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Newsletters 2016
December 2016

How is it going with your „breathing breaks“? Have you noticed when you or others around you do “busyness” instead of “business”?

 

In this month’s newsletter, I want to further dig into CG4 Coaching’s „Inspired Leadership, Thriving Business“. This time, I will not give you such a big task as adopting a new habit… In case you forgot last month’s newsletter and the new good habit I am referring to, you can read it further below.

I earlier mentioned that the etymology of the word “inspire” has evolved from the definition “to breathe into” to “to infuse animation and influence”. This month, I want to have a closer look at the second part “to infuse animation and influence”, which feels kind of more abstract than the first one. We get an idea of it but it is not easy to clearly put it into practice.

This is the reason why I invite you to a short reflection on your values – whether at your working place and/or in your private life.

A) What are the three values that I work and live by? Do they serve me in my work and/or private life or do I need to change them?

B) What about the corporate values described in the glossy brochures: does the organisation really live by them or are they just nice to read and present to shareholders? Is it time to change the glossy brochure so that it better reflects the reality or is it time to change the culture of the organisation to align it with the glossy brochure that in fact describes the values that everybody should adopt?

C) From there on, what are the top three values that I want to live by in 2017? How do I want to BE in 2017? As examples: accepting, disciplined,
courageous, respectful, tough, open-minded, empowering, inspiring, stubborn, greedy, empathic, grateful, fun and many more that you can choose from. If it feels difficult to find exact words, have a look at a person who really inspires you, whether a colleague, a friend, a public figure, etc. What is it that you like about this person in three words? These may give you a good indication of what your top three values for 2017 are.

Note here that I am not even talking about taking resolutions for the new year :-). You know these wonderful well-intended plans that we believe we should reach to find perfect happiness (like listening more to your employees, losing 10 kg, taking more time for strategic issues, going to the gym, etc.). Resolutions often deal with DOING something and without the right mindset or the right BEING (or values) they are quite tough to stick to for a longer period of time.

As this time of year invites for a review of what has happened in the last year and for planning for the next 12 months, I suggest you deal with it in a different way this time. Make sure that you identify your top three values or how you want to BE instead of only concentrating on what you want to DO. And check if the „to-BEs“ and the „to-DOs“ are aligned too! Also, make sure that you do this exercise when you are in a good mood and have the time and space for it. You may want to go out and take a walk or a run or just sit down, listen to your favorite music and write in your diary. Please keep it “short and simple” as it should give you energy to keep on with the good work in the future!

I am convinced that when you become more conscious on the BEING aspects of DOING things, you are in a better spot to achieve the goals that you set. You automatically set a positive example and, consequently, are in the perfect spot to “infuse animation or influence” to those around you. As you achieve your objectives, you thrive and so does your business :-).

I want to finish this newsletter with wishing all of you around the world a wonderful, peaceful and merry Christmas and a healthy, prosperous and inspiring new year. If you are off from work for a few days, enjoy the good time with your family and friends, the great food (don’t worry you have all of 2017 to lose the few kilos you may gain…) and make sure you breathe properly between the many gatherings and meals. And if you have to work during the holidays, may you BE and DO good work!

Inspiringly yours,
Caroline

THE WOW COURSE

You will be amazed. At your potentials.

I spent a very warm and inspiring evening with the participants to the information event for the WOW course on 6 December 2016. The WOW course is designed for women who aspire to become leaders in their field of work and is based on my extensive experience in leadership positions, on recognised coaching methods and on topics specific to women.

On www.cg-four.com/en/courses you will find the detailed presentation that I held that evening as well as a registration form. If you are interested or know anyone who would be interested to learn more about it, you are welcome to contact me directly. I am looking forward to an empowering 2017 WOW course!

As always, you are welcome to forward this newsletter to those who would like and need it!

November 2016

While reading CG4 Coaching’s „Inspired Leadership, Thriving Business“,

some of you are probably thinking: „Yes, this is what I want!“,
others: “This is quite obvious…”
or maybe: “I get a sense of it, but can it be proved mathematically?”

 

Let’s have a closer look at what it really means… and I hope that we can all apply it to our daily life. Because leadership starts first with each of us at an individual level, whether we hold a title or not. For sure, we all hold “roles” throughout the day: mother, father, wife, husband, sister, brother, son, daughter, employee, client, boss, football coach, soccer mom… and the list goes on. But the first role that we hold comes down to the one and only relationship that we have with ourselves (and it can be a tough one at times!)…

Looking at the etymology of the word “inspire”, it seemed to have evolved from the definition „to breathe into“ to „to infuse animation or influence”. To start with, let’s keep it as simple as the first definition “to breathe into”. I don’t know if you are like me but when I read or hear the words „to breathe into“, something inside expands and slows down, calmness invites itself in and my focus is right on track.

I often observe the opposite when I see how stressed people are, especially at work. They seem to breathe on the surface and they run from one meeting to the other, checking their phones all the time and even writing e-mails during meetings. I do agree that it looks cool and it is even cooler to tell everyone how busy the day has been and how exhausted they are. The air that they „breathed into“ at the beginning of the day has completely expired (yes, exhausted!) at the end of the day. I always wonder how good the decisions they took during the day were, how efficient their work was and how their mood is when they arrive home in the evening. Everything seems to be about „busyness“ instead of „business“!

What about “breathing into” consciously and regularly during the day to avoid being exhausted at the end of it? What about planning short breaks of 5 to 10 minutes throughout your day (yes, planning = writing them into your agenda)? You may want to get up, open the window and breathe into some fresh air. You may not have a window in your office (or maybe there is one but it cannot be open), so you can instead „breathe into“ your cup of coffee or „breathe into“ each step you take when you slow your pace down and walk to the cafeteria or to the next meeting. Just be creative with how you want to fit your own „breathing into“ moments to your agenda.

I can assure you that these small breaks will help you realign your thoughts and your emotions, set clearer priorities, work more efficiently and maybe as a bonus even put a smile on your face. We all know one situation when we found a solution to a problem, when we were not even thinking about it, for example, while jogging, or cooking, or putting on mascara in the morning (it is my favorite one). It is in these moments that we allow ourselves to tap into the (sometimes unknown) wealth of our potentials.

It is possible that in taking these short creative breaks, your colleagues will look at you and start to think you are lazy or even crazy or that you must have been reading the newsletter of a strange coach. Try it and let people think what they want. Or you can even invite your colleagues to try it with you! For sure it takes courage to do something different, e.g. to stop the busyness to get down to business. Try it at least everyday until the end of this year and see what it does with you. It is time to stick to what is good for you because no one else will do it. And because when it is good for you, you thrive. And when you thrive, your business does too. It is as simple as that. It does not even need to be proved mathematically :-)!

These small breaks are free to implement as breathing is free and most of you already have an agenda. When you are inspired throughout your day… you set an example of self-leadership. You will then automatically and positively “infuse animation or influence” around you, may it be at work or in your family or with your sports friends. Now you go out into the world and walk as an inspiring role model!

Inspiringly yours,
Caroline

P.S.: If you are like me, November may not be your favorite month. The darkness may do its best to motivate me but I do not respond so well to it. This is the reason why self-discipline is an important asset, so carefully plan the time for the breathing breaks and stick to them. As a fun thing to do, you can take note of the gray nuance of the sky each time you look outside. And please, be gentle with yourself if you are off-track one day, just start again the next day!

– UPCOMING EVENT –

THE WOW COURSE

You will be amazed. At your potentials.

The information event for the WOW course takes place on 6 December 2016 at 18:30 at Sheraton Pelikan Hotel in Hannover. The WOW course is designed for women who aspire to become leaders in their field of work.

You are warmly invited to come along with friends and colleagues for a great evening and to inform those who could be interested! In order to allow for a smooth planning of the event, please register at: caroline.gregoire@cg-four.com or + 49-1522-797 3548.

For more details about the evening and the course, please check: https://www.cg-four.com/en/kurse.

If you found this newsletter positive, helpful, inspiring, fun, interesting, forward it to friends, family, colleagues, clients who would also find it positive, helpful, inspiring, fun, interesting and also to those who need inspiration!

And… before you rush to the next e-mail, take a few deep breaths… 1… 2… 3…