Transformation4Change

Personal branding is a very big thing these days. Your brand is what you stand for; a uniform perception or impression others have of you emanating from your experience, expertise, competencies, actions, or achievements within your center of influence, industry, or the marketplace. As a leader, would you work for you? Or would you keep looking for the right leader to work for? Would you buy your leadership brand or would you buy from somebody else? Your leadership brand is always projecting itself and like all brands, your leadership brand is under constant scrutiny by your direct reports, your leadership team, peers, and all others interested in your work. Your leadership track record, your leadership brand will greatly affect your relationships, your results, career progression, and opportunities. Take a critical look at your leadership style. You might need a branding makeover.

Have you ever had your goals, plans, career, relationship, business interrupted? When you hear the word interruption, what comes to mind? What emotions does it evoke? Depending on your perspective, do you see interruptions as positive or negative? The Merriam Webster Dictionary defined interruption as a stoppage or hindering of an activity for a time; a break in the continuity of something; something that causes a stoppage or break in the continuity of something. Interruptions create a gap in what we want to do, achieve or undertake. Interruptions have received a negative rap because we have always seen interruptions as disruptive, negative, and not a good thing. Research has shown that interruptions can actually be beneficial to us in various ways. Interruptions help us to pause and think about what we need to start doing, stop doing, or continue doing to achieve our goals. The next time you get interrupted, don’t just quickly discount it but rather think through how best you can use that interruption. No matter the level and size of the disruption, use it instead of allowing it to use you and disorient you completely.

The mind is very powerful. We use the mind to paint amazing pictures of the future we want to create. Whatever you focus on most of the time, you begin to create in reality. What are you allowing your mind to dwell on? Where are you allowing your mind to go? Your results follow the direction of your mind. Why not use your mind or tell it to go in the direction you want.

The mind is the gateway to your life. Your emotions, feelings, and actions all come from what is happening in your mind. Your mind is the battleground where every war will be won or lost. Whatever you are putting in your mind is contributing to your winning or losing the battle. You want massive success, you want to achieve your goals, you want to fulfill your potential; however, there are demands from people from all walks of life needing your time and attention. Everybody wants to be in on the action of your life and be part of the movie of your life. Who should you allow in? What should you allow to participate in the movie of your life? When you become selective in what you allow into your mind, you will begin to control the direction of your life. The is so much good and junk information out there asking for your time. The boss, spouse, son, daughter, friends, television, writers, significant other, books, movies, parents and so many other things asking for your time.

Every single one of us is blessed with an amazing mind; what you do with yours is totally up to you. Why not focus on what you want and keep your mind off the things you don’t want? Life is not a dress rehearsal so choose what to allow into your amazing mind. Use your life to fulfill your true potential. If you could allow yourself to do all that you were born to do, it would astound you. Begin clearing your mind of all the junk and build a wall around your mind. Keep out the negative stuff and keep meditating on the good stuff. As within, so without! Success and achievement is an inside job. The results you are currently getting is a reflection of what is happening on the inside of you. Spend time working on what is happening inside you, think right so that you can live right and achieve your goals and dreams.

The past weeks and months have been characterized by fear, anxiety, significant job losses, business closures, and the halting of business activities. We continue to hear the phrase “this unprecedented time” over and over again. Business owners and entrepreneurs across the globe are beginning to learn, create, innovate and adapt to the new challenges this pandemic has created and continues to create as we re-work business models, safety procedures in the workplace, the economy, and so much more.

We are wired and engineered to rise above the challenges and ride the waves of change, adversity, and disruption. During times like this, some will rise with the wave of change while others sink under the weight of change. The good news is that you have a choice to rise with this change and be a trailblazer, trek through this new terrain, face the obstacles and overcome. You have come a long way through the various business challenges, adversity, vicissitudes of life and this is not the time to let your guard down and sink during “this unprecedented time”. Resilience, building strength, mental toughness are all needed to go through this season. I use the word season because this season will pass.

The current environment calls for excellence. Customers and clients requirements have increased. There is significant competition in the marketplace and customers are looking for an enhanced excellent service experience with their money. Operating with excellence will position you well in the minds of your customers during this time of accelerated change and disruption. Excellence builds your confidence to be more, do more, and give more. Operating in excellence is in the best interest of our customers, the communities we operate in, and our stakeholders. When excellence dominates your way of work, you no more settle for mediocrity. Excellence is your competitive edge and is your insurance during times of change, adversity, and disruption. Excellence will get you off the current rut, instead of keeping you there.

Excellence has to do with quality, distinction, superiority, and fineness. Excellence is about giving your personal best irrespective of the circumstances, situation, or opportunity. Excellence is the quality of being outstanding or extremely good. Make up your mind to be excellent in all your endeavors and the very best will come to you. What you give out is what you get and more.

Whatever we feed on mentally will grow larger and stronger on our horizon. I read the story about a “FISHERMAN who came to town every Saturday afternoon. He always brought his two dogs with him. One was white and the other was black. He had taught them to fight on command. Every Saturday afternoon in the town square the people would gather and these two dogs would fight and the fisherman would take bets. On one Saturday the black dog would win; another Saturday, the white dog would win - but the fisherman always won! His friends began to ask him how he did it. He said, “I starve one and feed the other. The one I feed always wins because he is stronger.”

Whatever, you may have faced and are facing stop feeding it and start focusing on the next season of your life. Every ending is a new beginning. So many people are going through a tough time and it’s understandable. However, feeding a negative experience will do more damage than good. Stop feeding your fears, anxiety, lack, irritation, and despondency. Whatever you may be feeding the most is expanding in your life. If you want to have great energy, strength to be more, do more and give more, you have to feed yourself the right mental diet.

There is a major disruption taking place in the world today due to digital transformation, speed of technological advancement, COVID 19 pandemic, social justice, massive layoffs, challenges of airline and tourism businesses, the oil and gas sector struggling to stay afloat, closure of a significant number of small businesses, green energy opportunities, challenges of inclusion, diversity, fairness, and equity. Business models that worked in the past are needing a complete overhaul. Leaders are not only working to maintain liquidity but also trying hard to inspire their work teams to stay focused and produce results, stay safe, work effectively from remote locations, or virtually and continue to see possibilities within the current dispensation. You may have lost your job, mourning the death of a loved one due to COVID 19, struggling to pay the bills, afraid of weather your business will survive the barrage and onslaught of this disruptive change. Whatever the change you are experiencing, there is a way out and a way through. I believe that there is a solution to every disruption change, you can be resilient through this change because resilience is already built into you. What you need is the awareness that you have the inner resources to work through every challenge that shows up at your doorstep. You are tougher than you think, you can be creative around your problems. Every ending is a new beginning!

Learn how to be resilient through the tough times,  bounce back from misfortune, change, difficulty. Develop the capacity to recover quickly from challenges of life and learn to spring back from adversity, disruption, and transformation.