Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Tag: inspiration

  • Loving Monday: The Inspiration of Friends

    loving_mondayI am lucky. I have great friends.

    I am experiencing the inspiration of friends today.

    Friends can be a lot of good things. Friends can be support. Friends can be courage. Friends can be acceptance. Friends can be play.

    Here’s the deal when it comes to a friend being an inspiration.

    They do not tell you what you need to do, but you go away wanting to do something. They do not tell you what to think, but you go away thinking more… and more honestly. They don’t draw conclusions or provide answers, but raise issues and pose questions.

    What is going on, then?

    A good friend knows you and leaves room for you to show up as yourself.

    A good friend is confident that when you show up as yourself, good things are going to happen. No… great things are going to happen.

    The inspiration of friends has the effect of you and I believing in ourselves as much as they do.

    The inspiration of friends has the effect of freeing us to act more boldly on our convictions, our decisions, and/or our hunches.

    Excuse me now. I have been inspired by a friend, and there are some things I need to do right away!

    On your side,

    – Karl Edwards

    Loving Monday is a weekly column designed to encourage us to step into our weeks with an intention to show up authentically, engage fully, and choose to make it a good week for ourselves. Explore past columns here.

  • Quote to Consider: The Power of Music

    quote-to-consider“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

  • Thought Leaders Unpacked -> The Soul of a Leader #4: Keeping Mission at the Fore

    thought-leadersIncreasing the bottom line isn’t a big enough mission.

    It’s not that the profit motive is categorically bad in some way or less than foundational for the best of capitalism to flourish. It is simply too small.

    Great for accountability. Great for measurement and quantification. No other system in human history has resulted in raising the standards of living for so many so quickly. Not even close.

    Still, the profit motive is too small.

    The human heart needs a bigger, fuller, more dynamic, more wholistic, more generative mission to invest itself into.

    When an organization doesn’t articulate a mission, doesn’t reinforce its mission, or strays from its mission, people lose three vital components of successful engagement with their work. We lose a vital source of inspiration, a vital source of direction, and a vital source of integration.

    Without inspiration, direction or integration work becomes an inhuman—maybe even robotic—race to do as much as possible in the least amount of time as possible. This race has no finish line because more is never enough. Work soon devolves into a meaningless grind. The exchange of one’s life for the profit of someone else. Small wonder so many people end up barely offering the minimal requirement in the maximum amount of time.

    Hence Benefiel’s exhortation to leaders to focus on something more, share that something more widely and repeatedly, and keep returning to that something more. It’s literally the difference between life and death in the workplace.

    What “something more” is your organization working for? How do you provide inspiration, direction and integration for the work efforts of your team? What was your main take-away from this chapter?

    Each week I post my reflections from one chapter of The Soul of a Leader by Margaret Benefiel. My reflections are my own and are intended to generate conversation, catalyze additional thinking and encourage mutual learning.
    If you are just joining the discussion now, welcome! Catch up on the entire series here.

  • Quote to Consider: Aspirations as Inspiration

    quote-to-consider“Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.”

    Louisa May Alcott

  • Listen In -> Self-Care. A Smart Career Move #2: Staying Inspired and Motivated

    Ever try sprinting when exhausted? Doing your best when you don’t care? Going the extra mile when brimming with resentment?

    Then you know the importance of staying motivated and inspired in your efforts.

    This week Claudia and I discuss the value of motivation to our ability to show up and perform on a consistent basis.

    These are stressful times. How do you keep your spirits up at work?

    Listen in.

  • Loving Monday: Seize The Day!

    I am reminded of an old movie favorite, The Dead Poets Society, and its inspirational story of how a group of boys on the cusp of adulthood each came to grips differently with the challenging phrase, “Carpe diem.” Seize the day!

    So much of what we are building in our careers is for the future. Secure retirements, buying a home, starting our own business, working our way up the corporate ladder, building a family, etc.

    These goals are good things.

    Most of the time.

    Sometimes, though, we forget to live today in our quest to secure the future.

    We can overlook this moment for the sake of the next moment. We miss the flowers at our feet reaching for the stars.

    Now don’t get me wrong. I believe the capacity to plan ahead and work toward longer term goals is a necessary and valuable skill.

    But the “future” is nothing more than a “present” we hope to enjoy on some other day.

    That is unless we have lost our capacity to live in the present by that time. We risk not recognizing the fulfillment of the dream in our midst if our eyes are fixed so far out on the horizon.

    In the spirit of “carpe diem”, let’s seize this Monday for its own sake! Let’s seize the day for life. Let’s seize the day for hard work, meaningful work, collaborative work, productive work.

    Lend a helping hand, extend an overdue compliment, confront an unacceptable situation, rearrange an unworkable workspace, reconnect with an old associate, or simply go outside and get some fresh air.

    Seize the day!

    – Karl Edwards

  • Writing Encouragement

    My buddy reminds me to write a little bit each day. Even if only for five minutes.

    The finish line is reached by taking every step, not by trying to sprout wings.

    – Karl Edwards

  • Inspirational Quotes on Failure

    Check out these “Go For It” quotes I came across on Phil Gerbyshak’s Make It Great! site.

    He, ironically enough, chooses three quotes on failure to exhort us to aim high. Rosalynn Carter, Henry David Thoreau and Robert Kennedy.

    Here is my own: Fear of failure sabotages. Planning for failure instructs.

    On your side.

    Karl

  • Inspiration Fix

    Looking for a pithy pick-me-up this morning?

    Check out 10 Inspiring Thoughts on Leadership. Anna Farmery has a down to earth style and sound approach I think you’ll enjoy.

    For those of you who have been working with me on either career or leadership style adjustments, Inspiring Thought #7 is particularly powerful.

    When you learn how to stick to your vision and values but evolve the journey you take – then you increase the chance of success.

    On your side,

    – Karl