UFC

Watched the UFC fights this past weekend & I have to say, I was surprised by how much technique and form is involved. I thought it would be much more barbaric - don't get me wrong, the poor bugger in the first fight had his head split open by an elbow and his blood stained the cage floor which was distracting for someone like me!

The big fight was with the Canadian George St-Pierre vs. Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy. I was VERY, very impressed by St-Pierre. I know very little about this "sport" but he really seemed to dominate the evil Brit. I feel ridiculous but I was truly rivetted! Truly.

With continued curiosity,

Ruth

Visit me at my website - http://www.catneycoaching.com/

Hero

A very dear friend sent this to me this week. Take the time to customize this and send it to someone you feel is really making a difference.

http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1269524561861RA76

Ruth

A reminder that elite performance doesn't always just happen. It takes hard work, discipline and determination. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woOu_4l3lio

You also have to LOVE what you're doing. Martin Seligman, author of Authentic Happiness tells us that PLEASURE, ENGAGEMENT, AND MEANING inform how happy you are. Ask yourself if you have those 3 things in your work and personal life. Think of ways you could increase your pleasure, engagement, and meaning and then watch the impact.

Ruth

Was sent this Tony Robbins clip and thought it was powerful.

Be your greatest today BEYOND MEASURE!

http://training.tonyrobbins.com/437/a-gift-from-tony/

With continued curiosity,

Ruth

The Power of Situation

Every once in awhile I visit Ted.com to learn about some fascinating research. Philip Zimbardo was the researcher responsible for the Stanford Prison experiment of 1971. This is the classic psychology experiment that demonstrated what can happen when you put GOOD people in an evil place. This research provides insight into the power of situation. Zimbardo examines the atrocities of Abu Ghraib as a parallel.

Warning that some images are disturbing.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/philip_zimbardo_on_the_psychology_of_evil.html

Ruth

Next time you're talking to a client remember this:

Words represent 7% of what influences human behaviour.

Voice qualities represent 38% of what influences another human being; HOW you use your voice will affect someone more than WHAT you say.

Physiology represents 55%. Your body language represents the majority of what influences people when you communicate.

Just sharing,

Ruth

Rules of Thumb - # 19

Some great insights for leaders from Alan Webber's Rules of Thumb. His basic premise - More signal and less noise. According to Webber, your people need 3 things:

1. Clarity about Purpose
2. Honesty about values
3. Focus about metrics

1. Clarity about Purpose

- Your people need to see what you see.

- Your people need to understand how you connect-the-dots so they can see the pattern you see.

- They need to see and understand your template to guide their actions.

2. Honesty about values

- Your people want to know what you feel.

- Tell them what the company stands for.

- Make an uncompromising statement of the code of conduct that guides your organization.

- Then live by it yourself and hold them to it.

- They’ll rally to this kind of leadership.

3. Focus about metrics

- They want to track what YOU measure.

- Tell them the few things that really matter when it comes to measuring performance – as few as possible.

- Too many things to measure and you’re adding NOISE, not SIGNAL.

Successful Leaders are Very Creative

- They live by the mantra, “None of us is as smart as ALL of us.”

- They see life as an adventure and each new challenge as something to look forward to with eagerness.

- They are secure with themselves.

- Leaders get involved; they get involved with people and learn about them so they can leverage their successes and learn from their failures.

- Leaders are flexible, not only with accepting change but ANTICIPATING it.

Webber reminds us that in Good to Great, Collins explains that every company that made the leap from good to great had a leader who could express the company's purpose in a single short sentence. It’s not breadth of vision that defines good-to-great leaders but clarity of focus.

Happy leading!

Ruth

"Up"

I recently had the pleasure of seeing the Disney-Pixar movie "Up" and I loved it. I have read a few reviews that had some minor criticisms but let's face it, even a not-so-great Disney-Pixar movie is superb!

I've always been a huge fan of their work and here's why:

§ The innovation that goes into this type of animation blows my mind. There are milliseconds where I can't tell that it's animated and that's trippy!

§ The imagination and writing skill involved in creating the story lines are in a league of their own – so impressive in fact that you can suspend what you KNOW to be true and buy into the magic of what’s unfolding before you (a rat that is a chef in Paris, a old bugger that uses balloons to lift his house to escape from a limiting situation).

§ The humour they capture delights me and it’s always insightful and some brilliant commentary about the foils that plague the human condition. We need to laugh at ourselves more and Disney-Pixar nails it.

§ The values they espouse always touch me – sticking together, being a team, doing what’s right even when it’s not easy, admitting you’re wrong and doing what it takes to make things right, lasting love and meaningful relationships.

I love that I can watch these movies with my family again and again and we can laugh together in real time and then draw on this material for belly laughs together afterwards. Well done Disney-Pixar. Thanks for another great 96 minutes!

Here’s a great clip. Enjoy!
Ruth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxoWHeoYU3g

Great quote

"The open hands of gratitude are always filled."

Start believing this and watch what happens...

Ruth

10,000 hours!!!

Have been working hard at getting the coaching company up and running and we recently secured a contract with BMW/MINI Oakville.

Our coaching company is always trying to set itself apart by reading, attending workshops, connecting with other successful coaches and entrepreneurs, and finding out what we can leverage to be preeminent in the industry. Well, according to Malcolm Gladwell, you just have to do the time; 10,000 hours or so!!!

In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell makes a compelling case and explains that it takes 10,000 hours of experience and practise before you can become exceptional at anything. Gladwell quotes neurologist Daniel Levitin: "The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert -- in anything."

The list of people Gladwell cites as examples to support this claim is impressive: Wayne Gretzky, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Bill Joy...and there are more but you really should read the book for yourself.

The good news from what I can gather is that you don't have to be THE BEST in order to be successful; you only have to be good enough and it's up to you to know your industry, market and business well enough to know what "good enough" means.

So, I know what I've been doing in my formal training to become an exceptional professional coach but my hunch is that I've already spent thousands of hours preparing for this role - it's just that the hours have felt so natural and effortless that I wasn't even aware that I was doing it.

Reminds me of what Captain "Sully" Sullenberger said about making the emergency landing in the Hudson River. "Everything I had done as a pilot had prepared me for that moment."

Buy Outliers and read it this summer. Also, read the part about keeping your children's minds active through the summer months and what Gladwell has to say about that!

With continued curiosity,

Ruth

I'm reading Alan Webber's Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Yourself and so far, so good.

This really is a different kind of business book. Webber translates his 52 Rules through stories that yield a message.

Rule #1: WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH RELAX.

Webber writes, "Anytime you approach a task with fear you are at least a double loser. First, you colour the work with fear and increase the chances of failure. Second, you guarantee that you won't enjoy the experience."

So here's to making sure that I (and you, perhaps?) take a second and remember that I asked for all this. I'm smiling as I type this. I'm enjoying the trip!

Ruth

The good old hockey game

I love play-off hockey. Even though there is no Canadian team this year, the calibre of play is better, faster, and the stakes are HUGE.

I find myself rooting for Pittsburgh so the Canadian boy-wonder from Eastern Passage can live the dream. What's not to love???

I'm watching them now decisively beat the 'Canes 6 -2.

Until Tuesday night when they meet again!

Ruth