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What SHAPE are You Becoming as LEADER?

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Leaders shape reality.

That is perhaps the most fundamental and important aspect of being a leader ...whether a leader of your individual life, of a business, of a community venture, etc. In that context, the question of how you shape reality becomes highly relevant. So does the question of how you shape yourself. ...

For the purpose of producing leadership excellence, we can consider the notion of "shape" in the context of mastery. Mastery develops as a function of directing awareness, attention, intention and will to act. As mastery evolves, we become able to make new choices in situations and with people when it matters. ...

What kinds of conversation do we engage in and with whom? Fundamentally, there are three types of conversation: historical conversations, conversations for possibility, and conversations for action. Masterful leaders engage in all three with conscious awareness and choice. ...

What is your "shape" in situations of stress? When are you not under stress? What is your "shape" then? What do you need to practice in order to be your "best self," especially in stressful and stress-producing situations? It has to do with how you show up in conversation. ...

by Beata C. Lewis, J.D.
Executive Coach & Change Cnsultant

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The Human Dimension of Leadership:
Relationships Built on Knowledge, Trust, Power and Presence

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The path to exceptional leadership is a personal and individual journey. Each person defines the purpose of the journey, but it will ultimately be about the release of human possibility. Leading—as a way of being, not just focused on a role or title—is a function of relationship with yourself and others. It is a way of being in the dynamic balance of reflection and action. In its essence, leadership consists of the principles, skills, behaviors and attitudes that harness and integrate knowledge, trust and power to get something done.

Wisdom, integrity and courage are leadership characteristics that foster and synthesize knowledge, trust and power. Especially in times of complexity and change, leaders who by their presence and competency can build trust quickly and inspire others to collaboration are the ones who succeed. Building your presence as a leader is a process of coming into an authentic and powerful sense of Self and being able to extend into the world with clear intention, skillful action, and grounded compassion.

by Beata C. Lewis, J.D.
Executive Coach & Change Consultant

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Give It a Rest! Directing the Mind to Inner Peace

When relying solely on your own innate resources, what do you do to re-direct and quiet your mind so you can experience inner peace?

The question of what a person who desperately wants to rest can do to quiet a mind in overdrive is provocative on its own. It is, in a larger way, also a question of self-mastery. And self-mastery is at the heart of cultivating leadership excellence, which is my professional domain. The question becomes how can I use the power of my mind, my attention, intention and focus to transform my situation? What can I practice to open up new possibilities where I now experience an impasse?

by Beata C. Lewis, J.D.
Executive Coach

Published in Bridging Lives News - December 2004

The Heart of Change

Desire is at the heart of conscious change

Change happens when you ask for it and when you don’t. Change also happens even when you insist on resisting it. What helps us navigate uncertainty and change with more ease and grace? How can we shift our consciousness to embrace change? The integrated power of mind, heart, body, and soul have an inestimable impact on what happens to us in change.

Change rooted in desire is also connected to a compelling sense of choice and center. When we touch the heart of what matters, we can devote attention and energy to take action towards what we want, rather than reacting to what we do not want.

by Beata C. Lewis, J.D.
Executive Coach

Published in Bridging Lives News - August 2004

Is this Real?
What You Create as a Leader

What movie am I in!?

We all create our reality to some extent by how we “read” our world, name it and move in it. As a leader, one of your most important jobs is to create a shared sense of reality. ...

Creating a new reality for yourself and the group of creative, intelligent people you lead requires new qualities of attention, intention and interaction. You will have to “see” what you are practicing and what those practices produce. Under pressure, we mostly perform to the level of our practice, not to the level of our potential or expectations. ...

by Beata C. Lewis, J.D.
Executive Coach

Published in Bridging Lives News - July 2004

Experts who are great leaders pay attention to “soft” variables—that realm of intentions, interpretations, and relationships that is at the core of value creation. If you are already an expert, how can you enhance your credibility and effectiveness as a leader? ...

From personal experience Beata knows the limitations of leading from the head and the transformation that is possible when intellectual leadership translates into leadership excellence. “For one, you practice getting out of your own way.” ...

by Beata C. Lewis, J.D.
Executive Coach

See Leading from Center

What do you do when trust shatters?

Breakdowns in trust are at the core of any conflict. Cultivating capacity to trust is a practice. The human journey is such that just as you begin to experience mastery in some area of your life, life presents you with the challenge of practicing in another area or at a deeper level. Where we pay attention to trust issues, we open the possibility of reconciliation and healing for the sake of moving forward into another future—either alone or together. Cultivating capacity to trust is a life-long practice in cultivating the Self.

by Beata C. Lewis, J.D.
Executive Coach

First published in the Conference Proceedings for the Annual Conference for the Association for Dispute Resolution of Northern California (ADR-NC)
March 2004
www.adrnc.org

Case Study. This article describes a consulting engagement with a leadership team which focused on relational dynamics to optimize the value and impact of collaborative efforts.

"The Center leadership team experienced considerable value from being explicit about how they choose to collaborate. They now share the foundation for a common language and understanding for addressing ongoing needs and interactions. They identified and are implementing specific action items. The team has greater clarity about the consequences of specific choices. By investing conscious attention to collaborative needs, they can better help each other reinforce and get support for the relationships that promote what they all want: growth and success."

See also Meeting the Challenge.

by Beata C. Lewis, Bridging Lives, and Margie Tratro, Sandia National Laboratories

February, 2003

Article available upon request.

Increasingly, leaders are seeking ways to cultivate their power of presence. This requires a certain vocabulary and set of skills and practices that must become embodied. Embodiment is key. How you move and how you experience your full self—and, importantly, how others experience you—must be congruent with what you know, say, and do. Leaders want to be able to navigate uncertainty and change with greater ease, trust and personal power. How? By cultivating self-awareness, interpersonal relationships and networks.

See also Leading from Center. Professional Development Workshop: Mill Valley, CA, on Thursday, May 15, 2003.

by Beata C. Lewis, J.D.

Published in Bay Area Business Woman, January 2003
www.babwnews.com

"Life and business will always include conflict. There is no getting beyond that: life is set up that way. So what is the promise of “beyond conflict?” “Beyond conflict” can seem like an unrealistic promise for that idealized place of eternal peace. But together with the idea that the only way out is through, “beyond conflict” suggests that something comes after conflict; there is something on the other side. “Beyond conflict” can promise a way to navigate turbulent, even treacherous, rapids and arrive at another shore, assured that, although there will be more stretches of turbulence as the journey continues, we will not only survive the journey but may thrive in it." ...

Featured in the "From the Field" section of "Leverage Points™ for a New Workplace, New World, " a free e-bulletin spotlighting innovations in leadership, management, and organizational development. November 15, 2001 issue 19.

"If innovation often leads to success, why do businesses struggle to achieve it? One reason may be lack of trust in the workplace. ..."

As a leader in the New Economy, you surely recognize the imperative of faster, smarter and newer. The entire business agenda, including the quality of our decisions and relationships, is increasingly defined by how fast we act. ... But what about the fourth item: "more trustworthy"? Where does trust fit in your vision, conversations, and practices for effective leadership, collaboration and business success? ...

published under the title: Trust and Betrayal at mediate.com

by Beata C. Lewis, J.D.

Life--with all the conflict and change it brings--is a process of improvisation. For the most part, conflict resolution is taught and even experienced as a mind-based discipline. How can this be enhanced by integrating learnings from other, more body-based forms of improvisation? Since no learning is really yours until it is in your body, then cognitive fluency must become integrated into our being if we strive for excellence and integrity in our lives. This article shares reflections about an integrative approach developed by Beata Lewis and Ulla Glaesser for applying physical awareness and basic improvisational skills to the disciplines of conflict resolution and collaborative change.

First published in the Conference Proceedings for the 6th Annual International Association of Facilitators' Conference, May 2001

by Beata C. Lewis, J.D. and Ulla Glaesser, LL.M.

Wir erleben Konflikte k?rperlich Ð auch wenn wir sie nicht handgreiflich austragen. Von der Spannbreite m?glichen k?rperlichen Erlebens von Konflikt-, Krisen- und Belastungssituationen zeugen eine Vielzahl von sprachlichen Bildern wie ãin die Luft gehen", ãden Boden unter den FY¨§en verlieren", ãneben sich stehen", ãrot sehen", ãauf den Magen schlagen", ãetwas im Genick sitzen haben", von etwas ãbedrY¨ckt werden" oder ãden Atem genommen bekommen".

Trotz dieser zentralen Rolle, die K?rperlichkeit in Konflikten offensichtlich hat, tendieren wir dazu, unter Stress unsere K?rperwahrnehmung auszublenden. K?rperliche Reaktionen werden im Konflikt hþufig eher als Blockierung der eigenen Funktionsfþhigkeit empfunden, statt als Quelle von wichtigen Informationen gewY¨rdigt und integriert. Dies hat seine Wurzeln nicht zuletzt in dem westlich-aufklþrerischen Menschenbild mit seiner grundsþtzlichen Trennung von Geist und K?rper und der damit einhergehenden H?herbewertung der verbal-intellektuellen gegenY¨ber der emotional-physischen Wahrnehmungsebene. ...

by Ulla Glaesser, LL.M. and Andrew Holland, LL.M.

It seems to me that mediation and cultural diversity awareness are fundamentally about the same thing: holding the paradox of "both/and" and holding a space for the dignity of acceptance and mutually empowering choice. ...I notice a tendency both in our culture and our profession to separate out cultural diversity awareness from the rest of who we are and what we do. ...I see the need for reintegrating cultural diversity awareness as an essential thread running through the weave of all our work and interactions. ...I also see the need to perceive these issues with greater depth and subtlety of inquiry. ...

First published in Northern California Mediation Association Quarterly Newsletter, Summer 1999, Number 52

by Beata C. Lewis, J.D.