Leadership Notes -- Thoughts on Leading People and Making a Difference in Organizations

Word count this issue: 303

Estimated reading time:  2:30 minutes

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN5DljuioeQ

Good afternoon from the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia I’m Alisdair Smith, and this is Leadership Notes for the week of January 1, 2018. I want to wish each and every one of you  a very Happy New Year. I hope your Holiday Season was filled with good things and great people.

I picked up a fun novel by Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay, The First Rule of Ten (Hay House 2012). The hero is a former Buddhist monk turned private eye. It’s a great concept and the book really works. And whenever our hero, Ten is his name, gets into trouble he refocuses on his breathing, draws on his learning as a monk and even meditates to clear his mind. 

In all of the research on the brain, one of the most interesting is the power of mindfulness, being “present” and using techniques like Ten to bring clarity to our minds. 

One of the questions he asks himself struck a resonant chord with me. At the climax of the novel, with Ten in the midst of a complex tapestry of problems, he sits down and asks himself, “How can I use my skills and presence to ensure that the highest good is accomplished?” (p, 200)

And so, as we begin another year of work, making a difference in organizations and in our teams, I invite you into this question; how can you use your skills and presence to ensure the highest good is accomplished?  Not just when times are tough, but even as a way of starting your day. I wonder what power might be unleashed with the answers you discover.