Jalene Case 4/19/22 Jalene Case 4/19/22

Nine Strategies for Being the Leader of You

Being a good leader of others starts with leading ourselves and yet, it’s still not a commonly discussed topic. If we use the same definition as leadership but flip it to self, this is what it looks like: Self-leadership is influencing yourself to believe in a vision while creating a sense of purpose and direction for yourself.

In a quest to help my clients (and myself!) be better self-leaders, I created the Self-Leadership Map with nine strategies. In this culmination of a nine-post series, you get to pull together what you’ve learned about yourself. If you want to read or reread the previous eight posts, they’re all together on the Self-Leadership Map web page. Even if you haven’t read all the blog posts, you’ll find the essence of the Self-Leadership Map below or download a free worksheet version. You can use this to support yourself in staying focused on what matters most.

Touchstone Foundation

These touchstones will repeatedly keep you grounded and inspired.

Annual Theme: What is my focus for the year? Write a word, phrase, or sentence.
Core Values: Who am I when I’m at my best? What influences hard decisions? Write 2-5 values.
Purpose/Why: What is the belief or cause that drives me? Write a phrase or sentence.
Love Notes to Self: What will I remind myself of when times get rough? Write 2-5 words, phrases, or sentences.

Wholehearted Being

This is fuel for your motivation. Self-care and awareness produce energy to keep moving forward.

How will I take care of myself? Write 1-3 for each area.
- Intellectually
- Physically
- Emotionally
- Spiritually
Which character traits describe how I want to show up at my best at work? Write 1-5 words.
Which character traits describe how I want to show up at my best at home? Write 1-5 words

Near & Far Vision

Envision what you truly want in the near-term and long-term.

What do you want? (Use the time periods of 30 days, 90 days, 12 months, 5 years, 10 years.)

Decisive Goals

Choosing a limited number of goals will provide focus.

What will I do to achieve my vision? (Use the time periods of 30 days, 90 days, 12 months, 5 years, 10 years.)

Consistent Action

Tenacious tiny steps are what leads to accomplishing big goals.

What practices or habits will I do to support myself so I will reach my vision? Write 1-3 for each period: daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually.

Energizing Support

Connecting with people who support you can bring resources, collaborations, joy, and more

Who supports me in the following areas?
- Tackle problems & challenges
- Understand business & people
- Colleagues
- Core work and/or hired team
- Which groups do I want to join and be actively involved in?
- How will I remind myself to reach out when I want and/or need help?

Pesky Obstacles

Notice what’s getting in your way. For example, physical space (external) or negative self-talk (internal).

What is getting in my way externally? Write as many as you want.
What is getting in my way internally? Write as many as you want.
How might I mitigate or eliminate these obstacles? Write 1-3 strategies.

Appreciative Celebration

When we celebrate, it teaches our brain to do more of what we’re celebrating.

How might I celebrate my small and big accomplishments? Write 1-3 strategies.

Sustainable Ecosystem

Think of the previous eight areas as living, breathing, evolving parts of your self-leadership ecosystem. Reflect on what’s most useful for you at this stage of your life. Consider where you want to keep this information, how you want to update it, and what will support you best to stay on track.

What will your system look like? Consider these areas:
- Where will I keep the information from this map? For example: print, post on the wall, digitally, or separate out the elements and keep in different places. There are no rules so do what works best for you.
- How often will I engage with these self-leadership elements? For example: read everything weekly or monthly, and update some of the sections on a regular basis.
Example of a Sustainable Ecosystem:
- Daily: Use software to track baby steps toward goals & visions.
- Weekly: Focus on completing 30-day goals.
- Monthly: Read the whole map to reconnect with my foundation and vision, update areas as needed, celebrate achievements with accountability partner or coach.

This is the most important part of the entire process. Create a system for leading yourself that works for you. There are no rules! Be creative. Be innovative. Be structured or be wild. Above all…first, be the leader of you!

Learn more about all nine self-leadership strategies + download a Self-Leadership Map as a fillable PDF so you can use this valuable tool well into the future.

I’d love to hear at least one strategy that works best for you. Send me an email.

Jalene Case 4/21/21 Jalene Case 4/21/21

How an Inner Foundation Can Keep You On-Track

Life bumped me off-track recently. I needed to catch-up with myself, to remind myself of what matters, to ground myself in who I want to be and how I want to show up. I started by stopping, which isn’t my natural inclination. My default action when I’m overwhelmed is to focus on doing more faster and working longer hours. I’m great at staying busy. That’s the problem.

I finally realized that in order to catch up with myself, I would need to press pause and reconnect with my foundation so my actions aligned with the future I wanted to create.

A strong foundation can give you solid ground to stand on when your world feels out of control. It can be a reliable touchstone for reconnecting with what motivates you from the inside out and what defines you. It can steer your actions and get you back on track.

Here’s what I did to get back on track:

First, I did what I call a brain-dump. I wrote out all the things that were in my head to get done on my whiteboards. This process helped me see everything together to get a sense of the big picture. I energized myself by standing up, moving, using colored markers, and listening to music.

Next, I marked everything that I had made a commitment to do and wrote the date it needed to be done by.

Then I stopped to revisit my foundation so I could use it for making decisions about what to do next. Here are the elements that form my foundation, which I refresh at least annually to keep me grounded and inspired.

Touchstone Foundation Elements

Annual Theme

What is my focus for the year? This is a word, phrase, or sentence that’s a guiding light for the year.

In 2021, my annual theme is “choose & grow.” I had to chuckle because choosing was exactly what I was facing at the moment! The word grow reminded me that I want to focus on growing my business. This helped me cross off some of the things I had written on the whiteboard.

Core Values

Who am I at my best? What influences hard decisions? Now is when values go to work. In other words, this is what values look like when they’re operationalized.

For the last couple of years, I’ve reduced my values to only two that I truly use to make tough decisions and describe how I want to show up. (You can find more about this practice in Dare to Lead by Brene Brown.) I looked at my two values of usefulness and connection, and again, crossed-off more to do items.

Purpose

What is the belief or cause that drives me? This is a phrase or sentence that inspires and motivates how you want to live your life. It’s a thread that weaves throughout your life, a theme that shows up repeatedly.

My purpose is to help people connect with themselves and each other so they can do what matters most. I know that when I’m doing something related to my purpose, it’s important to me and will bring a sense of satisfaction and joy.

Love Notes to Myself

What will I remind myself of when times get rough? These are 2-5 words, phrases, or sentences that will energize you when you need it most. These can change as often as you wish.

I realized that this was one of those tough times! Reading my love notes was a way to give myself compassion, tenderness, and love. These are a couple of them: K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Sweetie), Be you. I ended up adding this new one: Step Out/Step Up to remind myself that when I’m growing, I’m stepping outside my comfort zone and stepping up to a new level.

By the time I finished revisiting all of my foundation elements, I felt focused, calm and clear about my direction.

Life will knock you off-track once in a while, especially when you’re the kind of person who is drawn to learning, growing, challenges and changes. Building a solid foundation can give you the inner strength to get out there and be the kind of person that you want to be. If you have questions about these touchstone foundation elements, reach out to me a Jalene@JaleneCase.com.

Note: This is part one in a series of nine blog posts exploring a blueprint for self leadership.

Jalene Case 5/31/18 Jalene Case 5/31/18

Unsexy Basics

It's so invigorating to envision the business I'm building, the life I'm creating, and the next big project I'm going to birth.

What's not so exciting is doing the unsexy basics that support all of the above mentioned juicy stuff such as taking the exams to earn certifications, telling myself "no" when ideas don't fit, holding myself accountable for the goals I set, and setting up the accounting structure.

I love this clever structure I saw on a recent beach walk! It reminds me that the structures we create, including our unsexy basics, can be uniquely ours.

This week, I've experienced the thrill of completing exams to receive certifications in an Emotional Intelligence assessment process, and to become an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coach Federation. Plus, Quickbooks is set-up, and up-to-date. These are part of the foundation for my business.

These things on my to do list have been taunting me for a couple of months. This week I got to feel the exhilaration that comes from setting a goal and checking it off the list! Woohoo!

Those unsexy basics create the solid foundation from which our dreams are built upon.

What are the unfinished unsexy basics taunting you?

In the spirit of knowing ourselves,

Jalene

Can you think of a business with a staff that would benefit by getting to know more about each other so they can communicate better, get the right work done, and enjoy themselves more? I work within organizations as a trainer, facilitator, and executive coach. Learn more here: Professional Development

Can you think of a person who could use some extra support during an extraordinary time of change, who wants to feel more comfortable in their own skin, or who wants to take on an enormous goal? I coach via phone or online so the person can live anywhere in the world. Learn more here: Executive & Personal Coaching

If anyone pops into your mind, please connect us in whatever way works for you:

Share my contact info with them: email: Jalene@JaleneCase.com and website: www.JaleneCase.com
Send an email to both us introducing us to each other.
Send me the person’s contact info.

Hand on heart...thank you.