Joelle K. Jay

best of the blog

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Best of the Blog: July Edition

It’s always funny how fast the summer months fly by. Between work travel and family vacation it’s easy to blink and find yourself surrounded by fall! In the spirit of the first practice I outline in The Inner Edge, it’s important to get clarity before we transition into something new – in this case, August. By taking a look back at some of the lessons we’ve already learned we can fully process them and take them forward with us.

In the book I also note that in order to get clarity we first must explore the answers. Following that sentiment, let’s explore some of the answers we’ve discussed on this blog over the last month:

 

How to find what kind of gift you want to be. In “Leading on the Edge: A Quick ‘How To’” I offer a definition of what personal leadership is, and give a few quick tips on how to lead in a way that uses your own unique strengths, or “gifts.” Essentially, as a leader you have many gifts to offer. The real gift you have to give is yourself. What kind of a gift do you want to be?

 

Spreading your enthusiasm to your team. You’ve begun to tackle personal leadership, and you’re feeling more motivated than ever. So how do you spread that motivation to your team of employees? In “3 Ways to Extend Your Inspiration to the Rest of Your Team and Employees” I offer three unique ways to get the initiative going. The first method I mention is perfect for summer as we tackle summer reading lists: start a book club. If you’re reading a leadership book that’s inspiring you, why not invite your team to read a chapter with you each week? You can meet to discuss important takeaways and brainstorm on ways to apply what you’re reading. In The Inner Edge there are specific exercises included with each chapter – why not invite everyone to participate?

 

Learn from a leader, ways to be more engaged in your work. I shared an interview I conducted with the wonderful Stephen M.R. Covey, who says that there are direct economic rewards that go along with functioning in a “high trust environment.” Learn more about what he means, and how you can cultivate that kind of environment in the workplace, from Why Leaders are Losing the Love and How to Get it Back: An Interview with Stephen M.R. Covey.

 

 

I hope this exploration of June gives you the clarity you need to take on August! Check back weekly for more leadership practices, tips, and more.

 

You can connect with Joelle on Twitter and Facebook.

 

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Best of the Blog: June Edition

As I resume blogging again I want to move forward with a new initiative: a “Best of the Blog” round-up for each month. Putting a practice from The Inner Edge to good use, it is my hope that the monthly round-up will help you embody the eigth practice I outline – to keep learning! We’re often so innundated with information that it becomes difficult to absorb the information we read in any given day, or even week or month.

Jack Welch said: “Good leaders are, by definition, voracious learners.”

So in the spirit of learning and leading, read on for five key takeaways from the blog over the last few months:

 

How to lead from within. From the post “5 Practices for Leading from Within,” I shared five practices from The Inner Edge that you can use to lead well and live well, too. In short, the practices are to help leaders find clarity to determine what both short-term and long-term success looks like; to find focus in order to keep your attention on the action items that are top priority when it comes to achieving that success; to take effective action so that you can determine what action items are best to tackle in a day instead of spinning your wheels all day; to tap into your own brilliance in order to not only find out what your unique strengths are, but to find out what practices will bring out those strengths; and to feel fulfillment in a way that enriches your life, and allows you to discover and take responsibility for your own gifts.

 

What is your identity as a leader? In “Identification, Please?” I list many types of leaders, and ask you to be honest with yourself to identity what you can take away from each type. The types include: A business or corporate leader, a professional leader, a community leader, a family leader, an inspiration leader, a thought leader, an action leader, and the leader of your own life. What makes you powerful is developing the image of who you want to be as a leader. The leadership types will help you to sharpen your focus to find out which type of leader you are, and the leader you want to become.

 

Find out what “the secret wish” is. One of my favorite questions to ask clients is: “What is your secret wish?” In the post “The Secret Wish,” I share an exercise to help you find out exactly what your secret wish is. Simply open a spare notebook, turn the page and reflect. Anything is possible. Think about it. Write about it. Dream. Some wishes are easier to grant than others. Simply stating that wish can be enough to help you hone in on what you need to do to make it a reality, even within the same day. Others can take several years to come true, and some never do. But more often than not, just saying the words aloud makes them come alive.

 

How to have it all by defining your “all.” In “Having It All” I expose one of the surefire ways to have it all: find out what your “all” is! So many people ask if it’s possible to have it all. Some people say yes, some people say no. To me, it’s the wrong question altogether. To me, the answer to the question, “Is it possible to have it all?” is not yes or no. It’s simply: “Do you know what your ‘all’ is?” If you can clearly define your “all” in a way that is grounded, realistic, and optimistic, most likely you can have it. If you define your “all” as some unattainable ideal that amounts to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, then you might not. In the post I lead with an exercise to help you define your “all.”

 

Open up to the spirit of possibility. In “The Spirit of Possibility” I help you channel your own potential and infinite possibility. The only way to know what those are is to trust in more intuitive ways of knowing, being and becoming who you want to be – not just by working your life away, but by learning to wish, hope, think, pray, and be in a different kind of way. Author William Bloom, a meditation master and expert in the field of holistic development, offers a helpful definition of spirituality as “that whole reality and dimension which is bigger, more creative, more loving, more powerful, more visionary, more wise, more mysterious – than materialistic daily human existence.”

 

 

Leaders are busy, and usually the way we read when we’re busy is the first time we skim, the second time we form an opinion, and the third time we really take in what we read. Let this round-up be your quick guide to learning, and leading, well as we move into July!

 

 

You can connect with Joelle on Twitter and Facebook.