With the Sochi Winter Olympics coming to a close, I’m noticing that a particular piece of information shared about many of the athletes is stuck in my head:  “S/he is now coached by …”.  

Why would an elite athlete change things up in the face of prior success?  For the same reason we change – to achieve a different and / or better result.  

In my case, I needed to make some adjustments to how and where I spend my time.  I needed to re-capture making myself a priority, to find a better balance for better outcomes.  

To that end, I made the crazy decision to travel to Minnesota in December (who does that?) to spend time with Jane Kise and Ann Holm as they shared their wisdom with those of us participating in the inaugural Intentional Leadership Coaching Certification session.  That small (and significant) change in how I spent my time led to two others, one of which was an entirely unexpected outcome.  

First, I finally made it a priority to complete my certification to administer and interpret the EQ-i^® (Emotional Intelligence) instrument.  It’s been on my personal development list for some time, and my use of the Intentional Leadership Audit™ helped me to achieve that goal.  

The other?  Spending time in the sub-zero, snow-packed Minneapolis-St Paul area forced me to buy new snow boots upon arrival in Minnesota.  With the bizarre winter we’ve had here in New Jersey, I’ve been more than prepared.  

Go figure!

Outside our conference room at the Minikahda Club.

Post-conference gathering before heading homeward.

I was able to capture this image in my back yard while traipsing about in my Minnesota snow boots.