Archive for the ‘leadership’ Category

InSpiriational Quote & Life Tip of the Day to help you live a life in balance!

 

Live fully
Create happiness
Imagine peace
Seek truth
Laugh often
Hope more
Inspire change!

From a wall poster !

Enjoy your glorious day dear friends and feel free to pass this on.

namaste

Zoey

 

I seem to be reading about leadership everywhere these days, and I love it!

I had a wonderful surprise with starting Steve Farber’s new book, which I down loaded on my ipad and started reading yesterday.  I don’t want to say much more, other than ‘do the same’ as I may spoil your surprise.  What I resonated with, in addition to the words, was a sense of Steve’s presence and the personal touch that made the experience of reading the book exceptional for me.

This morning on LinkedIn, one of the articles (from Forbes) was entitled “New Leaders: To Make Your Mark, Do Nothing” and it spurred my thinking to the area of ‘mistakes’ or ‘do overs’.

As a leader, I have made tons of mistakes and experience many OS!Moments!  One of my main mistake and the biggest thing I would like to ‘do over’, is to “do nothing” in an organization for about 6 months or longer.  This would give me a chance to get a sense of the culture, the people, the informal rules, the energy of the system, so to speak.  It would also clearly say that my personality, my energy is only a small part of the whole system and would speak to a collaborative leadership style.

I wonder too, if due to the gender divide and the history of an imbalance in women, success and power relative to our male counterparts, women are more afraid than men to make mistakes in leadership and err on safety?  Does being safe as a leader mean being stagnant as an organization?

I would love to hear from women leader’s as to what your main ‘mistake’/'do over’ would be!  Please share!  From our sharing, we can learn, grow and support each other!

in peace & mindfulness

namaste,

Zoey

Topaz Lotus Life & Leadership Coaching for Women

wisdom coaching to set your heart on fire and soothe your soul

 

Women’s Leadership Tip

Continuing the discuss of the ‘being’ and ‘doing’ of women’s leadership…

Leadership can and should be crazy, magic, awful and wonderful, just like life!

‘What the double hockey sticks’ you may be thinking!

In life, coaches know that the messiness and hard parts are often the ‘gateways’ to amazing personal, spiritual and professional growth!

It is the same with leadership.

Steve Farber, extreme leadership guru and author of ‘Radical Leap: re-energized’ was a keynote speaker at the International Coach Federation Conference I attended in Las Vegas recently. Steve talks about the ‘OS!M’ and this does not refer to open source! He refers to the interplay of love and fear and encourages leaders to experience an ‘oh s#*t!moment’ frequently.

In my experience in coaching and in leadership, these moments are frequent and scary and authentic and real and edgy and if one stays mindful with the process, can catalyze transformation, personally and organizationally!

So, play around with OS!M this week in life and work.

Read more on Steve’s website, click on ‘Pursue the OS!M’

In peace & mindfulness

namaste,

Zoey

Life & Leadership Quote of the Week!

‘If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just’

~ Anita Roddick – Founder of The Body Shop

 

Enjoy your wonderful day and life!

 

In peace and mindfulness

namaste,

Zoey

Topaz Lotus Life & Leadership Coaching for Women

wisdom coaching to set your heart on fire and soothe your soul

Words of Wisdom and a Life Coaching Tip

Start your day by journaling, finishing this sentence 7 times:

Today, wouldn’t it be nice if…..

ie Today, wouldn’t it be nice if I invited a friend to join me for yin yoga and offered to treat her?

ie Today, wouldn’t it be great if my day flowed effortlessly with joy and grace?

ie Today, wouldn’t it be great if my work felt like play?

 

(Inspired by the Abraham – Hicks teachings)

 

Enjoy your day and wouldn’t it be nice if we were all filled with loving kindness!

 

In peace and mindfulness

namaste,

Zoey

Topaz Lotus Life & Leadership Coaching for Women

wisdom coaching to set your heart on fire and soothe your soul

Invitation

From the School of Sacred Arts:

“The School of Sacred Arts is a Yoga Alliance registered yoga school offering
Yoga teacher trainings, retreats and workshops throughout the world.”

(Shel Silverstein, from “Where the Sidewalk ends”)

 

I personally resonate with this center of sacred studies as one of the founders is Canadian (as am I) and there is a blend of the ancient teachings of yoga, Ayurveda and tantra.  My dream is to attend one of their yoga teacher trainings in Bali!

 

Enjoy your day and may we all be filled with loving kindness!

 

In peace and mindfulness

namaste,

Zoey

Topaz Lotus Life & Leadership Coaching for Women

wisdom coaching to set your heart on fire and soothe your soul

In previous writing, I referred to the Topaz Lotus Leadership Matrix for Women; the ‘art & science’ or the ‘being and doing’ of leadership for women.  I use the Legacy Leadership Model as the foundation for the ‘doing’ of women’s leadership.  Of course this model is powerful and dynamic for all to use!

 

I have designed the topaz lotus leadership matrix specifically for women as in my work as a leader and as an executive, life, leadership coach, I have found that some women struggle with their process as a leader.  Some women try and simply replicate a leadership style that they have seen used before.  Others struggle with the idea that they don’t have a formal role as a leader, yet, exhibit exceptional leadership skills.  Others just aren’t sure of what their leadership style is.

I have personally found , as have many of my clients that the Legacy Leadership process brings clarity and support to women in leadership!

Best Practice #2 (from the Legacy Leadership Model)

Creator of Collaboration and Innovation: about the environment of working relationships

The question to ask yourself is: how do I create an environment of collaboration and innovation in my workplace?  One can also use this question in one’s personal life too!

Enjoy your wonderful day!  Here’s to collaboration and innovation!

 

in peace & mindfulness

namaste,

Zoey

Topaz Lotus Life & Leadership Coaching for Women

wisdom coaching to set your heart on fire and soothe your soul

Life Coaching Question of the Week

 

What do you need this week to feel that you are living a life in balance?

Do you need more sleep?  Or perhaps you need an intellectual challenge?  Are you too busy or not busy enough?  Are you meeting your emotional, spiritual, physical, mental and relational needs?  What does it feel like to you to be living a life in balance?  What about living a life out of balance?  Are you addicted to a life of chaos and adrenalin highs?  Are you in a rut?

 

As one can see, there can be a lot to ponder!  The success is in the pondering as much as the discovery of any changes you might wish to make.

 

Enjoy your magnificent week!

in peace & mindfulness

namaste,

Zoey

Topaz Lotus Life & Leadership Coaching for Women

wisdom coaching to set your heart on fire and soothe your soul

 

Prior to leaving on our recent trip to Los Cabos, Mexio, I had researched local yoga studios and had planned to drive into the town of San Jose Del Cabo to attend classes.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that our resort offered yoga three mornings a week. Words do not do justice to the amazing experience of yoga on the beach with Ivonne Lopez of Shanti Yoga Los Cabos!

When I heard that our resort offered yoga and was expecting a diluted yoga/exercise class experience.  I was appreciative and astounded to enjoy 4 amazing vinyasa flow classes with Ivonne.  Ivonne is one of those yoga instructors who has a gift!  Her complete and charming descriptions of the postures, sprinkling Spanish with English (spoken with a Scandinavian accent?) completed a solid and through grounding in many yoga traditions.  We all fell in love with Ivonne!

 

I attended class with my friend Bonnie who also enjoyed all the classes and was fortunate enough to take in some ‘sunset yoga’ as they stayed on longer than us at Casa Del Mar!  I was finally able to convince my husband to join us for a class after about 10 years of invitations.  He enjoyed the class and the ‘brotherhood’ of 4 other guys.

 

The soul sisterhood was evident in the easy chatting after class and we met other women from Minnesota, Vancouver and Mexico.  We received tips about shopping, other yoga classes and good restaurants.  I think that for women traveling, all one needs to do is attend a yoga class in the travel destinations and viola, a whole new group of friends!

 

We also met a couple from Vancouver who had Ivonne come to do private couples yoga and they said it took their yoga practice much deeper.

 

And, oh my, the yoga pants!  Due to the warm weather, I wore my athletic bike type shorts.  Bonnie wore her lulus.  One of the other women who attended the class had the most extensive selection of lululemon yoga pants I had ever seen!  Most of us were in stretchy, comfy, very casual leisure wear.

I arrived home excited to continue with my year and soul sisterhood of the traveling yoga pants!

 

Enjoy this magnificent day!

in peace & mindfulness

namaste,

Zoey

Topaz Lotus Life & Leadership Coaching for Women

wisdom coaching to set your heart on fire and soothe your soul

 

 

End Your Work Week With A Ritual!

A lovely way to transition from work mode to weekend is with a ritual marking the end of the week.

Experiment with options that are special to you.

It doesn’t have to be grand, in fact simple might be best as one is more apt to continue.

This idea is particularly helpful for those women who work from home, however can aid in a life in balance for all.

My Friday afternoon ritual is a walk and a hot tub. I allow the work thoughts to float away as I relax and rejuvenate.

Enjoy your weekend!

 

in peace & mindfulness

namaste,

Zoey

Topaz Lotus Life & Leadership Coaching for Women

wisdom coaching to set your heart on fire and soothe your soul

“Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan the flames.” ~ Rumi