Archive for the ‘Change’ Category

Financial Crisis And The Speed Of The Zone

June 15, 2010

For many people the financial crisis has caused a paralyzing amount of fear. A question on many people’s minds is how to cope with this gripping emotional state at a time when action is necessary. Perhaps this is the most relevant conversation as our emotional state is what determines the speed at which we are able to take action.   Also, it is our emotional state that determines the accuracy of our perception and the mind’s ability to solve complex problems.  At this very moment the pace of communication and information is accelerating at incomprehensible multiples.

The emotional state of fear will have us wanting to slow down, or even stop.  In the financial world this translates to “wait and see”, “panic and sell”, “follow the crowd”, “run and hide”,”shame and be shamed”, “blame and justify”, “judge and be judged”.  The mass fear is palpable and unbearable to be around and the results are showing up in the markets, the media and everywhere.

The solution to this is to get in a different state, where we can move faster, make better decisions and keep ourselves from being sucked into the vacuum of fear, like particles in space into a massive black hole.  In order to do this, we have to step back and observe, speed up and change, and take the actions without hesitation.  Buy great opportunities and resist selling those that will recover. History will prove that even though the market hibernates like a bear, it does make room for the bull sooner or later.  This is the time to be bold and resilient and  the internal state of fear is our enemy.

Below is an article I wrote in 2004 about the speed of the zone, for a group of leaders that I was working with.

The zone in sports is that magical moment when an athlete is totally connected to winning, physiologically and psychologically and releasing chemicals that enhance the state.  This emotional state takes us into a different reality beyond fear and into bliss.  Everything is optimized and enhanced.  I feel understanding this zone is a key to moving past the fear and into action again.

The Speed Of The Zone (copy of original article written in 2004)

Thank you for your courage and commitment to this journey that we share together, which can be very personal and alone sometimes. I have written about “the speed of the Zone” to support in your understanding of what you have available to you.

The Zone is a very magical space; even though it can seem graceful and slow from the outside, it is actually moving very fast. What does this mean?

As we move up the zones the speed increases exponentially. What this means is that the feeling of each zone is dramatically different. As you move in your own personal journey up the zones you will hit invisible walls. This can feel uncomfortable and will have you plotting against yourself to move back into a lower zone that is more comfortable. We call this your havingness, or upper-limit. I will discuss more about this later but for now let me explain the speed of the Zone.

The important thing is that you will adjust and adapt and then it does get more comfortable again. However in the middle of the adjustment it can feel confusing. Let‘s begin by understanding the context of the personal journey you are on as a Leader.

The Personal Journey

The voice of your Spiritual-Self, compels you to let go of your comfort zone and embark on a personal journey that seems to have no limits, no restrictions and no end. In a life driven by goals, achievements and deadlines this voice is seldom convenient, comfortable or timely. And yet when it’s time, the spirit moves quickly and ruthlessly like a storm from which you cannot protect yourself and there is no place to hide. The only solution is to stop the struggle and surrender to your spirit. Your spirit is much faster than your ego.

In a world of accelerating acceleration, where change is unpredictable, and complexity is growing at levels that are becoming evermore challenging, your ability to adapt must transcend previous limits in order to survive. You are on a personal journey, a quest for meaning, an evolution that takes you from your social act to your authentic self, from specialist to generalist, from dominance to partnership, from competitive to cooperative, from fragmented to integrated, from an ego-centered person to a comprehensive whole spiritual being.

You are for the first time making room in your life for spirit and ego to walk in partnership, side by side, each making peace with the needs of the other.

From Surviving To Thriving

Human beings are complex and evolving beings, who thrive on problem solving, adding value and contributing to others; once survival is handled you are fulfilled only by things that move your heart and challenge your mind.

“It is not the strongest nor most intelligent of species that survives; it is the one most adaptable to change”.

- Charles Darwin

Change is something that requires action and is by its very nature not a passive energy but rather an energy that has force. This force is required to take action from a lower zone because there has to be a dramatic increase in energy. Not only is more energy required as you move up the zones but also more velocity or speed. Things happen faster, and more powerfully. At first this can feel draining and tiring, but as you adapt you begin to have more energy and power available to you. This is the same as someone learning to run their first marathon. It takes persistence, determination and commitment. The body has to adapt physically and they have to increase the distance in incremental steps not run the whole distance the first day.

Let me explain through an analogy from a story.

A Clue From The Red Queen

For Alice, in Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass” advice from The Red Queen is that “in this place it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.”

“Through the Looking Glass” is the imaginary life of a young girl who while playing the game of chess, walks through a mirror into another reality where the pieces of the chess game become giant and real and The Red Queen is showing Alice the way. This statement inspired Evolutionary Biologist L. Van Valen to come up with a principle called the “The Red Queen Principle” which states that “for an evolutionary system, continuing development is needed just in order to maintain its fitness relative to the systems it is co-evolving with”. The evolution here is in our consciousness, our collective knowledge and how we individually operate within this.

The zones are the equivalent to our own personal evolution as human beings. Only the whole thing is happening in one life and not over millions of years.

Understanding The Landscape

Like Alice in “Through the Looking Glass,” understanding what it takes to thrive in the Zone, begins with looking into the mirror and stepping into a future reality that is at present a possibility only as surreal as the room inside Alice’s mirror. Where things are operating differently than you know, the rules are different, the players are different and everything is unpredictable, outside your current concept of time and space.

Let’s imagine the world inside the mirror, on the surface looks similar, and yet everything is on different sides. Things that were on your right are now on the left, the sizes and proportions are constantly changing as you walk in. To see further into the mirror you have to literally step past your current limitations. In the story, Alice a self-centered girl who is insensitive to her cats and to her sister has an opportunity to learn some valuable lessons. Her journey begins after she steps out of the room in the mirror (her previous limits), and steps into the landscape outside and is joined by the Red Queen (who has transformed from a few inches tall on Alice’s chessboard to a full size woman, taller than Alice. She looks over the hills and sees that everything is divided into squares, like her chessboard and realizes she is in the game. The queen is showing her the way and, they have been moving very fast and take a break when:

Alice looked round her in great surprise. `Why, I do believe we’ve been under this tree the whole time! Everything’s just as it was!’

`Of course it is,’ said the Queen, `what would you have it?’

`Well, in our country,’ said Alice, still panting a little, `you’d generally get to somewhere else — if you ran very fast for a long time, as we’ve been doing.’

`A slow sort of country!’ said the Queen. `Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!’

A New Reality

This dialogue is a great analogy of the world you are stepping into, fast and unpredictable and where the rules feel as different as a reality without gravity. This is the context of the “The Red Queen Principle” where running is an analogy for adaptation to the environment. The characteristics that you developed to achieve success in the past, the ACT will only manage to keep you at the same place even if you are playing at full speed. So what will it take to achieve success in the future? The single word answer is CHANGE.

Your individual ability to change and re-invent yourself, to adapt to the new rules of the game. Literally going from a mono-dimensional thinking to multi-dimensional thinking. Imagine the two-dimensional chess board now surrounds you, you are in it and the pieces have come to life and you can move in ways you do not understand from your current perspective.

The challenge presented to Alice is “If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” On a purely physical level, the fastest runners in the world are not twice as fast as their peers, only milliseconds faster. The change that is required is in the way that you perceive, think and respond, not a physical adaptation that would take many life spans to accomplish.

You have thinking and responding to a slow world and the Zone is like another reality and nothing in your past can prepare you for this. The Zone requires all of you to be present in the NOW!!

Remember the Zone is an ideal that we are always reaching for and there is no limit, no end. However by reaching for Gold we will surely live above the line in Green and Blue and sometimes Gold.

To Your Goldzone!

Anjou MacPherson
Co-founder
Goldzone Foundation

© Goldzone Foundation. All rights reserved.

Posted in Change, Consciousness, Expansion, Financial Crisis, Flow, Lifeforce, New-Paradigm Leadership, Transformation | 6 Comments »

Financial Crisis: Expansion

March 20, 2009

With the world embroiled in a global recession for the first time since the 40’s, a lot of what we had accepted as “the way things are” has been turned upside down. Sure, there have been recessions in most regions, however it has been over 60 years since we had a global recession.

One thing a lot of people had taken for granted was that we could keep on expanding forever. This caused a bubble from over expansion when prices lost touch with fundamentals and in the end turned out to be unsustainable.

Greed drove markets to higher and higher levels, and now that things have crashed back to earth, fear has driven and continues to drive markets lower and lower to such a level that we have, once again lost touch with the fundamentals.

As you can see, we have swung between these two extremes driven by emotions at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Often times it is fear of contraction that holds people back from expanding. This is similar to not wanting to try something in case you fail at it. The thought is that it is better to not try – than it is to fail.

The problem is, if we don’t grow, we don’t expand, we don’t stretch ourselves, we don’t set goals, we don’t visualize brighter futures, we have nothing to look forward to. We are living in our comfort zone.

When in our comfort zone we are NOT running into limiting beliefs, limiting paradigms, or limited ability.

It is only when we expand and grow that we run into our limits. It is only then that we discover what we don’t know, and what we cannot yet do. It is only then that we discover everything that is against our goals, visions and progress.

In a world that exists on the universal law of duality, we are either growing or we are dying. There is no such thing as a holding pattern. This means that the comfort zone is in fact a slow death. If we stand still we do not remain motionless. The world around us continues and we, in fact regress. So doing nothing is like regression and growing is the only way to move forward and claim the prize of a life fully lived.

So what is it that has people not growing, not expanding and not taking risks? FEAR. And the false belief that if they do nothing their situation will improve. If a company is losing money and the management does nothing… Then the company will be in a worse condition in six months time than it is now. Something has got to change in order to turn the financial position around. This is the same with bad careers, relationships, health etc. If you do nothing, you may become numb to the problem, however you will not solve the problem… It will only get worse and will be more difficult to solve later.

Most people only take action when an emergency is upon them and they can delay no longer. The pain of taking action is less than the pain of emergency. This is a very stressful way to live and it is completely unnecessary.

So, why do people stop growing, set no goals, visions and not commit to plans? The answer may surprise you. It is because at some time in the past, the person had a painful experience, made a number of conclusions based on that experience and formed a belief or precept on how they would live in the future so as to avoid the pain.

Whenever a person sets a new goal, plans or envisions a future, they invoke all the unresolved past incidents that are similar to their current goals, plans and visions. This can be very depressing and painful! Usually, the person will not realize that this mechanism has activated and will look for causes within their present time to blame for their condition and their feelings. Usually the blame is put on some person who is perhaps not faultless… But certainly didn’t do it to them. Blaming others or outside events only serve to avoid the real truth of what the cause of the failure is. And, unless the truth is uncovered… It will reoccur again, and again.

If you think that you will arrive at a point in life where you have “arrived” and your learning and growing will stop… Then you don’t understand how life works!

The worst thing you can do is hope that this problem will resolve itself… And therefore do nothing.

How do you end this cycle and accelerate your expansion?

This is perhaps the most difficult thing to do… set new goals, dream new dreams and do the opposite of what everyone else is doing. It is at times like this when the most opportunities exist. Take some risks, venture out and know with confidence that the recession will not last and the market will soon be back into growth.

Now is your opportunity to lead. Go for an extraordinary existence, living an extraordinary life, with extraordinary people and achieve extraordinary results.

© Goldzone Foundation. All rights reserved.

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Posted in Change, Expansion, Financial Crisis, New-Paradigm Leadership, Transformation | 3 Comments »

Zone Tips: Cause & Effect

March 19, 2009

One of the key components to getting into “The Zone” and staying there is understanding and mastering Cause & Effect.

There is a lot to this subject and it is a bit technical however, master this and you are sure to experience a transformation in your results!

What is Cause & Effect?  Everything that happens is an Effect that was Caused by something. Nothing occurs without something else Causing it to happen.  For example, a glass that was sitting on the table, does not fall onto the floor by itself.  A person walking by, may bump the table, Causing the glass to fall off the table and onto the floor, breaking into pieces.

In this example, the EFFECT was the broken glass.  The CAUSE was the person who placed the glass too close to the edge of the table, which then combined with the person walking by. Often times, we get upset and angry at the EFFECT — and never really identify the CAUSE. Blaming the person who walked by and bumped the glass — doesn’t solve the problem.  Yelling at them, punishing them, getting them back later… All achieve nothing as the TRUE CAUSE has not been identified. The CAUSE in this example was the person when they placed the glass on the edge of the table.  The person walking by only played into it and is the SECONDARY CAUSE.

Without the true Cause being identified — no lasting change is possible. For most of us, when something happens that we don’t want, don’t like, or detest, we blame the SECONDARY CAUSE rather than the TRUE CAUSE. And we can make all the changes to Secondary Causes we like – only to discover that our results remain unchanged.

If you want lasting change in any area — identify the TRUE CAUSES — and change them. What is the TRUE CAUSE of the financial crisis? If you are experiencing financial difficulties, or investment losses, what is the true Cause? Think about it. Have you identified Primary Causes or are you focusing on Secondary Causes?

The challenge for most people is that they spend a good deal of time being at Effect and not often being at Cause of their life, career, relationships, health etc. Designing and living your ideal life requires you to be at Cause. Being at Cause simply means to make decisions and operate from the perspective of Causing or SOURCING what you want versus accepting the Effects of others.

In order to be at Cause requires you to be able to be at Cause and at Effect. Sounds confusing, but in fact it is quite simple:

  • When you avoid being CAUSE, you automatically put yourself at EFFECT. If you run away from something, you are at the Effect of the thing you are running away from.
  • When you are at Effect, it Causes you to be in REACTION to what is happening to you. Reacting to things that happen to you is very different from RESPONDING. Responding has you being at Cause.
  • If you just want to be Cause and avoid Effect, you automatically put yourself at EFFECT.
  • As a leader you are at Cause, on the other hand as a follower you are at Effect. This is why a lot of people don’t want to follow others, they don’t want to be at Effect of them. Choosing who you follow puts you at Cause over the Effect of the person you are following! (now that is a dichotomy!)

The bottom line is that in order to be in The Zone, we need to master being CAUSE, and being EFFECT.  Being Effect means being able and willing to experience anything. Sounds tough, but that is where true freedom is.

© Goldzone Foundation. All rights reserved.

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Zone Tips: Staying “In The Zone”

March 16, 2009

Most people know what “The Zone” is and have experienced moments in The Zone in their career, sports, money etc. Typically these moments are infrequent, unpredictable at best and most people have no idea how to get in The Zone whenever and wherever they choose.

The Zone feels like a quiet excitement with intensified focus. You feel a sense of confidence, total concentration and an intense awareness. Your movements are easy, flowing and especially coordinated. You lose all sense of time as if another dimension has been added. You are completely focused on what you are doing and all other thoughts and feelings diminish.

When you “slip’ out of The Zone, it feels like the opposite. Nothing flows. Movements are awkward. It is difficult to concentrate.

Here are some tips for getting and staying in The Zone:

  1. Whenever you engage with people ask yourself if you are in The Zone or not? If you are great! If not, ask yourself what one thing you could do that would move you into The Zone the fastest with the least amount of effort.
  2. You do not need to be in The Zone all the time, just when you are doing the most important things.
  3. Take time at the beginning of each day to postulate your day and at the end of the day to review and contemplate how your day went.
  4. If you focus on what is WRONG and what is not working, you will stay out of The Zone! If you focus on what is RIGHT and what is working – you will get more of it and migrate towards The Zone and stay there more often.
  5. On the other hand if you ONLY focus on WHAT IS WORKING and do not consider WHAT IS NOT WORKING, you will become one of “those people” who only see the positive and not the counter to positive (what is working) which is negative (what is not working).
  6. If you find that you are worried and in a serious mood – this is not in The Zone! Make an effort to shift into a more playful, light and fun mood. Fun and laughter will have you moving up and into The Zone. Worry and seriousness are certain Zone killers.
  7. If your primary relationship is not working, and you have conflict and disagreements on a regular basis, it will be difficult to sustain long periods in The Zone. The maximum flow comes from harmony. Like music, disharmony is painful!
  8. Take time to choose and organize your environment. Chaotic, harsh and dramatic environments are certain Zone killers. Think about it… if you are sitting on an uncomfortable chair, with bright fluorescent lights with lots of loud noise – how difficult is it to get in The Zone?
  9. Whatever you are feeling on the inside can often lag behind your actual reality. So focus on what is working and make the changes necessary to bring your “inside” in alignment with your “outside”.
  10. Focus on your wins and celebrate your success. If you are part of a team, create a culture of acknowledgement and support.

© Goldzone Foundation. All rights reserved.

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Confront And The Financial Crisis

March 3, 2009

With the financial crisis deepening, many of our worst fears are being realized.  With the Waves of Impact continuing to wash over us, we are being confronted by financial losses on a never-before-seen scale. Entire industries are at risk of being wiped out. Previously invulnerable mega-corporations are being brought to their knees. Hidden weaknesses are being exposed.

As individuals we are being faced with the complete loss or at least dramatic reduction in the value of our retirement accounts. It can feel like we are being confronted on all sides. How do we cope with the uncertainty?

Now is an excellent time to consider the meaning of the word CONFRONT. Most people don’t think about their ability to confront and what can be done to confront difficult situations more easily, with less stress and more effectively.

Here is the definition of Confront:

CONFRONT: n. 1. An action of being able to face without flinching or avoiding. 2. The ability to be there comfortably and perceive.

So confront means to be able to see what is there, comfortably without flinching, wanting to withdraw or running away. Often, to fully understand a word, it is easier to look at the opposite. What does “non-confront” mean? It simply means the inability to see what is there. An inability to face something. Why can’t we confront something? Because to confront means PAIN. It is too painful to view so we withdraw and refuse to look at the area.

Notice that the definition describes confront as an ability? It isn’t something you do, it is an ability that we develop over time. The ability to see more and more of the truth.

There is also what is called “low-confront” which is where a person can confront a little, can see a little of the truth of what is there… But not all of it.

How do you improve your ability to confront? The same way you improve any other ability, focus, attention and practice. And, dealing with the pain that had you not confronting the area in the first place.

As you can see, the ability to confront is directly connected to the ability to handle change. If a person can’t confront the future, or the unknown… Then they will stay in their comfort zone, and remain stuck in the past.

© Goldzone Foundation. All rights reserved.

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Posted in Change, Consciousness, Feelings, Personal Leadership, Question & Answer, Relationships, Transformation | 3 Comments »

What Is A Leader?

March 2, 2009

New-Paradigm leadership begins with personal responsibility and combines vision, commitment, relationships, communication, compassion, courage, decisiveness, integrity, organization, strength, and the ability to influence and inspire others.

Leadership in the knowledge economy is vastly different from leadership in the information, industrial and agrarian economies. In the old economies dictatorship, domination, command and control where the prevalent models.  It is easy to lead through domination.  Hold a gun (or a paycheck) to a persons head and you can get them to do almost anything, however when you take the gun (or paycheck) away – you no longer have the ability to get them to do what you want. And chances are, they will pay you back for forcing them to do something they may not have wanted to do without the gun (or paycheck.)

Today’s new model involves partnership, cooperation and team. This involves people following you – because they want to. They are moved to action for reasons other than an external motivation – they are choosing to follow.

Because most of the world is still engaged in and dependent on the information, industrial and agrarian economies, today’s leaders are mostly operating from the old leadership models. This weblog is about the new model needed for the knowledge economy of today, and the experience economy of tomorrow. As you embark on this journey you may discover that there is little agreement for this new model from people invested in the old model (of domination, command and control,) however this is the way of the future.

New-Paradigm Leaders are on the top of the Leadership Scale which is as follows:

The Leadership Scale:

* NEW-PARADIGM LEADERS (early adopters of a new paradigm)
* LEADERS (conventional)
* EXECUTIVES (not all executives are leaders)
* MANAGERS AND EDUCATORS (you can mange and educate without leading)
* SUPERVISORS (you can supervise without leading)
————————————————————-
* WHITE COLLAR WORKERS
* LABORERS (blue collar workers)
* STUDENTS
* UNEMPLOYED

The higher you go up the scale and above the line you are dealing more and more with PEOPLE. The further down the scale and below the line the less you are dealing with people and the more you are dealing with THINGS. To be an effective leader involves mastery of people and things. The most important skill of a leader is the knowledge of and relationship with people (what inspires, motivates, challenges, demotivates). This requires knowledge and a relationship with YOURSELF FIRST.  If you can’t lead and inspire yourself, how can you expect to lead and inspire anyone else?

It is to this end that this web site is dedicated. The knowledge, understanding and development of YOURSELF and the people you lead. It is important to note that artists, musicians, mothers etc. are leaders even if they themselves it! The Dictionary defines a leader as one who leads or has followers. If no one is following you, then how can you call yourself a leader?

“The key to a leader’s impact is sincerity. Before he can inspire with emotion he must be swayed by it himself. Before he can move their tears his own must flow. To convince them he must himself believe.”

~ Winston Churchill ~

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Towers of Glass, Feet of Clay

February 25, 2009

 

royal_bank_building-smallI have been reflecting further about the “financial crisis”, and recalling a book I read in 1982 called Towers of Gold: Feet of Clay – the Canadian banks, by Walter Stewart.

In a conversation about this with my colleagues I happened to say towers of glass and perhaps 27 years later, Glass is more descriptive. In 1982 I was working in the oil and gas industry in Canada and this book was written about the Banking Industry, the mortgage crisis and the oil prices. These themes are again relevant in 2009.

In Towers of Gold the title was based on the Royal Bank in Canada with a gold colored glass tower in Toronto. Gold had more relevance then as some of the money (not much even then) was actually backed by gold bars. Many eons ago most of it was either made of gold/silver and later backed by it. Now most of our money is floating around electronically in bits and bytes, and the cash is made of plastic, paper and mostly cheaper metals. I have a special account (premier customer – which means more money deposited) with a major international bank and the interest on this was very low and now has dropped to 0%).

I used to have judgements about people who keep their money in or under the mattress and now I can laugh at myself because there is not much difference. Judgements are often like that, what goes around comes around. I wish I had some gold bars.

I feel this title reflects what is happening very accurately, now there are even more towers of glass. There is competition between top cities about who can build the tallest tower, one about half a mile into the sky. Now most of these projects are compromised and construction financing has been choked almost to death. Containers of steel and glass which were in such short supply (some orders 3 years ahead) were turned around from China and returned to their origin. Each one of these events has an impact on multiple people, industries, and countries. These really are the waves of impact. The waves move around the world faster than the earth spins.

These towers are built to be earthquake proof, tidal wave resistant, fire resistant and all these events are insured. This is where the foundations (the feet of clay) are being stretched beyond anything imaginable. And most will fall short in the test over time… I am refering to the financial foundations and also that of people, relationships, organizations, communities, and countries.

Like the banks, we all have glass towers that we build (what we show the world; the act, the ego, the stuff) and feet of clay (what we are at the core of our being; the real self, the essence, the ordinary humble person). Glass towers are fragile, and someone can always build a taller one.

I see all this as an opportunity to lead where it matters. When the waves of impact hit us, we cannot control the wave, only our response. By building personal foundations that are deep, strong, resilient and mostly invisable to everyone else, we can withstand the waves and even become better human beings. We can choose right action no matter what prevails.

Posted in Change, Consciousness, Credit Crisis, Financial Crisis, New-Paradigm Leadership, Personal Leadership, Transformation | 2 Comments »

Waves of Impact

February 24, 2009

underwater3

Nearly everyone is feeling the financial crisis, not all at once, but rather in waves.  These waves or fluctuations go in and out like the ocean. Each one bringing more insight, more truth, more change and with each contact ever greater connections that impact our reality. Eroding the illusions and ideas that we took for granted.

Ideas like banks are stable and real estate is a safe bet.  Ideas about the hedge funds, insurance companies and finacial guru’s to name a few.  Ideas about government and capitalism and private business.  Ideas about retirement and security. All of these ideas are being challenged, exposed and the bottom line, once so clear is a hazy blur. No one seems to know exactly when and how the whole experience known as the financial crisis will end. As quickly as solutions appear, yet another wave appears and the impact keeps growing.

More than ever it is time to lead not follow.  Calling this a financial crisis does not do justice what is really going on and how many areas of life this will impact.  Relationships are being torn apart, stress related health issues are prevalent, mental illness, lives in transition and more things than I can write about. Money or lack of money is not the core cause, and neither is it by itself the long term solution.

People and organizations will have to go through transformations to win. Getting by is not enough.  I believe this an extra-ordinary opportunity to step out of the trance of mediocrity and into the ideals we desire. Cooperation, harmony, compassion and truth will have a greater audience than competition, greed, self-interest and illusions of reality designed to serve a few.  We can choose to evolve to our highest potential together  and rise above the waves. Or we can choose to do nothing, step into fear and denial and eventually drown in them.

Now is the perfect time to re-define who we are.  To internalize our self-worth as seperate from our net-worth. To find fulfillment in life and not just on paper (bank statements, share certificates etc). Time to play the game no matter how challenging…play to win!

Posted in Change, Credit Crisis, Financial Crisis, New-Paradigm Leadership, Transformation | 13 Comments »

LIFEFORCE: Your Power Source

February 22, 2009

With today’s workplaces becoming more and more about living than they are about money and finances alone and with the pressure to infuse our companies, organizations and professions with passion and aliveness we must become more passionate, alive and balanced ourselves.

The challenge is how do we do this? And what will it take to unblock our passion and creativity? What do I have to do to become more alive, alert, energetic and enthusiastic?

How do I inspire my team to change? How do I handle the stress caused by the fast pace of change? How do I inspire my team to take personal responsibility for their results, and their failures? How do I cope with failure? How do I create a work environment that is conducive to productivity? How do I bring more of the personal assets of my people into the workplace?

Passion, aliveness, enthusiasm and responsibility are all infused with energy and the source of this energy is LIFEFORCE.

Posted in Change, Consciousness, Creativity, Feelings, Lifeforce, New-Paradigm Leadership, Power, Transformation | Leave a Comment »

Stress Reduces Quality Of Life And Performance

February 21, 2009

With the pace of change accelerating at ever increasing rates, the world is becoming more and more stressful. How we cope with change and the resultant stress has a huge impact on our quality of life and our work performance.

Executive burnout is a direct result of an inability to cope and is a major cause of lost productivity, as is employee absenteeism and medical leave. Many high-performance people focus on one or two primary areas of life and neglect the other areas. This leads to imbalance, stress and unhappiness. Eventually, stress in one primary area of life will impact our performance in all areas.

Think about it… how can you be wired up in one area and not have this “creep” into other areas?

What would happen if our lives were optimized in all areas? fully integrated? What would happen to our quality of life and our performance?

Posted in Change, Consciousness, Feelings, New-Paradigm Leadership, Stress, Transformation, Wellness | 7 Comments »

Its All About The Vision

February 20, 2009

It is time for some Corporate Reinvention!

The most common reason why most corporations only achieve a fraction of the possible potential available to them is the lack of a worthwhile meaningful, inspiring and compelling vision that magnetizes and motivates the entire organization.  Many of the vision statements hanging in the boardrooms are old, out of date, not communicated and uninspiring.

This is especially true in times of economic recession.

Corporate Reinvention is about refocusing, reorganizing, reframing and redirecting your organization.  And the most important component of any organization is the VISION and aligning the people, marketing, systems, policies and procedures behind the vision.

How do you do that if your organization is in a crisis that is threatening its survival? Do you really have a choice?

Reasons to consider engaging in a Corporate Reinvention process:

  • You are not achieving your goals
  • The industry has changed, margins are down, competition is fierce
  • Economic crisis, sales are down, financing is scarce
  • Acquisition/merger with another organization, requiring complete restructuring
  • Dramatic changes in your product or service due to technological developments
  • International expansion
  • Downsizing of the organization
  • Reorganization, sale or IPO
  • New CEO, board or senior management

An inspiring vision should infuse passion, engage the hearts, minds, bodies and souls of the people working within your organization, your clients, your suppliers and your shareholders.  Every person should know what the vision is and how their daily activities contribute to the vision.

<<its all about the VISION>>

Posted in Change, Corporate Reinvention, Innovation, New-Paradigm Leadership, Optimization, Transformation, Vision | 5 Comments »

Dealing With Unwanted Emotions/Feelings

February 20, 2009

Dealing with unwanted feelings can be a very tricky thing, and it can often lead to upsets and a lot of unhappiness in relationships between people.

The purpose of this article is to provide some understanding of feelings, their purpose in our lives and to provide a guideline for expressing ones feelings in an appropriate manner.

We are all familiar with people who are supposedly calm, nothing bothers them, and then one day something goes wrong and they explode in a fit of rage. Or the relationship where everything was going along nicely and all of a sudden, out of the blue, one partner announces that they are leaving.

Our feelings impact every area of our lives, and are the often hidden drivers of our behaviors, attitudes and beliefs. When we feel things we would rather not, most people will attempt to suppress the feeling, rather than look for the original cause or source of the feeling. Some of the things people do to suppress feelings are:

  1.    Go shopping
  2.    Eat, even if not hungry
  3.    Drink alcohol
  4.    Smoke, cigarettes or cigars
  5.    Take illegal drugs
  6.    Take legal prescription drugs
  7.    Engage in extreme sports
  8.    Engage in sexual activity
  9.    Engage in gossip
  10.    Work harder
  11.   Engage in a fight, or abuse others 

You will notice from the above list, that these activities, when taken to the extreme are detrimental to ones health and are often destructive to other people also.

So why is it that so little is known about feelings?  Why aren’t emotions discussed in school? And why are so few people looking to the cause of their feelings rather than being at the effect of them?

The primary reason for this lack of awareness and education on this subject is because up until recent times, very little was really known about our emotional natures – and it is also a highly explosive and controversial subject.

The impact of modern life and industrialization has created a society of people who do not listen to nor value their emotional selves. This causes people to engage in destructive relationships, unfulfilling careers, and to live in places that are an affront to the senses.

So what would happen if people learned about feelings, and their impact on life? What would happen of people listened to their intuition and their emotional natures more and included this input into their decision-making? What would happen if people learned safe ways to express their feelings – rather than suppress them?

We would have a happier, more fulfilled, more balanced, more loving societies.

What are emotions anyway?

Emotion is the connecting energy between our mental planning and conceptualization and our physical action.

Consider the below model:

spiritualmentalemotionalphysical1

If we have one of the above elements missing or suppressed, we will not realize our full potential as a human being. If we are spiritually disconnected, or we have no belief in or experience of a higher power that is greater than ourselves, we are then only operating on the mental, emotional and physical planes.

If we are mentally slow, or underdeveloped, then we are not able to plan or to solve problems of life and living.

If we are spiritually connected, mentally developed and physically oriented, however have the emotional plane blocked or suppressed, we will not have the energy to create the results we want, nor will we be able to move others to action or to connect deeply with people in relationships.

There are many people who have no spiritual source, are very mentally developed (sometimes to the genius level) are totally suppressed emotionally, however they are physically oriented. These people are able to connect with us physically and mentally, however they are unable to feel real empathy or to connect on a spiritual level.

With one or more of the planes suppressed or underdeveloped we will not realize our full potential and we will not be fulfilled with our lives – regardless of the success or recognition that we achieve.

So you can see, that in order to be a fully realized, self actualized human being, one must be developed on all four spiritual, mental, emotional and physical planes

Emotions are misunderstood

In many societies around the world, under control, calm and expressionless under pressure are accepted and valued as “strong,” while expressive and alive with emotions is considered “weak.” This is often referred to as; “the person was emotional.”

This judgment comes from labeling emotions as good and bad.  Good emotions are accepted and bad emotions are unacceptable. We learn from our parents and the people who care about us which emotions are bad and not to be expressed, and which emotions are good and should be expressed often.

The problem is that different families have different assessments of good and bad.

For example, in one family it may be considered good to express joy and bad to express anger. In another family it may be the exact opposite. What happens when two people from these families get together and form a relationship? This will cause constant fighting and unhappiness because what is considered good behavior by one person will be considered bad by the other.

In order to be a whole and complete person we must be able to experience and express all of the emotions available to mankind. This is a tall order for many people as they avoid some feelings and move towards others. Avoiding some and moving towards others causes us to be at the effect of our emotions. They have us, we don’t have them.

There are no good or bad emotions

Letting go of the labels of good and bad in terms of emotions will liberate us from being at effect of ours and other peoples emotions. Once we understand that every emotion is a necessary part of life and has its place, we can then free ourselves from avoidance and embrace the appropriate emotion for the appropriate situation.

For example, when a tiger is stalking us, it is appropriate to feel caution and fear. It is inappropriate for us to feel enthusiasm or serenity… this will have us being eaten! It is also not appropriate for us to feel and express anger when another person says, “I love you.”

There are hundreds of different emotions or feelings

There are literally hundreds of different emotions that are broken down into specific feelings, and then further categorized into seven primary zones. Each zone has a corresponding color that loosely matches the chakras and also the stages of childhood development.

zones2

You will notice from the above model, that our available energy is low at the bottom of the scale and increases as we go up the scale. 

Each category or zone includes many other feelings on a scale of intensity. For example, in the fear zone (Orangezone) the top of fear is uncertainty, nervous and worry, and the bottom is blind terror. So you can see that mild fear is a little uncomfortable and extreme fear is very uncomfortable.

This is the same with all the zones. The anger zone begins with boredom at the top, rage at the bottom and many different flavors of anger in between.

What happens when an emotion is blocked

What happens to a person who comes from a family where anger is judged as a “bad” emotion and is not acceptable to feel let alone express. What this does, is limit the ability of the person to feel, experience and express emotions that are higher on the scale than anger. In other words, anger blocks the persons free flow of emotional energy.

This block causes a major limitation on the persons life and creates all kinds of problems at work and in relationships. Any time someone expresses anger around this person, they will want to either run away or will become angry themselves. In other words they either avoid or challenge.

Posted in Change, Consciousness, Feelings, Flow, Lifeforce, New-Paradigm Leadership, Personal Leadership, Power, Question & Answer, Transformation | 2 Comments »

Our Most Precious Assets: People

February 18, 2009

In today’s competitive and fast paced world, our most precious assets are our people, our relationships and our time. Most executives and professionals are familiar with W. Edwards Deming’s concept of optimization and fine tuning a system to achieve the optimum output and results.

Few people apply the concept of optimization to their lives, people strategies, systems, policies, procedures, marketing and management practices.

Leading a team of people in today’s highly competitive, technologically sophisticated and connected world is very different from the command and control style prevalent in the preceding centuries.

Intangible assets such as people, know-how, systems and intellectual property are valued at many times more than tangible assets. Traditional management training and methods are severely lacking in people knowledge and understanding of a world that is more and more intangible.

A new style of leadership is required for the new paradigm economy of today and the future.

Posted in Change, Consciousness, Innovation, Intangible Assets, New-Paradigm Leadership, Optimization, Passion, Selecting a Leader, Transformation | 6 Comments »

Creativity Killers

February 11, 2009

Many of today’s leaders are operating from an old leadership model that could be described as “leadership through domination.” This style stifles creativity and inhibits innovation. 

It is impossible to think of new ideas that defy old ways of doing things if we are afraid of making mistakes and are constantly worried about the real or perceived threat from a leader whose style is based on autocracy, coercion and punishment.

Creative and innovative people require creative and innovative workplaces that are fluid, flexible, fun, nurturing, supportive and enjoyable.  No longer is economic success dependent on natural resources, manufacturing excellence, and scientific or technological prowess.  Today, the terms of success revolve around an organizations ability to mobilize, attract and retain creative human talent.  Every competitive dimension depends on creativity and ingenuity of people that make up the organization.

Leading a team of creative talent is very different from leading a factory line of workers who do similar tasks repetitively.  It simply does not work to command creativity!  Can you imagine Mozart or Picasso being told to produce or “you are out!”  Leadership in the creative economy requires vastly different skills. 

Today’s new model of leadership involves partnership, cooperation and team.

Posted in Change, Creativity, Innovation, Learning, Mistakes, Synergy, Transformation | 3 Comments »

Change vs Transformation

January 17, 2009

What is the difference between changing something and transforming it? Change is when you make small incremental adjustments. Over time these small adjustments add up, however the basic foundation is the same as what you started with. On the other hand, when you transform something you throw out the plans, the model, the past and invent something that was not there before – a new paradigm. It does not resemble the past, is often unrecognizable and is a fundamental shift that often cannot be predicated…

Posted in Change, Transformation | Leave a Comment »

Change

January 16, 2009

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

- Tolstoy

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New-Paradigm Leadership

January 1, 2009

Most people when hearing the words “leader or leadership” assume that the reference is to the people at the top – in the power positions with authority and not the managers, supervisors and team members who make up the organization.

Ask any room full of managers how many of them are leaders and you will find that most managers do not see themselves as leaders – and yet, how do you manage without leading?  Leadership is one of the world’s oldest and most widely studied subjects.  Leaders as prophets, priests and kings have long served as symbols, representatives and models for their people.  In modern times athletes, musicians, actors, businessmen and gurus have replaced the kings of old. 

Leadership is often perceived as something elite, hallowed, special and reserved for the minority of people at the top with “true” power concentrated in their hands.  These people tend to dominate the organizations or groups they lead (at least until someone overthrows them and takes their position) through the use of the age-old methods of authority, domination, command and control.

This style of leadership leads to organization structures that produce results by forcing compliance, adherence to rules, established conventions and old ways of doing things.  Change is seen as a threat – even though it is openly stated that change is required – when it comes to taking action, new ideas and ways of doing things are often met with anything from mild hostility to outright resistance.

The Hands of The Few

This concentration of power “in the hands of the few” may have worked in the past where things remained unchanged for long periods of time, however in todays world the pace of change is accelerating exponentially and we are living in a world where globalization isn’t the stuff of the future – it has already happened!  We are more connected to our neighbor countries on the other side of the planet – than ever before.  There is a free flow of capital, ideas, information, technology, goods, services, and people worldwide.  Ferocious competition is breathing down our necks from the most unlikely sources.

This new world requires a new leadership style that is very different from the successful formulas that worked well in the past.  This is a counterintuitive, very difficult thing to do… to let go of the very things that made us successful in the past.  And yet this is exactly what we must do to survive – let alone succeed in the future.

Transformation from Position Power to Personal Power

It’s all about power.  Whose got it and who wants it.  It is well known that traditional models of leadership are based on gaining and keeping power through establishing a top “position” and then protecting ones ‘turf.”  The thought behind this is that power comes from position, cannot be shared and that by sharing it somehow is diminished.  So if a leader has spent a lifetime building, enhancing and developing their power base – they are not easily going to empower other people in the organization.  Yes, they will talk the language of empowerment – but when it comes to moving the decision-making – the words don’t quite translate into actualities.

This type of power is known as Position Power, which comes from formal authority or the right to command.  Results are achieved by autocracy, coercion and the extensive use of punishment and reward (if you agree with me, I will reward you.  If you don’t agree with me or do what I say, you are punished.)

Position Power works when you are in a position of authority over the person you are working with, however it is ineffective when influencing networks of people in other departments, suppliers, customers, peers, and project teams.  If people have no choice but to do what they are told – then Position Power works, however with increased demand and competition for talent using autocracy is less and less effective.  In fact it can be outright counterproductive!

No longer is economic success dependent on natural resources, manufacturing excellence, and scientific or technological prowess.  Today, the terms of success revolve around an organizations ability to mobilize, attract and retain creative human talent.  Every competitive dimension depends on creativity and ingenuity of the people that make up the organization.

It is impossible to think of new ideas, creative and innovative solutions that defy old ways of doing things if we are afraid of making mistakes and are constantly worried about the real or perceived threat from a leadership style based on autocracy, coercion and punishment.  Leading a team of creative talent is very different from leading a factory line of workers who do similar tasks repetitively, or service staff who provide functional service.  It simply does not work to command creativity!  Can you imagine Mozart or Picasso being told to produce or told, “you are out!”

Many of today’s leaders are still operating from this old leadership model.  Leadership in the creative environment of 2006 and beyond requires a vastly different paradigm.  Today’s new model involves partnership, cooperation and team.  It’s not about abandoning Position Power – it’s about adding, developing and enhancing every individual in the organization’s Personal Power and working the agenda together in a partnership.

The most significant difference between Position Power and Personal Power is that the former is handed over or given to a person, whereas the latter is developed through personal development and improving ones ability to communicate, influence, and inspire actions from others.

Personal Power is required when working on project teams, flat organization structures, and where people have the free choice to give you what you want or not.  And creative and talented people always have free choice – because their skills are highly sought after.

Both sources of power are valid and needed depending on the situation, the skill, responsibility level of the team and the nature of the task.  The use of power can be viewed on a continuum with ultimate Position Power at one end and ultimate Personal Power at the other end.  Most situations require a leadership style that is somewhere in the middle of the continuum.

The Definition of Power

Power is the ability to get someone to do something you want done or the ability to make things happen.

Transform Every Person in the Organization into a Leader

Empowering individuals in the organization means to share the power with them.  Shared power adds up to more power – not less.  It means everyone has an increased ability to get more done and to make things happen.  This can make a dramatic difference to the bottom line results of the organization.  To do this means making everyone a leader.

An organization comprised of leaders adds up to a leading organization.

Like any skill – Personal Power can be learned and developed by anyone, however it requires a new leadership context that begins at the top and extends throughout the levels of the organization.  It simply doesn’t work to send the people in the organization to trainings, alignments and educational sessions if the entire organization isn’t sharing the same context.  Leading by example means that the context must be shared at all levels (otherwise you end up with disillusionment, skepticism and a lack of belief that there is one set of rules for people at the top and another set of rules for everyone else.)

It’s about Personal Leadership

For most people the concept of Personal Leadership is new.  It is not simply a case of attending a three-day seminar or reading a book and one is transformed into a new leader!  Developing Personal Leadership is a long-term commitment that involves an ongoing education combined with application – all with bottom line results in mind.  This is a substantial investment in time, energy and money – not just from the organization, but from every individual too.  This is why the context of partnership is so important.  The individual and the organization are in a long-term partnership for mutual benefit.

If this investment in Personal Leadership is directly connected to bottom line results that are measurable, significant and connected to the organizations vision – any board of directors will approve the investment.

Band Aids Don’t Work – Long-term!

The challenge for most organizations is that the leadership agenda is not consistent, neither is it communicated to the entire organization from top to bottom.  Commitment must be backed up by action and a comprehensive Leadership Development Roadmap that everyone can follow to know where they are and where they are going.

If the leadership agenda involves everyone except the leaders at the top who retain the Position Power model – there will be results, however they are limited compared to what is possible if the entire organization is aligned and all heading in the same direction.

The Need for Speed

Concentrations of power in the hands of a few, bureaucracy and turf protecting slow everything down to a crawl.  With every person in the organization empowered and aligned, cycle times from plan to results are dramatically improved.  The speed of change and implementing new initiatives improves and results accelerate.  The leadership agenda is mission critical and cannot be left to the HR and Training Departments alone – it must have the attention and commitment to resources that are required to succeed.

To change things that have worked for us in the past – before they stop working is the essence of visionary leadership.  The key to becoming or staying competitive globally is to transform our fundamental concept of leadership and to live, eat and sleep Personal Leadership at all levels of the organization.

The Goldzone Leadership Curriculum offers comprehensive, custom Leadership Development Roadmaps.  Using the revolutionary New-Paradigm Leadership Model, participants master more effective tools, strategies and methods compared to the old style and traditional leadership models.  High stress and low performance is replaced with optimum personal and organizational performance.

www.goldzonecenter.com

Posted in Change, New-Paradigm Leadership, Power, Transformation | 2 Comments »