I have been thinking about passion and its relationship to energy, focus, presence and performance.

Passion is the fuel for spirited and committed action.  Here are 12 questions that help us know if our passion and aspirations are at the proper intersection.

To determine whether your passion matches your aspirations, try these questions.
1. Do I feel strongly about the need for this to happen?
2. Does the idea fit my long-held beliefs, values, and convictions?
3. Have I thought about something like this for a long time?
4. Do I think that this is vital for the future related to the people and things I care about?
5. Do I get excited and energized when I think about it, and convey passion when I talk about it?
6. Am I convinced that this can be accomplished?
7. Am I willing to put my credibility on the line to promise action on it?
8. Am I willing to spend time to sell it and promote it to others who might not understand or support it?
9. Can I make this the focus of my activities?
10. Am I willing to devote personal time, above and beyond organizational time, to see that this happens?
11. Do I feel strongly enough to ignore negativity and stand up for this?
12. Am I committed to seeing this through, over the long haul?

If you have answered yes to most of these questions you are probably ready to align your passion and aspirations!

Continuing our theme of “Leading Self”, we all know a successful business needs a plan in order to succeed. Similarly, in order to manage the multiple demands in our personal and professional lives, we as individuals need a “business plan”— a Personal Life Plan.

This Personal Life Plan, or Total Life Leadership Plan as we commonly refer to it, addresses every aspect of your life and, when properly implemented and monitored can bring great success and joy to your life.

Another way of interpreting the various elements of our work and life can best be described in the wheel of life. The wheel is made up of the basic elements of the average person’s life. Each of these elements demands your attention, time, and energy. In order to feel you are living a fulfilling life, you need to be satisfied with how things are going in the areas that are most important to you. We show the Wheel as being made up of an inner “hub” and an outer “ring.” In the hub are your natural resources.

Physical

Psychological

Values

Or in other words, our Body, Mind and Spirit. How well you maintain these vital resources largely determines what you achieve in your life.

In the outer ring are our choices and challenges. Again, what decisions are you making to “manage” these vital areas of life?

Money

Life Long

Learning

Social

Networks

Career

What can be done to ensure our “natural resources” are well maintained and our choices and challenges reflect our values and our natural talents?

In our L3 leadership model, the three levels rest on the core values of Integrity, Authenticity and Balance.

The first level (L1) is total life leadership, creating personal mastery or YOU, INC. In other words, Leading Self.

Leadership begins with an internal sense of self-confidence, emotional intelligence and balance that brings forth an authentic leadership presence. This “quiet confidence” effortlessly engages followers who will support the leader by offering trust, passion, calculated risk, emotional intelligence, and a host of other supportive attributes that provide high performance and productivity.

This is the basis of L3 at the “Leading Self” level. This notion can perhaps best be understood through a familiar business image—an organizational chart.

Remember Who You Really Report To!!

Successfully leading organizations today requires leaders to transform themselves personally.

What are you seeing in your organizations that is transformational in its nature? How are others accepting the changes and what is the “background noise” accompanying the changes?

If you agree that Leadership is really a “State of Being” much more than it is a position in an organization then it is important to examine the foundation upon which this rests. Our belief and practice supports this assumption.

This state of being reflects your foundation values. It encompasses your vision of the future and your presence in the moment. It is the sum

total of your attitudes and beliefs, actions and values.

More specifically, The L3 model rests on 3 core values that determine how you lead and who will follow.

The foundational elements of the L3 Leadership Model are:

Integrity: The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness.

Authenticity: The quality or condition of being authentic, trustworthy, or genuine.

Balance: A harmonious or satisfying arrangement or proportion of parts or elements of your total life.

Envision your organization as the best place to work, with a highly engaged and productive workforce.

Envision your leaders at all levels aligning to the organization’s vision, mission and values.

Envision leaders, managers, employees, partners and customers building collaborative advantage.

Envision all employees engaged and motivated to reach their highest potential.

Envision… A place where people lead themselves well, build high performance teams,
and create the very best place to work.

At Glowan, we are dedicated to facilitating new leadership thinking for individuals, teams and the organization!