A positive philosophy of living mated with passion for solutions bakes the bread of influence.

Human beings are empowered with motivation that will satisfy their hunger for success. Innovation is a roadmap for change and determination is a desire for achievement. I believe that the powerful personality engenders positive energy and creativity. There is a difference between living and surviving. Anyone can survive but not everyone will truly live. Living should communicate meaning. Therefore teaching people how to live with pride and dignity is a win-win situation.

A notion exists that self-leadership is an innate talent. I don’t doubt the magical gift of genes. However from my own upbringing I know self-leadership can be taught -and sought after- when we are open to take responsibility for ourselves, and bound to create opportunities for others. Initially, leadership is a learned aspect of character combined with skills, knowledge, and experience. Then, through practice, leadership is transformed into a quality of self. Self-leadership first involves strategies for leading from within. Second, it reflects its impact.

Influence requires diplomacy while challenge encourages problem solving. Here is a personal example: I was scheduled to plan and deliver training to educators, administrators, business leaders and college students in Turkey. In the process of writing the curriculum for this project I realized the need to develop and execute a survey seeking their needs and requirements. Surveys are designed to collect impressions of the moment and produce a platform for improvements. Then I put on my thinking cap and finalized the survey. My sense is that language is a key to unlock the doors of connection. A leader’s role is to convey messages simply but also in a way such that the results are measurable. Since I was writing this survey for an audience whose mother-tongue is not English I had to be sensitive to the usage of words and sentences. How language is applied reflects personal and professional values and indicates cultural understanding. Here then is how we validate our internal thoughts and ideas of leadership… by how well they manifest success in others.

What do you say? Any thoughts?

“There were never in the world two opinions alike, any more than two hairs or two grains. Their most universal quality is diversity” said Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (February 28, 1533 – September 13, 1592).

Diversity caused a unique branding of the United States of America. Here citizens sewed the threads of skills and knowledge while sharing multiple views and respect at the same time. Isn’t that why we have been referring to our nation as the melting pot? The concept of melting pot brought colors, tastes, strengths and intelligence, just to name a few. I feel that diversity has always existed in our culture, and yet… have we all been prone to this idea at a deeper level? Change as well as acceptance should sprout within an individual’s heart and head before expecting the society to comply. We have experienced for centuries that the cart before the horse is not functional is it?

Accessibility has become a buzz word in our language today. As the world is getting smaller the growth of information is expanding widely. Why is that? People across the globe are hungry for knowledge, therefore accessibility should not relate to only those individuals with disabilities. Then precisely what does accessibility mean? Is it really a hand-out, or… can it be considered a process of innovation?
According to Andrew Razeghi in his book, The Riddle; where ideas come from and how to have better ones the author states, “Innovation is capability.” If so, let’s break the phrase accessibility into two parts; access, ability. In my mind access and ability refer to the collection and implementation of information independently.

What do you think?