Inspiring Courageous Leaders - The Book Edit Process

I feared the edit process and was not feeling great about having someone challenge the way I had written my book - and after all it was MY book! So I came to the process not truly a willing participant - in my heart. Yet I knew from my head - the logic - that it was vital. I did not want to hand over the chapters when I did - I really wanted to do one more edit myself and hand over something I felt was 'polished' and as perfect as I could get it. Our publisher said NO - it is time to let it go. So let it go I did - very reluctantly!

Working with my editor has been the most amazing experience - it has exceeded my expectations and allowed an exponential development of the book. It all began when she came along to a meeting of the entire team who would be responsible for getting this book published and into print. There were many of us sitting around the table and at the start I had to do quite a bit of talking to share my idea and share my history. 

 

As we went around the table introducing ourselves sometime later - the editor struck an immediate chord with me - when she said I was not at all what she had expected. She said my written word (as she had read the first 5 chapters of the book) did not match with me as a person in the flesh. My energy, my exuberance, my humour and my passion was missing in the written word. Instead I had produced a stuffy business speak book. 

 

She said her job was to help me find my voice in the book. I was shocked that my writing did not match with the real me - and I was grateful that I had a person who was going to help me do this - if I let her.

So began the challenging conversations. And we did this all through electronic media - so I learned firsthand that you do not always have to be face to face to have real conversations. In fact we got rather 'intense' electronically.

My editor helped me to see that I did not need to fill my book with quotes from very important people. I WAS good enough to write this book and share MY words and stop referring to the words of others. In fact we ditched a whole chapter that was me referring to other very important writers to show that I had the knowledge and was worthy of being read.
It was fascinating - she never said that to me - she just helped me discover it for myself!!!"

 

If you're interested learn more about the book, head to our website - www.courageousleaders.com.au and check it out.

Busy Lifestyle Syndrome

Reading the Sunday papers I loved reading Wendy Harmer's column called "The Future Looks Stupid" where she explores the new syndrome identified by researchers in Scotland - "Busy Lifestyle Syndrome". This syndrome is caused by our busy lifestyles where we are bombarded with information overload. I don't think we needed researchers in Scotland to confirm this for us.

However they went on to tell us something far more interesting - that our attention spans and concentration levels are going down and memory loss is getting common and affecting younger people. And as Wendy comments - we are more efficient but what use is that to us if we can't remember what we're being efficient at exactly?

So what do we take from this research - we need to create greater self discipline around cutting out the noise; finding ways to be present; creating energy recovery rituals and having the courage to stay true to be the kind of person and leader you really want to be.

It can feel like it is easier said than done - and is only possible if you are prepared to be conscious of all your choices! Turn off your mobile phone so it cannot distract you from being present with the people you are physically present with; stop looking at your emails so you are not bombarded with yet more and more information.

Would love to hear some of your stories - let's start a conversation.

Breaking through Gravity - Part 2

Experiences have shown me how easy it is to give up on breaking through gravity and just stick with our conditioning. I invest significant time and energy into relationships and still find myself deeply disappointed when hit by behaviour from the "old" way - driven by fear, avoidance and protection. You start to question - why you are investing so much time, effort and emotion - to be treated in ways that you don't expect?

Then you need to remind yourself you operate from a higher level of consciousness - and this means you notice more and feel more. And the especially important thing to remember is that you feel great when you operate from this space.

Breaking through Gravity

"A human being trying to catalyse the emergence of a higher level of consciousness is like a rocket ship trying to break through the gravity of the Earth's atmosphere. The gravity that we are endeavouring to release ourselves from is the historical weight of our conditioning, both personal and cultural. If we can generate enough vertical momentum to propel us beyond the boundaries of who we have been, we will find ourselves in uncharted territory." ~ Andrew Cohen.

Our conditioning has created our defence mechanisms and our fear and this is what we need to break through. This uncharted territory is incredibly frightening because we have stretched ourselves into a new place and our old ways won’t work anymore – we see things differently, we feel differently, we think differently and we start acting differently. The safer thing is not to bring this higher level of consciousness in the first place – and for many this is where they stay – almost not knowing what they don’t know. 

For others the mere sniff of it sends them running – I have just started working with a new client and we have participants who have refused to come along and even “taste” the program. They prefer to stick with their existing conditioning. For others they embrace the emergence of a higher level of consciousness and want to learn more about leading themselves and others – for them it's a bit like releasing a Genie – once it is let out of the bottle there is no going back.

Our programs inspire people to be courageous leaders and therefore participants are encouraged to catalyse this higher level of consciousness and it is truly amazing to watch and hear – and along the way comes clumsiness and awkwardness. Our conditioning does not leave us easily and continues to weigh us down as we try to change. 

For many this gets them down and they allow gravity to take its course and “weigh” them back down to where they were – their historical conditioning. For others they persist and the long term results are feelings of peace, happiness, even elation and total authenticity – well worth the struggle I say. 

I encourage everyone to release themselves from this gravity! Would love to engage in conversations with others who have experienced these kinds of changes.

ROI on Training & Development

ROI has been a big catch-cry for businesses large and small during the noughties and particularly post the GFC. What happens when you try to wrap the concept of ROI around Training and Development programs? At Courageous Leaders we’ve noticed a few articles and formulas emerging on this topic and in response our latest newsletter shares the thoughts, opinions and research of our Courageous Leaders facilitators to the debate. Subscribe for your copy of our newsletter.

These articles are to stimulate your thinking and we invite your feedback and comments – what’s your perspective?