"We don’t learn from our experience- we learn from reflecting on our experience." John Dewey

As a preschool teacher, I learned quickly that going on that field trip to the farm wasn’t the learning opportunity I thought it was. The trip was the experience, but not the learning. The real learning came when we got together as a group and discussed what we saw, heard, felt, smelt, and tasted. The debrief.

I took that new knowledge into my new role as a professional development trainer and speaker and learned how to do many kinds of debriefs. I realized the teaching/speaking part wasn’t as necessary as the debrief after!

"Reflective thinking turns experience into insight." John C. Maxwell

As I moved along in my career and became a coach/consultant for leaders, I had the pleasure and honor of attending and influencing many meetings, the good, the bad, and the ugly. One thing I learned was that not all meetings are created equal.

The teams who consistently used debriefs...

I heard this statement from a new leader about five years ago. She jumped into one of our leadership groups and within three months, this is what I heard, “My people are the greatest!”

So what caused the change?

One thing: her thinking! And a little dash of leadership skill development didn’t hurt!

John Maxwell says, “For a leader that develops leaders there is something scarcer and much more important than ability. Is it the ability to recognize ability.” How do you do that?

The first step is in asking, “What do we need?” Too many leaders begin hiring someone for a position without stopping to ask this important question first. They hire based on the job description of the person who leaves and not on what the team really needs.

What’s your vision?

What’s your mission?

What homes in service or support might you be experiencing?

What resources are you lacking?

What future challenges are you trying to prepare your team for?

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Last chance to sign up for the Self-Image Mastery course! We open today and you’ll never hear me talk about it again.

“When there is no choice, there’s no fear.” Byron Katie

I read this statement this morning and, honestly, it had me doing some mental gymnastics…

At first, I thought when I have no choice, I don’t like it! Some people, when they have no choice, tend to turn into a victim/hostage, some people will fight to the death like a wounded animal, and others will accept it and move on. And, out of all of those options, you still have a choice. So, what to do with this statement?

As I thought about it more, I realized there are many times when I don’t have a choice about something and I move forward. For example:

• When there’s a pandemic that forces you to stay at home
• When your son, a week into a pandemic, chops his knee while cutting firewood and you can’t stay at the hospital with him
• When you lost 3 friends in 6 hours...

“The power of our imagination makes us infinite.” John Muir

Leaders are responsible to share the vision with their people. To do this, one must use their imagination. John Maxwell says, “anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course.”

How do YOU use your imagination?

I’ve helped hundreds of coaching clients use their imagination to:

• Create the ideal team and job craft to maximize performance,
• Dream of their ideal customer service plan to serve in the highest way possible, and
• Intentionally plan for their legacy to remain after they are gone.

What about you? How do you use your imagination? Do you ever help support your people with the use of their imagination? Simple ways to do that include:

• Help them imagine various solutions to a problem
• Imagine a rough interaction or crucial conversation going how they want it to go before it happens
• Think about the next job they want with the company and how to develop their skills to get...

"Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit, cannot be severed; for the effect already belongs in the cause, and the end pre-exists in the means, the fruit in the seed." Emerson

Cause and effect. Input, output. That’s how life works, right?

Sometimes it’s hard to admit that we might be the cause of the results we don’t want in our life. When things are going well, we tend to pat ourselves on the back. When they don’t go as planned, the human response is to blame other people or our circumstances.

How’s that working for you?

It hasn’t worked well for me in the past! People-pleasing behavior, ignoring difficult conversations, and blaming my circumstances and heredity for my current health hasn’t helped me.

I came to a point in my life where I had to stand up for myself and say, “Michelle, that’s enough! It’s time to take responsibility for your freedom.” That’s a hard thing to admit- that YOU are the cause...

John Maxwell teaches leaders that their leadership ability does not equal their actual effectiveness. Einstein said the thinking that got you this far won’t get you to the next level. So, how does apply to our leadership?

Many new leaders come into a position and think they were hired because they know something. When, in reality, they KNEW or DID something in the past (i.e. what’s on their resume) and are expected to know and do something NEW in the future.

Past performance does not guarantee success!

As a leadership coach, I’ve seen all kinds of leaders. The leader that comes in hot and heavy and demanding, who might suffer from insecurities and doubts but shields that from anyone watching. And the humble leader who knows they know nothing and wants to do their best. Here are a few tips:

• You knew something to get you here and you need to know even more to keep getting results, so adopt a learner’s attitude
• Start looking at others as experts and ask them...

"When you accept an idea into your life, it becomes a part of your identity. Be careful what you accept!"

Leaders, Teachers, Parents…

Your people, students, and children are largely run by their sub-conscious auto-pilot beliefs and NOT their conscious rationale thinking; specifically their self-belief. How do I know this? Let me give you a few examples…

• The young teacher who struggles to connect with parents because she is younger than they are and has a self-belief that you should let your ‘elders’ run the show
• The young reader or mathematician that was told they couldn’t perform by peers, parents, or other teachers because of a few mistakes or a delay
• The young child who struggles with self-identity because she’s not as good at art as her older sister

They are not running the show with their conscious (awake, aware, alert, rational) brain. Their self-image tells them what to do.

So how can we help?

• Recognize this is happening; awareness...

Depends on the mistake!

Is it a relationship mistake, such as not keeping a promise you made to an employee? Check, done that!

Is it a production mistake, such as failing to meet a deadline? Check, done that!

Is it an empowerment mistake, as in you came into the conversation a little too bossy, rather than helpful? Check, done that!

So, what do you do when you make one of these mistakes? There are 5 steps of moving forward:

• Acknowledge your mistake: don’t ignore it, acknowledging is half the battle!
• Take steps to fix it right away if you’ve hurt someone in a physical or emotional way
• Apologize for your mistake: be real and honest with yourself and others
• What’s the REAL problem? The mistake isn’t the real problem! Your thinking that leads TO the mistake is the problem! (do you need to change a system or process, do you need some self-care or personal development time, do you need to change your thinking, or build a skill set?)
• Forgive yourself! You are...

"You must have a clear mental picture of the correct thing before you can do it successfully." Alex Morrison (expert golf teacher)

Morrison, widely known as the most successful golf teacher during his time developed a system of using the imagination to get what you say you want out of your golf game.

Rather than focus on skill development, which I’m sure he did at some point, he explained that the best use of the golfer’s time was to develop a clear mental picture of the correct thing FIRST. When you think about how the club feels in your hands after an amazing swing, where the ball goes on the green, and how you feel after an amazing time on the course, you download a program into your mind about how to be successful.

If you focus your thinking on HOW to swing, HOW to get the ball down the lane, and HOW to finish under par, you won’t be as successful.

So, how does this apply to leadership?

You spend your time wither thinking about what you don’t want or what...

“If you can remember, worry, or tie your shoe, you can succeed.” Maxwell Maltz

The way we view ourselves guides our thinking, behavior, and success. If we see ourselves as confident and capable, we will be. If we see ourselves as less than or disempowered, we will be.

Maxwell Maltz, in his book Psycho-cybernetics, describes the success mechanism we all have access to our brain and mind. When we download programs for success into our subconscious brain, much like you would software into a computer, you head toward success. How does one do this?

• Learning, practicing, and experiencing new ways of thinking,
• Using your imagination for positive growth, and
• Acting in order to move forward, despite your circumstances.

If you can spend time thinking about all the things that can go wrong, you can spend time thinking about all the things that would go right!

If you’re not getting the results you want in any area of your life, it might be time to ask yourself this question:...