Leadership development set to music

I am a fan of TED.com, a resource of brief and powerful presentations by leading lights in a wide variety of fields. I ran across this presentation by Israeli conductor Itay Talgam. Talgam is talking about leadership and in so doing he reviews the approaches of half a dozen different conductors. He covers topics such as power and control, discipline, connection, listening, and ultimately what it takes to bring out the best in an orchestra. A brilliant piece, and the final video with Leonard Bernstein makes his point without a single word. Enjoy! (...and share with your teams!)

http://www.ted.com/talks/itay_talgam_lead_like_the_great_conductors.html

Multitasking or Presence?

One of the keys to Full Color Living is the practice of presence -- being fully aware in the moment. Giving one's full attention to life, really. In the busyness of life it can be a challenge to be present. We make things worse by multi-tasking. I've noticed especially in my kids' generation, 20-somethings, that they prefer to do three, four, five things at once (...cell phone, TV and emailing, for example. Or worse, driving, listening to the radio and texting.)

Researchers have been looking at this, and a recent New York Times article just reported on a Stanford study of college students. They found, says the article quoting study author Clifford Nass, "The more likely you are to multitask, the worse you are at it... The high multitaskers overly focus on the irrelevant, keep their memory very sloppy, and they're very bad at switching from one task to another."

I've heard it said that multitasking is simply interrupting yourself over and over again. Looks like that's the case. So today's challenge: do one thing at a time, focus on it until it is done, and enjoy the satisfaction and success of being present.

Strengths, Passion and Purpose

This week I had the opportunity to speak at Webster University in Sarasota as part of a four-part program,
"Stand Out In A Tough Market." We talked about passions, purpose and strengths, and as always the energy in the room intensified when the participants gathered in small groups to work through their own stories and tease out the major themes. One woman happened to have with her a gorgeous quilt she had created -- a clear and colorful example of "passion" as well as a demonstration of her strengths!

Greater Sarasota Coaches Alliance 2009 Program

If you live near Sarasota, Florida and would like some inspiration for the emerging new year, come to one (or more!) of the monthly lunch programs offered by the Greater Sarasota Coaches Alliance. The first one is tomorrow! - Monday, January 18 - and I will be presenting in the February program (Monday, February 23 ). Here's a link to more info: www.GreaterSarasotaCoaches.org.

Geneen Roth on the Madoff debacle

I am inspired by this article by author Geneen Roth, who among many others lost her life savings through the actions of an unscrupulous money manager. Note her comments about living in the moment -- even in times of trial, the ideal is to not trouble ourselves about the past or worry about the future, but be here, now.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geneen-roth/what-i-gained-by-losing-i_b_156088.html