A context for life and leadership.

The first in a series...
As I move into this new year, with not a great deal of energy as a result of last year, I realize that I want to experience life and work this year in a different way. In fact, not posting this blog since October is one of the manifestations of my lack of time and energy at the end of last year. I am ready to change that.

This may be easier said than done. Have you ever gotten out of the habit of something and then kept thinking you needed to get back into the habit of it but didn't? Then the guilt came. Then the denial. Then, viola!, You just don’t think about it anymore? Well, that is the case with my blog posting.

Then I had another thought, with the help of my partner, Paul Kwiecinski at Face The Music, http://www.facethemusicblues.com. I don't have to make it so hard. Not just posting this blog, anything and everything!

A series of blogs on Zen and the art of not pushing...A context for life and leadership is my solution to this situation, at least in the short term. These postings will be about how this context is manifesting in my life and, in turn, how that is adding value to my client's life.

Take last week for example. Feedback I got at the end of a 2 day leadership retreat with a corporate leadership team ranged from "thank you for meeting us where we are" to "you are the best meeting facilitator I have ever seen" to "we get so much work done with you it's unbelievable". The results in this strategic session were what they wanted AND they find them so valuable they have booked another 2-day in April and plan to do them quarterly.

I didn't ask for the feedback. Pretty amazing for not pushing.

What happened differently?

• I didn't insist on my agenda--in fact I didn't do one at all.
  
• I listened to them. Not just waiting to say something. I really listened.
  
• I didn't feel like I had to DO something just to validate my presence.
  
• I trusted that when I needed to add something, I would know and it would be the right thing at the right time.

I guess we will see what happens next. In the meantime, you might try not pushing. Scary, believe me I know. But I just don't have the energy for it anymore.