Tuesday Reading[Today's Tuesday Reading is from Jim Dezieck, Leadership Coach at MOR Associates. He may be reached at jimdezieck@morassociates.com via LinkedIn.] Nine at night: it's practice time. Tai chi practice time. Off come the shoes, on comes the music - often Deuter's East Side of the Moon. Open comes my practice workbook, out goes every thought less tonight's practice. The 20-minute timer begins. If you could see me across time you would see that tonight is the 26th practice day out of the 28-day interval whereupon I review and determine my focus for the next 28 days. Looking backwards you would see these 28-day playing fields stretching for years in tai chi and decades across the many practices I have tried. And you would see me coaching others on this. From that, three thoughts about how less can be more in practice. Modesty nourishes deep desires; make 20 minutes the upper limit of a new daily practice. My friend Will laments that his effort to spend an hour a day on his new novel has not gotten off the ground. In our busy lives, 20 minutes seems to be an upper threshold of time that we can realistically, consistently find for planting and tending new behaviors. I know, it doesn't sound like much for getting into a new practice, but - 20 minutes figuring it out for the first 28 days can organically blossom into 60 minutes or more thereafter. The early going lights and clears the way. Attend; one good effort a day. A short but surprisingly potent practice in the MOR practice repertoire is that of stopping at the doorway of a meeting to invite yourself to come into the present moment and then choose the type of energy you intend to bring into the room. Total time elapsed, maybe 10 seconds? Still, in the beginning, focus on practicing this attentively one time each day. Score 'done' for that and reflect briefly on what you learned from it. If you do it more times that day that's just a bonus. With high quality practice soon enough, you will bring it always. Be open to surprises; reflect daily and review weekly. Katrina's practice: reading with her 8-year old daughter Cassandra each night. When we checked in around day 18 she shared her delight at something gratifying about the nature of practice. They began reading but had just a few books because they'd just moved and much remained in boxes. Katrina's commitment to reading with Cassandra led her to unpacking the boxes to reach the books, which in turn led her to unpacking and setting up Cassandra's room, which then in turn relieved mom's bigger stress while helping her daughter find her home. Thoughtful practice and reflection has a righting effect than can manifest in splendid ways.Over the years my colleagues and I have watched these modest behaviors work their magic in many ways. One neatly fills a gap, another uncloaks a needless fear while another finds a portal to a whole new way of seeing and being. To misquote Margaret Mead: 'never doubt the power of small, persistent, thoughtful behaviors to change your world; indeed it's the only thing that ever has.' This Week's SurveyWhat is the state of your practice today?I do not have any practices in play.My practice is more an intention that I try to keep in mind.My practice is pretty structured - clearly defined, clear in frequency, and tracked.My practice is actually 'practices' for I have more than one going now. From Last Week Last week we explored times of transition and where our focus could benefit our current leadership the most: 18% said the people that surround us.13% said our strengths.8% said our beliefs and practices.61% said all of the above.As we reflect on practices this week, consider that the people that surround us, our strengths, and our beliefs by themselves do not advance the outcomes we achieve as leaders. Nor do these three collectively advance those outcomes. Rather, it is our consistent practices with those that surround us, our consistent practices in leveraging our strengths, and our consistent practices in living our beliefs that, taken as a whole, largely define who we are as a leader and our ability to achieve our desired outcomes. What is one regular practice that would enable you to more fully be the leader you aspire to be? Small, persistent, thoughtful behaviors indeed change our world.Categories: Goals & Practices, Tuesday ReadingLike: Select ratingGive Practice: Sometimes Less is More 1/1No votes yet
