I’ve recently been exploring animals as mentors and I see there is so much to be learned from them that we can apply to our own leadership.

I particularly love the playfulness, intelligence and team spirit of dolphins, the way they look out for each other, support each other and really collaborate together.  My dogs show me how to be really present in life, how to respond in the moment, putting past grievances aside and how to appreciate simple pleasures.

But it’s my cat who is my true mentor, who inspires me every day. Whenever I get stuck with something, I watch him and learn.  Here are some leadership lessons from my cat Dennis:

1. Be open to possibilities – Cats go out hunting, not knowing where their next meal will come from. They keep an open mind regarding where they will go, what they will hunt and where they will sleep. Being open to possibilities enables us to recognise different ways of behaving or doing things and increases our creativity and innovation.
2. Be detached from the outcome – cats come and go as free spirits. I never know when my cat will come home. In fact, last year, he took off for 9 days. When I accepted that he could choose to live his life the way he wanted to, he appeared the very next day! Let go of needing to control things that are not meant to be controlled and you will be able to relax into the natural order of life. Stop worrying about things that you cannot influence.
3. Do focussed work - when you see a cat hunting, they are really focussed on the task in hand. They choose what prey they go after and they really concentrate on one thing at a time. It enables them to be really effective. Decide on one (yes, just one) thing that you are going to do each day. Make sure it is something critical and do it first. Anything after that is a bonus. When you focus on just one critical thing each day, you become more effective and productive and your list of things to do will reduce quicker.
4. Know when to give up - my cat will work tirelessly to catch a mouse… but he also knows when to give up and move on to something else. Learn the difference between trying too hard to no avail and persevering under pressure for the sake of achieving something really important.
5. Avoid distractions - cats notice the things that are important… like the traffic, the movement in the undergrowth that enables them to find their next catch. They ignore the constant birdsong that acts as a background noise and refuse to get distracted by it. Allow yourself to switch off the distractions around you (e.g. internet, email, instant messaging, etc) so that you can be really effective. Just one hour a day will enable you to accomplish more in less time.
6. Nurture your mind, body and soul - Cats hunt when they are hungry, sleep when they are tired and avoid the rain wherever possible! I’m not suggesting you never go out in the rain (in fact, I love walking in the rain) but I am suggesting that you find ways to look after yourself and stop pushing yourself beyond your limits.  Having enough sleep is essential to ensuring you are more effective and focussed. Eating healthily and exercise are essential tools for leaders to remain fit and productive at work.
7. Enjoy the process as well as the end goal - Cats are great at enjoying the hunt. If you find yourself focussing so much on the end goal that you forget to enjoy the process, rein yourself back in and notice what is happening. Notice the trials and tribulations along the way and ENJOY them!
8. Learn from failure – When cats fail to catch something, they try again. And again. And again. They don’t sit back and beat themselves up for missing the mouse the first time. They enjoy it all as a game. Start to recognise your failures as part of the bigger game, as part of the process and enjoy learning from them and trying again.
9. Be playful – cats are incredibly playful for no apparent reason. In fact, I find it hard to accept that my cat likes to play with the mouse he caught before eating it. Children are also great at playing with food. As adults, we become accustomed to living and working in a serious manner, following those unwritten rules that tell us how sensible we have to be. Remember how you felt as a teenager, being rebellious and having fun throwing a dishcloth at someone? (was that just me?) It’s time to lighten up and have some FUN!
10. Full permission – Cats are free spirits. They don’t ask what the rules are or constrain themselves believing that they can’t do something. They do what feels right to them. Notice where you stop yourself saying and doing what you want to say and do. Start speaking your truth, from your heart and soul.
11. Follow your intuition – cats are incredibly intuitive. It never ceases to amaze me that my cat catches moles. He must have to be really patient and really quick and really intuitive to know that a mole is near the surface and about to come out. We become so good at working things out logically that many of us have forgotten how to respond with our intuition. Start to notice how your body feels when something is right and how it feels when something is wrong. Start to listen to your body more and more and use it to inform your decisions.

Yes, there is much to be learned from my cat. He’s a reminder that leadership is within us all. We need only relax into our natural leadership style to know what to do in every moment.

What animal is your mentor?

What does your animal mentor tell you about how to live and work?

And finally… when I asked my husband what his animal mentor was, he replied “A chipmunk”. I looked curious and he explained: “Because it’s got cute cheeks and nice teeth”. I give in.

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

11 Leadership lessons from an unusual mentor

Related posts:

1. 12 lessons in leadership from 2009
2. Authentic leadership is easy

I know firsthand that it’s not sustainable long term. I’ve done my share of working long hours, travelling a lot with work and throwing myself into my leisure time with the same ferocity and velocity and I became exhausted.

Those who know me will also know that I have a tendency to break bones when I’m living life at too fast a pace! I see many clients, colleagues and friends who are also exhausted and still trying to maintain the status quo of high activity.

There are times throughout the year where our activities increase e.g. at the end of the term for teachers, at financial month and year end for those in business, at Christmas when we go out more and have more shopping to do.

There’s nothing wrong with being busy. It’s a natural rhythm of life. The problem comes when we increase our activites to that high level and try to maintain it  longterm at an unsustainable level.

That’s when it becomes out of balance with the natural world, out of balance with the natural rhythm of the earth. When we live in towns and cities and spend much of our time in offices, it’s easy to get out of balance with the natural world. We can get caught up in the materialism of modern day society and believe we need to be busy to sustain that way of life.

There is another way.

I look to nature as an inspiration to show me how to find a more natural rhythm. There are moments throughout the year when nature is busy too. Like the bees in the summer, cross-pollinating the flowers, the squirrels gathering in the harvest in autumn to sustain them over the winter, the flowers in spring which grow at an alarming rate.

We too can harmonise with the rhythm of the earth and find our own rhythm of life. A rhythm that feels energising and gentle, exciting and sustaining, both for ourselves and the world around us.

What’s the rhythm of your life?

What rhythm would serve you right now?

Putting it into practice

1. Get out in the fresh air every day for at least 5 minutes and connect with nature. Breathe.
2. Notice what is happening in nature and draw the comparison with your own life. Notice where nature is working as designed, bending and flexing.
3. If you are moving at a fast unsustainable pace, it might be time to start saying no to things, time to ask for help. If you are prevaricating and have become static, then notice what needs to happen. Do yoou need time out to recharge or is it time to start moving?
4. Find a new rhythm that nourishes and sustains you, excites and energises you.
5. Post your comments below on how you get on.

Go out and connect with nature – your own true nature, the nature of others and the natural world. It’s time to find your natural rhythm of life.

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

Finding your natural rhythm of life

Related posts:

1. Noticing my true nature
2. Finding clarity in the chaos
3. 12 lessons in leadership from 2009

I was powerless to do anything. I lacked control of the situation. I realised that Dennis is living the life he wants to live and that might be different from what I want for him. He was teaching me a lesson in detachment.

We cannot control anyone or anything although many of us try to do so.  We can’t even control our own lives. We never know what is going to happen. Perhaps you fight with your children about what they should do, the choices that they make? Perhaps you fight with colleagues at work because you believe your way or your idea is better?

Where are you trying to make things happen in a particular way?

How attached are you to a specific outcome?

We all have different ideas of what a fulfilling life looks like or how a job should be done. Dennis chose to trek across fields for 9 days. I doubt he was worried about us. I’m guessing that he was feeling the joy of being fully alive and free and connected to his environment. I’m happy that he chose to do that, even though it means I missed him terribly. I’m also guessing that his reason for turning up again was that he missed being loved. And I’m delighted he came home.

I like to think I have everything under control. Thanks to Dennis, I was reminded that I don’t. I don’t own him. I can’t control him. I find this difficult. I like to think my family are tucked up in bed at night and safe. I can do things to influence it and I can’t make it happen. Just as I can’t control the decisions that anyone in my life makes, whether they are family, friends, work colleagues or even strangers in the street.

I love that we are all unique, that we have different opinions and ideas. Diversity is what makes life interesting. That doesn’t mean we have to keep quiet. It’s important to speak our truth and it’s equally as important to be detached from a specific outcome. Allowing things to evolve and unfold naturally. Without force. Gently.

Putting it into practice

1. Identify a relationship in your life where you are trying to control, where you really want a specific outcome. Perhaps it is your partner, one of your children or a work colleague.
2. Ask them what they want from the situation.
3. Tell them what you want. Be detached from needing to have them be who you want them to be.
4. Allow them to be who they are and embrace their difference.
5. Post your comments below.

Being detached from the outcome is one of the hardest things we can do. And it is liberating. Now I know that Dennis is staying around because he wants to. Because he loves us. And the more I allow him his freedom, the more he wants to hang around.

Stop pushing your family and friends away. Embrace them for who they are and allow them to make the choices they want to make. Your relationships will be richer for it.

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

A lesson in detachment

Related posts:

1. Choosing your speed

Left to right: Pepsi, Jude and Gracie

We have a new addition to the Jennison household. Pepsi, a brood bitch for Guide Dogs joined us 2 weeks ago.

She’s 14 months old and she’s been puppywalked for a year so she’s pretty well-behaved. That said, she also has a strong will and can be really stubborn.

This surprised me at first. I’d forgotten that we had to train our first dog to do what we expected of her. No doubt we have a different routine from the one Pepsi is used to and we need to get used to each other.

It’s time to reset my expectations. Time to put the effort into building a great relationship with her so that we have the same loving bond that I have with my first dog Gracie (also a Guide Dog brood bitch).

Setting your expectations at work

When I think of the workplace, it’s similar. When someone new joins your team, you may have an expectation of the job you want them to do; you may have expectations of their skills, knowledge and experience. Maybe, just maybe, they need time to adjust to you and you need time to adjust to them.

How high are your expectations?

How clear are your instructions?

How well are you communicating?

When we open the dialogue and start discussing what we really want, that’s when we create understanding and deep connections with people. We don’t need to agree. We do need to understand and accept the differences.

When Gracie came to live with us 6 years ago, I put a lot of time and effort into developing a strong bond with her. I showed her what I expected of her and rewarded her well. She’s rewarded me in return by being a loyal friend and companion and I can rely on her to do certain things in a certain way. Now I’m doing the same with Pepsi and already we are more connected.

Of course, leadership in the workplace is not as hierarchical as being a pack leader with a dog. At work, it’s more about understanding each other, sharing ideas, collaborating together. Still, there is much we can learn from the simplicity of the communication we have with our four legged friends. Clarity is everything and sometimes expectations have to be reset.

Putting it into practice

1. Consider a new relationship – it could be a new friend, partner or colleague at work.
2. What do you expect from this relationship?
   
3. Communicate your expectations to them. Open the dialogue.
   
4. Where are you different? What are you willing to accept for the sake of a deep connection?
   
5. Post your tips below on how to build great relationships.

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

Do you need to reset your expectations?

Related posts:

1. Leaders make connections

Nature is full of variety.

I notice the natural stone path, how hard it is, how strong and how many shades there are running through the matt grey stone. I notice the gentle bamboo grasses bending in the wind. They are blowing with the breeze, not fighting it. Bending and flexing, gentle and strong, soft and resilient.

I notice how much things have grown in the last week. I notice the textures and colours. I try not to judge the weeds or the plants that are overgrown and need trimming back. Everything is as it should be.

In 5 minutes, I see so much variety and I see how things are changing and evolving, day by day, minute by minute. I consider how I am growing and evolving and how those I love are doing the same.

How are you growing and evolving?

Who and what is growing and evolving around you?

I consider my own true nature. For a long time I was rushing about, too busy to notice who I was being, what I was doing. I was on a conveyor belt of life and work, belieiving I had to do certain things and behave in a certain way.

Like nature, I am soft and strong and anywhere in between. I can be hard and I can be weak. I’m vibrant and dynamic, peaceful and relaxed. I’m at my best when I’m being true to myself, flexing and bending in the wind of life. Being at one with nature and the outdoors, being at one with my own true nature, being at one with the universe.

We are all connected. We are constantly exchanging energy between us and with nature. We are all one.

What do you notice when you slow down and flex in the wind of life?

Putting it into practice

1. Who or what are you disconnected from? What will you do to reach out and connect?
2. Spend 5 mins each day in nature and notice. Let go of judgement and thought. Allow yourself to really experience the paradox of nature and allow it to envelop you.
3. Share your ideas below on how you connect with nature and those around you.

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

Noticing my true nature

Related posts:

1. Finding your natural rhythm of life
2. Leading by the law of nature

1. Love unconditionally – Dogs are commonly known as man’s best friend because of their loyalty and ability to love unconditionally. My dog is always at the door to great me with a smile and a wag of the tail. If I tell her off today, she will not hold a grudge tomorrow or even 5 minutes later. We can learn so much from them by applying this more to our own lives and loving everyone unconditionally. I explore love in more detail in my posts on Putting love back into business and Love and only love

What happens when you respond to the present and love unconditionally?

2. Nurture yourself – Animals are great at looking after themselves. They don’t fight the laws of nature. My cat is an outdoor cat and spends the day hunting, only coming home with his prey 3-4 times a day. When he is tired or not well, he sleeps. Simple. With our busy lifestyles, many of us push ourselves to the limit. We work through pain in the gym for the sake of having a fit body, we work long hours even when we are tired and few of us find the time or even know how to rest and recharge. We’re fighing against the laws of nature. Animals don’t get burned out or exhausted because they look after themselves.

What are you doing to nurture yourself?

3. Go with the flow – I recently wrote a blog post about being inspired by grass. It seems a rather bizarre thing to be inspired by as a leader but there is so much we can learn from the easiness of nature. You see, grass doesn’t work hard to grow. It just grows naturally when the time is right, without a fight. When we allow ourselves to accept what is available to us in the present moment and use it to the best advantage, that’s when we become most effective as leaders.

How does going with the flow make your life easier?

4. Create opportunity from adversity – Animals in the wild are rarely handed food on a plate. They have to work hard for it. They have to look for an opportunity. When food is scarce, they become more creative and look in different places and in different ways. We can see the current recession as a terrible thing or we can consider it as an opportunity for us to change the way we do things, even change our jobs, do things we really want to do, create things we’ve only dreamed of, really make a difference to the world, to society and to other people. Stop doing what you’ve always done and find a new way to do things that fill you with joy.

What is the adversity in your life that you can turn into an opportunity?

5. Let go to make space for the new - The four seasons are important each year. I love them all because they all represent different aspects of life and are a reminder to think about things differently. Winter is essential because it allows the old to die off naturally and make space for the new. Spring is a time of hope. After winter has cleared out the old, spring provides an opportunity to consider what we want in our lives and create the space for it. Summer is the prime of life where the new growth becomes more established and starts to evolve. Autumn is a time to prepare for winter, to consider what you no longer want in your life and what you are prepared to let go of.

What will you let go of to create space for the new things you really want in your life?

6. Be proud of your success – Animals are proud of their achievements. They don’t see it as them being superior or inferior but just as part of evolution and part of nature. When my dog Gracie had her puppies, she was just so proud of them. She had that gooey look on her face that young mums have as though she had done something truly incredible… which she had. She knew she was doing what she was meant to do. It was natural and it was beautiful. It seemed effortless. It was meant to be.

What are you doing naturally that you can be proud of?

7. Express your emotions – I recently watched a programme about the Inuits. What struck me was the simplicity of their lives and their ability to express emotions so freely. When they were sad, they cried; when they were happy, they laughed freely. When we express our emotions freely, we are being human and people see us for who we really are. When we hide behind a facade of non-emotion, people misunderstand us. Be yourself and include your emotions as part of you.

What is your impact when you allow yourself to express your emotions?

8. Be curious - Cats are so good at this. They are naturally curious. As part of my coaching training, I had to learn the skill of curiosity by spending 15 minutes with my head under the kitchen sink. Not trying to work things out, not needing to have answers but just being curious. Thankfully my kitten came along and joined in and I learned from following his lead. Most of our questions are based on wanting information so that we can do something with it. Being curious is about learning and growth. I wrote a blog post about leaders who have the Confidence to ask curious questions

What happens when you are really curious?

9. Reduce conflict through understanding – My cat (Dennis) and dog (Gracie) actually get on well although it’s clear they do not understand each other. When Dennis is cross, he wags his tail so when he sees Gracie wag her tail, he runs away. When Dennis licks his lips, it’s because he’s hungry. Gracie licks her lips as a sign of submission but Dennis interprets this as Gracie wanting to eat him. It’s no wonder that cats and dogs don’t understand each other because they misinterpret each other’s signals. As human beings we know that people do things differently and have different opinions yet we continue to misunderstand each other. When we seek understanding first, then we can reduce conflict. I cover this in more detail in my blog post on Putting love back into business

Who will you try to understand better and what is the impact?

In summary

As you can see, my cat and dog inspired the many of the items in this list so it’s clear that we don’t have to look too far to find inspiration in nature.  What I realise more each day is that nature is waiting to teach us. The important thing is for us to slow down, watch, listen and learn.   When we are willing to learn from everything (even grass! – see item 2) then our evolution is automatic and we can be at one with the world we live in.

Please let me know how nature inspires you by adding your comments below.  We can learn so much more collectively.

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

9 great lessons that nature can teach us about living

Related posts:

1. The confidence to ask curious questions
2. Leading by the law of nature
3. 12 lessons in leadership from 2009

I’m inspired by the way it grows naturally without having to try. When it’s winter, it shuts down and stops growing. In spring, it starts again. It’s working just as nature intended.

How natural are you in your every day life?

In the pursuit of meeting our goals and objectives, we strive to achieve. Our dedication to meeting our client’s needs and our own goals can mean life and work is sometimes a struggle. We fight each other and we fight ourselves in our pursuit of achieving.  When we allow ourselves to accept what is available to us in the present moment and use it to the best advantage, that’s when we become most effective as leaders. Instead of using inordinate amounts of energy fighting the things that are not meant to be, we focus on what is here and transform it to best effect. It might not turn out exactly as we envisage it but it turns out as it is meant to be. That’s where everything is easy, where we are more creative, more human and where we have more fun. The achievements happen naturally with less effort.

Isn’t that what nature intended?

Where are you struggling against your nature?

Putting it into practice

• 1. Identify something that you want to achieve
• 2. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much of a struggle is it?
• 3. How much are you allowing it to evolve naturally?
• 4. If you let it evolve more naturally, what happens?

What is naturally available to you?

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

Leading by the law of nature

Related posts:

1. Noticing my true nature

If we want to know about curiosity, we only need to look at a cat. They are naturally curious. They spend their entire lives asking questions and have a confidence in asking questions that we can learn from. 

When I watch my cat, I wonder: What is important to him? What compels him to be curious? What does he value most in life? What does he like about hunting? How much sleep is the optimum for him?

These are curious questions. There are no right or wrong answers. When I ask these questions, I start to gain a deeper understanding of my cat, who he is, what’s important to him, what motivates him. I could ask similar questions to anyone and everyone would have a different answer. Each answer would be the right answer for that person.

Typically we ask questions to extract information that we can then use to our own benefit, e.g. what time will you be home? How long will that job take? Being curious means asking questions for the sake of learning something much deeper and for the sake of understanding the other person, e.g. what’s important to you about that? What do you value most in life? What empowers you? What do you enjoy most?

Putting it into practice:

1. Be curious about yourself. What do you value? What empowers you? What types of people energise you? What brings you alive?
2. Be curious about a colleague or friend. Listen carefully when they speak and consider what they value, what empowers them. How does that help you understand them more?

What’s the impact of your curiosity?

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

The confidence to ask curious questions

Related posts:

1. Leaders make connections

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkysd9mQho

The inspiration for this blog post is my dog Gracie who had 7 puppies last Weds. She is just so proud of them that I instantly thought of this song. She has that gooey look on her face that young mums have as though she has done something truly incredible… which she has.

So it got me thinking about what makes us proud. Few of us will ever achieve a gold medal and it dawned on me that it’s the little things we do and say every day that we can be proud of.

What have you done to make you feel proud?

Here are some of the things I’ve done in the last week that I am proud of

• 1. The fact that I kept Gracie fit leading up to pregnancy and through pregnancy because I feel that I played a small part in enabling her to whelp relatively easily.
• 2. Being with Gracie throughout the whelping and reassuring her when she was in pain. The bond between us at that point was so great and is a reflection of how much unconditional love we give each other. We can learn so much from animals.
• 3. The blog I set up to track the progress of the puppies (http://www.guidedogpuppies.wordpress.com) because it enabled me to keep my family and friends updated on her progress and it is good PR for Guide Dogs
• 4. The articles I’ve written on “4 week plan to creating more time for yourself” and “3 steps to gaining clarity and fulfillment in your life” which I plan to publish very soon
• 5. The courage it sometimes takes to be vulnerable publicly in service of others.

The following is a quote from the song by Heather Small:

“I look into the window of my mind
Reflections of the fears I know I’ve left behind
I step out of the ordinary
I can feel my soul ascending
I am on my way
Can’t stop me now
And you can do the same
What have you done today to make you feel proud?”

We are all amazing individuals. It’s time to stop playing small, time to let go of the constraints we put around ourselves and step out of the ordinary into the extraordinary lives that we can have.

What constraints will you let go of?

How will you step out of the ordinary?

Let me know what you are proud of and how you will step out of the ordinary this week.

With love,
Jude. x

Post from: Leaders By Nature

What have you done that makes you feel proud?

Related posts:

1. Playing your starring role
2. Choosing your speed