Cynthia D’Amour on Leadership and Life

   Will you?
I’ve been struggling with working too much.

Lots of exciting things going on.
The Lazy Leader Transforms America tour efforts launched.
And I’m traveling to speak quite a bit.

I’ll always have stuff like that going on.

But I’m putting in a lot of extra time too.
Hours seem to expand geometrically.
18 hour days are not shockers.

I’m tired of it.

And think I [...]

Filed under: Savvy Leadership | 2 Comments »

  One Volunteer at a Time.
Have you ever challenged yourself to really stretch your comfort zones?

Where it almost hurts?
And you have no idea how you will pull everything off?
That’s what I did.

A little over a month ago, I decided I was tired of all the negative news.

Unemployment rising.
Jobs disappearing.
World sucks.

I decided it was time to do [...]

Filed under: Board challenges | No Comments »

   And was wrong!
I spent a few days last week in lovely Vancouver.

There to speak about leading with compassion when budgets are tight.
Stayed in a room over looking the water.
Enjoyed watching the ships.

Didn’t understand the orange structure.

Why build a high-rise in the middle of the water?
Downtown was full of tall buildings.
But in the middle of the [...]

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   Painful lesson to learn.
I’m in a lovely hotel in Vancouver.

My cell phone doesn’t work here.
Not a big deal.
Except it’s my main time piece.

I have to depend on old-fashioned things to get by.

Like the alarm clock in the room.
Usually I can figure out how to set the alarm.
It’s just been a while.

This morning I got a [...]

Filed under: Board challenges, Savvy Leadership | 2 Comments »

   NOT!
I seem to have all the luck when it comes to membership renewals.

From letters from presidents.
To calls in spite of earlier threat of turning me off.
(It’s a wonder I still love being involved!)

Well it happened again…

Two weeks ago I got the basic renewal email - pay now.
This week I got another.
It asked, “Are you going to [...]

Filed under: Recruiting New Members, Savvy Leadership | 4 Comments »

And I didn’t realize it.
Raindrop here.

I live in a neighborhood with lots of dogs in it.
But over the winter, many of us stay inside more.
For months, I only saw the dogs that live across the street.

Recently dogs started walking their owners again.

I didn’t like seeing them near my yard.
I made a lot of noise.
Mom started barking at me!

Mom [...]

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   I did.
Some professional speaker friends have been playing a game on Facebook.

A six-word challenge.
To put the essence of our speeches in just six words.
It’s an interesting puzzle to play with.

Mine was: “Lead, don’t work. Get more done!”

It boils down what I talk about with volunteer leaders.
Focus on leading others - rather than personally doing all the [...]

Filed under: Getting More Members Involved, Keeping members | 7 Comments »

 
James and I decided to do a second trip to Mazarro’s Italian Market.

Homemade gelato called our name.
We picked up apricot/walnut/jalapeno glazed chicken for dinner.
And the shopping experience was a blast - again.

There are more than 300 restaurants in the area.

We only had seven nights in town.
And yet, it was worth dedicating two more nights to [...]

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