Additional Dates for Clarity Training Posted

I've added additional dates for Clarity Training to take us into 2014. 

You have only a few days left to register for the March 12 start date. It's approaching full but it is still open.

The posted schedule of courses will better allow you to plan. Dates are tentative but any changes would only be minor if made at all. I'll do all I can to hold those dates listed. 

Up to this point all training has been for professional Christian coaches. Starting with the March 12 course, that is changing.

Clarity Training will now include Christian leaders, executives and other decision-making professionals and owners. I had clients asking to be included in the training. And I came to the realization that the cross-polination of ideas and insights would absolutely helpful to every participant, in particular a professional Christian coach who works with lots of individuals and organizations.  

Click here for full information.

Training is delivered by webinar and phone. Each time together lasts one and a half hours. We meet once each week over twelve weeks. This allows the material to be thoroughly incorporated and put into practice in your own business, nonprofit, ministry or public service situation.  

Upcoming Training Dates

Spring 2013 Starting March 12 - Ending May 28
Tuesdays, 1:00 - 2:30 PM Eastern
Now Registering

Summer 2013 Starting May 8 - Ending July 31
Wednesdays, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Eastern

Summer 2013 Starting July 2 - Ending Sept 17
Tuesdays, 1:00 - 2:30 PM Eastern

Fall 2013 Starting Sept 4 - Ending Nov 20
Wednesdays, 10:00 - 11:30 AM Eastern

Winter 2014 Starting Jan 7 - Ending Mar 25
Tuesdays, 1:00 - 2:30 PM Eastern

Don't hesitate to connect with me if you have questions. Of course I also teach this within organizations so that whole leadership teams can benefit. I am happy to custom program in a manner that meets your schedule. 

Next Clarity Training Starts March 12

The next Clarity Model Training starts on March 12.

If you are a Christian leader or professional, I have good news. 

To this point Clarity Training has only been made available to professional Christian coaches ... basically so they could use this advanced set of tools and approach to help those they serve. 

Now I've added real value to the course content by expanding it for leaders, decision makers and any Christian who helps others plan, troubleshoot or decide what to do next. The list of people this training will benefit is long. Take a look at the Clarity Training for yourself. 

Space is limited because I want to provide maximum value and opportunity for those who attend. 

Time is of the essence. If you are at all interested, training starts in just a couple of weeks on:

Tuesday, March 12 at 1:00 - 2:30 PM Eastern

Clarity Training takes place once a week, at this same time, over 12 weeks. You will work through all three levels of training. Clarity Training is delivered by webinar. Alumni are welcome to come back to this training as often as you wish. 

For further information, click here.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to connect with me and ask. You can contact me here. 

I look forward to seeing you on the course.  

When Big Pieces Fall Into Place

Sometimes the big pieces fall into place. It's really something special when that happens.

I love to watch new construction. Maybe it comes from the 15 years of owning a carpentry business. I love to watch each and every step of the process. Mostly a whole lot of little things happen that seem to represent incremental progress and then all of the sudden the day comes when it appears that a huge gain is made. The whole floor goes on, the walls go up or the roofing is complete.

• Big gains representing a big move forward. 
• Very satisfying to look back on. 
• Increasing a sense of what's possible.
• Creating new energy for what is to follow. 

I'm sure you can see the obvious comparison with life, work and leadership. It's really no different. We seemingly plod along, doing all the prep work, putting in place the day by day pieces ... and then ... a big move forward.

Our thinking is like that as well. Every so often we receive a big "aha!" and away we go, propelled forward by a new sense of purpose and the fresh energy to pursue it.

As a professional coach, I am privileged to see this frequently with my clients. It's a wonderful thing to behold. And it seems to me that all of the weekly work my clients do "suddenly" pays off.  I remember a quote I once heard that went something along the lines of, "I spent 15 years to become an overnight success." Overnight success was the big piece. A lot preceded it.

My point? Don't begrudge the day to day work. It's necessary. But get ready, be prepared, stand alert for the big piece to come along when you least expect it. Knowingly or not, the prep work has been done, the groundwork has been laid and something good is on its way.

Stay alert. Because when it happens, you're going to love it.

Meanwhile, be persistent and just know that you are doing what needs to be done.

Benefits of Dealing with Burnout

I suppose it goes without saying, but there are many benefits of dealing with burnout. Every week I work with leaders and professionals who are experiencing significant stress. Either they are in overload and overwhelm and on the verge of burnout and disillusionment or they are in fact … experiencing burnout.

Carefully I walk them through my three part program to deal with burnout.

1. Resolution – Deal with their immediate situation to reduce some of the stress so they can think straight and design a game plan for moving forward.
2. Transition – Find and adopt new strategies for the days to come. You can’t very well solve problems by continuing to do the same things over and over. And finally …
3. Continuity – Make sure the client has made transitions to new ways of thinking and behaving AND that those new strategies have taken root and become the norm.

What do clients get by walking through this simple but profoundly changing step by step process? I’d like to suggest some of the following as reported benefits of dealing with burnout that I have heard. I don’t need to make much comment on them. They are fairly self-explanatory. And they are benefits that everyone experiencing this significantly painful time in their lives would like to have. Here are just a few.

Physical Realm

• Able to start exercising again
• Back aches stop
• Weekly trips to chiropractor stop
• Panic attacks reduce to zero over time
• Get to sleep easier
• Get a better sleep – waking up more relaxed
• Have more physical energy
• Sporadic and strange aches and pains drastically decrease
• Skin irritations stop

Time Realm

• Feel like they get weekends back
• Feel like they get weeknights back
• They once again have choice about what they want to do
• More time to work on projects they care about

Relationship Realm

• More positive relationships begin showing up
• Their mind isn’t preoccupied when with their spouse – totally present again
• Their mind isn’t preoccupied when with their children – totally present again
• Time to enjoy good friends once again

Everyday Living Realm

• Feel more relaxed
• Able to enjoy a hobby if they have one
• Made some long-needed and healthy decisions
• Brought their life into line with the truths they believed
• Discovered or made more personal space – some time to recharge

Opportunity Realm

• Dreaming about possibilities again
• Got to take what they are learning and help others
• Regained the excitement of God opening up new doors

Emotional Realm

• More contentment with their circumstances
• Brighter outlook on life
• Feel like their emotional energy was being renewed
• Sense of regaining control
• Relief from the pressure of worry

Spiritual Realm

• Created the time to connect with God in prayer and the Word once again
• Began to see people (often the source of burnout) through God’s eyes
• Once again connected with God’s people in healthy and enriching relationships
• Developed a core of people who prayed for them daily
• Allowed space for God to work in grace

I think you would agree with me that these benefits of dealing with burnout were worth reaching for. I want to encourage you. Please take the fourth step in my Beat Burnout Plan … Prevention. Prevent the slippery slide into the ways of thinking and behaving that can lead to burnout in the first place. Pursue health and personal and professional effectiveness. Be proactive in the first place and you will reap the benefits that so many leaders, executives and professionals long for this very day.

Managing Your Time is All About Managing Yourself

Managing your time is all about managing yourself.

Often we think it’s about managing segments, little chunks of time measured in hours, half hours, quarter hours or less. Then our attempt at managing our time happens like this:

• We have a volume of things that need doing.
• We divide the day up into more and more little segments.
• We search for better positioned segments so we can shove more of the 'to-do' into them.
• Meanwhile, we divide all the things to do into priorities.
• Then we put 70% of the priorities in the top priority list and try shoving those in the new little segments we just made.

What we’re really doing is going faster and faster and shoving more and more in. After all, almost everything in our life is a priority, isn’t it? Then for all our efforts we slide down the slippery slope of stress, overload and burnout.

We really ought to manage ourselves and ask, “What are the vital few things that are the truly important?” Those are the things I will get done. It’s not seven out of my list of ten important things to get done. It’s only two. Maybe it’s only one. Start and do those. The others will disappear, fade in significance or step in line to take their turn as one of the vital few later on.

Until we start acting on this for ourselves, we’ll be caught in this race. Somewhere we have to break the cycle and say, “This is where it stops.” Practicing that Law of the Vital Few will make us much more satisfied, thorough and successful.

Often we want to squeeze more and more productivity out of a given period of time, so we shove other things aside, things like renewal and relationships, fostered primarily through pausing. We continue to accumulate a greater volume of things, and our body is saying, “No, I can’t handle this.“ Stress, tiredness, muscle pain, dissatisfaction and a sense of a lack of well-being become our lot in life.

Adopt the practice of timely management from the Law of the Vital Few. Take your personal best 20% as your springboard for building the future. Where in the past did I have my most success? Identify that small amount of time and duplicate it for today as much as you can. Say, “These are the vital few things that I must do now, and while I am taking care of these vital few, I will delegate, hold till a more appropriate time or give away to others, the things that I am not able to do.”

If you are dealing with a volume of time commitments placed on you from the outside, then you have to work with the issues of boundaries as well .You may have to set boundaries around people imposing on your time. Let the voice mail get the telephone after certain hours and raise a personal standard that says, “I am not going to work after this hour.”  If it’s sheer volume you may need to look at ways to do it more efficiently. On the other hand you may need to talk frankly to others about helping you. They may be in positions of authority or control to make some changes for you.

It’s not just about time management but timely management of you.

This may be one of the most common areas that executives and leaders wish to work on during our coaching engagements. We live in a world that pushes almost every leader and professional into a crunch for time. There are solutions. They don’t always come easy. People often fear doing what is required, thinking they will lose ground and fall behind. But once solutions are put in place and traction is being experienced, leaders find that in fact they can achieve more, do better and actually begin to thrive.

Really, you can read all you want about time management and you can think about alleviating the stress until the cows come home. But until you make a major decision to do something about it, you will only amass literature and dissatisfaction. Take action today.