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What’s Your Voice?

by on November 28, 2004 in Creative, Media

I went on a rare date with my wife last night (those with kids understand the rarity) and saw the movie Ray with Jamie Foxx. I didn’t know much about the life of Ray Charles and found among the film’s themes someone pursuing his own voice. There’s an interesting scene where Ray is beginning to record for Atlantic Record execs and starts to imitate leading artists like Nat King Cole. For Ray, this is what he thinks the record company wants. But what the record execs want is Ray…they want HIS voice and what he brings.

It was a reminder of something that can elude me at times in my own work. It’s easy to imitate the work of already established voices. I mean, they’re established because the world knows and likes what they are saying, right? But the world doesn’t need one more person saying the same thing; the world wants a new voice. Continuing the thought of the last post, it may take time, patience, and courage for the world to understand that it needs this new voice. So, thanks for hanging out with me as I explore my voice and figure out what uniqueness I’m intended to bring to the discussion of careers, leadership, and organizations.

It’s All Invented…So Have Fun with It

by on September 16, 2004 in Creative

One of my favorite books is The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. It speaks to me both as a creative individual and as an impactful leader. One of the things that I prefer in books of this type is a mix of insight and suggestions for taking action. The best leadership and personal development books help you use what you’ve learned in new and dynamic ways. In this respect, it is a coaching-centered resource.

The first chapter forms the foundation for the rest of the book and centers on the notion that we perceive all that happens around us in very individual ways and then interpret them accordingly. Reality and truth are then very subjective. Once you understand and accept this notion, you have an incredible capacity to act in fresh and powerful ways. They call it “It’s All Invented” and go on to suggest since we have the ability to create new stories, we might as well create ones that enhance the quality of our lives and the lives of those around us.

So, what stories are you creating right now? Do they involve you as the lead character who lives a life of drudgery, misfortune, bitterness? Hopefully not, but perhaps its just a blah life in which you yearn for more. What if you decided to create a new story today, one that involves passion, excitement, laughter, [go ahead, fill in the blank]?

Remember, it’s all invented so have some fun with it. What do you think?