Excerpts from

“LESSONS for Leaders”

Bubble UP

The need for keeping your “Bubble Up” is adapted from my martial arts days. The Bubble Principle is a concept that allows you to picture yourself living inside this very large, very invisible, protective bubble. Within the security of the bubble is the knowledge that nothing can hurt you... physically or emotionally... without your consent. On the way to earning a black belt in karate, students are taught how to eliminate distractions. I am quick to tell people that I earned my belts on my knees. For every time I made a mistake, I had to get on my knees... in the “meditation position”... to purge “my bubble” of the distractions. This was a common practice to teach students that the source of power, patience, and peace, comes from within. For inside, once free from the cluttered thoughts and distractions that were picked up from the world, we could once again fall under the protection of the “bubble.” Some have called this prayer.

Over time, it not only becomes easier to do, it becomes a source of great comfort. For only from within will any of us ever truly discover confidence, joy, self-reliance, strength, and peace. Wrap yourself in the mind set that within the protection of your bubble, nothing can hurt you... emotionally... without your consent. When the distractions of life mount, hit those knees, and purge your bubble. The confusion and indecision will melt away into clearer, more focused thinking. Bubbling Up is a leadership prerequisite.

“Bubble-up” willingly and often as there are no limits to the number of mistakes you can make or the number of people in your life that seem intent on robbing you of your spirit.


* * * * *

REACT or
RESPOND?

If a doctor tells you that you are having a reaction to your medication, you know you’re about to break out in hives.

If the doctor tells you that you are responding to the medication, you know you’re getting better.

In the same way, your decisions to either react (without thought) or respond (as one with a plan) will make all the difference in whether or not you are making decisions for yourself, or if you are granting permission for others to make decisions for you.

Leaders can either REACT to the behaviors of others,
or RESPOND to the needs that lie behind the behavior.


* * * * *

Out of the
mouths of babes!

A little girl stood forlorn in her living room staring through the picture window out into the rain. Her father sat quietly in his chair reading his magazine, feeling sad that his young daughter could not go outside to play with her friends. “I’ll tell you what, honey,” he said, “in this magazine I’m reading there is a picture of the world. What if I cut this picture into several pieces and make a puzzle for you? Would you like that?”

“Yes, Daddy,” she said, and sat down on the floor by the side of the chair and began working on the puzzle her father had created for her. Meanwhile, father went back to his chair, content that the puzzle would keep her busy for quite some time. In just a few minutes, however, she stood up, smiled, and said, “Daddy, I’m finished.”

Without looking, Dad smiled and said, “Honey, you can’t be finished yet; there are a lot of pieces to the world.”

“No, Daddy,” she proclaimed, “You don’t understand. On the other side was a picture of children. I just put the children together, and the world took care of itself.”

Each one of us can intellectually accept that we can’t change the world.
To change the world, therefore, we must change the way we LOOK at the world.

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