Taking Responsibility for My Listening

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In November of 2007, I was in San Diego attending a weekend training for coaches. One of the breakout sessions was led by the author of one of the best-known books on coaching. It is a good book and I was very eager to attend. He gave the ninety minute workshop six times over two days–I was in a morning session on day two.

The author struck me immediately as irritated, aggressive, and arrogant. His opening seemed vague and rambling and his responses to questions were not pertinent. People were shaking their heads and looking at each other. Coaches are a fairly supportive audience but in the first fifteen minutes five of the thirty people walked out, one while the author was responding (elliptically) to his question! I decided to Read the rest of this entry »

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Whither wisdom?

Barry Schwartz: The real crisis? We stopped being wise.





From TED

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Freedom, Responsibility, & Connection

Yongey

From a Buddhist perspective, the description of reality provided by quantum mechanics offers a degree of freedom to which most people are not accustomed, and that may at first seem strange and even a little frightening. As much as Westerners in particular value the capacity for freedom, the notion that the act of observation of an event can influence the outcome in random, unpredictable ways [i.e., Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle --Editor] can seem like too much responsibility.

It’s much easier to assume the role of the victim and assign the responsibility or blame for our experience to some person or power outside oneself. If we’re to take the discoveries of modern science seriously, however, we have to assume responsibility for Read the rest of this entry »

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Quotes and Aphorisms.
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Be the decisive element

Hiam Ginott

I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or de-humanized.

Haim G. Ginott
Between Parent and Child

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Responsibilty

David H. Sandlr

I was responsible for all of it. Whatever happened, I had done it to myself. One day I said, “Sandlr, you put yourself here. Nobody did anything to you. You’re here because you are.”

David Sandlr

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All Of This is Good News

Robert Schuller

I created these problems for myself. I made decisions that caused me to be where I am today. That’s why I’m facing the challenge. So I have nobody to blame but myself. That means that I’ll not be angry, or cynical, or suspicious. I’ll assume responsibility for these problems. I got myself into it. I can get myself out of it. I still believe that every obstacle is an opportunity. To learn. To grow. To be corrected or protected from making mistakes. So all of this is good news. So I’m not discouraged. I’m motivated by this new challenge.

I’m not depressed. I’m impressed.cvr Be happy Attitudes

Dr. Robert Schuller
Author of:
Be Happy Attitudes

 


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Tony Mayo, Top Executive Coach, is located in Reston, Virginia 20190