Arlene’s Executive Leadership Tip

This week I will be talking about the feelings of amusement as one of the 10 aspects of positivity that I use in business coaching for women.  Having just spent the last month with my grandchildren ages 4.5 and almost 3, I can attest that there were many moments when their unexpected responses and word interpretations had me giggling.  They were so funny while being so serious. Then, they would start laughing (it’s catching) without really understanding what made me laugh in the first place.  It’s amazing how good and positive I felt after these occurrences. 

An executive leadership training tip follows.  As leaders we can develop the quality of amusement and the good positive feelings it brings about.  Getting your employees and peers to laugh more will help lighten serious situations. The result will be increased productive thinking and high quality solutions to problems and issues because people will feel relaxed and more positive.  Presently, there is so much fear in the workplace that micromanagement and manipulation have become the “rule of thumb” causing employees to become worried, overcautious, indecisive and indifferent.  It’s time to laugh more and allow our peers and employees the space to shine both at work and in their private lives.

Arlene’s Executive Leadership Training Tip

This week I will be talking about the feelings of pride as one of the 10 aspects of positivity that I use in business coaching for women. Since we are celebrating the ten year anniversary of 9/11, I’m going to talk about pride in a unique way today. Many of you know that I lived in NYC at that time and my move to Arizona was a direct result of the events that day.

An executive leadership training tip follows. If the firefighters of 9/11 taught us nothing else, they exemplified pride in their work, putting out fires and saving lives. Last week I talked about fear getting in our way. These men were fearless and showed nothing but courage. Watching their faces and hearing their stories while viewing the two hour documentary on 9/11, showed me the incredible frustration and yes, fear of not being able to do their job. These men overrode their fear and banded with each other as brothers to do whatever they could to save lives. In the end, it was their devotion to their work and each other that held them together. Executive leadership training must include work on developing and demanding individual self pride as well as pride and respect for their fellow workers and organizations.

This exemplifies what we need to do as Americans in our work, communities and the country to recapture the dreams of our founding fathers. We must reunite our country by letting go of our fears and working together for the benefit of all not just the individual.

Have a great week and Stand Strong.

Arlene’s Executive Leadership Tip

This week I will be talking about the feelings of hope as one of the 10 aspects of positivity that I use in business coaching for women.  I believe faith and hope are interchangeable.

An executive leadership training tip follows. We have a choice on how to use hope in our lives.  Hope allows us to feel we can achieve what we desire. It helps us move through our fears, indecision and doubt.

Unfortunately, many of us live and do our work in the “fantasy” of hope.  We never allow ourselves to create what we desire because our fears get in the way and block our hopes and dreams.  Women business owners and executives tend to give very little attention to eradicating their fears (a state of mind).  They prefer denial and resist recognizing that a lack of purpose, and the plans that come from knowing them, keeps them from financial, professional and personal success. 

An important way to face your fears Napoleon Hill tells us, is to “develop the habit of making prompt and firm DECISIONS. Once you develop a line of action (purpose and plans) we do not need to worry (fear) and can play out our hopes and dreams.

Arlene’s Executive Leadership Training Tip

I have been in New York City with my daughter and her family. What an exciting and busy time for all of us as we have a new granddaughter, experienced an earthquake and a hurricane.  This explains the absence of Arlene’s Pearls of Wisdom the last two weeks.

This week’s executive leadership training tip will concentrate on serenity as a state of being that creates positivity in our lives and businesses.

Ironically, I would say the last two and a half weeks would appear to have been anything but serene.  It reminded me that we really have no control over nature. You can predict when a baby will arrive but never know the exact date or time.  Scientists have wonderful instruments but cannot always alert us to when an earthquake will happen. Meteorologists are able to help us know when a very strong storm approaches. They cannot predict where it will land or whether it will decide to change direction or speed until the last minute. Mayor Bloomberg of New York City was very wise when he said, “plan for the worst and hope for the best”.  The lesson from all of this is we cannot take control of natural events in our lives but we can plan and control our attitudes and actions about how we respond to them.  When business owners and executives plan with this type of perspective, they can expect that the overall outcome will be positive because it comes from a calm response, not a chaotic reaction.

Arlene’s Executive Leadership Training Tip

This week’s executive leadership training tip will concentrate on interest as another important emotion that creates positivity in our lives. Have you ever been so immersed in an activity that time and space alluded you?  Most of us have, and had the wonderful experience of being drawn into something that makes you forget everything around you but what you are doing.  Barbara Fredrickson Ph. D., author of the book “Positivity”, describes interest as “although you’re feeling perfectly safe, something new and different draws your attention, filling you with a sense of possibility or mystery.”  When this happens you are in a very positive state.  This state will grow and influence our minds differently.

Many of us have lost the ability to feel interest in anything but TV and overeating because we are stressed out and exhausted by the schedules we follow. When I do employee training and development, I emphasize the importance to your whole being of having outside interests other than work.  Ask yourself, when was the last time you challenged yourself to learn or experience something new that helped you feel totally alert and alive?  If it’s been awhile, then you need to figure out the reason you are holding back and not living the life you were meant to live.

Arlene’s Executive Leadership Training Tip

This week’s executive leadership training  tip will concentrate on gratitude, another important emotion that creates positivity in our lives.  People who remain consistently successful live from a state of gratitude.  A study done by Emmons and McCullough (2003-2009), showed these results, “Over two months, those that kept gratitude journals exercised 33% more often, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives and were more optimistic about the upcoming week. They were also more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals. 

The results of this study show us that we become empowered by being grateful. I agree with Marianne Williamson when she states, “that by accepting ourselves exactly where we are we have more energy to give to life”.  My personal experiences which include business coaching for women  have shown me that when we spend less time time berating ourselves or bemoaning our situations and live from acceptance, our new found energy pushes us away from these energy drains and pushes us into gratitude producing positivity and success in our lives. 

Have a wonderful week and start those gratitude journals!

Arlene’s Executive Leadership Training Tip

This week as part of your executive leadership training  I am going to talk about  joy,  the first of 10 aspects of positivity taken from the book “Positivity” by Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D.  It is definitely on my list of women leadership books for women and I suggest it should be on yours.  

My experience in business coaching for women has shown me that executives and business owners take little time for joy in their lives.  Picture yourself at a table with good friends feeling warm, secure and content.  This is joy.  When you are in this state your whole life feels more alive, light and clear.  The world seems brighter, your relationships feel balanced and your dreams seem more real and attainable.  You can cultivate joy  by making a decision to create it in your life and view it as an important quality to stay balanced and positive.  Simply become aware of when and where you are experiencing feelings of joy and then make it a point to put the activities that trigger these feelings in your life on a consistent daily basis. 

Have a wonderful week and put joy in your life.

Arlene’s Executive Leadership Training Tip

What is Positivity?

I believe that a positive mindset is a key attribute for women leaders.  During the next several months, I am going to look at 10 aspects of positivity taken from the book, “Positivity” by Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D.  These aspects include: joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe and love.

During my business coaching for women sessions, I have found that the majority of executives and business owners that I work with do not have enough positivity in their daily lives.  This contributes to their careers and lives not thriving.  My goal over the next two months is to support you in discovering new meanings of positivity and in learning how to use it to your advantage personally and professionally .   I believe that those of you who work on creating positivity will become “more resilient, confident, fulfilled and happy”.  Stay tuned for my executive leadership training tips on positivity in the weeks ahead.

Arlene’s Executive Leadership Training Tip

“Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”

                                                                                                          —Lao Tzu

Wow! Rejoice in the way things are.  This has always been hard for me.  It’s all about acceptance of where I’m “at” no matter what situation is happening.  When I push myself into an attitude of acceptance, it supports me in changing the negative emotions I’m feeling around people, places or events,  This helps me to calm down and stay in balance.  By taking this pause, I can become grateful for the lesson I’m learning from the experience and know I’m going to grow from it.  I can remember to become grateful for what I do have and assess whatever I may need to change about myself, or the way I’ve handled things.  In the field of women leadership development, this is one of the top tools I teach. This action helps people realize that we always have choice on how we respond.  We can learn and grow and MOVE into gratefulness for the experience and what we presently have, or spiral downward paralyzing ourselves from moving forward.

Arlene’s Executive Leadership Training Tip

I’ve been thinking about what meaning July 4^th really has for me and how I could express it to all those who do executive leadership training and women leadership development with me.  As I’ve grown older, it’s become more than franks on a bun with all the trimmings, firecrackers, a day off, and politicians on bandstands.  I now get that this holiday recognizes the freedoms I have that so many in the world do not.  It brings up gratefulness to all the men and women dating back to revolutionary times who sacrificed themselves to bring this about and those who are ensuring we stay free.

 July 4^th equals freedom of choice in so many areas of my life.  Today I am going to join in the celebration and allow myself the ability to receive all the love, fun and joy I can have because I’m FREE.  I ask you to reach out to someone today and spread these thoughts.