SOMO Leadership

16 Apr

Posted at 09:03h in Action Research, Glimpse into Me, Opportunity/Threat, Positive Psychology, Social-Emotional Leadership, SOMO Leadership, Uncategorized by

I've been sleeping on other beds since March 24 (keep your mind out of the gutter), as I've traveled the east coast to work on related projects: systems interventions using the SOcial-eMOtional model of change. I've also spent quality time with family, friends and dear colleagues -- sometimes they're all rolled into one -- and am coming back home to Cleveland today feeling refreshed and reenergized. While my bed is in Cleveland, I realized something on this past trip: that I have homes in other places, too. I know what they mean when they say: home is where the...

24 Mar

Posted at 13:21h in Glimpse into Me, Social-Emotional Leadership, SOMO Leadership by

I’m scared shitless, that’s the truth --that I will fail, miserably. Shame . . . I’ve moved my life to the mid-ish west Cleveland, Ohio: I feel called here. I think we can show the world something BIG About how consciousness leads to transformation But WHO AM I? Sometimes I know who I think I am And that ego fails quickly. Train derailed. That’s not how I want to show up In my life, in the world I’m working on it. It’s dynamic, I’m dynamic – Why do we forget? SOMO is larger than me. It’s a we: we need each other An opportunity, not a threat Which starts with me shifting my own perception From FEAR to...

21 Mar

Posted at 21:51h in Glimpse into Me, Love, Meaning, Mindfulness, SOMO Leadership by

If God Invited you to a party And said, ‘Everyone In the ballroom tonight Will be my special Guest…’ How would you then treat them When you Arrived? Indeed, indeed! And I know There is no one in this world Who Is not upon His Jeweled Dance Floor Khwajeh Shams al-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Shirazi was a Persian mystic and poet. He was born sometime between the years 1310-1337 in Shiraz, Persia (now Iran)....

28 Feb

Posted at 17:20h in Glimpse into Me, Moments that matter, Positive Psychology, Schools, Social-Emotional Leadership, SOMO Leadership by

“Why do kids shoot guns?” was a question I posed on Facebook yesterday morning after learning of a school shooting in Chardon, Ohio – about 30 miles from where I am now in Cleveland. Here are some of my friends responses and my responses to their responses from a positive psychology lens: 1. “Power.” I’m reading The Narcissism Epidemic right now: Living in the Age of Entitlement. This response is quite plausible when you look around and see how many people live with a mindset that positions themselves over others. This is not just in schools on Main Street, but in big...

12 Nov

Posted at 18:53h in Opportunity/Threat, Social-Emotional Leadership, SOMO Leadership by

[caption id="attachment_667" align="alignleft" width="224" caption="I sat myself in the Rodin room, all glass, and particularly interested in The Thinker."] [/caption] Today, 11/11/11, at 11:11 am, I found myself in the Cleveland Art Museum. I sat myself in the Rodin room, all glass, and particularly interested in The Thinker. I have my nana's copy of this sculpture in my house.  I love nana's wisdom. And -- as I grapple with over-thinking, under feeling in my life -- I am learning more ways to switch my story to something more authentically positive than the recurrent negative banter. Remember, we're built for the threat, so below our level of...

22 Jul

Posted at 08:53h in SOMO Leadership by

I had a SOMO moment yesterday at the gym 1-2-1 Fitness on CASE's campus. A kid (must've been sixteen) was bench pressing. He asked me to spot him. He said, "I want to get five reps, but will probably only do four." I replied, "You can and will do five, buddy, c'mon"...

13 Jul

Posted at 20:31h in Positive Intervention, Positive Psychology, Social-Emotional Leadership, SOMO Leadership, Uncategorized, well-being by

I drove 400 miles to Cleveland, Ohio yesterday to continue a newer chapter of my life called "My Dreams are Coming True." I swear, people--this stuff works! It's happening in my life and it's because I'm learning to think differently. Trust me, please. I'm not just talkin' smack. But let me tell you, the past few weeks have been filled with mixed emotions. Lots of anxiety was coming up for me in New York. (I'm learning too that my fear shows up in strange, strange ways . . . almost hard to notice in real time, which is why hindsight is a beautiful thing.)...

04 Jul

Posted at 15:48h in Flourishing, neuroscience, Positive Intervention, SOMO Leadership, Uncategorized by

[caption id="attachment_535" align="alignright" width="157" caption="Shot on my run one morning along the Bosphorus River."][/caption] I'm just returning from Turkey, where I spent just five days in Instanbul, an amazing place on so many levels--rich with history, faith (of all kinds), and beauty beyond imagination. I was invited to facilitate a SOMO Learning Lab for 30 pioneering change-agents (coaches, HR directors, business & media leaders, university professors) in a 2-day experience we called Engaging Leadership With Positive Psychology. The program was stamped by George Mason University's Institute for Leadership Excellence and its Director, Fran Nurthen and I co-facilitated. We used my SOMO Leadership Model as the...

03 Jul

Posted at 16:56h in Moments that matter, Social-Emotional Leadership, SOMO Leadership by

[caption id="attachment_523" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Louis Joseph and Louis Thomas"][/caption] I had a great SOMO moment today with my dad. We were in his car driving (obviously) and catching up. He said, "I've been selling lots of jobs lately -- most of the sales calls I've been going on turn into sales" (he's had a contracting business for the past 30 years and I used to work with him). I responded, "Awesome, dad! Why do you think?" (i.e. how do you explain your success to yourself?) He paused and then said, "I don't know -- I suppose all the competitors send used-car like...

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