Reflections from a Life Lived

As technology changes traditional ways of organising employee collaboration, new opportunities will arise for leaders. In the future, the most important leadership task will be to support employees’ self-determination and creative opportunities for expression.

We need to do more than just get by. That is part of the problem.

Put yourself in the other person's shoes.

In case you need reasons, confirmation or a refresher...

I love mindful meditation!

Finding our reflective center aids our resilience and mindfulness facilitates this process. "There are many ways to incorporate mindfulness into our daily lives. As we become increasingly mindful, we can begin to respond from a place of freedom and choice. In other words, we can act with resilience."

(From the Article): Are you deeply curious? Do you respond to challenges with openness? Do you ask powerful questions? 

Or do you want just the facts? When challenged, do you defend yourself and attack the other person? Do you have more answers than questions?

I encourage you to cultivate your curiosity as a leader and to promote a spirit of inquiry among those you lead. Make extra effort to explore an issue before deciding. And, when someone disagrees with you, see that as a gift.

Intellectual curiosity, at its deepest, reaches outward and inward.

There is an external openness. The leader has a willingness to explore the unknown – seeking new situations, new data and new insights from others. When challenged, the leader wants to explore the differences.

And there is also be an internal openness to new ways of thinking. The leader is willing to challenge her own biases. The leader is willing to approach an issue with alternative perspectives.

Sure, it's possible for everyone to nurture his or her creative side, but honest observation shows that fresh ideas come more easily to some people than to others.

For organizations to prosper, leaders and employees need to seek help and information from people who have vastly different points of view. As Berkeley psychologist Charlan Nemeth sums up three decades of research: "Minority viewpoints are important, not because they tend to prevail but because they stimulate divergent attention and thought. As a result, even when they are wrong they contribute to the detection of novel solutions and decisions that, on balance, are qualitatively better."

"The ego gets what it wants with words. The soul finds what it needs in silence."

The article shares some helpful ideas about the importance of color in your design, making screenshots to illustrate a point, using an attractive font, constructing mind maps for organizing your story.

Extremely important, especially now that we have websites where you're expected to upload your slide show so it can be examined in perpetuity! Great tips for eBook authors as well.

How to create an exciting presentation.

Great idea to illustrate working outline to position/thesis

A great way to get students who struggle with getting 'pen / pencil' onto their paper ... let them get a start on their HHDD (hand held digital device). 

Another brilliant idea by Tom March