Awakened Mind - Empowered Heart - Empowered Mind - Awakened Heart

by Lucira Jane Nebelung

* Lucira Jane Nebelung

"I am a Partner in a Dance. I am one part of a greater whole. My facet is complete unto itself. Yet it really takes a shared moment for this to come alive as intended. I live for the sensation of being tapped, of being asked to give of my essence and let the Truth resound all through my Being. How can I not seek the charged moment of encounter? I am the breath of new Life, awaiting winds that blow." ~ Ellias Lonsdale

Each and every one of us is a Centerpoint for Being, a point of balance, of stillness where our body, mind, heart, and soul are in integrated wholeness, in integrity and authenticity as our unique Truth and Freedom and in unity with the flow of Life as Love.

Each and every one of us also has a predominant ego structure that we have taken on as "true" and "real" that separates us from our Centerpoint. Mine is a need to be "valued" so that I lived others' expectations for how I should show up, for what I should say or do, or what I should not say or do.

The price I paid was a loss of Self-Value, Self-Worth, Self-Love. As I showed up more and more as the Truth and Freedom of my heart and soul, the price I paid was the loss of "friends" who couldn't look in a Mirror of Self-Love. What is caring to the growth of the soul often seems "punishing" to the ego.

Truth Heals, bringing Freedom as we accept that no matter how disruptive or uncomfortable to our ego structure, Love is inviting us back into Being ourselves. It takes great strength and courage to look at one's self and one's life through the eyes of Love as Truth and Freedom.

Your Centerpoint for Being

• Is your personal Truth and compass for Compassion, the ultimate flowering of Love.
• Attunes you with your Heart-Mind, the impulse and flow of Life as Wisdom, Love and Service.
• Is your Unique Purpose, Power and Passion, Your Contribution to the Whole that brings Peace, Joy and Fulfillment.
• Is the catalyst, source of and channel for your greatest Potential and Growth.
• Gives you boundless Freedom of Spirit and expression.
• Provides your Path of integrated wholeness, giving you a nonjudgmental context and vantage point for yourself and your Life. When you are clear about who You Are, what no longer Serves you falls away.
• Is your foundation for Self-Love.

You Lead Your Life

Perhaps our greatest fear is of Love as Truth and Freedom. There is no past with regret, guilt or shame. There is no future with expectations, apprehension or anxiety. There is no comparison, competition or conflict. There is no hate, the rejection of Love, or evil, the absence of Love.

There is only the excitement of Now, with all its messiness as Life unfolds. We Are Present, wide open, courageous, without labels, ideologies or rules that tell us how to look, what to think, say or do, what goals to go after, or what we must have in order to "fit in."

Freed of the belief that conformity means you are connected and belong, there is no need for approval that we take as "love." You Are an integral part of and moved by Life Itself, inspired by your unique Centerpoint within. You Are the Power of Love.

Leading as Love is our mastery of Being a human being, our Heart-Mind of unity and infinite intelligence as Spirit in physical form consciously creating Life. It is only as you Lead your Life that you Lead others.

As We Love We Lead - As We Lead We Love

Leading as Love is the conscious, active application of your Centerpoint for Being, your unique guiding principles, for every aspect of Life to unfold as Love. I guide you to your own inner voice of wisdom to consciously experience deeper meaning, purpose, contribution, growth, and choice.

- In your 20's and 30's - Establish your inner foundation for Life.
- In your 40's and 50's - Discover your universal contribution to Life.
- In your 60's and beyond - Actualize your legacy in Life.

We work together in a grounded, practical way in all aspects of your day-to-day life.

I Serve as a Friend who is a Maverick, Mystic, Messenger, Midwife, Mentor, Minister, and Partner in Life. As a coach, I work with you in the discovery and exploration of your Truth and Freedom. You strengthen and expand your expression of your unique Centerpoint for Being. You Lead as Love.

The commitment to Lead as Love is the one change that changes everything.

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* Lucira Jane Nebelung, Founder & Principal of "Leading as Love" and faculty member at The Graduate Institute, writes from Connecticut, USA.

Why Leadership Predictability Does Not Translate To Effectiveness

by Benson Agoha | Management

It makes for a good brainstorming session `whether the predictable leader is an effective leader'. And I imagine that discussion on such a topic will be fluid for a good reason.

Matter-of-factly, such discussion will, almost certainly, be better understood when considered with inferences from familiar environment. And it is the reason why I am focusing on one whose magic wand is increasingly holding everyone spellbound.  He is Mark Carney - the Governor of Bank of England.

Since the new Bank of England Governor took over reigns at the Apex bank, different interest groups have always tried to predict him and his next move - especially with regards to raising or lowering of the interest rate.

The interest rate is a very important economic index and has cumulative effect on the whole economy because price stability depends on it. It is the rate at which the banking system functions - it guides their lending and borrowings. At the current rate of 0.5%, British Banking sector is experiencing the lowest rate ever.

But against popular expectation, the result has been good for the economy. Which is why we have had a deflation - a period of generally falling prices, instead of inflation - that of rising prices. And when prices have risen at all, it has been marginal. As in March when he explained: "The fall in inflation we’ve experienced is in large part down to falling energy prices."

Results are proofs of competencies pulled together.

Over the past two years, Carney has meandered around public expectation with respect to when the interest rate will rise. While stake-holders are staring at the benchmarks, the governor has often reminded them that the posts are not static - that they can be moved - depending on what happens in between time. When they have pointed `west', he had skillfully pointed `east', reminding them that it was possible too and giving reasons why.

Sometimes, leadership decisions are not very easy for the public or colleagues to under-stand, but a leader's capacity for rationalization makes the difference. If you need the support of your peers, you better have a convincing explanation at your finger tips.

In the aftermath of September's Scottish Referendum, the Bank of England Governor was asked whether the `NO' result was good for Scotland and why. "The NO result was good for Scotland," he says, because the government "policy of more money going to Scotland and less coming out of Scotland." Such arrangement will no doubt result in development of the region and even Scots who perhaps voted `YES', will begin to see why a `NO' was better for them.

When Unpredictability is Dynamic Competence
An effective leader must be concerned with the important attributes of the job that makes success possible, irrespective of whether he comes across as unpredictable.  Predictability does not translate to dynamism, if it obviates the overall goal.

Leadership unpredictability can be evidence of a dynamic competence because it tests his ability to guide his organisation through turbulent times, which affect its operations. The problem though, is that this also tests the competences of other `action watchers' who have to deliver based on one leader's actions.

This capacity to deliver at uncertain times is one of the factors that makes the difference between a good leader and a great leader. Another factor is the ability to communicate your unpredictability.

How a leader communicates the underlying reason for his actions that negate popular expectation also goes a long way to influencing the reaction of his bosses, colleagues and other stakeholders, and may win him their patience, time and co-operation for his actions to translate into visible results.

Target Setting is a powerful guide, provided the

route to attainment is flexible.

Set Target And Don't Prevaricate

Attempting to be predictable against all odds makes for bad management. The reason is simple, a driver who keeps a straight course and ignores potholes and artificial humps strategically designed for safety purpose, will almost certainly not make the journey, and potentially may even miss his target.

Setting a target helps a leader navigate public expectations as long as he allows for enough room to maneuver along the route. This is the test of his skill.

A leader must be prepared to resist unnecessary interjections and interruptions, knowing that when you are on the wheel is not when to prevaricate. Competence breeds confidence while success reinforces it.

Avoid Predictability If It Proves Destructive

The predictable leader is not necessarily the effective leader, and where as predictability does sound good for the ears, it can be destructive too.

In an environment replete with the competition, your next move may be terminal for your organisation, if it is too predictable. It is the reason why legal experts don't usually give away much in case their defense is compromised and marginal edge become eroded. For high profile cases, predictability may prove too costly.

For Technology Companies, things appear different, but it is nevertheless present.  If a new product is due to be upgraded with a new feature, predictability can give the edge away to the competition who may incorporate it into their own products and arrive at the market ahead of your own. For brands with low goodwill, this makes a whole lot of difference.

When Unpredictability is Predictable

Understanding your environment is the best way to predict it. In volatile environments, it may be best to adopt the view that unpredictability is predictable.  In such situations, production system can be adjusted to move with the times. It was this type of situation that introduced the idea of `Just-In-Time' Production.

When time are changing fast, the leader must organize his firm to respond accordingly, as this is what makes the difference between the market leader and the followers. Those who lag in highly volatile environments risk it all.

Back To Base

When a leader is defensibly unpredictable, his followers learn to trust his judgement and leadership, and predictably, to follow him with trust especially when he delivers consistent positive results. Tidjane Thiam did it at Pru. Mark Carney is doing it at the apex bank.

In the case of the BoE Governor, those who have jumped at the conclusion that a rise in interest rates may likely happen in early 2016, have been reminded again that a rise is still possible in 2015.

Just Never say Never!

Sometimes, All It Takes Is Self-expression!

Self-expression makes the difference!

When you are tempted to do more, to go the extra mile when a shorter route would do. When competition is crude and unfair.

When they say the only way is the tough route. Or that all there is left, is the devils alternative. Remember, it isn't over until it is over.

Sometimes, all it takes is self-expression!

Get it right and get it done!

Share your thoughts!

Olga Kalinina

To contribute to Leadership Lane:

Email: bensonagoha@yahoo.com

Mobile: 0745 960 0852

How To Live With Relationship Laws That Will Ever Remain Worrisome

by Benson Agoha | Opinion

Let me say from the outset that I am not gay and the use of the flag is not a sign of my support for same-sex relationships. I am not attracted to fellow men and doubt if I ever will.

The recent approval by the highest legislative body in the United States has ruffled, and perhaps will continue to ruffle feathers. But at least, like civil rights, every American is now aware, if ever they were in doubt, of the inclusive nature of their constitution.

The process of promulgating a new law in a democratic society is a rigorous one which often tasks the mental and moral state of the members of the legislature, who often find they would have to make concessions, accommodate desires, make counter demands and or resort to compromises in order for a bill to sail through the final stage.

So it is a little surprising that President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe would have reacted so emotionally over such bill when passed.

The line "EVEN SATAN WASN’T GAY" justified by its compliment .. "he approached naked Eve instead of naked Adam" was credited to the Zimbabwean President and appear very convincing - but only until you pay closer attention to the issue.

We now understand how subjective humanity often become when defending values to which they have clung so tenaciously over a long time.

Masturbation: the ashes of Vesuvius
caught and preserved a man in the
act of masturbation.
(Credit: via Wiki)

Meanwhile even before President Mugabe's marriage proposal, Linda Barnette, a US Marriage Licence Officer dignifyingly resigned because of the new law - perhaps to saturate her conscience over an issue she knew she could never reconcile with.

Even for Christians, it may not be lost on many that the world has never and may never agree on certain issues that bother on values, including religion and its by-subjects of which same-sex relationship is one.

But same sex relationships are not new. In fact, if there is one legacy from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79AD, it is a reminder that some of the issues we would be faced with in years to come are not new, but have been embedded in society through culture and traditions that have survived the better of several thousand years - whether partially or generally embraced.

So when the Italian cities Pompeii and Herculaneum were eventually rediscovered, and later recovered from under the many tons of pumice and volcanic ashes of Vesuvius, archaeologists confirmed what existing scrolls already tell them about events from ancient times.

They discovered, for example, evidence of masturbation, bestiality and same-sex relationships. In fact, they discovered that all vices that we have in present day, date back to ancient times. And they discovered also that ancient rulers have always had to worry about the same issues, when searching for ways to exercise peaceful rule over their communities.

Bestiality: a man indulging himself
 with an animal was caught in the act
and preserved for posterity.
(Credit: via Wiki)

In Imperium, Robert Harris, masterfully told a story of Cicero (albeit fictional), through the narrator of his Secretary Tiro, who under the instruction of Cicero himself wrote down for the benefit of posterity, a semblance of true account of how men of politics and power grappled with the task of promulgating, adjudicating and implementing the law within an organised society.  Placed in perspective, anyone can soon see the reverberation of the same issues.

Men can't usually tell if a woman is sleeping with one or several men a day until she becomes, and perhaps chooses to keep her pregnancy. And the only difference between the attitude of ancient and present day societies towards issues such as same sex relationship is that of openness. In one, perpetrators were more discreet, in another, they are now more open.

Though a Christian, I have chosen not to argue this issue from the point of view of religion for personal reasons, but at the same time, I recognise that even if I do, it just might not be changing anything.

As it stands today, same-sex relationships will ever remain selectively worrisome and never generally acceptable because it is an issue strongly entrenched on `values'. Even in the United States, it seems it will remain debatable whether it makes the union more perfect, even though no one will contest the underlying reason for its promulgation.

Imagine that for thousands of years humanity never managed to solve the mystery behind one of the most common issues facing the family, yet everyone is affected by it. The declaration by the US Supreme Court that "love is love" is much like Einstein solving the mystery of Relativity - it was always with us but we never managed to understand why whatever goes up, comes crashing down.

See the progress we have made since Einstein's discovery? Now watch the progress we will make from now - but we must keep an open mind. In this regard, anyone inclined to same-sex relationship must be open, direct and honest about it when meeting new people so that people are neither offended nor taken advantage of.

If Love is Love, at least, it is not by any means blind. Therefore, every transgender person must, for the same purpose, reveal themselves before having sexual relationship with strangers.

Consider! Why tell a man who would never imagine bedding a fellow man, that you were a man before you changed to a woman, if that will come only after you have had sexual intercourse with him. It smirks of disrespect an amounts to fraudulent behaviour, and many a man would kill for such dubious conduct.

Human society may have evolved, but it has always been multi-dichotomous and poly-autonomous and in the end, thrives in ambiguity of perspectives. The only perfect glue holding the world together appears to be the acknowledgement that we will always disagree to agree or vice versa.

So the future belongs to societies that understand the principles of inclusiveness in diversity.

What do you think?

Using humour to uncover consumer insights: the new way to gather intelligence?

by Benson Agoha | Business

Ever wondered what lay hidden in humour?

We may not know it, but there is an element of truth in things that make us laugh. At least if Tom Yortom's claim that "Things are funny when they are true" and that "we find this is a great way to get to those kernels of truth, of what people really reel about different topics.  It engages the brain differently." holds true.

In his latest article, Nigel Hollis disclosed how Firefy Millward Brown (Brand intelligence provider) teamed up with a comedy troupe called Second City to produce a "Consumer Theater" that monitors theatre goers reaction to what they heard and analysis it further.

This radical new way, ignores the formal creative process, to unearth consumer insights using just humour and its derivative feedback. "Sometimes, a little humour is all you need to transform your understanding", he says.

The collaboration Nigel Hollis said is designed to apply the philosophy of improvisation to generating and developing consumer-generated ideas and works by ideas being gathered from real life consumers that are recruited to take part in a consumer theater session.

So based on what they hear, members of the Second City cast then create and improvise skits in response to the consumer feedback. When the consumers are quizzed on their reactions, the feedback is used to develop the new program further.

Immediately afterwards, a final phase builds in the observations and reactions from client and agency team members who attended the Theater session.

According to the developers, the system uses empathy, humor and the power of improvisation to uncover deeper insights more quickly for idea creation and development.

And it is a highly engaging experience that includes client and agency stakeholders, creative consumers, a strategic Firefly moderator and improvisational actors from The Second City.

It can be employed very early in the creative development process– after brand positioning is established, the say.

It isn't a very simple method but it is still in development. And of course, its adoption will depend on the consistency of its results. Otherwise technology and big data may yet have to carry on.

What do you think?

See also: Millward Brown uses humor to uncover consumer insights by Nigel Hollis.

Self-driving car trials move over to real road conditions as Google roll out driverless cars

by Benson Agoha | Technology

With the Royal Borough of Greenwich being an approved trial borough for self-driving cars, it may not be too long before we begin to see the likes of the Google Car on our roads.

The Google Self-driving Car.
(Credit: Google).

This is because Google has given the green light that its self-driving cars may be a reality far sooner than the public expect.

And Chris Urmson, Google's Director of the self-driving car project is excited to see the actual project has moved to something that is starting to come to being realise, saying the goal is to actually see people using it.

Releasing the video on youtube on Friday, Google said "We started designing the world’s first fully self-driving vehicle to transform mobility, making it easier, safer and more enjoyable for everyone to get around."

"Now we're ready for the next step of our project: this summer, our prototype vehicles will leave the test track and hit the familiar roads of Mountain View, California, with our safety drivers aboard.

And according to Google's System Engineer for the self driving car project, Jaime Waydo, google said "..every moment has been building towards putting these cars on the goad where we can even start learning more from them."

In a blog release on titled "Green lights for our self-driving vehicle prototypes", google said the auto-driving cars are being released unto the roads so that the 2023 target date will begin to feel real.

"We've made the car hard, we've made the car cold, we've durability testing, we've driven through reliability bump track." Waydo said.

Google said, it is also advisable for the car to leave their Californian trial base, where it has been confined, so that researchers can monitor its performance on the roads, in the real world.

Urmson said the car they rolled out in December had everything integrated into it, making it their first real push to making the car usable in real conditions.

He said getting the cars out will allow people to react to them and for google engineers to keep watch and monitor it's performance - at junctions, when people cross the road, or traffic lights and so on. "Most importantly, it is a necessary step to get them to try it themselves". 

"When we think about safety, when we think about giving people mobility, and when you start to think in longer term about the impact on cities, and reliability and reclaimed space, and to reduce congestion and freer parking - this is something that will have a huge impact."

See this video:

Three remarkable moves that contributed to the Tory win

by Benson Agoha

The election has come and gone, but it was one in which the parties played all their cards and by the evening of May 8th, the winner had taken it all.

No one thought things would end the way it did, not least Lib Dem’s Nick Clegg, who said on the night of March 27, during his opening speech at the Leaders Debate that:

“I think it is pretty obvious that no one standing here tonight is going to win this election outright, so you will have to choose, like you did last time who is going to work with whom…”

Analysts from the Labour camp are working hard to isolate what went wrong and to right it before the game is on again.

Some of the factors that contributed to the decisive win of the Conservative Party, against all expectations include:

A) Effective Use of Noise: By insisting on the 7-Party Leaders’ Debate, the conservative party ensured that all the major parties had a chance of being heard. But was the information too much for an electorate that has been used to focusing on two leaders from two major parties?

Effective use of noise helped because the deluge of party policies, many of which are similar but being presented with bogus descriptive words designed to make it unique, became just too much for them to process.

When the brain has too much information, it will either reject some, reject all or decide to maintain the statusquo. And the fact that good news continued to emerge from official statistics about the economy was enough to make a decision.

Take for example the first question asked by a student of politics by name Jonny Tudor during the Leaders Debate:

“How will each of the party leaders believe they will be able to keep their promises of eliminating the deficit without raising certain taxes or making vast cuts to vital services?”

All 7 party leaders had to answer this question in one minute, but how many of what was said by each of the seven leaders would you remember after 7 minutes, if you had not been taking note? So how much of that would you remember the next day?

B) That New Memorable Phrase: Whereas Ed Miliband was relishing his growing #Milifandom base, David Cameron’s `I am pumped-up for this election’ arrived in the nick of time to reverse this.  It has already a phrase of choice and a new vocabulary that is enjoying increasing patronage from writers.

“Taking a risk, having a pun, having a go – that pumps me up.” He told city workers that, with 10 days to go “If you think I’m gonna let Ed Miliband and Alex Salmond wreck that, you've got another thought coming.” David Cameron energetically told a group of City workers just a week before the election.

 C) Video Message: the short video Message made by David Cameron in which he asked the electorate to “vote for the Conservative Party” if they wanted him to remain in office. Was very effective. He said “Don’t vote for others and hope that I will win.”

Direct video messages never to fail to appeal, especially if it is correctly handled. And the short but direct message employed, helped to work the magic.

So with data about rising local auto manufacturing, increasing foreign direct Investment, rising profile for London as well as decreasing unemployment figures, strong indices that any government should be proud of, the Tories milked it for all its worth.

This goes to show that strategic deployment of noise, can swing the pendulum to your favour. It’s a matter of how.