March 29, 2018
Moore Mission Moments - The Watershed Group

HIGH PERFORMANCE HABIT: INFLUENCE

by Patti Moore


High performance; everyone talks about it, but what does it really look like in practice? Here is my story of Habit #5, Influence:

 

No man or woman is an island, though we might occasionally wish we were!   When the action or inactions of those around us frustrate us, we’re tempted to imagine that life would be easier if we were in total control - but that’s a fallacy. We need one another to accomplish our dreams – and how we influence others and are ourselves influenced is what makes our dreams reality.

 

            Most of us have been lucky enough to cross paths with at least one great influencer in our lives – a person whose example helped us to become better than we were before we met them. Sometimes it’s a parent or a teacher, or a great boss or a mentor who goes out of his or her way to listen and advise. But often the most powerful influencers in our lives are those who lead by example; the people whose commitment, kindness and generosity of spirit let us glimpse the light of the divine spark that animates us all. I’ve been profoundly blessed to encounter several of these earthly angels in my life, and their faces and voices come to mind whenever I find myself at a crossroads trying to choose the right direction. I like to think I’ve been that person for a few people, too, but so often we don’t realize our own influence on others.

 

            As a leader, you influence people every day, simply by who and how you are. Your respect (or lack of it) for those working under you decides how they will treat those under them. Your interest in their opinions, your willingness to hear them out even when they differ with you, shapes their self-esteem – and either opens you up to being influenced, or closes you off from others’ ideas and inspirations.

 

            Are you goal-centered? Mission-centered? Do you openly and enthusiastically share those goals and that mission with those around you? Do you help them to understand their place in accomplishing these goals, and how essential their contribution is? Are you optimistic and positive in how you face the challenges you come across when working with others, or are you negative and pessimistic in your outlook? In choosing how you present yourself in the world and the workplace, you’re not only setting the tone – you’re setting the limitations.      

 

            Influence always runs in both directions, whether we’re looking for it or looking to pass it on to others. At some point in life, each of us will have to reach out a hand for help – and each of us has to be ready to reach out to offer a hand back. The most powerful influencers for good are those who look at others through soft eyes; who encourage, who empower through love. As Brendan Burchard says, “The greatest tool for change is kindness.” When we bring love into our interactions and give others the gifts of our listening ear and our open heart, we influence them to take those gifts and build on them. We literally make the world a better place as that kindness is paid forward.  

 

            When I was a hospice executive director, I always told our staff that the greatest compliment they could ever get from a patient’s family was when those loved ones said after the death, “I’m proud of what I did for Mom/Dad”. That meant we’d done our job –which was not to take over responsibilities of the family members, but to help INFLUENCE them to fulfill those responsibilities to the best of their ability.

 

            Who helped you to become the best of who you are? And who are you helping along their way?

   


 

WORTH READING/ WORTH WATCHING:

“When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the

earliest times, and to the latest.” 

   Henry David Thoreau

 

            Music has powers we’re just beginning to understand; power to move, to uplift, and to heal. It can reach into a troubled mind, or one dimmed by dementia; it can bring comfort and peace to us struggling with the end of life, whether we’re listening to it or performing it.

 

Nebraska Choir Sings for Hospice Patients

            “The group, known as the Hastings Hospice Choir, came together last fall and for the past few months has been singing to individuals on hospice care in the Hastings area, the Hastings Tribune reported.

            It all started after Hastings music teacher Tom Michalek brought in a couple of clinicians last spring who had started a similar choir in their Vermont hometown.

Michalek said the idea intrigued him but he didn't think much more about it. Then his own father was on hospice care, and Michalek said it all in a different way.

            "I got to see and know some of these folks and the care and love they bring to the work they do," he said of the hospice staff.

            Soon, Michalek said, he began to think again about the idea of a hospice choir, and last fall he put out a call to anyone interested and had more than 50 people at the initial meeting.’

 

'Music is a prayer': Minnesota woman finds her voice in hospice

            “Blume was first diagnosed with cancer when she was 26. She's 41 now and could be facing her final few months of life. But she's living as creatively as possible and putting her life experiences to song.

            “"It's important to me. Music is a prayer," Blume said.

            Blume entered hospice in June of last year at Allina Health Home Care and Hospice Services of Owatonna, Minn. There, she met music therapist Haylee Brown.

Blume and Brown started by exploring some Christian rock music, which Blume really likes. One day, she showed the music therapist a big notebook filled with prose and poetry she'd been writing.

            "She pulled out this piece called 'Wait for Me,' and I said maybe this is more of a song instead of just a piece," Brown said. "And it all just happened so fast ... kind of like you know it was all meant to be, it was all there."”

 
 
CLIENT SUCCESS STORIES:

Community Hospice Pediatric Respite Care Program Is ‘Lifeline’ For Families

            “Leslie and Brian Young endured a parent’s worst nightmare.

The Jacksonville couple’s twin daughters, Kelsi and Carly, were born in January 2005, and Kelsi had a compromised lymphatic system that led to further complications and her death 10 months later.  But in their grief they found her legacy by helping other families facing the same devastating loss.

           

The Kelsi Leah Young Respite Care Fund provides “the gift of rest” for families whose children are in the Community Hospice & Palliative Care’s pediatric program, which is called Community PedsCare. The fund has helped 360 families since it was founded in 2007 — giving them time off to run errands, take short trips or just recharge — and many of them will come together Thursday for the 10th annual Kelsi Young Gift of Care Celebration.”

 

And Tidewell Hospice is in the news:

New Bradenton Facility Works To Make End-Of-Life Transition As Comfortable As Possible

            “It had been 11 years since Tidewell Hospice opened a new facility to care for the terminally ill. That changed Friday when the Sarasota-based organization unveiled a new location in the ever-growing Lakewood Ranch area. The $5 million building is now the organization’s largest and features state-of-the-art technology, including an enhanced call system for patients, in-room charting for nurses and spacious rooms that are meant to feel like home.”

            

 
 

HIGH PERFORMANCE COACHING CORNER:

CLARITY...

 

CLARITY can set you free!  What is it you really want in life?  What is important you, right now?? Are you spending time on the things that matter to you in your life, or are you squandering away your dreams on someone else's expectations of you??

 

"When you know who you are you know what to do"

Peggy Dyson

 


To learn more about my VIP High Performance Group Coaching program click HERE!

 
A MOMENT OF PEACE:
Pause, and enjoy the morning sun on the marsh, from the  RiverCove Retreat Center
  
 
 
The Watershed Group
Phone: 352-495-2800  |  Fax: 352-495-1810
@TheWatershedGroup.com
© 2018 All rights reserved
 
To Read Previous Newsletters Go To: http://www.thewatershedgroup.com/newsletter-sign-up/
 
Share:
Follow:
 
Having trouble viewing this email? Click here
If you no longer wish to receive our emails, click the link below:
Unsubscribe
The Watershed Group 5745 SW 75th St #323 Gainsville, Florida 32608 United States (352) 495-2800