Lead like Jesus

The passionate warrior, fighting for a better deal for Children, Parents and Early Childhood Educators; Rosalie Ardagh , from EXCEL in Christchurch was doing some deep reflection on her leadership style with me last year and we worked with an amazing book called "Lead Like Jesus"

Written by Ken Blanchard (who we all know) and Phil Hodges (who I don't know), this book was giving Rosalie a great template to develop her leadership style against.

You don't have to be a Christian to learn from Jesus.  I haven't read the book yet, but I've worked with Rosalie using the different qualities of Jesus's leadership style and I recognise a great resource for any organizational leader.

But in terms of any Christian Leader, I believe that this book is essential for any leader who professes to represent Jesus.  In a time of dwinding attendance at church, of the rise of fundamentalism in all religions (who could believe the Buddhists rampaging in Meikhtila, Burma?!!?), all posing threats to the survival of mainstream Christian faiths.

In fact, what seems to happen to leaders in such uncertain times, is that they revert to an "Authoritarian" model, where they create a "One Man Band" scenario and disempower their team, transforming passionate, committed people into nervous supporters, afraid of making a mistake and "Not Getting It Right".

This does not appear to be in Jesus's leadership tool box according to Ken and Phil.

So if you know a church leader who needs some support to leave the safety and ineffectiveness of an authoritarian model - send them this book.  They may not thank you, but they probably need this book.

If you go to the web link, you will find there's a plethora of resources and support with what looks like a thriving community of Christian leaders.

Good luck, Moving Forward.

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

Guest Coach Louie Taouk talks about "Focus on one thing only"

Humility in a coach is essential.

Today I met Louie Taouk, a plumber who came to our home to fix a leak.  He is a soccer sports coach who demonstrated the qualities of humility, compassion and respect for the individual.

He was working with an apprentice and was giving the most respectful, patient and effective feedback I've heard from a tradesman to an apprentice.

He copped a acknowledgement from me for that and he proceeded to talk about the importance of not overwhelming people with your feedback.

"Just focus on one thing.  Don't confuse them.  

Don't make them feel bad.  Develop their confidence."

Yep - just keep them out of overwhelm.  Keep it simple.  Allow them time to master skills. Respect them.

It's such a easy mistake for a coach to make.....and when it happens, it's all about your ego getting in the way.

You get caught up in the thrill of the chase for results, a win, or a result......and you forget this one simple but important  maxim.

....and when you forget this, damage gets done to the person(s) you are coaching.

You might even be responsible for putting in place, yet another unproductive pattern in their life. 


- Just what nobody needs.


So thanks for this gem Louie - you are a great coach!

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

Changing the world, by changing people's Behavior.

 If you could consistently change people's behavior, then how much more could you achieve in your lifetime?

In fact, how would this skill currently affect your performance in your current projects?

Have a look at this amazing video from the amazing team at VitalSmarts about six elements of influencing people that consistantly improve the results in projects. 

Not only that, you'll find a link to a revealing assessment of your ability to influence below as well as a link to a background brief of their new book: 'Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change'

Would this be a good thing for you to know about?



 There's a really great and free asessement of your ability to influence here.

Not only that, Influencer: "The New Science f Leading Change" is the latest book from VitalSmarts.  If you loved and used "Crucial Conversations", this is a great book for you to be reading next.

Changing the world.  By Changing People's Behavior.

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

Playing your Best Big Game.

When you bring your "A" game,

When you leave the sandbox of life,

to play in the backstreet's, the suburbs or the small town of life,

or to play in the city, the big city or the National game of life.

Or are you ready to play "World Class"?

Only you can answer this.

Each game you choose to play in any one of these arenas,

Need you to bring your "A" game.

That might make you feel scared.

But there's a secret, you need to know:

Playing small is the most dangerous game in life.

Playing your "A" game in a Big Arena, requires you to play with

the Big Boys and Girls.

Playing small requires you to sit in your comfort zone,

watching re-runs of your life,

over and over and over and..............




This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

The Incredible Lghtness of Being

The dances of the Human and the Being.

The Human's dances are all about the human condition. The seven deadly sins.  Mundane and Banal affairs of the flesh.

The dances of the Being?

Unlimited, beyond this realm, sparkling, dazzling.....beautiful

The Being, Totally Present, lifts the body like a doll, soars it like a bird and grounds it like a stomping warrior.



Are you letting your Being take control?

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

INTEGRITY: Lesson number 5: "Who's there?"

Taken from Hamlet, the first line of the play, Bernardo's famous opener.

It's a great question to ask yourself.

An old saying goes: "Plenty of lights on, but no-one's home"

Another one goes like: "Looking good, but going nowhere"

And in truth, maybe there is nowhere to go - especially if you live in who you really are.

Our integrity with who we really are, really takes us to a place beyond time, beyond fear and

beyond this physical realm, even though it transforms everything we touch in this world.

Our work, our relationships, our trips to the shops,

........even our conversations with taxi drivers.....

Steve Biddulph, author of his new book: "Raising Girls", tells a great story,

on an interview with the very astute Margaret Throsby - listen to it here.

 - He and his wife returned to an airport and got into a taxi drove off

......and started talking with the taxi driver

....who asked what Steve did.

When he realised what work it was he told Steve: "I'm having such trouble with my 14 year old girl."

Steve said they had an extraordinary conversation with the taxi driver,

Lives were changed in that cab.

They got out and waved goodbye to the cab driver and then realised

they hadn't taken their luggage out of the boot!

These are two great Beings, walking around in their humans,

Transforming everyone who touches their life.

Bet you have some great taxi ride stories too, you old transformer you!

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

Most Schooling is Training for Stupidity and Conformity

 If you haven't heard Noam Chomsky speak, then here's a glimpse into the social agenda behind our schooling system.

There's so much great educational theory stuff out there and it's been executed by the government so poorly, not because of lack of funding, but from other agendas.

Enjoy.



This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

Finding your own voice, your own way.

The Conformity walk.

An illustration of how we sell out.




This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

The Road Less Travelled by....

 This is for those of us who have taken the path less travelled by.

Enjoy.



This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

INTEGRITY: Lesson 4: If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

 If you have ever seen the 'Dead Poet's Society', one of Robin William's brilliant movies, then these two scenes about making a stand for something will make sense.

The first scene is where Robin is introducing the class to poetry by getting them to rip out the text book version of poetry, which reduces poetry to analytical terms of rhyme meter and objective.

Watch and enjoy.



The next scene is set after Robin is discredited and fired from the school.  His class, who have experienced poetry and literature from an experiential level, are being brought back to the status quo by the headmaster.

This is where you will see the class standing for something in the face of the status quo.

Enjoy.

 If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

Generosity and Random Acts of Kindness

Today I saw a fruit shop with a great show of flowers outside.

I was going to visit a client in their home and I thought a flower would be good to take.

On entering the shop, I experienced a high energy atmosphere

I asked one of the smiling owners of the shop (everyone who worked there were acting like owners),

'Do you sell those big sunflowers separately?'

The man walked straight up to the bucket of flowers and said:

'I'll do better than sell you one - I'll give it to you!'

...and he hands my son this big beautiful flower.

This was turning into a magical experience,

A retail epiphany, part theater, part generosity, part spirit.

I was moved.

I asked for a bag of grapes.

Another smiling man went and hand picked the best grapes from his display and asked me how much I needed.

I was moved again.

As I paid and he gave my change, he picked out two cherries from his display and gave them to my son and I saying 'here - try these!'

I was moved and humbled, elevated and inspired.

I walked in one way and walked out a changed man.

From a fruit shop!

Do you think that this inspired me to be generous in my work today?

Damn right you are!

Where can you be generous in your work today?

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

Value Based Decisions help you work with Integrity.

When was the last time you made a values-based decision at work?

If you are not sure what your values are, then it's impossible to make a values-based decision.

We have been using "The Values Audit" tool for the last twenty years to help people discover what's really important to them at work and leads them to clarify what their vocational purpose is.

You can do this process as part of a team or individually..

It's a card sort process that gets you to distinguish a list of 56 values encountered in the early childhood industry.

You first sort them according to five columns: Always Valued, Mostly Valued, Sometimes Valued / Sometimes not, Hardly Valued and Never Valued.

Then, through a process of prioritization, you determine your top eight work values.

Being able to take your work values into consideration when making decisions, enables you to maintain your integrity and clarify the right way forward for you.  It also enables you to measure your alignment to your team values.

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

The TEAM Approach Tool

We've been using this for over 20 years, helping people see that communicating is much more than simply saying what you think.

It's a Communication Profiling tool, a simplified version of the famous Myer's Briggs Type Indicator and the DISC profiler.

We call it the TEAM tool.  Some people notice that TEAM is also an acronym for:"Together Everyone Achieves More".

We administer it to individuals and groups.

It takes about an hour all up to do the test, debrief the test, explain the four different languages and engage in some practice and feedback.

Participants are encouraged to run the process past five people as part of their learning.

The results in teams is a conversation about and a whole way of being with other people's differences.  Communication flourishes where conflict previously reigned.

Individuals are liberated from self limiting ways of viewing themselves and others. 

If you want this process in your team or your life, call us and we will deliver not just a fun and interactive session, but we will also deliver follow up that helps embed this process as part of your team's culture.

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

A Dealer of Aphorisms

Last week,

I found myself sending out a number of "wise"quotes,

thinking that it would set my readers a-thinking.

It was only when I recieved a number of replies saying:

"I'm not sure what that means".....

Then I realised that an Aphorism was a predigested piece of

Insight, earnt by the hard work of thinking and experiencing transormation.

I also realised that by handing someone a piece of predigested wisdom,

that I was encouraging them to become lazy, or even worst,

vicarious.

I want people to think, but think about their own situation and find their own answers,

rather than to take from the wise sayings of others.

Aphorisms make you look clever, but as always,

Looking clever is the Booby Prize.

Better to do the hard work, find your insights in sorting out your own life,

and writing your summary in the form of an aphorism, just for your own reference.

I'd rather have my own aphorisms,

than to be able to quote volumes of other people's aphorisms:

their own hard work and pain.

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

Take Charge and Carve Up the Kingdom.

Sometimes your client will struggle with you.

Fight you.

Try and dominate you.

They want the booby prize, to feel like they are in control.

You have to take charge.

Without you being powerful and being respected by your client,

You end up merely pandering,

....agreeing with everyone, "Yes, the naked Emperor does have a fine outfit".

You have to take charge and carve up the kingdom with your client.

"You sir, are in charge of implementing your thought through strategies.  That is your kingdom."

"I Sir, am in charge of helping you think clearly and making sure your actions match y our strategy and your integrity.  That is my responsibility, my kingdom and my contribution to you!"

Without seizing the power of that kingdom, what value are you adding to your clients?

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

Integrity: Lesson number 3:

If your integrity is only a strategy,

If you only see it as a way to get ahead,

To win, to look good, to score brownie points,

Then your integrity is merely theatrical,

Meaningless, facile, shallow and a sham.

Your Integrity is actually, in reality,

Your expression of You,

It's who you are in action,

It's your Spirit, your Being, Your Essence.

It's who you are.



Compromise that and you are hurting yourself 

.......Deeply.



The Result of Compromise?

Within Yourself: your self value is compromised.

Outside in the World: your character is unable to exert itself in the world.



Your choice about Your Integrity:

A Strategy to get ahead.

or,

An Expression of Who You Really Are.

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

Mentor, Critic, Coach: Lesson 5

When you want to find out what you really want, how to think clearly through an issue, how to find your strength, courage, clarity and focus, when you want to boost your accountability, develop your integrity, access your inner genius, you call your Coach.

When you want some light on the path ahead, to access knowledge and experience, to receive warnings of impending danger, to celebrate wins with, to commiserate over defeats, to gain advice about the best way forward, to access Machiavellian strategies and to get contacts of people who can help you, you call your Mentor.

The only time you call your Critic, is to challenge them on the validity of their point of view.

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

INTEGRITY: Lesson 2:

When you are whole and complete in yourself....

When you are aligned with who you are.....

When you surrender to your Being.....

Then you become a Force of Nature:

....a tool for the divine to work through.......

...and, if you maintain this state for a while...

You may end up taking it for granted....

And the fall back to the gutter is a long, long way....

And the clawing back up is on a very steep & slippery slope.

Value your integrity - it's all you have.

 It's who you really are.

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

Why Compassion is Good for Business

Without compassion,

you don't have empathy,

Without empathy, you can't find ways to relate to different markets

Without empathy, you can't understand your market enough to give your customers exactly what they want.

Without empathy, you can't relate to your staff's needs.

You can't recognise their strengths and weakness,

...and build on that.

And without compassion, you have no sense of justice,

Which compounds your conflicts with staff, suppliers and clients.

Compassion is good for business.

This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...

INTEGRITY. Lesson one:

It means wholeness.

And, when you achieve or realise your wholeness,

you have come home to who you really are.

You are experiencing what people see when they into-you-see 

It's that place in you where you don't have to maniipulate everyone and everything around you.

It's that place where you have forgiven yourself and everyone and everything around you.

It's that place where you are well and truly you..

......and if you say or do anything that is counter to who you are.......

Trust me, you will suffer.

Being out of integrity with yourself means loss of power and suffering.

 This is only the beginning. Get to know clarity. Email me, Mike Kennedy...