Take back your attention
Category: Men and Health, Men and Money, Men and Shadow, Syndicated
Here is an excellent article by Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project, at Fast Company, entitled Take Back Your Attention. His main thesis, one that my readers know I subscribe to as well, is that the computer, with email, FaceBook, Google, and a plethora of other fun toys and semi-useful activities, can be a distraction in addition to being a powerful tool. Here are some of the money quotes:
What is Your Brand Against?
by Dave Kaisar
Scott Goodson wrote a great article at Harvard Business Review entitled “What is Your Brand Against.” Great question, since that also helps you to clarify your values and priorities. Here is what my brand is against:
1. Conformity and “fitting in”
2. Trading your soul for “secure job” (it’s a false trade these days, anyway)
3. Letting your email inbox dictate your work for the day
4. Low standards and dreaming small
Set Them Up For Success
by Alain Hunkins
What do good leaders do?
Help their followers succeed.
Simple enough to remember.
Not so easy to execute.
As a leader, what do you put in place so your people succeed?
Do you provide them tools so that they can swim?
If they start to flounder, do you help them?
Or do you criticize and blame them while they gasp for their last lungfuls of air?
The role of coaching in difficult times
by David Kaisar
Francis Marshall has an article in the Training Journal entitled “The role of coaching in difficult times.” Here are some of the highlights:
[C]oaching’s ability to unleash discretionary performance in the individual…when they are inspired to perform to a higher standard simply because they want to
[C]oaching can play a key role in helping people think clearly and remain focused on their objectives
Coaching is also crucial for helping employees maintain motivation
The Tedium of Coaching
by Dave Kaisar
Stuart Walkley presents this article in the Training Journal on”The Tedium of Coaching,” in which he laments
“an industry with a low entry point on qualifications and experiences, no single system of accreditation and with a range from the totally exceptional to the totally inept all under the one word ‘coach,’”
and further mentions that
“often the coaching process drives us through a number of sessions, which appear to have some linear progression leading towards a pre-ordained conclusion. I blame Excel and PowerPoint for this.”
Characteristics of powerful men
by Steve Norcross
When I was a kid, I feared powerful men. Now upon reflection, my fear was based on observations that were real. In the world I grew up in, many men were powerful to the extent that they were dominant if not domineering over members of their families. Their work tended toward the competitive, and their life styles were punctuated by alcohol and a love of high contact sports.
Into the wild
by Johnny Fontaine
During the waning days of summer last year, I was leaving my church’s social ministry office after a few hours of volunteer work. I stood by the front door, looking at the fingerprints smudged across the glass, distracted by the sounds of people talking throughout the lobby.
My eyes noticed a book on a giveaway table, the cover depicting a man running along a great ledge of rocks high on a mountaintop. I read its title. Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul.
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