Servant Leadership

Servant leadership is built on the solid foundation of transformation, seeking to evolve the layperson into a leader as well. A servant leader is a leader whom operates guided by an internal compass of ethical judgment. Greenleaf spoke of servant leaders as being characterized by virtuous distinction. “A servant leader’s ability to lead with integrity depends on his or her skills for withdrawal and action, listening and persuasion, practical goal setting and intuitive prescience. The focus is on goals, success, learning, and assisting”. (Cunningham, Cordeiro ,1999,pg.196).

Excerpt: Way of the E-lightened Mind

“...I feel that the period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR.”
-Poe

Fear is the foe of a thousand lives and shapes for it
manifests in our lives in so many expected and unexpected
ways. The greatest accomplishments the world has ever
seen are the products of people who have conquered their
fears. Within all endeavors, a decisive moment arises, a
moment when a person must come face to face with their
deepest fears.
 
Excerpt: 4 Steps to Conquer

Concentrate

The first law of success...is concentration: to bend all the energies to one point, and to go directly to that point, looking neither to the right nor to the left.

- William Matthews

[regiadams.com ]

Point to ponder

Does the type of encouragement desired vary from a person who is a high achiever and a person who is not?

[regiadams.com ]

With Love

Accomplishments of note can only be attained with Love.

[regiadams.com ]

Plan and Be Fearless

Plan your vision and execute. Are roadblocks really roadblocks? Or perhaps it is fear in disguise? Fear clouds judgement and causes one to base actions on false premises.

[regiadams.com ]

D’Amato on Fear

CUS D’AMATO TALKS ABOUT FEAR
Posted by MMATraining.com Staff

Cus with Tyson in the 80s


Fighters are the most exposed athletes in the world. During a fight, the crowd observes every twitch and movement. Still, spectators rarely see fear in a quality fighter. “That,” says D’Amato, “is because the fighter has mastered his emotions to the extent that he can conceal and control them.”

But whatever a fighter says, the fear is there. It never goes away. He just learns to live with it. “And the truth is,” D’Amato continues, “fear is an aspect to a fighter. It makes him move faster, be quicker and more alert.

Heroes and cowards feel exactly the same fear. Heroes just react to it differently. On the morning of a fight, a boxer wakes up and says, ‘How can I fight? I didn’t sleep at all last night.’ What he has to realize is, the other guy didn’t sleep either. Later, as the fighter walks toward the ring, his feet want to walk in the opposite direction. He’s asking himself how he got into this mess. He climbs the stairs into the ring, and it’s like going to the guillotine.

Maybe he looks at the other fighter, and sees by the way he’s loosening up that his opponent is experienced, strong, very confident. Then when the opponent takes off his robe, he’s got big bulging muscles. What the fighter has to realize,” concludes D’Amato, “is that he’s got exactly the same effect on his opponent, only he doesn’t know it. And when the bell rings, instead of facing a monster built up by the imagination, he’s simply up against another fighter.”

[regiadams.com ]

Generous

Be generous with your practice. Do not skimp on the investment you make into anything you classify as "your craft". Generosity is the root of competency and prosperity.

[regiadams.com ]

Stop and Listen

Look around, there are sources of strength everywhere. Stop and become aware. Aware to the subtle presence of opportunity that lies just beneath the surface. Hidden by the loud clamor of the obvious.

[regiadams.com ]

Strength in Diversity

The economic situation forced companies and workplace learning and performance professionals to focus on improving performance--not just an employee's poor, adequate, or superior performance in the workplace, but also an organization's vision about talent management, human and environmental sustainability, and the work environment.

The trend, a move toward an organizational approach to performance, examines the health of the whole organization, including the work, the worker, and the workplace, to find where it is weak and not performing. The most successful companies during this recession aligned people, processes, and systems to effectively manage their overall performance.

[regiadams.com ]

Try Harder

Continuous effort-not strength or intelligence-is the key to unlocking our potential.

Winston Churchill

[regiadams.com ]

Let Go

Most of our energy goes into upholding our importance. If we were capable of losing some of that importance, two extraordinary things would happen to us. One, we would free our energy from trying to maintain the illusory idea of grandeur; and two, we would provide ourselves with enough energy to catch a glimpse of the actual grandeur of the universe.

Carlos Castaneda

Learning in a Tough Economy

The economic situation forced companies and workplace learning and performance professionals to focus on improving performance--not just an employee's poor, adequate, or superior performance in the workplace, but also an organization's vision about talent management, human and environmental sustainability, and the work environment.

The trend, a move toward an organizational approach to performance, examines the health of the whole organization, including the work, the worker, and the workplace, to find where it is weak and not performing. The most successful companies during this recession aligned people, processes, and systems to effectively manage their overall performance.

Source:
ASTD.org

[regiadams.com ]

Refusal

There would be nothing to frighten you if you refused to be afraid.

-Ghandi

[regiadams.com ]

Education, Experience and the Cultivation of Human Agency

Education is an outgrowth of what a given society views the nature of the world to be. The defining characteristics of any academic system are merely a reflection of society's paradigm of itself and its neighbors. A belief in the personal capacity of people and commitment to embracing human agency is also an outgrowth of paradigm. Curriculum built upon the belief in human capacity will challenge learners to engage the world in a meaningful fashion. A "curriculum of belief" will value the ideas and insights of learners and use them as catalysts for further student growth and evolution. A "curriculum of belief" is a pedagogy firmly committed to the notion that learners possess the capacity to assess reality for themselves taking responsibility for where their path to discovery takes them.

 

 

Excerpt:

Adams, R (2008) Education, Experience and the Cultivation of Human Agency.

Question Thinking™

is actually a theory that posits that thinking occurs as an internal question-and-answer process. What people typically think of as statements are actually answers to questions that they’ve asked themselves. That links questions and statements, which are the two parts of language, in relation to each other.

If you think of a statement as an answer to a question, then it starts to get very important and interesting to notice what questions are being asked. Because questions basically program and direct how we think, feel, behave,relate, and even the results and outcomes we get.

-Marilee Adams

Source: ASTD.Org

[regiadams.com ]

Difficulty

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.

Seneca

[regiadams.com ]

Career Development

"Traditional images of achievement do not capture today's more complex career development realities. Approaching career development as a long-distance expedition can help professionals in addressing the strenuous challenges they face, in seeing that a career can be built in many ways, and in taking a long-term view of their journeys. Skills are like muscles, self-efficacy is like sturdy boots, advancement how-to's are like maps, and mentors are like trail guides. Among the tasks each hiker faces are selecting destinations, navigating through rough terrain and weather, and balancing their packs. To further their hikers' resilience, departments should pay more attention to the career development ecology, including improving access to qualified trail guides and to alternate paths".

 

Source:

Bickel, J. (2009). Career development as a long-distance hike. Journal Of General Internal Medicine, 24(1), 118-121.

Small

Life shinks without Love.

[regiadams.com ]

Mindfulness in the Workplace

Mindfulness will be like the introduction of seat belts in cars; at first no one thought they were important and now they are a safety requirement. Mindfulness may become the seat belt of mental health and one day it will be taught in schools for all people to practice.

-Diana Winston, Director, Mindful Awareness ResearchCenter, UCLA

Dhiman, S. (2009). Mindfulness in Life and Leadership: An Exploratory Survey. Interbeing, 3(1), 55-80.

Mind Your Emotions

...emotions evolved as signaling systems that need to be sensitive to environmental contingencies. Failure to switch off emotion is due to the activation of mental representations of present, past, and future that are created independently of external contingencies. Mindfulness training can be seen as one way to teach people to discriminate such “simulations” from objects and contingencies as they actually are.

Source:
Williams, J. (2010). Mindfulness and psychological process. Emotion, 10(1), 1-7.

Duality

At some point you will play both the hero and the villain keep your heart.

[regiadams.com ]

Love

Love drives achievement.

[regiadams.com ]

Created

Limitations to achievement are shaped by our dominant thoughts and reinforced by our emotions.

[regiadams.com ]

Context is King

The manner in how we view life experiences is everything. Our views can either confine us or free us.

[regiadams.com ]

Lessons

There is nothing wrong with falling short of a goal. Everything is a means through bringing about creative action. The challenge is in not letting resistance and denial restrict the flow.

[regiadams.com ]

Self Talk

In learning new things internal criticism or negative self talk will diminish the quality of execution.

[regiadams.com ]

Limitation

Fear limits creative action and restricts the possibilities of personal expression.

[regiadams.com ]

Question

What do you love more than your own comfort?

[regiadams.com ]

Produce but do not possess.
Advance without dominating.
These are called Subtle Powers.

Tao Te Ching no. 10

No printed word, nor spoken plea can teach young minds what they should be. Not all the books on all the shelves – but what the teachers are themselves.


Rudyard Kipling

Practice

Abhyasa is unconditional. It is the dedicated, unswavering application to what you believe in...I do believe Abhyasa is not something we earn or achieve through force of will; rather it is an innate human capacity that we awaken through practice, through our willingness.

Rolf Gates (Meditations from the Mat)

[regiadams.com ]

Bold Action

In Harvard professor John Kotter’s book, A Sense of Urgency, he contends that a “winning strategy combines analytically sound, ambitious but logical goals with methods that help people experience new, often very ambitious goals, as exciting, meaningful, and uplifting—creating a deeply felt determination to move, make it happen, and win, now.” In other words, not all change strategies are created equal. And a good change strategy is not good enough if it isn’t supported by those whom it affects.

Source:
Astd.org

[regiadams.com ]

Sometimes

Sometimes what's needed is to sit in silence and seperate from self.

[regiadams.com ]

My vision

My ultimate goal is to create learning engagements from which people can create professional and personal success. Educational experiences that challenge people in a holistic way, touching upon all areas of human competency is critical for creating lasting success. What good is it to learn how to be a leader without also learning how to be a better person? How well can I truly manage others if I cannot first manage myself? The compartmentalization of life is an illusion that compromises goal attainment if not addressed. What one does, in one area of life can and will influence how one performs in another. The only solution is to challenge oneself to grow in all areas of life.

Emotion is the seed of decision

It is 9:46 PM on a Saturday night and I am working on a paper on self-reflection. ESPN highlights flash in the background as I am just trying to make sense of this panorama of stimuli. Something I found to be interesting in my research was that true reflection touches upon elements of emotion. Contemplating upon the direction of our lives and even the premise upon which we create our worlds is characteristic of deep thought. How we feel about the many aspects of life are the bricks and mortar of our reality. I have never really contemplated how my emotions either facilitated my growth or imprisoned me to limiting circumstances. I have issued a challenge to myself to begin this process.

A Carl Rogers Insight

I want to talk about learning. But not the lifeless, sterile, futile, quickly forgotten stuff that is crammed in to the mind of the poor helpless individual tied into his seat by ironclad bonds  of conformity! I am talking about LEARNING - the insatiable curiosity that drives the adolescent boy to absorb everything he can see or hear or read about gasoline engines in order to improve the efficiency and speed of his 'cruiser'. I am talking about the student who says, "I am discovering, drawing in from the outside, and making that which is drawn in a real part of me." I am talking about any learning in which the experience of the learner progresses along this line: "No, no, that's not what I want"; "Wait! This is closer to what I am interested in, what I need"; "Ah, here it is! Now I'm grasping and comprehending what I need and what I want to know!" Carl Rogers 1983: 18-19

The Catalyst

Education is a tool, a catalyst upon which a learner can evolve capability and vision into higher levels of effectiveness. "Personal mastery is the discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively" (Senge, 2000, pg. 17). Learning curriculum, which emphasizes holistic growth, through a focus on the development of subjective understandings and interpersonal interaction, is most effective in accomplishing this end. Education is a mirror by which one can reflect upon the internal and external worlds in which one is immersed. Learning curriculum should encourage a balance between all parts of a learner's experience, as development in one area nurtures the growth in another.

Motives for learning

'Ideally', Jerome Bruner writes, interest in the material to be learned is the best stimulus to learning, rather than such external goals as grades or later competitive advantage' (ibid.: 14). In an age of increasing spectatorship, 'motives for learning must be kept from going passive... they must be based as much as possible upon the arousal of interest in what there is be learned, and they must be kept broad and diverse in expression' (ibid.: 80).

Source:
http://infed.org/thinkers/bruner.htm

[regiadams.com ]

Employees Are Full of Feedback

March 13, 2010 6:10:00 PM
TD Editorial Staff
ASTD.org

If you have a suggestion to make in the workplace, do you make it or do you keep your mouth shut? Many people take advantage of their right to express themselves.

Fifty-seven percent of employees say they regularly make suggestions in the workplace, according to a survey by Right Management. In fact, 27 percent of employees report that they make more than 20 suggestions per year. Another 30 percent made at least 10 suggestions per year. Only 6 percent made no suggestions at all.

The poll, which was conducted on LinkedIn and included 614 participants from all over North America, found that the most vocal employees are those in management and C-level executives.

Other interesting findings were that number of suggestions does not vary by company size and sales people were the most likely to make suggestions at 50 percent followed by those in HR at 28 percent. In addition, workers ages 55 and over were more likely to make 10 or more suggestions at 76 percent as compared to their colleagues ages 25 to 34 at 51 percent. Women, at 61 percent, were also likely to make 10 or more suggestions as compared to men, at 46 percent.

"Our findings suggest a surprising number of employees go the extra mile by making suggestions in the workplace," says Deborah Schroeder-Saulnier, senior vice president of global solutions at Right Management. "At the same time, however, in our experience there is little evidence that companies really listen to employee suggestions—or, more important, try to benefit from their perspective and enthusiasm."

She advises that companies should not only listen to their employees, but make sure their ideas are acknowledged and acted upon.

Businesses need to remember that communication is a two-way street.

[regiadams.com ]

Do Not Fret

Even the saintly were hated. Just do good work.

[regiadams.com ]

The Disappearing Career Discussion

March 29, 2010 10:33:00 AM
TD Editorial Staff
ASTD.org

According to a recent survey by Right Management, more than one-third of all employees (37 percent) never discuss their career development with their managers and another 30 percent have that discussion just once a year.

Why are employees so hesitant to talk about their career aspirations with their managers? Is it because they are too busy to think about their future or do they lack the skills to ask the right questions?

Although individuals should take the responsibility to manage their own careers, managers should reach out to employees to discussion career objectives because that is a key step in keeping employees engaged in the workplace.

Are your managers equipped with the skills to discuss an employee's strengths, growth opportunities, and developmental needs? If not, do you have a strategy for how to teach those skills to your organization's managers?

[regiadams.com ]

Education is life

The notion of learning through life is hardly new, as a glance at Plato's Republic reveals. However, with the development of a self-consciously 'adult education' came the view that education should be lifelong. In what Waller (1956: 22) describes as a report without parallel, the Adult Education Committee of the British Ministry of Reconstruction concluded:

(A)dult education must not be regarded as a luxury for a few exceptional persons here and there, nor as a thing which concerns only a short span of early manhood, but that adult education is a permanent national necessity, an inseparable aspect of citizenship, and therefore should be both universal and lifelong. (1919: 55)

Infed.org
http://infed.org/lifelonglearning/b-life.htm

[regiadams.com ]

paralysis

To demand perfection is to deny your ordinary and universal humanity, as though you would be better off without it.

-Bayles (Art & Fear)

[regiadams.com ]

mirror

We have meet the enemy and he is us.

-Pogo

[regiadams.com ]

fast and slow

The artist's life is frustrating not because the passage is slow, but because he imagines it to be fast.

-Bayles (Art and Fear)

[regiadams.com ]

Reality of things

Vision is always ahead of execution.

-Bayles

[regiadams.com ]

Be

Be your own light.

[regiadams.com ]

no shame

No shame in being wrong. Better to live with conviction and err than to flounder about in doubt.

[regiadams.com ]

thought...

Life is a series of commitments.

[regiadams.com ]

...

Our time eventually must end. Do work of a quality that will allow you to transcend. Make the intention.

[regiadams.com ]

Acceptance

It's easy to accept responsibility when things are good. Accepting your role when things are not good is a different story. Learning to do this. Can't say I have this perfected. No change can happen until this occurs.

[regiadams.com ]

reflection in action

In each instance, the practitioner allows himself to experience surprise, puzzlement, or confusion in a situation which he finds uncertain or unique. He reflects on the phenomena before him, and on the prior understandings which have been implicit in his behavior. He carries out an experiment which serves to generate both a new understanding of the phenomena and a change in the situation.... He does not keep means and ends separate, but defines them interactively as he frames a problematic situation. He does not separate thinking from doing... Because his experimenting is a kind of action, implementation is built into his inquiry. (Schön 1983: 69)

[regiadams.com ]

earn it

Competency is the foundation upon which authenticity stands.

[regiadams.com ]

clarity

Journaling challenges people to explain their world with a deep clarity. Having a clear vision contibutes to goal attainment. Painting the picture with emotion is essential. Emotion clarifies the priority level of a goal. Logical decision-making is about navigating through competing priorities.

[regiadams.com ]

with feeling...

Emotions are how we make sense of the world. The under current of logic are emotions. Journaling activities that make use of intellectual reflection and emotional discourse perhaps holds the greatest potential for personal growth.

[regiadams.com ]

realest thing i ever wrote...

Back to reality tomorrow. Great insights were attained from the residency. Most important was the need to be authentic. For me this realness keeps a person from being swept away by the tides of fad and fashion. Living a life of coviction is a path requiring courage. James Baldwin once said to be commited is to be in danger. This resonates with me. I would add that a person living a life of authencity will be required to believe in their path and in themselves even when no one else does.
Authenticity demands a person to proactively act in accordance with his or her values, without compromise.

[regiadams.com ]

a challenge...

I was challenged to find my authentic voice. Dr. Lobell's lecture was stirring requiring action on my part. It is not enough to simply go through life fitting in and adhering to the images we are supposed to be. Even the "rebel" can be an image...what I find is needed is to reflect on who we are and commit to living it.

Authenticity requires a vigilant self-awareness and the courage to stand alone. Being ever willing to sacrifice convienience for conviction.

[regiadams.com ]

reflection

My research is about human reflection and if this activity cultivates a deeper level of human angency. Early findings would indicate that it does. There is a power that comes about as result of reflecting upon goals,actions and ones emotions. The act of journaling offers one avenue to assess the assumptions and pardigms which govern our lives. What happens to us is a result of how we think and what we think. Often times this thought process is invisible to us unless we reflect upon these things.

[regiadams.com ]

teach

Walking through the Phoenix art museum. The art of Ansel Adams moves me to dream. The life of an artist and educator reminds me of the importance of emersing oneself in the path. This is true for any discipline.

[regiadams.com ]

do it...

Learn to sacrifice. Without the willingness to do this there is no strength.

[regiadams.com ]

Today was a good day....

So much better to open up and spend time with friends. You cannot embrace the world by yourself.

[regiadams.com ]

Silence

We are held equally accountable by our moments of silence as we are by our words. Inappropriate silence degrades your light.....

[regiadams.com ]

Rough

Retreating from discomfort accomplishes little. The pang of boundary walls will again force you to confront that which bars your growth. No delusion should exist that you can somehow avoid overcoming your limitations.

[regiadams.com ]

Examination

I have become more aware of the fact that our habits are the bricks and mortar of our lives. We can't change until our habits do. This process may feel uncomfortable as we get to the work of reprogramming behavioral patterns.

[regiadams.com ]

Today

Today was the first day of my doctoral program's third year residency. I was struck by discourse that occured. We discussed leadership and the challenges one faces in maintaining a balanced perspective. This can only occur through reflective action.

[regiadams.com ]

Reflection on Purpose


Purpose is a crucial component of success, for it permeates every activity a person engages in. Even the mundane tasks a person must engage in are ascribed a compelling importance to a person who believes in a purpose. I was watching Fox Sports Arizona the other day and it was highlighting University of Arizona basketball coach Sean Miller. I was impressed by his approach to coaching and building a successful program.


The thing that stood out to me the most was his definite sense of purpose. The clarity Sean had was impressive. It is clear that belief in your purpose cannot be something luke-warm. It is not something that can be intellectualized with cold calculation. Purpose…for it to be a force of compelling transformation must be charged with emotional energy. An energy strong enough to transcend the barriers of doubt, fear, fatigue, opposition, etc.

Un
Into the Maelstrom!

Until one is willing to step out into the uncertain reality, supported only by the dogged strength of one's will and courage…

Until one is willing to brave the tumultuous tides of life's temperamental disposition…

 Until one is just as willing to live with defeat as one is with victory….

ONe Will Not be Free

For freedom requires something much deeper than acknowledging current conditions and circumstance…

Freedom requires the determination to transcend them…

You are bigger than that

You are not what befalls you…

Me We

-Ali

Power of the Written Word

I am sitting at my favorite café, reggae dub mixes pulsating through my head phones. I find it easier to write listening to its slow, melodic grooves as opposed to lyric laden melodies. Anyway I have been doing a bit of reflection since I made a brief change in my dissertation focus. My area of investigation will be the written word and the connection this has on a learners' overall academic success.

For the past few days I have been researching the power of journaling. As a person who enjoys poetry and prose I have always had an appreciation about the power of words. I have viewed this activity from the perspective of the writer's message and the power contained in the words. The influence of the written word on the reader is fascinating. However what is the impact of the written word on the author?

This monumental question was accentuated by the deep rumbling drums of King Tubby

"Come Down Me Selecta!"

Alright then…so I have never viewed writing as being a transformative process for the author. My research has really challenged my thinking on this issue. Interesting thing is that it seems the power behind writing is in the reflection. The act of composing a piece of literary work challenges a person to think about his or her lived experiences. Thinking and writing about the experiences in our lives, actively engages our minds, challenging us to make concrete assessments about how we feel about our lived realities and the influence it has on us.

This process tends to make writing a cathartic release as internal questions and existential concerns are given voice. This does not happen as frequently as one might think. This reflective process is important as submerged under the surface of our conscious thought; life experiences form the subjective reality which dictates the direction of our lives.

For me this investigation will allow me to understand the role writing has in academic success. However from a much broader context this investigation will allow me to understand the role writing plays in human empowerment. This is an incredibly broad and grandiose aspiration, yet I say….."Why Not?" LOL

I am tired…time to hit the gym and recharge a bit. I have a long process ahead of me.

Freedom is Found....

"No man is free until he learns to do his own thinking and gains the courage to act on his own personal initiative." Napoleon Hill

[regiadams.com ]

The Use of Assessments in Online Learning Environments

Technology has provided opportunities for online assessment to be more learner-centered to promote self-directed learning, and to increase learner autonomy. Practicing “assessment for learning” can cultivate student ownership, and will impact effort and achievement eventually.

Full article:
http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=9&n=7

[regiadams.com ]

A Christmas Run

…Of Sweat and Will

On Christmas I ran. The Phoenix streets looked hallowed and silent making for a perfect setting for contemplation.

As I made my way through the downtown roads the asphalt under my feet thumped like a metronome. My breath was guided by the rhythm of the beat as the panorama of the world morphed in and out of my awareness.

 The physical exertion reminded me of my humanity, though fragile in nature is made formidable by strength of will. As one mile became two

and two miles became three I thought about the role challenge plays in the cultivation of human will. Without adversity what would serve as the molding force allowing us the ability to harden our resolve?

Adversity takes us to the brink of our abilities, revealing dormant talents. The low thuds began to make their way back into my awareness, as I continued my trek through the beautiful Arizona day.




                                                                                                                           [regiadams.com]

[regiadams.com ]

Change Strategies

I am studying Argyris (1978) strategy of organizational intervention and wonder if the process can be applied to cirmumstances like a mentor working with a mentee? It would be interesting to see if this strategy can help individuals change their behavior by identifying problem areas.

The strategy focuses on understanding the paradigms that people establish their actions upon. Point of note is that not all paradigms we give voice to are the ones we actually align our actions with. The excerpt below outlines the 6 Step intervention strategy.


According to Argyris and Schön (1978: 220-1) involves the ‘interventionist’ in moving through six phases of work:

Phase 1

Mapping the problem as clients see it. This includes the factors and relationships that define the problem, and the relationship with the living systems of the organization.

Phase 2

The internalization of the map by clients. Through inquiry and confrontation the interventionists work with clients to develop a map for which clients can accept responsibility. However, it also needs to be comprehensive.

Phase 3

Test the model. This involves looking at what ‘testable predictions’ can be derived from the map – and looking to practice and history to see if the predictions stand up. If they do not, the map has to be modified.

Phase 4

Invent solutions to the problem and simulate them to explore their possible impact.

Phase 5

Produce the intervention.

Phase 6

Study the impact. This allows for the correction of errors as well as generating knowledge for future designs. If things work well under the conditions specified by the model, then the map is not disconfirmed.

By running through this sequence and attending to key criteria suggested by Model II, it is argued, organizational development is possible. The process entails looking for the maximum participation of clients, minimizing the risks of candid participation, starting where people want to begin (often with instrumental problems), and designing methods so that they value rationality and honesty.

Reference:

Smith, M. K. (2001) 'Chris Argyris: theories of action, double-loop learning and organizational learning', the encyclopedia of informal education, www.infed.org/thinkers/argyris.htm. Last update: September 07, 2009

[regiadams.com ]

Mindful Expression

Embrace the Experience

There is beauty in the engagement, in the struggle, in the essence of the very thing itself. The true rewards are in the pageantry of the thing itself. Victory and defeat are traitors; do not let them rob you of your art.





Excerpt from: A Chinese Kid Named Santiago

[regiadams.com ]

Power of Discipline

DISCIPLINE is Soul of a Business, Family, Army, TEAM. It makes small numbers Formidable, procures Success to Weak, and gives Esteem to All.

-Bill Stewart

[regiadams.com ]

Kindness

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

-Plato

[regiadams.com ]

Power of Belief

If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning."

-Mahatma Gandhi


You know this quote really struck me as it I think reflects the courage and determination found within people. True belief does not have to be based upon current capacity, but rather one’s capacity to believe in oneself. I can’t help but think of Common’s song The People where the MC states that “No one believed me till I believed me”. I think this statement truly embraces the spirit of Gandhi’s words. Faith in oneself like a magnet will draw people, resources and even talents to one’s aid.

Lack of belief in one’s ability to exercise control over the conditions in one’s life is a paralyzing state. It’s a strange thing to feel overwhelmed as if trying to survive in a land Giants and Monsters. This feeling I think is tied to placing an overemphasis on the “what is” rather than the “what can be”. The “what can be” mindset allows a person to grow into the challenge. Like a bruising running back that seems to get stronger as the opposition intensifies, so to does a person grow more powerful and skillful with each challenge that is overcome.

Belief is what allows for this transformation to occur. The knowledge that one will continue to grow and that a potential solution is just around the corner sets the stage for these things to be recognized when they arrive.

Belief in oneself challenges a person to seek solutions in the midst of bleak situations rather than succumbing to them. It has to be stated that I wish achieving a state of belief was as easy a feat as writing the mere words upon a page, unfortunately it’s not. Personal experience advises that its one of the most difficult things a person can do. It is a task that requires intelligence, fortitude and an ever evolving emotional maturity.

[regiadams.com ]

Love Redefined

Love is not just the sentimental fuzzy emotion that leaves us googly eyed and awe struck. Love is powerful, love is catalytic. Love propels even the most timid spirits to heights of courage ascribed to legends. What is it that you love?

[The Power of People]

Acceptance and the Path of Destiny

The beautiful countenance of purpose and reason embrace the path of

journeymen engaged in the work of constructing life. The pain is that

of birth, the weathering of "be coming's" storm, the clasping of

evolution's coattail; bravely enduring the whirlwind.

 

Excerpt: A Chinese Kid Named Santiago

Stay True

Do what you are.

The slipping of purpose makes moments worthless.

As pieces of self, sink into obscurity.

Maturity is found in the warrior's ways.

Stoke the blaze in one's heart.

Be true to you.

Walk the rhythm found within your chest.

For the best, rests in this sacred space.

Star Spangled

Beautiful thing I'll make you sing in the deepest of night till dawn's early light. For gleam of the chrome had shown bright, from the barrel of the pen friend of the wise and revolutionary alike...

[The Power of People]

The Highest Meditation

The highest meditation is the relationship we build with others. Harmonize with life.

[The Power of People]

Internal Drive

"We can let circumstances rule us or we can take charge and rule our lives from within." Earl Nightingale

[The Power of People]

The Little Things

Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.

- Vincent van Gogh

[The Power of People]

Marathon Man

The pace of excellence is a marathon long in duration yet far reaching in its impact

Keep intact the passion that fuels change

Let not the steady dance of time and circumstance circumvent the good one oft might get

If only one where to commit and remain resolute though out the entirety of the pursuit

For to stand undeterred even when one's doubts are stirred is the key to success…

Transform the self

We see that if there is to be any real change in the world - and there must be a real change - then you and I as individuals will have to transform ourselves. Unless there is a radical change in each one of us, life becomes an endless imitation, ultimately leading to boredom, frustration, and hopelessness.

J. Krishnamurti

Collected Works, Vol. XI - 172

[The Power of People]

The Attitude of Gratitude

The silence was almost piercing in my hotel room. I sat composing this thought in the path of a rapidly approaching dawn. Yet strangely enough, fatigue did not overtake my senses. My thoughts ran wild as I contemplated this and that, mostly however I deliberated upon the topic of gratitude. It amazed me how people with so much against them can still find the strength to push on and conversely for others even the smallest of inconveniences can send their worlds into a tailspin. It is truly a perplexing phenomenon; however, I am not without clues as to why this happens. My most significant clue is the role that gratitude plays in how life's circumstances impact a person's life.

It has often seemed to me to be a bit cliché to think that our mindsets control our prospects. A poetic way to say this inspired by your favorite self-help book (pick one any one) is "what we think the world to be, we will surely see". Over the past few months, I have come to appreciate this viewpoint and I believe that this outlook hinges on the attitude of gratitude. If a person even in the depths of difficulty and trouble can still identify the blessings that are in his or her possession one's mind is allowed to be focused on those blessings. Our strength resides in our blessings, whether they are skills that we have, or a roof over our heads, a supportive family. In creating a better life for ourselves, we can only do that from a position of strength.

Whatever we have to be thankful for we must acknowledge it through gratitude so that we can create a solid foundation from which to stand. The drawbacks of life never disappear we just do not allow them to monopolize our awareness. Our focus is like prime real estate; reserved only for constructive and positive thoughts. Thoughts, which allow us to build the life, we truly desire should be at the forefront of our minds.

[The Power of People]

Dealing With Fear

what the world needs is human beings who are free, who are creative, who have no fear. And most of us are ridden with fear. If you can go profoundly into fear and really understand it, you will come out with innocency, so that your mind is clear. That is what we need, and that is why it is very important to understand how to look at a fact, how to look at your fear. That is the whole problem - not how to get rid of fear, not how to be courageous, not what to do about fear, but to be fully with the fact.

J. Krishnamurti
The Collected Works, Vol. XI - 349

[The Power of People]

Attention and Seriousness

Are you anything in yourself? Strip yourself of your name, title, money, position, your little capacity to write a book and be flattered - and what are you? So why not realize and be that?

You see, we have an image of what it is to be nothing, and we don't like that image; but the actual fact of being nothing, when you have no image, may be entirely different. And it is entirely different. It is not a state that can be realized in terms of being nothing or of being something. It is entirely different when there is no image of yourself.

And to have no image of yourself demands tremendous attention, tremendous seriousness. It is only the attentive, the serious, that live, not the people who have images of themselves.

-Krishnamurti

[The Power of People]

Humanity

Theories & goals of education don't matter a whit if you don't consider your students to be human beings.
-Lou Ann Walker

[The Power of People]

Trying to be something else

The very awareness of what is is a liberative process. So long as we are unaware of what we are and are trying to become something else, so long will there be distortion and pain. The very awareness of what I am brings about transformation and the freedom of understanding.

J. Krishnamurti
The Collected Works, Vol. IV - 75

[The Power of People]

Love What You Are Studying

The what is is what you are, not what you would like to be; it is not the ideal because the ideal is fictitious, but it is actually what you are doing, thinking, and feeling from moment to moment. What is is the actual, and to understand the actual requires awareness, a very alert, swift mind. But if we begin to condemn what is, if we begin to blame or resist it, then we shall not understand its movement. If I want to understand somebody, I cannot condemn him - I must observe, study him. I must love the very thing I am studying.

J Krishnamurti

[The Power of People]

Do the Hard Things

As I have been contemplating the struggles that all of us go through in life, I am reminded of this powerful quote by Albert E. N. Gray:

“The successful person has the habit of doing things failures don’t like to do. They don’t like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose.”

-Dr. Stephen Covey

[The Power of People]

Silence is the Real Dance

My dance is all motion without, all silence within. As much as I love to make music, it’s the unheard music that never dies. And silence is my real dance, though it never moves.

-Michael Jackson

[The Power of People]

Constant Vigilance

The legendary swordsman Miyamoto Mushashi often spoke of courage brought about by one's convictions. Living by the courage of one's convictions also includes respecting one's mission and purpose. Lack of fidelity to one's path manifests in weaknesses of will such as apathy and complacency. Perhaps constant vigilance is the only way to address this challenge...

[The Power of People]

Is it possible to look at the problem comprehensively, wholly?

The more we think over a problem, the more we investigate, analyse, and discuss it, the more complex it becomes. So is it possible to look at the problem comprehensively, wholly? How is this possible? Because that, it seems to me, is our major difficulty. Our problems are being multiplied - there is imminent danger of war, there is every kind of disturbance in our relationships - and how can we understand all that comprehensively, as a whole? Obviously, it can be solved only when we can look at it as a whole - not in compartments, not divided. When is that possible? Surely, it is only possible when the process of thinking - which has its source in the 'me', the self, in the background of tradition, of conditioning, of prejudice, of hope, of despair - has come to an end. Can we understand this self, not by analysing, but by seeing the thing as it is, being aware of it as a fact and not as a theory - not seeking to dissolve the self in order to achieve a result but seeing the a
ctivity of the self, the 'me', constantly in action? Can we look at it, without any movement to destroy or to encourage? That is the problem, is it not? If, in each one of us, the centre of the 'me' is non-existent, with its desire for power, position, authority, continuance, self-preservation, surely our problems will come to an end.

-J. Krishnamurti

The First and Last Freedom - 112

[The Power of People]

Midnight Meditations

Meditating upon the fact that maybe the expert label is a bit limiting. This designation is based upon the assumption that one knows, in a definitive unchanging sense. Life is far from this but rather is ever changing. Perhaps it's more empowering to think of oneself as an earnest seeker, constantly evolving and growing. This alignment would entail much less preassure to uphold a shallow image.

[The Power of People]

Walk the Talk

It's been a long week. I find myself faced with the challenge of designing multiple leadership development programs. It's funny how what I am teaching and researching will help me achieve this large task. Doctor heal thyself...

[The Power of People]

Let Go

When things don't seem to go my way, I let go of my idea of how they should be, trusting that I may not be aware of the big picture.

-Deepak Chopra

[The Power of People]