Sunrise, Exercise, Intrigue = 1

Yesterday was the first meeting with another. He's not the first to participate in this test but I'll call him 1. The word of the day was Contradiction. I saw it all over the place.

--> Left one job because solving problems created by mismanagement burnt him out. And yet what he loves about owning his business is the challenge to help businesses solve problems.
--> Service or product or both?
--> Hates businesses with layers of bureaucracies and inefficiencies that impede innovation and yet their biggest client is the Goliath of dysfunction.
--> Is an "Influencer" who has lost his voice.
--> An organized individual, a natural problem solver with good game plans who isn't having the "success" he wants at the office and home.

We revisited the birth of the passion that grew from taking a sabbatical:
1) Sunrise
2) Exercise
3) Create a website
--> Intrigued by the opportunity to connect right brain and left brain thinking.

Does this sound like a game plan or what? Sign me up for some of this! I bet it couldn't be farther from the game plans he has now. Do you think his "summits" have this expectation and setting? I digress...

The lightbulb moment came when 1 discovered dynamic coding. "Why" I asked, "What specifically changed when you discovered it?" His response was delivered at a different pace than our conversation had been up until that point. He sat up in your chair, you leaned in / on the table and spoke from the place he needs to more.

Dynamic Solutions - not hard code (sounds a bit like the start of a melody line to me).

He started with a PIM interface - give the business owner the ability to dynamically manage their own product information... He quickly connected this to the shopping cart so that the solution was complete. Wait, is this an OMS product? Fuxinating.

His inquisitive nature that can see a problem and fix it, now had a flexible solution model that can enable others to act like you. 1, read this again, it's big, don't miss it... "Your product has purpose beyond just a tool, just a solution, just a service. Your product is an extension of you and your core strengths."

I still didn't believe he had clarity regarding the relationship between the service he provides and product he sells. He mentioned a company we both knew and I got it. HOWEVER, we both acknowledged their service would have never been enough if their product wasn't right FIRST. So I asked him, "what is your top priority? what is your organization set up to be great at? where are you spending your time and energy as the leader?"

I asked him to tell me how he is using his core strengths at home and how that is working. He answered honestly and simply - it's not necessarily working how I want. Funny how work and life tend to reflect each other and yet most don't see the connection.

Here is where the hardest work will be. It's not about the brand slogan or logo or site design, it's about the leader leading. It's about the leader having crystal fucking clarity on who they are, why they are and what they want. It's about a leader who is authentically living the same life at work and home because to him there is no difference. It's about the leader getting fed up with "mismanagement" and doing something about it starting with a sunrise, exercise and intrigue.

More...

Days like today are proving my OPUS Project hypothesis right...

Being creative is magic but not magical. It isn't just for the artists, musicians, or poets. It is a skill all of our brains have but rarely use because it isn't considered "useful" in most business jobs. I'm discovering that the process of writing, when you typically engage the "useful" conscious self monitoring part of the brain, and then discussing those thoughts can activate the autobiographical self expressive part of your brain resulting the convergence of what you know to be true to the why you believe it to be true... MAGIC.

Today me and GG sketched out what we had learned at our last meeting. We looked at the white board and both started to see the melody line. Busy, busy, busy... there literally is NO COMMA's in her life. She can't sit still, feels guilty sitting still, doesn't like to sit still. Wants more but doesn't know what more is.

I was at a loss and didn't know how to move forward so I asked someone for advice / input. I asked someone who has an innate ability to consume endless amounts of both qualitative and quantitative data then make sound, decisive decisions. Someone with high emotional intelligence and good intuition.

I asked GG to write a letter to herself.

The request struck a nerve - ugh, there is pain here. As she sat and thought about this task, her brain started to do it's think and connect the dots between some experiences in her past where pain was managed by "busy-ness". When I tell people discovering your OPUS is going to be tough, this is the shit I'm talking about. This is also the shit most people run away from, most people turn up their "conscious self monitoring" to avoid the pain of self expression. I don't think GG will because she wants more.

GG hates comma's

"You must hate comma's" was a phrase told to GG by her dearest love who kindly read and edited some of her writing. This immediately struck me like a big truth, GG missed the melody line. In grammar, a comma is mainly used to separate parts of a sentence such as clauses or items in lists. AND it almost always represents a pause when reading.

GG hates comma's - translation - GG hates pauses. TRUTH! You see GG is thinker about anything and everything, loves information, loves progress, loves making decisions and getting shit done. We discovered her dearest love requires comma's - this is good - they will balance each other out.

One of GG's Unique Skills lies in her ability to consume endless amounts of both qualitative and quantitative data then make sound, decisive decisions. She's a smarty pants with high emotional intelligence and good intuition - this will take her far. It's why she "chose" her current job over another - something inside told her - now we know what that something is.

It's been there all along, even written in all of the assessments and feedback she pursues. But today, we really discovered it, called it out, owned it so that she can understand leverage the glory of this Unique Skill!

Freakin' magic.

GG, Honesty and Bravery...

Today, me and GG (girly girl) met to discuss the homework she had... "define what it means to be a woman". Much to my chagrin GG started the meeting off with a barrage of information generally regarding this task. High performers do this AND so do people who want to avoid something - funny huh. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and listened intently on what she wanted me to hear. At one point, she called special attention to a quote she wrote about herself...

"Being honest allows me to be brave and being brave allows me to be honest."

HONESTY is a big deal to this chica. Honesty in the literal sense and in a much broader / more personal / more purposeful sense. Honesty for GG is about telling someone the things others won't... honesty is about being direct with someone and not giving them bull shit... honesty is about being forthcoming so that good things come out of it.

BRAVERY, by definition is courageous behavior or character. Courage comes from the latin word COR which denotes the "heart" as the seat of feelings. In other words, courage is the ability to {{{fill in the blank}}} with your whole heart without conceding to fear, pain, judgement, criticism.

So for GG, delivering truth in love to help others allows her to live with her whole heart and living with her whole heart allows her to deliver truth in love. Powerful shit!

So what makes this brave truth teller unique, special, better than most? She's a woman. She has a heighten sense of emotional intelligence, able to see multiple perspectives, can take into account the feelings and emotional state of her audience.  Can you think of any other characteristics you would want in a person who is providing you with honest, candid, forthcoming feedback?

We didn't get many things written down regarding the task of "defining what it means to be a woman", but we did get ONE very powerful statement about GG crystal clear. Here it is, don't miss it, it's HUGE:

"Being honest allows me to be brave and being brave allows me to be honest. Being a woman enhances my ability to do both."

Limitless Potential

I met with a strong, honest, driven female today to talk shop.  I’ve only met a few women like her in my life let alone spent time being able to help build into one.  You see, she is in from the generation of women who grew up with an internal belief that they have limitless potential and opportunities because they are girl.  Imagine that mental jet fuel – LIMITLESS POTENTIAL.

We agreed to hone in on defining how this rare bird is distinct in her own right.  There are a few things we know, some things we will discover along the way, other things we need to dig into and of course, more we will find later.  This is not a race, there is no start or finish, only a willingness to participate.  She is going to start by defining what it means to be a woman.  This will be a good first challenge so my advice was to be honest, curious, and don’t squelch thoughts or ideas as the enter your stream of consciousness – just write it down.

How many of you have the courage to not only face your self in the mirror but call it out?  Scary shit.  Takes a strong, courageous type – the kind who will most certainly change the world they live in and most likely others worlds too.  Thank you for letting me walk with you on this journey.  I’m excited to see how high the sky is for you.

The magical DISC

I just spent a good hour with a strong "D" talking about where work and play intersect within a business. Shockingly we both agree on where that is considering I'm a strong "I". You see, a strong "D" is wired to place emphasis on accomplishing results, the bottom line and is confident... whereas a strong "I" places emphasis on influencing / persuading others, openness and relationships.

So how can this alignment be possible?

This "D" has a slight mutation in his D-NA, he demands an open mindedness of himself to be a counter balance to his decisive nature. This is some seriously hard shit to do for a strong "D". AND, the "I" has learned and accepted that a strong "D" is imperative to long-term sustainable growth of a culture that plays. Chaos ensues if we only live in the "what if" and "can we" without the "did we".

Individually they are both a strong "ME", together they are a strong "WE". Add in a strong "S" and "C" who lean against their tendencies and align with this philosophy and the magic will really take hold. Funny how simple it can sound and yet rare it is in real life. I'm learning so much right now about the real role of the leader - whether they are a strong "D", "I", "S" or "C". They need to live in a place of awareness that sees the picture in a different light and ensures the team is balanced in bottom line results, optimism and wonder, cooperation and stability, quality and accuracy. If they can't, don't or won't - the organization will tend towards the characteristics of the leader.

Do you know any leaders who are willing and demanding that the organization to be less like themselves? Do you know any leaders who actually give others control to do so? Do you any leaders who accept who they are and aren't?

I never saw this blind spot in my leadership until I was "forced" to take a step back / out. Thank you for this time and opportunity to learn.