Tag Archives: Creativity

Do YOU still SURPRISE yourself during the SPRING season?

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A few years ago, I wrote two blogs during the month of March.  The first was entitled, “How will you SURPRISE yourself this SPRING?” https://careermanagementcoaching.wordpress.com/2015/03/20/how-will-you-surprise-yourself-this-spring/? and the second was entitled, “What’s Your 2016 Spring Surprise?”   https://careermanagementcoaching.me/2016/03/20/whats-your-2016-spring-surprise/ An anagram for the words Spring Day was included in each Blog.      Today, I want to share with you another anagram for the words Spring Day as you  Choose Who YOU Want to be Known As.

S ervant Leadership
P erhaps is a phrase not used often in today’s jargon. Yet, 
R esolving to put your people first 
I n order to augment their contributions
N ecessary for their development and performance
G oes a long way for profitability and stability of a company.
D eciding to accept feedback from those you work with gives rise to 
A gility and accountability bubbling to the surface.
Y ou hone your strengths to be the best you want to be in your career journey. ©Jo Ann M. Radja 03/25/19
LIFE IS GOOD  “Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive Coach
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A Coaching Tool for YOU

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“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”  Albert Einstein

We often wonder where sayings and phrases come from.  Recently, I saw an Ad touting “me time.”  Although I’ve heard this slogan a few years ago, I came across an article I saved on this subject.  The article’s heading read:  “Your Me Time- makeover worksheet.”  It is found in the “Health GUIDE,”  page 190 of the July/August 2008 Health Magazine @ health.com (Editor unknown).  The worksheet was published in 2005 in the reference below*.
The well-known authors, consultants, founders, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz * developed and published a number of self-development tools in their book,  The Power of Full Engagement, Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal.   The “Me-Time-makeover worksheet” is another name for creating a map of your energy, developed by Loehr and Schwartz.   Your energy falls into four categories:  Emotional, Mental, Physical and Spiritual.  Each category requires you to list HOW you spend your energy during the day.  You then contemplate where you can change yourself to recover, your energy balanced consciously, where you want it to be.
Not everyone appreciates keeping a journal or diary. Yet, describing this energy map me-time worksheet as a “coaching tool” tends to be welcomed by many people.  I believe this is so because when you come to your OWN understanding of how you act, the change in behavior is more sustainable.  Your own self-development belongs to you as you Choose Who You Want to be Known As.    Here’s another interpretation  of the me-time energy makeover worksheet for your use:  spendrecover-text-for-map
Enjoy your Winter Season and pat yourself on the back for your resilience in dealing with the weather! 
“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive and Career Management Coach
* Loehr PhD, Jim and Schwartz, Tony.  The Power of Full Engagement, Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal. Free Press (January 3, 2005) 256 pages.    [This book was a New York Times Best-Seller.]

More Questions to Consider. . .

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In order for an organization to stay healthy, its members must have a clear sense of who they are and what they can accomplish…in terms of a product they make or… in terms of a service they perform.  Members must feel they have a share in it.   Fred Pearson

Earlier today, I published a post entitled, “What’s YOUR Question Today?” at LinkedIn Pulse  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whats-your-question-today-jo-ann-m-radja    The subject matter was innovation, feedback from the world’s largest architectural firm founder, Arthur Gensler and  a change management Design Group Study Guide from the University of Chicago.   A number of questions were posted from the Design Group Study Guide.  I would like to share with you additional questions because they acknowledge how you may be able to work through different perspectives in a group or team.  Here they are:

What expectations do the leaders have for the group/team?  Is there a match with the expectations of the team?  Are the expectations in line with the agreed goal of the project?  If not, is it time for the group/team to agree an expectation has a place to be articulated in the group and may be unrealistic.

“How do your attitudes compare with the team members?  Are your observational skills improving?  Are your skills at listening to others, and asking effective questions, getting better?   How were you influenced by others, for the better,  in the group/team?”

“What skills do Group Leaders need to get the job accomplished?  What skills do group members need to work together?  How has your participation in the group/team increased your understanding of your company and your place within the company?”

Personal growth will only be realized when you recognize what was difficult for you, your lack of understanding of an issue, or dealing with another person, or making a tough decision.  No one ever said self-development was easy and that’s why we love to do better by stretching ourselves in our careers!  Have a great week.

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

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Is it an Escher Artwork or A Natural Event?

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Math is where the answer is right and everything is nice – you can look out the window and see the blue sky – or the answer is wrong and you have to start all over again and see how it comes out this time.

Carl Sandburg

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Earlier this evening, LinkedIn Pulse published my Blog entitled, “Why We Sometimes Don’t Make a Choice” https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-we-sometimes-dont-make-choice-jo-ann-m-radja by @Coach_Jo_Ann on @LinkedIn.  I used a few photos to explain Choice and how the Philosopher Tom V Morris, offered insights into that subject.  

I shot the photo, above-left, yesterday morning.  It is frost on a window.  As I was putting away my flash drive, I remembered the graphic artist and mathematician, M.C. Escher.  He was well-known for intersecting images, similar in concept to nature’s frost pattern.  An example of Escher’s artwork is shown above-right.     As we are almost at year’s end, we often think about what went well for us and what we want to improve in our careers.  While we are not all artists, artwork in all forms within social media, offer a space away from our careers to relax and enjoy life for what it is.   Relaxation  brings clarity to our thoughts so we welcome each day for its own sake.

As You Choose Who You Want to be Known As during the new year of 2017, may your choices bring peace, happiness and contentment in your chosen career.  Happy New Year!

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

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When Mindfulness becomes a Personal Mantra

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Heedfulness, Mindfulness and Introspective Awareness help us retain our core values in life.  The Dalai Lama

 

While leaving a Professional Building before Labor Day Weekend, I noticed a few available individual public trays of current magazines.  One of which is called, YOGAChicago , September – October, 2016. It was a surprise to see the lead article written by Mia Park entitled, “Reflections on Mindfulness by Illinois Politicians at the DNC.” [this past Summer]  

Ms. Park quoted a number of Illinois elected officials who shared how Mindfulness was incorporated in their public lives:

Senior US Senator Dick Durbin – “A moment of reflection is valuable….for you to consider what your political career might be able to accomplish.  Real world reflection helps to set the stage for value-driven policy making.”[paraphrased].

Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, Cook County Board of Commissioners –   “When you’re going off into battle to debate legislation, remember who you are accountable to.”  “It’s important to be conscious of that always – it will keep you away from the forces that have led many politicians astray –  money, special interests, and many other vices that make you cease to be a public servant.”

Theresa Mah – 2nd District – Reflects on how mindfulness for politicians can acutely keep uppermost in their minds why they became public servants for the people they serve.

The complete Mia Park’s one-page article, includes the Secretary of State, Jessie White is at this link :http://yogachicago.com/2016/08/reflections-on-mindfulness-by-illinois-politicians-at-the-dnc/

The quotation by The Dalai Lama was found at page 107 of his book, Beyond Religion, Ethics for a Whole World. (2012)  He explains that:

 Heedfulness relates to being vigilant and conscientious about what we do;

 Mindfulness, in the context of living an ethical life, is about recollection of one’s core values and motivation; and

 Introspective Awareness means being honestly aware of our behavior and bringing it under control.   Of course, this does not happen overnight.  It requires practice.

As You Choose Who You Want to be Know As, consider how a Mantra of a mindful thought will bring you closer to the person you want people to see.    Enjoy!

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

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What’s Your Philosophy – On Mature Expectations?

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The best part of our lives we pass in counting on what is to come.  William Hazlitt

We smile as we read text describing the difference between the use of “a” and “the.” It happened to me as I read a four-page paper by Luciano Floridi, Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information at the University of Oxford, entitled, “Mature Information Societies – A Matter of Expectations.”   Mature_Information_Societies_a_Matter_of

Floridi’s premise is that “a” is more appropriate when discussing the digital information society because it refers to groups as opposed to “the,” that references one. Digital bandwidth itself, all over the world doesn’t provide a basis to judge the benefit of information to society. Rather, it is the expectation of information that drives education, understanding and innovation for each country’s philosophy of life. Expectations are viewed as mature when balanced by an acknowledgement that all people in the society may not be able to share your specific expectations. In other words, the right to expect more is coupled with knowing everyone may not equally be able to share in the output of digital information.

From a business prospective, companies work daily  through expectations they have for their customers, their employees and stakeholders. Mature societal expectations point to three avenues, according to Floridi, as follows:

a)  Education – Creates awareness of your own assumptions and expectations; Allows for justification, reasonableness and historical determination of your expectations.

b)  Understanding – When society implements a particular right of use it recognizes deficiencies associated with the right of use.

c)  Innovation – Mature expectations assist in creating informative actions, ordinary vs. extraordinary, normal vs. abnormal.

The philosophy of digital information results in mature expectations for the common good. Haven’t we all asked one or more of the following questions: How will this benefit the customer? Why are we moving foward on this project when the risk evaluations are not yet completed?

It’s time to recognize we all have a philosophy for the common good developed on the back of digital infrastructure. As you Choose who YOU want to be Known As in whatever societies you participate in, consider your Expectations for what you give, what the other person gets  and what benefit is provided. Enjoy the upcoming 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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4th Day of Ethics and Compliance Week 2015

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Even when there is no law, there is conscience. Publilius Syrus It’s Ethics and Compliance Week and I would like to share with you two anagrams for you to consider. Have a great week! E nvy crept into the conversation … Continue reading →

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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2nd Day of July 2015

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Today’s Musings on the 2nd Day of July, 2015:  We continue our preparations for celebrating the 4th of July.  Taking a moment to learn about what is also occurring on this day, A federal website shares information on the history and why so many Americans are excited to celebrate the 4th of July at http://usafederalholidays.com/independance-day/

The publication, “Medical Daily” printed a number of quotations on the 4th of July Celebration, which were posted by Anthony Rivas last year on the 3rd of July, as follows:

Freedom lies in being bold.  Robert Frost

The real American Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people, a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations.  This radical change of the people was the real American Revolution.  John Adams

We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.    William Faulkner

Scientists also share the happy news that during this month of July, there are two full moons and accordingly, the second full moon is called a Blue Moon – http://www.earthsky.org/tonight.

Enjoy your Day!

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

Note:  http://www.medicaldaily.com/20-july-4th-quotes-renew-your-patriotism-and-remind-you-why-we-celebrate-our-independence-291258