My Intention for You in 2021:
My Intention for you in 2021 and those you serve...
Is that you value the use of Coaching Questions!
This will ensure that you stay focused and clear on being a Leader of Purpose, Power, Presence and Prosperity, despite the constant distractions as we navigate this VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) world.
Today’s leaders, like you, require a whole new mindset that focuses on a different type of learning and support! Asking questions and creating that “aha” towards clarity, focus, and intention setting is the EMERGING way to change thinking, behavior, and habits. The way we learned in the past is not the complete picture. We desire sustained change in our beliefs and attitudes. This shift in thinking allows us leaders to thrive in changing and chaotic environments!
According to David Rock: "The simple sharing of knowledge or facts is not enough to generate changes in thinking". "This change process is most effectively managed by questions"!
"It starts with the conversation you have with yourself"!
This safe, yet challenging space is designed for both inner and practical work. We focus on solutions, and I don’t tell you what to do. You find them yourself: The coach is your reflective thinking partner!
Reflection gets us past “the stuck-ness”. This allows us to shut down the cerebral cortex (the overthinking part of the brain), so we can best lead those we have been called to purposefully serve!
What we pay attention to and how we pay attention determines the content and quality of our conversations and lives. These are intentional coaching conversations which allow us to bring our unconscious thoughts into consciousness.
Through a more Mindful and Intentional Leadership Approach, we are going to build personal leadership habits that will increase our stamina and strength to design what all generations crave: A more purposeful leadership style!
Our obsession with listening to the outside world and our constant state of doing without PAUSING or REFLECTING is driving us to self-destruction. We are leading from an endless treadmill. We can do better than this for the Next Generation of Leaders!
One of the deepest ways to connect to your Purpose, Power, Presence and Prosperity of CALM (Career and Leadership Mastery) Power™ is to have a clear Why and Purpose! Then you must get into action by setting specific, realistic, and measurable intentions that are aligned with your leadership why and purpose.
The book, Built to Last, Collin and Porras (1994) dedicates an entire chapter to “more than profits” that demonstrated that prosperity is about having a bigger purpose other than more money! This appears to be a distinguishing feature of companies that go above and beyond for their internal and external clients. The result is a natural and abundant ROI.
There are reflective questions that cause us to pause and be comfortable in our discomfort!
These are ALL relevant questions… and the key instrument of coaching.
As a result, the number of books, articles, and opinions on these topics are abundant and much advice is given!
I am grateful for this!
Yet Coaching challenges us to trust our own inner answers. My foundational program, CALM Power™, provides the pause and space to do just that!
You can start today! What would it look like to begin 2021 by gifting yourself with a quiet and distraction free space with about an hour of undisturbed time?
Enjoy working through the following discovery questions to help yourself focus on: “What is most important to you as you move forward as a leader?”
Take a few deep breaths and count (4 breaths in, hold for 3, 4 breaths out) and answer these questions to the best of your ability! NO Perfection!!!
- Imagine yourself several years from now. Your future self has designed a life exactly the way you desire in all areas of your life, not just at work. How are you beginning to feel as you sense this? Focus on the feeling and the positive images that bubble up… stay here… and breathe!!
From above, each feeling or positive image most likely falls into one of these categories:
· Spiritual (meditation, church involvement, religious study.)
· Health (lose/gain weight, exercise, nutrition, medical, sports.)
·Relationships (Family, significant other, personal, business.)
·Business/Career (Goals, customers, inside and outside the business, revenue goals, strategic alliances, new products or services, sales, expansion.)
· Financial Total pre-tax income: $______ Savings/Investment: $______ Debt elimination: $_____
· Fun/leisure (Vacations, trips, weekly fun activities) Total time off: _______ days/weeks per month.
· Personal (including developmental) (education, personal development, habits to change.)
· Giving to others (how/what will you give back, and to whom – e.g., church, other charity.)
2. Now for each one of these categories, imagine how your Future Self achieved the intentions you set, and begin visualizing the intention already DONE in your mind’s eye. To make your intention even more powerful, describe below what you experienced, using your intuition and all 5 senses:
Hearing:
Seeing:
Smelling:
Tasting:
Touching:
3. What is your intuition telling you about each intention? Intuition is “a hunch, a feeling, or an unexplained shift in your energy”. It does not need to be correct, just trust what bubbles up! I have a hunch that when this intention is achieved, I will feel____________________________________!
4. You can make your intentions into a Vision Board. Use your imagination. Feel free to check out my blog on the importance of vision boards here: https://thecoachingnest.ca/the-secret-of-a-vision-board/
I check in with mine weekly. Its not perfect, or even pretty, but it resonates with me! Often, the center has a picture of my Life Purpose/Why. I hold you capable of designing your own! What would it look like for 2021 to design a leadership vision board? The center could be how you want to show up as a mindful and purposeful leader.
5. Create a One Page Business Plan for your business needs. These could include Business/Career goals, customers, revenue goals, strategic alliances, new products or services, sales, or expansion.) It will offer you focus and clarity.
So, What’s Next?
2021 offers us 365 days of new opportunities! That’s exciting! Your life as a leader deserves your time and reflection, so you really create what serves you and design the actions that will take you to where you want to be! I will hold you capable to go beyond your intentions and incorporate your future self into a business plan that measures your ROI despite the current uncertainty.
CALM Power™ (Career and Leadership Mastery) will provide you with the reflective coaching time and guidance to do just that!
Consider joining the next cohort of my CALM Power™ Coaching Group–https://thecoachingnest.ca/halifax-leadership-and-career-coaching-services/.
If you feel that I could help or support you and your team in any other way, do not hesitate to contact me here: https://thecoachingnest.ca/contact-shelley-cox/
"Beginning with the End in Mind means to begin each day, task, or project with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination, and then continue by flexing your proactive muscles to make things happen”. Stephen Covey