Looking In All the 'Right' Places

At a recent conference presentation, one of the other presenters was a person I’ve worked with on a few occasions. She is a dynamic fireball of energy, a leader in every sense of the word, ‘lives’ professionally and is a key player in the middle of where things happen in government, from policy to how the workings of the government are decided and implemented. Her presentation was dynamic, energetic and very, very powerful. At the end of her talk she took questions from the hundreds of people in the room.

I sat at a side table watching this unfold. She’s a what you see is what you get person with a fabulous sense of humor, and as I’ve worked with her and knew her style, I was eager to hear how she would answer the questions put on the table. I figured some of the questions would be the kind many people ask country leaders, i.e. those aiming for the magic wand kind of answers. They were asked and answered in as honest a way possible.

What really delighted me was when she answered one of the questions which was “What do you read to strengthen your leadership? What books would you recommend for us to read to grow as leaders?” She gave them a list of what came to mind, not only books but articles and speeches but then threw in the unexpected: “John Cleese’s videos on Leadership.”

For a moment the room went silent and then everyone started talking at once. Earlier she had mentioned loving Monty Python so everyone in the room thought she was pulling their leg. My table mates had seen me deep in conversation with her recognizing I knew her, so looked at me as if I would confirm that she was in fact pulling their leg. My answer was “She’s right! It’s an amazing series. You should watch it as it’s unlike any other training video you’ll ever see”. They thought I was kidding. I sat there with a grin on my face and then added “It really is a great series. Are you only looking in what you think are the ‘right’ places, reading the ‘right’ things and speaking to the ‘right’ people? What makes them all ‘right’?

I am constantly asked what books l read to hone my professional skills and my answer is “Everything I can get hold of”. If I stuck to books only on coaching I’d miss out on the rest of life and coaching isn’t only about coaching. It’s about working within the context of life. One can’t be separated from the other. Just as leadership can’t be found in a canned course or book it’s snippets of everything we live, experience, read about and learn, all mixed up and filtered through our unique personalities to come out when we need it and how we need it to lead, direct and question.

Are you looking in only the ‘right’ places and feeling as if you’re coming up short? Many look for the perfect book, course or direction. Life isn’t like that. True leaders glean information from everywhere. They soak it up like a sponge, are constantly growing, rethinking and reinventing.

What are you reading? What are you not paying attention to that you should be paying attention to?

Best!
Donna Karlin

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Taking Freedom of Movement for Granted

This isn't the usual blog post about politics or leadership or even languaging. This is more about taking things for granted. Even in Ottawa, where storms and snowfalls are taken for granted and rarely stop us, this weekend was an exception. Imagine going to sleep one evening with snow covering the ground and the odd snow banks here and there, waking up to snow as high as rooflines. Streets, once wide enough for 5 cars to park side by side to being so filled up with snow that all of a sudden there's only room for a little over one car width. Bungalos are no longer visable at all from the street and sidewalks and signs have all but vanished is in the photo to the right.

That was this weekend when everthing came to a standstill even in a city used to snow where ploughs take it away almost as quickly as it comes down....except this past weekend. It was like a page out of a story book where the only people wandering around were walking on snowshoes.

We take so much for granted....freedom of movement being one of them. Plans never happened, going for groceries was out of the question and you made do with whatever you had around. Reading replaced running around and a roaring fire and an old movie replaced travel. It wasn't in any way shape or form what I had hoped for but it was a reminder we don't always have control of what the world hands us. And even though trips were cancelled, in the scheme of things and in a world when some can't guarantee their safety when they leave their homes, I have to remind myself that I'm so lucky in life...that the snow will melt and other weekends away will happen....and still I won't have to worry about my safety and well being. We sometimes take that for granted to. There are so many things and people we take for granted. This past weekend gave me the time to reflect...space to sit back and take stock. When's the last time you stopped and let the world in?

Best...

Donna Karlin