Do You Dare to Lead?

In some circles, I say that I am in the business of communication–
but the bigger truth is that I’m in the business of developing leaders
of change
, who, of course, must communicate with extraordinary
skill. Throughout most of history, leaders of change were confined
to the political, academic, religious and corporate stages. In fact, for
thousands of years, all power resided in these arenas, and the “little
person” had virtually no voice.

But as we see these industries crumbling, we are witnessing an historic
“changing of the guard,” as power moves back to the people. Daily,
leaders of change are leaping onto their own make-shift stages,
right there in the middle of a crowd. We have seen this phenomenon
spike dramatically in just three or four years, as YouTube, Amazon,
Facebook and iTunes stage new leaders every day. It doesn’t matter
their age, race, education or economic standing, new voices are rising
to the fore almost by the minute—confident, compelling and effective.
We can expect this sensation to reach a tipping point very soon, as
more and more people claim their power, their “internal authority,”
and lead us all in planetary change.

If you are such a visionary, congratulations. You’ve cleared the highest
hurdle of all: the concern that you are too insignificant to lead, too small
to effect change. Something became more important than your fear and
allowed you to sail over those obstacles.

If you have been hanging back, now is the time to do the same. Now is
the time to recognize that you came here to take the innate, hard-earned
wisdom and knowledge within you and heal others. You are a leader of
change.

But listen: that role carries on its shoulders nothing less than our
collective future. The responsibility is great. But you were born for
the job, so that won’t trip you up. But here’s what might: your need
for approval is greater than your intent for change.
When you
could push the envelope, ruffle feathers, rock the boat, risk criticism
by doing things differently and leading “out of the box”—you will
instead stay safe within it. But unchanged  …and changing nothing.

You do not have time or the luxury any more to ask yourself, am I
a leader
? You are! The question is, do I dare to lead? Or is it more
important for me to follow…the tastes, preferences and safety zones
of others so they admire me? Not for my brilliance, but for keeping
them comfortable?

For the “New Paradigm,” Inspired Leader, the profound, inner
passion to effect change, to impact the future, is greater than the
need for approval. Indeed, the New Paradigm, Inspired Leader turns
away from all external authority and acts from his inner authority,
a power-center of certainty, self-trust and conviction that by its very
definition pulls him to think what others fear to think, do what others
fear to do and go where others fear to go.

The New Paradigm, Inspired Leader follows nothing but her
own truth, no matter how unpopular it may be–because she knows
that’s
what engenders change. And change is what matters. She is in
service to others; that’s what matters. She will do what must be done
to serve effectively, with power, impact and integrity.

The world is waiting for you; the stage is lit and ready. It’s time for
you to step up and raise your voice. The question is not anymore, am I
a leader
? The question is, do I dare to lead, and make some uncomfortable?
Is my intent for change greater than my need for approval?

If so, the mic is on. Go give ‘em your best shot.

 

If you dare move into the New Paradigm of Inspired Leadership…
one step may be the free Virtual Visionaries call Wednesday May 18.
You may sign up for that here. Another will most definitely be
Secrets of Impact & Influence: The 2-Day Event
, coming
to New Jersey, Sept. 23 and 24th. Watch for details!

Inspirational Marketing: The Wayseer Manifesto

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPR3GlpQQJA[/youtube]

I’m in love. Like, really. My guy has competition.
Garret John LoPorto is cute as hell—but even
more important, he’s my long-lost soul brother.
He’s created the video (and possibly the book, though
I haven’t read it yet) that I should have made—given
my propensities, teachings, programs, blog-name,
and daily ranting to anyone who’ll listen. But alas,
Garret did it in a way I never would have, and it is
just brilliant. Here is just a small taste of what he
“raps/rhapsodizes/sings/proselytizes” in his video,
The Wayseer Manifesto”:

ATTENTION: All you rule-breakers, you misfits and
troublemakers- all you free spirits and pioneers- all
you visionaries and non-conformists… Everything
that the establishment has told you is wrong with you
–is actually what’s right with you.
You see things
others don’t. You are hardwired to change the world.
Unlike 9 out of 10 people–your mind is irrepressible
–and this threatens authority. You were born to be a
revolutionary.
You can’t stand rules because in your
heart you know there’s a better way. You have strengths
dangerous to the establishment — and it wants them
eliminated, So your whole life you’ve been told your
strengths were weaknesses.  Now I’m telling you
otherwise.

Yes! Yes! Yes! You were born to be a revolutionary,
so GET ON YOUR FEET! Everything the establishment
told you is wrong with you—is actually what’s right!

Oh, I’ll leave my swooning for the privacy of my own
home—but I do want to talk about something really
interesting with this video: its extreme success as a
marketing strategy—namely, the marketing strategy
I teach my clients and students.

No, I don’t teach them how to create videos—I leave
that to my friend, Lou Bortone—but I do teach them
how to market themselves with an “inspirational
message of universal truth.”
I call it the Meta-
Message
.

And I tell my clients that this is the wave of the future
–to inspire prospects…because they will feel instant
affinity with you.

I felt such instant, magnetic affinity to Garret John
LoPorto’s ”inspirational message of universal truth”
that within 4.5 seconds of finishing the movie, I had
signed up to 1) be on his mailing list; 2) read a chapter
of his book; and 3—something I NEVER do without
consideration—I signed up for his membership program
…free for one month, but after that, I’ll be paying some
fee.

Do you think I care? Are you kidding? Depending, of
course, on what I get out of the free month, I would
pay more and I will follow him now to the ends of the
earth. Go wherever he goes (am I sounding all stalker-y?).
But it’s true: if he does a live event…I—am—there. Tele-
class (though I’m not sure that’s the appropriate venue
for him), I’m there. How can this be from a 9:50
minute video
? I don’t know what he’d be teaching.
I don’t even know if he’s a good teacher—(and we all
know what a crazy woman I am about experts who
can’t teach); I know nothing about his content what-
soever—and yet, I’ll do just what he doesn’t want any
of us to do: go blindly to anything he does.

Why?

He has touched “me.” The deep essence of me,
what matters most
to me. His Meta-Message has
met mine
, and–voila! Instant friendship. Like when
you meet someone and find out they go to the same
obscure hole-in-the-wall on 14th Street that you do,
that no one in the world knows, and they started going
the same month you did, and eat the same dish you do
when they’re there, and OMG, they drive a Volkswagen,
too, and listen to James Brown every day…just like
you
BFF.

We are drawn magnetically to those who are just like
us
, and we never want to let go when we find them. And
that’s why you put your inspirational message out
there…it’s a beacon to those in your tribe, calling them
to you in a way that is far more superior (results-wise)
than calling them in with your products and services.
Because no tribe is all that big—we hang on when we
find someone in ours and we don’t let go. What Garret
did, that makes this campaign brilliant, is that he put
his message out there before any product. You see
this video—passionate, aspirational, rogue–and if
you’re a kindred spirit, your soul (not just your heart,
but your soul) jumps to attention—and hangs on
because, OMG, he gets me…on the very deepest level.
And after that, you’re ready to buy just about anything.

Not everyone has the budget to produce a video of this
quality, but every single entrepreneur can uncover his
“inspirational message of universal truth”
—and
lead
with it. This is what I teach my clients every day,
and nothing makes me happier than helping them
reveal their deepest message of hope.

What’s my “inspirational message of universal truth?”
Well, in a nutshell, ”Escape the wannabees.” The
longer version, created years ago as I spoke on stage
at my first live event, and spoken hundreds and hundreds
of times since; embedded in every program I teach, and
woven into all of my marketing materials is:

We are here to contribute profoundly to the evolution
of humanity–but to do that, to make the mark we are
here to make and succeed in raising the consciousness
of this planet–we must “leave the pack”; go our own
way; dare to think and act as others won’t—no matter
how unpopular we may be.

Anyone out there saying, “She’s just like me?”  Garret
John LoPorto for sure…

Movie For the Wayseer and StoryTeller

If you’re in my circle, then you’re an “escaping the wannabees”
rebel and you *have* to see this movie!! It is everything, and
I mean everything, I wish I had made! Ever feel that way? It’s
made by Garret John LoPorto. You *must* go see this asap:
http://www.wayseermanifesto.com/.

And I’m reading Peter Guber’s book, “Tell To Win right now
and I really recommend it. Guber executive-produced Rain
Man, Batman, The Color Purple
and more and was CEO
of Sony Pictures, Polygram Entertainment, etc. So, he knows
a thing or two about telling a story. His premise is that stories
must be woven into everything in business, and that as a CEO,
or entrepreneur, we must become very adept at story telling.
Will you share a book you’re reading here? (No self-promotion,
please) and any other media presentation you’re loving (song,
video, etc.)
Here’s to escaping the wannabees–Wayseer-style and with
GREAT story-telling!

How I Came to My Senses After a Fainting Spell and 2 Shady Mechanics

So, I fainted in Target on Sunday. Out of the blue.
And no, it wasn’t because of the great sales. In fact,
they say it was dehydration, but whatever it was, it
was scary. I had the oddest symptoms for about an
hour before I crumpled in a heap somewhere between
kitchenware and bedding. I found out it was due to
loss of oxygen to my brain; apparently we traverse
weird territory without our requisite O2—and for
sure, I thought I was going crazy. Then, without
warning, boom, a man’s kneeling over me,
asking if I know why I fell.
“I didn’t even know
I DID fall,” I answer, groggily looking from left to
right. Soon, I was surrounded by paramedics, police
officers and Target managers bracing themselves for
a lawsuit. Because I hit my head very hard on (something;
no one knows because there were no witnesses—but,
man, does that bump still hurt!) I was escorted onto
a hard, orange plastic gurney and fit cozily with a

neck brace. Off we went, sirens wailing, to the hospital
for tests.

It turned out that every blasted test came back normal
—which is what one typically strives for, I know—but
when you’ve interrupted your family members’ lives,
not to  mention your own all-important shopping
spree, you want something to explain the hours in
the ER. But, alas, I was diagnosed with syncope
otherwise known as fainting—and released to my
own recognizance. Such as it is.

As I was reclining back at home, my ex and signifi-
cant other took my VW to the dealership to have
them resolve an odd sluggishness I’d been experi-
encing. After sleeping eleven hours that night, (and
not one of them on my left-hand side because of
the massive bulb on the side of my head), I headed
over to the dealership to await my car’s release. And
that’s when I got the female treatment. I’ll spare
you the details, but suffice it to say there was some
unmistakable shady activity going on. Ten minutes
after I declined a $400 additional service, I was told
that the issue had, remarkably, “disappeared.” All was
fine. Then, a moment later, they came back to say
that they had a used part in stock from another car

and could slip that in to replace my faulty one. Had
I gone ahead and accepted the $400 job, do you
think I would have been told of the free used
part
? Or that the issue had miraculously disappeared?

I’ve been feeling increasing disgust over the corruption
and secrets
so prevalent in our world today—not

just on Wall Street, and in government; Big Business,
“corporate media,” our religious institutions, etc.—
but also in “small business”: the shallow and greed-
based antics playing out in internet marketing
every da
y. Having my own mechanics try to shaft
me was a tipping point for me and I decided to make
some changes in my own business. I have always
been honest and trustworthy as a business owner,
but I was following many of the Internet Information
Gurus—and this week, I unsubscribed from a vast
majority of them
. I decided they’re too slick and
phony for me; they’re the “Internet Hollywood Scene.”
The few hours in the ER, not knowing what was wrong
with me, plus the massive knock to my head, brought
me to my senses:
I’m “leaving the pack,” “escaping
the wannabees
” once again, no longer aspiring to
rub elbows with them, proverbially “sleep with them”
to get to the next level, attend their parties or adapt
their business-building strategies. (Which are, on
another note, entirely cookie-cutter, have you noticed?)

I don’t want to make money by gouging other people
of their hard-earned money. (And I never have.) Isn’t
that what the banks do? I don’t want to make money
by hosting a seminar that’s really a pitch-fest. I believe
that’s called bait-and-switch. I don’t want to make
money from obscenely inflated home-study products
or memberships. And I don’t want to tell my daughter
I made money following. Inspired Leaders don’t
follow
, they lead through inspiration. I got seduced
by the glitter and glam—but now know that all that
glitters is not gold.

I have created a questionnaire over at Survey
Monkey
, to see if my own experience reflects the
“zeitgeist,” the energy in the culture right now, about
slick, internet information marketing. You know
–the guys and women making millions of dollars on
$20,000 – $100,000 yearly memberships, claiming
they can “teach” (ha!) and “coach” (ha!). Have
you had it, too? Do they feel like shallow, slick, plastic
Hollywood types? Do you want to learn from a different
type of leader? If so, what type?

I promise to share the comments from your
peers in an upcoming blog.

By the way, in case you’re wondering: I’m doing fine…
except for the nasty bump and the bruises on my
leg and knee. I’ll be going to a cardiologist for a
“table test,” just to ensure that I don’t have a
propensity for losing oxygen to the brain. But I expect
everything to come out normal. After all, I’m still
young! In fact, the best part of the whole experience
was my daughter grumbling to me as we sat in my
ER room: “Everyone’s asking me if you’re my
sister.

It was all worth it for that!

Please
click here to take my “Have You Had It With
The Internet
Hollywood Scene?” survey.

Are Your Presentations Moving with the Times?

For the next few weeks, I’m focusing my posts on public speaking
because it’s key to changing the world. Today, I want to send you
over to an eye-opening video on YouTube that has, on the surface,
nothing to do with speaking–and yet nothing we do in any part of
our lives is exempt from the message contained in this video. 

The video tell us “We are living in exponential times“–and it
then proceeds to make its point: in 2006, there were 2.7 billion
Google searchs. Two years later, there were 31 billion!! Did you
read that right? In 1984 there were 1,000 internet devices. In
’92, there were 1 million. In ’08–1 trillion. Exponential times.

A company in Japan is testing a fiber optic cable that can send 
14 trillion bits of information per second down a single strand
of fiber…this is equal to 210 millon phone calls per second.

Ever heard for an exabyte? It’s (4 x10 ^19). Equal to 1 billion
gigabytes.
It looks like this: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000. The
video estimated that in ’08, 4 exabytes of unique information
would be generated. More than in the previous 5,000 years.

We are living in exponential times. The world is humming at 
frequencies never known before. Obsolescence is occuring some-
where every second. With this mind-boggling upsurge in speed,
our brains are being rewired; we are thinking differently and 
learning differently. The brain is plastic; it changes and grows
and the way we integrated information twenty years ago in
high school doesn’t apply. And it doesn’t apply for those we’re
teaching and coaching.

Are your current attempts at knowledge-transfer (ie. your pre-
sentations) humming as fast as the rest of the world? Are they
provocative enough to capture the attention of minds fractured
by constant stumuli? Are they as new as the latest App? Are
the ideas you’re presenting “escaping the wannabees” and gener-
ating exponential growth?

Maybe those are high standards for a single presentation. But
I’m not one to wrap myself up in cozy excuses and I bet you
aren’t either.  I believe if we are worth our salt as leaders and as
conveyors of information, we must measure the quality of our
content against the pace of the world–and that of course, begins 
with the big-picture question, Is my business keeping up with
the breath-stealing acceleration of the times we’re in? If not,
what must I do? If so, how do I ensure my presentations do the
same?

I teach a “new paradigm”
of audience leadership–
but this video got me
asking the question,
How can it be even
newer
? How can I speed
up what I’m teaching to
meet the frequency of the
world’s vibration?

I’m giving a free 90-minute teleclass on the “old paradigm” of
public speaking, and its replacement: the new paradigm based on
the latest brain research. I’m sending you away to watch the
YouTube video–but before you go, I invite you to sign up for the
teleclass on April 7th. It’s provocative and will shift how you think
about speaking in public You can read all about it here.

Then go check out the video I’ve talked about today, Did You Know?

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