What Does It Mean To Be Present?

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Life is about connecting with other people. When you are around people who are good at connecting with other people, you don’t want them to go.

As a leader, if you want to connect with your people, you must be there. You must be present. Be there. Because your people are watching you.

Your ‘actions underline or undermine our executive presence.’

‘Your actions are like a red blinking lights that signals to others ‘This is important to me.”

‘Humans trust actions over all other forms of communications.’

‘Presence is the way we move through the world.’

Authentic presence is a delicate balancing act of understanding other people’s perspectives, communicating so that they can best hear you, and staying true to yourself.’

Connection increases when you balance competency with vulnerability.’

‘Stories affect the way we understand, remember, and even listen.’

The more trust others have for you, the larger their investment in you.’

It takes effort to listen well, but it feels amazing on the receiving end.’

Reflection time involves letting thoughts come to us, which helps overcome functional fixedness.’

Source:

Kristi Hedges (2012). The Power of Presence: Unlock Your Potential to Influence and Engage Others

‘Leading With Wisdom’

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To lead other people with wisdom is to love them for who they are. It is to lift them up, not bring them down.

Wisdom says, ‘I see you. You matter. Your work matters. You are not a machine. You are a human being.’

In the writings of Mark Strom, ‘The wisdom traditions reflect life as it was experienced, not as moralist might claim it should be. Wisdom is therefore always contextual.’

‘Wisdom view life as a whole- a vast complex tapestry. It urges us to watch, to listen, to read, to discern, and to store up insights we can draw from later.’

‘Our lives are shaped by words.’

‘If character is who we are when no one can see us, then integrity is being the same person no matter who we are with or where we are.’

‘Leadership is not about getting the same group of people to do the same thing in the ways in a stable context.’

‘To lead with wisdom is to enable partnership.’

‘Truth yields clarity. Beauty yields elegance. Goodness yields strength of character and unity-in-diversity yields heart.’

‘Every challenge urges us to learn and to change.’

‘Leading well makes us vulnerable.’

‘Our deepest learning is sometimes hammered out on our worst leading.’

Source:

Mark Strom (2014). Leading with Wisdom: How Wisdom Transforms Good leaders Into Great Leaders