LATEST NEWSLETTER

More With Less

THE NEWSLETTER FOR HIGH ACHIEVING LEADERS AND TEAMS WHO WISH TO HAVE MORE IMPACT WITH LESS STRUGGLE

IN THIS ISSUE
ANNOUNCEMENTS: The High Achiever Shield

FEATURE ARTICLE: G8 and Other Muskoka Metaphors

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ANNOUNCEMENTS: The High Achiever Shield

Are you a high achiever who feels lonely, not quite real, because you have invested so much in the ‘shield’, the shield that is meant to protect yourself from judgement and failure?

How are you driven and not nourished or fulfilled by what you do? How often are you anxious and even afraid?

Who is able to hold both your strengths and your weaknesses in a way that is inspirational and safe?

Did you know that 40% of your happiness (and your impact) is based on your habits, thoughts, and behaviours which you can change? This is the work that I do.

What are you struggling with?

How are you hiding out?

What is an edge you are afraid to cross yet know you must?

2010 to 2020 is being dubbed the Transformation Decade which will require a transformation in leadership practice and in leaders. What does this mean for you? 

Here is some feedback I received lately:

• I am a truth teller. There is no baloney when working with me. I am sound, solid, with tons of integrity.
• I bottom line things quickly. I am shrewd and discerning and good at strategic design.
• I am a tuning fork for emotion, relationships, and collaboration.

I will do what it takes to help you get the results you want – for you, for your leadership, for your team, for your business, and for your life.

I am a student and a teacher of personal growth and transformation. I also bring a knowledge of and passion for organizational effectiveness and talent development.

And I want to support you...
 
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Call me for further information on high achieving coaching and team programs or to schedule a complimentary one-on-one sample session. Take advantage of the opportunity to leverage all my learning and use simple tools that work.

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Feel free to forward More With Less (in its entirety please) to anyone you think might be interested. This is how I grow. Please include full authorship and subscription information. Thanks!

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FEATURE ARTICLE: G8 and Other Muskoka Metaphors

“I am willing to put myself through anything; temporary pain or discomfort means nothing to me as long as I can see that the experience will take me to a new level. I am interested in the unknown, and the only path to the unknown is through breaking barriers, an often painful process.“
Diana Nyad, holder of world record in long distance swimming

I’ve been busy. I’ve moved – again. I have a slate of new clients and new opportunities – hurrah. My daughter is facing a medical challenge - breathe.

And I’m feeling great.

One of the many impactful coaching questions based on where you are and where you want to be is: what will you say YES to and what will you say NO to.

This month it is yes to a shorter newsletter and no to my usual research.

Below are 5 methophorical thoughts I’ve had as I’ve transitioned to life in Muskoka:

1. The G8 came and went in Huntsville. A lot of investment was made in Muskoka and it was lovely to be the recipient of it; however, what was the standard of fairness and equity about it all? How often are fairness and equity only aspirational goals or catch phrases when it comes to work and life? How fair and equitable are you?


2. The G8 was also a great metaphor for barriers. The fences, at least in Huntsville, were all very civilized, if a fence can be civilized. The myriad of police were friendly and polite. Yet make no mistake, we were to keep OUT and the leaders were to be LOCKED IN.
   
   How many personal barriers have you erected based on events in the past and that no longer serve your present or your future? Take a close look. What fences have you erected and continue to construct to keep others, ideas, and opportunities out and yourself locked in?


3. Leadership is about vision and crossing edges. I recently moved to Muskoka, fulfilling a life-long dream. I have been fortunate to have always cottaged here, but have never spent more than 3 weeks at any one time.
   
   Working with leaders and teams, we always talk about vision and values and how essential they are in constructing effective and sustainable businesses. To be in integrity as a coach, I needed to step into my dream. This meant saying YES to me and NO to some very comfortable ways of living and working.

For years I have kept a fortune cookie message that states: “Look for the dream that keeps coming back. It is your destiny.”

And here is where I am...



To be in full integrity, what dream do you need to step into? Are you prepared to pay the perceived price to make it happen?

4. Unpacking boxes of stuff is also a great leadership metaphor. What have you kept (possessions, words, deeds, and beliefs) in boxes that need to be re-examined in the light of day or in a new context (like Muskoka)? What needs to be tidied up, restored and used now? What needs to be recycled? What needs to be tossed out?
   
   One of the great books I’m reading is called The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. She speaks about boosting energy and happiness through dealing with clutter.
   
   She defines several categories: nostalgic clutter (relics you cling to from an earlier life); conservation clutter (things you keep because they are useful even though useless to you); bargain clutter (resulting from buying unnecessary things because they are on sale); freebie clutter (gifts, hand-me-downs, and giveaways you don’t use); crutch clutter (things you use but know you shouldn’t); aspirational clutter (things you keep but only aspire to use); outgrown clutter; and buyer’s remorse clutter (things you keep rather than admit you made a bad purchase).
   
   Hilarious, isn’t it. Or maybe I found it so funny because it hits so close to home.
   

   I’ll leave it to you to make the connections to your own life, mind, and leadership.

5. Finally, Muskoka to me personifies the conflict between doing and being. If you can’t just be with beauty and serenity, it does not exist, at least not for you. In the city, we often miss what surrounds us. The energy there is about hurrying, doing, accomplishing, what’s next? Muskoka is about what’s now.
   
   So I’m becoming very conscious about who I want to be as I do what I do. I choose to come from a place of love, peace, and growth in all that I do. Do I manage that all the time – certainly not!
   
   Like my last newsletter described, you can choose to change YOU or change IT. We may not be able to change the IT but we can change how WHO is experiencing it. This is life’s alchemy.

   

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

1. How’s this for short – answer all the questions I’ve posed above, including in the announcement section.


2. Now what?

If not you then who? If not now then when? Take charge of creating More with Less and remember, CoachingWorks!

Sincerely,

Sharon Miller, B.Comm., CPCC, PCC
CoachingWorks
sharonamiller@rogers.com
(416) 484-8018
http://www.sharonamiller.com

“Always be a first rate version of yourself rather than a second rate version of somebody else.”
Judy Garland, singer and actress extraordinaire

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