Good to Great: Jim Collins

They stick with what they understand and let their abilities, not their egos, determine what they attempt...Warren Buffett

TBBJ Business Woman of the Year Event!

My daughter Kate and I attended the Tampa Bay Business Journal Woman of the Year event on Friday night at the Tampa Marriott. What a wonderful event and so much fun to support the outstanding business women in the Tampa Bay community. All the nominees were recognized and it was great to see them enjoying their evening!

What Qualifies As Being A Good Leader?

In the book; "Good to Great" Jim Collins states that 'level 5 leadership (that being the highest level) is not just about humility and modesty. It is equally about ferocious resolve, an almost stoic determination to do whatever needs to be done to make the company great.' If you want to learn more about two great leaders in the industry check out Darwin Smith and Colman Mockler.

I am sure you have probably never heard their names before....do some research and learn what made them great leaders.

Motivation & Goals

Motivation is a powerful tool for a woman. Have you ever been to an all women’s meeting or conference? The power within that room when women get pumped up is enough to rule the world and I mean that literally. There is nothing that a woman can’t do when she is motivated.

But many people will agree that motivating is the easy part; following through can sometimes be the difficult part. Motivation will quickly die if it’s not acted upon. We can listen to a great speaker or come up with a great idea and we are extremely motivated but then something happens and we loose that motivation. Is it because we don’t follow through or take action? Most of the time yes, when you feel motivated about something, you are on the cuff of taking action to do something. Taking action is what leads to excitement and passion when we accomplish the action.

As a leader you have to understand how to recognize, create and empower motivation. The power that a woman can harness through motivation is actually mind boggling and helping women focus their new ideas and passions is truly a gift. This is a gift that I am blessed to have.

“Elizabeth pays attention to detail, and is one of those rare people who can actually see another person's vision. From the start I was able to tell that she would help me with my dream, and she did just that.”
Jonathon S.

Motivating starts with helping people find what excites them; what makes that energy inside of them explode. Everyone that has ever worked with me in my leadership teams has completed personal and professional goals. I know that sounds cheesy but it truly is important and some women have never been allowed to think about themselves or their dreams. This gives you the license to dream. Richard, my coach once asked me to do a special project for him that I found a little hard to complete at the time. He asked me to pretend that I was 90-years old and going to a special reception to honor myself; to write my own tribute. So ask yourself, at 90-years old what is that you want to accomplish and how do you want people to remember you. What impact do you want to make in this world? Let me tell you something…if that doesn’t get you motivated to fulfill your goals I don’t know what will.

Learn how to motivate yourself; don’t rely on others to create your motivation. A true leader empowers herself and motivates internally through the people she moves with, being a self-learner through books, workshops and conferences. When you depend on someone else to motivate you, you give up your own internal motivation and then you have a dependency which is controlled by someone else. Motivate yourself and learn to use external sources to build on what you already have.

When people see how deeply you care and how passionate you are, that motivation becomes infectious. There is a saying that you should surround yourself with positive people. This couldn’t be truer – people want to be around you because you excite them, you bring out the creative thinker within them and you help people build their dreams. So follow these tips to help you get motivated and dream:

Write a tribute to yourself and include your dreams and goals. Remember anything is attainable if you want it bad enough.

Next take time to put your goals and plan down on paper. It helps to keep them in a journal so you can write in it as you move through your journey. Remember your life changes and so will your goals. You may find something that you wanted previously is no longer important to you. Don’t be afraid to change your goals.

Challenge and motivate yourself by attending conferences that focus about creativity and empowering you. Books are another great way to continue to keep you excited.

And one of the most important is to act on your motivation and goals. Stay energized and work your plan. As you progress the passion builds and so does the accomplishment.

What is Your Driving Force?

All of us flounder at times when asked what we want to do with our lives; what are your goals?

Even as successful as I feel on most days I still feel confused about where I am and what I want. Last month on my way to Vegas I traveled with one of my Managers and we were discussing a book written by Jack Canfield; life goals. She told me she was having a hard time putting her goals into words because “I want to do it all…” was her response to me. I sat back in my seat and turned my head to look out the window. A big smile crossed my face and I sighed…broad goals for such a young woman. That excites me…this is why she works with me. Although as much as that answer made me smile a part of me felt a tinge of concern. While it is awesome to be open about setting goals they are still necessary otherwise we loose focus and direction. We tend to wonder off track and before we know it we have accomplished nothing.

If you were to ask me what I want to be when I grow up I would tell you that I honestly don’t know…so how do you make goals when you don’t know what you want? I have always been open to what the universe has brought my way. I have never been disappointed in any of the challenges and opportunities that have come my way; I have learned and grew in ways that I never would have imagined. I have been blessed to meet and work with some of the most creative minds.

In my openness I have found that people gravitate toward me for different reasons. Through vision, creativity and the ability to motivate I draw like minded people into my life. I have the ability to see other people’s visions and goals; having the innate skill of helping them focus to make things happen. My driving force is to make other people’s dreams not just a possibility but a definite reality.

This is not my job…this is not what I get paid to do…but this is my passion. The ability to brainstorm with someone about their dreams and ideas puts me in a totally different universe. The ability to take someone’s ideas and help them create and design a vision…how exciting is that? I can create that excitement and motivation that kick starts people and moves them to action. Helping them create a blue print / their plan and then helping them be accountable to themselves.

One of the things I am able to do is to take someone’s excitement in a conversation and totally put them in a place where they want to create action. The more excited they become the more I feed on that excitement and we push into places…good places and sometimes painful but always somewhere that drives action to change or succeed.

So how do you define goals when they hinge on other people? My happiness depends on other people’s dreams…creativity drives my passion and heart. While having a conversation with an old client who still calls me to talk ideas and suggestions through…he joked at the end of our conversation that I would always be his Muse….his guiding spirit and source of inspiration. He said when he is stuck or needs that push he always knows who to call to get him ‘stoked’ about his ideas and his own self-confidence to make it happen.

Those are big shoes to fill…but there you have my driving force…in one short and to the point sentence…what is your driving force? What is your passion that drives you to accomplish things in your life?

The Next Level

Prime Training & Conditioning; Your On-line Fitness Community
www.primetrainingonline.com

All of us want to “get into great shape.” This can have a different meaning for all of us, from losing 20lbs, lowering blood pressure or cholesterol and getting off medication to the oh so popular, “I want to see my 6-pack.”

All are great and reasonable goals, but the majority of us find that we fall short a lot of the time in reaching those goals. You work hard in the gym, you eat right and you are doing your cardio faithfully so why don’t we have what we want? One answer may be that your body is just used to what it is doing. There comes a point in time when you must change the routine to make the body respond. You have to move beyond what you normally do and do something different.

Now that can mean doing less weight and more reps, or walking for longer on the treadmill, scheduling and planning out meals more efficiently…it takes effort, work and consistency. Move to the next level and see if it doesn’t get you moving closer to getting in great shape.

Check out the Prime Training Online Blog as well; lots of great information for you at: www.primetrainingonline.blogspot.com.

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