Month: November 2016

Tis the Season to be Thankful: Benefits of Showing Gratitude as a Leader

Danielle Moser Personal Development ,
benefits of showing gratitude, thank you

It’s a no brainer! Showing gratitude makes relationships thrive and makes trust possible. It is a powerful act that encourages, clarifies, motivates, includes, and unifies.

When we are thankful, people feel valued and they feel part of something bigger than themselves.

But showing gratitude is good for you too.

Being thankful puts you in the right mindset to lead effectively. Gratitude and humility are interconnected. They reinforce each other. We alone are not responsible for who we are and what we do as we can be greatly influenced by those around us. That is the essence of leadership. We are never truly self-sufficient.

Being thankful essentially helps us to protect from ourselves. It is amazing how much gratitude plays into avoiding poor behavior and wrong thinking. Gratitude sets a boundary on our thoughts by making us mindful of others. It helps us to avoid going where we should not go because we are both more self-aware and more aware of our environment.

Gratitude requires that we slow down and reflect. It is the basis of emotional intelligence. It puts other people first. While empathy has been found to be essential to leadership, empathy is not empathy if it is silent. It must be expressed outwardly.

Studies have shown that being thankful is an antidote to depression. It has the power to heal and move us forward.

It improves relationships and is a remedy to envy and greed. It eliminates a leader’s tendency towards entitlement. Grateful people find more meaning in life and feel more connected to others.

In these changing and uncertain times, gratitude is a leader’s ally. Being thankful allows a leader to appreciate where they are and the resources they have at their disposal to face whatever life throws at them. A habit of gratitude gives us perspective. It doesn’t ignore the negative but instead, it moves us towards a solution and helps us to remain focused and persevere.

Gratitude can’t just be something we do is has to be who we are as a leader. More than a behavior or even a mindset, it must come from the heart. It must be our guiding principle.

Leadership begins and ends with gratitude.

How to Achieve A Work Life Balance

Danielle Moser Personal Development ,
work life balance

Are you on the wheel?

Do you find yourself too busy all the time? Running as fast as you can to keep up with all of your responsibilities and commitments? Do you feel frustrated, stressed, or tired?

Many people feel they’re running on a hamster wheel spinning around and around and can’t seem to get off. This seems all too common these days with people trying to achieve the elusive work life balance that everyone talks about.

The secret is to get off the hamster wheel!

Well, you may think, “That sounds easier said than done!”

5 Ways to Achieve Work Life Balance

1. Start the day right: Develop a routine every morning where you take a few minutes to connect with yourself. For those of you who are spiritual people remember your connection with God, spirit, Christ, your higher power or whatever name you use for something greater than yourself. Get yourself into a peaceful and focused space before you start the day. You can pray, meditate, visualize, read, write, whatever it may be.

2. Feed your soul all day: Find a way to feed your soul for a few minutes each day. It can be going outside for a minute, playing some music, or positive affirmation.

3. Review your options: Busy people have 6 choices to make to help them achieve a work life balance.

    1. To reduce the amount of activities they have.
    2. To delegate or get support with their activities.
    3. To reduce the tendency to be a perfectionist and people pleaser.
    4. To set boundaries so that there’s a limit to how much you will do. In other words, say “no”.
    5. To accept that it’s busy right now, but make new choices so it will be not be as busy in the future.
    6. To let go of extra tasks, responsibilities and your own expectations that aren’t necessary right now. What is your choice now? How you enjoy life more and be the busy bee less? How can you reclaim your spirit and have more peace and calm in your life right now?

4. Remember to have fun and laugh: Fun and laughter will get out you off the wheel and bring a greater happiness to your life. Many people put fun low on the priority list after handling their responsibilities. What if you knew if you had fun you would be more productive, and bring a better perspective and outlook to every situation and task in your life? You could have more energy and be more resourceful in dealing with the demands of everyday life.

5. Remember what’s worked before: What have you done before when you were too busy? What were the lessons you learned from the busy times? What could you do differently this time?

Work on applying these 5 tips to help you get closer to your own work life balance!

Quiz: Are You A Leader?

Danielle Moser Leadership , , ,
are you a leader

Rarely, do people think of themselves as a leader but we all lead in some way or fashion within our five circles of influence. Those five circles being self, family, team, organization, and community. Leadership most often equates to influence. And many of us are in a position to be influential.

So, the question isn’t  “Are we leaders?”  instead the question should be, “What kind or type of leader am I?”

Use the following 20 questions developed by
Leadership expert Oswald Sanders to help you determine whether or not you’re an effective leader.

  1. How do you identify and deal with bad habits? To lead others, you must master your own habits.
  2. How well do you maintain self-control when things go wrong? The leader who loses control under adversity forfeits respect and influence. A leader must be calm in crisis and resilient in disappointment.
  3. To what degree do you think independently? A leader must use the best ideas of others to make decisions. A leader cannot wait for others to make up his or her mind.
  4. How well can you handle criticism? When have you profited from it? The humble person can learn from petty criticism, even malicious criticism.
  5. Can you turn disappointment into creative new opportunity? What three actions could you take facing any disappointment?
  6. Do you readily gain the cooperation of others and win their respect and confidence? Genuine leadership doesn’t have to manipulate or pressure others.
  7. Can you exert discipline without making a power play? Are your corrections or rebukes clear without being destructive? True leadership is an internal quality of the spirit and needs no show of external force.
  8. In what situations have you been a peacemaker? A leader must be able to reconcile with opponents and make peace where arguments have created hostility.
  9. Do people trust you with difficult and delicate matters? Your answer should include examples.
  10. Can you induce people to do happily some legitimate thing that they would not normally wish to do? Leaders know how to make others feel valued.
  11. Can you accept opposition to your viewpoint or decision without taking offense? Leaders always face opposition.
  12. Can you make and keep friends? Your circle of loyal friends is an index of your leadership potential.
  13. Do you depend on the praise of others to keep you going? Can you hold steady in the face of disapproval and even temporary loss of confidence?
  14. Are you at ease in the presence of strangers? Do you get nervous in the office of your superior? A leader knows how to exercise and accept authority.
  15. Are people who report to you generally at ease? A leader should be sympathetic and friendly.
  16. Are you interested in people? All types? All races? No prejudice?
  17. Are you tactful? Can you anticipate how your words will affect a person? Genuine leaders think before speaking.
  18. Is your will strong and steady? Leaders cannot vacillate, cannot drift with the wind. Leaders know their’s a difference between conviction and stubbornness.
  19. Can you forgive? Or do you nurse resentments and harbor ill-feelings toward those who have injured you?
  20. Are you reasonable optimistic? Pessimism and leadership do not mix. Leaders are positively visionary.

Question:

Which areas do you need to work on to become a better leader?