Radjou’s blog centers on a talk given by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former President of India. Dr. Kalam suggests that corporations and nations need a new breed of leader – the creative leader. So what is a creative leader? Dr. Kalam’s 8 principles for creative leaders are:

1. Vision for the organization
2. Passion to transform vision into action
3. Travel into an unexplored path
4. Know how to manage both success & failure
5. Courage to make decisions
6. Nobility in management
7. Every action should be transparent
8. Work with integrity & succeed with integrity

Radjou describes how he and other audience members are baffled at how few leaders they know who actually embody these attributes. He targets CEOs of Fortune 500 firms, financial institutions, and politicians who are stark reminders of leaders lacking integrity. He dreams that business schools will begin cultivating leaders with a moral compass filled with integrity. I couldn’t agree more. My experience and observation is that 1-5 is somewhat the norm, but the going gets tough at 6, 7, and then 8.

What is it going to take for this to happen? How can  our small voices effect such radical change from what we have now? Below are some ideas I’ve been kicking around:

1. You first. Take a look at the 8 tenets and see where you’re succeeding and where you need work. Be the leader of you!
2. If your leader is not a “creative leader,”  encourage, inspire, challenge, coach him/her to make the change. Leadership can start anywhere.
3. Start your own business and stop participating in something you don’t agree with.
4. Look around & identify people who are “creative leaders” and join them. Help them grow so they become the standard for success.
5. Stop blaming “the man.” You step up! Even something significant as standing up for the right thing is needed.
6. Pull together a group of like-minded people and brainstorm ways you can make a difference.
7. Students: Insist that your curriculum include training that centers on conscious capitalism.
8. If you are a leader who has been part of the problem, be a part of the solution. It’s never too late to change. In fact, if you don’t change, you won’t make it. There are too many people who are tired of the status quo. It’s going to get a lot harder for you to be successful.
9. Creative Leaders that we don’t know about – we need to know you. We need to hear from you. We are counting on you to demonstrate that success and integrity do go hand in hand.

I’d love to hear from you about how you are being a creative leader, what other ideas you have to help folks take a stand for creative leadership, what challenges you have for this model, and anything else you care to share.

The IAM 100% Responsible Touchstone sets up an understanding of shifting from reacting, to responding,  to creating every aspect of our experience. This expectation is essential to creating powerful, reciprocal, healthy, learning, growing, healing, and co-creative collaborations.

I also know that there is a continuum of understanding from ‘I am a victim’ reacting to my life …  to ‘I am the 100% creator’ of absolutely every aspect of everything I experience. There are usually catches  at certain points: I am 100% responsible – except I could never be responsible for this or that.

These ‘catch points’ are critical in the process of evolving and transforming consciousness because they are indicators of the edges of our awareness. Playing with a shift from saying ‘this happened to me’ to ‘I created xyz’ is great as a way of exploring awareness of the power we bring to every situation. Facing and shifting these catch points is critical when overcoming a victim pattern or lack of success or any limitation you experience.

What are your catch points?  For example, look at the following series of statements:

• I created this article.
• I created great results with this project.
• I created trust in this relationship.
• I created this rude encounter.
• I created that green light.
• I created the rain storm today.
• I created my experience of financial lack.
• I created that driver slamming into me.

Where are your catch points? And how might moving beyond a current catch point help you experience the next level of success you know is right there waiting to come to you?

A while ago, several of the Associates of Karen Tax & Associates had a conversation about this 100% responsible continuum. The following are some notes from that conversation (December 17, 2007)…

He sees the accumulation of airline miles as the highest manifestation of success and life achievement.  This sad soul has forfeited connections with family and significant relationships for a sterile, unburdened life.

As a motivational speaker, he encourages us to let go of what we carry around in our metaphorical backpacks; the things weve acquired and the relationships for which we feel responsible need to be released.  All this attachment, he proclaims, slows us down  and hinders our ability to become the stealth shark at the top of the feeding chain, the most exalted position  a person can reach, according to him. Its all presented quite persuasively.

It was a surprise to me, as well as many others with whom I discussed the movie, that this film is being presented as a comedy.  I found it to be  profound commentary on our time, an early 21st century snapshot of an unpredictable economy, and the trail of human misery it leaves in its wake. Over and over again, we witness grown men and women, who have played by the rules, done all the right things, and have acted with trust and loyalty–only to find themselves reeling in anguish  and despair as they confront a new, surreal, world.  Their new realities are unemployment, loss of health benefits, and an even more pervasive loss of identity.  This gut-wrenching drama is being played out every day, by all types of employees, laborers, manufacturers and executives.

Binghams modicum  of encouragement came with the repeated mantra that all the answers to your questions can be found in the packet.  This was the solace repeated over and over to the poor person who was being rendered redundant. Handing over the all inclusive packet was yet another way for this corporate surgeon to distance himself from the experiences being felt by his victims.

I have since found out, not to my surprise, that the people in the movie were real people who had recently experienced corporate layoff: this explains why the feelings expressed in their faces were so realistically painful.  Bingham, with artificially infused empathy, would remind these folks that this could be a pivotal point that could change their lives for the better.  Of course, the idea that transitions in life can be potentially transformational is certainly not new, and definitely not foreign to me as a psychologist and a career coach.  Life crises can catalyze huge changes that can land us in far better places.  After all, its human natures resistance to risk that threatens to disrupt the status quo.

So, why do I cringe in hearing this sentiment from Bingham?  Its that phony facade revealing a lack of true empathy and feels like an icy blow making a mockery of redirection and redefinition.  Instead of offering encouragement and belief, his message evokes anger and creates obstacles that make it more immobilizing and difficult for the newly redundant  to move forward into a new adventure.  At the very least, people who are subjected to this kind of rupture,  are entitled to genuine connection as they are forced to encounter the most primitive feelings of fear, as their very essence of survival comes into question.  That reverberating sense of what am I going to do now? … repeating over and over again like a surrealistic dreamlike echo.

With the employment rate hovering at 10 %, and jobs evaporating with no clear signs they will be coming back any time soon, we have to shift our thinking and focus.  I believe that people need to inoculate themselves against the co-dependent drama that takes place in the traditional relationship between employer and employee. This is a relationship that we have all grown to expect as the norm.  If I do what I am supposed to do; if I am loyal and a team player , the reciprocal reward from my employer will be to offer me the opportunity for safety, security and growth.  That covenant  is no longer the case, hence the anguish you see in the eyes of those terminated.  They are in shock….I didn’t do anything wrong and this is happening to me.  We are living through times in which this relationship is changing, along with a lot of givens we presume will work for our private pursuit of success.  We are the generation that has to define the new paradigm, a paradigm that leverages  todays realities!

Right now, as we face seemingly catastrophic changes in our world, our focus can become more independent and autonomous.  The advent of a smaller more accessible world  through the world wide web, and increased advances in technology, provides an unlimited audience for anyone to demonstrate their gifts and talents by providing an unprecedented platform for creative expression.  There is potential opportunity for even greater wealth despite some initial pain.  This is a clear example of the pie getting bigger; it is the way in which abundance unfolds.  Reinventing and creating new resources requires a new process of learning.  One focused on developing emotional qualities, as human beings, acknowledging and nurturing our authentic talents, and discovering cooperative partnerships.  I will not be so smug as to think we have all the answers, or that the solutions are simple.  In any creative endeavor, more questions will be raised than answered; this is not necessarily a bad thing.   Positive changes are occurring and communities and networks are forming to co-create new learning environments, forums for creative contributions from the masses not just the elite.  We now live in a world where you don’t necessarily need to have connections,  you actually can just  choose to be connected.

I’ll be sharing more thoughts on the changing world of work as we witness its transformation from adolescence to adulthood.  I invite and welcome your personal stories about job loss terror and re-creation.  I hope none of you hold onto the feeling  of being redundant.  My objective is  help replace that feeling with a voice that expresses potential that continues to be defined and fine tuned.

So, please share with me and my readers your journeys, your stories, experiences and insights; what personal characteristics and circumstances pulled you through turmoil and helped you discover a more rewarding life.  We all have the wisdom and ability to help one another.  I look at this blog as a place where people can come for affirmation and hope. A place where  we can mine for the diamonds that lie hidden in each of us;  where those who have already discovered what worked for them can share  with others who are still searching to find their gems.  Stories that unravel unexpected outcomes give hope for those still caught in the fog, and makes the difference in continuing to move from strive to thrive. Please bring your energy, insight and ideas as we move through this unchartered territory.  Together we will prove Mr. Bingham  wrong.  What we put in our backpacks are meaningful connections, relationships that tie our commonality together and build a strength that can only be achieved through contribution and being part of a supportive, caring community.  Together we can really make the pie bigger!

Last week we focused on the topic of making money doing what you love. With so much fear about work and jobs around, it felt important to address the practicalities of how “money = love” works.

Here’s a summary of the list we created together on the call. The call included both people who perceive themselves as accomplished at the money = love challenge, and people who are still figuring it out. Here’s what we came up with:

1. Challenge/mistake: Attempting to jump directly from work being struggle to work being joyful.

   Best practice: Establish a daily practice of experiencing joy in your work. Gradually build your experience and faith in work being joyful.

2. Challenge/mistake: Listening to nay-sayers.

   Best practice: Surround yourself with people who support you following your dreams. Limit time with people who detract.

3. Challenge/mistake: Listening to experts.

   Best practice: Remember that you are the best expert on what is right for you. Develop trust in yourself to know, to discern, to choose what is right for you. Then consider expert advice.

4. Challenge/mistake: Thinking success is going to just ‘happen’ or an event will make or break you.

   Best practice: Making money doing what you love is a faith journey. Any one event is merely a stepping stone along the way. Remember this type of success is about walking a path of love and joy – ongoing.

5. Challenge/mistake: Looking for physical evidence to ‘prove’ your success.

   Best practice: Feeling the flow of love and joy is a precursor to physical evidence. Focus on the joy and love first, and the evidence will come.

6. Challenge/mistake: Surrounding yourself with other successful people, but feeling ‘less than’ and riding on their coat tails.

   Best practice: Be the leader of yourself and know that you are the source of the joy and love that will determine your success – now.

7. Challenge/mistake: Thinking of success in limited ways, such as only considering $ indicators.

   Best practice: Think of success as an ‘abundance bucket’ that can show-up in an infinite variety of ways. Let go, be open to being surprised at the variety of ways wealth can show up!

8. Challenge/mistake: Expecting the path forward to be linear and logical.
   
   Best practice: Think of a windy path or 100 different tacks that you might take. Those who are wander are not lost. Nothing is ever wasted. Don’t try to make sense of the path and you’ll be fine.
9. Challenge/mistake: Finding security in a well thought-out plan.

   Best practice: In the path of joy, security comes from knowing that you don’t need to know, and trusting that all you do need to have is clarity about the next step you’ll take. Get good at sorting through the noise related to your next step – use your heart as the filter. When you know your next step, move with confidence.

What do you think? What has been key to you making money doing what you love? What challenges are you facing now?

U.S. Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale

I cleaned out my office today & ran across an index card with the Stockdale Paradox on it. In case you’re not familiar with the Stockdale Paradox, Jim Collins describes it in his book, “Good to Great” as:

“Retain the faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties AND confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they may be.”

I highly recommend reading about Jim Stockdale in this wiki to learn more about his experience as a Vietnam POW & how he was able to survive when many others didn’t: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stockdale.

Surviving a POW camp is in no way comparable to conducting a job search or developing your career, but there are important lessons we can learn from Jim Stockdale’s experience.

Got Faith?

Stockdale said he never doubted he would prevail and turn this horrific experience into a defining event in his life. He never lost faith.

I think about a time when I was in a job that felt like a prison to me. I felt victimized, like I had no choices. But that wasn’t true. I did have choices. I hired a coach and started working on a plan to not just get me out of there but to really envision a future for myself. I read somewhere that faith is passionate trust. I trusted myself to know what I really wanted, and I trusted God to show me the way.

The Brutal Facts

Stockdale says we must have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of our current reality. There are two important points here – defining reality and discipline.

What is reality? I heard someone say, “If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.” Well, just like Stockdale, I believe the facts DO count.

There are certain facts about you that should be a factor in your career development. This is the brutal reality of YOU – the brilliant you, and it’s important that you know what it is and can sufficiently describe it to others.

And then there’s the other side of reality such as the people who show up on American Idol who can’t carry a tune and can’t understand why they aren’t chosen. Or the person who doesn’t want to learn anything new and thinks they can coast to retirement. Or the person who knows their performance has been lagging but thinks people won’t notice. This is our blind spot, and it is essential to make that spot as small as possible.

After you have a good idea of your reality, it’s time for discipline. Discipline might conjure up some images as being grounded or a drill sergeant commanding you to take 100 pushups in the freezing rain, but consider another definition of discipline: “self-control, training for improvement, and a systematic method.”  It seems to me that discipline is at the heart of leadership, so when it comes to determining our careers, it is essential to have a system in place to help us reach our dreams (strategies, intentions, goals). I hired a coach, increased my knowledge, and put a system in place to be more accountable so that I could expand my choices.

So, CAN be anything you want?  Maybe! Use these tips to guide you in deciding what you really, really want:

1. Take a look at the brutal reality of you. Who are you, and what are your strengths (skills, knowledge, abilities)? What is important to you? What would make you want to go work every day full of energy and passion?
2. Have the discipline to do what it takes to get you what you want. Invest in yourself by hiring a coach, going back to school, updating your resume, networking, etc. Stop doing those things that are getting in the way of what you want.
3. Have faith that you will prevail despite difficult circumstances.
4. Allow yourself to be surprised. Don’t wrap up your life so tightly that you miss some amazing detours off your path.

Do you have something else to add to this discussion? If so, I’d love to hear from you!

Here’s the intention statement that Diane and I drafted together:

We intend to create a healthy, creative, inspiring and evolving instance of conscious capitalism, where success is defined in broad and very personal ways … and we:

• re-energize old truths
• develop new ways and ideas of working and living
• work in harmony with the environment
• create wealth for and with many people
• experience abundance in everything we do

Our goals for 2010 include:

• 1000 paying members (10,000 is our BHAG goal!)
• IAM Career SMART! launched and actively being used
  • Less text and more video
  • More examples
  • More information about context/big picture
• IAM Coach community is well established
  • Support coaches moving into social media/marketing and online delivery
  • Make it simple to do what you love, and do it well
  • Combine our brilliance to create more than we could alone
  • E-course in place to bring on new coaches in place
  • Membership package for coaches in place
• Collaboration process well established
  • Tools, guidance and systems in place
  • Examples of successful collaboration with us (time management and organization, for example)
  • Examples of successful collaboration without us (members fly on their own)
  • E-course in place to bring on new collaborators
  • Membership package for collaborators in place
• 2-3 mutually beneficial partnerships in place
  • Conscious Capitalism Institute, for example
• Joint venture/affiliate program in place

Given what we accomplished in 2009, these goals feel very focused and quite doable. I’m thrilled with moving forward … I can’t wait to play!

I have been wondering about you and your intentions for 2010, specifically how you’ll anchor in more deeply to being your best. Last year a client told me she had selected a word of the year to guide her throughout the year. She got the idea from Christine Kane (www.christinekane.com). Today I read a blog by Chris Brogan who chooses 3 words each year. Read his blog here: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/my-3-words-for-2010/#comment-27738450.

Last year my word was recriprocal, and it served me very well. Last week I began thinking about my word for 2010. I decided to let go of trying to figure it out and just trust God for my word. The strangest thing happened. I had a dream and the word, enamor, came to me in my sleep. I can’t remember the details, but when I woke up, the word was firmly in my mind.

Now, mind you, I have vivid, sometimes strange dreams, and I have never had a dream where a word was given to me. Also, as I get older, I find that my memory fails me when I try to remember certain words, but I easily recall this word throughout the day. Also, not surprisingly enamor is not part of my normal conversations.

So, although I don’t know if I will add more words to my word of the year, I am definitely keeping enamor. I look forward to playing with my word of the year, peeling it back like an onion, to help me be my best and help others do the same.

What do you think about choosing a word or words for 2010? Take a look at Christine’s video on her blog and/or read Chris Brogan’s blog post and see if choosing a word(s) is something you might want to participate in this year. And be sure to let me know. I’m planning to write about my word at least monthly if not more often throughout the year. I’d love to support you in your word choice.

Many blessings to you and those you love in 2010! May you feel love in a big way (enamor)…

In the tv special, Rudolph wasn’t allowed to play in the reindeer games because of his bright, shiny, red nose. It seemed that everywhere he looked, he just didn’t fit in. He and Hermey, the elf who wanted to be a dentist, didn’t fit in either and so they head out on their own. In one of their songs, they sing, “Why am I such a misfit? I am not just a nitwit … seems I don’t fit in.”

Boy oh boy, have I been in situations like Rudolph and Hermey. At times I felt like I was on the island of misfit toys. I knew I wasn’t a nitwit and neither were those other folks; it just wasn’t a good fit. That’s when I decided to be the leader of me and find/create a tribe that fits me. With a wonderful community of support, I charted my own course. If others want to laugh and tease me, so be it.

Seth Godin, in his book, Tribes, says what Karen & I have been saying all along – that everyone is a leader and we need you to lead – yourself first. I feel very strongly that when you determine what you want, you’ll be in a much better position to help others get what they want, and then you’ll create something extraordinary together as leaders.

Maybe you’ve been excluded from the proverbial “reindeer games,” or felt like you don’t fit in, or have encountered some monsters on your path. If you choose to, you can return back to your brilliant essence, shine brightly, and lead – with noses of all different colors, shapes and sizes. With a community cheering you on and supporting you, there’s no telling what you’ll accomplish – in your business, your organization,  your home, your school … everywhere!

Henry has been teaching for over 40 years at the Carolina Friends School where our sons attend school. He has been and continues to be a gift to so many people, including my precious family. Thank you Henry.

what is my gift?

what is my gift?
the light that is most mine to give,
that gift that can shine
while I use the tools I have within my kit?
my gift is my heart,
the caring within me
that wells up and overflows out of me,

that which powers me to see what I see in my photography,
the twinkle of the eye as the wonder within a person
gives me a flash of itself,
the angle, the moment, the possibility
that lets a waterfall, a sunset, a flower, a mountain
reveal its own heart,
and the possible becomes actual,

it is the caring that powers my teaching
so that I can touch a wholeness who can self-organize
if given space, foundation, encouragement, release,
while it needs so much to resist all
that pulls down at its reaching and that rewards the base,

for now words are my familiar, my agents,
the sous chefs who help me fathom the depths, encompass the breadth,
reach up and back to the source,

how relatively easy it is to know the “how” of action,
it’s the heart that gives the “why,” the “where,” the “when,”
and then the “how” knows what to do–

and there’s a picture, a learner,
and sometimes a poem.

by Henry Walker
December 14, ‘09

What a thrill is was for me to read these words!

Our intention in developing the IAM movement is to transform the way we work and live so that everyone can be their best.  The basis of our work, the starting point of every product or service we offer, the point we revisit over and over again, is to bring people back to their “essential best.” We define “essential best” as the awake, infinite, abundant, expanding, conscious part of each of us.

The reason we landed with this approach for the IAM body of work can best be explained by the Einstein quote: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” I’ve also seen this quote where ‘thinking’ was replaced with ‘consciousness.’ Another way of looking at what Einstein was saying: there is nothing more important to address than the evolution or transformation of our consciousness if we are going to work and live in ways that move beyond the problems or struggles we experience (what we like to call drama!)

What I know is that Conscious Capitalism requires individuals that see the transformation of their individual awareness as the first priority of anything they do, whether in business or their family life. This very personal process of evolving awareness is necessary for Conscious Capitalism to be different than traditional capitalism, otherwise we will be recreating the same problems that currently exist, as Einstein so poignantly described.

Our contribution to Conscious Capitalism includes use of the IAM Maps: the Essence Map (a map of consciousness), the Energy Map (a guide to dynamic self knowledge and understanding energy flow) and the Navigational Compass (a way of navigating through personal development and business development – which links individual internal conscious to external practical realities).

Some of the key aspects of IAM movement that contribute to the Conscious Capitalism movement:

• Start with individual consciousness first: Group, societal and environmental factors are important and change begins within. As within, so without. Individual consciousness is needed to embody evolving conscious leadership.
• Anchor in abundance based thinking: Scarcity thinking is the root of all conflict. Teaching and practicing “both/and” thinking is required for foundational and incremental conscious action that will benefit the whole, rather than being reductionist and benefiting a few. Abundance based thinking is essential if we are to experience mutual exchange of value and mutual benefit.
• Develop awareness of self as energy: Without the ability to separate our awareness of self  from physical realities, shifting to awareness of ’self as energy’,  it is impossible to participate in the transformation of capitalism to conscious forms. Until we shift our focus from drama to our essential best (energy self), alignment of our efforts will only create more drama, recreating old patterns, instead of aligning our values, strengths and passions to create new realities.
• Connect personal and business: Business can not become conscious if people do not bring their whole, evolving, conscious selves to work. Personal growth is required for business growth, and we need language, concepts and maps for making these connections concrete and practical.
• Connect to nature: Being reductionist and overly profit driven has caused people and businesses to become disconnected from the natural rhythms of life, living and indeed the environment. Ways to connect to nature are critical in remembering our wholeness, in re-establishing a healthy relationship with our planet and in generating financial prosperity.
• Address defense mechanisms: Until we can consciously and actively participate as a collective in healing from defensive patterns, we will not be able to fully participate in the sharing of information and resources. Full transparency and openness in our processes requires the ability to ‘love our way through’ our patterns of separation.

There are many aspects of both IAM and Conscious Capitalism that we have yet to discover. Yet if you look at these aspects here, we have a solid foundation to start with! The IAM body of work quickly and easily helps people work with the capabilities I have described here.

There are more aspects of IAM that contribute to Conscious Capitalism, and I’ll continue to add to this list. For those of you who are familiar with IAM, help me draw the connection between the work we are doing and what you would like to see Conscious Capitalism be. Let’s participate NOW in carrying both of these movements forward!