Good Leaders: What helps you thrive?

What does this picture say to you?   90% of the participants in my workshops and keynote speaking engagements answer with the word “stress.”  There’s nothing like a frayed rope to make your stomach turn into a knot.

Recently I heard another perspective: a bright and wise woman mused: “It says to me there’s still hope!” Internet media mogul Arianna Huffington would agree – she’s the author of my recommended reading this week: Thrive.

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Arianna knows first-hand about the frayed rope: she nearly died from a stress-induced fainting episode. While severely sleep-deprived, she fell, split her head open on the edge of her office desk. Her tale is less dramatic than Robin Williams, if for no other reason than she is still alive to share with us.

In her recovery, she realized there was still hope and she committed her life to the concept of “The third metric.” In her words, money and power are the first two metrics of success in American life. She suggests – quite convincingly – that the third metric is creating a life of well-being, wisdom and wonder. Sound’s very familiar to anyone who has been following the Goodness journey, guided by The Seven Fs. Her daily Huffington Post lifestyle column called “the third metric” is one of my favorite destinations on the web – she promotes meditation, mindfulness and affirmations as part of her Thrive diet.

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At the core of our point of view, we believe leaders who live with less stress and lead with less fear are those most likely to radiate goodness. Goodness is contagious, because goodness grows! I’ve dedicated my life to helping you discover that magic without a stress-induced, sleep-deprived, head-splitting epiphany. Part of the secret is wisely choosing your friends:

Last week, my co-author Tim Schmidt and his son Jonathan were the speakers at the Good Leadership Breakfast. They told an inspiring tale about how they worked together to climb Mount Rainier. In the words of Ms Huffington: it was a journey of well-being, wisdom and wonder.

Good leaders embrace the stress in their lives by blending together the Seven Fs: faith, family, finances, fitness, friends, fun and future. And they choose friends who will work together to help each other thrive.

What secrets can you pass along to help us all Thrive?

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