At the recent annual conference for Wiley distributors of DiSC assessments, we had the pleasure of hearing Alyse Nelson's keynote. Author of VITAL VOICES: The Power of Women Leading Change Around the World, Alyse has been acknowledged as one of the voices that matters, a 40 under 40 internationally, she is co-founder of the ngo Vital Voices Global Partnership, along with Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright. Alyse is now CEO and President.
This is part 2 of a 9-part blog series focused on your Leadership Legacy: Playing a Bigger Game at Work. Considering that Bigger Game is a model and methodology that creates intentional, positive change, it felt natural to quote the departed, beloved Nelson Mandela. He was the epitome of a Bigger Game player; his was a life worth celebrating. In 1964 Mandela received a life sentence for committing sabotage against South Africa’s apartheid government and spent 27 years of his sentence imprisoned. In those years of imprisonment, Mr. Mandela’s hunger for social justice remained undeterred.
As we turn our attention to the time of year when we celebrate family and eat a lot of turkey, let us take time to truly appreciate those we love. Stop and think about the people who have truly made a difference in your life--could be a family member, a partner, a husband, wife or child, a neighbor, a teacher, a policeman, a forgotten high school friend, a co-worker, your first boss, or the tough boss that pushed you too hard!
A few weeks ago, Clearwater had the pleasure of facilitating the Bigger Game for a group of senior leaders at an ITSMF symposium in Miami. The success of the program was outstanding due to the high level of engagement from the participants. It was amazing to see their desire to "play" the Bigger Game, especially considering that the process can feel ambiguous until you understand the free-flowing approach is intential and beneficial to your success. Playing the Bigger Game resulted in the participants feeling many emotions including confidence, excitement, vitality, appreciation and pride. The ITSMF organization itself knows a little bit about playing a Bigger Game due to the passion of their mission--to help African American IT executives grow and develop while making a career impact in the technology world.
