Mixing it Up: A Day in the Life Sunday

The best way to solve a problem is to not over think it. As someone with a mind on overdrive, I am on the lookout for ways to slow myself - and my thoughts - down. 

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To my tried and true list of ways to slow down my thoughts, I now add cooking.  The holiday season was a flurry culinary creations: prime rib, peanut butter blossoms, white cheddar Mac and cheese, monkey bread and egg and hash brown casserole. Now, I am on the lookout out for mini-Dutch ovens for the chicken pot pies I have my cooking eye on. 

It's crazy, I know. I can't explain it myself. I haven't solved any major problems yet but breaking and beating eggs does have a certain appeal. Art imitates life and the undercooked monkey bread reflects my impatience but I am a work in progress. 

It's really about hitting the pause button.  Michael Hyatt wrote about the space between the stimulus and response and I am close to cracking the cover on The Pause Principle. There is something to slowing down and stopping to pause for effective leadership, self preservation and, in my house now, culinary adventures.

What is your reset button? And, what's your favorite thing to bake?

Finding A Way - With Others

I am unwrapping posts from the archives and mixing the old with the new. Enjoy this post from the past.

I have written previously about how, in HR, we are bound by so many rules and regulations that the challenge lies in us finding ways to get the job done in spite of them. There are grey areas, there is wiggle room, and there are self-imposed interpretations that can be more restrictive than they need to be. Our challenge as leaders is being able to look at an issue from a new perspective.

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In a post on Fast Company, Donna Karlin leads with a quote a rings true to me,"We don't see things are they are, we see things as we are" - Anais Nin

Getting beyond ourselves and what we've always done and realizing that what you thought was an absolute, non-negotiable truth, absolutely was not. What you thought was a solid wall might actually have a weak spot for a nice bay window - there may be a way around, or better yet right through, a perceived barrier to meeting an organizational need or to providing a service.

There may be a way but we will need to do our homework first.

How did I get here? Not by any planful way at all but by a few different conversations, venting sessions and very frustrating interpersonal interactions. They were all converging, blending, stirring and then . . .  at one "AHA" moment, a possibility came to me on my way into work one morning. "Of course, why didn't we see that sooner?"  This possibility suddenly shone a new light on all previous interactions and conversations.

I am only able to accomplish the things that I do because of those around me and we may have stumbled upon a window in a seemingly airtight room. But you know what, even if we find out that is isn't, it has reminded me of the value in discussing issues, listening to dissenting opinions, allowing all sides of an issue to be presented, and more so, of the value of that each and every person.

===> Do you think leaders need to "Grow up and Lead?" I do. Help me spread the word by clicking here and then "Yes, please write this manifesto" at ChangeThis. Voting ends Jan 4.