What organizations need...

In order for organizations to succeed these days, the need to be relevant is very essential. The following suggestions can certainly broaden an organization’s approach for effectiveness. The outside world is always changing and as individual people we learn and grow, so an organization should take these both views into account.

Organizations need:
• More love
Acting kind and compassionate with your colleagues is not the worst thing in the world. We spend more time with these people than our family members at times.
• Mindfulness
If we would take more moments to step back and look at the bigger picture, decisions would come fast and easy. It takes a breath and a moment to let options sink in.
• Inclusion
Diversity and inclusion is just at the beginning and surface with most organizations, truly integrating practicing at all levels can help innovate and strengthen an organization.
• Authenticity
If employees tap into their authenticity, their passions and core motivations will manifest in their best work contributions and as active team members.
• Cultural Awareness
Awareness of the organization’s larger cultural shifts is key to influencing and expanding all of the other elements that can maintain an organization’s relevance.

Integrating these principals and values into your work can make the difference of attracting forward thinking leaders that will move your organization in a grand direction. Mentoring, coaching, and turnaround feedback can surely support using any of the above at your organization.

Strategic Intentions

“Every action, though, and feeling is motivated by an intention and that intention is a cause that exists as one with an effect. If we participate in the cause, it is not possible for us not to participate in the effect. In the most profound way, we are held responsible for our every action, thought and feeling, which is to say, for our every intention… It is, therefore, wise for us to become aware of the many intentions that inform our experience, to sort out which intentions produce which effects, and to choose our intentions according to the effects that we desire to produce.” Gary Zukav

I have realized not only how central intention is to everything but how powerful intention is. I have accepted the importance of intention. I began to take it more seriously though books like Wayne Dyer’s The Power of Intention. His research suggests intention as a force that allows the act of creation to take place. The book explores intention not only as action oriented but as energy we are a part of.

Our intentions are usually broad. We all generally intend to spread love and light. Thinking with intention and including intention in all you do, could be more powerful than you think. Let’s dream bigger in 2015 and take intention to another level. Get specific and strategic with your intentions. Stating intentions and commitments at the beginning of an activity, new venture, your day and when any new direction in your life occurs will have an impact. Give it a try.

Intention is the starting point to fulfilling goals and any dream. Deepak Chopra describes intention as “the creative power that fulfills all of our needs, whether for money, relationships, spiritual awakening or love.” He goes on to describe different methods of harnessing intention in the book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.

I am glad I have changed the way I look at intention; it has changed the things I look at. As you practice the use and strength of intention, like me it will integrate fully into your life and eventually operate unconsciously. This is when you will feel its full power. Practice and learn how to use it so that it will have a positive impact.

Demonstrate your dignity

Demonstrate your dignity was the message I received and will carry from the film, Selma. It was such a thoughtful and intentional portrayal of the events that took place in Alabama and also of the great Martin Luther King Jr. I definitely value my voting rights a little bit more. I certainly know and should be reminded about how I stand on the backs of those who came before me.

The human portrayal of King is memorable. The Director, Ava DuVernay has roots in Alabama and makes the story a personal, identifiable one that is rooted in community. With all that is happening now with human relations in America and all over the world, this film brings hope and speaks to us at this time. This year marks the 50th Anniversary of both the Selma marches and the passage of the Voting Rights Act.

As I glance over the audience of the persons watching the Selma film alongside me, I noticed the diversity with pleasure. Sure, it is New York City, one of the most diverse cities in the world and yet like other places, New Yorkers could choose differently. The diversity of audiences is important here. Selma is a film for everyone, a film for all people. We get reminded that the progress made during the civil rights era was largely due to all sorts of people coming together for equality and justice.

My cultural roots have been infused into all my work. I proudly speak of my identity and culture as an Afro Latina now pretty regularly though workshops, panels and curriculum I have written and implemented. I believe as human beings we are more the same than different and I still rejoice in the slight differences that influence my being. This is how I demonstrate my dignity today; by telling my story and helping other tell theirs. I also demonstrate it by sharing and spreading the value of diversity.

Diversity is probably a value most New Yorkers have and might now be aware of. The world is at our footsteps and all around us in a huge city like New York. We thrive and grow in a diverse environment, at least this New Yorker does. I guess I demonstrate my dignity as a New Yorker in that way.

Dream Bigger

It is a new year, let’s dream bigger! Steve Harvey asks the question is the lid still on? in his book, Act like a Success, think like a Success. (One among many books I read in 2014) He encourages us to take the lid off. For me this is about how we get in our own way. He goes on to talk about dash deposits. These are simple efforts you make daily to reach your goals and vision for yourself. As Steve Harvey puts it, “Any small or large activity or action that adds to the quality of your life and your family’s is a dash deposit.”

This is a new year so how can we take ourselves to the next level. In my reflections as we transitioned into this New Year, I asked myself, what works and what doesn’t work? I know for me, meditation and yoga works. I know being without vegetables and fruit doesn’t work. I know blogging and writing works for me. I know having any lack of sleep and/or sleep interruptions doesn’t work for me. What good thinks will you take from last year and what will you let go and leave behind?

Let’s step out of our history. Let’s avoid Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. It’s great that my theme for 2015 of awareness and authenticity is aligned with this message. In order to raise our self awareness, self assessments need to happen. Not in a harsh way but in an honest and compassionate way. If you are honest with yourself and know your strengths and weaknesses that is half the battle toward achieving your larger vision of yourself.

If you really want to get out of your own way, you will raise your awareness about how you get in your own way. Dreaming big does not necessary mean that we are in daydream states thinking about fantasies. It is more about being aligned with our true selves so much that we are so fluid and transcendent that all we want appears. It is about being focused and reminding ourselves constantly to focus on what we want so it grows. Avoid focusing on what you don’t want.

So how can we dream bigger? We must work to remain open to all possibilities. Have more faith and put some gum shin into creativity and even imagination. Carmine Gallo, shares four criteria for dreaming bigger in his book, The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs; big dreams are bold, specific, concise and consistent. Naturally, he uses Steve Jobs as an example to demonstrate all these ideas. Gallo also brings up the point of teams and how dreams are actualized though teamwork and committed team members. Probably the most challenging piece of dreaming bigger is communicating the big idea.