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June,
2004 Welcome
to Leadership Hand™, a monthly e-newsletter To ensure receipt, please add our e-mail address "Info@" plus our domain name to your e-mail address book. 1. Flying: In the Flow of Well-being When I was in law school my first and only year, there were two activities that allowed me to relax and renew from the intensity: fishing and flying. One day I showed up for a lesson with my Swedish flight instructor. Our plane was a little Cessna that contrasted sharply to training I later did in a Tomahawk. The difference is about as stark as a car with an automatic transmission and power steering, and one with none. The view of Chapel Hill and the land below was pastoral: verdant fields, treetops, and gently rolling land. The sky was clear and blue. White clouds moved quickly across it. There, in the movement of the clouds and there below, a single tree in a field, lay an exciting challenge. "Today we are going to practice turns around a point," she said. It was awkward at first. I was constantly making adjustments circling the tree trying to keep equidistant throughout. As my skill increased, I fell into a rhythm of thinking, feeling and doing that flowed together seamlessly. There was no part of my experience that was un-related--the wind, the ground below, the plane, my instructor beside me, my movements. I had a profound sense of connectedness and ease--time seemed to change, to become fluid. It remains a powerful memory today. We have probably all had experiences like this, most notably when we are engaged in a sport, an art or a hobby. Many people experience them in their professional lives too. We become merged with the task at hand and lose track of time. There is a sense of well-being and wholeness. Mihaly Cskikszentmihalyi (pronounced "Me hi Chi zent' me hi") author of Flow,The Psychology of Optimal Experience, describes the attributes of a flow experience.
Having flow experiences can be a significant contributor to our well-being. Our muscles relax and our heart rate decreases. Our breathing is deeper and our peripheral vision increases. Our body/mind produces happy chemicals as we settle into an engaged, unique place beyond fight or flight. So how do you
bring more of these feelings and benefits into the rest of your
life? Easily. So easily that I can sometimes forget! Before you
go in for that interview or give that performance evaluation or
make that next call, take 30 seconds to remember a flow experience.
(For me and others, the more powerfully remembered experiences are
those in nature…) Imagine being there as fully as possible,
remembering the 'feeling-sense' of well-being and connection, and
what I call an inner smile. Let that carry into your very next conversation.
Try it! You will be surprised how those 30 seconds can Wishing You Much Flow! Beth Hand © Copyright 2007, Beth Hand. Beth Hand, MBA helps leaders increase their effectiveness and satisfaction, now and for the future. She can be reached at (+1) 703.820.8074 or via her website www.leadershiphand.com. 2. Executives in Career Transition If you are an executive in career transition or considering one, come meet other executives from diverse industries, share tips and contacts to speed the transition process and increase your job search effectiveness. Hand Associates
is the host for Execunet executive networking meetings in alliance
with DBM (formerly Drake Beam Morin), a global provider of strategic
HR solutions. If you are living in or traveling to Richmond, Virginia,
check our web site for details www.leadershiphand.com/resources.
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© Copyright 2004, Hand Associates and Beth Hand • All Rights Reserved Hand
Associates, LLC Leadership
Coaching & Development |
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