Complacency or "It'll Never Work Anyway"

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with a group of people here in my hometown of Fargo about the opportunity for individuals to make a difference within a large corporation. I was quite surprised to hear from two of them that they really and truly believe there is no chance for an individual to affect a corporation in a positive way and the only way to fulfill individual dreams of making a difference in the universe is to leave the organization.

While I can certainly sympathize with people who feel victimized by their circumstances, I firmly believe there is always a way out of that victim mentality, and it doesn't always have to involve leaving the situation.

I've been listening to Dr. Wayne Dyer's audiobook "The Power of Intention" and find that to be extremely enlightening regarding my own power in the universe. In addition, in just glancing at my bookshelf, I see books like "You Make The Difference" by Stan Hustad, "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz, and "Self Matters" by Dr. Phil. All are great places to start if you want external validation.

But even more importantly, I think, is the KNOWING that I have when I connect with something that feels right to me. It feels like coming home - connecting with things I really do KNOW to be true, regardless of what others tell me or what I think I SHOULD be or do.

Getting beyond the victim mentality is tough - I know, I've been there. But as tough as it is to be 100% responsible, I'd choose this a million times over feeling like my future is in someone else's hands. It really does come down to conversation as a starting point. If I continue to leave situations when they get tough without resolving my disparities, I'll be living that old adage "wherever you go, there you are." I realize, with surprising clarity, that that has been my pattern - to leave when things get tough instead of making a difference where I am.

So as I continue to figure things out for myself, I continue to build a career that will support those people who want to make a difference wherever they choose to be, whether that is within an organization or on their own. There is definite power in numbers. Let's work together to raise our awareness, and then build a network to support each other wherever we are.

Go see "What the Bleep Do We Know Anyway"

If you have the opportunity and the access, do yourself a favor and go see the movie "What The Bleep Do We Know Anyway?" It will give you a lot to think about! I saw the film a couple of weeks ago when it first came out and joined a group of more than 20 people for a discussion last week. How powerful! For more information check out www.whatthebleep.com. Spread the word about this movie - word of mouth will keep it going!

It's so cool to think about how our thoughts can affect what happens in the universe! Go to www.tut.com to see how Thoughts Become Things.

We can make a difference by being who we are meant to be in the universe!

Making the "Soft Skills" pay off in "Hard Results"

I'm speaking today and tomorrow in Minot and Williston, North Dakota to a group of working women at the Winning Women's Workshop, sponsored by the North Dakota Workforce Training organization. My three sessions are "Creating Brand You," "Taking Your Whole Self to Work," and "Know Your Brain." The brain game is based on Ned Herrmann's work on whole brain research.

I was reminded while speaking today of a former employer who once told me that the work I did for his organization was "touchy-feely crap that made him puke" (take special note of the word "former" in that sentence). This is the same person who told me that business has nothing to do with relationships. It was that comment that convinced me I was working in the wrong environment, and just the catalyst I needed to take the leap into my own business.

One thing that I found especially interesting, in doing research for today's workshop - as did the audience today - was an opportunity to diagnose performance success in four different ways, using something as "soft" as people's brain preferences.

According to the article "How to Get More ROI: Return on Intelligence" at the Ned Herrmann website (see www.hbdi.com) people's successful performance can be measured using purpose, process, people, and possibilities. Ideally we all want:

1) Revenue growth/profitability
2) Achieving plans and goals on schedule
3) Employee and customer satisfaction
4) Good long term strategy and innovative/proactive thinking.

Based on the Brain Game, we can identify which people prefer "left-brained" activities like purpose and process, and which people prefer "right-brained" activities like possibilities and people.

According to this article, if you "use your head" as you define success, you will put your whole brain to work and maybe find success and performance in places you didn't even recognize!

Touchy-feely? Maybe to some. But those who choose to pay attention to the "soft stuff" will find the hard results coming their way in the form of purpose, process, possibilities and people. Oh, and ROI.