Archive for July 2019
Learning From My Dying Brother
Today, July 31, is my brother Colin’s birthday, but he is not here to celebrate. He died in 2012. Ever since he died I have gone dry in July to raise money for cancer research and the Andrew Love Cancer Centre here in Geelong. My fund-raising page is still open until August 15 so if you haven’t already made a donation to cancer research this year, please consider supporting my cause at https://www.mycause.com.au/page/207577/maree-harris-in-memory-of-colin-rickard
In the new year after Colin’s death, in February 2013, I wrote the following blog post for my Colleagues and clients. I am sharing it with you all here because I learned so much from sharing his journey with him and you might learn something also from reading my reflections.
Read MoreEmpowering You For Leadership No. 2
This is the second of my weekly issue on empowering you for leadership with the two articles that I have found worth reading. This week they are about two soft skills that are important for leadership.
My work is predominantly with leaders and the soft skills they need for leadership, with an emphasis on self-leadership. They are the skills they need to lead in these changing and unpredictable times. I believe they are skills that help them lead from within. The 7 skills I believe they need are – self-awareness, resilience, emotional intelligence, pro-activity, high energy, work/life integration and the ability to build connections and relationships.
The two articles I have chosen this week fit into that – one on the importance of empathy which is part of being emotionally intelligent. The second is about what I call resilience.
Empowering You For Leadership No. 1.
Every leader needs to read and stay up to date on what is current and in touch with the Thought Leaders of the moment on leadership. Every week I read a lot of articles, blog posts, reports and books on leadership and I keep most of them to myself. From now on I’m going to share with you some of what I read each week that I believe will inform, educate and enhance your leadership.
This first week, I’ve chosen two – one for you to improve your leadership and management performance, the other for improving the performance of your employees – “6 Leadership Waeknesses and How To Fix Them” and “Self-Assessment : 5 Tips for Writing Your Performance Evaluation.”
Is Fear Stopping You Achieve Success in Your Work?
Brian Tracy has said: “The greatest challenge you will ever face in life is the conquest of fear and the development of courage.” Are you one of those people riding through life fearful of taking your foot off the brake stopping you being and doing everything you want to be and do?Fear is the greatest obstacle to your success. It is epitomised by the words “I can’t”. “I can’t”, not because I am not able to, but because I fear to. When you contemplate something new or different, fear rises up in you. If you keep thinking about it, the fear consumes you and becomes overwhelming. “I can’t, I can’t” grips every part of your being so you switch off thinking about going into that new space, together with all its possibilities and opportunities. You go back into your comfort zone, as unchallenging as that might be.You probably fear one of two things – or maybe both. You fear failure or you fear rejection. They are the two greatest fears of us all and they often go hand in hand.
Read MoreAccelerate Your Career – Take Your Foot Off The Brake!
So many people from CEOs to receptionists are riding through life with their foot on the brake too frightened to live the life they want, to seize the day and accelerate their career. They, themselves, are the biggest obstacle to their success, not their manager or their organisation, nor their circumstances. If this is you, here are 15 steps to take to create the professional future you really want.
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