Seizing It

You can begin “Seizing It” by being intentional.

While participating in a training class last year, I was given a homework assignment to interview executives and ask them a series of questions about qualities they looked for in their leaders.  I took the assignment to heart and interviewed over a dozen different people (including the new Bank of America CEO, who at that time managed the division for which I worked).  And while I received many unique answers to my questions, one thing was abundantly clear:  successful leaders were all intentional!

So what does this mean and how can you incorporate intention into your daily practices?

A definition for intention that highlights my interview findings is: “fixedness of attention, a stretching or bending of the mind towards an object”. 

This is so much more than mere goal setting, or one more resolution at the beginning of this New Year!   This is like a captain steering a ship on a long journey towards a distant compass point.  While there may be much prolonged activity, and many supporting goals, the captain never loses sight of that point to which he ultimately must steer.  When a leader can first define this intention, then articulate it, then guide others towards it, they are leading with intention and real power.

This idea of  intention is not just for the professional business executive; it can be used to attain all personal goals.  While visiting my daughter at college last fall, I had occasion to visit the pool locker room, and the section set apart for the swimmers on the collegiate swim team.  One of my favorite quotes from Alexander Graham Bell was on the locker of an individual swimmer, and served to remind the swimmer, every day, of her intention:

“What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it.”

As we begin this New Year, I would encourage you to define and focus on your Intention, because in the words of Wayne Dyer: “Our intention creates our reality”. Remember to practice Intention, and you, too, will begin “Seizing It”!

Copyright © 2010  Pamela Geer, SeizingIt.com – All Rights Reserved

Filed under: Leaders with "It" are . . . | Tagged: Executive Presence, Intention, Leadership Presence, Leadership Skills, Pamela Geer, Personal Growth |