Angela and I met the other day and it was a great meeting.  Angela has been working on her goals and has pinned down a few more, I have challenged her to define one or two a little more clearly, but it is neat to see her progression with them.

Ange was a little concerned that they were mostly personal goals and I mentioned a quote I’d heard;

“One cannot effectively lead others until they have mastered leading themselves”

Working on one’s personal goals is definitely the way to begin.  One of the strongest passions Angela displays is with her photography and she works hard on it.  As a result she has been challenged to put together a blog where she posts a photo a day, and you will be happy to know, she has done so!  Head on over to Angela’s Photography Blog and check out her beginning!

I have also asked permission to use her photography in some of my business work, you can see her photos in this video called The New Leadership completed this week for the business.

Do you have a special person in your life who really shines, has a contagious and enthusiastic energy where when you leave their company you are charged and lit-up for hours, and inspired for days – then you need to meet Angela. She has just that spark!  With each and every meeting, this is becoming loads of fun!  Keep up the fantastic work, Ange – you are truly a star!

Last Saturday, Angela and I finally met after a very busy fall and emerging winter.  The day was freezing -30 Celsius and one could not only see their breath, but could watch as it lingered in the air long after you left!

It was great to see Angela – as usual energetic and full of enthusiasm, add to that she shared a lovely set of home-made Christmas gifts for me.  There is something about a home-made gift that makes one truly feel cared for and thought of at this time of year.  Two beautiful soy candles – clean burning, lovely scent and all natural among the gifts!  Angela shares my love of the environment and shows that with almost everything she does.

Since we began, I have been asking what I can do for Angela, what she might want this GTY relationship to do for her and if she has a specific direction she would like it to go.  As of yet, we have spent some time sharing but not pinned anything specific down.  Well at our last meeting, Angela agreed to take some time over Christmas and January to  develop a set of goals for herself, dig deep for clarity and take a look at her direction.

We both agreed it’s much easier to offer her what I have and know if she knows where she is going.  That way, she has an opportunity to be specific as to what I might share – everything of course – but mostly the sharing that will truly make a difference in supporting her dreams and goals.

It’s pretty tough to make introductions with my connections, to see what is in my past or present ready for offering, if she is not quite sure where she wants to go.

I am happy and more than open to helping her with goal-setting and a directional path, acting as a sounding board, a person who asks questions for Angela’s own self clarification and someone who pins Angela to the wall if it gets a little too vague.  I sure hope Angela knows to expect that from me. Open to supporting the process via phone, email, skype, online – what ever it takes, happy to have Angela contact me anytime!

I have to say, after a visit with the ever-positive Angela, it continued to be a fantastic day – regardless of bitterly cold weather!

For the time being, a lovely Christmas, some time to renew and await 2010 for fresh starts and crazy, wild and unending dreams!!!!  (All of which I know are achievable if one believes!)

You have 1 lifetime. That’s it!
Statistics Canada says the average life expectancy is 80.4 years. What percentage of that time have you already used?

I am talking about chronological age right now.  Many folks who travel in my particular circle neither act nor behave as “mid-lifers” because of their energy and enthusiasm, however, the facts are the facts.  An average Canadian is going to live about 80.4 years.

Every single day, each and every moment of our lives is a fantastic gift to be shared and valued for it’s place in our own life-time.  We have learned many lessons, garnered many relationships and pulled through some pretty tough stuff – all of us!  We have challenged, surmounted and won.

So what are you giving back? When does the ‘ME’ become Us, We, Our?

Am I the most brilliant person that ever lived such that people should be clamoring to acquire my knowledge? No.  Is Angela so far down the totem pole in knowledge and experience that she NEEDS to have a guide? Certainly not!

But what if…. what if we as a human race sought out others who we think could find value in learning from our trip-ups, who might just need a door opened so they don’t have to knock so often and so hard?  What if we reached out and shared those valuable tid-bits that took experience, pain and hard knocks to learn, then imparted a bit of wisdom to smooth the way for another?

How would you feel if when you went to work everyday someone was there to truly guide you and you didn’t feel like building your career was a continual battle?

Greater Than Yourself!

Reaching out, discovering your own strengths, uniqueness and talent.  Sharing it with someone who will really run with it and take it farther than you ever could!  Seeing the possibilities in the eyes of someone who knows how to shine.

I am not sure of all I have to offer, I have no idea whether what I deem as valuable truly is to anyone else, I guess I will discover that as time goes by.  What I do know is that I want with everything I have to tap into Angela’s needs and offer what I have with openess, honesty, integrity and without anything in return.  One caveat, that she one day seek out her own GTY project and pass it forward.

Is it leadership stuff?  Or life stuff?  Is it connections to take her where she wants to go? Is it tools I have found and successfully used? Who knows what the sharing will be, I only hope whatever is shared that it’s what will propel and launch Angela as far as she wants to go and much, much farther than I ever imagined. Why?  Because I believe she has what it takes, because I believe we can work together for a wonderful transfer of information and because she is truly full of amazing potential!

In April 2009, Angela gave me a call based on our past working relationship and asked if I would mind very much if we met to chat about some things she was working on and she wanted another set of ears for perspective.

Meet we did, and while we were meeting it became clear that Angela is on a huge growth path.  Her real desire to improve, become all she can be and develop personally and professionally is admirable.  She ‘gets it’ in terms of awareness that as individuals we have the power to create our own world.

It was a great meeting and we seemed to connect quite deeply, more than a former boss and employee, it was more like a couple of great friends.  It was the meeting that started it all.  The more I learned and read about Steve’s Greater Than Yourself, the more I believed we were a great match for this kind of a project.  Upon sharing the book title with Angela, she read it and she also shared it out with others.  Then when I asked her if she would be willing to be my Greater Than Yourself Project, she said yes!

We have since started feeling our way through “What would this look like?” and “What can Patti offer?” but the connection is already proving valuable in what I have recieved.  Nothing formal from Angela, that is not how it works – this is about what can be shared with her and what I can do to promote, enlighten, help, share knowledge and contacts.  The magic in this is the awareness which returns to me, the knowledge I learn about myself and growing myself as a person as a result of this connection – THAT is fantastic.  Thank you Angela!

Greater than yourself is a philosophy as written in a book by Steve Farber – a book like no other, which resonated with me because the idea is to work with others in sharing all you are and all you have that they may become truly “Greater Than Yourself”

I was first introduced to the book as a result of being interviewed by Zane Safrit on his radio program which is personal, passionate, opinionated and helpful.  Zane’s radio program covers, among other topics, Leadership, Business and Politics.  After that interview I became a regular listener to his radio show not to mention checking through the archives at which Steve Farber was also a guest on Zane’s program.  I was hooked and after listening to the interview with Steve, I immediately went out and purchased the book.

As I began to read his book I realized many of the things he was teaching are similar to what I already do, however, I have never before formalized or committed to it with any one individual.  Well, now I am making an investment in my own ‘Greater Than Yourself’ project and thought the commitment would become stronger if I did so publicly!

Welcome Angela Simms to Greater Than Yourself!