Knowledge

Hi everyone! You might think the title of this post relates to the picture (graduation day, April 14, 2013 - YIPPEEEE!!!) and I guess it could certainly pertain to that. I hope I gained some knowledge over these many months of school work, team meetings, and class time!

But the reason the word "knowledge" came to mind is that I spent some time with a friend yesterday who is a wealth of knowledge (actually, he has a lot of knowledge about wealth, too - he's a wealth management consultant! Alas, I have no need for his services, lol). Whenever I speak with him, we always get into some really interesting discussions and I walk away having learned something new - or at least affirming something I already have strong feelings about. Don't you love it when that happens??

Yesterday we talked about leadership. Since Bryan studies words, he mentioned that leader comes from "lea" = path and "der" = finder. So a leader is a pathfinder. How cool to know that what I've been telling people for years as my own opinion is also traceable back to the roots of the word "leader!"

Something I think people can miss, though, is that you don't have to have a corner office, a gaggle of employees, or a fancy-schmancy title to be a leader. You don't even have to have a job. People in all walks of life, at every level, and those who are not technically employed, can still be leaders.

You can lead people to have a good attitude - by exhibiting one yourself.

You can lead people to take a good look at their negativity by being the person who keeps a positive outlook on things.

You can lead people to act with integrity - because you set the example.

You can lead people to feel good about themselves by being an encourager.

You can lead others to be accountable for their own actions by not allowing them to make excuses for bad behavior.

So...you now have new knowledge of yourself as a leader. What will you do with this knowledge? How can you show your leadership in the next 30 days? Let me know!

Blessings,
Linda
www.LindasWorkshops.com
Linda@LindasWorkshops.com

Today's word is...learn

Learn...not such a strange word to pick for my first "real" blog, considering I am a teacher, although not in the traditional sense.

As I was thinking about what word I wanted to start with, "learn" just kept popping into my mind. Perhaps it's because I have spent most of my life learning from whatever situation I was in. The corporate world gave me many lessons - some good, some not so much (and some quite interesting!) and creating gift baskets for people taught me that I need to let "creative Linda" loose occasionally. But nothing has taught me more than "teaching." Over the past decade and more (yikes!), I have been learning about things I had never even given any thought to in my corporate life. Thanks to wonderful clients who keep pushing me to learn more so that I can help them do the same, I have learned about a relatively new idea called emotional intelligence. I have delved deeply into the Littauer personality assessment, and yes, I really am bull-headed as my mama used to say! (But doesn't it sound much nicer to say I have a "powerful" personality??) I have learned specific ways to become more organized, deal with difficult people, provide better customer service, and even how to distinguish a leader from a manager - and why that matters.
So it was no surprise when I took the assessment in Marcus Buckingham's book "Now, Discover Your Strengths" and found out that my number one signature strength is.....ta-da! LEARNER! :-) Reading it on paper, though, made me smile. It gave credibility to my constant yearning to learn, learn, learn.
You've probably heard the old saying, "You don't stop learning because you grow old, you grow old because you stop learning." I have decided this must have been my life motto all along and I just hadn't been aware of it.
Even the inside of my Dove chocolate today says "Keep looking forward - new adventures lie ahead." (Hey, I take this very seriously - even chocolate has something to teach me!)
My question to you is this: What have you learned lately? Not about work or sports or cooking... What have you learned about YOU? Do you pay attention to how your personality affects what you say and how you say it? Have you ever given any thought to being emotionally aware? Here's the catch; we can "acquire knowledge" which is one of the definitions of "learn," but will we USE that knowledge to become a better person? In the "Linda Bruno dictionary," the new definition of learn would read "to acquire and USE knowledge."

So...what knowledge will 2010 bring to your life? Are you willing to USE it? It's your choice, you know...
Blessings,
Linda
www.LindasWorkshops.com
Linda@LindasWorkshops.com