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Scott Eblin offers his take on lessons in the news and his advice on your pressing leadership questions.
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5 Ways to be More Human This Summer

I don’t remember where I first heard it, but one of the best questions I was ever asked was are you a human being or a human doing?  A big portion of my life has been spent as a human doing. Lately, though, I’ve spent more time and attention on being in the midst of all the doing.

So, here’s a true confession.  I’m writing most of this post from the United Club in Terminal 7 at LAX.  It’s not exactly a zen monastery. That kind of illustrates my point though.  You don’t have to spend four weeks meditating on a mountaintop to be more of a human being and less of a human doing.

My schedule is usually pretty crazy and I’m guessing yours is too. It sort of comes with the territory when you’re a leader.

What are simple, practical things you can do in the midst of the swirl to reconnect with the idea that you’re not just a human doing, you’re also a human being? Here are five things I’ve been doing lately that have been working for me.

1. Visit Old Friends – My travel ...

Mindful Mondays: Be More Gentle with Your Self Talk

Do you say things to yourself that you would never say to someone you care about? Most of us do from time to time. Some of us more than others.

We chastise ourselves when we don’t live up to our own expectations. We berate ourselves when we make a mistake. We kick ourselves when we forget something important.

That voice inside your head that’s saying all of that is often called the inner critic.  I prefer to call it the itty bitty sh***y committee. Whatever you call it, it’s important to not let it run amok.

Here’s why.

Our thoughts control our feelings. Our feelings lead to our actions. Our actions determine our results. If your thought monologue about your own performance is consistently negative, you’re going to end up feeling pretty bad about yourself. That’s likely to lead to sub optimal actions in the future and results that no one is happy with.

The pattern then repeats itself. You can break the pattern by talking to yourself as you would someone you love. One way to get started with that is to do what Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson suggested in their ...

Your 4th of July Plan: Unplug

This will be my only blog post this week because, like a lot of people in the US, I’m taking advantage of the 4th of July holiday this Thursday and, after today, am going offline, literally and figuratively, until next week.

Interested in joining me?  If so, you might want to check out this series of articles from Fast Company about how to unplug. They’re full of road tested, simple and practical ideas for reclaiming some of your brain space.

So, here’s to taking a break to relax and push the reset button. See you in a week.

Cheers!

Image via warin keawchookul/Shutterstock.com

3 Signs You Need Outside Help

When I wrote a post last week called 3 Reason You Should Not Hire a Coach I promised to revisit the topic this week with the reasons you should hire a coach.

Upon further reflection, I thought it would be more useful to share three signs that you’re ready for a coach. Much like last week’s post, my point of view is informed by more than a dozen years of working with scores of great coaching clients and, frankly, a few that I shouldn’t have taken on.

So, based on that experience, here are three signs that you’re ready for a coach.

1. You’re Not Satisfied: The best clients I’ve had over the years are really good leaders who want to be even better. They’re not satisfied to stand pat on their development because they recognize that to keep achieving new results, they’ll have to do some things differently as a leader. If that sounds like you, it’s a sign that you’re ready for a coach.

2. You Care What People Think: The best clients I’ve worked with actually care about what other people think. They understand that whatever ...

Focus on What You Can Do Now

One of the biggest barriers to being present is worrying about what might happen in the future rather than what you can do right now.

Two of my favorite quotes speak to this challenge.  The Renaissance writer, Montaigne, wrote, “My life has been full of misfortunes most of which never happened”.  A few hundred years later, Thomas Jefferson expressed the similar idea, “How much pain they have cost us, the evils which have never happened.”

This topic is on my mind today because of a realization I had after a yoga class yesterday.

Thanks to the normal wear and tear of middle age along with some of the chronic conditions that can make themselves at home in our bodies, I’ve been focused a lot lately on some wonky tweaks going on with me.

In my less mindful moments, I find that I can pretty quickly get sucked into the “What if?” cycle.  You know how it goes.  “What if this happens?  Then, what if that happens?  Wow, what if that happens too?  That would really stink.”  Before I know it, I’ve wasted a good bit of time on those questions and usually feel worse than when I started ...