Tag Archives: Choice

Halloween to YOU Too!

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Halloween is a calendar date that always brings whimsy into our lives. Here is an anagram for this calendar event:

          How often do we have

          An event where all ages

          Learn to have fun and

          Laugh.

          Of course, it’s Halloween.

          Whether we dress up or not,

          Everywhere you look, people

          Escape into this moment of fantasy,

          Now and forever. . . ©Jo Ann M. Radja

Choose Who You want to be Known As — Life is Good  

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive Coach

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What’s Your BEST Daily Change?

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It was cold and dreary this morning and yet, a few hours later, it is brisk outside and full of sunshine.  Was this a change in opposites or just a 180 degree change of outlook – (from which we had no input)?

Change  is in the air this Friday in October. The Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in a Pennant race. Halloween is around the corner. Night football is played on television, and many businesses are gearing up for the last quarter of the year and we find ourselves “right in the middle of it all.”

If  we want to focus on one item in our career development before our life becomes more hectic than it already is – what would that be?  In other words, What’s your Best daily change?  Here are some thoughts on this subject:

Choose a path to stretch yourself, or:

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change-pixabayfreeimage-from-john-hain-102116stream-1106336_960_720However you define your Best daily change, I hope it becomes intertwined with how You Choose how you want to be Known As.  Have a great Day and Weekend!

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive and Career Management Coach

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When Mindfulness leads to Emotional Intelligence. . .

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stick_figure_balance_mind_heart_md_wm Bing 052016At the heart of great leadership is a curious mind, heart, and spirit.   Chip Conley via Brainy quote.com

Over the past few days, I’ve read a number of blogs from Social Media Influencers and Government Leaders.  Stories emerged of how dysfunction not only causes breakdowns in communication but reason takes a backseat at a place of work.  We may become a bystander to a discussion that causes us to become very uncomfortable and we don’t wish to enter the “fray.”

Some four years ago I was attending a Networking Event and was participating in a conversation between two men who were consultants.  One man was from the East Coast and the other lived in a Chicago suburb.  Another man, unknown to us, walked up and asked if he could join our group.  We welcomed him (the black coat man) and he asked me about my business – that conversation led me to give him a sample coaching session.  The man was eager and surprised himself by telling me something he had not told his wife; he was uncomfortable with the disclosure and decided to walk away.  The two consultants offered that I shouldn’t have given my time to someone who clearly wasn’t appreciative of joining our discussion group.

What happened next was an example of personal mindfulness.  The black coat man walked around the room and said to more than a handful of people, “You see that woman in the red jacket [meaning me] she won’t talk to me.”   People began to ask, “Do you know that man?”   It was unclear to many why the black coat man continued his pointing at me and saying she won’t talk to me.

Mindfulness allow you to become aware of your surroundings, what you are thinking, what you are feeling and what these sensations mean to you at that moment.  Emotional Intelligence is a learned process where mindfulness forms the basis for you to manage yourself and by doing so, manage others.  As you manage your emotions you are able to assist someone else likewise.  Put another way, you observe what is happening around you, describe what it means to you, accept that someone else has something going on causing a disturbance, don’t take it personally and don’t become judgmental.  While it may seem like a balancing act between your mind and your heart, in fact, it is a process that allow you control over how you are in the moment.  The image above displays the end result of mind and heart balance – when you are comfortable in the emotional intelligence realm. 

Emotional intelligence is a process and it most definitely can be learned.  How you act in the moment is what I call, “Choose Who You Want to be Known As.”   Since today is the last day of June we have another beginning in our imperfect world tomorrow on July 1st.  Have a great month of July in your chosen career path!

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive and Career Management Coach

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What is it Right, Wrong or Gossip?

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Out of some little thing, too free a tongue /  Can make an outrageous wrangle  Euripides

We sometimes forget that mistakes people make – are nonsensical.  Here’s an example.  Last Saturday I brought down to the loading dock of the building where I live three bags of paper; a worker from the shredding company was waiting for the paper to load onto his truck.  The bags were inside a wheeled, carry-all cooler that I use to cart around groceries and other items for my convenience.   The worker took each bag out individually and when he looked down at the bottom of the carry all, he saw some items he decided were garbage.  Which they weren’t.  He didn’t say anything to me about these items, he did say something to someone else.

My apartment stored a vacuum cleaner which was broken and could not be repaired. I left the loading dock area and went back to my apartment to retrieve it.  Another tenant saw me wheeling the vacuum cleaner, that I placed in the carry-all cooler toward the building recycling area; he offered help; he explained the vacuum cleaner had to be placed in a dumpster, not the recycling area because it had a plastic exterior cover.  He wheeled the vacuum cleaner to the dumpster (which I didn’t know existed), lifted up the carry-all cooler that held the vacuum cleaner and hoisted it over the top of the dumpster is a few seconds.  As I quickly said, “What are you doing? the carry-all cooler wasn’t even 2 years old; it is not garbage.”  “Oh, yes it is, the man replied.  The man outside (the shredding company worker) said your carry-all cooler carried garbage!”  Huh!  Needless to say, my wheeled carry-all cooler was removed from the dumpster, wiped clean, and is available for my use again.  Gossip has a life of its own and spreads more quickly than the truth.

IMG-20160425-00816It’s important to remember, whatever is left for pickup anywhere outside, it is available for anyone to look through and use. Happily, no garbage was in my carry-all cooler and the misconception was corrected.   No matter what your career path may be, let’s hope the perceptions we hold about someone else are based on reliable facts.  As you Choose Who You Want to be Known As this week, enjoy a gossip-free day!

Mindfulness also is a platform that may be utilized when faced with the example I have shared with you:  Observe, Describe, Accept, Don’t take it Personally and be Non-Judgmental.  Again, enjoy your week!

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive and Career Management Coach

 

 

 

Culture Diversity Awareness Perspective

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Be forceful with yourself, learn to integrate the negative, harnessing its force to cross the boundaries that would confine you.  John O’Donohue

Earlier today I published the following post: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/weekend-cultural-perspective-jo-ann-m-radja for your weekend reading. . . thPZBEH363 Easter Tree Egg BING 032416

“Most of us read daily – reports, emails, online newspapers, LinkedIn posts, etc. A Spring surprise occurs when you click on a post and a brief read becomes memorable because it provides a new perspective.  The document I read is a brief read and is a take-away from a Nonviolent Leadership for Social Justice Retreat, written by Shameless Heart Coach, Marina Smerling.

Very simply, we are reminded to look into ourselves first.  Pay attention to what emotions are bubbling up in you when a trigger of words are spoken.  You begin the conversation because you know yourself very well.  And yet, an unconscious bias is trying to take hold in you while you want to control your reaction to the trigger of words.  A practice of not helping someone who didn’t ask for help may be the key to handle a trigger of words.  The issue is not the trigger itself, it is how are you handling yourself in the situation.  What are YOU paying attention to within yourself.

A perspective of how to handle yourself is to reach out as an ally.  As an ally you take away the “rank and privilege” connotation.  “I am your ally” is welcoming and creates a space that answers the question, “Why are your here?”

The photo above depicts a cultural practice of an Easter Tree.  What? you might say. Why would someone want to do that?  Perhaps it is another opportunity to understand the diversity in our community that believes the Easter Eggs represent new beginnings.  New beginnings is a universal concept that each of the member Coaches of the LinkedIn Group: Coaches for Equality and Diversity (CED) represent to foster understanding of these issues and its dynamics to the world at large.

 So what new beginnings during this Spring Season are you contemplating, as you Choose Who You Want to be Known As?   Whatever holiday you practice during the 2016 Spring Season, have a Happy Holiday!

“Jo Ann” M. Radja

Martha Lasley, Co-Founder of Leadership That Works, posted in the CED Group Marina Smerling’s document; written permission to share it with you was  given by Coach Smerling via Coach Lasley: http://www.leadershipthatworks.com/documentFiles/665.pdf

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Impossible fun . . . with curiosity

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th6NJHG7XZMickeyMouseclipartBING092515It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.   Curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.  Walt Disney

Earlier today I published a post on LinkedIn Pulse with the Title of The Three R’s.  http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/three-rs-jo-ann-m-radja.  Here is a modified version of that post.

A man in a creative job had been working on a new project. He submits it to the client and a discussion ensues. Even though the project was deemed unacceptable for the marketplace, he believed the discussion was fair. It was such a shock and a setback to subsequently learn his staff was hired away from him (except one man) by the company who deemed his work was out-of-fashion. This story occurred sometime during the 1920’s.  Whether it is a myth or a restatement of history, unfortunately, this story rings true for many people.
The terms of reinvent, re-engineered, retooled or right-sized were not spoken in this creative man’s era; his story has universality for us today, some 90 years later.  What Walt Disney did with his one employee was to collaborate and re-work his original drawings. Mickey Mouse was then born and introduced to the community. Many of the action terms we use today – customer driven, vision and focus, brain-storming new ideas and visualizing real-world activities for the new character – took place in the development and implementation of the Mickey Mouse character.

How quickly do you rebound from a serious let-down? What did you tell yourself to regroup and continue on? Did you re-frame the situation or just recognized perhaps the timing was all wrong? Stating these questions another way: What feedback did you receive that continued the spark in you to recognize, relate and resolve your actions to the next step? How frequently do you rely on YOUR three R’s As You Choose Who You Want to be Known As?

During the month of October, I hope your three R’s work to your best advantage as you recognize, relate and resolve.

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“Jo Ann” M. Radja Executive and Career Management Coach

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. . . on the Contrary

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Earlier today I published two anagrams you might enjoy reading on LinkedIn Pulse at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whats-contrary-you-jo-ann-m-radja. The text of that post now follows:

C onventional wisdom

O ften, yet not always, is right.

N ow is the time

T o consider whether the

R isk we’ve focused on merits,

A n all-out program

R oll-out this quarter. I vote

Y es. How about you?©Jo Ann M. Radja

E nergy to keep up with

T he reading

H as its downside. The upside

I s the kernel of applicability to understand

C onsequences we face in the

S hort term.©Jo Ann M. Radja

                 Have a great Fall Season in your career as you Choose Who You want to be Known As.

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive & Career Management Coach

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How will you SURPRISE yourself this SPRING?

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Earlier this morning, I posted a Blog, that was published by LinkedIn Plus at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whats-your-spring-surprise-jo-ann-m-radja.  The text now follows below:

“Life is full of surprises – you just have to look for them. It’s no surprise to many of us that when we work towards a goal and we reach it, we still have much work to do. We can’t bask in a victory for too long because that victory now is in the past and is placed into our experience. The question that faces us is, “What are you going to do now?”

No matter what the victory may be, the surprise lies in how we handle ourselves and learn from the experience. We keep taking steps that we hope will turn into a benefit, for ourselves and the people we work with.   Of course, we become disappointed, yet more resilient in our choice to move ahead.

What are you going to do now with the victories that you had this past Winter Season? Have you patted yourself on the back because you found the resilience to “keep going at it,” when your tired body, said “enough already.” Of course you did – quietly to yourself.   How will you carry forward all your resilience and apply it to your Spring Season at your Career this year?

I hope you surprise yourself, as you Choose Who You Want to be Known As in your career! Have a great Spring Season.

So, I

Persevered.

Resilience paid off.

It’s the first day of Spring and

Not too late to

Give back to those who were kind to me.

Doubts tried to creep into my mind for a while

this past Winter.

And were swept away.

Yearnings will come true as you focus on

what’s important to you.  Copyright Jo Ann M. Radja

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive & Career Management Coach

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Anchors Aweigh to your Choices

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Today is the first day of Daylight Savings Time and we are adjusting to the loss of one hour.    I have come across a few articles recently about how the anchoring choice of a decision comes into play. The conversation of how we truly decide and move forward is always on-going.  Neuroscientists and Psychologists keep us busy reading their latest articles and the above picture shows another view of what goes on when we begin to make decisions.

Anchors Aweigh is a phrase used to release the weighted anchor holding a ship at the harbor.  Anchoring Decisions is a form of cognitive bias we all have which may be based on our education, culture, whether we grew up in a small or large family and the physical environment we enjoyed as children.  When we choose the first piece of information we hear about an event, we anchor on to it.  Although we may ask for some other information, we usually go back to the first piece of information we hear, because we unconsciously believe it to be true.

Perhaps some people haven’t considered how often they anchor what they hear.  Often times we wonder why someone may not move from a “position” and anchoring may be the reason.  Here is an additional view of how our unconscious bias influences our decision making.

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During this second week of March, 2015, consider how you Choose Who You Want to be Known As when reaching out to understand another person’s decision.  Have a great week!

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive and Career Management Coach

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Reflections on the 1st Friday in February 2015

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3dmagicmodelsdotcomTurtlecroppedThe Willis Clan Turning Tragedy into Triumph    We are resilient this Winter no matter where we call home.  I hope you enjoy this link for a bit of music as well as an earlier Blog, published under my name today at LinkedIn Pulse https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/friday-reflections-next-week-jo-ann-m-radja.  The text now follows:

“It is difficult for most people to live up to The Golden Rule, and consequently few of us do so with complete consistency.  Tom Morris

We confront horrible evil and we see the most exalted forms of good more often in art and history than in the ordinary course of daily life.  Tom Morris

Love is simply the most important key to proper success, authentic happiness and genuine meaning in life. . .  despite any appearances to the contrary in our world.  Tom Morris

If you want to communicate your differences quickly to customers, change your label.  Mike Michalowicz

You make a decision, often, on less than one percent of the information, because you have to.  Mike Michalowicz

Identify your top clients and remove the rest of your less-promising clients.  Mike Michalowicz.”

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Career Management Coach & Change Agent

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