Leadership Light Now

Clear Thinking..

2011-07-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

Nothing sharpens ones thinking like danger or the threat of it. Americans then, should be thinking quite clearly. For, as in Alice's Wonderland, it seems that danger hovers as near as the next breath. The planet is warming, the economy has collapsed, and not even riches can save one from the deadly disease du jour..

But consider the emphasis we place on the problem compared to the whole picture: Yes, climate is changing, and our late acceptance of the fact has focused American ingenuity on ways to harness cleaner sources of fuel and electricity. Yes, the economy from which we are emerging violently shook the pillars of the capitalistic system we support and that shaking revealed the fissures in a system where the needs of humans and capital were grossly out of balance.; we can fix it. And yes, changes in science, technology, media, and laws have fostered an explosion of new disease awareness, and simultaneously, Americans have increased their knowledge of the mental causes of disharmony and disease and the natural, medative and restorative tools for destroying them.

We are able to choose what to emphasize in our thinking. That choice directly determines where we focus our time and attention. Tomorrow will reflect the fruit of each choice we make today. If we choose to see the uncertainty and danger of the present moment as an opportunity for loving, courageous action, our clear thinking will lead us to create a healthier, saner and more genuinely prosperous America .

Who Owns You?

2010-11-26T21:26:00.000-08:00

As a child, I often heard the question, "Who do you belong to?" It was asked by my grandmother and always launched me into a warm feeling of love and permanence. She would hold me close to her warm body and gently hug me when asking the question. I would always hug her back and say, "I'm your little girl," then squeeze her as tight as my little arms would let me.

But I am no longer a child, and chances are, neither are you. Nonetheless, the question is as valid as ever. Posed to an adult, the implications of the question are much broader; it encompasses who or what you allow to control your spiritual identity, who influences your thinking as a citizen of the world, and whether you think of yourself as a world citizen at all.

If we don't examine the "who owns us question," how can we understand the good and the evil tendencies in ourselves; and if we cannot understand ourselves, how can we control ourselves? And without self-control, we have no discipline over our appetites, fears, hopes, thoughts, and behavior. An undisciplined person is easily manipulated.

Human beings are not made to be puppets, we are made to think and feel and love and create. But what you think and how you feel and whom you love and what you create depends on your answer to this question, "Who owns you?"

I hope you will give this question honest thought. You are invited to share your insights here.

Leaders Use Now to Its Best Advantage.

2010-10-14T22:41:00.000-07:00

I was feeling apprehensive about the coming elections. How would the steady diet of fear that American people have consumed since September 11, 2002 show up in this next round of elections? Would the constant bombardment of negative campaigning have its desired effect - disgusting the majority of voters to the point that they would stay away from the polls, giving the minority of voters the elected seats needed to impose their will on the majority of citizens?

The phone rang and it was my Congressman, with a recorded message telling me that I would be connected ot a live teleconference. I could ask questions of him or just listen in. I almost hung up - I had no time to listen or participate. But I changed my mnd. Wasn't this what democracy required? To have government of the people, by the people and for the people, don't busy people have to make time for leadership? So I put the phone on speaker, and I listened to my neighbors speak their minds. We should tax imported oil, said a man who lost his gasoline service station business; we should be ashamed of the low level of performance of our school children compared with others in the world; why couldn't elected people figure out how to get along with each other? My Congressman listened to each constituent and without ever pretending to know exactly what they were feeling, he responded as honestly as possible... there are international trade agreements to consider, but no one has ever made that suggestion to me before; I voted to take money from one educational opportunity and put it in one we hope will be more effective, balancing priorities and making these decisions is hard; who you send to Congress matters, 3 good democrats and 3 good republicians can sit in a room together and work out almost anything...his voice trailed off there.

The one hour call felt like 15 minutes. I'd been inspired by the promise of democracy. I began to look forward to the campaign work I had signed up for - it was a joy, not a duty. I and you have this election, we have now. We are one nation bound together by the greatest piece of poliltical literature ever penned, the US Constitution. If we value our freedoms, our commitment to each other and our leadership, we the people can each use NOW to its best advantage. We can each educate ourselves and others on issues and candidates. We can work to heal our nation by refusing to give in to fear or apathy. We can vote.

President Obama Speaks on Critical American Issues.

2010-09-17T16:30:00.000-07:00

The United States of America faces many critical issues-the economy, educational failures, immigration reform, and skeptical citizens. Yet, the lack of willingness of Republican leaders to work with Democratic leaders may be the problem most urgently in need of solution. President Obama articulates the cost of this "cooperation gap" in his speech to Hispanic leadership at the 33rd Annual Awards Gala of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.

All Americans have the opportunity to encourage their elected officials to work cooperatively with their colleagues on behalf of the American public.

See the clip here:

http://cspan.org/Watch/Media/2010/09/15/HP/A/38202/Pres+Obama+Remarks+at+Congressional+Hispanic+Caucus+Institute+Awards+Ceremony.aspx

Travel Observations.

2010-09-05T22:10:00.000-07:00

Traveling in Asia and noticing that appreciation, gratitude and love are universal ice breakers. I would like to hear from you on your observations of these three traits. How have you found them to affect human interactions and leadership.

New Beginning for Leadership Light Now.

2010-08-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,

Welcome to a new Leadership Light Now. After a year of regular posts and a second one of fits and starts, I've returned to this medium with which I have a love-hate relationship, because it is effective. And, although I have looked, I find little in today's electronic media world encouraging dialogue on the critical topic of Leadership. Leadership, especially courageous and intelligent leadership, matters.

The new Leadership Light Now will be a monthly blog, published the first week of each month. It will focus on leaders and leadership qualities. Starting now,we will also include stories about leaders and how their lives affect yours. I hope you enjoy the new format. Sign up for RSS and you will automatically receive notification of new posts. I want your well-researched stories and encourage your comments and suggestions. Thanks to those off-line friends who encouraged this new beginning.

The August posting is an essay by writer and professor Elaine Clift in celebration of the leaders whose just stuggle gave American women the right to vote. Enjoy, share, evolve.

REMEMBERING THE WOMEN WHO BROUGHT US THE VOTE

August marks an important anniversary. Ninety years ago, on August 26, the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote was signed into law. This momentous event – passage of the Susan B. Anthony Amendment – followed ratification by Tennessee, the last state needed to ratify, on August 18. That state’s ratification came only after one young man, who held the make-or-break vote, received a note from his mother before he entered the state house to cast his vote. His mother told him she wanted him to be a good boy and do the right thing. At the eleventh hour, he changed his vote from Nay to Yeah. The rest, as they say, is history.

However, only a few people know what it took to get that vote. Some know that Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, with the help of many other active, brave women, gave much of their lives to women’s enfranchisement. They know that the struggle began in 1848 when the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, NY. They know that after the Civil War black men could vote but women couldn’t and that abolition trumped women’s suffrage as a political priority. They may even know that Susan B. Anthony was arrested for voting in 1872 and was denied a trial by jury. A year later, after losing her case, she refused to pay her fines and the matter was dismissed.

Some people know that both Anthony and Stanton, along with all the other pioneering women who worked with them, went to their graves without having achieved the one simple success they sought. They know that Alice Paul formed the National Woman’s Party in 1916. But they may not know that 500 women were arrested for protesting at the White House as “Sentinels of Liberty.” They never heard the stories of the 168 women who went to prison simply because they wanted to be counted as full-fledged citizens of the country in which they’d been born. Here are some of those first-hand accounts:

“The guards fell upon us. I saw Miss Lincoln, a slight young girl, thrown to the floor. Mrs. Nolan a delicate old lady of 73, was mastered by two men. … The whole group of women were thrown, dragged and hurled down the steps. I was thrown, with four others, in a cell with a narrow bed and dirty blankets.”

“The men were not in uniform. They looked as much like tramps as anything. … Mrs. Lewis said we demanded to be treated as political prisoners. Whittaker said, ‘You shut up! I have men here glad handle you. Seize her!’ … We were rushed into a large room with brick dungeons on each side. Mine was filthy; it had no window save a little slit at the top and no furniture but a sheet-iron bed and an open toilet flushed from outside the cell.”

“I saw Dorothy Day brought in. Two men were twisting her arms above her head. Then suddenly they lifted her up and banged her down over the arm of an iron bench, twice. One of the men yelled, ‘The bloody suffrager! I’ll put you through hell!’ … Mrs. Lewis, doubled over and handled like a sack or something, was literally thrown in by two men. Her head struck the iron bed and she fell. We thought she was dead. … We were told by the guard not to dare to speak or we would be put in straight-jackets.”

“Alice Paul is in the psychopathic ward. She dreaded forcible feeding frightfully, and I hate to think how she must be feeling. I had a nervous time of it, gasping a long time afterward, and my stomach rejecting during the process.”

All this grotesque suffering just for the right to vote.

Some states yielded. First came Wyoming, then Colorado, Utah and Idaho before the turn of the century, followed by Washington, California and others in the early 20th century. (It is noteworthy that all these states were west of the Mississippi, where women were pioneering alongside their husbands.) But state-by-state victories were not enough. So Alice Paul began organizing, modeling her work on the suffragists of Great Britain. She and her followers managed to embarrass President Woodrow Wilson, which is partly why they were subjected to torture in filthy jails run by sadists.

Just for the right to vote.

When the country went to war in 1917 women participated actively in America’s war effort. It was impossible to continue denying them the vote. But it took another fifty years or more for women to begin to make inroads toward becoming legislators themselves. Today that struggle continues as we strive for parity in our parliament.

On the occasion of this 70th anniversary, I honor Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage, the Grimke sisters, Carrie Chapman Catt, Alice Paul, and all the lesser known women who made women’s enfranchisement a reality.

And I shudder to know that still, some women don’t vote.

# # #

Elayne Clift writes about women, politics and social issues from Saxtons River, Vt.

Leading Myself From Fear to Confidence.

2010-01-24T19:03:00.000-08:00

The news that the Supreme Court of the United States had voted to allow corporations to donate to political campaigns aroused such anger in me that I had to look closely at what lay beneath that emotion. I waded through disgust asking myself, "How could the justices who were sworn to uphold the US Constitution have so little respect for that magnificent document as to treat a corporation as a "person," a homosapien, with morals and life?" Next I found frustration, "What is wrong with our system that we would elect members of Congress who would put such dead people on the Supreme Court?" At the bottom of my anger, I found fear. Fear that the corruption so rampant in the US political system would only worsen now that cowardly humans could hide behind the corporate shield and make donations to political candidates and parties. Fear that the magnificent promise of a free people governing themselves would be destroyed by 5 little people on the Supreme Court. Fear that more men and women would be sacrificed as corporate soldiers in needless wars cynically cloaked in powerful words like "freedom."

For two days I could hardly sleep, my appetite became erratic and vascellated between a craving for asparagus and no hunger at all. I fretted that a cynical minority of self-serving people would succeed in completely turning American citizens off to voting by funding confusing, antagonsitic political campaigns or that they would succeed in confusing those who did vote, or that elected officials would ultimately be totally beholden to corporate interests and the effect of individual human voices would be lost because no honest person would be able to afford to campaign for public office.

Sunday came and as I sat in church I heard these words:

"There is only Love. God is love and nothing else is real." Slowly I felt my shoulders relax. The knot in my stomach began to unwind. I prayed to feel the truth of those words. Gradually, the fear and the chatter in my mind eased. I began to recognize the wisdom of the founders of the US. They, having lived under the control of economically powerful rulers who were unaccountable to the people, had designed a system that placed the liberty of the individual human being into the hands of a government made of human representatives elected from among the people. In the US, no one would assume the right to govern by reason of wealth, power, or birthright. To assure the continuation of this new kind of government, the founders had created a three level system of checks and balances. The President could not govern without the Congress and the Court. The Court could be overruled by the Congress and the rules of the Congress could be tried in Court. Although imperfect, those founders set up a system that people all over the world have adopted. The strength of the entire system rests with a population of people driven by the spirit of love for the right of each person to be self-governing and free. Because of this, the Constitution of the United States of America has withstood 200 years of attempts by would be "kings" to weaken or destroy it. As I let myself feel the love that led my family and friends and thousands of others to sacrifice their lives and limbs in defense of the Constitution written for human beings, I felt fear transform into confidence.

Americans must now join together to fight for their right to self-government. It is not a war of blood but of truth over error. We are not Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Greens, Libertarians, or anything else. We are Americans first. And we are human beings. WE, not corporations, are the US Government. We must not be timid, or turned away by digust, or made to ignore our responsibility to let our elected members of the US Congress know that we expect them to introduce legislation that states clearly that "The word "people or person" in the Constitution of the United States of America is defined as human beings, homosapiens, and specifically excludes corporations and other organizations and entities."

As the Preamble to the Constitution states,

"We the people, (not corporations) of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, enusre domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves (human beings) and our posterity (children, also human), do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Don't let America be stolen by corporate interests. Let your local newspaper, your mayor, your state representatives, and your congressional representatives know that we are people of love and respect , that the government is our responsibility and that we will not tolerate the corporate takeover of the USA.

Present Moment Leadership

2009-12-11T15:28:00.000-08:00

An elderly man pushed his wheelchair-bound companion around the plaza. They laughed often and every once in a while he stopped to pucker his lips and kiss her forehead. I deliberately crossed the Plaza Mayor a dozen times in 3 hours, drawn by the intense aliveness in their old bodies.

On the long walk back to my hotel, under the bright light of the full-round-Spanish moon, I reflected on the magic of that couple. Finallly, I understood: they did not argue about yesterday and did not seem to be planning for later on. Instead they listened and touched and lived deliberately in the only moment they had for certain, the present.

Their example caused me to look closely at myself...and as a result, I am changing my ways. I am buying less stuff and walking more. I am sharing gratitude and spreading good news. It is better for the planet, for me, and for my community.

I invite you to share your leadership examples here during this holiday season.

Food Leadership

2009-11-16T12:30:00.000-08:00

Eating a grape that came as nature made it, full of two or three tiny seeds, I suddenly recalled the seedless white grapes that I usually buy in the stores in the US. I thought about a video I saw recently on genetically modified corn. This corn had been altered to prevent it from reseeding itself. Without their seeds, fruits and grains do not reproduce. That means that individuals, including farmers, have to purchase new seed or plants each season. Therefore, the person or corporation controlling the seed, controls the plant and the availability of food. It is not hard to imagine the global scale consequences of a food supply based on seedless grain and fruits.

You and I can make a difference. Let us consciously purchase fruits with their seeds inside. Yes, a seedless grape or melon is easier to serve and eat in the short run. But next time you have a choice, choose fruits that contain the fantastic seeds of life. Likewise, ask your grocer to stock only products containing non-genetically modified corn, wheat and soy. Exercising food leadership will help ensure a healthier, more productive life for all of us.

Invitation.

2009-10-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

Are you an environmental leader or are you lagging behind a bit? Which and why?

In recent weeks I have met small business owners who have taken aggressive action to reduce their use of gasoline and electricity, doing their part to reduce green house gas emissions.

I have met parents who know they should do something but are waiting until they can answer the question "what is in it for me?"

I have also met people who think global warming is a joke. All have reasons for doing what they do.

I invite you to participate in a non-judgmental dialogue on global warming and other environmental topics that may be on your mind.

There is only one rule:

Express your views in a way that is respectful of everyone else. That means without name-calling, profanity, or other inappropriate remarks.

Global Climate Change.

2009-10-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

In the time of Columbus, most people believed the earth was flat. They were wrong.

Today, many people believe Global Climate Change is unreal. They are wrong.

Learn more, free. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/earthandsun/climate_change.html

and become an advocate for right information in your community.

Then post your experience on this blog so that others can follow your example.

Leaders Conquer Fear by Taking Action.

2009-08-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

Your heart is racing, you cool hands are clammy, and sweat drips down your armpits like water from a leaky faucet. Perhaps you feel a headache or nausea coming on. You are afraid. Maybe the problem is too much month and not enough money; maybe it is a new task at work, or perhaps your teenager just told you she is pregnant. The first step in regaining self control is to recognize the fear; just say to yourself, "I am aware of feeling afraid." Then take a few deep breaths and say,"I am aware that I am not the fear and the fear is not me." Remind yourself, "I am in harmony with life and adequate to this situation." By a few simple actions to control your thoughts, you will be on your way to conquering fear and making room for creative learning and constructive problem solving.

In the book, "Who Dares Wins: The Green Beret Way to Conquer Fear and Succeed," author Bob Mayer says, "Fear is the number one barrier that keeps you rooted in the mundane and ordinary." You deserve to live free, to embrace challenges and see the opportunity in every appearance of adversity. Such living is not wishful thinking, it is choice. Leaders conquer fear by taking action; you are a leader. Correct your outlook to activate the power within you.

I invite you to share your experience with other readers on this blog.

Step Up to Democracy.

2009-08-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

"Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country."

John F. Kennedy's words reverberate in my mind as I consider health care coverage for those without it and our collective exploitation of the air, water, gound and each other for selfish gain. Democracy, in its highest sense, requires each of us to act not out of individual interest but out of a desire to promote the common good.

I feel as if all of the people of the developed world stand at the same crossroad; we are wondering if we dare silence the little "me" and embrace the larger "we." Individually we feel afraid to ask what we can do for our country or the world because we know the answer leads to the unfamilar ground of collective good. If I don't share with you, there appears to be more for me. Yet deep inside we know that when one is in need, all are in need. When one is unsafe, all are unsafe. When one is hungry, all are in danger of hunger. I don't need three slices of bread when two are quite enough and you will divide your one into four.

The call of the forefathers and foremothers is strong. I must stand up for you. The cost will be high and I may pass through death enroute to eternal life without seeing the fruit. Yet I know that the selfless spirit of the republic lives in the beating heart of human beings and not on the balance sheet of organizations.

What I can do for my country is give time that I do not have to leaders who may not listen as I voice my vote for your health, our planet, and our collective good.

What can you do? You are welcome to share your thoughts here.

Leading Change.

2009-07-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

My mother said, "While we are sleeping, eating, and passing gas, our country is being stolen from us." She referred to the non-American ownership of her favorite restaurants and food stores, specifically, the Japanese ownership of Carrow's Family Restaurants and the British ownership of Fresh & Easy, a neighborhood grocery store.

Like many Americans, my 79 year old mother wants most of her expenditures to help American businesses during these strained economic times. What she did not realize is that foreign-owned companies are usually indistinguishable from home grown businesses. However, by changing her shopping and dining habits, she can be sure her money supports and strengthens domestic companies. So can you.

1. Dine at a neighborhood coffee shop or restaurant that is not part of a chain. If you are unsure, ask.

2. Purchase fresh fruits and veggies from a local farmer's market whenever possible and ask your grocer to stock locally grown produce and meat and dairy products from independently owned farms.

3. Choose to spend your money with the small, independent businesses in your neighborhood. Pay your local tailor to refurbish a suit or mend a sweater rather than buying a new one from a large department store.

A personal story: I recently took an oil painting to my neighborhood 1-man art store for an estimate of the charge to make a mat and frame. He quoted me $230. I saved the money and had him do the work. The job is beautiful and higher quality than a chain would provide. That is not all. I learned that during the economic downturn, this framer (a Columbian native now American citizen) had considered closing his little shop. Instead, he decided to see if he could generate new business by mentoring and providing exhibit space for emerging local artists. Six months later, his tiny storefront business is growing, he holds regular art shows featuring local artists and established customers now look to him for artistic recommendations as well as for framing. Our community is enriched.

You can strengthen your community and the economy one thoughtful purchase at a time.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu

Tiny Step Leadership.

2009-06-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

The smallest effort matters when fueled by unselfish love.

A photographer is teaching low income, neglected kids how to see through the eyes of a camera. Himself without adeqate income, healthcare access and the food many of us take for granted, he works with passion, love keeps him full.

A writer/psychologist offers to put stories to photos of Cuban-American families separated by a US policy that narrowly defines family and limits visits to family members living in Cuba to once every three years, no exceptions. She does not charge the photographer. She writes from love and compassion.

A sociology professor is funded by his university to do a project on families. He unselfishly invites the writer/psychologist to share his grant and deepens the study of the families.

A project, called "Love, Loss and Longing" is born. Its brief stories and candid pictures of families torn asunder by heartless politics becomes a memorable tool in the Latin American Working Group and the Washington Office on Latin America's efforts to end the policy.

In tiny leadership steps repeated all across the United States, individuals write their elected officials, write to their newspapers, educate themselves and others about the US policy on Cuban American families. One by one, drip by drip, the voices make a difference.

Now, for the first time in four years, a jetliner flies directly from Los Angeles International Airport to Havana. Americans anxious to visit their family members living in Cuba can.

New political leadership in Washington, D.C. recognized that keeping family members apart was wrong. But the willingness to act on that awareness came at the end of a long line of tiny leadershp actions taken by individuals driven by love.

Always remember, you matter and your smallest leadership steps make a difference.

Would you share your story of a tiny step in leadership ?

Leadership; one man's definition

2009-06-18T17:00:00.000-07:00

Listen to this! Leadership is selfless.

Health Care Leadership in the US

2009-06-03T17:52:00.000-07:00

Placing patient care above profits is the secret of organizations like the Mayo Clinic. This New York Times article provides excellent examples of leadership in a field too often populated by a lack of self-governance.

Annals of Medicine
The Cost Conundrum
What a Texas town can teach us about health care.
by Atul Gawande June 1, 2009
Read the article in the New Yorker Magazine on-line at:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande?currentPage=all

McAllen Texas is one of the most expensive health-care markets in the country. In 2006, Medicare spent fifteen thousand dollars per enrollee there, more than the per person income of the population. The people were not more healthy and the healthcare was no match for places like the Mayo Clinic where costs are significantly less.. Author Atul Gawande went to see why and identified the difference -- extraordinary leadership at the Mayo Clinics and other leading health care centers.

See the difference that putting people first makes. Consider how you can apply these lessons in your own community, business, or profession.

About Leadership Light Now!

2009-05-08T12:33:00.000-07:00

A year and a quarter ago, when I began this blog I envisioned lively discussions on critical leadership traits, values, and dilemmas happening in this space. That vision burns more brightly than ever because the need for loving, enlightened leadership is great -- in our homes and communities and in the world outside. Therefore, after a 4 month sabatical, Leadership Light Now! is back.

Over the next 12 months, where should we focus our discussion?

1. Self leadership -This is the year to wrestle our petty human personality to the ground and allow our creative, generous, courageous spiritual personality to take charge of our thoughts, words and actions.
2. Environmental leadership - The men and women who help enlighten our thoughts and actions about the planet we inhabit have leadership lessons to teach us all.
3. Civil government leadership - Government of the people, by the people, and for the people is at a crossroads no less critical than that of our physical environment. We have a lot to learn from past and current leaders in the ongoing struggle for self rule and economic vitality.

Take the survey at the right side of this page and let me know what you think. Share this blog with your friends and please, take time to post your comments.

Lead yourself to becoming a person you admire.

2009-01-22T15:56:00.000-08:00

The inaguaration of Barak H. Obama as the 44th President of the USA, provided people around the world a chance to consider the value of personal vision and a tireless commitment to achieving it . In the words of American psychologist David Viscott, "You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be." And, to paraphrase the Spanish writer Antonio Porchia, "When you have given everything, you must give more."

In 2009 you can become the person you admire. To start leading yourself forward, imagine the qualities your ideal person would express and how they would express them. Ask yourself questions like:
How would an ideal person express love?
What role models would they study?
What kinds of thoughts might occupy their mind?
Come up with questions of your own and imagine the answers.

Look for role models in your life and in books. Mentally picture yourself showing the qualities you admire in your daily experience. Practice actually being the kind of person you admire and want to become. Be gentle with yourself and practice all the time.

I will see you among history's outstanding human beings.

Achieve Your Dreams Through Self Leadership in 2009.

2009-01-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2009. Let's work together to help you dream large and accomplish that which you imagine this year. There is every reason why you can achieve good...the key is in self leadership. So, whether your work is business leader, political leader, mother-leader, father-leader or any other leader, check here regularly and do the things I suggest and you will recognize your dreams and lead yourself their achievment.

1. Sit in your favorite position, quietly and alone for at least two minutes. Think of a spiritual leader of the present or past. Imagine yourself and that person face-to-face in the silence. What qualities in you would that spiritual person see and feel? What would you want them to feel and see?

Do this exercise once a day until next week. Keep track of what you experience in a diary, journal, or on tape. Save this record so that you can add to it as you lead yourself to the achievement of your dreams.

Write and share your progress on this blog.

Leadership by Example.

2008-12-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

Example leadership is motivating. When a leader allows his or her life to become the message, others notice and follow. Have you noticed that this is true for businesses as well as individuals? Which leaders do you see practicing leadership by example?

Gratitude: A sign of leadership.

2008-11-27T08:18:00.000-08:00

When a person looks you in the eyes and expresses heartfelt gratitude, you know you are with a person who has leadership qualities.

Gratitude says, "I freely admit that I did not accomplish this alone and I appreciate your work."

Giving thanks to another requires the surrender of personal ego and the ability to see others receive credit and praise.

What other sure signs of leadership have you noticed?

Leading Ourselves to Health.

2008-11-20T09:18:00.000-08:00

If the natural state of the human body is health, why are we daily bombarded with advertising about illness? Why has health insurance, rather than health itself, become a thing that we worry about? And if worry is just another unhealthful stressor, why don't we step out of this endless circle of error?

Today I begin a one week experiment. I will tear all the ads for medicines, images of sickness or disease, and other such propaganda out of the magazines I read. With each tear, I will declare that I am completely healthy, physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and financially. I will not read or listen to fear-mongering of any sort, whether about the international economy, crime, or any other thing. Instead, I will affirm that the radiant truth love and life is beyond compromise.

Try this experiment with me for seven days. Post your experience here. Let's see if we can lead ourselves to health.

Building Leadership Values.

2008-11-08T18:28:00.000-08:00

If you are a United States citizen and you cast an informed vote on Tuesday, Nov. 4, be proud but don't become complacent. Your vote is your political voice, but your active participation in issues that affect your community, your state, your nation and the world, is a requirement for democracy to succeed. If you are tempted to relax now and "let the government work," resist.

Opportunities to become an effective citizen abound. www.volunteermatch.org matches needs with volunteers. So does www.voa.org (Volunteers of America), and Volunteer International, www.volunteerinternational.org. Artists, teachers, homemakers, engineers, politicians - there is work for every pair of willing hands.

Volunteering helps you develop good leadership values and strengthens your democracy, even if all you can contribute is one hour a week. I invite you to put a post on this blog and let others know what you are doing.

Ageless Self-Leadership.

2008-10-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

Self Leadership is the power to change the world. Why? Because leadership does not happen in isolation; it is one person influencing others who influence still others. But to become an effective leader of others, you must first learn to effectively lead yourself. Self-leadership includes observing yourself, motivating yourself, encouraging and disciplining yourself. You can achieve any ideal through setting the goal, focusing on it, and working intelligently for it, despite personal hardship or ridicule. Self-leaders are able to get up after every fall because they are committed. Here are three examples of ageless self-leadership.

Nelson Mandela, 90 this year, an international statesman who is known for his years-long fight against apartheid in South Africa and for steering the new government through its early years. Personal cost: Exceptionally High. Influence on attitudes and lives of people around the world: Higher. (Info: http://www.nelsonmandela.org/).

Dorothy Green, 79, died this year. Environmental activist in the United States, specifically, California, known for decades-long work to move her state toward a sustainable water future and for educating thousands of people on water issues through the organizations she founded. Personal Cost: High. Influence on lives of people in her state: Higher. (Info: http://www.healthebay.org/; http://www.lasgrwsc/; http://www.c-win.org/ ).

Kiyo Sato, age 85, first memoir (personal story) published this year. "Dandelion through the Crack" is about Sato-family life before, during, and after Poston, a Japanese internment camp in the United States. Personal cost: High. Influence on her family, Sacramento community, Americans of Japanese decent, historians: Higher. (info: http://www.dandelionthroughthecrack.com/).