By Ryan Quinn
Becoming a writing coach when you are dyslexic would seem, to many, to be impossible. Recently, I heard the story of a young woman who did just that. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Courage / Empowerment / Initiative’ Category
Learning Our Way into Greatness
Tuesday, March 27th, 2012Conversations and the Creation of Value: A Stunning Insight
Tuesday, March 27th, 2012By Robert E. Quinn
I had a breakfast meeting with a woman who is a powerful authority figure. It was our first real meeting. At the start of the breakfast, I asked her what she was most passionate about in her work. She gave a good but cautious answer. I listened deeply, and then I asked her a question about the one sentence that seemed to reflect the most passion.
This time her answer went deeper, and she became more engaged and authentic. Her caution was gone and her enjoyment was up. The things she was now saying were incredibly stimulating to both her and me. I was learning a great deal. The conversation was turning into a generative or creative conversation. By the end we seemed to have very positive feelings for each other, and our new relationship was full of potential. We were eager to meet again. Then she said something stunning.
Transcending Anger and Conflict: A Proactive Choice
Wednesday, March 21st, 2012By Robert E. Quinn
Something wonderful happened. Three days ago I was driving to work. I was approaching the bottom of a hill. At the top of the next hill was a traffic light. I assumed it was about to change so I was really concentrating on the decision to stop or to keep going. At the bottom of the hill was a lot of water that I could not see. As I reached the bottom a car passed me on the left. It threw up a thick wall of water onto my windshield. I was suddenly blinded.
For a moment I felt panic. Then the water cleared, and I was fine. The panic was immediately replaced with a feeling of rage. I wanted to extract justice from the other driver. As soon as I felt the rage, my conscious mind told me that I was feeling a negative emotion that I should immediately transform into a positive one. Within a few seconds, I slowed to stop at the light and pull up right next to the other driver. As I did so, I had a feeling of perfect peace. The other driver was, of course, totally unaware that anything had transpired. (more…)
Transcending Conflict by Choosing to Flourish
Tuesday, March 20th, 2012By Robert E. Quinn
A student in my current class on transformational leadership came to see me. The class is about how to change the world by changing self. If we choose to be more purpose-centered, internally directed, other-focused, and externally open, the change in us changes our conversations, the people in the conversations, and then the larger context or organization in which the conversations occur.
While this sounds simple, it defies normal assumptions. Almost all of us are programmed to try to change others by telling then why they should change. If that does not work, as it often does not, we try to change them by exercising some kind of leverage. Since this concept is hard to understand and to teach I am always searching for examples. When an example shows up, I am most grateful.
The student who came to see me is a ball of fire. He has a deep understanding of the things we are covering, and he is working hard to continually become more than he is. He said many things I found inspiring. At one point, for example, he told two related stories. The first concerned his boss, and the second concerned his peers. They both illustrate how living in the growth mindset or fundamental state of leadership gives rise to a new and more productive contexts or organizations. (more…)
Creating Sustainability in Other People
Thursday, March 8th, 2012By Shawn Quinn
People are overstretched. The regular job of today represents what was once the job of two or even three people. Stress has increased in many people’s lives. A lot of organizations want not only to perform, but to do so in a sustained way.
Yet their employees are being asked to do things that are not very sustainable. Is there anything that can help these employees out?
Gaining the Ability to Influence
Thursday, March 8th, 2012By Shawn E. Quinn
Have you ever been informally mentored by someone who was many layers more senior in the business? Have you been told that that person saw you as high-potential and worth the time to develop? Even if not, you can imagine how you would feel toward this person—the boost of confidence it would give you.
Then imagine how it would feel if this mentor didn’t follow through on promises—and that you discovered you had basically been lied to. Think of the sadness, anger and frustration that would cause. How should you interact with this person moving forward? What decisions do you make about your future?
Transitioning from One Year to Another: One Man’s Journey into Positive Leadership
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012–BY SCHON BEECHLER
I had made it through the holidays without the whirl of my hard drive interrupting the quiet peacefulness of warm New Zealand summer days. Now it was time to get back to work. Among the sea of junkmail in my inbox, the annual Christmas letter from Sam, an alum from my Columbia Senior Executive program over a decade ago, beckoned. With a smile, I clicked on it, expecting the usual newsy letter from Sam on life in Asia, his health, and job-related challenges and opportunities. But this year’s letter was different…. (more…)
Ai Weiwei: Positive Leader for Change in China
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011– BY SCHON BEECHLER
For the past year, Ai Wewei, the renowned Chinese contemporary artist who collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the “Bird’s Nest” (the Beijing National Stadium) for the 2008 Olympics, has been showing the world the power of positive leadership to take on a repressive government in China. (more…)
Battling the Barrage of Bad
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011– BY SCHON BEECHLER
In my blogs this week I am going to tackle the topic of negativity and positivity in our lives. Today, I characterize what I see as a major problem in our lives, and in tomorrow’s blog I offer up 10 simple ideas how to bring some positivity back into our day to day existence.
I have circled the globe in the past 14 days. Economies are on the precipice of chaos, countries are teetering on the brink of war, and political uncertainty and turmoil roil across all the continents as unemployment edges up higher and higher, patience wanes, and tempers run hot. In one poignant indicator of the state of the world, here are the titles of all the top stories on the front page of the New York Times this morning: “As Scorn for Vote Grows, Protests Surge Around Globe,” “Christians Fear Future in Syria Beyond Assad,” “Health Insurers Push Premiums Sharply Higher,” Rights Collide as Town Clerk Sidesteps Role in Gay Marriages,” and “Even Those Cleared of Crimes Can Stay on FBI’s Watch List.”
Scorn, Contempt, Protests, Fear, Upheaval, New York Battle Looms, Terrorist Watch List – these are the stories, the words, the sentiments that slap me in the face as I start my day. What are we doing to ourselves? (more…)
