It’s that time of year again. Amazing how much was packed into the year and what’s to come for 2008. 2008…. Wow!
As busy as I was in 2006, I was even busier in 2007, but I figured it out. It’s that Time Mastery thing where I really learned to respect time and my life in relation to it. I figured out I do about 30 days work in 20 days. Impossible? No, not at all. It’s working smarter, making better choices, working with clients and in realms that energize me rather than deplete my energy. Nothing will take me from enjoying an amazing personal life as success is life. To me, a successful life is one lived from joy and growth. It’s all of my life, not just one aspect of it.
So let’s recap for a moment. And if I forgot something and you catch it, let me know OK?
I’ve been writing more programs, launched ‘It’s All About You…and Others”, I’m working on a guide for those going through a rough divorce, a coaching methodology perspective so you thrive throughout, I’m doing Time Mastery workshops and working on a virtual program with my friend Donna. Yep…the Donna and Donna team. Scary duo but hey, we’ve been creating some great things…
I’ve been teaching in many parts of the world and loving it. I was elected to the Board of the International Consortium for Coaching in Organizations and the Board of Governors for the International Association of Coaching. Those positions are a huge honor for me as they are at the cutting edge of Coaching in Organizations and credentialing based on Mastery in our field.
I’m working with clients who are global leaders and continually blow me away at their authenticity even in positions of power (and yes! they can and do co-exist).
I’m wearing many hats, that of Executive Coach, Shadow Coach, Teacher, Lecturer, Participants in Research and Development and Think Tanks, collaborating with some amazing colleagues, writing both articles and program content, became an expert on SelfGrowth.com, have developed quite the readership for my Fast Company Experts Blog, am now a part of Faith Popcorn’s TalentBank, still working with Microsoft Vision Team to look at the life/balance and context of technology.
The new year will bring me to new parts of the globe as I teach my Shadow Coaching model to Master coaches from all over the world. I’ll be writing more, picking and choosing the clients I want to work with, and helping design international symposia. I’ll be looking at identifying rising stars and helping them evolve into their level of excellence. It’s not only about succession planning…it’s about growing new talent and helping the next wave of leadership slide into roles they are really ready for. As corny as it might sound to some of you, I’ll be looking to see how I can make a difference in the world. It’ll mean strategic choices as well as paying attention to how I could have the biggest ripple effect. And I’m going to help grow the practices of future Master Coaches so they thrive and have prosperous practices. It’s not only about teaching what it is I do….it’s about helping them create sustainable, thriving practices where they can do what they do best and grow their businesses at the same time.
It’s time I shared more. It’s making strategic choices in that as well as let’s face it, I can’t be everywhere at once. But just as my work is laser, so can my mentoring sessions be as well.
I don’t make new year’s resolutions. I do, however set intentions as for me, they’re a lot more powerful and do-able. My main intention for 2008 is to make sure I always have time for the people in my life ....and life!
And to you all, I wish you a happy new year, filled with possibilities, and choices, not out of obligation but joy. May you grow, experience life to the fullest rather than just exist through it and may you realize how you touch everyone around you, known and unknown to you in a profound way. It’s how you choose to touch them that will determine what that might mean to them and for you.
I wish you the best of 2008 and beyond.
Donna Karlin
***Note: For tips on the run to run with, and to be the first to know about program launches and special pricing packages, subscribe to our free newsletter Perspectives in Brief; 2 minutes reading time or less, delivered every other Tuesday directly to your inbox, BlackBerry or handheld.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Reacting? Responding? Is There a Difference?
Of course there's a difference. There's a huge difference even in the subtleties.
"People limit themselves without realizing it by reacting to situations, rather than responding and broadening their horizons."
That statement is one of many in a new program we launched this past year called "It's All About You...and Others". It's been tweaked, proofed and reviewed and is now being tackled by participants all over the world. Out of the 26 segments of this mini self-coaching course, this one statement is pushing more buttons than any other, and let me tell you, as a self-awareness behavioral course, there are a lot of very edgy truths besides this one that one might think would push more buttons than this.
Perhaps it's taking responsibility for how we react to situations that are out of our comfort zone and then get angry and react in the process or perhaps it's an in your face "look at when you react and act yourself why" question that comes to mind.
I'd love to hear how you look at a statement like that and how, if at all, it might apply in the context of your world. That's what it's all about, though isn't it? Awareness of self and our place in our world.
What's your immediate gut reaction to this?
Inquiring minds (or coaches in this case) would love to know.
Best!
Donna Karlin
*Note: Check out this new article about my work as a Shadow Coach™ in Personal Success Magazine called "Why I Shadow My Clients' by Mary-Louise Cook
"People limit themselves without realizing it by reacting to situations, rather than responding and broadening their horizons."
That statement is one of many in a new program we launched this past year called "It's All About You...and Others". It's been tweaked, proofed and reviewed and is now being tackled by participants all over the world. Out of the 26 segments of this mini self-coaching course, this one statement is pushing more buttons than any other, and let me tell you, as a self-awareness behavioral course, there are a lot of very edgy truths besides this one that one might think would push more buttons than this.
Perhaps it's taking responsibility for how we react to situations that are out of our comfort zone and then get angry and react in the process or perhaps it's an in your face "look at when you react and act yourself why" question that comes to mind.
I'd love to hear how you look at a statement like that and how, if at all, it might apply in the context of your world. That's what it's all about, though isn't it? Awareness of self and our place in our world.
What's your immediate gut reaction to this?
Inquiring minds (or coaches in this case) would love to know.
Best!
Donna Karlin
*Note: Check out this new article about my work as a Shadow Coach™ in Personal Success Magazine called "Why I Shadow My Clients' by Mary-Louise Cook
Sunday, December 02, 2007
We Know What We Know…Doesn’t Everybody?
I was recently reading a book summary for “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” and as I had recently read “The Tipping Point” where they talk about stickiness as well, the topic of this book intrigued me. I was fascinated by this not to promote a product, but to help me in my work laser coaching my clients through chaotic days. This concept helped me articulate a snapshot of a moment in time in such a way they’d not only see it but ‘get it’.
I just returned from Washington D.C. doing a training for The School of Shadow Coaching™. My goal was for the participants to know what I do so intricately, they would not only get it but could walk away using it in their day to day practices. The first step to get my concepts across was to ask them to park all assumptions about what they had already learned...what they already knew. There were two reasons behind this: 1) so that they wouldn't keep trying to 'fit' what I do into what they had already learned and instead look at how they could add it to what they already knew and 2) that they would all be on the same page because even though these were experienced coaches, they all didn't know what the others knew. This way they would be learning one methodology and then align it with their current ways of practicing.
To get back to the summary, something really hit home when Chip Heath and Dan Heath stated “To strip an idea down to its core, we must be masters of exclusion. We must relentlessly prioritize. Saying something short isn’t the mission — sound bites aren’t the ideal. Proverbs are the ideal. We must create ideas that are both simple and profound. A one-sentence statement so profound that an individual could spend a lifetime learning it…. Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it’s like not to know it. Our knowledge has “cursed” us.”
It then occurred to me that many people are cursed by their knowledge as they can’t fathom why others don’t see things as they do because it’s obvious, right? ‘Knowing’ becomes a filter through which ideas are shared and instructions given but if the other party has no idea of what you're talking about, there is an immediate disconnect. That was another key aspect of the training; looking at filters, both ours as coaches and our client's filters, acknowledging them and working with them.
As much as I dislike assumptions and how they get people into trouble, what would it mean if we assumed others didn’t know what we knew? If we started off with that premise, how much easier would it be to have generative dialogue and create something that not only stuck but just might be sustainable?
This was an extraordinary group, coming together from all parts of the US and Canada; seasoned, experienced coaches.... practitioners in various fields of expertise with different clientele. They all parked their assumptions and came together to learn, to grow and to work with each other to help integrate that learning so they could broaden the scope of their practices.
It was magical! But learning is magical, don't you think?
Best..
Donna Karlin
*Note: Welcome 117th subscriber from the US Virgin Islands!
I just returned from Washington D.C. doing a training for The School of Shadow Coaching™. My goal was for the participants to know what I do so intricately, they would not only get it but could walk away using it in their day to day practices. The first step to get my concepts across was to ask them to park all assumptions about what they had already learned...what they already knew. There were two reasons behind this: 1) so that they wouldn't keep trying to 'fit' what I do into what they had already learned and instead look at how they could add it to what they already knew and 2) that they would all be on the same page because even though these were experienced coaches, they all didn't know what the others knew. This way they would be learning one methodology and then align it with their current ways of practicing.
To get back to the summary, something really hit home when Chip Heath and Dan Heath stated “To strip an idea down to its core, we must be masters of exclusion. We must relentlessly prioritize. Saying something short isn’t the mission — sound bites aren’t the ideal. Proverbs are the ideal. We must create ideas that are both simple and profound. A one-sentence statement so profound that an individual could spend a lifetime learning it…. Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it’s like not to know it. Our knowledge has “cursed” us.”
It then occurred to me that many people are cursed by their knowledge as they can’t fathom why others don’t see things as they do because it’s obvious, right? ‘Knowing’ becomes a filter through which ideas are shared and instructions given but if the other party has no idea of what you're talking about, there is an immediate disconnect. That was another key aspect of the training; looking at filters, both ours as coaches and our client's filters, acknowledging them and working with them.
As much as I dislike assumptions and how they get people into trouble, what would it mean if we assumed others didn’t know what we knew? If we started off with that premise, how much easier would it be to have generative dialogue and create something that not only stuck but just might be sustainable?
This was an extraordinary group, coming together from all parts of the US and Canada; seasoned, experienced coaches.... practitioners in various fields of expertise with different clientele. They all parked their assumptions and came together to learn, to grow and to work with each other to help integrate that learning so they could broaden the scope of their practices.
It was magical! But learning is magical, don't you think?
Best..
Donna Karlin
*Note: Welcome 117th subscriber from the US Virgin Islands!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Learning Lessons Learned
I'm about to go to Washington D.C. to do an advanced coach training with the School of Shadow Coaching™. I always look forward to these sessions as amazing minds come together, already masterful in the coaching field, to learn something new.
A great byproduct of my work is what I learn through the day. That's an advantage of being a Shadow Coach™, being in the middle of my client's world as it unfolds. I learn about what they do and learn about what I do at the same time.
Every time I teach, I have tweaked the program to integrate what I have learned as a professional. Add into the equation the great minds, knowledge and expertise of the participants and the methodology has to evolve along with it as newfound awareness of what's possible emerges.
What if we applied this across the board? Learning from lessons learned on a regular basis, not just after an event or assessment. If we shared better business practices, ideas, concepts that morph as they're tried and tweaked along the way. How could we not stay 3 steps ahead of the current trends?
Corporate memory can hold an organization back just as living your life by dwelling in the past will not only hold you back but stop you dead.
Once ever year or so I invite people who have done the training to come back for a grad basic of sorts; revisiting the basics from someone who's been there, done that to see what works really well and how to do other aspects of our work better. We always leave the room with a whole new perspective of our work and how to be better practitioners.
What would it mean for you if you could go back to the basics with your colleagues and revisit what you might have forgotten and change what's no longer working for you? How powerful would that be?
How can you make that happen?
Best..
Donna Karlin
*Note: Welcome 116th country subscriber from Mozambique. We hope you stay around for a long time to come.
A great byproduct of my work is what I learn through the day. That's an advantage of being a Shadow Coach™, being in the middle of my client's world as it unfolds. I learn about what they do and learn about what I do at the same time.
Every time I teach, I have tweaked the program to integrate what I have learned as a professional. Add into the equation the great minds, knowledge and expertise of the participants and the methodology has to evolve along with it as newfound awareness of what's possible emerges.
What if we applied this across the board? Learning from lessons learned on a regular basis, not just after an event or assessment. If we shared better business practices, ideas, concepts that morph as they're tried and tweaked along the way. How could we not stay 3 steps ahead of the current trends?
Corporate memory can hold an organization back just as living your life by dwelling in the past will not only hold you back but stop you dead.
Once ever year or so I invite people who have done the training to come back for a grad basic of sorts; revisiting the basics from someone who's been there, done that to see what works really well and how to do other aspects of our work better. We always leave the room with a whole new perspective of our work and how to be better practitioners.
What would it mean for you if you could go back to the basics with your colleagues and revisit what you might have forgotten and change what's no longer working for you? How powerful would that be?
How can you make that happen?
Best..
Donna Karlin
*Note: Welcome 116th country subscriber from Mozambique. We hope you stay around for a long time to come.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Living Through a Rear View Mirror
My business cards have a shadow of a person driving with a reflection in the rear-view mirror. Why? Because I tell my clients “If you live your life by constantly looking in the rear-view mirror, you’ll eventually crash and burn. Objects (or past history) in rear view mirrors do appear larger than they really are. Our pasts seem to be magnified exponentially in our memories.
To build on my Fast Company Experts post for a moment from July 11th 2007 Direction Defined or Not , you can’t live your life through your past. You can build on it and move forward because of it, for good or bad but you can’t live on your laurels forever. You’ll have to start living your future right now or before you know it, you’ll be looking at just more of the same and no movement whatsoever. For leaders, that could very well mean being put out to pasture and replaced by those who build a future by the choices they make right now. Successful leaders celebrate their successes, build on them and move forward. They constantly reinvent.
Recently I was with a group of people working together to create business plans. What an amazing experience! Each person asked for help and support in making their professional (and in some instances personal) dreams a reality. Yet there was one who started off every sentence by “Oh I used to do that, and when I did, I did it this way!” His was the only way, the best way, and he seemed to have done it all. If there were twenty projects and directions the others wanted to take you can be sure he said he had done all of them at some point in his life, and yet he was the only one who had no definitive direction as to where he wanted to go for his future. The others around the table gave him some ideas he might want to work with. He nodded as if he was actually listening but ran with none of them. Through the week we kept hearing “When I used to do that…”
A few weeks have now passed and I’m watching as the others work towards their plans and are actually building a life they love. They’re making professional changes to grow and are collaborating on both small and large projects that will give them more visibility, knowledge, experience and expertise in their fields, helping them achieve their level of excellence. And yet this individual, while he looks in his rear-view mirror is at a standstill for now. He’s stalled in the past and has no vision whatsoever for his future.
Does this sound like anyone you know? You can only challenge someone so far to take a good hard look at where they’re at in the scheme of things, but if they’re not willing to truly see the path they’re on, they will eventually crash and burn. It’ll then be much harder to pick up the pieces and start from scratch.
Some points for you to ponder:
Do you find yourself thinking and speaking in the past tense?
Do you have a plan for your future? Not necessarily a list of goals but a dream you’re working towards?
Who can you ask for help so you can really get there and make it happen?
What do you need to know that you don’t know? (A great barometer)
People generally find it easier to help others than to ask for help. If you like the feeling of giving to help someone else to realize their dreams, why in the world would you deprive others of feeling the same way when they want to help you?
Have you articulated what your future will look like? Until you see it, touch it and breathe it, how can you figure out ways and steps forward to make it happen?
No ceiling, just sky.Best..
Donna Karlin
*Note: Many of you have been asking me about my travels and where I'll be teaching next. I recognize I can't be in all parts of the continent (and beyond) in one fell swoop but will post my whereabouts for you on here as well as my website. For those of you who want to learn the Shadow Coaching model, I'll be teaching in Washington D.C. on November 28 - 29th, 2007 and there's room for about 6 more people before we close registration. If you want to join in, I urge you to register now to hold your place. To do that click here to register.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Letting Go of Expectations
This afternoon I was tagged by Robyn McMaster for the "Think Different Challenge"
One of the things I have to continually work on is eliminating expectations. As far as I'm concerned, having expectations is like making a judgment before the fact and doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense to me. So why do we have expectations? Is it wishes? Dreams? Anticipation?
Regardless, I recognize I have expectations and, when I drop them and no longer let them have any power over me in any way, I'm usually pleasantly surprised.
So when it comes to expecting someone to call, to care, to engage, to act the way I might in a specific circumstance, I challenge myself to think differently....to let go of all expectations which takes others' monkeys off my back, gives others the freedom to act from a position of their values and integrity (or not) and for me to live in alignment with mine at the same time, regardless of what others do.
Whew! Freeing!
Thanks for the reminder Robyn!
The Challenge...
The Think Different Challenge is all about finding something in your life you currently have negative thoughts or feelings toward (eg work or your mother-in-law), and deciding to look at it differently. It is about realizing that some things are just a part of life, so we may as well try to find the positives in them.
One of the things I have to continually work on is eliminating expectations. As far as I'm concerned, having expectations is like making a judgment before the fact and doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense to me. So why do we have expectations? Is it wishes? Dreams? Anticipation?
Regardless, I recognize I have expectations and, when I drop them and no longer let them have any power over me in any way, I'm usually pleasantly surprised.
So when it comes to expecting someone to call, to care, to engage, to act the way I might in a specific circumstance, I challenge myself to think differently....to let go of all expectations which takes others' monkeys off my back, gives others the freedom to act from a position of their values and integrity (or not) and for me to live in alignment with mine at the same time, regardless of what others do.
Whew! Freeing!
Thanks for the reminder Robyn!
The Challenge...
The Think Different Challenge is all about finding something in your life you currently have negative thoughts or feelings toward (eg work or your mother-in-law), and deciding to look at it differently. It is about realizing that some things are just a part of life, so we may as well try to find the positives in them.
The rules for this writing project are:
- Write a new blog post in which you “think different”. Follow my suggestions above, or be a bit different and interpret the challenge the way you want .
- State that the post is a part of the Think Different Challenge and include a link and/ or trackback to this post so that readers know the rules of the challenge. Feel free to use the above banner (inspired, of course, by Seth Godin).
- Include a link and/ or trackback to the blogger who tagged you.
- At the end of your post, go ahead and tag some fellow bloggers. Don’t forget to email them to let them know they have been tagged.
- That’s it! Just sit back and enjoy reading peoples’ responses to the challenge.
So to keep this going, I Tag:
Donna Steinhorn from Rethinking
Steve Harper from the Ripple Effect
Phil Johnson from Master of Business Leadership
John Lazar from Leading Edge of Leadership
Alexander Kjerulf aka The Chief Happiness Officer
Joe Raasch from The Happy Burro
Prince Rahman at MagnumVox Leadership
If you weren’t tagged, but would like to participate, please go ahead and write a post that fits in with the challenge. Thanks for playing!
Best...
Donna Karlin
Saturday, November 10, 2007
OnGrowing Weekly Challenge
Colleague and dear friend Donna Steinhorn and I have decided to create an OnGrowing Weekly Challenge to hear how people deal, cope, thrive and grow in their lives.
I maintain that the gap between where you are and where you want to be is filled by what you choose to do in the time available to you; every conversation, thought, choice and decision.
We can either blame someone else for our shortfallings, our level of success, our happiness or anything else you can think of but bottom line is, when we give the power of our destiny in whatever realm to someone else, we are choosing to give up control of our lives.
I truly believe that.
My challenge to you is, who are you giving your personal power away to and how are you going to take it back?” Tag 5 people to join us in this challenge. We can either choose our future or let someone else do it for us. Which would you prefer?
I realized that by trying to fix the world, dive in and help a gazillion people and organizations I wasn't picking and choosing how I could have the biggest impact. By doing that, I was so worried by everything and everyone else that I was sacrificing myself for other causes. A friend and colleague of mine shared that to sacrifice something, (or ourselves) was to make something sacred. When she told me that I realized that I was making things sacred that just weren't and compromising my practice, my business and my health by doing it. Now I'm making choices that are in alignment with my goals and purpose. It feels great to be able to say that!
I believe in order to be leaders in our fields we have to make choices about how to use our time, what work to do and how we do it in the best possible way that is in alignment with who we are and what we envision in our worlds. Far too often we are talked into doing things that take our focus away from our life long goals or purpose. For us to be strong leaders we need to learn how to make those choices. It's not always easy but the rewards are extraordinary.
Here are 5 people I'm tagging to join me in this:
Susan Meyer
Paul Markle
Phillip Clark
Lorraine Cohen
Michelle Randall
...however I open this up to all who reads this and invite you to play with us!
Looking forward…
Donna Karlin
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Expectations
I’m just back from the 2007 International Coach Federation Conference in Long Beach California. It was an amazing experience for me. The reason I’m starting off this post with that comment is, my expectations for this event, based on last year’s experience was as low as they come. I made a conscious decision, in spite of low expectations to go and to turn those expectations around into what I decided would be an invaluable experience.
It was.
I wonder how many times we expect something to be a “1” on a scale of 1- 10, thereby choosing not to go. There were many criteria at play here. First of all, it would be an expensive event to go to simply by virtue of having to travel pretty much the length of the continent to get there. Little did I know when I booked it and registered that the Canadian dollar would be stronger than the US dollar. It’s been many years since that had happened. Bonus. Travel was less than optimal as because of mechanical problems the plane had to return to the tarmac for 2 hours. I knew I had missed my connecting flight before we had even taken off. Still, ever part of this trip was an amazing experience. From wonderful ticket agents trying their best to get me there are quickly and safely as possible to the amazing people I interacted with along the way, it was extraordinary.
If I had let my low expectations dictate whether or not I would have gone, I would have missed out on the following:
- Meeting up with my ICCO colleagues and friends, which I rarely get to do in person
- Supporting my dear friend and colleague in his presentation (awesome)
- Meeting some fascinating people from my home town and from other parts of the globe
- Learning more about the Foundation of Coaching and perhaps becoming more involved
- Lunch and networking meeting with my friend Marion and people from her world
- Planning some future work with someone I respect so highly and would be honoured to work with
- Learning about internal coaching programs from the Deloitte perspective
- Meeting someone from Tokyo Japan and sharing ideas with him about a program in his company
I could go on and on and not have nearly enough time and space to list them all. Even the shuttle bus ride to the airport was an experience as I met coaches who had participated in this event, all fascinating in their own right.
Bottom line is, I could have as many expectations as I want; the best part of these conferences isn’t the continuing credits that I get or even the breakout learning sessions. It’s the people, the cultures that come together, insights, ideas and enough energy to raise the roof! Yes, I have to weigh cost with value, but how does one put a value on being inspired and growing in leaps and bounds?
I made a conscious choice to toss expectations out the window from now on. I had started on that journey but I’m way ahead after this past week.
The question I ask of you is, what expectations do you have that might be holding you back from something amazing, if you’d give it half a chance?
Best..
Donna Karlin
*Note: I often recommend products, technology or services, a book or two or program that will move you forward in some way. Well today is no exception. If you’re a coach or someone who grows people for a living or passion, I recommend you subscribe to IJCO, the International Journal of Coaching in Organizations. It is brimming with ideas, expertise, latest concepts and trends, research and dialogue that you’ll refer to again and again in your work. Every issue brings a new level of awareness. It’s a magnificent publication in every way shape and form. Click here to learn more.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
"To strip an idea down to its core, we must be masters of exclusion. We must create ideas that are both simple and profound, something so laser and to the point that an individual can want to spend a lifetime becoming masterful at it. Once we know something, we can't begin to imagine what it would be like to not know it"
That is the world of Shadow Coaches™ and their clients.
In the world of coaching, we have to be at least two steps ahead of current trends. If we can't think outside the box we're not serving our clients. And if we give clients what they think they can get instead of what they need and want, then we're serving ourselves first. Coaching is about the clients, supporting them, partnering with them and helping them stretch beyond where they've ever been before to fly.
As Coaches, we have a finite amount of time available to us to coach clients on the fly, in the centre of complex challenges in chaotic times. Unlike most coaching sessions, shadow and laser coaching sessions can be a matter of moments in time, where we coach on one thought, one moment in time that had just unfolded in such a way that when they're coached on it, they not only "get it" but it sticks.
Add to that equation working with client's shadow personalities, and not only do they 'get it' but they embrace it, all aspects of themselves within the context of their worlds as they know them.
Combining evidence with patterns of behavior I can say that 50% of the data I use when Shadow Coaching my clients is what they don't tell me. It's located between their words. I discern what wasn't said, pick up what wasn't evident and become a catalyst so my clients could discover what it was they weren't aware of, in real time. It's all about context.
It's fast, dynamic, powerful and, because it happens in real time, they create sustainable change.
What circumstances unfolded where you would have benefited from having an observational Shadow Coach there to help you process what had just happened and learn from it, grow from it and respond rather than react to it? It's partnership without judgment....a rare occurrence in our lives these days.
For those of you who want more from your coaches (or want to work with a coach) remember to ask for what you want and don't settle.
Best!
Donna Karlin
That is the world of Shadow Coaches™ and their clients.
In the world of coaching, we have to be at least two steps ahead of current trends. If we can't think outside the box we're not serving our clients. And if we give clients what they think they can get instead of what they need and want, then we're serving ourselves first. Coaching is about the clients, supporting them, partnering with them and helping them stretch beyond where they've ever been before to fly.
As Coaches, we have a finite amount of time available to us to coach clients on the fly, in the centre of complex challenges in chaotic times. Unlike most coaching sessions, shadow and laser coaching sessions can be a matter of moments in time, where we coach on one thought, one moment in time that had just unfolded in such a way that when they're coached on it, they not only "get it" but it sticks.
Add to that equation working with client's shadow personalities, and not only do they 'get it' but they embrace it, all aspects of themselves within the context of their worlds as they know them.
Combining evidence with patterns of behavior I can say that 50% of the data I use when Shadow Coaching my clients is what they don't tell me. It's located between their words. I discern what wasn't said, pick up what wasn't evident and become a catalyst so my clients could discover what it was they weren't aware of, in real time. It's all about context.
It's fast, dynamic, powerful and, because it happens in real time, they create sustainable change.
What circumstances unfolded where you would have benefited from having an observational Shadow Coach there to help you process what had just happened and learn from it, grow from it and respond rather than react to it? It's partnership without judgment....a rare occurrence in our lives these days.
For those of you who want more from your coaches (or want to work with a coach) remember to ask for what you want and don't settle.
Best!
Donna Karlin
Monday, October 29, 2007
Breakthrough
What is 'Breakthrough'?
def.
1. an act of overcoming or moving through an obstacle or restriction.
2. an important discovery in a particular field that encourages an acceleration in knowledge.
Have you had a breakthrough lately? It’s very different than making small changes in your life, career, or ways of being that might or might not be sustainable. It’s the tipping point that shifts paradigms permanently. It's changes the way you process thought, the way you tackle something and interact, deal with issues, lead others,…it’s all of it. You’ll never be the same or 'go back' because the fundamental way you think will come from a different place altogether.
To use an analogy, picture being surrounded by tinted glass, an enclosed room muffling everything around you. All of a sudden something comes along that smashes the glass. It’s not removed, it’s eliminated. There are no more barriers, no filters. All of a sudden the walls are opened up no longer boxing you in, allowing light, or illumination to stream in. The epitome of the 'AHHA!' moment bringing absolute clarity and direction.
Take that analogy and apply it to your life, your leadership, your perspectives. Now what would it look like?
*Note: We just hit 115 subscribers! Welcome our new reader from Luxembourg. Sit back and enjoy and we'd love if you'd share your thoughts with us.
Bookmark this page and hold onto it
You know I don't often include recommendations but this deserves a special mention. Save the bookmark so you have it when you need it because as professionals you will need it at some point and this way you won't have to look any further.
David Bernstein, former coaching editor at Wiley, recently set up Able Press Consulting to expertly guide folks through the self publishing process. David (who at Wiley published Pat Williams, Coach U, and many others in the coaching world) helps coaches, speakers, and consultants to create a profitable self publishing strategy, and to professionally execute that strategy.
If you're even thinking of publishing, contact David. You won't be sorry!
def.
1. an act of overcoming or moving through an obstacle or restriction.
2. an important discovery in a particular field that encourages an acceleration in knowledge.
Have you had a breakthrough lately? It’s very different than making small changes in your life, career, or ways of being that might or might not be sustainable. It’s the tipping point that shifts paradigms permanently. It's changes the way you process thought, the way you tackle something and interact, deal with issues, lead others,…it’s all of it. You’ll never be the same or 'go back' because the fundamental way you think will come from a different place altogether.
To use an analogy, picture being surrounded by tinted glass, an enclosed room muffling everything around you. All of a sudden something comes along that smashes the glass. It’s not removed, it’s eliminated. There are no more barriers, no filters. All of a sudden the walls are opened up no longer boxing you in, allowing light, or illumination to stream in. The epitome of the 'AHHA!' moment bringing absolute clarity and direction.
Take that analogy and apply it to your life, your leadership, your perspectives. Now what would it look like?
*Note: We just hit 115 subscribers! Welcome our new reader from Luxembourg. Sit back and enjoy and we'd love if you'd share your thoughts with us.
Bookmark this page and hold onto it
You know I don't often include recommendations but this deserves a special mention. Save the bookmark so you have it when you need it because as professionals you will need it at some point and this way you won't have to look any further.
David Bernstein, former coaching editor at Wiley, recently set up Able Press Consulting to expertly guide folks through the self publishing process. David (who at Wiley published Pat Williams, Coach U, and many others in the coaching world) helps coaches, speakers, and consultants to create a profitable self publishing strategy, and to professionally execute that strategy.
If you're even thinking of publishing, contact David. You won't be sorry!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
It's All About You...Really!
I'm in content creation mode. This is the time of year when I take concepts and ideas and come up with a virtual program that works. For example, for our 'It's All About You...and Others" program, a human behavioral program, writing content wasn't so difficult for me. Sending it to my R & D team for their input, edits and thoughts and expecting to just get regular every day feedback is next to impossible. Consider a 26 week program which means 26 segments along with intro sheets for each being analyzed by coaches. Do you think any of them agree on concept, approach and impact and not want to talk about each and every point? I think you’ve figured out the answer to that one.
R & D teams are amazing resources and I am very thankful for mine and the other one’s I’m involved in. Getting my 'It’s All About You…and Others’ program vetted, tweaked and launched was probably one of the most difficult tasks I’ve ever undertaken. It wasn’t because it was so hard to write content, as let’s face it, humans are very unique, multi-faceted beings so I’d have enough content to write for the rest of my life! It was that the dialogue that evolved because of the button-pushing questions in the program was so good none of us wanted it to stop. Perhaps there’s a blog in there somewhere.....
We can either live in a rationalizing world or one where we look at the truth of our lives and our places in them and change, tweak and embrace pieces of it accordingly. When we live in a world of rationalization, we tend to make or try to make the unacceptable acceptable and that’s where cracks in our foundation of life start to form. Cracks can become craters if we’re not careful.
People tend to ignore those cracks and often only start paying attention when a chasm forms.
In one of the weekly modules I state “People fail to see that they are the magic wand they wait and wish for. They’re always looking somewhere else for a magical solution. Why are you looking for that magic wand? What choices do you have to make to create those results all on your own?”
That one thought inspired weeks of dialogue for us personally as coaching professionals and because of what we see in the lives of our clients as well.
How many wait for that perfect time? What is that perfect time exactly and what makes it perfect? They wait for ‘one day’, or for retirement. They make lists of places they want to travel to and yet never pull those lists out of the drawer because they’re waiting for that magic wand to give them their promotion first, the winning lottery ticket, that grasp at the unreachable, which is reachable only if they started making changes in their lives. It’s so much easier to lead others than lead ourselves through life.
Someone I was in a group session with recently was so busy talking about her past that she had no thoughts at all focused on her future. She could articulate every single thing she ever did in her past, endless numbers of jobs and careers… all aimless, none focused on helping her achieve and live her dream. She looked at what was, not what is or what might be. It was so much easier reliving the past through the filters of rationalization. Her work is in limbo, her life is static and that magic wand is slightly out of reach.
Oh yes, 26 weeks of content wasn’t difficult to come up with. Choosing only 26 centers of focus was.
Are you waiting for that magic wand to make that job better, give you the perfect career, the perfect hours, perks, or location? How could you look at your life right now as perfect, even if it clearly isn’t? There’s perfect according to you and perfect as in you’ll learn more about yourself in 'this' context than anywhere else for it’s the biggest challenge you’ve ever encountered. You might look at others and how they react to things in their worlds, and criticize them for it but are really looking at them or yourself?
If you lead in any capacity, look at the impact you have on everyone around you as they will watch what you do and how you do it and respond to that way more than the words you speak. It really is all about you, how you look at things, process things, accept, gravitate to or reject people, experiences and opportunities. It’s much easier to critique others’ ways of being than our own. And for those who want a reality check and have kids, just ask them what they've paid attention to over the years; what you've said or what you've lived.
How can you become your own magic wand?
And what will that life look like?
Best..
Donna Karlin
R & D teams are amazing resources and I am very thankful for mine and the other one’s I’m involved in. Getting my 'It’s All About You…and Others’ program vetted, tweaked and launched was probably one of the most difficult tasks I’ve ever undertaken. It wasn’t because it was so hard to write content, as let’s face it, humans are very unique, multi-faceted beings so I’d have enough content to write for the rest of my life! It was that the dialogue that evolved because of the button-pushing questions in the program was so good none of us wanted it to stop. Perhaps there’s a blog in there somewhere.....
We can either live in a rationalizing world or one where we look at the truth of our lives and our places in them and change, tweak and embrace pieces of it accordingly. When we live in a world of rationalization, we tend to make or try to make the unacceptable acceptable and that’s where cracks in our foundation of life start to form. Cracks can become craters if we’re not careful.
People tend to ignore those cracks and often only start paying attention when a chasm forms.
In one of the weekly modules I state “People fail to see that they are the magic wand they wait and wish for. They’re always looking somewhere else for a magical solution. Why are you looking for that magic wand? What choices do you have to make to create those results all on your own?”
That one thought inspired weeks of dialogue for us personally as coaching professionals and because of what we see in the lives of our clients as well.
How many wait for that perfect time? What is that perfect time exactly and what makes it perfect? They wait for ‘one day’, or for retirement. They make lists of places they want to travel to and yet never pull those lists out of the drawer because they’re waiting for that magic wand to give them their promotion first, the winning lottery ticket, that grasp at the unreachable, which is reachable only if they started making changes in their lives. It’s so much easier to lead others than lead ourselves through life.
Someone I was in a group session with recently was so busy talking about her past that she had no thoughts at all focused on her future. She could articulate every single thing she ever did in her past, endless numbers of jobs and careers… all aimless, none focused on helping her achieve and live her dream. She looked at what was, not what is or what might be. It was so much easier reliving the past through the filters of rationalization. Her work is in limbo, her life is static and that magic wand is slightly out of reach.
Oh yes, 26 weeks of content wasn’t difficult to come up with. Choosing only 26 centers of focus was.
Are you waiting for that magic wand to make that job better, give you the perfect career, the perfect hours, perks, or location? How could you look at your life right now as perfect, even if it clearly isn’t? There’s perfect according to you and perfect as in you’ll learn more about yourself in 'this' context than anywhere else for it’s the biggest challenge you’ve ever encountered. You might look at others and how they react to things in their worlds, and criticize them for it but are really looking at them or yourself?
If you lead in any capacity, look at the impact you have on everyone around you as they will watch what you do and how you do it and respond to that way more than the words you speak. It really is all about you, how you look at things, process things, accept, gravitate to or reject people, experiences and opportunities. It’s much easier to critique others’ ways of being than our own. And for those who want a reality check and have kids, just ask them what they've paid attention to over the years; what you've said or what you've lived.
How can you become your own magic wand?
And what will that life look like?
Best..
Donna Karlin
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Know Thyself as a Manager
Blogger Phil Clark posted a great blog titled Communications Made Simple. In it he lists 4 questions a manager should ask him/herself daily which are:
- Does the person know the critical duties of their job?
- Do they know what my (the manager) priorities are?
- Have I let the employee know if they are doing the job correctly?
- Do the employees know what I look for in successful performance?
He has a very good point. All too often I see managers assume their staff knows exactly what to do, how to do it and when it's got to be done for. That is not the case. In one organization where a staff survey was implemented and analyzed the staff stated that in many cases they didn't even know who some of their managers were. I kid you not! When asked who their direct managers reported to in their department, branch, etc they couldn't answer. That alone should send a signal.
I wonder if the survery was redone, if the results would be different?
Managers need to pay attention. Often they don't see some staffers are about to burn out, are up to their eyeballs in work with no relief in sight or are doing things that are no longer a priority. At the very least, they need to know enough so they can determine whether or not some of the work is redundant and speak to their managers about redefining priorities.
If they know what their managers' priorites are, then you can be certain they'll know whether what they're doing is in alignment with that or not. That one answer alone will save a lot of people a great deal of grief, wasted time and energy, not to mention money to the organization.
Have you asked your staff these questions?
Best..
Donna Karlin
*Note: Welcome new subcriber from The Republic of Tanzania. 114 countries and counting!
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Can a Workplace Be Too Enticing?
Some organizations are making the work environment such an enticing place to be, people are lining up at the door, clamoring to be hired. Let's face it…from an organizational perspective, if you're competing for the best talent, why not tempt future employees with perks? It gives you the edge right?
Many companies are cutting back on the extras and staff find themselves bone weary as they work long hours in less than energizing environments. Many burn out and many more leave for greener pastures if they have the caliber of resume that attracts potential employers. From the hiring perspective, if you lure the best people away from their current jobs and universities by offering them more money, that might be good enough bait to get them into an interview or conversation, but add on perks like an executive chef on premises, nap rooms for when you need a break, showers and state of the art work out centers and why wouldn't someone want to come and work for a place that has all that, right? It's in the bag...you've got them!
That's the goal. Get the best people and make life so comfortable there that they wouldn't think of leaving. Sounds like a plan, but have these companies thought of the ramifications of this?
And even if they have, do they care enough to do something about it?
What I'm talking about is, staff love working in these organizations so much and enjoy the perks to such an extent that they're spending really long hours at work. Some are sleeping over to get an early start in the morning and not going home every night to the detriment of their home life…that is if they still have a home life to go to once they've (as their spouses and partners call it) gone MIA.
Companies preach work life balance, however if they're making the environment so 'luxurious', and know their employees will stay longer, don't they realize there are consequences to their home life? And if they do realize it, what are they doing about it if anything?
The company becomes a community of sorts and the staff is so used to having meals together and interacting for so many hours straight they forget about the outside world and the people they've left behind. It's subtle. One day gets a bit longer than the one before and before they know it the rest of their world ceases to exist. There's no one left to go home to.
Oh it's great to have a company care enough about their people to make sure the environment is a comfortable one, but it's also important to make sure that's not taken to the nth degree to the detriment of everything else in their staff's life. That's a whole other balance.
Does this scenario or a part of it describe what's happening to you? Do you want to define your life by what goes on within the walls of the company you work for? It might boggle your mind to think this might be happening but take the 'might' out of the equation because it is. What started out as a great idea for all the right reasons, is creating results no one considered then. Some are taking stock of this now, paying attention and doing something about it. And if they're not, I certainly hope you are.
It's fascinating. I wrote about this last summer in Fast Company Experts and received some very interesting responses such as "OK so now you're complaining that a workplace can be TOO good?" and other similar comments. I'm not complaining about anything. I'm just asking the question. That's what coaches do...ask questions to help you figure out what works for you.
So is it working for you?
Best..
Donna Karlin
*Note: Subscribe to Perspectives in Brief newsletter....tips on the run to run with, reading time 2 minutes or less and be the first (and the only) to know of program launches and special rates on programs and coaching sessions.
Many companies are cutting back on the extras and staff find themselves bone weary as they work long hours in less than energizing environments. Many burn out and many more leave for greener pastures if they have the caliber of resume that attracts potential employers. From the hiring perspective, if you lure the best people away from their current jobs and universities by offering them more money, that might be good enough bait to get them into an interview or conversation, but add on perks like an executive chef on premises, nap rooms for when you need a break, showers and state of the art work out centers and why wouldn't someone want to come and work for a place that has all that, right? It's in the bag...you've got them!
That's the goal. Get the best people and make life so comfortable there that they wouldn't think of leaving. Sounds like a plan, but have these companies thought of the ramifications of this?
And even if they have, do they care enough to do something about it?
What I'm talking about is, staff love working in these organizations so much and enjoy the perks to such an extent that they're spending really long hours at work. Some are sleeping over to get an early start in the morning and not going home every night to the detriment of their home life…that is if they still have a home life to go to once they've (as their spouses and partners call it) gone MIA.
Companies preach work life balance, however if they're making the environment so 'luxurious', and know their employees will stay longer, don't they realize there are consequences to their home life? And if they do realize it, what are they doing about it if anything?
The company becomes a community of sorts and the staff is so used to having meals together and interacting for so many hours straight they forget about the outside world and the people they've left behind. It's subtle. One day gets a bit longer than the one before and before they know it the rest of their world ceases to exist. There's no one left to go home to.
Oh it's great to have a company care enough about their people to make sure the environment is a comfortable one, but it's also important to make sure that's not taken to the nth degree to the detriment of everything else in their staff's life. That's a whole other balance.
Does this scenario or a part of it describe what's happening to you? Do you want to define your life by what goes on within the walls of the company you work for? It might boggle your mind to think this might be happening but take the 'might' out of the equation because it is. What started out as a great idea for all the right reasons, is creating results no one considered then. Some are taking stock of this now, paying attention and doing something about it. And if they're not, I certainly hope you are.
It's fascinating. I wrote about this last summer in Fast Company Experts and received some very interesting responses such as "OK so now you're complaining that a workplace can be TOO good?" and other similar comments. I'm not complaining about anything. I'm just asking the question. That's what coaches do...ask questions to help you figure out what works for you.
So is it working for you?
Best..
Donna Karlin
*Note: Subscribe to Perspectives in Brief newsletter....tips on the run to run with, reading time 2 minutes or less and be the first (and the only) to know of program launches and special rates on programs and coaching sessions.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Election is Around the Corner
First let me stress that as a Political Leadership Coach I must remain a-political when coaching my clients. It's not about my politics; it's about whether they're where they want to be and if not, how to get there. So the following blog would apply to anyone running from any party. It is, however about the person who is the incumbent for my riding.
I should have titled this blog "Things NOT to do when running for office" but thought you'd figure that out for yourself.
It all started over a month ago when I began getting recorded message blasts by phone asking me to support the leader of my incumbent's party on a provincial level. I was getting one or two a week, voice mails when I wasn't home and messages blasting in my ear when I was home and picked up the phone. Those escalated to sometimes two a day. I wrote this politician's office asking them to cease and desist stating that if she wanted my support, then she should have the decency to have a conversation with me. If she wasn't interested in my viewpoint then why, pray tell would I be interested in hers? The questions that had come to mind were 1) Did she not care what I had to say or felt and therefore wanted to be as visible as possible regardless of my opinions? 2) Was she not able to carry on a conversation and needed a script to follow to get her message across? I couldn't think of a third but neither would make me want to vote for her.
I got a response, a canned response akin to what you get by machine when you're put on hold and told "We're sorry for the inconvenience". Please send us your name and address and you'll be removed from our list.
I did.
I wasn't.
Adding insult to injury I later received a phone call from someone who sounded like she was no more than 12 years of age asking (and I quote) "Can we count on your vote in the upcoming election?" Now this phone call, after 9:00 PM came about an hour after a recorded message call. My answer to this teenager was "I haven't made up my mind yet". I wanted to see what she would do with that answer.
Her reply? "OK Fine." and she hung up.
So, if this happened to you...would you entrust your well being in your government to someone like this?
When I start with a political leader, one of my first questions is "Who are you and why would anyone care?" If they can't tell me something that engages me, well they won't captivate or engage the media or anyone else for that matter and will be trying to win favor as long as they're in office, if they get into office. Well, I can tell my incumbent that there is no way in hell I would ever vote for her. To be insulted by someone who expects she will represent me (not earned that right) is not acceptable. This behavior is nothing short of insulting. It's not about the party. It's about trust.
So when you go to the polls, no matter where you live, ask yourself "Do I trust this person with my well-being?" Then vote with where the answer takes you. And when I'm working with political leaders I ask the question "Can the people going to the polls trust you with their well being?" And we go from there...
Best! Donna Karlin
Note: I'd like to welcome readers from 2 new countries, Botswana and the Republic of Moldova. Please come often , share your comments with us and make yourself welcome in our international community of readers.
I should have titled this blog "Things NOT to do when running for office" but thought you'd figure that out for yourself.
It all started over a month ago when I began getting recorded message blasts by phone asking me to support the leader of my incumbent's party on a provincial level. I was getting one or two a week, voice mails when I wasn't home and messages blasting in my ear when I was home and picked up the phone. Those escalated to sometimes two a day. I wrote this politician's office asking them to cease and desist stating that if she wanted my support, then she should have the decency to have a conversation with me. If she wasn't interested in my viewpoint then why, pray tell would I be interested in hers? The questions that had come to mind were 1) Did she not care what I had to say or felt and therefore wanted to be as visible as possible regardless of my opinions? 2) Was she not able to carry on a conversation and needed a script to follow to get her message across? I couldn't think of a third but neither would make me want to vote for her.
I got a response, a canned response akin to what you get by machine when you're put on hold and told "We're sorry for the inconvenience". Please send us your name and address and you'll be removed from our list.
I did.
I wasn't.
Adding insult to injury I later received a phone call from someone who sounded like she was no more than 12 years of age asking (and I quote) "Can we count on your vote in the upcoming election?" Now this phone call, after 9:00 PM came about an hour after a recorded message call. My answer to this teenager was "I haven't made up my mind yet". I wanted to see what she would do with that answer.
Her reply? "OK Fine." and she hung up.
So, if this happened to you...would you entrust your well being in your government to someone like this?
When I start with a political leader, one of my first questions is "Who are you and why would anyone care?" If they can't tell me something that engages me, well they won't captivate or engage the media or anyone else for that matter and will be trying to win favor as long as they're in office, if they get into office. Well, I can tell my incumbent that there is no way in hell I would ever vote for her. To be insulted by someone who expects she will represent me (not earned that right) is not acceptable. This behavior is nothing short of insulting. It's not about the party. It's about trust.
So when you go to the polls, no matter where you live, ask yourself "Do I trust this person with my well-being?" Then vote with where the answer takes you. And when I'm working with political leaders I ask the question "Can the people going to the polls trust you with their well being?" And we go from there...
Best! Donna Karlin
Note: I'd like to welcome readers from 2 new countries, Botswana and the Republic of Moldova. Please come often , share your comments with us and make yourself welcome in our international community of readers.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Being the Best
We live in a competitive world. From sports to the boardroom, it's about getting ahead, getting on top and getting that promotion.
As much as I'd like to say that does not apply in coaching, unfortunately I can no longer make that statement unilaterally. Many of us who have been coaching for eons are much more comfortable in sharing our resources with others, though of course, when it comes to intellectual property, we protect it like our young. That goes directly to the integrity of our profession.
Someone recently asked me what it is I do. That's not an unusual occurrence, not by a long shot. How can you define coaching as distinct from consulting and therapy when there are so many blurred areas between them. However when you bring stewardship into coaching and the basic values, ethics and guidelines by which we should be practicing this profession, it's more easily defined. A colleague Lloyd Raines, who I greatly respect, put it succinctly at an ICCO Symposium last year (International Consortium for Coaching in Organizations) when he said re: Stewardship in Coaching. "Coaching from a framework of stewardship is normative: with accountability for affirming human rights and dignity, ecological health, and care for the health and well-being of the whole. It also shifts focus from 'Being the best in the world' to 'Being the best for the world' (a triple bottom line: economically, socially, ecologically).
The focus is shifted to a whole other level. It's not about competitiveness, it's not about us as coaches, it's about what we do that affects this world, even one person at a time.
Now what if we turned that towards a conversation about leadership? How dramatic an impact would the concept of 'best for the world', world such as the organization, industry, population served, staff etc, be?
Best! (now you know what I mean re that word)
Donna Karlin
As much as I'd like to say that does not apply in coaching, unfortunately I can no longer make that statement unilaterally. Many of us who have been coaching for eons are much more comfortable in sharing our resources with others, though of course, when it comes to intellectual property, we protect it like our young. That goes directly to the integrity of our profession.
Someone recently asked me what it is I do. That's not an unusual occurrence, not by a long shot. How can you define coaching as distinct from consulting and therapy when there are so many blurred areas between them. However when you bring stewardship into coaching and the basic values, ethics and guidelines by which we should be practicing this profession, it's more easily defined. A colleague Lloyd Raines, who I greatly respect, put it succinctly at an ICCO Symposium last year (International Consortium for Coaching in Organizations) when he said re: Stewardship in Coaching. "Coaching from a framework of stewardship is normative: with accountability for affirming human rights and dignity, ecological health, and care for the health and well-being of the whole. It also shifts focus from 'Being the best in the world' to 'Being the best for the world' (a triple bottom line: economically, socially, ecologically).
The focus is shifted to a whole other level. It's not about competitiveness, it's not about us as coaches, it's about what we do that affects this world, even one person at a time.
Now what if we turned that towards a conversation about leadership? How dramatic an impact would the concept of 'best for the world', world such as the organization, industry, population served, staff etc, be?
Best! (now you know what I mean re that word)
Donna Karlin
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
The Magic of Music
"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent. " - Victor Hugo
I can’t imagine a life without music being a huge part of it. As it was my ‘first life’ as I call it, playing in the symphony taught me more than any single course in school. It taught me to think with my heart instead of my brain, to work in a cohesive group in spite of egos, politics and competitive and artistic natures. No matter how quickly tempers flared and one might have competed with another for that ‘special part’, once we were on that stage, it all disappeared and was replaced with a desire to do our best, and come together as one single unit, giving and taking and meshing in the most perfect way possible. All that mattered was the end result, the pleasure of those listening, and their desire to come back again and again and share in the beauty of an exquisite piece of music.
It’s team work at its best…. mindful of colleagues, cognisant of their talents and how they could intertwine with your own, silently cheering them on when they would play a solo and shine. And as I sit here working in my office and listening to the BBC online, it all comes back to me….the grueling practice, the striving for that passage to be more perfect the next time around….the hours upon hours of playing that one difficult section until I could hear and picture it in my sleep.
What if we approached life like that? Wanting the best for others, letting go of power trips, egos, taking the time to ask of others what it is they want for their lives? And listening!
But what if? And what would it take to make it happen?
“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” - Cecil Beaton.
Life is anything but commonplace. We might try to force it into a box that says "normal" but what about our lives is normal? I met someone this week who reminded me why music is such an important part of my life...my being ...and that's because it doesn't fit any mold. It permeates our soul unlike anything else can, becomes one with us beyond time, place, circumstance or experience. To put that into words is next to impossible, but to feel it through a piece of music is.
If we did that with life, took down all barriers and let life in, ahh then that would be more than 'diving into the deep end of each day'. It would be diving into the deep end of life.
Music is magical. Magic and the extraordinary does exist in our every day lives when we take the time to notice, embrace it and welcome it. What a gift! Thank you for the reminder. It's not something that I would ever want to take for granted.
It's not always easy thinking with your heart, but I wouldn't want to be any other way, because if I tried, it wouldn't be me.
Best!
Donna Karlin
I can’t imagine a life without music being a huge part of it. As it was my ‘first life’ as I call it, playing in the symphony taught me more than any single course in school. It taught me to think with my heart instead of my brain, to work in a cohesive group in spite of egos, politics and competitive and artistic natures. No matter how quickly tempers flared and one might have competed with another for that ‘special part’, once we were on that stage, it all disappeared and was replaced with a desire to do our best, and come together as one single unit, giving and taking and meshing in the most perfect way possible. All that mattered was the end result, the pleasure of those listening, and their desire to come back again and again and share in the beauty of an exquisite piece of music.
It’s team work at its best…. mindful of colleagues, cognisant of their talents and how they could intertwine with your own, silently cheering them on when they would play a solo and shine. And as I sit here working in my office and listening to the BBC online, it all comes back to me….the grueling practice, the striving for that passage to be more perfect the next time around….the hours upon hours of playing that one difficult section until I could hear and picture it in my sleep.
What if we approached life like that? Wanting the best for others, letting go of power trips, egos, taking the time to ask of others what it is they want for their lives? And listening!
But what if? And what would it take to make it happen?
“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” - Cecil Beaton.
Life is anything but commonplace. We might try to force it into a box that says "normal" but what about our lives is normal? I met someone this week who reminded me why music is such an important part of my life...my being ...and that's because it doesn't fit any mold. It permeates our soul unlike anything else can, becomes one with us beyond time, place, circumstance or experience. To put that into words is next to impossible, but to feel it through a piece of music is.
If we did that with life, took down all barriers and let life in, ahh then that would be more than 'diving into the deep end of each day'. It would be diving into the deep end of life.
Music is magical. Magic and the extraordinary does exist in our every day lives when we take the time to notice, embrace it and welcome it. What a gift! Thank you for the reminder. It's not something that I would ever want to take for granted.
It's not always easy thinking with your heart, but I wouldn't want to be any other way, because if I tried, it wouldn't be me.
Best!
Donna Karlin
Thursday, September 27, 2007
What Would I Do With Extra Time?
I'm sitting here working on my Time Mastery Program thinking of a challenge I was asked to take part in a couple of weeks ago with regards to "What would I do with an extra 36 hours..."
A question that comes to mind is, before you decide what you would do with that gift of time, and assuming for a moment you would use that time for play and not work, could you disconnect? What I mean by that is, could you disconnect from the office, from your cell phone, BlackBerry, any other means of electronic communication device so you could truly free up that time for play?
If you can't disconnect, you're not truly present and missing out on the amazing gift being given to you. And if you can't disconnect, what is it you really have to look at to enjoy the time you already have?
One other thing comes to mind. Even in answering the question "What would you do with an extra 36 hours?", for me the answer would continually change as my life changes, circumstances change and, most importantly would depend on the people in my life.
Remember to rethink, redefine and re-evaluate. Time is a fleeting moment after moment gift, never to be recaptured...same as the special moments with those special people in our lives. What is lost cannot be recaptured. Time never stands still. Respect it and how you treat it and others and the rest will unfold as it should.
Best!
Donna Karlin
A question that comes to mind is, before you decide what you would do with that gift of time, and assuming for a moment you would use that time for play and not work, could you disconnect? What I mean by that is, could you disconnect from the office, from your cell phone, BlackBerry, any other means of electronic communication device so you could truly free up that time for play?
If you can't disconnect, you're not truly present and missing out on the amazing gift being given to you. And if you can't disconnect, what is it you really have to look at to enjoy the time you already have?
One other thing comes to mind. Even in answering the question "What would you do with an extra 36 hours?", for me the answer would continually change as my life changes, circumstances change and, most importantly would depend on the people in my life.
Remember to rethink, redefine and re-evaluate. Time is a fleeting moment after moment gift, never to be recaptured...same as the special moments with those special people in our lives. What is lost cannot be recaptured. Time never stands still. Respect it and how you treat it and others and the rest will unfold as it should.
Best!
Donna Karlin
Friday, September 21, 2007
Change; Move With It Or Let It Paralyze You
Change. That word alone tends to paralyze many people. They start assuming and pre-acting about what they think will happen before it even starts and go off on a tangent until they're paralyzed by the mere thought. I'm not going to say "Now how smart is that exactly?" Preconceptions of what might happen if something else happens first without any basis whatsoever, is a smart use of energy, right? Not!
Last May when I was in California in with George Leonard, part of the discussion was about how one could use the game of tennis as an analogy for change. The way he described it, everything is in constant motion. Nothing stays stagnant. The ball moves, the racquet moves and you move. None of the three moves in the same way twice, so there are always variables. If you panic and freeze you'll miss the ball and if you're totally honed, aware and focused on the ball, chances are you'll hit it. And once you get the hang of it and hit it more than once until the dance of tennis itself is a constant; a foundation is built on movement.
If you don't move with the flow of the game and stand still, the ball will end up hitting you over the head; more than once. Unless you learn to move and respond to it, you're going to get beaten up big time!
What if you used that analogy on a regular basis when doing a reorg, learning something new, starting a project...anything really? It would give an odd sense of stability in an ever-changing, ever-moving world. Energy would increase, focus would be absolute and not only would you watch, learn and become more masterful in what you do, you would be mindful of everything around you because, as in tennis, not only are you, the racquet and the ball moving, but the person on the other side of the court is moving too. You have to know where and how the other person is apt to move so you can play accordingly. It's a give and take.
That's where the analogy ends because the key is to lob the ball back and forth, getting better with each swing of the racquet and contact of the ball, not make the other person miss and lose. So if you both practiced, even just the volleying of the ball back and forth, the practice itself will bring you to a new level of mastery, give, take and flow. It might not be something that happens overnight or in a dramatic way but when you look back at when you started, you'll see just how far you've come; far enough to celebrate your success and proficiency.
How could you use that analogy to manage and thrive through change that's happening in the context of your world right now? Might you already be connecting with that ball without realizing it? Think of all the times you were given something to do and jumped in with both feet without resisting. Somehow it ended up just clicking. That's it. The first step to mastery comes from practice. Change is constant. It's the paradox of life. And when you think you've integrated change and have it down pat, even then keep practicing as you'll get even better than you ever imagined.
Best!
Donna Karlin
Last May when I was in California in with George Leonard, part of the discussion was about how one could use the game of tennis as an analogy for change. The way he described it, everything is in constant motion. Nothing stays stagnant. The ball moves, the racquet moves and you move. None of the three moves in the same way twice, so there are always variables. If you panic and freeze you'll miss the ball and if you're totally honed, aware and focused on the ball, chances are you'll hit it. And once you get the hang of it and hit it more than once until the dance of tennis itself is a constant; a foundation is built on movement.
If you don't move with the flow of the game and stand still, the ball will end up hitting you over the head; more than once. Unless you learn to move and respond to it, you're going to get beaten up big time!
What if you used that analogy on a regular basis when doing a reorg, learning something new, starting a project...anything really? It would give an odd sense of stability in an ever-changing, ever-moving world. Energy would increase, focus would be absolute and not only would you watch, learn and become more masterful in what you do, you would be mindful of everything around you because, as in tennis, not only are you, the racquet and the ball moving, but the person on the other side of the court is moving too. You have to know where and how the other person is apt to move so you can play accordingly. It's a give and take.
That's where the analogy ends because the key is to lob the ball back and forth, getting better with each swing of the racquet and contact of the ball, not make the other person miss and lose. So if you both practiced, even just the volleying of the ball back and forth, the practice itself will bring you to a new level of mastery, give, take and flow. It might not be something that happens overnight or in a dramatic way but when you look back at when you started, you'll see just how far you've come; far enough to celebrate your success and proficiency.
How could you use that analogy to manage and thrive through change that's happening in the context of your world right now? Might you already be connecting with that ball without realizing it? Think of all the times you were given something to do and jumped in with both feet without resisting. Somehow it ended up just clicking. That's it. The first step to mastery comes from practice. Change is constant. It's the paradox of life. And when you think you've integrated change and have it down pat, even then keep practicing as you'll get even better than you ever imagined.
Best!
Donna Karlin
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Campaign Time!
It's campaign time. There's no doubt about that. TV ads are flying fast and furious. I'm looking forward to seeing the polls and how some of these ads are affecting the ratings. One of the candidates is telling the public about the improvements that have been made and asking for continued support and the other is ad bashing. It's fascinating to watch!
Looking back at well known and famous politicians, which speeches do you remember...the bashing negative "let's go after the other guy and verbally beat him to a pulp" or the "let's work together to build something special?" I'd love to hear your opinions about that.
However this blog isn't about that as much as watching how some of the party members are communicating with their communities. This afternoon I received the 10th or so automated telephone call from my provincial representative. There used to be a real person at the other end of the phone asking for your support but now, it's automated so if you don't support them you can't very well say so. You're supposed to sit there like a good person and just be talked to, not with.
What it does is intrude on the privacy of our homes and leave too many messages we don't want in the first place. What does that tell me about this representative?
As I don't know her personally, many questions come to mind. Does she not know how to engage in a conversation? Perhaps she needs someone to write a script for her to read so she's not knocked off balance by an actual question. What in the world could be the advantage of calling constituents via automated telephone call (which is in truth telephone Spam) and not have any personal connection whatsoever?
Would you want to elect someone who doesn't bother to get to know you or what your thoughts are for your area, city, province or country?
I wouldn't. Why in the world would I elect someone or one they were endorsing because of a recording? Would any of you?
Think long and hard about who you'd want in government representing your interests.
As a political leadership coach I am appalled by this. It's communication at its worst. This is not leadership; this is hiding behind a machine. I'm all for automating everything that's automatable but personal dialogue and connection is not automatable.
Has this ever happened to you in your neck of the woods and if so, did you end up voting for that person? I understand some people vote for the party no matter what, but there are some deciding factors such as a politician being able to communicate or how articulate that person might be when bombarded with questions by opponents. I'd love your opinions on this.
Best..
Donna Karlin
Looking back at well known and famous politicians, which speeches do you remember...the bashing negative "let's go after the other guy and verbally beat him to a pulp" or the "let's work together to build something special?" I'd love to hear your opinions about that.
However this blog isn't about that as much as watching how some of the party members are communicating with their communities. This afternoon I received the 10th or so automated telephone call from my provincial representative. There used to be a real person at the other end of the phone asking for your support but now, it's automated so if you don't support them you can't very well say so. You're supposed to sit there like a good person and just be talked to, not with.
What it does is intrude on the privacy of our homes and leave too many messages we don't want in the first place. What does that tell me about this representative?
As I don't know her personally, many questions come to mind. Does she not know how to engage in a conversation? Perhaps she needs someone to write a script for her to read so she's not knocked off balance by an actual question. What in the world could be the advantage of calling constituents via automated telephone call (which is in truth telephone Spam) and not have any personal connection whatsoever?
Would you want to elect someone who doesn't bother to get to know you or what your thoughts are for your area, city, province or country?
I wouldn't. Why in the world would I elect someone or one they were endorsing because of a recording? Would any of you?
Think long and hard about who you'd want in government representing your interests.
As a political leadership coach I am appalled by this. It's communication at its worst. This is not leadership; this is hiding behind a machine. I'm all for automating everything that's automatable but personal dialogue and connection is not automatable.
Has this ever happened to you in your neck of the woods and if so, did you end up voting for that person? I understand some people vote for the party no matter what, but there are some deciding factors such as a politician being able to communicate or how articulate that person might be when bombarded with questions by opponents. I'd love your opinions on this.
Best..
Donna Karlin
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
The Gift of Time
Lorrain Cohen of Powerfull Living fame tagged me to answer the question "What would I do with an extra 36 hours?" Click here to read her post.
I started laughing when I got her email as I recently did a poll, posted a blog and asked clients "What would you do if you had an extra 15 minutes on top of the 24 hours in a day? (click here to read that post) and got screamed at from all parts of the globe.
"WHAT? 15 MINUTES? What's 15 minutes? What can anyone do in just 15 minutes?"
It's amazing how people take time and toss it out the window discounting how precious it really is. And by the way, we came up with quite the list and one of the reasons why I started working on my Time Mastery Program.
So 36 hours. WOW! That is a gift!
I am absolutely firm on setting personal boundaries. I choose the clients I want to work with and make sure we both grow from our coaching relationships. I literally book in work play time which is creative time for me, creating concepts, programs, articles, material and the most fun logos for each...and play play time for me where I book off a few days of the month over and above weekends to see friends, explore my beautiful city (Ottawa, even being the capital is one of the best kept secrets of Canada, didn't you know?) or to just read under the trees, walk through the woods or light a fire and listen to a new piece of music.
As my first degree was in music performance and I used to play in an orchestra in my first life, I make sure I have extra time for music. Also in a past life just for the fun of it I apprenticed as a chef, discovering new flavours, cuisines, so cooking with my son (who has turned into an amazing cook!) and friends, for friends, is way up there.
I am at a place in my life where I make sure I have plenty of time (it's all relative) for the special people in my life, my work, crises that pop up and as I work globally those are a given so I would say for the 36 extra hours I would just add some of it to each of the ways I play in my life. I work many hours, long, hard and intense hours as a Shadow Coach™ so all of that 36 hours would be for play, creativity, learning, taking one course a year over and above the learning I do now, teaching more and mentoring more up and coming coaches. I might not have oodles of time at hand to spend on whatever comes up but I can tell you that each person in my life knows that every moment I spend with them is one by choice, even if it's a short phone call. I no longer do anything out of obligation so jump into life with both feet because I want to 'be there' or 'do that' if you know what I mean. I'm not fitting life in... I'm choosing it.
I think we first need to change our mind set, then set personal boundaries, then choose what we want our lives to look like, whether for 24 hours or 36. It's all a gift, don't you think?
Hey Lorraine...thanks for tagging me. I'm honoured!
Best for all the time in your life!
Donna Karlin
I started laughing when I got her email as I recently did a poll, posted a blog and asked clients "What would you do if you had an extra 15 minutes on top of the 24 hours in a day? (click here to read that post) and got screamed at from all parts of the globe.
"WHAT? 15 MINUTES? What's 15 minutes? What can anyone do in just 15 minutes?"
It's amazing how people take time and toss it out the window discounting how precious it really is. And by the way, we came up with quite the list and one of the reasons why I started working on my Time Mastery Program.
So 36 hours. WOW! That is a gift!
I am absolutely firm on setting personal boundaries. I choose the clients I want to work with and make sure we both grow from our coaching relationships. I literally book in work play time which is creative time for me, creating concepts, programs, articles, material and the most fun logos for each...and play play time for me where I book off a few days of the month over and above weekends to see friends, explore my beautiful city (Ottawa, even being the capital is one of the best kept secrets of Canada, didn't you know?) or to just read under the trees, walk through the woods or light a fire and listen to a new piece of music.
As my first degree was in music performance and I used to play in an orchestra in my first life, I make sure I have extra time for music. Also in a past life just for the fun of it I apprenticed as a chef, discovering new flavours, cuisines, so cooking with my son (who has turned into an amazing cook!) and friends, for friends, is way up there.
I am at a place in my life where I make sure I have plenty of time (it's all relative) for the special people in my life, my work, crises that pop up and as I work globally those are a given so I would say for the 36 extra hours I would just add some of it to each of the ways I play in my life. I work many hours, long, hard and intense hours as a Shadow Coach™ so all of that 36 hours would be for play, creativity, learning, taking one course a year over and above the learning I do now, teaching more and mentoring more up and coming coaches. I might not have oodles of time at hand to spend on whatever comes up but I can tell you that each person in my life knows that every moment I spend with them is one by choice, even if it's a short phone call. I no longer do anything out of obligation so jump into life with both feet because I want to 'be there' or 'do that' if you know what I mean. I'm not fitting life in... I'm choosing it.
I think we first need to change our mind set, then set personal boundaries, then choose what we want our lives to look like, whether for 24 hours or 36. It's all a gift, don't you think?
Hey Lorraine...thanks for tagging me. I'm honoured!
Best for all the time in your life!
Donna Karlin
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The Leadership Challenge
I was recently asked to participate in a challenge called “Why Most Leadership Sucks, Including Yours…by John W. McKenna. I wasn’t thrilled with his languaging and told him as much to which he replied “I could do better”.
That in itself is a key statement. We can all do better. We can do better as leaders in our fields of practice, in life, with family, friends, and to set an example to those who don’t know us and have never met us but who will be touched by the ripple effect of what we do regardless of whether or not there's a personal connection.
About a year ago, one of the groups I’m involved in held an international symposium looking at stewardship of coaching world leaders. It was a fascinating dialogue about our roles in coaching people whose leadership has global implications and ramifications. Do we coach those who do not live in alignment with our own personal values and ethics? That’s a whole other conversation about authenticity, judgment, and the ethics of Coaching. I believe we cannot lead effectively unless we lead from our core values and ethics. If we’re working in an organization that doesn’t reflect those values, then we have to look good and hard if we want to align with that organization. There are many factors that determine the impact of our leadership.
We have a unique capacity to shape our lives. As leaders, we have a unique capacity to shape other’s lives.
If we allow others to determine our fates and our futures without contributing to the creation of what that will look like (and choice comes to play in this) then we deserve to live with the consequences. Leaders are not leaders without followers. We all have the choice to follow bad leaders, or not. For some it’s easier to let others shape our destiny for in doing that, when we fail, we can place blame.
The reverse is true as well, however. In allowing others to have that power over us we also have to give up our right to celebrate our successes, as we wouldn’t be responsible for them. I know I would rather fail than never try and I would rather celebrate my successes, knowing I was the one who achieved them, than give that joy over to someone else. It's taking risks every day to reach beyond the imaginable.
Under the surface, where the key dynamics of a personality lies is the person that builds pieces of our world as we know it, one who dreams and translates that dream into a vision we can all wrap our heads around. Those leaders are risk takers because to not go after their dreams isn’t even a remote possibility. Their energy, passion is a never-ending spring that never dries up, as with each person who comes on board and wants to ‘live it too’ that passion continues to feed the human spirit.
So I share this with you….I accept complete responsibility for everything I think, say, feel, and do. I am not afraid of making mistakes or of taking reasonable risks. I am a life-long student. I am always ready to learn, and I know growth takes sustained effort. And through that, I own and celebrate my successes and failures as they are both instrumental in that growth. Anything else for me and the global leaders I work with would be existing through life, not 'living' it. Each risk allows us to invent our futures. We all lead the way in our own lives with each choice we make…good and bad.
My three cents...
Donna Karlin
That in itself is a key statement. We can all do better. We can do better as leaders in our fields of practice, in life, with family, friends, and to set an example to those who don’t know us and have never met us but who will be touched by the ripple effect of what we do regardless of whether or not there's a personal connection.
About a year ago, one of the groups I’m involved in held an international symposium looking at stewardship of coaching world leaders. It was a fascinating dialogue about our roles in coaching people whose leadership has global implications and ramifications. Do we coach those who do not live in alignment with our own personal values and ethics? That’s a whole other conversation about authenticity, judgment, and the ethics of Coaching. I believe we cannot lead effectively unless we lead from our core values and ethics. If we’re working in an organization that doesn’t reflect those values, then we have to look good and hard if we want to align with that organization. There are many factors that determine the impact of our leadership.
We have a unique capacity to shape our lives. As leaders, we have a unique capacity to shape other’s lives.
If we allow others to determine our fates and our futures without contributing to the creation of what that will look like (and choice comes to play in this) then we deserve to live with the consequences. Leaders are not leaders without followers. We all have the choice to follow bad leaders, or not. For some it’s easier to let others shape our destiny for in doing that, when we fail, we can place blame.
The reverse is true as well, however. In allowing others to have that power over us we also have to give up our right to celebrate our successes, as we wouldn’t be responsible for them. I know I would rather fail than never try and I would rather celebrate my successes, knowing I was the one who achieved them, than give that joy over to someone else. It's taking risks every day to reach beyond the imaginable.
Under the surface, where the key dynamics of a personality lies is the person that builds pieces of our world as we know it, one who dreams and translates that dream into a vision we can all wrap our heads around. Those leaders are risk takers because to not go after their dreams isn’t even a remote possibility. Their energy, passion is a never-ending spring that never dries up, as with each person who comes on board and wants to ‘live it too’ that passion continues to feed the human spirit.
So I share this with you….I accept complete responsibility for everything I think, say, feel, and do. I am not afraid of making mistakes or of taking reasonable risks. I am a life-long student. I am always ready to learn, and I know growth takes sustained effort. And through that, I own and celebrate my successes and failures as they are both instrumental in that growth. Anything else for me and the global leaders I work with would be existing through life, not 'living' it. Each risk allows us to invent our futures. We all lead the way in our own lives with each choice we make…good and bad.
My three cents...
Donna Karlin
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Now That We've Got Your Attention...
"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit." - E. E. Cummings
Well, now that Priscilla’s Personal Development List got your attention I thought we might do something with the community that was formed through this wonderful world of blogging. In some capacity, we all grow people for a living, whether personally, professionally, in our local geographical area or globally. Regardless, the ripple effect goes well beyond anything we could ever imagine. I hear all too often how people are too busy to call friends, family, those important to them, or to remember special occasions or no occasions at all....just to remember.
In India on meeting even a total stranger one would greet the other with Namaste which pays homage to the inner light in all living things. It bypasses appearance, age, wealth or poverty. In these times of hurriedness, we fail to acknowledge not only others but ourselves as well. Ignoring others is in a way forgetting life. In ignoring those around us, those known, and unknown we fail to light that spark.
It's not prayer....it's acknowledgement of what's special in someone else. And when we take that moment in time to validate and bless another with our attention and good wishes we touch what's good in them and offer them a haven, even for a second, from a challenging world. This is what strengthens life and nourishes it. It's a way to ignite a tiny spark, blow on it and let it burst into flame enriching the human spirit.
Yesterday someone I have not met took a moment to share a thought, wishes and hopes for me. In doing so a spark was lit and has continued to grow. A gift beyond measure.
So to all of you….every single one of you on the list, who can you recognize today for their talents, strengths, impact and effect they have on your life and those around them? What would it mean if at least for today, but hopefully every day that follows we took a moment in time to recognize someone else for who they are and what they bring to the world? Could you imagine the ripple effect of that? I invite you to join us in sharing and lighting the flame within all those around you. Then please share with us what it meant to them and to you in doing so. And while you’re doing this? Encourage each person you touch to do the same with others in their lives and let’s see how far and wide that fire spreads.
Namaste.....
Donna Karlin
*Note: Check out today's post in my Fast Company Experts Blog on the Leadership Challenge: Acknowledging Leaders
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Tag...You're It!
Recently I was tagged by Priscilla Palmer for her Personal Development List. Well, for those of you who know me, you DO know I couldn't leave it at that, so I tagged some of my colleagues to get on the bandwagon as they are amazing in their areas of expertise and others should know about that.
What if we did this for other areas? This is open source for people who make a difference. Who do you know that you can recommend to be a part of this ever-growing list of bloggers?
There are over 71 million blogs up and running (that we know of). Boggles my mind. Here's Priscilla's list, contributed to by bloggers from all over the world.
Personal Development List (as of today's date):
Aaron Potts at Today is That Day
Adam Alexander at Adam’s Peace
Adam Kayce at Monk at Work
Adam Khoo at Adam Khoo’s Philosophies and Investing Insights
AgentSully at Life Learning Today
April Groves at Making Life Work For You
Argancel at C’eclair (for those who speak french)
Ash aka Mr. Biggs at One Powerful Word
Al at 7pproductions.com
Alan Torres at Made to Be Great
Alex Shalman at AlexShalman.com
Alexander Kjerulf at The Chief Happiness Officer
Alexys Fairfield at Unraveling The Spiritual Mystique
Albert Foong at urbanmonk.net
Alvaro at Sharp Brains Blog
Amber at Random Mangus
Amie Ragan at Psychology of Clutter
Amy Hedin at There is no Maximum to Human Potential
Andrea Learned at Learned on Women
Andrea J. Lee at Money, Meaning, and Beyond
Andy Wibbels at AndyWibbels.com
Anita Pathik Law at Power of four Way
Anmol Mehta at AnmolMetha.com
Anna Farmery at The Engaging Brand
Antonio Thornton at AntonioThornton.com
Ariane Benefit at Neat & Simple Living
Ask Lucid at Ask Lucid Spiritual Development
Barb Melloh at The Law of Attraction Info
Barbara Sliter at Creatorship
Belle Wong at Abundance Journal
Ben Yoskovitz at Instigator Blog
Bill Perry at Lucid Blog
Billy Smith at The Organic Leadership Blog
Blogfuse at LifeDev
Brad Isaac at Achieve It
Brian Clark at Copyblogger
Brian Kim at briankim.net
Brian Lee at geniustypes.com
Brooke at Plain Advice
Bob at everyeveryminute
Bolly at Motivational Corner
Cam Beck at ChaosScenario
Cara Lumen at The Success Magnets With Cara Luman and Your Second Wind Blog
Carlon Haas at Possess Less Exist More
Cheif Family Officer at Cheif Family Officer
Chris Brogan at Chris Brogan.com
Chris Cree at SuccessCREEations
Chris Marshall at Martial Development
Chris Melton at Soupornuts.com
Chris Owen at Pink Apple
Christine Kane at ChristineKane.com
Christine Valters Painter at Abbey of the Arts
Clyde at Feeling Good
Colin Beavan at No Impact Man
Colleen Wainwright of Communicatrix
Conceive, Believe, Achieve at Conceive, Believe, Achieve
Crabby McSlacker at Cranky Fitness
Craig Harper at Motivational Speaker
Curt Rosengren at Occupational Adventure
Cyres at Cyres Matters
Damian Carr at Soul Terminal
Daniel Sitter at Idea Sellers
Danny Kohn at Be Inspired Everyday
Darren Rowse at Problogger.net
Dave Pollard at How to Save the World
Dave Schawbel at The Personal Branding Blog
Dave Schoof at Engaging the Disquiet
Davers at Language Trainers Blog
David Allen at The David Allen Company
David Bohl at Reflections on Balance
David Fitch at David Fitch.com
David Richeson at 360 Degree Success
David Rogers at How to Have Great Self Confidence
David Seah at David Seah.com
David Zinger at Slacker Manager
Dawud Miracle at dmiracle.com
Dean Lacono at Law of Attraction for Beginners
Debbie Call at Spirit In Gear
Debbie LaChusa at 10 Step Marketing Collection
Debra Moorhead at Debra Moorhead.com
Denise Mosawi at Destineering.com
Des Walsh at Thinking Home Business
Devlyn Steele at Tools To Life Guide
Dick Richards at Come Gather Round
Dominic Tay at Personal Development for Winners
Don Simkovich at Hey Don
Donald Latumahina at Life Optimizer
Donna Karlin at Perspectives
Donna Steinhorn at Rethinking
Douglas Eby at Talent Development Resources
Dr. Charles Parker at The Core Psych Blog
Dr. Hal at Northstar Mental fitness blog
Drew Rozell at Drew Rozell.com
Dwayne Melancon at Genuine Curiosity
Edward Mills at Evolving Times
Ellen Weber at Brain Based Business
Emily G. W. Lilly at The Science of Waldorf Education
Emmanuel Lopez at The Adventures of Motivatorman
Ellesse at Goal Setting College
Elly Jolly at Jolly Life Coaching
Enoch Tan at Mind Reality
Eric Napier at Quotation Collection
Erin Pavlina at Erin Pavlina.com
Evelyn Rodriguez at Crossroads Dispatches
Frank Kanu at Frank Uncovers Excellence in Leadership
Frank Roche at KnowHR Blog
Galba Bright at Tune Up Your EQ
Garr Reynolds at Presentation Zen
Gary at Personal Strategic Plan
Gilad Buchman at Sigsug
Gleb Reys at Personal Development Ideas
Grayson at Modern Worker Blog
Greg Butler at holistic-personal-development.com
Greg Frost at ChargedAudio.com
Geoff R at Gearfire.net
Gretchen Rubin at Happiness Project
Gustav at Success-is-in-you.com
Guy Kawasaki at How to Change the World
Gyanish at Diethack
Halina Goldstein at The Inner Travel Journal
Hilda Carroll at Living Out Loud
Heather Goldsmith at A Creative Journal
Helgi Pall Einarsson at Everyday Wonderland
Henrik Edberg at The Positivity Blog
Honman at Open Your Mind to Prosperity
Inkedmn at The Cranking Widgets Blog
Isabella Mori at MoriTherapy
Itzy Sabo at Email Overloaded
Jack Vinson at Knowledge Jolt with Jack
Jacklyn Ker at Inspiring and Empowing Lives
Jarle Husefest at The Personal Development Blog
Jason and Michael at Black Belt Productivity
Jason Ivers at A Miracle a Day
Jason Womack at Fit and Effective
Jay White at dumb little man tips for life
Jean Browman at Transforming Stress Into Power and Cheerful Monk
Jeannette Maw at Good Vibe Coaching
Jeanie Marshall at Empowerment and Meditation Blog and DailyAffirm: Positive Affirmations Day by Day
Jeff Davidson at Breathing Space Blog
Jeff Lilly at Druid Journal
Jeffrey Phillips at Think Faster
Jennifer at Goodness Graciousness
Jennifer Mannion at Heal Pain Naturally
Jenny and Erin at Jenny and Erin
Jeremiah Owyang at Web Strategy by Jeremiah
Jerry Hart at Blue Print to emarketing
Jerry Lopper at Personal Growth
Jessa at clairvoyantGuidance.net
Jessica Hagy at Indexed
Jim stroup at Managing Leadership
Jim Walton at Black In Business
JoLynn Braley at The Fit Shack
Joan Schramm at Accelerating Momentum
Joanna Young at Coaching Wizardry
Joanne at I’m Happy Fish
JodeeB at You Already Know This Stuff
Joe Vitale at Dr. Joe Vitale at Zero
John Pratt at John Pratt International
John Place at John Place Online
John W. McKenna at The Leadership Epidemic
John Wesley at Pick The Brain
Jon at Join The Secret
Jonathan at Smart Wealthy Rich and Freelance Folder
Jory Des Jardin at Pause: Meaningful Work
Josh Bickford at Reach For Magnificence and Reach for Magnificence
Josh Kaufman at The Personal MBA
Judy Martin at The Work/Life Monitor
Julia Rogers Hamrick at Julia’s Blog: Journal of the Journey Home to Eden
Julie Bonner at Declutter It
Kailani at An Island Review
Kammie Kobyleski at Passion Meets Purpose
Karen at Journey with Water Learner
Karen Lynch at Live The Power
Karen Wallace at The Clearing Space
Karl Moore at Karl Blog.com
Karl Staib at Karl Staib.com
Kathy Mallary at Coaching Biz Tips
Keith Ferrazzi at Never Eat Alone
Kenton Whitman at kentonwhitman.com
Kevin Kinchen at Creative Power of Thought
Killeris at Attitude, The Ultimate Power
Kim and Jason at Escape Adulthood
Kim George at Doing What You Can Do
Kimber Chin at Client K
Kirk Nugent at Kirk Nugent.com
Kirsten Harrell at Ipopin
Krishna De at Biz Growth News and Todays Women in Business
K.L. Masina at Be Conscious Now
Leah Maclean at Working Solo
Laura Young at The Dragon Slayer’s Guide to Life
Lee Nutter at bmindful
Leo Babauta at Zen Habits
Life Reflection at Universe in a Single Atom
Linda Salazar at Awaken The Genie Within
Lisa Braithwaite at Speak Schmeak
Lisa Gates at Design Your Writing Life
Lisa Van Allen at Finish Strong
Liz at Internet Marketing Strategies
Liz Strauss at Successful Blog
Lodewijkvdb at How to be an Original
Lola Fayemi at Real World Spiritual and Personal Development
Lorraine Cohen at Powerfull Living
Luciano Passuello at Litemind.com
Lucid at Spiritual Suggestions
Lumosity at Brain Health Blog
Lyman Reed at Creating a Better Life
Lyndon Antcliff at LyndonAntcliff.com and Cornwallseo.com
MT at MindTWEAKS
Maddy at Illuminated Minds Want to Know
Malathy Badri at Laws of Universe
Manny at Success Books
Maria Gajewski at Never The Same River Twice
Maria Garcia at Get Organized Now
Maria Palma at The Good Life
Marianne Williamson at Journal
Mark at The Naked Soul
Mark Forster at Get Everything Done
Mark LaPierre at The Winding Path
Mark McManus at Build Your Life To Order
Mark W Shead at Productivity 501
Martin Avis at Kickstart Daily
Mary K at Becoming Your StellarSelf
Matthew Cornell at Matt’s Idea Blog
Meg Haworth at Life Lessons From Your Soul
Melanie Benson Strick at The Success Blog
Merlin Mann at 43 Folders
Michelle at aMusing My Genius
Michelle Moore at Happiness Blog
Michael Port at The Think Big Revolution
Michael Vanderdonk at TOACH Performance
Mike Janssen at Opgestroopte Mouwen
Mike Kemski at BANABU
Mike St. Pierre at The Daily Saint
Millionaire Mommy Next Door at Millionaire Mommy Next Door
Mona Grayson at Question The Mind
Mr.Wang at Mr Wang Says So
My Everyday Planner at My Everyday Planner
Nancy Mills at The Spirited Woman
Nancy Tierney at Unconditional Confidence
Neil Patel at Quick Sprout
Nic Askew at Monday 9AM Blog
Nick Smith at Life 2.0
Nneka at Balanced Life Center
Organize-It at Organize-It
Pamala Slim at Escape From Cubicle Nation
Pamm Larry at My Spiritual Dance
Patricia Singleton at Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker
Patti Digh at 37 Days
Paul at Paul’s Tips
Paul Piotrowski at Self Help Wisdom
Paula Kawal at Paula Kawal.com
Peggy Payne at Peggy Payne’s Boldness Blog
Peter at I Will Change Your Life
Peter Aldin at Great Circle
Peter Haslem at Necessary Skills
Phil Gerbyshak at Make It Great
Philippe Matthews at Shockwealth
Priscilla Palmer at Personal Development Demands Success
Quint Jensen at Win Your Mind
Raymond Salas at Zenchill Powertools
Real Modern Man at Real Modern Man
Reg Adkins at ElementalTruths
Ricardo at Wake Up Tiger
Rich Schefren at Strategic Profits
Rick Cockrum at Shards of Consciousness
Rick Cooper at The PDA Pro
Ririan at Ririanproject
Rob at 7Breaths
Rob Cooke at Leave the Office
Robert at Compassionate Council
Robert at Myselfdev
Robert Ashcroft at PDSS Online
Robin Skeen at Robin’s Reflections
Robin Yapp at Yapp 3.0
Robyn McMaster at Brain Based Biz
Roger Von Oech at Creative Think
Rolf F. Katzenberger at Evomend
Rosa Say at Managing With Aloha Coaching
Ryan Marle at The Alpha Project
S.J. Yee at Personal Development for the Book Smart
Sam at Aquire Wisdom and Live with Passion
Scott Adams at The Dilbert Blog
Scott Berkun at Berkun Blog
Scott Bernadot at Keeping The Secret
Scott Ginsberg at Hello, My Name Is Blog
Scott H Young at Scott H Young
Scott McArthur at McArthur’s Rant
Self Pursuit at Self Pursuit
Senia at Senia.com Positive Psychology Coaching
Seth Godin at Seth’s Blog
Shane Navratil at Zoomstart
Shauna Arthurs at Breathing Prosperity and Follow Your Path
Shaheen Lakhan at GNIF Brain Blogger
Simone at Dynamic Living
Simone and Mandy at Outfit Inspirations
Slade Roberson at Shift Your Spirits and Spiritual Blogging
Sleeping Dude at How to Wake Up Early
Sonora Jayne Case at Positive Realities Coaching
Spike at Organize It
Start Up Coach at Take Charge of Your Life
Stephanie and Jeffrey at Brains on Purpose
Steve Beisheim at Jumping Ship Happens
Steve King at The Green Geek
Steve Olson at Steve-Olson.com
Steve Pavlina at stevepavlina.com
Steve Roesler at All Things Workplace
Stephen at HD bizblog
Stephen Hopson at Adversity University
Steven Aitchison at Change Your Thoughts
Success Current at SuccessCurrent.com
Surjit at Gurushabad
Susan Sabo at Productivity Cafe
Suzanne Bird-Harris at Learning Curve Coaching
Takuin Minamoto at Takuin.com
Ted Demopoulos at Blogging For Business
Terry Starbucker at Ramblings From a Glass Half Full
Thom Quinn at Qlog
Tiffany at Little Red Suit
Tim Ferris at 4-Hour Workweek and Lifestyle Design Blog
Tim Taylor at My Agapic Life
Tom Peters at Tom Peters.com
Tom Spanton at TRCoach
Tom Van Brunscot of Transformation Economy
Tony Chimento at Living Forward
Tony D Clark at Success From The Nest
Torlink at You Create Reality
Travis A. Sinquefield at Disorganizational Behavior
Travis Wright at Cultivate Greatness
Trizoko at Trizoko.com
Trevor Gay at Simplicity is the Key
Troy Worman at Orbit Now!
Tuck Self at Rebel Belle Blog
Tupelo Kenyon at Tupelokenyon.com
Ubertech at Geeks Guide To GTD
Vera Nadine at Vera Nadine.com
Vickie at Contemplate This
Wade Millican at The Middle Way
Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership
Wan Qi at Meditation Forum Mantras
Wild Bill at Passionate Blogger
and these collaborated sites:
Burst Blog
Change This
Change Your Thinking
Daily PlanIt
Did I Get Things Done
GTD Wannabe
Jobman2
Joyful Jubilant Learning
Life Coaches Blog Stratagies for a Greater Life
Lifehack.org
Lifehacker.com
TED Blog
Transformational Girlfriends
Unclutterer
Best to you all!
Donna Karlin
What if we did this for other areas? This is open source for people who make a difference. Who do you know that you can recommend to be a part of this ever-growing list of bloggers?
There are over 71 million blogs up and running (that we know of). Boggles my mind. Here's Priscilla's list, contributed to by bloggers from all over the world.
Personal Development List (as of today's date):
Aaron Potts at Today is That Day
Adam Alexander at Adam’s Peace
Adam Kayce at Monk at Work
Adam Khoo at Adam Khoo’s Philosophies and Investing Insights
AgentSully at Life Learning Today
April Groves at Making Life Work For You
Argancel at C’eclair (for those who speak french)
Ash aka Mr. Biggs at One Powerful Word
Al at 7pproductions.com
Alan Torres at Made to Be Great
Alex Shalman at AlexShalman.com
Alexander Kjerulf at The Chief Happiness Officer
Alexys Fairfield at Unraveling The Spiritual Mystique
Albert Foong at urbanmonk.net
Alvaro at Sharp Brains Blog
Amber at Random Mangus
Amie Ragan at Psychology of Clutter
Amy Hedin at There is no Maximum to Human Potential
Andrea Learned at Learned on Women
Andrea J. Lee at Money, Meaning, and Beyond
Andy Wibbels at AndyWibbels.com
Anita Pathik Law at Power of four Way
Anmol Mehta at AnmolMetha.com
Anna Farmery at The Engaging Brand
Antonio Thornton at AntonioThornton.com
Ariane Benefit at Neat & Simple Living
Ask Lucid at Ask Lucid Spiritual Development
Barb Melloh at The Law of Attraction Info
Barbara Sliter at Creatorship
Belle Wong at Abundance Journal
Ben Yoskovitz at Instigator Blog
Bill Perry at Lucid Blog
Billy Smith at The Organic Leadership Blog
Blogfuse at LifeDev
Brad Isaac at Achieve It
Brian Clark at Copyblogger
Brian Kim at briankim.net
Brian Lee at geniustypes.com
Brooke at Plain Advice
Bob at everyeveryminute
Bolly at Motivational Corner
Cam Beck at ChaosScenario
Cara Lumen at The Success Magnets With Cara Luman and Your Second Wind Blog
Carlon Haas at Possess Less Exist More
Cheif Family Officer at Cheif Family Officer
Chris Brogan at Chris Brogan.com
Chris Cree at SuccessCREEations
Chris Marshall at Martial Development
Chris Melton at Soupornuts.com
Chris Owen at Pink Apple
Christine Kane at ChristineKane.com
Christine Valters Painter at Abbey of the Arts
Clyde at Feeling Good
Colin Beavan at No Impact Man
Colleen Wainwright of Communicatrix
Conceive, Believe, Achieve at Conceive, Believe, Achieve
Crabby McSlacker at Cranky Fitness
Craig Harper at Motivational Speaker
Curt Rosengren at Occupational Adventure
Cyres at Cyres Matters
Damian Carr at Soul Terminal
Daniel Sitter at Idea Sellers
Danny Kohn at Be Inspired Everyday
Darren Rowse at Problogger.net
Dave Pollard at How to Save the World
Dave Schawbel at The Personal Branding Blog
Dave Schoof at Engaging the Disquiet
Davers at Language Trainers Blog
David Allen at The David Allen Company
David Bohl at Reflections on Balance
David Fitch at David Fitch.com
David Richeson at 360 Degree Success
David Rogers at How to Have Great Self Confidence
David Seah at David Seah.com
David Zinger at Slacker Manager
Dawud Miracle at dmiracle.com
Dean Lacono at Law of Attraction for Beginners
Debbie Call at Spirit In Gear
Debbie LaChusa at 10 Step Marketing Collection
Debra Moorhead at Debra Moorhead.com
Denise Mosawi at Destineering.com
Des Walsh at Thinking Home Business
Devlyn Steele at Tools To Life Guide
Dick Richards at Come Gather Round
Dominic Tay at Personal Development for Winners
Don Simkovich at Hey Don
Donald Latumahina at Life Optimizer
Donna Karlin at Perspectives
Donna Steinhorn at Rethinking
Douglas Eby at Talent Development Resources
Dr. Charles Parker at The Core Psych Blog
Dr. Hal at Northstar Mental fitness blog
Drew Rozell at Drew Rozell.com
Dwayne Melancon at Genuine Curiosity
Edward Mills at Evolving Times
Ellen Weber at Brain Based Business
Emily G. W. Lilly at The Science of Waldorf Education
Emmanuel Lopez at The Adventures of Motivatorman
Ellesse at Goal Setting College
Elly Jolly at Jolly Life Coaching
Enoch Tan at Mind Reality
Eric Napier at Quotation Collection
Erin Pavlina at Erin Pavlina.com
Evelyn Rodriguez at Crossroads Dispatches
Frank Kanu at Frank Uncovers Excellence in Leadership
Frank Roche at KnowHR Blog
Galba Bright at Tune Up Your EQ
Garr Reynolds at Presentation Zen
Gary at Personal Strategic Plan
Gilad Buchman at Sigsug
Gleb Reys at Personal Development Ideas
Grayson at Modern Worker Blog
Greg Butler at holistic-personal-development.com
Greg Frost at ChargedAudio.com
Geoff R at Gearfire.net
Gretchen Rubin at Happiness Project
Gustav at Success-is-in-you.com
Guy Kawasaki at How to Change the World
Gyanish at Diethack
Halina Goldstein at The Inner Travel Journal
Hilda Carroll at Living Out Loud
Heather Goldsmith at A Creative Journal
Helgi Pall Einarsson at Everyday Wonderland
Henrik Edberg at The Positivity Blog
Honman at Open Your Mind to Prosperity
Inkedmn at The Cranking Widgets Blog
Isabella Mori at MoriTherapy
Itzy Sabo at Email Overloaded
Jack Vinson at Knowledge Jolt with Jack
Jacklyn Ker at Inspiring and Empowing Lives
Jarle Husefest at The Personal Development Blog
Jason and Michael at Black Belt Productivity
Jason Ivers at A Miracle a Day
Jason Womack at Fit and Effective
Jay White at dumb little man tips for life
Jean Browman at Transforming Stress Into Power and Cheerful Monk
Jeannette Maw at Good Vibe Coaching
Jeanie Marshall at Empowerment and Meditation Blog and DailyAffirm: Positive Affirmations Day by Day
Jeff Davidson at Breathing Space Blog
Jeff Lilly at Druid Journal
Jeffrey Phillips at Think Faster
Jennifer at Goodness Graciousness
Jennifer Mannion at Heal Pain Naturally
Jenny and Erin at Jenny and Erin
Jeremiah Owyang at Web Strategy by Jeremiah
Jerry Hart at Blue Print to emarketing
Jerry Lopper at Personal Growth
Jessa at clairvoyantGuidance.net
Jessica Hagy at Indexed
Jim stroup at Managing Leadership
Jim Walton at Black In Business
JoLynn Braley at The Fit Shack
Joan Schramm at Accelerating Momentum
Joanna Young at Coaching Wizardry
Joanne at I’m Happy Fish
JodeeB at You Already Know This Stuff
Joe Vitale at Dr. Joe Vitale at Zero
John Pratt at John Pratt International
John Place at John Place Online
John W. McKenna at The Leadership Epidemic
John Wesley at Pick The Brain
Jon at Join The Secret
Jonathan at Smart Wealthy Rich and Freelance Folder
Jory Des Jardin at Pause: Meaningful Work
Josh Bickford at Reach For Magnificence and Reach for Magnificence
Josh Kaufman at The Personal MBA
Judy Martin at The Work/Life Monitor
Julia Rogers Hamrick at Julia’s Blog: Journal of the Journey Home to Eden
Julie Bonner at Declutter It
Kailani at An Island Review
Kammie Kobyleski at Passion Meets Purpose
Karen at Journey with Water Learner
Karen Lynch at Live The Power
Karen Wallace at The Clearing Space
Karl Moore at Karl Blog.com
Karl Staib at Karl Staib.com
Kathy Mallary at Coaching Biz Tips
Keith Ferrazzi at Never Eat Alone
Kenton Whitman at kentonwhitman.com
Kevin Kinchen at Creative Power of Thought
Killeris at Attitude, The Ultimate Power
Kim and Jason at Escape Adulthood
Kim George at Doing What You Can Do
Kimber Chin at Client K
Kirk Nugent at Kirk Nugent.com
Kirsten Harrell at Ipopin
Krishna De at Biz Growth News and Todays Women in Business
K.L. Masina at Be Conscious Now
Leah Maclean at Working Solo
Laura Young at The Dragon Slayer’s Guide to Life
Lee Nutter at bmindful
Leo Babauta at Zen Habits
Life Reflection at Universe in a Single Atom
Linda Salazar at Awaken The Genie Within
Lisa Braithwaite at Speak Schmeak
Lisa Gates at Design Your Writing Life
Lisa Van Allen at Finish Strong
Liz at Internet Marketing Strategies
Liz Strauss at Successful Blog
Lodewijkvdb at How to be an Original
Lola Fayemi at Real World Spiritual and Personal Development
Lorraine Cohen at Powerfull Living
Luciano Passuello at Litemind.com
Lucid at Spiritual Suggestions
Lumosity at Brain Health Blog
Lyman Reed at Creating a Better Life
Lyndon Antcliff at LyndonAntcliff.com and Cornwallseo.com
MT at MindTWEAKS
Maddy at Illuminated Minds Want to Know
Malathy Badri at Laws of Universe
Manny at Success Books
Maria Gajewski at Never The Same River Twice
Maria Garcia at Get Organized Now
Maria Palma at The Good Life
Marianne Williamson at Journal
Mark at The Naked Soul
Mark Forster at Get Everything Done
Mark LaPierre at The Winding Path
Mark McManus at Build Your Life To Order
Mark W Shead at Productivity 501
Martin Avis at Kickstart Daily
Mary K at Becoming Your StellarSelf
Matthew Cornell at Matt’s Idea Blog
Meg Haworth at Life Lessons From Your Soul
Melanie Benson Strick at The Success Blog
Merlin Mann at 43 Folders
Michelle at aMusing My Genius
Michelle Moore at Happiness Blog
Michael Port at The Think Big Revolution
Michael Vanderdonk at TOACH Performance
Mike Janssen at Opgestroopte Mouwen
Mike Kemski at BANABU
Mike St. Pierre at The Daily Saint
Millionaire Mommy Next Door at Millionaire Mommy Next Door
Mona Grayson at Question The Mind
Mr.Wang at Mr Wang Says So
My Everyday Planner at My Everyday Planner
Nancy Mills at The Spirited Woman
Nancy Tierney at Unconditional Confidence
Neil Patel at Quick Sprout
Nic Askew at Monday 9AM Blog
Nick Smith at Life 2.0
Nneka at Balanced Life Center
Organize-It at Organize-It
Pamala Slim at Escape From Cubicle Nation
Pamm Larry at My Spiritual Dance
Patricia Singleton at Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker
Patti Digh at 37 Days
Paul at Paul’s Tips
Paul Piotrowski at Self Help Wisdom
Paula Kawal at Paula Kawal.com
Peggy Payne at Peggy Payne’s Boldness Blog
Peter at I Will Change Your Life
Peter Aldin at Great Circle
Peter Haslem at Necessary Skills
Phil Gerbyshak at Make It Great
Philippe Matthews at Shockwealth
Priscilla Palmer at Personal Development Demands Success
Quint Jensen at Win Your Mind
Raymond Salas at Zenchill Powertools
Real Modern Man at Real Modern Man
Reg Adkins at ElementalTruths
Ricardo at Wake Up Tiger
Rich Schefren at Strategic Profits
Rick Cockrum at Shards of Consciousness
Rick Cooper at The PDA Pro
Ririan at Ririanproject
Rob at 7Breaths
Rob Cooke at Leave the Office
Robert at Compassionate Council
Robert at Myselfdev
Robert Ashcroft at PDSS Online
Robin Skeen at Robin’s Reflections
Robin Yapp at Yapp 3.0
Robyn McMaster at Brain Based Biz
Roger Von Oech at Creative Think
Rolf F. Katzenberger at Evomend
Rosa Say at Managing With Aloha Coaching
Ryan Marle at The Alpha Project
S.J. Yee at Personal Development for the Book Smart
Sam at Aquire Wisdom and Live with Passion
Scott Adams at The Dilbert Blog
Scott Berkun at Berkun Blog
Scott Bernadot at Keeping The Secret
Scott Ginsberg at Hello, My Name Is Blog
Scott H Young at Scott H Young
Scott McArthur at McArthur’s Rant
Self Pursuit at Self Pursuit
Senia at Senia.com Positive Psychology Coaching
Seth Godin at Seth’s Blog
Shane Navratil at Zoomstart
Shauna Arthurs at Breathing Prosperity and Follow Your Path
Shaheen Lakhan at GNIF Brain Blogger
Simone at Dynamic Living
Simone and Mandy at Outfit Inspirations
Slade Roberson at Shift Your Spirits and Spiritual Blogging
Sleeping Dude at How to Wake Up Early
Sonora Jayne Case at Positive Realities Coaching
Spike at Organize It
Start Up Coach at Take Charge of Your Life
Stephanie and Jeffrey at Brains on Purpose
Steve Beisheim at Jumping Ship Happens
Steve King at The Green Geek
Steve Olson at Steve-Olson.com
Steve Pavlina at stevepavlina.com
Steve Roesler at All Things Workplace
Stephen at HD bizblog
Stephen Hopson at Adversity University
Steven Aitchison at Change Your Thoughts
Success Current at SuccessCurrent.com
Surjit at Gurushabad
Susan Sabo at Productivity Cafe
Suzanne Bird-Harris at Learning Curve Coaching
Takuin Minamoto at Takuin.com
Ted Demopoulos at Blogging For Business
Terry Starbucker at Ramblings From a Glass Half Full
Thom Quinn at Qlog
Tiffany at Little Red Suit
Tim Ferris at 4-Hour Workweek and Lifestyle Design Blog
Tim Taylor at My Agapic Life
Tom Peters at Tom Peters.com
Tom Spanton at TRCoach
Tom Van Brunscot of Transformation Economy
Tony Chimento at Living Forward
Tony D Clark at Success From The Nest
Torlink at You Create Reality
Travis A. Sinquefield at Disorganizational Behavior
Travis Wright at Cultivate Greatness
Trizoko at Trizoko.com
Trevor Gay at Simplicity is the Key
Troy Worman at Orbit Now!
Tuck Self at Rebel Belle Blog
Tupelo Kenyon at Tupelokenyon.com
Ubertech at Geeks Guide To GTD
Vera Nadine at Vera Nadine.com
Vickie at Contemplate This
Wade Millican at The Middle Way
Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership
Wan Qi at Meditation Forum Mantras
Wild Bill at Passionate Blogger
and these collaborated sites:
Burst Blog
Change This
Change Your Thinking
Daily PlanIt
Did I Get Things Done
GTD Wannabe
Jobman2
Joyful Jubilant Learning
Life Coaches Blog Stratagies for a Greater Life
Lifehack.org
Lifehacker.com
TED Blog
Transformational Girlfriends
Unclutterer
Best to you all!
Donna Karlin
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