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.

#HappyHolidays

I am committed to taking a holiday this season. I will be taking a break and concentrating on the being part of me as opposed to the doing part that is always emphasized and can be on automatic some days. I encourage you to do the same like Madonna’s 1983 Holiday song goes, “Holiday, celebrate, If we took a holiday, took some time to celebrate, just one day out of life, it would be, it would be so nice.” They don’t really make classic songs like this one anymore. The song reminds me to celebrate and take a holiday!

Every year gets better! I am so ready, and welcome this down time. I have much to celebrate right now anyway, we all do. We have completed another year. I committed to posting a new blog every Tuesday and now 52 Tuesdays, later I am celebrating a year of blogging today! This year my first publication arrived, “The Empowered Woman: Purpose, Passion & Possibilities and it is still available on amazon.com. What are you most proud of about this past year?

I am always most proud of my transformational moments and how much better I am today because of them. I am committed to growing and learning as a person. After this holiday, I can look forward to new adventures! You with me?

My one request this holiday season is to CELEBRATE. Celebrate all of you. It should not only be about celebrating accomplishments and positive feedback. Celebrate yourself by treating yourself with kindness and compassion. I celebrate you in this moment and I thank you for taking time to follow this blog. It means the world to me to be able to serve you.

In the spirit of Holiday and celebrating, this will be my last blog of the year. I will see you in the New Year with a new theme of awareness and authenticity. I look forward to new inspiration and learnings that I will share with you. Thank you and #HappyHolidays!

Ready, set, goal

It is the goal setting time of year. Are you hitting that reset button and getting ready for the New Year? Are you coping or strategizing? Are you moving closer to your life’s vision? What are the smaller steps you need to formulate to get there? Here are some steps that can assist you with reaching your goals and even setting them.

1. Start with the end in mind. What is your vision? Visualize yourself where you want/ how you want to be.
2. Work with what you have. It is interesting how we overlook ourselves and our skills. Start from the inside out instead of the outside in when developing and setting your goals. Use your experience and knowledge you already have.
3. Keep a positive attitude. Perseverance and patience is what we need to call upon when working toward goals. Although it can be frustrating, keep your eye on your target. Things may not go as smoothly as we plan and preparing allows you to be flexible.
4. Take smaller steps to your larger vision. To stay accountable, make sure you reevaluate your priorities from time and time and ask yourself is this getting me closer to my ultimate goal?

What you focus on grows. Stay focused on what you want. Once you have set your goals. Put them up on your vision board, on the fringe, and other places where you can see them all the time. The theme of my year keeps me focused (Look for that blog post if you have not read it yet; my themed year). You are also in control of your schedule. Make sure to make choices that make time for the goals you set. I try not to do everything at once. I like working up to a goal by taking one step at a time with those smaller goals being reached first.

#blacklivesmatter

The US is just beginning to finally get a glimpse of  how racism impacts black people.  The nation is beginning to be aware of the epidemic of violence that is unleashed upon black people from persons designed to protect and serve.  The death rates and lives lost of black people are beyond words.  The world is just beginning to get a glimpse of why communities of color have trouble trusting the police. 

People have been killed because of the culture of policing in this country since its inception.  What is the saying?, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”  I have not heard any mention of a “post racial America” since the pattern of policing has continued to be featured everywhere. 

I am so proud and thankful for my fellow New Yorkers, those who have wore black in solidarity; who continue to have this real and serious conversation about racism, about police violence; participated in the die ins across the city; the protests that have held up traffic at major bridges, tunnels and highways.  Yes, I said die-ins, this is where protesters lay down on the floor like they are dead.  This is serious people, people have been killed. 

Instead of seeing lynched black people hung for the world to see, we are seeing them in videos getting beaten and killed.  We are watching black people laying shot dead in the middle of the street.  We are watching innocent black men and women get dehumanized and criminalized by the words of influential people.  

the National Hands Up Campaign, has a petition you can sign, copy and paste the link:

https://www.change.org/p/president-barack-obama-we-demand-national-change-to-protect-citizens-and-communities-from-police-violence-and-misconduct

As the Federal government continues to investigate police departments across the country, I believe the following two items need to be added to the recommendation portion of the conversation:

·         Demilitarize all police departments in the US

Military weaponry and tear gas do not have any place within communities.   

·         Initiate dismantling racism work within police departments

Racism is embedded in all of the systems in this country and we must start somewhere to reverse this. 

The soul of police work needs to shift back from violence & only defending one’s self even when no threat is present to being PEACE officers.  What happened to upholding the law?  What happened to protect & serve?  In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

RIP Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Rekia Boyd, Luis Rodriguez, Amadou Diallo, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, Ezell Ford, Dane Scott, Wendell Allen, Derrick Williams, John Crawford III, and the countless others who have been killed by police violence.  Read their stories, tell their stories, take a moment of silence and get involved.  All lives matter, black lives matter too.