Upcoming Events JULY |
JULY is Independent Retailer Month. Support a local merchant!
1 --
Canada Day
7 --
Global Forgiveness Day
11 --
World Population Day (UN)
16 --
Corn Fritters Day
24 --
Cousins Day
28 --
World Hepatitis Day (WHO)
30 --
Intern'l Day of Friendship (UN)
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Shout Out! |
A big thanks to some who made my life better in June Bonnie Andriachuk Steph Baran Shirley Borrelli Lori Bursey Linda Cochrane Tim Essington Alana Gueutel Dianne Johnstone Karen MacKenzie Dwayne Mandrusiak Ernie Paustian Paul Rechner Holly Rose Lori Schmidt Wanda Stephens Dave Sutherland Esther West |
Websites/Links |
CSAE's new BoardReady newsletter (Great discussion Qs for your board) Click Here David Zinn (Amazing chalk art to make you smile) Click Here 100 Ready Made Compliments (from Happier.com) Click Here How to make a paper wallet (I love this idea) Click Here Watch a pair of Fluevog shoes "The Miracle" be made Click Here LUE-42 Enterprises
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7 Things to do When Life Throws You a Curveball |
Kimberley Mikesh at
Happier.com shared the following strategies anyone can use for when life doesn't go according to plan.
1. Understand that
changes will happen.
2. Some changes will be
very challenging.
3.
Accept the change in your life (view it as an
opportunity).
4. Keep an
open mind.
5. Kill it with
kindness and
humour (find/keep your sense of humour).
6.
Do something kind for yourself (a treat is like a reset button).
7.
Get out there (the adventure is worth pursuing).
Here's Mikesh's entire blog post.
Click Here
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35 Expensive Things You Need When You're a Millionaire |
ArchitectueandDesign.net
published a list of 35 expensive things you need in your home when you're a millionaire. The list, while decadent, is entertaining and I have no doubt you'll want at least one of the items.
Here are my favourites:
- Bookshelf that opens into a hidden room (who doesn't want that?!)
- Room with walls made of Lego
- Ceiling hammock
- Gravity defying cat transit system in every room
It's fun to dream. Have a look at the entire list.
Click Here
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Reader Notes |
- I so enjoy reading your newsletters. LB
- Love your newsletter. I've had my entire board sign up for it. JF
*** Contributors to this issue: Tracy Cooper Posey, Laureen Reagan |
Wish I'd said that... |
"The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph!" -- Marvin Phillips "Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." -- Thomas Jefferson |
Books by Moi |
Understanding Bylaws: A Guide for Directors of Not-For-Profit Organizations ISBN 978-0-9866030-0-6 Exceptional Board Members, Exception Boards ISBN 978-0-9866030-1-3
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With fond acknowledgement to Douglas Adams and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy |
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To use the content, please include this blurb: Linda Wood Edwards and LUE-42 Enterprises produces "Life, the Universe, and Everything" for her clients and subscribers. Visit www.lue42.com for more information
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June always starts rather
calm and
pleasant, but then (in my experience at least) everyone
freaks out because they want to complete everything
before summer. This is even more true of not-for-profit boards who want to avoid punishing their volunteers with meetings over the summer. So Executive Directors and Presidents try to
anticipate anything that could come up by getting it on an agenda before June 30. I guess I am the person that takes on all that angst so every one else can
calm down in July.
In my life June is also when
old friends want to catch up for that coffee or lunch, and I want to say
YES to all of them! In fact, I do say yes and that means my mornings, noons, nights, and weekends are committed. I am grateful of course, but some day I really must figure out how to
spread out all this goodness so I'm not rushing from one dear friend to the next.
June, of course, saw the new season commence for my beloved
Canadian Football League. I attended as many days of Eskimos
training camp as I could, although not as many as I'd have liked. One of my favourite
drills to watch is the D-Line with the "Football-on-a-stick." For no
good reason, that drill
delights me. So imagine my surprise when I after the June 27 game I was presented with the
object of my joy:
Yes, I know I'm trying to downsize and declutter, but it's a
FOOTBALL-ON-A-STICK, for heaven's sake! I cannot live a full and happy life without it! So my heartfelt thanks to Paul and Dwayne for this special gift.
I actually saw two CFL games in
Fort McMurray. At the first one the mayor sat in front of us and we congratulated her on hosting the northern-most professional football games. The
new stadium there is really lovely, although the seats are very narrow. I couldn't jump up to cheer a touchdown for fear I'd rip up the entire row! I can't imagine watching anything there wearing winter clothing.
I also got to deliver the
8 Track Stereo, speakers, and tapes to contest winner Lori Bursey, who came all the way from Toronto to Fort McMurray to see her Argonauts beat my Eskimos. When we weren't watching football we enjoyed the Village People, Al Martino, Barry Manilow, the Who, and more.
In June I also had the privilege of attending the opening ceremony of the
FIFA Women's World Cup and the Canada-China game. I am very proud of the job Edmonton did in hosting this world class event and of Team Canada's performance.
I managed to get to
Golden to do some writing and to
Lake Louise to do some work. I sometimes forget just how gorgeous that place is! I also went to a fun and entertaining
house concert, an amazing performance of
Cirque du Soliel, and
Zoofest at which I played with baby
goats.
I even donned my coveralls and unleashed some anger at nature by wielding my new "Wild Thing" chainsaw. I cleared a bunch of trees that were growing where they weren't planted as well as an unsuspecting lawn ornament. Oh well, at least my limbs and digits are all in tact and it was excellent therapy, even if my biceps killed me for a few days.
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And now it is really summer and I need to ramp up work while others try to catch their breath. I suppose it doesn't really matter when, just make sure that you take some time for yourself to stop and
smell the roses.
Consider smelling (and planting) the
Never Alone rose, where a royalty from the sale of each rose plant goes to the Never Alone Foundation (cancer) and the
CFL Alumni Support Fund. Here's a list of greenhouses that sell them:
Click Here
If you're into golfing with some really interesting business leaders, consider signing up for GO Golf, put on by
GO Productivity. Here's the link for
Leadership on the Links, August 27, 2015 at Red Tail Landing.
Click Here
With that, I'll wish you a
Happy Canada Day and a wonderful July. Have some fun, ok?
**
"It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any." -- Hugh Laurie
/lmwe
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The Answer |
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Q: WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE SITTING AROUND MY BOARD TABLE? A: MOST OF THEM ARE GOOD PEOPLE WANTING TO BE OF SERVICE... ...BUT even those ones can be problematic sometimes. Once again I've been referencing Eli Mina's book "101 Boardroom Problems and How To Solve Them." I'll introduce you to some of his favourite dysfunctional board behaviours, but I suspect you've already met most of them. Disengaged (Unprepared, late or absent, reads emails during meetings, doesn't get things done). Damage: The board doesn't operate at capacity and others can disengage. Single-Issue Advocate (Only interested in one matter and may even trade votes with other board members to get support). Damage: Less leadership than there should be and perhaps an inability to see new points of view and solutions. Rebel (Thinks he's the conscience of the community and rebels against authority, possibly revealing confidential matters or going against the "one voice" principle). Damage: The air is poisoned, other board members are annoyed/betrayed, decision making is called into question, and the board's credibility diminishes. Accuser (Counters unpopular decisions with conspiracy theories, claims violation of individual rights, and often does not check the facts). Damage: Fear of taking a leadership role, no room for innocent mistakes, toxic climate. Bully (Intimidates others to act as he wants, makes threats until the board backs down/reverses to his preferred way). Damage: Good decisions are aborted and flawed decisions get through; leadership is through the "tyranny of the minority." Know It All (Speaks in an arrogant, condescending manner; uses meetings as a platform to show off). Damage: Others may stop listening, even if the input is valuable. Contrarian (Finds flaws in all new ideas, routinely interrupts). Damage: Stifled creativity/innovation, inability to explore new ideas to solve problems, and may lose good board members). Closet Parliamentarian (Raises points of order and procedure that don't really add value to the work of the board). Damage: Time is wasted, meetings slow down, board is distracted from substantive matters. Short-Tempered (Loses temper and becomes loud, abusive, threatening when things don't go his way; insults colleagues and questions their competence; often on attack and trying to "set the record straight"). Damage: Unsafe to share ideas, toxic environment, increased likelihood of flawed decisions. Overly Sensitive (Takes things personally). Damage: Board tries to not hurt feelings at risk of making a weaker decision, topics not given full scrutiny, robust debate less likely).
There's also Secretive, Talkative, Won't Speak Up, Mumbler, Lecturer. Eli Mina provides some excellent intervention ideas to deal with all these types of people but I'd be really interested in hearing
what you do.
You can check out some of Mina's other articles here:
/lmwe |
Overhaul Your Inbox |
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In the June 2015 edition of
Chatelaine, Lora Grady summarized these email tips from Dawn O'Conner of
Think Productive Canada. I've already tried a couple of them.
1. Sort by Sender
Make a bundle for your boss, your co-workers, your spouse, etc. and then delete or file.
2. Set up 3 Folders with the @ Symbol
@Action -- if it requires action or a response, file it here
@Reading -- if you need to consult it later, file it here
@Waiting -- if it requires someone else to do something first, file it here. Follow up and delete once it's handled.
3. Streamline with 4 Ds
Do -- if it will take 2 minutes to deal with it
Delete -- if you don't (really) need it, toast it
Delegate -- pass it off to whomever can take care of it
Defer -- if it's for later, put it in the @Action folder
4. Manage Incoming Emails with Bucket Folders
Create one for Projects, one for Clients, one for Personal -- whatever makes sense. Then number them in the order you want them to appear.
5. Visit Inbox Once in the Morning, Once in the Afternoon
No more than 20-60 minutes. Assign emails to the correct folders and do all quick replies. Schedule 1 hour to deal with the @Action folder.
6. Work Offline for at Least 1 Hour/Day
"Remember, email replaces the letter, not the phone." If it's urgent people can call.
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About LUE-42 Enterprises |
I help associations and boards with tasks that can't be done in-house due to lack of capacity, time, skill, or a combination. I spend most of my time with governance, planning, bylaws, board development, interim management, and writing. I'm also a playwright, a funeral celebrant, and a big fan of the Canadian Football League. I have a great life. If I can help to improve your life, let me know.
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Contact LUE-42 Enterprises lue42@shaw.ca www.lue42.com |
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