What is Leadership?

What does that mean, leadership? It’s a big word, kind of hard to describe, like love.

Like love, leadership is a feeling, an urge, an inspiration. And like love, leadership only counts when you take responsibility for your urge and act on it. That act is just the beginning of a journey, because like love, leadership isn’t a single act, it is a way of life.

Leadership is continuing to take responsibility by being present to the impact of your action. Then reflecting, is this the outcome I intended?  Sometimes the impact is not at all what you intended. This is where responsibility kicks in because now you have the humbling work of leadership to do:

·         forgive yourself,

·         learn from your mistakes,

·         celebrate your courage to make the mistakes,

·         be grateful for the gifts of the experience,

·         ask for the forgiveness of others,

·         do what you can to make it right,

·         reconnect with your inspiration,

·         and put yourself out there again.

This last step is harder than it sounds.  Especially, after many mistakes or big mistakes.  Why?  Well I don’t know about you, but for me sometimes I come up against a wall. That wall is myself, my doubt, my lack of confidence, my insignificance, my fear, my inadequacy, my exhaustion, (the list goes on, as you may have experienced at one time or another).

This is why true leadership is so inspiring, because it requires vulnerability and intimacy. It requires me to risk being fully who I am (including my failings) for the sake of something bigger and more important than me alone.

I must allow myself to be touched, moved and inspired, to feel the sadness and the hurt, to feel the hope and inspiration, to be present and be a part of it ... all of it, including the mess of it.  This is humanity.  This is love.  This is leadership.

An Invitation to Leadership

Shirlaws Coaching is about changing people’s lives.

The Seattle Team in particular is about raising consciousness.

Nice words, but what does that mean exactly?

It means leadership.

I am energized and inspired by leadership.  I seek to grow my own and to use it to grow leadership in others.

What does that mean, leadership? It’s a big word, kind of hard to describe, like love.

Like love, leadership is a feeling, an urge, an inspiration.  And like love, leadership only counts when you take responsibility for your urge and act on it.  That act is just the beginning of a journey, because like love, leadership isn’t a single act, it is a way of life.

Over the next few postings, I will share thoughts on leadership, what it is and post examples. Let's start with a few 4 minute videos to give you examples of leadership being expressed in a variety of ways:
Business really filling a need
Child calling governments to take leadership
Comedian calling people to live from gratitude, instead of entitlement

With these postings, I hope to call out in you your leadership and what it means to you, right now, as it is. I want to hear your stories. I want to share your stories. Let us energize, inspire and uphold each other on our walk. Let us connect on what is important and move it forward.

Love,

Kristina

Here's to YOU!

We can’t begin to thank you enough.  What magic there is when people come together to support each other.  The first Catch the First Wave to kick-off Seattle was a success!  How do we know, because you were there.  You came with your questions, looking for ideas to better reach and serve your clients.  Your dedication to your business is an inspiration to us all. 

We want to give special thanks to our guest speakers Blaine Millet and Clay Loges of Social Media for Executives who opened our eyes to the Social Media Revolution.

And to Marc Johnstone of Shirlaws Coaching for exposing us to the Recovery Equation.  And to the rest of the Shirlaws team that flew in from California, just to meet you all, including our CEO, Eric Bergen, our Chairman, Adrian Bray, Shirlaws Partner, Tom Loeswick, and Shirlaws Coach, Rebecca Young.

So what can you do now, to move these ideas out of the workshop and into your business?  Ask Shirlaws Seattle about our Capability Assessment, Functionality Project or explore a Growth Strategy.  As a Catch the First Wave participant, contact us in October and this 90 minute session is your gift, complements of Shirlaws Seattle.

Thank you again for honoring us with your valuable time.  We look forward to the opportunity to continue to build our relationship for the benefit of all.

Here’s to You and Your Success!

Good News

We’re so excited about our guest speakers and who’s coming to town, with only one day left we’re opening up extra space. Be one of the first 3 people to contact me and you get in for free!

Given this is two workshops in one, feel free to join us for both or just attend one.  It is up to you and what will serve you and your business best. 

·         3-5pm Social Media for Executives

·         5-7pm Shirlaws: Catch the First Wave

Click here for a full description.

So if you’re going to take advantage, it’s now or never.  J

See you tomorrow!

Who's next?

Now let me introduce to you Eric Bergen – business coach and CEO of Shirlaws USA.

  

Eric worked for one of the largest health insurance companies in the country, while there he learned a lot about leading teams, dealing with change, prioritizing choices and influencing business cultures. Eric joined Shirlaws in early 2008 and with a 20 year background in that industry it was a natural fit to focus on coaching health organizations – from HMOs, insurance companies and hospitals to pharmaceutical companies, physician practices and extended care facilities. Eric coaches leaders to focus on the key factors that will produce the commercial and cultural results these organizations aspire to.

Now for a peek behind the scenes. A California native, Eric took a 25 year detour through the Mid-West to toughen up through long, cold, snowy winters and biting bug filled summers. He’s glad to be back in the Sacramento area and is enjoying the sun, biking, sailing and wine tasting. Oh and least I forget, there is a new endeavor, flying lessons, which makes Eric smile when he has the opportunity to fly to you.

Want to meet our CEO, Eric? Join us Wednesday, Sept 30th at Catch the First Wave & Social Media for Executives event at the Maydenbauer Center.

Have a question for Eric? Post them here.

Who's Coming to Town

Sept 30^th is no ordinary day. Shirlaws is kicking off Seattle and the big boys are coming to town. Let me start by introducing the Chair of the Board of Shirlaws USA, Adrian Bray.

Originally from England (with the accent and wit to go with it) Adrian has worked across many cultures in many countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America. Adrian inspires with the same calm confidence he used to build high-achieving teams and launch a number of businesses. He’s been with Shirlaws Coaching the last six years and lead the team that got Shirlaws to 30% of the UK market share.  He is here to do the same in the US.

Adrian comes with a long list of credentials and what really counts is behind the scenes he is an all-around good guy.  He plays the drums and once played Beatle’s tunes in a rock band in Northern England. Today, he is also limping along as an aspiring runner. With all the work and devotion Adrian offers to his business, wife Jackie (another fabulous English import) and teenage son, he’s going grey, and despite the grey he is alive and well as a tweeting twitter.

Want to meet Adrian? Join him Wednesday, Sept 30^th at Catch the First Wave & Social Media for Executives event at the Maydenbauer Center.

Have a question for Adrian? Post them here.

Who's Hot on the trail to Social Media for Marketing

How grateful I am to have started this journey. I have learned SOOO much! And I see more and more of you hoping into the sandbox. Whoohoo!  New blogs and twitter posts pop up every day. That means you must be learning something too!

Post a comment to this blog with a tip from your experience. Then come back on Monday, Sept 28 and help us pick the best tip for a free ticket for your guest to “Catch the First Wave” on Sept 30.

And now here’s: Who's Hot on the trail to Social Media for Marketing!

@NormHarshaw:  I see you figured out how to up load an image, post your profile to twitter, and with 10 tweets since “Energize Your Business”, you are well on your way. Congratulations!

@EbenDesign: OK Lisa, you are clearly an old timer, as far as old timers go on twitter. After 22 tweets since May and 187 followers, what have you learned about the most effective way to engage your followers?

If you want to learn how to create a presence on your twitter page with pictures and graphics, follow @matt_agility, as he created a new account and is doing all the fancy stuff there. (Previously @matthewwesley, created another account.)

Same goes for @AlyseMcConnell, wow you really went to town with this tool since Sept 2! With pictures, graphics, 79 followers and 12 tweets! I love it. Inspiring quotes, helpful links. Thank you. Tell us, what have you learned and what’s next? If you want to see what I am talking about, follower Alyse @AlyseMcConnell  (previously @alyseconnect.)

@StephanieBjella, if you still need help uploading a picture, give me a call at 425-503-8597 or tweet @AlyseMcConnell or @matt_agility.

A new blogger since Sept 2, Detlef Schrempf - Here’s to getting on the court and playing full out. What have you learned about blogging with your tweeting @dschrempf. With 1,312 followers I imagine you can have quite an impact.

Another new blogger, Dennis Brislawn of Brislawn Loftton PLLC. FABULOUS! I see you are linking your blog to your websites and twitter account. A great way to increase traffic and get the searching crawlers to move you up in the ranks. And Dennis, I see you have 2 twitter accounts, which one are you going to maintain and keep active? @dbrislawn or @DennisBrislawn?

@MarlinBaker you got it figured out quickly, uploaded a picture, posted your bio and several tweets in the first couple of days. You are ready for strategy.

Andrew, I see you got your new account name created @andrewnor. If you go to @kristinakatayam you can follow all of the attendees from Energize Your Business, and they may return the follow so you can get connected with them.

@CharlesReppas I see you got it figured out with bio, photo and tweets. Welcome to the gateway of social media.

Kristina

Intent & Impact

When I went to push the send button on my last entry, I hesitated and felt the flash of anxiety ... Is this it? Is this what I should be writing about? What difference will it make? A good reminder of what it feels like to learn something new. It’s vulnerable. I am going to make mistakes. My job is to learn from them.

Another part of learning is asking for help. Thank goodness we could go to Clay and Blaine. They pointed us in the right direction so we could get started. (Thus yesterday’s entry.)

You see we were thinking about educational content, about coaching. Of course, that is what we do, what we are used to.

Social media is a different animal. I generally don’t engage relationships with someone I cannot see. I have come to depend on the cues of eye contact, body movement, breath, and sound. I get immediate feedback that tells me we are connecting, that our conversation is meaningful or irrelevant, offensive or inspiring.

To be effective with social media, I have to take the risk to reveal myself and my thoughts just as they are in this moment. Wow, that feels vulnerable!

I recognize, it is fundamentally important for me to know that my intent aligns with my impact. I also recognize I concern myself with your judgment ... what else should I expect from my ego. And I recognize to truly know one’s impact is a rare privilege.

My job is simply to stay present with what is and have confidence that the impact of my actions will ultimately reflect my intentions.

Kristina

Blogging a New Way of Thinking

For the sake of learning to engage in relationship using this virtual tool, I have sat down many times to write and been stopped. What should I write? Why? Who cares? 

I am writing this blog because I want to learn and because I said I would. And by so doing created a structure of accountability to enter into unknown territory with you. My hope is that by taking the first step, we will learn together and that it will be valuable. 

I, like my colleague Emile, have done a lot of writing, especially when it comes to training and education. I would think that would make it easier ... Nope ... 

The purpose of social media is creating and building relationship through engaging in dialog, it's not designed for transfering knowledge.

Then I thought to myself, I’m a coach. The foundation of coaching is using conversation to work through otherwise elusive problems. Coaches ask questions. The questions are the gates ways through a maze of walls. Some lead to dead ends and others to the next question, the next opening, the next idea, the next action. Together coach and client use conversation to work through the maze, one-step-at-a-time, revealing a pathway to gold.

However, a question alone in social media is not enough. Why? Because the relationship has to be built first. There has to be an agreement to engage and a reason to answer.

Kristina

Standing Room Only

With standing room only, last Wednesday’s “Energize Your Business” kick-off was a great success. We’re aware there are a variety of options competing for your time. We’re honored you chose to spend it with us.  Thank you for coming and adding your contribution through sharing your experience and asking your questions.

And as you know, “Energize Your Business” was the result of multiple businesses collaboration together to create the whole experience. We especially want to thank:

• Brislawn Lofton for consistently adding value through their collaborative mind-set
• John Calhoun at Union Bank who provided personal service beyond expectation 
• Social Media for Executives for changing the way all of us think about how to create more trusted and loyal relationships with our customers and employees - faster, deeper and at a lower cost than we could ever imagine using the power of Social Media.
• Lindsay Andreotti of Brilliance Enterprise and Terryll Bailey of the Allison Group for immediate, enthusiastic and responsive service with a smile.
  

This is just an example of the power of leveraging business-to-business relationships to provide value for your clients.

Kristina

Our first blog post - Exciting!!

This is our first blog post - to be updated.

Kristina and Emile

About Kristina and Emile

How Emile and Kristina came to know Shirlaws and join the organization.

Kristina (Katayama) Bass
kkbass@shirlawscoaching.com

Emile Haddie
ehaddie@shirlawscoaching.com