Someone who is inspired to inspire
Someone who lives by a set of values and ethics and role-models those values each day
An inclusive visionary
A heart centered man or woman willing to collaborate from a place of vision

At the center is the HEART – the source of inspiration. 

Not the mind
Not the ego
From the place of intuitive knowledge, emotional intelligence, spiritual connection, understanding that I am part of a whole

Contemplate the 12 chambers of the Leadership Heart:

 This journey is about finding the leader who lives in each of us.

Consciously choosing to stay present in that leadership role

Staying awake

Knowing that others are watching…following

Listening to our hearts

Traveling as true Leaders Inspired

It’s February.  You’ve had one month of the new year to test drive your 2010 Business Strategy.  If you haven’t given strategy a thought, there is still time.  For those of you moving into the year with a goal in mind, this is for you.

It’s time to dust off your strategy.  Any business of any size could do with a monthly or weekly strategy dust off.  It’s never to early to clear the cobwebs.  One way to do this is to PREVIEW, PRIORITZE and PURGE. 

You’ve set your business and financial goals.  You move into action each day.  Are you focusing on the most effective way to reach your end game? 

Become more effective with the Three P’s. 

First, PREVIEW the month to come.  Take a look at the beginning of the month and plan what needs to be done for the next 30 days.  Ask if this the most effective way to quickly reach your end game?  PRIORITIZE the most effective activities first and then – gasp! – PURGE the bottom 10 to 20% of activities.  Just get rid of them.  Delegate to someone else or just take them off your list.  Let’s face it.  You won’t do them.  They just make you feel overwhelmed and unsuccessful, and are likely to be work to keep you busy rather than effective.

Strategy for Success:  Preview the month, Prioritize for success, Purge the busy work!!

To Your Inspired Leadership,

Mary Pat

Leaders Inspired

www.leadersinspired.com

mpknight@leadersinspired.com

Thanks to my dear friend Nancy Sharp who defined the year 2009, a “mulligan”.

A mulligan defined is a golf shot gone awry that your fellow golfers allow you to take over.

2009 is a mulligan.  2010 is a do-over.

Wonderful news!

To Your Inspired Leadership,

Mary Pat

‘Nuff said! Do you know where you’re going to? Do others in your life know where you are going who can support you and hold you accountable?

Why do we fail to plan? The answer can be found in our Inner Rebel. That rebel does not like to be told what to do, pinned down or held accountable. Anybody with entrepreneurial tendencies wrestles with this character. The antidote is to ask that member of your cast of characters to quietly sit in the corner while the spiritual pragmatist in you creates a plan of action.

The plan is like the root system of a tree. The disciplined structure of the root system holds the tree firm and steady while the tree shakes like heck in a strong wind. PLAN!!! PLAN!!! PLAN!!!

There are multiple ways to plan for a business. I’ve consulted with dozens and dozens of clients and businesses – many have “strategic plans” so lofty that paralysis occurs. The plan sits on a shelf. The trick is to keep it simple. Yes, have a long term view – that is vital. And give yourself a 90 day goal – or three progressive 30 day goals. If you have a long term view that is not broken down into all of its parts, you are looking through a looking glass and simply wishing for the outcome. Move into action that is founded in your goal.

Words to the wise….women business leaders are queens of multi-tasking. Do you understand the consequences of scattered action? And do you know the power of focused intent? The best multi-tasker in the world is likely to get far less accomplished than her sister who is focused on one clear action at a time. To-do lists anyone??

The wonderful thing about a plan that most of us forget – and the challenging part of a plan that some of us get stuck in – is that it is fluid. It can change with more learning and information. Are you someone who sticks with a plan even when new information tells you otherwise? Are you another someone who fails to take concrete action on agreed upon goals because you think things are going to change? The fact is we are building this rocket ship as it is flying. We get where we are going to and we need to move forward in a committed way AND at the same time be willing to shift gears, as needed. Paradox.

• Do you know where you want to go?
• Have you asked the hard questions to understand if this is a worthwhile endeavor?
• Are you clear about your market conditions?
• Do you have a product profit pyramid that focuses you on your highest ticket offerings?
• Do you have a plan that clearly articulates action-based goals and tasks?
• Do you review your plan every week and plan for focused activity each week?
• Are you celebrating the achievement of your goals?

What’s that old adage? Oh Yeah. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”.

To Your Inspired Leadership

Sophia

We are all too comfortable with working levels below our mastery.

All of us have a circle of comfort from which we operate. Over the years, this circle may have widened but I guarantee you that you are still stuck in the middle of the zone. What happens when you get to the edge of your comfort circle? You know, you generally bounce off the edge and turn right back around into your comfort zone.

Our job as business leaders is to understand mastery on two levels. The first level is the personal level. What do I know, feel, see, or believe in such mastery that I have no fear to expand beyond my boundaries. The second is the business level. What do I do, believe or know better than anyone in the world – this is my mastery. Are you uncomfortable with the questions? Time to move out of that circle of comfort.

Gay Hendricks and others in the personal development world have written and taught about working in your “zone of genius”. This is the mastery of which we are speaking. So let’s get comfortable with the question. Do you know where your particular genius lies? Do you understand where you are masterful?

Successful businesses are gifted at matching task to talent. Why learn skills that bore you and frustrate you? Can’t you see how this takes you out of focused mastery action? Are you willing to delegate 30%? 40%? 50%? 90%?

Ask yourself why you are unwilling to delegate? If the answer is that it’s easier for me to do it or nobody can do it the way I can, recognize that you are stuck in your circle of comfort. I tell my clients all the time, even though we are striving for excellence and transformation, at times 80% of something/some effort is better than 100% of nothing.

When you work in your zone of mastery, you take focused mastery action. This will propel you forward with enthusiasm, passion and joy into your unique offering in the world.

To Your Inspired Leadership,

MP

www.mpknight.com

Leadership involves clarity.
Until a personal clearing happens, we’re stuck. Now, I’m not talking about some ‘woo-woo” spiritual cleansing, rather I’m talking about a practical, logical, methodical, pragmatic, long hard look in the rear view mirror.
With a foot still stuck in the pain or regret of the past, a full throttle rev into the future is difficult and cumbersome – maybe even outright impossible.
There is a man I once worked with. During a time of economic upheaval, his job was eliminated. This was a financial decision that the owner of the company needed to and chose to make. This man was very talented. It was not a question of his talent – it was a question of economics. He took his leaving from the company to mean something about him and proceeded to carry a large grudge. He chose to be resentful. A year later, during a brief phone call, I learned that he had not found a permanent position (did I mention how talented he was?). I wish the conversation had been even briefer when he proceeded to move into gossip, hard feelings and resentment. He was stuck. Resentment is the super glue of being stuck.
What have you taken someone’s past action to mean about you?
What will it take to forgive?
Forgiveness is the acetone to the super glue of resentment. Stop nursing bad feelings and release those sacks of rocks that you are carrying around with you. Take a giant leap forward (rooted in purpose, of course) knowing that everything happens for a reason.
To your unlimitless leadership – it is truly rooted in the release of past stories that no longer serve you.
MP
www.mpknight.com

I own a business and coach others to do so.  Every day I am faced with a myriad number of choices.  I am the queen of options.  I see so many paths that I become paralyzed.  I experience brain freeze as painful as any Dairy Queen overload.  So many options means fuzzy focus and the result is 99% of the time…indecision.  This smorgasbord of options became so frustrating in my household – where so many decisions meant no decision – that one day my youngest son looked me in the eye and said, “Mom, decide or die!”.  In other words IF I had to make a decision – one decision; one option (even if I suffered all of the anxiety of leaving all other options behind), OR DIE, what choice would I make?  Shaking my head in wonder of the wisdom of my child and enjoying the full laugh of recognition, I made the decision and cleared up the logjam.

Was it a perfect decision?  Not sure.  But, I do know that it was perfect for the moment because it moved me out of paralysis.  If the decision was incorrect, I at least had some momentum to change course.

This axiom, “decide or die”, needs to be a defining battle cry for entrepreneurs, executives and business owners.  The decisions are not capricious, because they are based in the understanding of personal purpose and learning a pragmatic decision making process that ties to future vision and desires.  But decisions are made….and feet move into action.  Inertia ends.  Growth begins.

Do you know what your purpose is?  Do you know what your highest personal values are?  Do these intersect with your business?  Are you living your life and working your business on purpose?  Purpose gives you a platform of integrity from which to base all decisions.  When you understand your purpose you have an infallible indicator of personal mastery.  Think about leaders who have inspired you?  Can you guess what purpose may have been driving those leaders?

Do you have a method for making a decision?  Do you rely solely on your gut?  Do you wait for others to tell you what they think first?  What method do you have to quickly and efficiently analyze your options?  Do you know if what you are deciding about is a worthwhile endeavor?

One little hint about decisions and the pain of releasing the options….File the options away in an idea file.  Review the file weekly/monthly/quarterly.  As your business grows in leaps and bounds, some of the options can be re-visited.  Many, though, become obsolete because your clear committed action that emerged from your original decision or choice has caused your business to shift in extraordinary ways.

To Your Inspired Leadership!

MP

www.mpknight.com