“Why are we using this supplier again in this design? They have inconsistent quality and a terrible delivery record!” A design was completed with no connection to the strategy to exit the supplier. Why was the strategy not working?

Unfortunately your internalGPS will not work well without a combination of both strategy and tactics to move forward. One without the other causes slow progress at best or failure at worst.

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory; tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” – Sun Tzu

It has been fulfilling to see clients excel with a little coaching around their strategy:

- What is your big dream or plan for this business or yourself?

- What is preventing you from going there?

- Where do you need to focus or diversify to achieve your bigger plans?

And around the tactics:

- Is what you are doing taking you to toward your bigger dream?

- How does your typical day look and is your time moving you in the right direction?

- If you could completely redesign your day, what changes would you make?

Taking the time to understand both your strategy and your tactics will enable your internalGPS to work like a dream…

photo credit: pshutterbug

After about an hour of this we had a break.  I thought we must be close to the end. “How much longer?” “An hour and a half” came the answer. My face must have said it all because our Balinese guide said that I did not have to continue. It only took me a few seconds to decide to quit. I was in the comforts of the van in minutes. My friend was thrilled to quit with me although she expressed that she felt a bit bad about leaving our other friend riding with out us (but she did have the family of four tourists from Holland with her; they were all bike owners).  I didn’t feel an ounce of remorse, only relief.

Why So Easy to Quit?

It was a “no brainer” for me to quit because it was obvious that I was not accomplishing my goal- Have fun and see the beautiful mountainous area of Bali. And it was obvious that sticking it out would only take me further from my goal. Thankfully, my ego or pride did not get in the way and shift my goal to something entirely different – Look good in front of my friends and strangers by showing them that I can finish the entire bike ride.

Recognizing When to Quit Vs. Stick

It takes some practice and a lot of attention to your internalGPS to assure you know when to stick it out versus quitting.  Ask yourself – Is this a difficult time and I need to stick it out in order to keep moving toward my goal? Or is it the wrong goal?

Seth Godin’s, “the dip”, is a wonderful little book all about quitting.  He explains that many people go through a dip and quit just before they are successful, while others are in a Cul-de-Sac and would be wise to quit. He states, “If pride is the only thing keeping you from quitting, if there’s no Dip to get through, you’re likely wasting an enormous amount of time and money defending something that will heal (pride) pretty quickly.” He gives examples of restaurant owners pushing forward long past when they should have closed and someone staying in a career that has become very unattractive and no fun.

If you are struggling then take a few deep breaths and ask, “Am I still on the right path or is my pride leading me along?”  Keep going and don’t quit if you are moving toward your goal but by all means feel that great relief of quitting if your pride is all that is at stake.

Sometimes it is hard to see it yourself; I’ve worked through the confusion about whether to keep going or quit with several of my coaching clients. Talk to a trusted colleague, friend or a coach if you are not sure about which way to go.

These pictures would not exist if I had let my pride keep me from getting in that van. What a loss that would have been!

Each day there was an offering put in front of the house we stayed in and all of the shops had them too, sometimes they appeared twice a day or more.

The pictures below are just a few from a long procession to a temple for a ceremony (they blocked our traffic for almost 30 minutes).  It was amazing to see all of the different costumes.

My American independence and sense of freedom bristles a bit at the conformity and need to all follow the same religion and rituals.  But, the Balinese are reported to be some of the happiest people on earth and they came across that way consistently in every interaction I had over the couple weeks I was there.  They always had big welcoming smiles, a laid back and content attitude with a strong desire to be of service and help.

Do you have to give up freedom and independence in order to cultivate such strong connections and happiness? The best connections have an authentic and pure motive to support the other person. I think it is possible to cultivate these connections and create a “Balinese” type community but it is not something that comes easily in our independent and transient culture.

On my ride to the airport my young Balinese driver told me, “We can not go on a trip like you have done to come here; we have too many obligations to our village.”  He said it in a matter-of-fact way, it did not sound like he felt any resentment. It is hard to imagine this level of obligation and acceptance and not wonder if it will change over time.  Regardless, you can learn a lot from their strong connections and cultivate your own “village” that will support you and you them for more sustained happiness on your road to success.

What can you share about building strong connections while keeping your sense of independence? Please write a comment.

Our Balinese River Rafting guide (now turned interpreter) took us to the Healer’s family area of several buildings, surrounded with beautiful tropical plants and at least a dozen birds in cages.  The Healer was sitting on a stone floor porch smoking a cigarette with another man.  Our rafting guide/interpreter said something to him and he went and put on a white sarong (long skirt).

He showed us his little room lined with weird looking jars of things and a large gaudy shrine wall dedicated to the spirits.  It smelled of strong incense and some other sweet odor.  Our rafting guide/interpreter explained that the process was to go in one at a time after we had checked out the room as a group.

Laura was first, after about 20 minutes she came out with a dazed look.  Either she was in shock or in a deep state of peace; on second look it was more like shock. She had messed up hair that was half wet, some grains of rice stuck to the middle of her forehead and in the center of her collar bone.

Jan was next, after five minutes the Healer came running out and went to another building.  We peaked in and saw Jan sitting with our interpreter using tissues to wipe away tears from her eyes that were squeezed shut.  The healer went back in and then came out and leisurely smoked a cigarette. Through the door we could see she was lying on her back; was she meditating and was he taking a smoke break in the middle of her treatment?

While Jan was being “healed”, Laura told us that he had her take off her shirt and bra and took something out of one of those jars and massaged it all over her (not on her breasts but all around them). She had no idea what he was doing and there was no explanation of her illness.  She was thinking that if it went any further she could start screaming since we were right outside the door. Was it coincidence that she was the best endowed of all of us?

Jan came out of the little room walking slowly, squinting with very red eyes and carrying a pack of cigarettes turned like a little table in front of her as if they were an offering to the Spirits.  She explained that he treated her eyes with an herbal concoction but he had not asked if she was wearing contacts.  She had painfully removed them and the only place to set them down was on the cigarette pack. She said she was still in a lot of pain, “it feels as if someone is gouging my eyes out with a pick.” But, he said he was healing her eyes and macular degeneration runs in her family.  Both her Mother and Grandmother were blind at fairly young ages.

Despite all this, I had no hesitation in jumping up for my turn.  He did some chanting, lit incense on the shrine and waved it around a bit then had me sit cross-legged facing the shrine.  He covered me with what looked like a large black and white checked table cloth but felt heavy and rough like a burlap sack you would throw over someone for kidnapping. He left the little room and I sat there trying to keep my mind still; breath in and out, in and out.  “Is he out there having a cigarette? Am I going to have to take off any clothes?” After what seemed like days but was probably five minutes he came back in and had me take three drinks of holy water in my hands and then splash the last handful over my head (my hair was already a mess from the rafting).  Finally I ate a few grains of the holy rice and then he pasted a few to my forehead and the middle of my collar bones.  The young interpreter explained that he found nothing wrong with me and that the cover was a cloak to protect me from any future spirits of bad health and the rice is also to ward off bad spirits.

Genie was the final patient and she was treated to a bit of a message and he cracked her back which she said felt great.  He told her that she “thinks too much” and had stress stored in her shoulders and neck. Coincidentally, the healer from her visit to Bali last year told her the same thing.

It was not until we were all done that Laura heard the interpretation of her ailment.  He said she was treated for her feet.  She looked down and exclaimed, “The large blisters on my toes are completely gone!!  They were there when we walked here and have been a problem on my feet for months!”  She was happy with the outcome but still a little suspicious of the half-naked method.

The complete disappearance of those blisters was a bit eerie for all of us (cue the twilight zone music).  Jan’s eyes are fine and he said the initial pain is normal, only time will tell if she has escaped her relative’s blindness.  Genie is continuing to work on her over thinking. I trusted my gut that it was ok to go in there and was thrilled with my clean bill of health.

Many of the coincidences and assumptions you encounter on your path may be questions to consider or guide posts for where you need to be; pay attention to them, trust your gut and follow your internalGPS!

Have you had any eerie coincidences or unconventional healing on your path?  Please share in a comment.

Note: The names of my colleagues have been changed to protect their innocence; all gave me permission to share their stories.

Unfortunately still no photos from my camera due to technical problems; big thanks to “Jan” for providing these photos.

Back to the boy’s quote about the plane moving.  It made me smile and think about how your life is always moving but sometimes you don’t realize it until an event happens that jostles you up a bit.  “Holy cow, I just turned fifty (or forty or ‘x’) and I haven’t done x,y, or z yet!” Or you lose someone close to you and realize that none of us get out of this life alive.

If your internalGPS is working well then you don’t need the jostling to periodically stop and ask, “Am I going where I want to go?” or “Am I living the life I want to live?”

Sometimes it is not easy to live the life you are called to live.  I just spent 35.5 hours traveling half way around the globe: 21.5 in the air and 14 in four airports to get from Phoenix to Bali in the south pacific.  It would be much easier to go to the tropical islands of Hawaii but my internalGPS has to go a lot further to be satisfied.  Sometimes this is very frustrating. But, I have learned to give in and follow my internalGPS because it is what is right for me.  Most likely it is completely different from what is right for you. Don’t follow anyone else’s GPS; your internalGPS is yours and yours alone.

Over the next week or so I’ll be writing from Bali.  My posts will be based on something I see or hear that will relate back to using your internalGPS. Hopefully you will enjoy the ride!

Where has your internalGPS taken you that was not necessarily easy?  Please post a comment.

photo credit: Ma1974, By the way, this photo is credited since I used it from the creative commons on Flikr.  I tried for way too long to download a photo from my i-phone of the Singapore airport (where I spent a long 8 hour layover) but finally gave up.  I can not e-mail from my i-phone since the AT&T rates for data and calling internationally are practically criminal. From now on I’ll use my digit camera for photos instead of my i-phone!

This past weekend I connected with a friend from out of town who had a long layover at the Phoenix airport in the afternoon.  She had a curious wonderment of the Arizona heat, “Wow, it is amazing how hot it is!” We felt the breeze like an oven door opening as we walked across the street.  She laughed and took a picture of the 122 degree reading in my car after it had been sitting in the sun.

A few weeks ago I decided that instead of internally or verbally complaining about the heat I would express my gratitude for air conditioning. “Thank you for the invention of air conditioning and the smooth running of the units on my house and in my car!” When some one expresses how awful the heat is, I smile and ask, “Isn’t it  great to have air conditioning?” Nothing changed with the heat but I shifted slightly and became happier and more at peace.

How can you shift?  Please share in a comment

Have you ever had this feeling at work?  I am grateful for having this experience in a prior role as part of a start-up aerospace manufacturing team.  At first it was a bit of a challenge since we were all new and came from different companies.  We struggled with different vocabulary and ways of doing things; it felt like things took twice as long since we all had different ideas about the best way to set up our new facility.  Eventually, we agreed on some rules that helped us operate as a team and things started flowing.  We agreed to use a consensus decision process (defined as supporting the decision even if we didn’t completely agree).  A team member presented the recommended option and we each voted with a thumb up, down or sideways.  Sideways = More discussion needed.  Up = Go! Down = No.  This allowed us to only spend time on decisions that required more discussion.  We also created a process called, “In the Goal Posts”. We made the signal of a goal post with our arms like a referee in football to quickly communicate a concern that we were over analyzing the problem (a common challenge in highly technical engineering environments!).  If the solution worked (in the goal posts) then it was sufficient.  We also agreed on other rules regarding our agreements to listen, respect each other, etc…

It was the most fun, fulfilling and the hardest I ever worked in my corporate career.  The results of our team were truly extraordinary. We set up flexible lean manufacturing work cells with self directed teams with lower costs and quality that far exceed the facility we replaced. It was like playing hard with my friends on a long summer day. I went home exhausted and exhilarated and excited to get out there and do it all again the next day. Unfortunately, due to organizational changes outside of our control, the facility was closed and re-consolidated and I never had this environment again in my corporate career of many more years.

Recently, I was thrilled to find a team coaching process that immediately brought back all those great memories of playing hard on a team. It is called Team Advantage (linked). It uses the game structure of coaching a team to an extraordinary goal. The Pyramid Resource Group (DJ and Barry Mitsch) developed this process over 15 years ago and they have seen a lot of success.  I am excited to be certified to bring this play into corporate environments all over the world and create amazing results.

Please share your stories of play at work for amazing results in a comment.

photo credit: Walter Paranteau

It is easy to forget that we have choices.  We automatically think that there is no choice but to set that alarm, get up and then go to that workplace that is draining our life energy a bit more every day.

Sometimes it just takes a small shift in how you look at a choice to create that sense of freedom.  Other times it takes deliberate planning to really believe the choice exists.  Early in my corporate career, I decided that I would have enough savings set aside to be able to walk away if it ever became too painful to stay.  This is often called F*** You money.  It took some time and sacrifice in spending to build up the savings but once I had it then it was amazing the shift it provided me.  It gave me the freedom to take more risks. I never actually needed it but just knowing I had the choice made a huge difference.

Unfortunately some of us get caught up in the next promotion and increasing our standard of living each time so that we never feel like we have any choices in how we spend our day and life.  No one is immune to this.  Wealthy and famous movie stars get caught up in this awful cycle and then we see their sad stories about breakdowns due to the stress and strain and lack of freedom in taking that next movie contract.

Creating feelings of freedom to make choices and then taking risks will move you closer to your dreams. You will make choices that you would not make if you were too afraid of failure or the unknown.

We are making a million choices in what we think and do every single day.  Some of them small, some large, they all add up to what is our life.

Do you feel the freedom or prison of your thinking?  How will you shift to add more freedom to your way of thinking and your life?

photo credit: Hamed Maoumi

Failure

As I contemplated my departure from the corporate world to Entrepreneur it was a challenge to focus on the path ahead and not the feelings that I had failed.  Even though it was my choice to leave and I had done a lot of soul searching about doing my own thing, I still had feelings of failure. It was too much struggle, things were too difficult. I was not good enough to stick it out and “break the glass ceiling” to become a VP.

Steve Jobs explains that at the age of 30 he was very publicly fired from the company he created.  My feelings of failure look downright silly and ludicrous in comparison.

Lightness of Beginning Again

Last fall I was working hard on my leadership project and preparing to leave for China when the big “a ha” hit me:  I was creating the stress and struggle that I escaped from in my prior corporate role all over again and I had no one to blame but myself.  I was asking myself, “Why did I agree to do this project, what was I thinking? I could be relaxing and recovering for awhile before I really focus on my own business.”

Finally, I let go.  I completely let go of all my attachment to the outcome of the project and focused on my love of empowering and coaching people to success.  Feelings of lightness and excitement replaced stress and struggle.  I eased into the flow and enjoyed being a beginner.  Steve Jobs attributes his “lightness of beginning again” to his ability to create two new very creative companies that ultimately took Apple to where it is today.

Faith

Connecting the dots of the experiences in your life can only happen in hindsight.  It is a lesson in frustration to try and see how all your current experiences will fulfill your ultimate dreams.  I love Job’s advice (paraphrase): follow your heart, listen to your gut, do what you love and have faith that it will all work out.  One of the dots that fell in place this past year was all my experience in working with corporate lawyers on complicated supply agreements. It led to a coaching opportunity with lawyers.  Who would have guessed?

He goes on to say, “Don’t settle” and “Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”  I wholeheartedly agree, follow your own unique internalGPS and enjoy the ride!

How has the lightness of beginning again or faith allowed you to be more successful?  Please share in a comment.

photo credits: Flickrich, Roo Reynolds

Daunting

This is the best word to describe how I felt as I looked at my new site with zero blog posts in June 2009.  As I created my site, I had fun looking at different blog sites to clarify what I liked but I was very intimidated by their years of blog entries.  The seeds of doubt crept in: what if my posts embarrass me or people do not find any value in what I write?  It was a daunting task to get started.  Can you imagine how it must have felt starting the Great Wall of China?

Lesson: Time keeps going whether you start or not.  If I let my intimidation and fear stop me then I would be here at my keyboard in June 2010, a year later with no blog posts.  Do not let the years of work ahead intimidate you from starting to navigate toward your dreams.

Committed

Writing these posts has been fun most of the time.  Sometimes it was difficult to stay committed when no one was pushing me to do it and my business did not depend on it.  My little voice would start bargaining for skipping it this week due to all the other priorities or some other distraction.

Lesson: Your commitments to yourself are more important than anyone else.  No one else is going to be the best judge of what is important to you or your long term success.  Even if you have a boss; you know better than they do what you have promised yourself and whether you are following through.  Keep your promises to navigate toward your dreams.

Gratitude

When I started this blog I was grateful for being in the position to follow my big dreams.   My gratefulness out-weighs my fear most of the time but it is something I have to continually work on. One of my most memorable experiences over the past year was my project in China.  The young women there taught me a lot about gratitude through their generosity of spirit in the midst of their very real struggles.

Lesson: Shifting your thoughts to gratitude is amazingly powerful.  When the doubts start to surface, I think of the motivating comments from several of you and my incredible learning experiences.  As you navigate toward your dreams, take time to stop and realize the abundance of things to be grateful for right now.

Think back over the past year: what obstacle have you navigated and lessons have you learned?  Please share in a comment