Being present and grounded is vitally important to #leaders. We need strategies that can help us be present, that can help us come back to a calm, centered place. It’s not about staying on center; it’s about being able to return to center when we’re thrown off. #meditation #SawubonaLeadership

SAWUBONA LEADERSHIP CONVERSATIONS “… what's interesting is when you tell a person, look, you have this gift, but you're overusing it until it becomes your weakness. Just like when we overuse a muscle, it becomes weak. When we overuse a gift, our blind spot shows up.   So, I say to them, if you learn to turn that blind spot into strength, and a blind spot is not negative, it's a gift you don't have. If you learn to let go and go with the flow, then what happens is you have the capacity to do both, that when things don't go according to plan, you can head in another direction.   And it's not either or, it's an integration of both. This is also another definition for me of balance.   When we have our gift, which we're already developing, we turn our blind spot into strength, and we have the integration of both, that creates balance because we're seeing the world through a different lens.”   “So how does someone do that? Because it sounds great, but if you've got someone who is a planner, and you say it's great, that's a gift you have, but you also have to be comfortable letting go.   They're not naturally comfortable letting go. So how do you help someone become comfortable with something that's the opposite of who they believe they are?”   To hear more about gifts and how to help someone become comfortable with their blind spot, listen here:   mike-goldman.com/bltshow/how…   #SawubonaLeadership #leadershipdevelopment

Blind spots represent something we need to learn and are probably uncomfortable doing. However, when turned into strengths, blind spots can help us reach our highest potential. #SawubonaLeadership

Sometimes our tribe has been waiting for our gifts to emerge and happily ushers us in. But not always. Sometimes, our redefined self must find a different place where our gifts can be seen, developed, and used. #SawubonaLeadership

YOUR MORNING RITUAL QUOTE: “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” --Lao Tzu As a leader at any level, you have a choice. You can either keep heading in the same direction or stop and see where millennials are taking us in a changing world. For the past decade, I’ve seen a shift in leadership. Call it what you may, this perfect storm pushed by a new generation, relentless innovation, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is taking us in new directions. Sawubona Leaders are the ones that millennials have been waiting for. And millennials are the ones that our world has been waiting for. Their way of being, their entitlement, their disruptions are creating the changes that can help bring our divided world together. Sawubona is the evolution of leadership that answers their call for a you-and-me world where each of us matters and all of us count. #SawubonaLeadership

To attract the most talented younger generations, leaders must redefine authority from what is given by title to what is authored by the ability to see the gifts in people & mentor their manifestations in the workplace. #millennials #SawubonaLeadership

MOMENTS OF GRATITUDE: My client Jeff Today I am grateful for my client, Jeff whose story is featured in my book, Leadership’s Perfect Storm: Jeff called me after a brainstorming session with his senior team. “Nothing was accomplished,” Jeff fumed, “because every time someone came up with an idea, George put it down.” George was known for shooting down creative ideas by using financial data to prove they wouldn’t work.   “George is brilliant at analyzing an idea from the financial perspective. He can break it down and assess whether it will work according to the numbers. He’s even good at figuring out how to tweak the proposal to make it viable. The problem comes when he presents his solution; he makes other people feel stupid, so they shut down.”   “So why is George at a creative brainstorming meeting?” I asked.   Jeff laughed. “That’s a good point,” he replied. “Because he’s part of the leadership team?”   “Does a brainstorming session provide the conditions for George to contribute where his gifts lie?”   “I guess I’m putting a square peg in a round hole,” Jeff observed.   We discussed alternatives.   “Maybe I can try meeting separately with George after the brainstorming session. I’ll share the team’s three best ideas; George can do the financials and tell me which ones we can make work.”   It was a success. George was elated; he didn’t have to attend meetings that he considered a waste of time. The rest of the leadership team was happy, too; ideas flowed and built one on another, uninterrupted by George’s negativity.   It was George’s bad behavior that challenged Jeff to try a new process that brought out the gifts of his team. As a result, innovative ideas that were financially solid spurred the growth of the firm.   As a Sawubona Leader, Jeff accepted George even with his flaws. Overcoming his frustration with George’s disruptive behavior, Jeff redirected his anger into a creative solution that converted a dysfunctional team into a flourishing one.   Read more about gifts and flaws and Sawubona Leadership in my book, Leadership’s Perfect Storm:   susaninouye.com/book   #SawubonaLeadership #managementstyle #leadershipdevelopment

Building new capabilities is essential for leaders. In an era of disruption and ambiguity, everyone needs to be open and adaptable. Greater capacity and flexibility will unlock your gifts and help you take on new challenges. #SawubonaLeadership

Information or even insight alone is not enough for lasting change. Only in embodying a new way of being by engaging in consistent practices do we form the habits that lead to a new competency. This applies not just to individuals but to organizations as well. #SawubonaLeadership

YOUR MORNING RITUAL QUOTE: "Balance is not something you find, it’s something you create." -- Jana Kingsford It is normal to be thinking constantly or be triggered by everyday situations so, we need strategies that can help us be present, that can help us come back to a calm, centered place. It’s not about staying on center but being able to return to center when we’re thrown off. It’s the coming back that is important. Noticing that you’ve been thrown off balance and building the capacity to re-center each time will make it easier for your mind and body to do so naturally. Why? Because, physically and mentally, the feeling of being centered becomes more comfortable than being off-centered. Being grounded and centered becomes our new home base, our new way of being. We start to crave it. Learning how to meditate or to use the simple practice of 're-centering' will help you to come back to a calm, centered place when you've been thrown off balance. #wellbeing #worklifebalance

A successful fight can leave you stronger and with a deeper understanding of yourself. And your gifts can be a great ally in that fight. #SawubonaLeadership

“Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it's having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it's our greatest measure of courage.” #SawubonaLeadership

Gift-centered praise has a profound impact on those receiving praise. When we connect and speak from our hearts, people feel seen and heard (the first desire of millennials). #SawubonaLeadership

Reward and punishment. The carrot and the stick. These methods get workers to meet their objectives, but they don’t inspire anyone to go beyond their objectives—to invest in themselves, their work, and the organization. #SawubonaLeadership

YOUR MORNING RITUAL QUOTE: “I do business with my heart as much as I do with my head, both personally and professionally.” – Ursula Burns Researchers believe that heart intelligence can help us manage our emotions, thus raising our emotional intelligence. To connect with others, we need to develop our heart intelligence, which is associated with our emotions and with core feelings including love, compassion, appreciation, caring, and forgiveness.  Instead of letting our emotions control us in an unsupportive way, heart intelligence allows our emotions to sense what is going on within ourselves and with others. Feelings that are centered in the heart open our intuitive knowing, thus supporting a type of wisdom that is often blocked by thinking and judgments. As your heart intelligence grows, it will work in concert with the intelligence of your head. You will make better decisions, based not just on the external information that you can see but also on intuitive knowing that you cannot see. You will become more adept at using your heart to sense what you need to do, to complement the analytical solutions that come from your mind.  To begin to tap into your heart intelligence, practice appreciation today. Take some quiet time to appreciate the beauty in something around you, feel it, notice how it affects you. Allow the feeling of appreciation to expand. Open your heart and ask yourself: “How can I bring more of this gift into the work I do?” #heartintelligence #SawubonaLeadership

WE’RE TAKING SIDES. WHO’S TAKING CARE OF OUR HUMANITY? - Thrive Global - community.thriveglobal.com/?…

I like to think of people as miracles to be appreciated, rather than problems to be solved. #SawubonaLeadership

When their gifts are praised, your team will want to use their gifts in more ways. When you mentor someone by telling them how their gifts made something good happen, they become motivated to do more and receive further recognition. #SawubonaLeadership

We will realize our power to master a turbulent future if everyone can bring their full capabilities to the challenges we face. #SawubonaLeadership

Like acceptance, forgiveness means not condoning what has happened and remaining in conflict but, rather, acknowledging it in a way that allows one to move into a positive future. How do you practice forgiveness? #SawubonaLeadership