be reminded every so often. We may forget we need to share our appreciation. There is power in giving thanks. Gratefulness transforms the way we experience the people and world around us. Thanking people can change the way they perceive us and help strengthen their hearts. The power of deep... Read more
I have known people in positions of leadership who did not strike me as particularly creative. Some people try to be leaders who meet goals, tighten nuts and bolts, come in under budget. Their idea of leadership seems to be doing a little more or a little better than last year. Their leadership priority appears to be silencing troublemakers. The leaders who inspire me understand leadership is creative. Their leadership is about exploring to discover something new. The leaders who inspire... Read more
People tell me I ask good questions. It is not really a surprise. I have been asking questions for as long as I can remember. As a child I asked questions because I believed the people around me knew the answers. Life for me was built on finding answers. The only way I knew to find answers was to ask questions. People may have been a little intimidated. My questions turned into cross-examination even before I “turned pro” and became an attorney.... Read more
Each of us can become a leader. Our challenge is finding the leadership potential within us and translating that potential into actions. Some people take a focused, intentional approach to discovering their leadership. They learn as much as they can then try to apply those lessons in their own work. They may be ambitious, looking for opportunities to demonstrate their leadership abilities. Some people relate to leadership in more intuitive, more organic ways. They trust their own instincts. They may appear... Read more
There are people who seem to think spiritual life is super human. Some of us appear to believe in superheroes with special powers to help us get out of trouble. Other people have faith in their own ability to control life and create positive results. For other people, spiritual life is so far beyond them they prefer not to think about it at all. Even people who embrace spiritual life act as though it were separate from their everyday experiences. Some people try to confine spiritual... Read more
How many people do we trust? Where do we find the balance between being too trusting and too skeptical? We want leaders we can trust. Each of us might express it in slightly different ways, with words like authenticity, honesty, communicator. We look for leaders who can be trusted to tell us the truth. We do not expect leaders to be perfect, but want them to be straight with us about their mistakes. We understand there are times when we will... Read more
There are people who see spiritual life as if they were geese standing on a lakeshore. It is a challenge for them to get anywhere walking around on land. They may paddle across the surface of the lake, though it takes a lot of hard work. They are not comfortable. They may sense they are not doing what they were made for, not being true to themselves. Some of them make a lot of noise. It can be a challenge for... Read more
It is ironic that “discerning” is one of those words we think we understand but cannot explain. We may say that someone has a discerning eye, or is a person of discernment. We mean we appreciate their taste or opinion, we agree with them. We rely on our own ability to discern to understand how discerning we are. We trust ourselves to discern the discernment of other people. We generally understand discernment as “figuring things out.” We think of discernment as... Read more
Leadership is a dance. We need to learn the steps. 1. Spend Time Getting Comfortable with Yourself. Our leadership is a product of how we know ourselves. We can study masterful technique from great teachers, but we dance our own leadership steps. Our knowledge about leadership needs to be demonstrated in how we dance. We cannot lead other people effectively until we have begun to lead ourselves first. 2. Ask More Questions. We enjoy feeling we have learned the right answers. We push ourselves to rely... Read more
Strategic Monk
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