Stress is defined by control. Having control over a situation can reduce your stress, while losing control will cause stress levels to go up. We all know that some level of stress can be good. As our stress levels increase so can our productivity. Positive stress is known as “eustress,” a healthy form of stress that keeps us motivated and excited. The opposite of “eustress” is “distress.” Distress has negative implications. Too much of it can lead to exhaustion, illness and even a breakdown.

Some stress will always be there; it is unavoidable but we can learn to cope with it better. One way is to get a better understanding of our goals and expectations, and better communications can help. What is important is that we understand and are understood. How many times can you think of when poor communications led to confusion, mistrust, misunderstandings, ill feelings, hurt, false hopes, and even war?

Communicating is not just about expressing ourselves verbally; it is also about having strong listening skills. It is a two way street, and the way you communicate determines what others think of you and how you are accepted and appreciated.

All of us want to be understood; it is one of our strongest desires. We want to have others understand what we think, feel, value, love, fear, and believe. It is not just about speaking or writing clearly, it is about the ability to hear AND understand what is intended to be communicated. It is also about communicating your intended message successfully. The person listening must interpret your message in the way they it was intended. This takes listening skills, something most managers do not give much thought.

The highest form of listening is empathic listening. Empathic listening means you are understanding someone from their perspective. It does not mean you accept what they are saying, just that you understand it. You have to develop the frame of mind that is curious and develops your capacity to listen. Stephen Covey wrote in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”

Being a good listener means you have to stop talking and listen. It means you do not think about other things and that you avoid distractions. It also means that you do not start forming an opinion or start thinking of an answer or rebuttal to the sender of the message before they finish delivering it. To do this you have to involve all your senses and skills to understand the person.

Empathic listening means you have to listen with yours ears, eyes and heart. You listen for feeling and meaning. Your verbal message has to be sent and received with the appropriate and corresponding non-verbal message. You will be sending confusing messages if your verbal message is saying no, and your head is nodding yes.

In his book iLead, Joseph Sherren mentions how we can improve our communications by doing the following:

1. Tune the world out and tune the speaker in
2.  Put people at ease
3.  Get people to talk about themselves
4. Do not ask threatening question
5.  Make and hold eye contact
6.  Listen to how people feel

The last point, “listening to how people feel” is one of the most intriguing. You can listen to how people feel by paying close attention to their rate of speech, vocal variety, tone of voice and the pitch in their voice. It takes practice but it can be a very effective listening skill.

Effective Communication is one of the models in my upcoming Ascending Leader’s Program. In fact, it is the longest module (two hours) because I think it is one of the most critical skills a manager, project director, or ascending leader can possess.

If someone on your staff could be more effective if they communicated better, it could improve the workplace and reduce stress levels. Contact me to discuss how our Ascending Leader’s Program™ or Coaching Program can be of help.

Keep listening and take care.

Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day, as many people think.  Mexican Independence day is September 16^th.  Cinco de Mayo is celebrated because against overwhelming odds, 4,000 Mexican soldiers defeated 8,000 French soldiers at Puebla, Mexico on May 5, 1862.  Puebla is located about 100 miles east of Mexico City.

On several occasions throughout our history, Americans and Mexicans have fought bravely side by side.  After the attack on Pearl Harbor during WWII, thousands of Mexicans crossed the border to join the U. S. Armed Forces.  During the Persian Gulf War, American consulates were flooded with phone calls from Mexicans trying to join and fight another war alongside Americans.

As effective leaders, and coaches for that matter, understanding and embracing cultural diversity is imperative.  As the world gets smaller, and information moves faster, we will at some point have the opportunity to interact with people of all races and ethnic backgrounds.

Coaching in a multi-cultural world can be both challenging and rewarding.  It can be an experience where the coach learns as much about himself as the coachee.  Understanding other cultural experiences and multicultural orientations can be valuable in guiding the client to learn from within him/herself.

In the Hispanic community it is common to greet each other an abrazo (embrace) when we meet and again when we depart.  It replaces the handshake.  I have noticed that individuals of many different nationalities now give each other an embrace when greeting one another or when saying goodbye.  It gives one a sense of trust, of comfort, of family.

The saying “Mi Casa es su Casa” is a very popular in the Hispanic community. It translates as “my house is your house”, but literally means “what’s mine is yours.”  It encompasses a sense of generosity and inclusiveness; brings joy to the person it is said to, as well as the person saying it.  It conveys a great generosity and willingness to share one’s wealth with others.

Communities of color have their own kinship in which they bond with each other.  As the Latino community has the Abrazo, the “high five” of the African American community is now a part of its mainstream and a way of communicating and bonding with each other.

When Native Americans meet they share their tribal background.  They do this to honor each other’s ancestry and acknowledge each other’s historical connections between tribes.

Understanding and embracing other people’s cultures and traditions can add to our understanding of why people do things the way they do, and why they are sensitive to certain issues or practices that we don’t understand.  It places more responsibility on us, gives us more wisdom, allows for more tolerance, generates universal kinship, promotes diversity not divisiveness, makes us more generous and enriches our lives.

Today it’s Cinco de Mayo, on another day it will be Martin Luther King Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Cesar Chavez Day, or a tribute to Lori Piestewa, the first Native American woman to die in combat fighting for our country.

As leaders, as citizens and certainly as coaches, we can only enrich ourselves, our experiences and our own community if we embrace cultural differences.  It is the core of who we can be, as a person and as a community.

There is an African saying, “Ubuntu, ubuntu, ubuntu!  It derived from the African Bantu language and roughly translates as “I am what I am because of what we all are together.” We are all members of this community, together.

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with me tomorrow, in your own way.  Enjoy the richness of celebrating not just your culture, but those of others’.  Embrace cultural diversity.

Un Abrazo!

An unhealthy culture can inhibit growth and even contribute to the organization’s eventual failure. In many cases, employees perform only the minimal necessary tasks without putting in extra effort. Productivity and service decline and growth comes to a halt. If entrepreneurs do not see the signals and fail to act, it may be too late to make needed changes. Sometimes failure comes by way of a slow business death.

Some of the warning signs of an unhealthy organizational culture include increased turnover, difficulty hiring talented people, people coming in late to work, lack of attendance in company events and an “us-versus-them” mentality between employees and management.

In contrast, a strong culture can contribute significantly to a business, but is particularly important to a small business. Culture affects many areas of a company’s operations, helping determine its overall ethics and attitude toward public service. It can increase employees’ commitment and productivity.

It is not easy to build a strong culture; it takes commitment and hard work. Shawn Parr, an expert blogger mentions some of the basic things that should be considered.

1. Dynamic and engaged leadership
2. Living values
3. Responsibility and accountability
4. Celebrating success and failure

Yet since very company is different, there are different ways to develop a culture that works. Additional things to be considered include:

1.  The prevailing culture should begin at the top
2. All employees should be treated equally
3. Hiring decisions should reflect desired company culture
4. Two way communication is essential

Some of the companies with expert corporate cultures are Zappos, Google, Virgin, Whole Foods, and Southwest Airlines.

If you are not investing time in building a strong company culture then you may not be getting the best from your employees, and you may be hindering the growth of your company. Coaching and organizational development programs can help identify weaknesses in your company while developing a vibrant culture.

If I can be of assistance in helping you lead your organization to vibrant culture, contact me.

According to studies, 90% of the problems of middle managers and above are ambiguous – meaning the problem and the solution are unclear. If we had 100% of the information we could make more accurate decisions every time. Given the information we do have, the challenge is to make more good decisions than bad ones. We are challenged to do this with less than all the information, in less time, and with little or no precedents to how it might have been solved before.

Dealing with ambiguity is a leadership skill. It’s about improving our clarity in dealing with those we influence. There are remedies for overcoming and improving this competency. A chapter in the book FYI, For Your Improvement, by Michael M. Lombardo & Robert W. Eichinger gives us some steps to take for dealing with ambiguity; here are five of them:

1. Take small incremental steps. Many times we are overwhelmed and lack all the information we wish we had, so we shoot in the dark. If we make a series of small decisions, get feedback on them, correct our course of action, get more data and then move forward a little more until the bigger problem is under control. Sometimes the second or third try gives us a better understanding of the underlying issues. Starting small helps us recover quickly.

2. Ask the right questions. Get a firm handle of the problem. Figure out what causes the problem and ask the right questions. Keep asking “why” and go deeper with each question. Before you can focus on the solution you need to figure out what caused the problem. Defining the problem first with the right questions will lead to better decisions. Focusing on solutions first will slow us down.

3. Manage your stress. As things become less ambiguous, we get stressed. Stress will lead to frustration and cause us to lose our emotional anchor. Think of what causes you to get anxious and study which situations lead to stress. This will enable you to become more aware as a situation approaches, giving you time to head it off. If you need, let the problem go for a while. Step away from it by doing something else and come back to it later. You may gain a new perspective.

4. Don’t be afraid to let go. Sometimes you just have to let go. For a short amount of time you have to hold on to nothing but air, trusting that you will find something to grab hold of. You will land in a new place. The worst fear for many people is change, which is about letting go. Visualize a better outcome, a better place and experiment. The more you do this the more comfortable you will be.

5. Redefine your progress. Some projects and tasks will never be finished. Deal with it. We are constantly editing our actions and decisions. Not everything comes in neatly wrapped packages, which means we constantly have to work in ambiguity, sometimes even abandoning our tasks. The goal should be progress, not perfection. We have to feel good about fixing our mistakes and moving forward.

The world is not clearly defined. Think of it as the path to adventure and a motivator to gain knowledge and understanding. The more you understand what causes ambiguity and how it affects decision making, the more of an effective leader you will be. It is the effective leader who shows confidence and optimism by transforming the unknown into a vision of clarity.

Does this newsletter appear ambiguous, vague, and unclear? If so, don’t fret, I don’t want it to be too clear, or else you might stop growing.

Whether you’re in a new role and facing challenges, or are an experienced executive or business owner or a seasoned executive, coaching can help you change your thinking and behavior.  A coach can help you reshape how you see and approach things. Being more flexible and responsive to your circumstances rather than being stuck to habits and patterns can unlock your potential for growth.

Many individuals confuse coaching with consulting.  Nothing can be further from the truth.  A consultant provides answers to the clients and in most cases times does the work for them.  Then they go away until the client once again needs answers and work done for them.  A coach will help the client reshape their thinking and approach, enabling them to be more responsive in formulating answers to their challenges. Coaching is a partnership that is designed to increase work performance, self-management skills, and the ability to effectively manage other people.

If a coaching client is willing to engage in the coaching process and is committed to learning and growing, a coach can help transition their management skills and leadership style for personal excellence and business success.

Here are just a few reasons why an individual may want to consider the services of a coach:

1. Need to clarify a vision and communicate it so others will follow.
2. Tend to try to do everything themself and don’t know how to delegate.
3. Procrastinate due to insecurity because of inner voices (gremlins) that keep telling them they will not succeed.
4. Lack focus or are over-focused.
5. Struggling with professional relationships and the need to “fix” behaviors.
6. Ready to take the next step and prepare for a larger role and responsibility.
7. Needing an unbiased sounding board and/or a need to be held accountable.
8. Knowing what to do but don’t have the tools to implement change.
9. A need to find balance in life and start enjoying the things they love to do.
10. Focusing on small details when they should be looking at the “sky-view” of things.

These are but a few of the reasons a person may want to engage the services of a coach.  If you see one or more of these in yourself or your valued employees, I might be able to help.

The coaching process can be accomplished one-on-one or in a team or group process.  With today’s technology we can coach clients located in other cities or countries, without the coach or client ever leaving the comfort of their office.

Become the effective leader you can be and leave the mindset of “a hope and a prayer” that things will work themselves out.  By the time you realize they won’t, it can be too late.  Coaching is about improvement and changes so that you and your business perform at a much higher level. A coach can be the catalyst to generate that improvement and positive change.

While preparing to teach the topics of the Vitality aspect of The Fit Leader’s Program™, I came across some interesting articles on sleep, including on authored by: Melinda Smith, M.A.; Lawrence Robinson, and Robert Segal, M. A.

If you think your body is at total rest and restoring its energy levels while you sleep, think again.  While we sleep our brain stays busy by overseeing a wide variety of biological maintenance tasks the keep us in top condition and prepare us for the day ahead.  Think of it like our car’s oil change.  If we avoid giving our car regular oil changes it will not run at its optimal level and can even have a major breakdown sooner than if we had regularly maintained it.  It’s the same with our body. Without sufficient restorative sleep, we won’t be able to function at a level even close to our potential.

Sleep is prompted by natural cycles of activity in the brain and consists of two basic states: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and not-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, which consists of stages 1 through 4.  Our body cycles through these, alternating from REM sleep to NREM sleep throughout the night.  When we dream, we are in the REM stage of sleep.

Non Rem Sleep occurs in four stages:

Stage 1:  Light sleep, in which we can be easily awakened.  This may last for five to 10 minutes.
Stage 2:  A period of light sleep in which we experience periods of muscle tone and muscle relaxation.  The heart rate slows and body temperature increases.
Stage 3 and 4: Deep sleep stages, with stage 4 being more intense.  If we are awakened during these stages we may feel disoriented for a few minutes.  During this stage brain waves are extremely slow and blood flow is directed away from the brain and towards the muscles, restoring physical energy.

It is during these NREM stages that our body repairs itself, regenerating tissues, building bone and muscle and strengthening the immune system.  As we get older we sleep lighter and get less deep sleep.

Sleep follows a predictable pattern, moving back and forth between deep restorative sleep and more alert stages and dreaming (REM sleep). REM sleep occurs about 90 minutes after sleep onset.  The first period lasts about 10 minutes with each stage lengthening, and the final one lasting about an hour.  Dreaming occurs when you are in REM sleep.  Your eyes actually move rapidly during this stage, which is why it is called the Rapid Eye Movement sleep.  Breathing is shallow, heart and blood pressure increase and arm and leg muscles are paralyzed.

Deep sleep renews the body, REM sleep renews the mind.  REM sleep is key to learning and memory.  This is the time our brain consolidates and processes information we have learned during the day, when it forms neural connections that strengthen our memory and replenishes its supply of neurotransmitters.  These are chemicals that can boost our mood during the day.  I guess that’s why people can be grouchy during the day if they are not getting enough quality sleep.

The amount of sleep we need is different for each of us, depending on various factors, one of which is age.  Below are some average sleep needs:

New borns (0-2months)                                12 – 18 hours
Infants (3 months to 1 year)                        14 – 15 hours
Toddlers (1 to 3 years)                                  12 – 14 hours
Preschoolers (3 – 5 years)                           11 – 13 hours
School-aged children (5 – 12 years)        10 – 11 hours
Teens and preteens (12 – 18 years)          8.5 – 10 hours
Adults (18+)                                                      7.5 – 9 hours

About 3% of the population has a gene that enables them to do well on 6 hours sleep a night.  For the rest of us, six hours doesn’t come close to meeting our needs.  If we are getting less than eight hours sleep a night we are probably sleep deprived.  We may think it’s normal to get sleepy in a boring meeting, struggle through an afternoon slump or doze off at dinner.  In reality this is only normal if we are sleep deprived.  Drinking those sugar-filled energy drinks or stimulants only help you temporarily overcome the effects of sleep deprivation, but that can’t be sustained for any extended period of time.

Thus, all sleep is not created equal.  We sleep in recurring stages that are very different from one another and affect what is happening to our body, beneath the surface.  Each step is vital to our mind and body, each preparing a different part of us for the day ahead.

Sleep is vital for a leader to maintain a healthy body and mind.  Get into a regular sleep pattern and make sure you get a restful night’s sleep.  Since we typically can’t sleep later in the day, this can be best accomplished by going to bed earlier.

I trust individuals participating in my next leadership workshop will get plenty of sleep so they won’t nod off in class.  They might miss this vital piece of information.

Good night and sweet dreams.

A recent article in the Arizona Republic discussed the importance of determining others’ communication style, then responding accordingly.  The article listed some of the most common styles:

The Analytical: Business like, slower-paced, time conscious and focused on facts.
The Driver: Fast-paced, focused on results.
The Expressive: Fast-paced, enjoys variety, big picture projects and recognition.
The Amiable:  Slow-paced, excellent at building relationships, listening and sharing their personal life.

So which is your style? There are many tools and processes we can use to discover our communication style and explore the communication preferences of others.  The key is to understand our own communication preferences and to take the time to discern others’ communication style. If we learn to understand how others respond to us, we can adapt our communication style to fit our needs at the necessary moment.  The key is to stay flexible.

Knowing your subject is certainly one aspect of effective communications. Achieving mastery as a communicator involves knowing what to communicate, and when.  People possess different goals, fears, motivations and different ways of seeing the world.  If they are different from ours it doesn’t make them wrong, yet leaders must learn how to recognize these differences and adjust their style of communications accordingly.

Becoming an effective communicator also requires a high level of self-awareness.  It is important to understanding your personal style of communicating.  It will help create good and lasting impressions on others. This does not mean you have to be a chameleon, changing with every personality you meet. Instead, you can make the person listening more comfortable with you by selecting and emphasizing certain behaviors that fit within your personality and resonates with them.

In our year-long Fit Leader’s Program™ participants learn sixteen different tools and processes to become fit leaders. It provides aspiring and high potential leaders with a unique and integrated leadership development experience. One tool they learn is The Effective Close™, a process for convincing others to follow your lead and win them over.  Developing this skill of dialogue is important because like many things in life we want to master, it takes know how and effective practice; we have to work at it

At Transition Execs we coach our clients to meet the challenges of change and the challenges of the future, so they can achieve personal excellence and business success.  We teach them to use their strengths as a foundation to transition their management skills and leadership style to develop into high performance individuals or teams.

Contact us and let us know how we can help you.

I was recently asked by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Phoenix to coach three refugees who were starting new businesses and a new life. The IRC helps refugees thrive in the country that gave them sanctuary and a new beginning. These individuals are hoping to fulfill their dreams of business ownership. I never asked why these individuals were refugees in our country; it doesn’t matter, I only know that they hope for a better life than they had left behind.

What was obvious to me is the desire they have to be successful. They are working hard: long hours every day, fueled by the power of belief, imagination and will. They are hopeful of a better future, grateful for the opportunity to realize their dream and find a way out of their current dilemma.

Many of my coaching clients are trying to make a positive change in their lives, their jobs, their careers or their businesses. Their hope is to become better leaders, better managers, better problem solvers and the type of individuals that people want to follow. It is not easy to separate our personal lives from our work lives, nor do we always want to. They are interchangeable. What affects one affects the other, no matter how hard we try to keep them separate. What is happening in our work environment impacts our home environment, and vice versa.

My most productive work with clients is with those who are hopeful, willing and courageous. They know they can be successful but need the skills of a coach to meet the challenges of change and the challenges of the future. I help them achieve personal excellence and business success while assisting them to maintain integrity to their values and beliefs.

Even Coaches have hope. I do. I hope to train high potential leaders to become fit leaders; to lead with clarity, confidence, effectiveness and vitality. That is why I strived to earn my designation as a Certified Leadership Fitness Coach. I accomplished that, but I’m not stopping there. I am pursuing my goal of conducting Institute for Leadership Fitness™ Workshops. It’s the first of what I hope will be many more.

I don’t have the workshop filled yet, I am working on it. With the help of former employees, friends and believers who know my work ethic and background, some are already signed up for the next Phoenix class. It is not too late for you to register or register a valued employee. This will be a powerful program. The workshops will grow in number: I am already planning the next cohort for early 2012.

Hopeful leaders know it takes courage to turn the unbelievable into the expected. Being hopeful is being human. It is about being able to see with your heart and moving forward in the face of uncertainty toward the future; to go after it and not wait for it to come to you. Hope is about learning to believe.

We cannot mistake hope for optimism. Optimists expect things to turn out for them without any effort. Pessimists assume all is doomed and there is nothing to be done except spread despair while there is still time.

Hope is based on uncertainty because we do not know what will happen next. But the real place for hope is in the possibility we possess for acting, changing, and mattering.

The Merriam-Webster definition of “hope” is to cherish a desire with anticipation. Saying that – I hope to see a few of you in the next Phoenix workshop where you will learn new tools associated with each of the four dynamic qualities of leadership fitness: clarity, confidence, effectiveness and vitality.

Take care and do not lose hope.

A positive legacy doesn’t just happen; you have to work at it by influencing those around you with your words and actions. These actions may include standing for what is right, taking risks with quiet tenacity, being good teachers and remembering that everyone has to learn and grow, being approachable and creating a safe and positive environment in your workplace. It certainly requires being a visionary and charting a course for the future. You influence those around you by demonstrating the way you live, the words you speak, and the actions you take in your daily lives.

Do you believe you are leaving a legacy? If you answered no, then think again, because we all creating and leaving a legacy. The question is not if you will leave a legacy, the question is: what kind of legacy will you leave.

Here are three key things you can do to create a positive legacy.

Maintain a positive attitude
Be persistent and make the extra effort
Look in the mirror

Yes, mirror. You need to look in the mirror of your life to see if you are striving to improve; and making sure you are living up to your ability and expectations. It’s important to regularly ask your spouse, close friends, executive coach and trusted colleagues what they see. The answers won’t always be what you want to hear because you don’t always make the right calls. But if you accept the feedback in the sincere manner it is given, consider it a gift. Without the mirrors you probably won’t receive it at all.

It’s not complicated to get that feedback. Simply ask “How am I doing?” Then sit back and listen without interrupting and without arguing. This is a time to sit quietly and just listen, deeply.

You might be the rainmaker in your organization. You might be a brilliant strategist, the best salesperson, or the one who drives in all the business. But if you quit or disappeared today, what would you leave behind? Would those who were around you think about things differently or would they emulate what you were doing? Would they say: “I’m never going to do that/be that/or act like him/her?”

It’s not about being popular or liked. It’s more about being respected. When you treat people with dignity and respect, when you support them, recognize them for the work they do, make them feel wanted and valuable, help them build their skills and show your confidence in them, it will make your and their job easier. It will help create a lasting positive legacy.

The way that people think, behave, approach work and life as a result of having know you is the legacy you leave. It has little to do with your abilities, how well you performed your job or how smart you were. It has everything to do with you, the person at work and in life. It has everything to do with your natural you; not your title or responsibilities. You are the custodian of the future, and it’s up to you to make sure you leave things in better shape than you found them.

How are you measuring up?

Which one do you think describes you best?

The animal that describes me best is the:______________.
The other animal that describes me is the:_____________.
The animal that least describes me is the:_____________.

From the list below, select the words that best describe you:

motivator, thorough, leader, entertainer, sequential, giver, risk-taker, colorful, detail-oriented, follower, focused, exciting, attention to detail, big thinker, quick-witted, outspoken, fun, peace-maker, analytical, giver, insightful, listener, slow to change, adventurous, methodical, introspective, orderly.

Of those you select, pick your top five words.

Panther
motivator
leader
focused
big-thinker
outspoken
adventurous

Peacock
motivator
colorful
entertainer
exciting
quick-witted
fun
adventurous

Dolphin
peace-maker
giver
follower
insightful
listener
slow to change
introspective

Owl
thorough
detail oriented
sequential
analytical
methodical
orderly
attention to detail

Which animal best describes you? Here are the descriptions of each.

Panther
Natural born leaders, great visionaries. Excel at the big picture, focused and decisive. Bottom line thinkers who don’t want a lot of information that confuses or muddles a decision. People oriented but occasionally loses patience with others.

Panthers often act before thinking things through. They are goal oriented and often too bossy and don’t listen enough. Panthers need help in keeping balance in their lives because they are so driven. They are disciplined and work hard.

The panther’s greatest value is productivity.

Peacock
Peacock personalities are natural socialites, meet people easily and love to have fun and create a happy environment. Peacocks love big events and are the life of the party, being comfortable being the center of attention. They handle chaos well and look at it as an adventure.

Peacocks are not great listeners and need to work on letting others tell their story. They can be disorganized, misplace items and lack focusing on details. They are willing to learn and enjoy challenges and risk-taking.

The peacock’s greatest value is fun.

Dolphin
The dolphin personality is a natural giver, great listeners and loyal friends. They value being a part of a team. Dolphins are service-minded but their greatest challenge is not ministering to themselves.

Dolphins don’t like change but can tolerate it if it helps the team. They are slow decision makers but stick to their decisions, once made.

The dolphin’s greatest value is relationships.

Owl
The owl personality pays attention to detail, preferring tasks over people. They enjoy working or playing alone. They are incredibly observant, independent thinkers and prefer behind – the-scenes tasks. Owls don’t share their feelings easily.

Owls don’t like change nor do they handle it well. They are very detail-oriented. They don’t’ speak a lot, but when they do they speak wisely.

The owl’s greatest value is security.

There is pride and freedom that goes with knowing who we are and that we were not meant to have all strengths. We have something to offer with our gifts, but must understand that we also have limitations and voids.

When we understand that we all have different personalities, we can be true to ourselves and not try to be something we are not.

A coach can help you identify your strengths and build on that foundation to make you better at what your passion is.

Take care,