So a lot of people talk about balance, work life balance. And I'm going to try to persuade you to not use that term anymore, because it is a misguided metaphor that ignores the nuanced reality of our humanity. The scales in balance, they force you to think about trade offs. Like you've gotta give up one part of your life for the other parts. And while, of course, you can't have everything. So you cannot have it all, at least not all at the same time. No one has everything at the same time. You can have more harmony in your life, if you understand and enact the principles that I'm going to be sharing with you here, and that are illustrated by the six exemplary people, flawed human beings that they are who are going to illustrate these principles and skills. So what I'm asking you to do here, you're probably skeptical and thinking, well, that's easy for their professor to say, but I don't see how that's going to relate to my life. Hang on to your judgment and just pause on that for a moment. And what I'm going to ask you to do is put on a different set of lenses. This is what our course is about, it's trying on a new way of looking at what's possible. And instead of thinking about balance, I'm going to ask you to think about four-way wins. So I like to think about, not just the scales and balance as the metaphor for how to integrate the different parts of life in a way that works for all of them, but of the jazz quartet. Maybe you're a jazz fan? Maybe you're not? It doesn't matter. I love music, and I'll be talking some about music, well, as much as I can, over the course of our class together. Not that much. But here, I think it is useful to think about the four different parts of your life as different instruments in a jazz quartet, because what a jazz quartet does is, sometimes you only hear the trumpet. Sometimes you only hear the base, and the drums. Sometimes it's just the piano. Or the piano and the drums. Or the piano and the trumpet. The pieces are playing at different volumes, sometimes they're silent, just like the different parts of our lives. The goal Is to have some kind of theme that you want to express, and to create beautiful music over the course of your whole life. And that requires improvisation, and it requires discipline and practice. So you're going to be in our class together thinking about the different domains in a slightly different way, and looking through a set of slightly different set of lenses at your world, your real world. To look for opportunities to create meaningful connections and value at work, at home, in the community, and for yourself. This is the goal. What you can do within your control to take positive action that you believe is going to have a positive impact on work, home, community, and yourself. So that's what I mean by putting on a new set of lenses. I'm going to be asking you to pursue four-way wins, and to develop the skills for how you do that. And what I have found is that when you put on those lenses and shift your thinking some, that when you look at and consider the four different parts as all part of your world that you can influence. That the likelihood of your creating positive change and feeling like you are leading the life you want is much greater. Then if you simply assume that, that possibility doesn't exist. And the really good news is that the skills and principles that we're talking about here can be learned. You might not be able to learn all of them immediately, in fact, you can't. And I'm going to ask you to choose which ones you want to focus on. But the opportunity to grow your capacity to lead through developing the skills that we're talking about here, that I'm going to show you, with exercises, how to practice, is there for you. So this originally began, years of research, and then in the late 90s, early 2000s, I was asked by the CEO of Ford Motor Company to join the company as Head of Leadership Development. And it was there that we created this model of leadership from the point of view of the whole person. That really drills down into the skills required to bring to life these three key principles. Being real, being whole, being innovative. This is what we have found through research practice teaching. The principles, that people who are good at this, no matter what level or age, they cultivate these principles through the skills that we're going to be learning about. So what does it mean to be real? To be real is to act with authenticity, by clarifying what matters most to you. Your values, your vision of the world you're trying to create. To be whole is to act with integrity. And the root of that term integrity is one, whole, coherent. So to be whole is to respect the whole person, and to realize that you're not just your work, you're not just your family, however you define that term. You're not just your social life, community, friends, religious, political groups, what have you. You're not just that, and you're not just your private self, your mind, body, and spirit, but you're all of those things. And some of those things might matter more to you than others, but all four are part of who you are. And recognizing these different parts and how they affect each other is part of the growth of your leadership capacity that we're talking about. And finally, there's being innovative, which means acting with creativity by continually experimenting with how you get things done. Trying new ways of looking at things challenging the way things are presently that need to be changed. And developing the capacity to focused on results that matter. And to be creatively experimenting in ways that you can control to try to make things better for yourself, your family, your community, and for your working business life. So those are the principles that we are going to be learning about. The goal is improving performance in all the different parts. By finding new and creative ways of bringing them together, that you haven't thought about or done before. In the earlier course, we went through a step-by-step sequence which takes a lot of time. It was ten weeks. What I'm bringing you here is a way to think about the same principles, but we're really going to focus on the skills. So if you were in my class earlier, a couple of years ago in the Better Leader Richer Life class, this is a way to boost and take yourself to the next level. If you didn't do that course, if you haven't read my books on this topic, that's fine. You can start right here, right now. Learn this way of looking at yourself as a leader and the different parts of your life. And develop anyone of the 18 skills that I'm going to teach you about. But it starts with your defining what the different parts of your life mean to you. And what these principles are and how they look in your own life in terms of your own skills. And this is something that anyone can do. You can do this, people that you work with, your friends, family, it's possible for anyone to do this. Because when I talk about leadership, I'm not talking about executive authority here in this class. I'm talking about what it means for anyone to mobilize people toward goals that matter. And you don't need to have anybody reporting to you in a hierarchy to be able to do that. In fact, there are people who sit atop big organizations who aren't very good at leading. Perhaps, you know some of them. And then there are people who have nobody reporting to them who are awesome leaders, and who inspire people and mobilize them to move in a new direction, in ways that they didn't think they could do. So when I think about you, student in this class, I think about you as leader, developing your capacity to lead, to make a difference. So what we're teaching about here in this class is the skills that you can learn to replace the sense of conflict and fragmentation with a greater sense of wholeness or completeness. To take steps again within your range of influence, to have an impact. And to be more focused on the things and the people that matter most, the people who depend on you. The people who love you and care about you. Are the people that want you to be successful and those you have to deal with anyway. My hope and expectation is that you are going to leave this class feeling a bit more optimistic and inspired about what's possible in terms of your being able to pursue whatever it is that is your particular gift, or passion, or interest. Whether that's making a lot of money. Whether that's being a part of a great team. Whether it's talking about movies with your friends and parents. Whether it's learning how to ice skate. Whether it is producing new products. Whether it is serving humanity in some important way with a particular talent that you've got. Whatever it is. We're going to be emphasizing, bringing value with whatever it is that you've got, bringing values to others. It's not easy to do, nobody's going to do it for you, but it's more possible than you might think, and more fun than you might think. So these 18 skills that you're going to be learning about here is based on many years of research, teaching, practice. And we start with your taking a realistic look and assessment of your skills.
