Practical Inspiration from Coach Darcy

How Art Became Fun

In our serious, oil-soaked and heat baked summer, it's great to see several fun, imaginative art projects spring up across the USA! Take for example:

• Chicago's 30-foot eyeball--here's looking at you, kid!
• New York's "play me I'm yours" pianos-on-the-street--ready for your Mozart or my Chopsticks
• Cincinnati's Shepard Fairey wall collages, made of wheat paste and paper (Fairey is the artist who created the iconic Obama "Hope" posters during the 2008 Presidential campaign.)

What a great way to show support for our communities, especially now as we are bombarded with less than inspiring news about a devastated environment and a continued slow economy. It's a wonderful reminder of the creativity and innovation of the American people.

If you've visited any of these installations or others in your neighborhood, would love to see your pictures here.

Why Can't We All Be Canadian?

I'll admit it--they've sucked me in. I'm not even a winter sports fan, but this year's Olympics have been the most engaging cold-weather competitions I can remember. Why am I intrigued enough to risk dark bags under my eyes and a grouchy disposition when I've gone to bed too late? I finally figured it out--it's the Canadians. 

I can't remember seeing so much pure joy, spirit, and fun in the eyes of the locals who are hosting the world these past two weeks. And by "locals," that also includes the Canadian citizens who live hundreds of miles away, in Toronto . .  Montreal . . . Florida. Everyone wants to flash that little maple leaf on their mittened palms. It seems that all Canada cares.

Wouldn't it be great if we could create that enthusiasm and passion in our organizations? I was talking to a corporate leader the other day who had gone through "yet another round" of conversations about how to engage up-and-coming performers in the current business challenges. But the old ways and old conversations weren't working for them. He said, "We can't seem to motivate any passion for the work anymore."

Is it passion, or is it that we all need a little dose of Canadian? Maybe we need our leaders and organizations to help us care about something bigger than profits and results, bigger than what's in it for us. Maybe we need to shift our focus away from short-term results to the to the success of others who accomplish tough things over the long haul, through hard work and dedication. Perhaps we need to create common events and causes that all of our teams and divisions can connect to and value.

Oh sure, we'll still hear chants of "USA! USA!" before the flame goes out. But when ice dancing winners Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir stood on the gold medal podium and sang "Oh, Canada!" with gusto and glee, I knew the Canadians were on to something.  Send a little down here, please (and pack a pair of maple leaf mittens in the box, too).

Before You Go, 2009 . . .

It's already the fifth of January, and I'm still not quite ready to let last year go. Maybe it was because I've been away since December 21, with little space for the traditional reflection and mental closet-cleaning that often happens that week between Christmas and New Years'. Or maybe some good things happened in 2009, contrary to the media's tales, and I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to all of that. Who knows?

What I do know is that it's worth taking a few minutes before officially committing 2009 to the dustbin and answering some key questions about its impact on me, my business, and my life. So, here are the questions I'm asking --and answering. Feel free to borrow them as you take one final look back at 09.

• What was my greatest acccomplishment in the year? What excited and stretched me?
• What am I most grateful for in the past year? What was my greatest blessing?
• What was the smartest choice I made? What influenced me to make that choice versus the many other paths I could have followed?
• What part of 2009 do I most want to take with me into the New Year?

Of course, I could be asking about all the things I did wrong, needed to improve, learned painfully, etc. But isn't it more fun to pay attention to the good stuff? And good stuff there was.

Thank you, 2009. Welcome home, 2010.

Sarah Smiles

For those of you who work with me, know me personally, have heard me speak, or read my monthly newsletter (sign up here if you don't), you know that I've been exploring the topic of confidence--how to create it, nurture it, use it, and love it, in easy, simple ways that make sense for your life and work.

All of this focus has made me highly attuned to confident people, and so the recent Sarah Palin interviews have really sparked my attention.

If you search "Palin+confidence" on Google, you get a string of 2008 stories where the word confidence is typically prefaced with "no." But I made a point to watch Ms. Palin on Oprah yesterday, and with Barbara Walters today, and was reminded that within this moose-hunting mother is an extremely confident woman.

Politics aside, her presence, attitude, and words made me wonder if part of people's reaction to her last year was tied to this unexpected level of confidence? It's quite different than what we typically see (and to some degrees, still expect) of a woman in the workplace (even if the workplace happens to be politics.)

For example, when Oprah asked what Ms. Palin's reaction was when she got the call to be VP, it sounded like Oprah expected her to answer something like, " I was shocked, surprised, and thought 'why me?'" That would have been the traditional, female leader response we've come to expect. But Ms. Palin responded that she said yes instantly, knowing that she had executive administrative experience and fully believing that whatever job there was, she could tackle it.

Obviously, the American people made a different choice, but Ms. Palin's immediate "yes" is so different than the approach many of us take. How many opportunities do we hesitate to take because we wonder if we're not good enough or smart enough? A friend of mine recently told me she gave away a business opportunity because the potential client mentioned one qualification she didn't have. When talking to the colleague she referred the business to, she learned that qualification was never vetted and didn't matter to the actual work. She's now kicking herself for not believing in herself more--and for the impact this decision had on her income.

So love her or hate her, we students of confidence should give Ms. Palin some props. We need more examples of this kind of confidence in the workplace, especially among women. I can agree with John McCain on one thing--she's definitely a maverick.