Greetings!
Welcome to our newsletter - The DNA of Leadership.
Every month, we will be bringing you new ideas to think about, new
practices to experiment with, and new thoughts on topics such as changing organizational culture, creative team development and leadership assessment and development to inspire you.
Welcome new readers! We are delighted that you are interested in learning more about Creating WE leadership. We are confident that you will find our monthly newsletter informative and always welcome your feedback.
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Wisdom for the Road - From Nobody to Somebody
Growing up in my
family, I felt like a nobody, not a somebody. You may have too!
In our family, we were three children - whose names all began with a "J." My
parents thought it was cute, 'the three J's'. As we learned over time,
our collective name became a way for our parents not to have to deal with the
challenge of individuality, conflict, and differences. They didn't have to deal
with who got the most, or the least, who was the best or the worst. When you
label your three kids as one, all the surface conflicts disappear, and life is
perfect!
Striving for Perfection
So in our family, striving for perfect became our mantra. We were
the perfect kids, the perfect home, and the perfect family. On the outside we
were the loving family that everyone admired. We dressed well, expressed
ourselves well, and did well in school. We were nice and agreeable, and were
role models for others. On the outside we were perfect - on the inside we were
children trying to become some-bodies and finding it very difficult to figure
out how. The rewards for being the same were much bigger than those for being
different.
Being Different
 So I rebelled. When my parents said white, I said black. When they said
don't smoke until you are 18, I started smoking at 14 and quit at 18. Wherever
there was a rule, I felt I had to break it. When your parents have the idea
that consensus is always good, and means agreement and questioning authority is
all bad - the underlying meta-messages they are sending to their children are
that being different is not good, having a different perspective
is not allowed and if you disagree with someone you lose their love.
Integrity
Being perfect and same on the outside and different on the inside gets
lonely. At the age of 14 I started writing my first book. It was called "No Man
is an I-Land" - and I was going to write my way into being the somebody I
wanted to be. But at 14 I only had 1½ pages of ideas inside of me to put down
on paper - I was just starting my lifelong journey of personal awareness,
leadership and discovery - and had a
dream and desire but little know-how for
expressing it.
Wisdom for the Road
 So I've spent my whole life trying to understand what it means to be a
somebody, and how to enable each somebody to thrive in a world of amazing and
incredible other some-bodies - and to feel good about being different and
special. The wisdom behind this relates to every part of who we are as human
beings - from our cells all the way up to the systems and communities we live
in.
What I have found, and am still finding, this precious learning is the vital
wisdom behind life itself - when we allow our somebody to emerge and not be
afraid of our own voice, and our own special talents, we emerge as teachers and
as wisdom-givers to everyone we know.
When we all learn to hold this wisdom in our hearts, and minds and
conversations - we become the best some-bodies we can ever be - and we do it
together.
Practices for the Workplace
- Look for the uniqueness in every employee, friend,
colleague or family member.
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Pay attention to how each person has a unique fingerprint,
footprint and mark - their own special DNA.
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Look for opportunities to create conversations with employees
about their aspirations - aspire means to breathe - and when we aspire with
others, we breathe life into our dreams.
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Ask employees "what do you think?"
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Perceive and acknowledge their unique perspectives as
different ways of seeing the world, not as "wrong ways."
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View conflicts as opportunities for expand the conversation
to a bigger frame of reference.
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Listen non-judgmentally.
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Guru Nation
In the spirit of sharing, my friend and colleague Amy Kopelan, CEO of The Guru Nation has
agreed to gift my friends a FREE month of Guru Nation ..... which is a new
portal with lots of wisdom to share. If you are interested, all you need to do
is email me, I'll let Amy know - and she will send you the
passcodes.
To learn more visit their web site.
Some of you might be Gurus,
If you are interested in becoming a contributor, contact Amy directly via email or at 212-580-5100 and mention that we're friends.
Listen to Judith and Amy discuss "Lowering the Bar to Raise Performance".
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Mattie J.T. Stepanek - Spiritual Leader and Inspiration
We are incredibly proud to spread the word that a tribute to poet and peacemaker Mattie J. T. Stepanek and the We Are Family Foundation was featured on Oprah's week long Best Life Series! The story was aired on January 7th during the Finding Your Spiritual Path segment.
Help us to continue to spread Mattie's word and realize his dream. Contact the Oprah show and encourage the producers to further explore Mattie's message of hope and peace.
See a video clip. Learn more about Mattie's inspiration. Visit Mattie's web site to learn more about his life and his message. |
