Cynthia D’Amour on Leadership and Life

  But I can see you.
Something happened today…

One of my ears swelled internally.
It feels like a water balloon in there.
I can’t hear with that ear.

I’ve had this ear challenge before.

It’s a pain.
Will eventually go away.
(Thankfully I don’t have to fly this week!)

Not hearing with one ear makes conversations interesting.

I see more than I hear.
Can lead [...]

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   But Mom and Dad saved me.
Raindrop here - and alive.
This morning, Mom and Dad were ignoring me.

They ate breakfast.
Started talking about goals for 2009.
How boring!

I decided to find something more fun to do.

And hit the jackpot.
You’ll never believe what I found.
A bag of Zingerman’s brownies!

Life was good!

Two pounds of pure, high-quality chocolate.
Balanced with the [...]

Filed under: Adventures of Raindrop, Board challenges | 7 Comments »

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

Cynthia
James
And Raindrop (of course!)

Makes me think of chapter leaders…what would Santa bring your chapter when he looks at your achievements for 2008 - a lump of coal or fabulous gift?

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   A new movie perhaps?
I’ve been in a bit of a bah-humbug mood this week.

Not totally sure why.
Maybe a touch of leftover jet lag from Hawaii?

Anyhow, I’m my grumpy self and someone pounds on the door.

The doorbell doesn’t work.
(To keep things quiet if I’m on a biz call.)
We weren’t expecting anyone.

Standing out in the extreme cold [...]

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   At least my version.
One of the great finds of Ann Arbor was the restaurant around the corner from where we live.

The food was great.
Everyone knew my name.
I felt special whenever I went in there.

James and I like to support local businesses.

This was a perfect fit.
We did a lot of business meetings there.
It was very [...]

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   My mentoree just got her first CEO position.
About a year ago, she called to talk to me about speaking at her association’s leadership conference.

We had some fun conversation.
And clicked quite naturally.

She started to send me periodic emails.

She’s a sharp thinker.
I got a kick out of challenging her to stretch.

A few months later, she took [...]

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   In Ann Arbor.
He didn’t want his photo taken.

He was a shy man.
Maybe 25 years old.
Talked like he was much younger.

Yesterday afternoon the phone rang.

James was out.
It was telemarketer time.
I debated whether or not to answer it.

“I have your cell phone.”

I didn’t understand what he was saying.
And made him repeat a few times.

Caller ID showed [...]

Filed under: Recruiting New Members | 3 Comments »

   Much to my surprise!
Attempting to tone down my jet lag, I got a massage yesterday.

I’ve been getting them monthly for about a year.
I tend to run at a pretty crazy pace.
The commitment forces me to stop to breathe.

I wondered how my back would feel after my Hawaii trip.

Two 11-hour plane trips.
A week in classes.
Jet lag.

The [...]

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