The City of Lights - Paris is for Strangers AND Angels

It was a very cold, lovely Sunday afternoon in Paris and we strolled up and down the quaint streets of the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank, stopping to stick our heads into interesting shops to pick up a few last minute Christmas gifts and popping into a cafe' to get warm. I'm glad we made time for some relaxation and a cruise down the River Seine while there for a quick business trip. The picture of the Eiffel Tower at night was one big benefit to freezing on the boat - along with circling our duplicate sister of the Statue of Liberty. Well worth the frozen noses we had when we got back to our hotel!

Our best find was the Shakespeare and Company Book Store, directly across the street from Notre Dame. This is a quaint, English language bookstore that has been frequented by those such as Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce and Sylvia Plath. The bookstore has been there since 1951 in a building that is centuries old. The owner, from time to time, has let writers live upstairs as they work on their to-be famous manuscripts. I could feel the energy of these masters as I stood by the desk where they once wrote. Rooms and rooms of books - stacked so high among the hand carved beams you could never even see them all. So much history there! A thought-provoking quote by Shakespeare hangs painted over an upstairs doorway, where many have stood.

"Be not inhospitable to strangers least they be angels in disguise."

- William Shakespeare

Rubbing elbows with the locals for the weekend was a delight. The zest with which the Parisians live their lives is something from which we Americans could benefit. Finding time to walk along the bank and gaze at the works of local artists, stopping to chat and sip a latte' and finding balance is a rewarding thing in an otherwise day of pressure, rushing and work. It was there we could take a breath, ignite our passion and get a recharge for the next week of work.

I have included a picture of the front of the quaint bookstore and a couple other ones- like the Eiffel Tower which was completely light up at night - and the red velvet palms which lined the street of a local night spot on the corner.

For more information on the quaint bookstore mentioned, go to:
www.shakespeareandcompany.com

Fabulous Sweden!

I have recently returned from speaking at a Women in Business conference put on by the Swedish magazine called Passion for Business. It was a wonderful and educational experience! I found the Swedish women in general to be very warm, compassionate and dedicated to their careers.

I had the honor of speaking to around 200 business women on my upcoming book, "Step Up to the Plate - Knock Your Sales Out of the Ballpark", which describes how the Lumina Spark assessment tool is used to help sales people find their strengths and areas for development leading them to find their unique sales style. Later I facilitated a workshop for 20+ local business women where they each had an opportunity to directly experience the Lumina profile.

The Passion for Business team were perfect hosts and toured us around Stockholm for the weekend. We had great food and drink and saw castles and buildings that were centuries old. Stockholm is a very sexy and high energy city. I loved it!

I am honored once again to get invited to go back to Stockholm to lead a spa retreat for women. This is also being sponsored through the Passion for Business magazine. This will be held in the spring time on an island just off the coast of Stockholm. The retreat is called: Rejuvenation of the Soul - Find the New You Personally and Professionally. I will update you as we secure dates and fees. Women from all over the world will be coming and you should too! Places are limited to the first 50 people. The cost will be minimal for 2 nights and 3 days - includes all meals, room, wine, retreat session and spa treatments. And Stockholm is a must see! More on this later -

Watch for a new book that I am co-authoring with Lauren Mackler, called Freeing Godiva. This book has a January/February release date and centers around empowering women. My piece to the book is about the power of self-determination for women and how they can shape the life they desire utilizing this concept.

Ever been to Sweden? Would love to hear about your favorite places! Until next time, stay warm and safe.

Communication: Illusion or Reality

I feel this topic is extremely relevant right now as I’m guilty of a lapse in communicating here on my blog for several weeks. As those of you who have opted to follow me know - my intentions were to post weekly, however I have found myself inundated with business travel and failed to get my post updated in a timely manner. So, here it goes - my commitment to you is to get this back on track even if it means posting from 35k miles up in the air!

Dr. Lawrence J. Peter had this to say about communication:
“To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.”

I love this quote and for those of you who know me personally, you know that my life is built around this. I have been involved my entire career in the psychology of human dynamics and have utilized many different personal assessment tools to help others understand their own communication filters as well as the filters and perceptions of others. I have seen what this awareness has done for the success of individuals, the growth of teams, the culture of organizations and a leader's power to influence and make a difference.

I’ve always searched for the most advanced assessment tools for this purpose and am currently involved with a relatively new, state of the art tool from Lumina Learning. I believe this tool to be the ‘next generation’ for personal and professional growth. It directly measures the 24 qualities of one’s behaviors in three different personas of the personality. Through this, one receives a clear representation of how they react, behave and communicate which is based on a combination of the Big5 empirical data and key Jungian concepts - therefore a major advancement from my perspective. That said, let’s explore why communication is fundamentally so important.

Today I want to open up this blog for your input and feedback. After all, this is about Communication and Interaction! I will set the context for why this is important and the impact it has had in my life. Then, I would like to hear from YOU – what are YOUR experiences with communication?

The impact and value of proper communication became blatantly apparent to me many years ago as a consultant for the Attorney General’s office in setting up Mediation Centers around the state of Texas. As a professional mediator, I conducted and oversaw many types of mediation – domestic, commercial and governmental. Holding mediation for inmates and training them in these skills so that they can resolve their own issues once released from prison was a life changing experience. These inmates had not learned communication skills – they had learned other ways, quite dangerous ways, in which to resolve personal issues.

I’ll never forget sitting on my bed in a (pardon the pun) no-tell motel located in Podunk, Texas. It was my birthday and I was without my children or loved ones wondering what in the heck I was doing there. However, the following days had an enormous impact on my life. Watching inmates work diligently to become skilled at peacefully resolving issues so they could create this process at the half-way houses where they would soon be moving was – well as I said, life changing. I equate it to teaching a child to swim – part of it is natural, and yet so foreign and unfamiliar. And if we don’t struggle through that process then we never learn to swim, do we? And we manage ourselves around water in an entirely different way – a non-productive way – a way of innate survival.

The essence of what I learned through my years of mediation experience boils down to one thing – 90% of the issues that come before us are resolved once clear communication occurs. What is the most important step in this process? Feeling heard and therefore valued as a human being.
Listening is an art in itself. People feel heard when someone has truly listened. Listening is a major factor in generating clear communication. People have a basic need to be valued. They need to be validated and their position or feeling on a topic to be valued. People have feelings and emotions around their communication – these feelings and emotions are the drivers of behavior– actions and reactions. We must listen intently for those. Once we can observe and understand the emotions driving the behavior, then we can truly empathize with an individual’s needs. True communication doesn’t happen until we reach this level of connectedness. How do we do this? How do we handle ourselves in a way that is connected to others at this level?

This was a pivotal point in my career. I moved from mediation (reactive) to writing personal and professional empowerment programs (pro-active) with communication skills as the fundamental core of these programs. Corporations began to utilize these programs and this created the platform of my professional career in learning and development.

I will leave you with my tip – LEAN into a stronger level of connectedness!
· Listen - with your ears not your mouth, you do have two of them!
· Emotion – listen for the emotions and feelings behind the words
· Ask – check for clarity on what is being said
· Needs – what are the needs of those involved? Ask if you don’t know.

So now – over to YOU - What are your thoughts on communication?
Please send us your tips and techniques for clear and effective communications.
What is your process of for connectedness?
How have you utilized this professionally? Where has it led you?

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
-George Bernard Shaw

Let us strive to make every communication a successful reality, not an illusion.

Now, over to you –
Rebecca

Change is Changing! Eureka!

Change is changing! We are evolving at a revolutionary pace, an ever increasing rate, and in ways we've never dreamed. Centuries, or even a few decades ago, we sought discoveries with the intention of finding a specific solution to a problem. Problems were defined which needed particular solutions. That concept is fading fast.

Change today takes on a multifaceted format, often changing in surprising dimensional ways that lead to new products, services, discoveries and heightened technology. In this Internet dominated information age, change is occurring at lightning fast speeds. Change is occurring more and more at a systems level – a small change in one area creates a rippling effect across multiple levels and not necessarily in a linear format. Yet, change in the near future will be nothing like the changes we experienced yesterday.

When Magellan and other intrepid explorers sailed off to discover the world they had no idea what they would find. They kept their eyes and ears open, as well as their minds, they were sponges of the unknown. In the same manner new developments in virtual reality will burst doors wide open to change and discoveries we can not currently anticipate. Working with cutting-edge computers, multimedia enhancements, and virtual reality programs will enable scientists to explore the utterly unknown. Man and woman will simply go forth unbiased by preconceived notions to explore and discover - until they find something new and interesting. Paul Hazan of the Applied Physics Laboratory at John Hopkins University, sees this as the Eureka Factor.That kind of "free-form" exploration has the potential to unleash ideas and concepts that will dwarf what has come before. It is discovery and exploration in the broadest of contexts and with potentially astounding benefits. Hazan states: "We're actually expanding human creativity. Eureka!

However, successful transition is not just based on accepting and embracing change alone, but on the ability to do it quicker and with less disruption than others. This is true for individuals as well as organizations.

The keys to managing this emerging change are preparation and openness, putting in place a mindset and culture that can rapidly assimilate and manage the change environment. This calls for integrated programs within corporate cultures that comprehend and absorb these changes in an orderly and profitable manner without invoking chaos. It calls for training leaders as the agents of change – to not only initiate and sustain the change, but to manage the emotional, people side of change within their respective areas of influence.

John Kotter says, “We know that leadership is very much related to change. As the pace of change accelerates, there is naturally a greater need for effective leadership.”

The deciding factor in the success and sustainability of change is drive and persistence. Without that commitment to push us through when we confront the inevitable resistance, change would not happen. Personal change for us as individuals will succeed and organizational change will succeed if we create a change process, work the plan and then kick in our determination when we come to those hurdles attempting to block the way. The tenacity needed to overcome the hurdles is the most underestimated factor in our success. Once over the top of the transition curve, or as William Bridges has shown us, we move from the “Neutral Zone” into the “New Beginnings”, we can accomplish anything.

Things will return to “normal” once different becomes normal. It’s found on the Other Side of Change – it is our new beginning.

Have a wonderful day and I would love to hear from you on this!

Rebecca

Vision Portals

Life is a journey and while it's important we understand the destination. Life is really about what we do along the way and how much we are enjoying the ride. We have the ability to experience multiple levels of discovery - from physical to mental, spiritual to emotional - however we often do not fully appreciate our discovery unless we first understand who we are and what we want.

Many years as an executive coach, designing and delivering leadership development programs for organizations aided in my own self development. Watching for that instant of enlightenment, the "light bulb" moment when we suddenly "see the light" - is a very gratifying experience and is the exact moment when you know that the individual or participant you are working with has passed yet another milestone on their path of discovery. Discovery begins with vision.

Vision Portals is a method I use to explore one's personal and professional destination. Dare to dream and live a life you truly love. Through Vision Portals you can determine if you are on the right path to creating that life. There are reasons we have dreams we do not achieve. We must review those reasons, they are our dream blockers. Make a decision on how to handle them. Do we decide they are prohibitive and therefore we must abandon our dream - or do we make some modifications and move on to creating the action plan for achieving that vision?

I know that many times we feel bound by the hand life has dealt us. I am here to challenge that. The bumps along your path have helped to create the person you are and are not the defining moment of your happiness. Take these experiences and recognize that these create your very own turning points. Turning points take you down a different path but create the you that is unique. Be grateful or these turning points and for who you are. Do something with your visions and dreams. Be your own success and make it happen. Acknowledge it, plan it and live it. Focus on it daily and surround yourself with the intention to make it happen.

"Vision without action is merely a dream. Actions without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world."
Joel A. Barker, Author of 'Paradigm Shifts'

Please click on my video clip to see more regarding Vision Portals

Have a wonderful day and I look forward to hearing from you!

Rebecca

Welcome to my ILLUMINATIONS

Hi and welcome to Rebecca Bales Illuminations. I’ll be making posts here several times a week about a bit of everything that may interest clients and associates. I’ll discuss issues relating to consulting, advanced assessment tools, leadership development, enhancing personal power and developing vision platforms for individuals and teams. Occasionally I’ll also discuss current events, happenings of interest in Florida or Texas areas and nationally, including general comments on life and business in our constantly changing and challenging world. I hope to have a little fun as well as raise developing issues and discuss items of interests that impact my readers. Join me on this journey and share some adventures along the way.

We live in a crazy world these days and changes and challenges peer around every corner. Some we have no control over and can be disruptive to us, while others offer opportunities for business and personal development. I hope ILLUMINATIONS will help you plan, envision, choose dynamic paths to reach your goals and deal with challenges in a healthy and winning manner.

I’ll also display links to other sites that I find interesting and useful on a regular basis, and hopefully you'll find them valuable.

You’ll find a place at the bottom of the first page of the blog that will allow you to follow ILLUMINATIONS and be notified whenever a new posting is made.

Please feel free to add your comments or raise questions that seem appropriate. Your comments will usually appear within 24 hours but may occasionally take longer.

Thanks again for joining me.

Best to you,

Rebecca Bales

"The power of a thought can change one's life."

www.OPSIntl.com