by Caroline Leach | Dec 28, 2023 | Change, Work/Life
How was your 2023? What are your hopes for 2024?
Here’s a fun and easy exercise to consider both. It’s called “The Wheel of Life,” from the the Co-Active Training Institute.
Pick a number between 1 and 10 for your satisfaction in these areas of your life (1 is the lowest and closest to the center of the wheel; 10 is the highest and closest to the outer edge of the wheel):
- Career
- Family and friends
- Significant other
- Fun and recreation
- Health
- Money
- Personal growth
- Physical environment
Feel free to modify the categories if you like.
Each category is like a wedge or a slice of pie in the wheel.
Plot your numbers around the wheel and then connect the dots.
The purpose? To see how smooth or bumpy your ride of life is.
The bigger the variation in numbers among categories, the bumpier the ride.
You can also use this to reflect on:
- What’s going well in your life?
- What would you like to improve?
- What actions will increase your satisfaction?
The wheel of life is one of the first exercises I learned in coach training at CTI.
It was fun to revisit it today with year-end reflection and year-ahead planning.
What are your reflection and planning rituals? Would love to know in a comment!
by Caroline Leach | Dec 17, 2023 | Social Media
¡Hola! This fall semester I am both a communications professor at UCS and a student taking Spanish at El Camino College. Our last day of Spanish class was this week. I am grateful to our wonderful professor Maria Barrio de Mendoza and my fellow students.
¡Hola! Este semestre de otoño soy profesora de comunicaciones en USC y estudiante de español en El Camino College. Nuestro último día de clase de español fue esta semana. Estoy agradecida a nuestra maravillosa profesora María Barrio de Mendoza y a mis compañeros de estudios.
_______________
So many of you encouraged me at the end of August when I started my Spanish studies.
My daughter got me started on the Duolingo app over the summer.
Learning Spanish was on my to-do list for YEARS.
We think we have plenty of time, but we never really know.
So I enrolled in Spanish 1 this fall to formalize the learning process.
Why?
1. I live in Los Angeles, where there are millions of Spanish speakers
2. Learning a new language is like taking my middle-aged brain to the gym
3. The flow state of studying is a welcome respite from our troubled world
Here’s what I learned, in addition to 2 years of high-school Spanish …
HAVING A BEGINNER’S MINDSET IS BOTH HUMBLING AND NECESSARY. It was hard to speak up in class week after week, not always giving the right answers or pronouncing words correctly. What I came to realize, though, is that’s part of the learning process. Making mistakes is how we learn.
IT’S POSSIBLE TO LEARN ANYTHING NEW AT ANY AGE. Yes, it takes me a lot longer now to memorize Spanish words and verb conjugations than it did when I took French in high school. Keeping at it and pushing through the messy and difficult parts was the breakthrough.
OUR COMMUNITY COLLEGES PROVIDE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES. Our class was blessed with a dedicated professor in Maria Barrio De Mendoza. She made learning fun. It was inspiring to meet students who are decades younger than me and forging their paths in the world.
LEARNING A SECOND LANGUAGE SHINES A NEW LIGHT ON ENGLISH. As a communicator, I’ve always been fascinated with the English language and the nuances of word meanings. Learning Spanish is making me re-examine English and how I write and speak.
IT IS HEAVENLY TO BE IN THE FLOW STATE OF STUDYING. The world can be a difficult place, and there are many problems that don’t have nice, neat answers. But in studying a language there’s always a right answer. And somehow that makes solving other life problems easier.
by Caroline Leach | Nov 30, 2023 | Leadership
How can you lead successfully in a diverse world? This was the topic of a vibrant panel discussion recently at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Speaking to Executive MBA students, we talked about what defines a high-performing and inclusive business; examples of successful equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) practices; and key leadership traits to foster inclusion.
High-performing and inclusive leaders lean into:
1. Humility
2. Empathy
3. Curiosity
3. Authenticity
4. Vulnerability
In our complex world, leaders can’t always know all the answers. Problem solving is a collaborative effort. It means ensuring a wide range of voices and views are involved in giving input and making decisions.
I learned so much from fellow panelists TeNita Ballard, MBA, John Iino, Terra Potts, Alexis Tirado, and Mark Zee.
It was a delight to help organize this panel with school EDI leaders Mana Yamaguchi (and panel moderator) and Purvi Mehra MD, along with career development school rep Ryan Hayes.
The Career and Leadership Development director Tom Larsen along with Jasmine Perrett were instrumental in bringing the experience together.
Many thanks to all who were involved!
A special bonus: it was also hashtag#BruinFamilyWeekend. My son Connor Leach and I enjoyed chatting with and hearing from faculty, staff, parents, and students. Connor is a UCLA anthropology and history major. So proud of him, and energized by the learning scene!
by Caroline Leach | Oct 31, 2023 | Social Media
As a busy leader, how can you get more done?
How can you be more effective in less time?
Here’s a two-word solution: SKIP PERFECTION.
Get a project, a task, or an email to “good enough” place, and call it complete.
Submit that deliverable, and move on to the next task.
Because that frees up your time for the real work of leadership: spending time with people:
* Sharing a vision
* Inspiring action
* Giving feedback
My LinkedIn content creation journey is an exercise in skipping perfection.
In July and August, I posted daily as an experiment. More here: https://lnkd.in/g6qsVmJS
Now I’m posting a few times a week, a more sustainable cadence.
What enables me to do this?
* Not overthinking or overdoing
* Considering the ROI of more effort
* Tapping “post” before I feel fully ready
Of course, this doesn’t mean doing sloppy work or abdicating responsibility.
It simply means asking: what is the true level of effort needed?
It may be much less than we think.
P.S. Perfection is a theme I’ve explored before: https://lnkd.in/gVpwuJjv. So it’s no surprise that this week I was drawn to the Hidden Brain podcast episode on “Escaping Perfectionism.” Psychologist Thomas Curran joined to talk about the dark side of perfection and better ways to walk through life. Highly recommended!
by Caroline Leach | Sep 25, 2023 | Social Media
A lot can happen in 3 months.
You can end the year strong.
BTW, calendars are an artificial construct.
But the psychology of a season and a 90-day time frame is powerful.
Here are a few questions that can help you define your autumn intentions:
👉 How do you choose to lead?
👉 What do you want to change?
👉 What are you saying “yes” to?
👉 What are you saying “no” to?
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