A few weeks ago, in the late quiet of a winter night, I found myself thumbing through a journal that I had kept a couple of years ago. The journal, one of those moleskin notebooks, was filled with anguish, longing and uncertainty. While I was happily occupied with loving my daughter, coaching and consulting, being a foster parent, and singing with The Shirleys, I was simultaneously living in a state of acute fear and sadness, i had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was still undergoing treatment and was trying to make my way out of a wretchedly doomed love affair. Amidst the pages of despair I found this:

100 THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE.

Have you ever written a list like that? Your own little bucket list? I remember it took me a good long while. I was really reaching for ideas by the time i hit the 80’s but i pressed on to a 100. At the time that i wrote the list, I am not sure how confident I was that i would actually live to do even half the things on it. And some of the things on it seem utterly ridiculous now. I mean for some reason I wanted to get on Charlie Rose. I also wanted to build something beautiful out of wood. I found that comforting and true though i am not sure it would make the list today. Reviewing the list was fascinating. I couldn’t help but wonder how the final tally might have differed had I not been under such emotional pressure. But the real delight was in finding that I had completed- or was close to completing- a good number of the things on it….And it was a profound lesson in the importance of taking stock and celebrating personal success. It was also a little painful to see how much I hadn’t done. But I know I haven’t been sitting around idle. Hell, if there were a camel to ride right here in Vancouver I’d be on it!  The Shirleys call it “gettin’ shit done, crossin’ it off the list”. Of the 100 things listed I’ve managed to cross off the following…

• Become a better gardener and grow more food
• Record a CD
• Go to Hornby Island again
• Teach leadership workshops
• Make a great website- Thanks Leanna
• Practice excellence in coaching
• Develop an Appreciative Inquiry workshop for youth
• Be an auntie (and an auntie and an auntie)!!
• Never get cancer again - so far so good
• Have fun every day
• Works in progress include seeing the Mayan ruins, swimming with dolphins, and travelling to Central America with my daughter (depart Feb 20th)

This little story is my gift to you. Write your own 100 list. Each time you do one thing scratch it off and celebrate, toss off things from time to time if they are no longer calling your name and add new ones so it remains full to the brim with hope, dreams and inspiration. I plan to update my list from this new place of good health and gratitude. And look at it more often.

Happy Holidays, and thank you for being a part of my inspiration.

Tags: Coaching, Leadership, life lessons, top 100

For most people January marks a time for new beginnings, fresh starts, resolutions and fabulous intentions. Professionally, it may inspire you to think about your aspirations, successes and setbacks and to consider creating a plan that will make the New Year a GREAT Year!

Frequently when people approach personal or professional development planning it is from a reactive position. The desire for change is born from an experience about what is not working. This is to be expected as we are wired to respond to pain (physical and emotional).  We are all pretty clear about what we don’t like or don’t want, and yet rarely do we give conscious though to what it is that we DO want. Let’s take that pain analogy a little further. If you put your hand on a hot stove you will, without thinking about it, pull it away, likely uttering an expletive or two. But if, instead, you were asked to set your hand upon something that you really want to touch, discover, take hold of, you’d probably stop and really have to think about it.

Making a mindful decision to work on ourselves is more wisely approached by considering what it is that we want more of. That involves a deliberate investigation into our beliefs, values, mission and vision. From there one can imagine the success measures, or indicators that would let us know we had met our objectives. After that it is a matter of thoroughly assessing where we are right NOW. And this is where assessments and feedback become our best friend.

The Leadership Skills Inventory Assessments (LSI-S) is one such assessment created to support individuals and  groups in determining a benchmark for their personal and organizational leadership proficiency. The assessment is a self-scoring and self-administered communication and learning tool that  assesses the level of functioning in  five leadership skills sections, which include the following:

• Self-Management Skills
• Interpersonal Communication Skills
• Coaching and Problem-Management Skills
• Consulting and Team Development Skills
• Organizational Development Skills

The assessment allows you to:

Evaluate proficiency in 60 Transforming Leadership Skills

Determine required professional development for executive succession

Outline framework and focus for leadership coaching

Identify required skills for success in any leadership or supervisory role

Conduct a comprehensive 360 degree assessment by pairing it with the  LSI-Other

INtwoIT Executive Coaching & Consulting would like to help you DESIGN your ‘09 and is offering an exclusive, time limited assessment and coaching package. ASK ME ABOUT IT TODAY!

Tags: Coaching, Consulting Resource Group, executive coaching, INtwoIT, leadership assessments, leadership coaching, leadership consulting, leadership skills, new years resolution