Laura Wolfe Coaching LLC

Supporting the Evolution of Careers, Leaders,

& Climate Consciousness

Time for Greatness

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Get around some greatness. You can find it all over the place – in architecture, museums, books, nature, community, movies, art, people, music, history, science. Get near it and absorb that energy. Do this while you are setting your goals for the new year. Breathe greatness in and infuse it into your new year plans.

My husband and I are fortunate to spend a lot of time in New Orleans where we stay a block away from the National WWII Museum. I simply can not get enough of that place. It is full of artifacts from a time when mere mortals became great and beat back heinous evil forces.

Besides the stuff and stories on display, we regularly see current and veteran members of our armed services visiting – people who sacrificed much for the greater good. To be around them and this history fills me with awe and admiration. I wonder will my life and work ever make that kind of difference in the world.

Recently, the B-17 bomber named My Gal Sal with an interesting history was moved to the museum campus. It was in pieces in the parking lot by us for a couple of weeks and we we were able to get pretty close. Standing so near something from that era can really choke me up.

Now is the time for setting goals and making plans. Do this in a mindset of greatness and then go forth to achieve it.

If your plans call for change, think about what you are listening to. I’m a big believer in the inspirational power of music to support and fuel transition. I’ve added a couple of new ones to the playlist.

Happy New Year everyone!!

As always, I’d love to hear what you think.

A Good Think

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Sometimes I just need a good think. This started me wondering about when and where I do my best thinking. Like a LOT of people I know, in the shower is great for ideas and problem solving. My friend Crys told me that you can get white boards for the shower to jot down thoughts which is just absolutely brilliant. (Hey Santa, ya hear that?)

I also think well while walking, especially hiking and doing yardwork, especially pruning. I wrote about pruning here. Sitting with a good cup of tea looking out the window or at the fire or Christmas tree is another favorite activity (or lack thereof) for thinking.

What do you do for a good think?

Recently, I was in a traffic jam for about 2 hours with no 3G service. Fortunately, I had Dan Pink’s Office Hours podcast on my phone featuring Gretchen Rubin talking about her new book. She said she gets some of her best ideas in transit (on subways, trains, taxis etc.). Because of this she doesn’t check her smart phone while moving around. Interesting, huh? I too often fill every spare second checking e-mail and social media.

2012 is wrapping up. It’s time to reflect on the past year and set goals for 13. I am looking back through my calendar to review and thinking over what I wanted to accomplish. Facebook now provides a year in review feature but I haven’t checked it out. At the same time, I’m creating my goals for the coming next year.

In addition to mulling our accomplishments and personal/professional goals, we all must do some thinking about real actions we can take starting now to stop the horrific evil in our world that allows something like Sandy Hook to happen.

Merry Christmas!  Happy Hanukkah! Joyous Kwanza! Seasons Greetings!

 

What do you think?

Your Legacy

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Behavioral modeling is the most elementary way that humans learn. This means that people observe what others do and then do the same thing. If you’re not sure about that, just let a bad word slip in front of a four year-old and see what happens. It is why mentoring programs are so popular and so effective.

As a manager, this puts a pretty heavy burden on what you do all the time. Because your people watch your actions and do what they see. Then they become managers and manage as they observed. Your example and influence continues. If you have ever wondered why a crappy manager is the way they are, just ask them about managers in their past.

In today’s organizations, managers are asked to do more than is humanly possible. So being harried and impatient and taking short-cuts may seem like the only way. But the view from 10,000 feet shows that what a manager does every day is part of a very powerful legacy that stretches years into the future.

Ask yourself, “Is this the way I want my (manager) descendents to do it?”.

Some lessons:

  • Everything you do as a manager matters.
  • Work for great managers and just soak it up.
  • If that’s not possible, make a conscious effort to not pick up the bad habits of bad managers.

For those with a history of working for bad managers, consider coaching.

 

What do you think?

Clean Energy

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I recently attended the awesome Revenue Rocks coaching conference and want to give a big shout out to Michele Woodward, Nona Jordan, Jeanette Maw and Fabeku Fatunmise for generously sharing what they know and do.

We talked about the idea that the kind of energy you bring forth affects the outcomes that you get.

This means you need to process the stuff from your past that may not have turned out like you wanted or may even have been painful until there is no negative charge associated with whatever happened. The goal is to neutralize that negative energy. Past stuff can include many things – relationships, career, jobs, your money legacy, your family, etc.

I work with people on career growth and management – leadership issues. It is not unusual for someone to be hung up by the way their last job unraveled or by the after effects of a cruel, crazy former boss who did a number on them. I can definitely empathize having had a range of work experiences myself. But, to be a great employee or manager or put your best self forward in a job search you’ve got to clean up those bad feelings.

Here are a few ways to neutralize negative energy:

  • talk it out with a trusted friend or family member
  • write it up, in detail
  • write a letter to the person you feel wronged by (not necessary or even advisable to mail it)
  • read what you’ve written aloud until the charge is gone or burn it or bury it
  • ask God to help you be free of it
  • meditate on it with the intention of letting go
  • really examine your thoughts and work to change them

If you’re not having luck getting past your past, a good coach can help. Sometimes an experience is so traumatic that working with a mental health professional is a better option.

How do you know when you’ve succeeded?  You are probably done with the past if you can tell the story aloud in a generic, no-intensity way. And once you are there, Congratulations! Moving forward will be much easier.

 

What do you think?