How Often are you Deceived by Appearances?

How Often are you Deceived by Appearances?

As the world mourns Queen Elizabeth II’s death, I wonder how much does the world really know who she was. For example, did you know the below?

  • At the age of 18 she spent 5 months as a mechanic and army truck driver towards the end of World War II despite her father saying she should not pitch in

    • This made her the first female royal family member to serve in the military

  • She loved cars, had quite the collection, and had a special fondness for Land Rovers

  • One of her most memorable evenings was with her sister Margaret when they joined the massive crowds celebrating the end of World War II on May 8, 1945 in the streets of London

  • She never attended school, she was completely taught by private tutors at home

How about these?

  • She was actually related to her husband Philip, they were third cousins and she bought her wedding dress with WWII ration coupons

  • Queens don’t have to pay income or capital gains taxes, yet she voluntarily did so since 1993

  • Until recently she used to drink gin before lunch, wine with her meal, and a dry martini and / or a glass of champagne every evening before bed

  • She had a great sense of humor, a talent for mimicry, and could imitate the sound of a Concorde Jet Landing

Surprised by any of the above? If yes these are great examples of how appearances can be deceiving.

Over the course of my 20+ years as a change agent, I have seen time and time again someone judging another simply by what they see or experience from the person on the surface. The question is, as a change agent / leader, how often are you deceived by appearances? Wondering how to assess this? Click read more to see how often you do these.

How much is your Product or Service Designed with the Environment in Mind?

How much is your Product or Service Designed with the Environment in Mind?

Given the below, it is fantastic to see the U.S. recently signed into law clean energy and climate investments that will trim America’s emissions by ~1 billion metric tons by 2030

So when my <1.5 year old dehumidifier recently stopped working and I looked for a replacement, I was surprised to find the majority of portable dehumidifiers in the U.S. are only lasting a few years. They run out of freon and there is no way to recharge them. It seems these manufacturers are focused on selling as many dehumidifiers as they can without caring about the repercussions their product design / lifespan has on the planet. Why do I say this? Many of these dehumidifiers will end up in landfills or burned (for the towns whose trash goes to incinerators) because many consumers either lack the knowledge to take them to an electronic recycling event, or they would rather throw them out than take the time and effort to recycle them.

As change agents / leaders we’re frequently focused on continuously improving a product or service. As you think about the product or service you’re working on or responsible for, ask yourself the below questions and see how much is your product or service being designed with the environment in mind. If the answer is not much, what can you do to change this and further help the U.S. or your country reduce its carbon footprint (i.e. greenhouse gases generated by our actions)?

How Much do You Take Progress for Granted?

How Much do You Take Progress for Granted?

Many in the U.S. are understandably feeling very disappointed in the Supreme Court’s recent decisions to:

  • Overturn Roe v. Wade which provided a federal constitutional right to an abortion for almost 50 years

  • Loosen limits on carrying guns in public in New York State where a law had been existence for over 100 years

  • Remove the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants which they have done for the last seven years

The disappointment is because these decisions are taking the U.S. backwards to a time in the past. All examples of the Supreme Court majority advocating for the past.

As change agents and leaders, many of us have seen when new leadership comes in, how a transformation initiative that was a priority to the old guard of leadership, all of a sudden falls by the way side under new leadership. The question is, how surprised are you when this happens?

If you’re surprised when this happens, how much are you taking progress for granted? What does taking progress for granted look like?

How Often do You or Your Organization Seek the Easy Button?

How Often do You or Your Organization Seek the Easy Button?

Whether I’m working with an individual coaching client or an organization, something I see time and time again is the search for an Easy Button. For those unfamiliar with the term, an Easy Button is a button one pushes that instantly fixes your problems.

And who wouldn’t want the Easy Button? It means less work, less energy, and less brain power to deal with the problem when perhaps you’re already feeling exhausted and drained. Whether the Easy Button you’re looking for is a:

  • Quick fix to a long standing challenge in the organization or your family

  • Material object or activity to make unwanted feelings disappear

  • Easy solution to stop a well established, undesirable behavior / habit

  • Pill to make the illness / disease go away

  • Switch to go from feeling unconfident to confident

The question is, how often do you or your organization keep trying to find the Easy Button for a challenge? What if the Easy Button you are seeking is a fairytale (i.e. an instant fix doesn’t actually exist)? Click below for an example of the Easy Button vs. reality, and ask yourself these questions to see if you’re caught in the Easy Button Trap.

How Much do you Identify the Root Cause of your Health Issues?

How Much do you Identify the Root Cause of your Health Issues?

For those in the U.S. as you enjoy this holiday weekend, let’s remember what Memorial Day is about…honoring those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. May their sacrifice be a reminder of what really matters in life. Our health being one of these things as it’s hard to accomplish our goals without our health.

As change agents, we’re frequently working to identify and address root cause of an issue in an organization. Well finding root cause doesn’t just apply to organizations, it’s very applicable to our health as well. The question is, when you have a health issue going on, how much are you utilizing your change agent skills to identify root cause?

What does identifying root cause of a health issue look like? See below for my journey to identify root cause of the DVT near my right shoulder that landed me in the ER in early April. The root cause is most likely going to shock you.

How Well do you Advocate for Yourself?

How Well do you Advocate for Yourself?

It has been quite a last month. Before I get into what’s been going on, let me start by saying I have a history of being a medical anomaly. I have been the 0.002% of the population to get one medical condition. I have been the 0.001%-0.064% of the population to get another medical issue, and the list goes on. So what I’m about to share falls right in line with this history.

Before I get into that, we all go through times of being unwell as its part of being human. The question is, when you’re under the weather, how well do you advocate for yourself?

Had I ignored my intuition, and followed my doctor’s advice in early April, my health issue could have gotten a LOT more serious than it already was. Here’s what happened…

Be Seen, Be Heard, Be Effective in Bringing about Change