How do we "sharpen the saw"?

In Day #17 Blogging Ideas, Michelle Schaeffer suggested writing about, “What is something that many people assume about your business?” Great idea and here's the first on the list:

Because we work with the development of leadership skills for your personal and professional worlds, I’m reminded of something people tend to assume in this business; many people think someone who has been a manager/supervisor/leader has all the answers – that they’ve experienced it all.

Well, of course, no way! If you’ve led people at work, on a team, on a committee, you have certainly seen LOTS of interesting "stuff", but not everything. And all the training in the world can’t equip you for the range of “unexpecteds” you’ll encounter in situations and peoples’ behaviors.

That’s why our mantra is “You Never Stop Learning”. For each of us, growth and the need for development go on. We can constantly renew our abilities to work with those unexpected situations and behaviors.

My ProStar Coach FOCUS Page

What helps me? I spend time each week in my online personal development workbook/system: ProStar Coach. 


My FOCUS for ACTION & REFLECTION this week and last has been on three Personal Strengths: EFFORT, SELF-CONFIDENCE AND COMMITMENT.

Many of us have worked with all three throughout our careers, but don’t you sometimes just want to “sharpen the saw” as Covey taught us in Habit #7?

That’s what I do with ProStar – I work reflection activities each week that force me to go a little deeper into personal strengths and people skills that we all need for success. And many of the postings on the Ultimate Challenge Blog have been things I incorporated into my reflection activities. They've been a great help.

Strong Relationships + Solid Leadership = Success for Everyone

Question for you: What specific personal strengths and people skills have you targeted for yourself?







Today I'm sending you to my colleague's blog for an article on Personal Development -What All High Achievers Pursue.

Meredith Bell, Performance Support Systems, Inc. is a long-time friend whose work I respect tremendously. Meredith is "Your Voice of Encouragement" and writes with inspiration and motivation on the topic of personal development.

Her organization created the innovative ProStar Coach online personal development system I referred to yesterday.

Meredith's article begins: "When you finished your formal education, did you assume you were finished with most of the learning you’d need to do in your life? For many people, graduation means they are done. They don't want to read any more books or study ever again..."

Read the entire posting here

Collections from the Ultimate Blog Challenge

In almost two weeks of the Ultimate Blog Challenge, I have collected soooo much information for my personal development - some of it is saved on my desktop, lots of it is printed out, stacked on the desk or filed where I swear I'll find it more readily (!!!). Will I find it again? Of course not.
This post isn't about a lesson in being organized, it's more about using the new stuff I'm learning to my advantage and for my own growth with the system I already use.


It finally occurred to me in the early hours of the morning the other day, that I already have the perfect vehicle for storing my UBC treasures AND using them for my ongoing development - it's something I access nearly daily. I'm referring to my ProStar Coach online development system.

My ProStar Coach Home Page

I use ProStar in coaching my clients, but I also use it for myself. I love it! Why? It's like going to the gym and getting a regular workout, but this one is mental. And it's scientifically understood that we don't do something right just because we've seen it done once - it takes practice and reinforcement - just like the gym workouts.

ProStar Coach is an online system with a built-in structure and MANY resources available in one place so that I can concentrate on developing or improving my own Personal Strengths (behavior patterns that help us with the challenges of daily work and life) and my People Skills (those "solid leadership" best-practices in working with others). This is where I can add all the good stuff I'm pulling off of the blogs, where I can file it in the category of personal development I want to focus on AND I can make a learning activity out it - forcing me to use my new info, to practice and reinforce it.

Here's an example: I downloaded Ten Tips to Deal with Uncertainty from Adalia last week and I've filed it in the personal strength of Self-Confidence inside ProStar - it's there for me to go to and work on anytime I want to access it - I can apply the learning activities built into ProStar as I work to reinforce Adalia's list.

You can click on the ProStar Coach link here and learn more for your own personal and professional development.

More tomorrow...


Strong Relationships + Solid Leadership = Success for Everyone

A Successful, Happy Life - It Takes More Than You Think

"A Successful, Happy Life - It Takes More Than You Think"

Read Dr. Denny Coates' insight into what it takes and why to be successful and happy:

"... Failed careers, failed marriages, and worse...

It happens all the time.

The reason is simple. To build strong relationships and prevail against adversity, a person needs to develop skills and strengths that are almost never taught in the home or in schools. This model illustrates the areas of ability a person needs to develop..."

When you look at ProStar Coach, you'll see the connections and the HOW-TO's of developing personal strengths and people skills - for all aspects of your life.