Archive for 2008

Stephen Covey, in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, advocates strongly for writing a personal mission statement. Then use this as a compass in specific situations. He gives many reasons why having a personal mission statement is a crucial ingredient for highly effective people.
I have twice attended 3-day workshops [...]

Collaboration can help you be more emotionally intelligent and resilient. One way to encourage collaboration is to ask the other person what they really want. And you need to tell them what you really want. If you can create a sense that both of you are a team facing a problem [...]

“He impaired his vision by holding the object too close. He might see, perhaps, one or two points with unusual clearness, but in so doing he, necessarily, lost sight of the matter as a whole.” - C. Auguste Dupin in The Murders in the Rue Morgue.
In l974 I was recruited out [...]

In my last Tip, I described mindsets. Carol S. Dweck sheds light on mindsets in her book, Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success, Random House, 2006. Here I want to describe how mindsets create a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The fixed mindset believes that leadership and other talent is based partly [...]

Having an emotionally intelligent mindset will increase your personal and interpersonal effectiveness. Carol S. Dweck sheds light on mindsets in her book, Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success, Random House, 2006.
You may ask, isn’t emotional intelligence about doing the right things? Yes, but how you start out to [...]

Emotional intelligence provides us with strategies other than frantic attempts to control our situation. Consider the story of test pilots told by Tara Brach in her excellent book, Radical Acceptance, on page 49.
In the l950’s air force test pilots attempted with new jet engines to fly at higher altitudes than ever before. [...]

Emotional intelligence includes having clarity of intention. Having clarity of intention results in more energy and resourcefulness. And that means more resilience in the face of problems, change, and turbulence. Resilience means we can handle turbulence and bounce back.
To be resilient and resourceful, we need to ask ourselves in each new situation:
• What do I [...]

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” - Winston Churchill.
What are you giving? Are you interested in new ways to give? Here are some possibilities.
Give to your favorite non-profit. Can you serve food at a homeless shelter? Or serve [...]

Tara Brach in her book, Radical Acceptance, on p. 24, tells this story:
“Mohini was a regal white tiger who lived for many years at the Washington, D.C. Zoo. for most of those years her home was in the old lion house – a typical twelve-by-twelve-foot cage with iron bars and a cement floor. [...]

Resilient person: The following true story is about a resilient person described in the excellent book on resilience, The Survivor Personality by Al Siebert, pages 2-3. This is a true story of someone turning a devastating blow into good fortune.
In 1926 a 25 year old illustrator and one of his older brothers [...]