Author: gosievers

Staying sane in the midst of chaos; otherwise known as changing your expectations!

My wife Kathy and I made the decision to down-size our home in the early summer of this year for two reasons: (1) to reduce our house payments and (2) reduce the size of our home to keep clean (current home is 3,300 sq. ft.). Both very practical reasons. We thought we could being doing repairs, updating and boxing up our stuff in June 2014 and have ready by September 15th….WRONG! I had that date set in stone and maintained it within my own head all summer.

Well, we had various family issues spring up during the summer which included one of our children had a psychotic episode which became a roller coaster for the entire family. From getting the medical help and medications stabilized to taking turns where who was going to be on duty. She’s still not out of the woods yet. Another child, adopted at birth who has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) was in jail again and he wanted some help in getting out. He expected that we’d get a high-priced lawyer that would help his case. Lastly, a week ago our small family dog, Cody a Pom-A-Pug, went into convulsions which was very upsetting. Especially having never seen a dog do this before. And off to the vet we went. Incidentally, it was a kidney infection which is known to cause convulsions when a dog is far along with illness. Well, you get the picture. It was roller-coaster summer. Now, back to the house…we were completely distracted with the family issues and did not maintain our original momentum. But I still had September 15th as the date for placing our house on the market.

What that did was to cause me to be more distressed…beating myself up for not getting all of the home repairs done in a timely fashion and being completely exhausted. So, as I talked to Kathy about the date, she stated very simply let’s move the date out….to spring time. Wow! Those words were a MAJOR relief! I relaxed. Now, why didn’t I discuss with this with her sooner? Because my earlier conditioning around making and keeping commitments kept me focused on that goal, that priority and do it at all costs…because it was cast in stone….even though that was not the healthiest choice for me. I needed to let go of that belief.

What I learned from this experience is when your circumstances change, what else in your life needs to change? Do your priorities, goals and expectations need to change? Probably. Do you need to renegotiate your priorities? So, please know that this situation goes well beyond family issues and our homes. This is called LIFE. And that changing our expectations of ourselves, and of others’ is OK. In fact, it’s NORMAL!

Greg Sievers

Sustainability CELEBRATION!!

The Greater Portland Sustainability Education Network (GPSEN) is a growing network of regional educators, students, non-profits, political and industry leaders, and community members collaborating to promote sustainability education in the Portland Metro region, including Washington, Clackamas and Multnomah Counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington.

To learn more about GPSEN click on http://www.pcc.edu/about/sustainability/regional-center-expertise/

GPSEN has been acknowledged as a Regional Center of Expertise (RCE) on education for sustainable development by the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Studies of Sustainability! And it’s time to have our official kick-off party!

CELEBRATE!! Please JOIN US to help celebrate GPSEN’s Launch and World Environment Day and honor our region as we work towards a sustainable future:

Wednesday, June 4, 2014
5:30 – 8:30pm
World Forestry Center, Miller Hall
4033 SW Canyon Rd. Portland

To learn more about the celebration or register please click on http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/611984

Sustainably Yours,

Greg Sievers

Becoming Child-like!

 

Giving yourself permission to be silly will nourish your creativity and is a good exercise in letting go.

Children appreciate all that is silly as a matter of course. Their grasp of humor is instinctual, and even the smallest absurdities provoke joyous gales of earnest laughter. As we age, this innate ability to see the value of silliness can diminish. Work takes precedence over play, and we have less incentive to exercise our imaginative minds by focusing on what is humorous. When we remember childhood, we may recall the pleasures of donning funny costumes, reciting nonsense poems, making up strange games, or playing pretend. This unabashed silliness nourished our vitality and creativity. We can take in this nourishment once again by giving ourselves permission to lighten up and be silly.

Too often we reject the wonderful silliness that is an inherent, inborn aspect of the self because we believe that it serves no purpose or is at odds with the grown-up culture of maturity. We play yet we do not lose ourselves in play, and our imaginations are never truly given free rein because we regard the products of irrational creativity as being valueless. Yet silliness itself does indeed constitute a vital part of human existence on a myriad of levels. Our first taste of ethereal bliss is often a consequence of our willingness to dabble in what we deem outrageous, nonsensical, or absurd. We delight in ridiculousness not only because laughter is intrinsically pleasurable, but also because it serves as a reminder that existence itself is fun. Skipping, doodling, and singing funny songs are no less entertaining than they were when we were children. We need not lose all interest in these cheerful and amusing activities, but to make them a part of our lives we must be ready to sacrifice a little dignity and a lot of fear.

It is precisely because so much of life is inescapably serious that silliness should be regarded as a priority. Through the magic of imagination, you can be or become anything—a photographer, a professional athlete, a dancer, a pilot. Whether you take hundreds of silly pictures, revel in the adulation of your fans as you make the winning catch, boogie down rock-star style in front of your bedroom mirror, or turn your desk into a cockpit, the ensuing hilarity will help you see that lighthearted fun and adulthood are not at all incompatible.

Dare to be silly! Embrace your inner child!

Greg Sievers

Director of Silliness!

Portland Consulting Group

5/1/14

Empathy is the #1 Leadership effectiveness trait!

Empathy & Leadership Effectiveness (excerpt)

What are leaders good at? What makes them the most effective?
· Business aptitude 1. Empathy
· Responsibility 2. Trustworthiness
· Clarity 3. Business aptitude
· Internal attunement 4. Depth

Excerpt from a study of 8,000 respondents rating 1,405 leaders in 47 countries. Blessing White, 2009.

How does empathy translate into competitive advantage?

It’s been said that employees join companies, but leave managers. To realize an organization’s full potential, leaders need to understand the power they possess to affect their employees’ level of happiness and engagement. Empathy is the catalyst for building positive workplaces and moving employees up the engagement ladder because it meets a primary human need: to be valued and recognized as an individual. The greater your employees’ engagement, the greater their loyalty and productivity and the greater your competitive edge.

I attended a very insightful Emotional Intelligence workshop recently conducted by Susan Zabriskie. She did an outstanding job with the content, exercises and facilitation! The role play Susan & I did is permanently etched in to my memory. The first part of the exercise with non-empathetic listening (interruption, dismissed, sharing her story, etc.). The second part, was true empathetic listening as shown by her true caring & genuine interest (acknowledging my feelings, my story & truly being present). Now, I am much more aware of how I might not be as empathetic as I thought I was.

Best Regards,

Greg

Greg Sievers, PMP, CPC

C 503-833-2016

Sustainability is Alive & Well in Portland!

Sustainability is Alive & Well in Portland!

Gary Langenwalter and I discovered a new sustainability group last week. It’s entitled the Greater Portland Sustainability Education Network (GPSEN). We attended a Networking Social at Oregon Public House, the nation’s first non-profit pub on March 20, 2014. Don’t you just love Portland! Gary and I met with Dr. Kim Smith, a PCC professor of Sociology, who’s the organizer/coordinator of GPSEN just prior to the event to better understand more about the group and find potential synergy between Portland Consulting Group and GPSEN.

What’s very exciting about GPSEN is that the United Nations University Institute for Advanced Studies of Sustainability has acknowledged greater Portland as a Regional Center of Expertise (RCE) on education for sustainable development (ESD). GPSEN joins a coalition of 127 RCEs around the world, striving to address sustainable development goals set by the U.N. as well as sustainability goals in our regions and organizations. There are only two other RCE’s in the United States!

GPSEN is a growing cross-sector network of regional educators, students, non-profits, political and industry leaders, and community members collaborating to promote the advancement of sustainability education throughout the Portland Metro region, including Washington, Clackamas and Multnomah Counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington.

GPSEN’s mission is to increase the region’s collective impact by developing collaborative partnerships, supporting outreach, and offering formal and informal educational and research opportunities and programs that leverage our collective talents and resources to help us all achieve our sustainability education objectives.

We invite you to explore how GPSEN can help you create a more sustainable, just, and healthy greater Portland region. Their next event is….

GPSEN’s Launch Celebration

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

5:30 pm – 8:30 pm

World Forestry Center, Miller Hall

Share in our grand celebration party, with music, speakers, lovely food, international guests, and opportunities for partners to share their successes. With UNEP’s blessing, we are thrilled to have the celebration coincide with World Environment Day.

To learn more about Greater Portland Sustainability Education Network please click on… https://www.pcc.edu/about/sustainability/regional-center-expertise/.

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By Greg Sievers, Portland Consulting Group 3/24/14

GET YOUR OWN DAMN DREAM!

GET YOUR OWN DAMN DREAM!

Stop following someone else’s plans and start training dreams.

Stop listening to what other people tell you and just follow your dreams.

Stop going through the motions and work through your dream.

Stop trying to be perfect and stumble your way deliberately through your dreams.

Stop starting and stopping and starting and just keep moving towards your dream.

Stop comparing yourself to everyone else around you and just follow your dream.

Stop believing that someone else’s formula can replace hard work and relentlessly follow your dream.

Stop avoiding what needs to be done and live your dream. Not someone else’s.

Stop learning what you need to do and start doing what you need to do. Follow your dreams.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of going through someone else’s motions — doing what everyone else tells you you should be doing in order to be successful.

You’re told that you need to have a strong social presence. That you need to build a following. That you need to write a book so that “people take you will take you seriously”.

You’re told so many things by so many people that it’s easy to get whiplash — flailing from tactic to tactic, hoping that this time for one bit of effort you might actually end up achieve success.

But that’s not how success works. Never has been. Never will be.

And unless you’re one of the lucky few who happen to get lucky doing one thing, one time, someone else’s get-rich-quick tactics (or doing whatever one else tells you you should be doing) aren’t the answer to achieving breakthrough. Dreaming is. Dreaming big dreams.

Not sleeping. Not thinking. Not procrastinating. Dreaming is different than that. Dreaming is all consuming. All empowering. It consumes every fiber of your being. Your dream is what gets you up in the morning. It’s your reason for existence. It’s your light when the day is dark. Your sunshine when the days is cloudy.

You can’t copy someone else’s dream. You have to have your own. And, while it’s easy to follow the tactics of someone else who happened to be successful using those tactics, don’t be fooled for a moment that any tactic is a replacement for audacious dreams.

Dream big. Live big. Fight big. Believe big.

From Edgy Conversations 3/18/14 by Dan Waldschmidt