Curiosity – Does it motivate you? Curiosity is an emotion related to your natural inquisitive behavior such as exploration and investigation of all things around you and the world you live in. Are you always  interested, open to new experiences, ready to explore and seek to discover? If you answered YES – then Curiosity may be one of your VIA Core Strengths.

Characteristics of a Curios Person

• Have an ongoing, intrinsic interest in their inner experience and the world around them
• Love to explore and travel
• Are attracted to new things, people, and experiences
• Are rarely bored
• Are good listeners and conversationalists
• Are able to focus their attention
• Ask questions from a new perspective
• Are resilient learners and good problem solvers
• Often want to know, just for the sake of knowing

Is this you? If so how are you using your curiosity? Can you use it in a new way? Explore the possibilities……

VIA Character Strengths of Each Virtue

1. Wisdom and Knowledge: Creativity, Curiosity, Open-mindedness, Love of Learning, Perspective
2. Courage: Bravery, Persistence, Integrity, Vitality
3. Humanity: Love, Kindness, Social Intelligence
4. Justice: Citizenship, Fairness, Leadership
5. Temperance: Forgiveness and Mercy, Humility/Modesty, Prudence, Self-regulation
6. Transcendence: Appreciation for Beauty and Excellence, Gratitude, Hope, Humor, Spirituality

Which VIA Strengths do you spot yourself? Which VIA Strength identifies your Core Strength?

A customized 360 feedback report measures executive and personal leadership competencies in a wide variety of areas, including decision-making, communication, customer and service orientation, innovation, strategic planning, industry knowledge, change leadership, teamwork and collaboration, directing and inspiring action, listening, conflict resolution and more. Customized to measure the high-priority leadership competencies you value or which are highly valued in your organization.

3 major types of 360º Assessments:

• Personal Leadership
• Executive Leadership
• Organizational Climate

What is a 360?

Tool for creating a personalized coaching program for executives, individuals or organizations

• Confidential input from a variety of sources on the subject
• Comparison of responses from the subject and respondents
• Way to uncover a person’s blind spots

Do you love learning new things, mastering new skills on your own or formally? Do you pursue knowledge systematically to add information to what you know? Are you motivated by learning? Do you enjoy being cognitively engaged?

Those who have a Love of Learning

• Are frequently mastering new skills, topics, and bodies of knowledge
• Pursue learning on one’s own or through a formal process of instruction
• Relate to the strength of curiosity, but goes further to describe the tendency to systematically add to what one knows
• Are in touch with one’s best time, place, and way of learning
• Eager to share what is being learned with others

Is this you? If so how are you using your love of learning? Can you use it in a new way? Explore the possibilities……

If you could take a “Wonder Drug” that has no negative side effects, was legal and free –

Would YOU?
This “Wonder Drug” makes you feel good, enhances your self-esteem, induces calm, improves thinking, makes you more attractive and improves your love life.

The 4 Elements to this drug are:

• Exercise
  3 times; 30 minutes / week
• Mindfulness
  Meditation, deep breathing, yoga or just sitting for 15 minutes / day
• Sleep
  7-8 hours / night
• Touch
  12+ hugs / day

This “Wonder Drug” is your prescription to HAPPINESS. It will kick in after 3 weeks to 1 month and is your natural intervention.

The VIA Character Strength measures positive psychological traits, or strengths of character. There are 24(twenty-four) VIA “Strength” organized in 6 (six) Virtues which are the ingredients that provide the foundation and essence to each individual virtues.

6 Virtues of VIA Character Strengths

1. Wisdom and Knowledge:
   Cognitive strengths that fuel the pursuit and use of knowledge
2. Courage:
   Emotional strengths that exercises the will to succeed in the face of opposition, external or internal
3. Humanity:
   Interpersonal strengths that involve nurturing, tending and helping others
4. Justice:
   Civic strengths that motivates building a strong community life
5. Temperance:
   Strengths that guard and protect against excess
6. Transcendence:
   Strengths that build connections to the larger universe and provide meaning

In which Virtue do you see yourself?

Promote physical and mental health through wellness education. Learning how to achieve optimism, self esteem, creativity and improved cognitive skills will provide your people with the skill to understand their core values and discover innovative ways to incorporate their values into their every day.

A Simple 4 Piece Puzzle to Wellness

Recently, I conducted a 1 hour “Healthy Mind/Healthy Body” workshop for 75+ participants at law firm with offices locally and across the US. Some of the participants were in the room and the others were connected via the web. We discussed the 4 core pieces of the “wellness” puzzle and how they fit into a healthy, happy and productive life.

• Exercise
• Mindfulness
• Sleep
• Social connections

Although the “cost” to the firm in employee time was considerable, the long term benefits will outweigh the short term cost, especially if they continue to reinforce the message with ongoing training and support.

Being aware of your strengths is the key to how you represent yourself. They are a reflection of “You at Your Best”. Coming from your strengths is being aware, present and mindful to offer a space for others to reveal themselves.

Good Character Strength results in:

• Personal well-being
• Interpersonal well-being
• Social well-being

A life of good character is a life that is:

• Fulfilling
• Satisfying
• Invigorating
• Worth the effort
• Meaningful
• Positive

Know your Strengths!!!! Be @ Your Best!!!

Emotional intelligence is the ability to be aware of our own emotions and those of others, in the moment, and to use that information to manage ourselves and manage our relationships optimally.  The 24 EI compentencies depicted in the four-quardrant model are described below. 

Definitions of Competencies

Personal Competence
These competencies determine how we manage ourselves

Self-Awareness
Knowing one’s internal states, preferences, resources, and intuition

• Emotional awareness: Recognizing one’s emotions and their effects
  Accurate self-assessment: Knowing one’s strengths and limits
• Personal power: A strong sense of one’s self-worth and capabilities; self confidence

Self-Management
Managing ones’ internal states, impulses, and resources

• Emotional self-control: Keeping disruptive emotions in check
• Integrity: Maintaining high standards of honesty and ethics at all times
• Innovation & creativity: Actively pursuing new approaches and ideas
• Initiative & bias for action: Readiness to act on opportunities
• Resilience:  Perseverance and diligence in the face of setbacks
• Achievement drive: Striving to meet a standard of excellence
• Stress management:  Working calmly under stress and pressure
• Realistic optimism:  Expecting success; seeing setbacks as manageable; persisting in achieving goals despite obstacles and setbacks
• Intentionality:  Thinking and acting “on purpose” and deliberately

Social Competence
These competencies determine how we handle relationships

Social Awareness
Awareness of others feelings, needs, and concerns

• Empathy: Sensing others’ feelings and perspectives, and taking an active interest in their concerns
• Organizational awareness: Reading a group’s emotional currents and power relationships
• Service ethic: Anticipating, recognizing, and meeting customers’ needs

Relationship Management – Social Skills
Adeptness at inducing desirable responses in others

• Developing others: Identifying others’ development needs and bolstering their abilities
• Influence: Wielding effective tactics for persuasion
• Communication: Listening attentively and fostering open dialogue 
• Conflict management: Negotiating and resolving disagreements
• Visionary leadership: Inspiring, guiding and mobilizing individuals and groups; articulating a clear, compelling and motivating vision for the future
• Catalyzing change: Initiating, managing and leading change
• Building bonds: Nurturing and maintaining relationships, cultivating a wide network; connecting with others on a deeper rather than superficial level
• Teamwork & collaboration: Working with others toward shared goals. Creating group synergy in pursuit of collective goals
• Building trust:  Being trustworthy and ethical when working and relating to others; ability to establish a bond of trust with others

DiSC is an assessment tool used to discover you primary behavioral style through self-awareness and personal effectiveness:
D – Dominance; i – Influence; S – Steadiness; C – Conscientiousness
DiSC assessments are Classic or Classic Plus. Both assessment reports are rich and full of useful information.
The Classics assessment reports on your unique behavioral style based on your answers to 23 questions. You learn about your primary dimension, tendencies, needs, preferred environment and strategies for effectiveness. You are provided an intensity index highlighting adjectives about your strengths and weaknesses followed by a more detailed explanation for the adjectives in each dimension. Your classical profile pattern is also revealed portraying your behavior with a specific blend of the four DiSC dimensions.
The Classic Plus begins with the DiSC Classic. Plus takes your primary dimension and classical profile and generates 6 supplemental reports. These reports are:
• Strategies for a Creating a Positive Relationship
How to communicate to the you
How to compliment you
How to provide feedback to you
How your deal with conflict
How to deal with your problem-solving style
How to deal with your decision-making style
Strategies for Positive Relationships Worksheet
• Relating to People and the Environment
How you tend to communicate
How you tend to make decisions
How you tend to manage time
How you tend to solve problems
How you tend to handle stress
Relating to People and Environment Worksheet
• Strategies for Managing
Developing you
Motivating you
Complimenting you
Counseling you
Problem solving for you
Delegating to you
Correcting you
Decision making for you
Communicating to you
Management Action Strategy Worksheet
• Approach to Managing Others
Communicating to others
Delegating to others
Directing others
Developing others
Decision-making style
Managing time style
Problem-solving style
Motivating others
Management Style Worksheet
• Strategies for Sales Management
Developing you
Motivating you
Giving recognition to you
Coaching / Counseling you
Communicating to you
Problem-solving for you
Delegating you
Decision-making for you
Sales Management Action Strategy Worksheet
• Natural Approach to the Selling Process
Planning
Opening the call
Interviewing
Presenting
Responding to concerns
Getting Commitment
Servicing
Sales Management Style Worksheet