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July,
2009
U.S.
Library of Congress ISSN 1549-893X
Welcome
to Leadership Hand, a monthly e-newsletter
focusing on the softer side of leadership
to increase your effectiveness more quickly and
enjoyably with bottom-line results.
1.
The Spring House
Anne
lives in a beautiful home that is more than 200 years old in a peaceful
area of Pennsylvania. She thinks I come there to visit her but I
really go because I know we'll visit Twin Kiss. We get frozen ice
teas to slurp outside near the stream while watching the deer in
a large pen nearby. The wind rustles in the pines as we take bites
of our white-bread chicken sandwiches. On these days, life is very
simple and rich.
Behind her home
is a spring house with a creek where geese feed and ducks raise
their ducklings. The spring house's creaky-looking door just above
its foundation simply beckoned me to explore. Inside the small room
it was cool and dank. The floor was water with a sand bottom. Minnows
darted and tiny crawdads crawled. Sand roiled gently as water rose
up from the source of the spring.
I bent down
to touch the water where the sand roiled. There was no "thinking
thinking," only sensory experience where observer and observed
are integrated. The moments were rich and full. Cleansing. Energizing.
I can feel it anew, remembering.
Which came first:
Twin Kiss? Curiosity? Awe at a natural wonder? I don't know. But
I do know that being fully present gives me stamina, patience, and
good judgment.
"Free time"
makes it easier to create such moments. So how can we do so in our
everyday work world? Attending to context can help.
We might choose
to drive a soothing, tree-lined street. Or maybe we choose to walk
to the next appointment, pausing to listen to a dove's call. Perhaps
after a meeting we take a moment to really absorb the penthouse
view of the skyline.
These are some
of the things I do. The return is far greater than the investment
of time and attention. How about you?
Beth Hand
©
Copyright 2009, Beth Hand.
Beth Hand,
MBA helps leaders and organizations increase their effectiveness
and satisfaction, now and for the future. She can be reached at
(+1) 703.820.8018 or via her website www.leadershiphand.com.
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