By Barbara Schwarck, PCC, MPIA

The end of a year can have an emotional pull in polarized directions.  To our left we see our accomplishments, celebrated victories, new friendships and relationships and to our right we see heartbreaks and incompletions.  Depending on your personal wiring you will tend to keep one side closer to your vest.  But regardless of your focus, I recommend you take five minutes and make a list of all your accomplishments including the areas of relationships, spirituality, recreation, wellness, family, health, etc.  All too often we forget to include these areas and instead focus on things such as raises, new cars, vacations and weight loss. 

Then take another piece of paper out or use you electronic device of choice to make another list citing the areas that are worthy of improvement.  What did get done but not in the way you would have like to have seen it?  What could you have done better?  Make a list of the important items using the same areas you used above and be creative in your approach to improvement.  Maybe you could have asked for assistance.  Maybe your goals were not realistic or you lost focus.  Last but not least, make a list of all those items that did not get done or were bumped off the list. 

The other emotional pull at the end of the year or end of a period or an era is naturally towards our future.  Be intentional and take some concerted time and think carefully about the goals you put on this list.  What do you want?  What is your vision for yourself, your family or your department?  Where are you headed in your life?  I know these are big questions but it is important to take time to think about it.  The only difference between us and our four legged friends is the fact that we can dream and create visions.  Let’s use this wonderful gift that we have.

It helps to break goals down into time periods.  What are you going to accomplish within the next two months, six months and 12 months?  Do you need to access any resources to be successful?  Do your wants and goals align with who you are and your values?

Be specific.  If you want to lose weight (and that is the most popular goal on Americans’ lists), be specific about the amount and the time period.  How are you going to do it?  Are you going to start exercising, eat sensibly, join a diet program, and work with a partner?

Whatever you do, it is not important to be perfect.  Just take a piece of paper and get started.  Pick something small, be specific and break the action steps into bite-size pieces and you can’t go wrong.

Global Executive Coach and President of Clear Intentions International (CII), Barbara Schwarck has coached hundreds of executives, leaders and entrepreneurs from around the globe to be truly exceptional through a unique methodology using Neuro Emotional Coaching™– executive coaching combined with neuroscience and its implications for change and leadership.  CII is a people development company offering executive coaching, leadership training and assessment services for professionals, public servants, global leaders and influencers who want to free themselves from emotional and behavioral patterns that prevent them from being truly exceptional.

I am an expert in cross-cultural communication.  I have lived in several different cultures and have first-hand experience of why it is important to bridge the gap between cultures.  Germans have a tendency to be more serious than Americans.  We (I am German after all) take things more literal and we like to dive in right away when we are solving a problem.  We also are a bit more black and white than our American friends across the Atlantic Ocean.  But enough about the differences.  As I was talking to people from the U.S., Brazil and Lebanon, I was wondering how different we really are.  I saw mothers who wanted to talk to their sons, husbands who stayed up to check in with their wives and overall people who wanted to be respected and valued and get the sense that they contributed and made a difference.

My experience has always been that it has been easier to remedy my cultural faux pas as long as I respected the other person who was the recipient.  And it has always been okay with me when someone made a mistake when I felt that it was an earnest mistake.  What did not sit well with me were people who did not respect me and/or judged me.  Personally, I don’t like that no matter where you are from.

Perhaps cultural difference can be more easily overcome when we can respect, value each other and embrace each other in an open way.  Maybe it does not matter what I look like or whether or not I make eye contact when I look at you as long as if I am not telling you, or you telling me, there is something wrong with either one of us.  When judgment is absent, mistakes are easily remedied and rapport can be restored.  After all, we don’t like to be made wrong and, in general, people respond much more positively when they feel welcomed.

Global Executive Coach and President of Clear Intentions International (CII), Barbara Schwarck has coached hundreds of executives, leaders and entrepreneurs from around the globe to be truly exceptional through a unique methodology using Neuro Emotional Coaching™– executive coaching combined with neuroscience and its implications for change and leadership.  CII is a people development company offering executive coaching, leadership training and assessment services for professionals, public servants, global leaders and influencers who want to free themselves from emotional and behavioral patterns that prevent them from being truly exceptional.

By Barbara Schwarck, PCC, MPIA

I recently lost a very good friend to cancer.  Her passing was not unexpected, yet the experience gave me an opportunity to evaluate some of my beliefs and behavior about life and death as well as the leadership role I took in the situation.

Death never comes at a convenient time and it challenges us to be more real with ourselves as well as the people around us.  The passing of a loved one, a colleague, or someone who we have rarely agreed with, usually brings up a range of emotions including feelings of grief, relief, anger, sadness and love.  Illness much like any other crisis (personal or professional) challenges our ability to lead.  It raises the bar significantly and requires us to have a vision and communicate with clarity, set boundaries and push back, but most of all it gives us the opportunity to be loving. 

With death, there is a space for new beginnings, healing and upliftment.  With a professional crisis there is the possibility to be brilliant and make a difference.  As a leader you have the opportunity to set the tone of the situation.  You uplift the friends and family of the deceased by the way you interact with them, or you can champion and acknowledge your team that is looking to solve the crisis. 

Too frequently we get attached to our position in the board room or war room.  When Ted Kennedy died, the outpouring of love and honor for his life and efforts, regardless of who was on his side in the Senate, was amazing.  As leaders, take today and love people around you.  Take today to be kind, to be generous and to listen.  We do not need such a drastic event as death to be shocked by what “we should have said.”  Open up and share you love with the people who are working with you.  Research has indicated that people perform way better when they are receiving positive reinforcement.  Add some love to that and see what might be possible.

Global Executive Coach and President of Clear Intentions International (CII), Barbara Schwarck has coached hundreds of executives, leaders and entrepreneurs from around the globe to be truly exceptional through a unique methodology using Neuro Emotional Coaching™– executive coaching combined with neuroscience and its implications for change and leadership.  CII is a people development company offering executive coaching, leadership training and assessment services for professionals, public servants, global leaders and influencers who want to free themselves from emotional and behavioral patterns that prevent them from being truly exceptional.