The SAGE Leadership Model

As we work our way through the SAGE Model we transition from Energy to Connections.  Looking at the connections in our life we begin the process of examining ourselves, evaluating our identity so to speak and the roles we play. 

First we must examine our personal identity; asking the question, Who am I? By examining ourselves emotionally and physically, we begin to understand our true identity. Self-examination allows us to recognize our strengths, weaknesses and unique passions for life.  Take an inventory of the roles you play in your life; like husband, father, boss, leader, son, faith leader, friend and business associate.  This process allows us to recognize the connections we have to others.

Two of my Daily Actions directly deal with connections.  The first is,

My life is about loving and helping people.  I have a caring and decided heart.

 

As we develop this action in our life, it allows us to impact everyone we come into contact with.  Just think if your mindset for everyone you come in contact with was to love and help?  The key is we must have the caring and decided heart to make this happen. 

 

The second action is,

 

I make people and things flourish by the amount of time and care I give them.

 

Analyze the inventory you took of your roles.  These should be the people you connect with on a regular basis.  Do you give them your time and care daily to help them flourish?  If not, look at ways you can increase your time and care with those who are important. 

 

Story:  When our children were young my wife and I established a nightly bedtime routine.  We would read to our children and then put them each into their bed.  We then spent some one-on-one time with each giving them a back rub.  I never understood why my wife felt this routine was so crucial, but she explained that this routine gave her peace and she wanted to convey that peace to each of them as they went to sleep.  One weekend after attending a Cursillo weekend (a short course in Christianity) she heard of a person that also blessed her children before bed.  So, we added that practice to our nightly routine.  Still today our children want us to tuck them in bed, give them a back rub and bless them.  Over the last 6 months I have added a practice I read about at a conference, I say: 

 

I feel and sense the magnificence in you.

 

These rituals create a connection between mother, father, son and daughter.  Remember your connections are passed on and are a reflection of how others view you.

 

So, how do your connections view you? Positively or negatively?  Remember your emotions are also conveyed by your actions, are you mad, sad, happy excited etc…?  Your connections are directly linked to who you are.

 

Gary

SAGE Energy

In the Sage Leadership model we say SAGE is a very wise person.  How does a person become wise?  It starts with the mindset for a willingness to learn and grow, to be a Leader. 

The first area you as a SAGE leader, must consider is Energy.  Energy is the fuel required for us to become the Leader we want to be.  What are the sources we consider when we want energy?  Determining our passions creates energy. 

As we determine our purpose in life, energy begins to build.  Health and exercise allows our body to create physical energy.  The friendships we share in our lives and our faith will produce mental energy.  As we create disciplines and habits we produce the energy necessary for our life.  This energy allows us to grow our knowledge and learn new things which in-turn increases our energy. 

The second Daily Action is:

“I take responsibility for who I am. 

I am responsible for my past and future.”

As we accept responsibility and own our lives, it gives us the energy to make changes and live the life we truly want.  Take ownership today of what you want to achieve for your life.

The third Daily Action is:

“I am a person of action. 

I choose to seize the moment and I choose now!”

This discipline of choosing or choices will be the future energy in our life.  As we choose our direction, goals and faith; our energy will follow that path.  The discipline we create in our life through deliberate, focused choices, will determine the results.  As we create disciplines they become habits, as they become habits they become daily routines that allow us to grow to become the person we choose to become.  If you want to create more energy in your life, look at one way today you can choose to create a habit that will change something in your life in a positive manner.

Gary

What is SAGE?

You thought I was referencing a spice, didn’t you?  Well I wasn’t, Sage is also defined as a profoundly wise person.  So, my question is:

“How do we become a wise person?”

I believe wisdom comes from within, molded by our experiences, learning and growing daily in our lives.  We grow in our daily lives by increasing our knowledge in areas like education, leadership, faith and health.  As we want our life to grow, we must also grow the time spent within these areas.

A colleague and I have been working on a new Leadership model that I feel will walk you through the necessary steps toward becoming a true SAGE Leader.  The SAGE Leadership Model develops the wisdom from within ourselves allowing us to pursue our passions.  To develop and learn the skills we need in our life, guiding us in becoming the person we want to be. 

Wisdom is the first action we must seek to truly find our passions, giving us the energy, connections and influence necessary to get greater results daily.  As we become aware of this Wisdom, it allows us the freedom to seek different ways in which we can attain knowledge.  A true Leader does not always have the knowledge but they are always willing to learn and grow in the search.  This process follows the first of my Ten Daily Actions:

“My Life is a message.  I will make it what I want it to be.”

 

The person who discovers their message is well on their way to becoming a SAGE Leader because they have established what they want their life to be.  Over the next several weeks we will talk more about how you can incorporate the Sage Leadership model into your daily life.

 

Gary

PS.  My contact information is:

Gary Wilbers

Executive Coach

573-644-7300

gwilbers@ascendbusinessstrategies.com

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2013! As with any New Year it is a great time to make an investment in your life where you will spend your most time. This year it is different for me because we have sold Mid-America Wireless and now I am making plans on my new life without something that has been a part of me since 1990. As I look back I have a lot of fond memories of being in the wireless business. But, as I close one chapter in my life, it is an opportunity to look forward and move toward the direction I have a passion to pursue during my next journey.

Many of you know that I have been an entrepreneur all my life. One of the passions I have found along the way is coaching, training and sharing with others; enabling them to find their true gifts, to water and fertilize them along the way helping them grow in their own lives. I am a firm believer that if you are not learning in life you are going backwards. If we put energy into the things that we enjoy we find true happiness in our life. What one thing could you learn in 2013 that would give you energy every day this year? Answer that question and you will find that 2013 will be a great year. The one thing I want to learn is to be a Coach, helping small business entrepreneurs find their energy to create a successful business optimizing fulfillment in their work life plus finding a balance in their personal life. Everyone talks about work/life balance but to truly make it a reality takes work and accountability.

As I start this journey in 2013 my goal will be helping other business owners find their energy. As you find your energy for 2013, make a list of the things you will do to make your goals a reality. I guarantee if you put a CHARGE (Create Habits Around youR Goals Everyday) into learning about the area you are interested, you will grow in 2013! Remember no one can make it happen but YOU!

Remember the acronym CHARGE in 2013!

Make it a GREAT Year!

Gary

Preparation for Success Part 2

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We are in the most wonderful time of the year. (I think I have heard that before?) I hope you are able to enjoy these special moments with those who are the closest to you. My present to you is just one word, PRESENT! Remember to BE PRESENT in everything you do, enjoy this time with those you love the most.

As you remember from my last blog I talked about making 2013 YOUR BEST YEAR EVER! We reflected on 2012 and talked about the 5 steps or questions needed to help you craft your goals for 2013. Let’s review those 5 questions;

1. What did I accomplish?
2. What were my biggest disappointments?
3. What did I learn?
4. How do I limit myself? In which areas of my life am I not achieving what I want? What do I say about myself to explain these failures?
5. What are my personal values? Write a clarifying statement for each value.

So be honest, did you answer them? If not, take a moment and answer them, be PRESENT!

Now, let’s continue where that blog ended and finish the steps so you will be prepared to have YOUR BEST YEAR EVER! As we look at question 6, you need to ask: “What roles do I play?” Roles refer to father, leader, husband, friend etc. List all of the roles you can think of and then narrow your list to the top 7. Of those, rate yourself, your performance, from 1 to 10 on how well you are currently performing in that role. Next, identify the role that will be your major focus for 2013! As you finish, take an inventory of all the questions you have answered, and ask yourself this: What is the biggest impediment to my success and happiness right now? This will help you determine the answer to question 7: What should my Major Focus be for 2013? The answer may surprise you; it might not be what you originally thought! Now, that your roles have been established and prioritized you can move to question 8: What are my goals for each of the roles I have listed? Remember; write out all of your goals for each role and make sure they are SMART goals. (Specific, Measureable, Actionable, Realistic and Time bound) Goals are best when they start with a strong active verb. List more than one goal per role, you need to stretch yourself so find 3 goals per role. After you have listed all your goals, review and ask yourself if completed, would these help achieve YOUR BEST YEAR EVER? If you answered yes, then you know you are on the right path and ready for question 9: What are my top 10 goals for next year? Review your goals and prioritize them from 1 to 10.

You have now completed your goal list for 2013! Type or rewrite your goals and post them where you will see them every day. I have mine posted on the inside of my bathroom mirror and in the binder I carry with me every day. The last question you must answer for yourself is 10: How can I make sure I achieve them? This is crucial because you are confirming to yourself that you will accomplish your goals and establishing why it is important to you.

I wish you a Happy New Year and hope you make 2013 YOUR BEST YEAR EVER!

Gary Wilbers

“GOALS: Are like having your headlights on,

because you know where you are going.”

Preparation for Success part 1!

Can you believe we are in the last month of 2012? How many of you achieved what you set out to achieve in 2012? Did you reach the goals you set for yourself? Did you make progress towards those goals? Well, you cannot turn back the clock so now is the time to prepare for the success you want to achieve in 2013! The next two blogs will give you some tips to help make 2013, YOUR BEST YEAR EVER! In this blog we will talk about taking an inventory of what happened in the past year. In the next blog we will give you some steps to follow to set your goals for 2013.

The first thing you need to do is get a pen and paper. The first process is to acknowledge and appreciate what happened last year. This process is to get you to look back on your past year and write your responses to the following two questions: 1. What did I accomplish? 2. What were my biggest disappointments? After you have honestly and completely answered these questions reflect back on the last year and think about what you have learned this year? These life lessons will help you achieve the goals you set for this year. Answer the question: 3. What did I learn? These three questions are already helping you form the results you will want to achieve this next year. The next positive internal focus for producing results comes in thinking about yourself and your goals it will help empower you to succeed. You will create a transformation when you place your self at the center of your life, creating your world rather than letting circumstances dictate your success. You create a new reality and power to create a new you! The fourth question to answer is: 4. How do I limit myself? Also, ask yourself this question? In which areas of my life am I not achieving what I want? The last question to ask yourself in this area is: What do I say about myself to explain these failures? This is very difficult but when you are honest with yourself and put this information on paper it allows you to see what is stopping you from creating your best year yet! Just list each question and write, don’t over analyze the why, just let your conscious mind help you in answering each question. This is being true to whom and what you really are.

The last area to complete this week is to think about what’s most important to you in your life. What are the hidden drivers behind your most tangible goals? What values do you demonstrate in your life? When we identify our personal values they will provide the strongest motivation for change and achieving the goals we most want to achieve. These personal values should be the words that are most central to your life like: integrity, honesty, compassion, keeping my promises, loving, caring etc. 5. Write down your personal values? List all of your personal values and then review them and write a clarifying statement for each value. When we clarify our values we can see ourselves “living” those values and we increase our probability of making an integral part of our daily life. By writing a clarifying statement it gives us a verbal picture, becomes the vision or target and it helps us understand what we need to do. Let me give you an example of a clarifying statement.

Value: Teamwork

Clarifying statement: I work collaboratively with others and positively contribute in a way that will help move my team forward.

Take time this week and complete the first 5 questions, this will give you the foundation you need to set the goals that are most important to you in 2013. In the next blog we will give you the 5 questions that will allow you to draft the goals you will ACHIEVE in 2013! I am a firm believer people who set goals are more likely to achieve them because they know where they are going!

Have a GREAT day!

Gary

Here’s a quote I coined:

“GOALS: Are like having your headlights on,

because you know where you are going.”

What are you thankful for?

I decided since Thanksgiving is next week it would be wise to talk about Thanksgiving! But, I want to take a different approach today instead of the usual “what are you thankful for this year”. Let’s talk about the gratitude you have in your life. The definition I am going to use of gratitude comes from Dan Sullivan.

“Gratitude is an internally-generated capability that allows an individual to create and discover unlimited meaning and value in every situation and relationship in life.”

As we use this definition of gratitude let’s break it down in smaller segments and digest each part.

Internally-generated capability: This means we have the ability within ourselves to generate this capability. Gratitude does not come from possessions, things or others. We have the drive to find gratitude in the smallest areas of our life. The last couple of days I have been grateful for the sunshine that warms the day.

Create unlimited meaning and value: Gratitude allows the individual to discover why they appreciate something. Everyone values different things in life so for one person seeing the sunset is gratitude, for another it may be just another sunset. The challenge here is to search yourself and find what holds gratitude in your life? Most people live life but forget to live their life! Make a list of the things in your life that creates meaning and value?

Every situation and relationship in life: As you made your list was it easy to identify the people closest to you like spouse, children, mom, dad etc. These are people you should show daily gratitude, by your words and actions. The more challenging areas are interactions with a co-worker, your job, a challenging issue, someone you dislike. Also, don’t forget the relationship you have with your creator. God provides a backbone to give us the capability in our daily lives if we just open up our heart and mind and allow him to help us.

As you prepare for Thanksgiving I hope you take the time to make your list of not only the people but also the daily events that give meaning and value to your life. This list will help you realize we all have many reasons to be grateful in our lives.

I hope each of you have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Have a GREAT day!

Gary