Posts
Dear Blog Readers:
The title says it all.
In her book by this so-blatantly-obvious-but-often-overlooked title, Barbara Coloroso's compelling anecdotes serve as excellent reminders to us to engage in transactions with an aim to benefit all whom they affect.
Ralph Waldo Emerson brilliantly expressed the never ending circularity of benefits we can all enjoy when he said: "It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."
"Just Because It Isnt Wrong Doesnt Make It Right" brings to life the values of human decency and respect for one another. Isn't it wonderful how merrily we can all roll along together when we endeavour to selfishly indulge in the blissful satisfaction of having acted with integrity for the greater good of all?
That reminds me of another title -- "What a Wonderful World." Oh yeah!
Ardently,
Kathleen
Monday, December 14, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
The Integrity Dividend
Dear Blog Reader:
One of my all-time very favorite leadership skills development works is without a doubt "The Integrity Dividend" by Tony Simons.
It's about the exponential benefits of leadership founded on integrity. It certainly struck a chord with me when I read it. By systematically reviewing concepts of common decency and professionalism in leadership, Tony Simons brilliantly confirms what is so blatantly obvious about behavioural integrity that it is too often sadly overlooked with a detrimental effect that will percolate down through an entire organization. Essentially, if the people in your organization matter to you or if you care about your bottom line, there are some valuable lessons in this gem that will help you to become a leader of sound integrity.
I was reading some of the reviews on Amazon today by fellow admirers of The Integrity Dividend. Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Integrity-Dividend-Leading-Power-Your/product-reviews/047018566X/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
Hope you'll enjoy the reviews, the book, and most ulitimately, the integrity dividends you and your organization will experience as a result of your interest and efforts to incorporate the leadership style Tony Simons professes.
Ardently,
Kathleen Betts
One of my all-time very favorite leadership skills development works is without a doubt "The Integrity Dividend" by Tony Simons.
It's about the exponential benefits of leadership founded on integrity. It certainly struck a chord with me when I read it. By systematically reviewing concepts of common decency and professionalism in leadership, Tony Simons brilliantly confirms what is so blatantly obvious about behavioural integrity that it is too often sadly overlooked with a detrimental effect that will percolate down through an entire organization. Essentially, if the people in your organization matter to you or if you care about your bottom line, there are some valuable lessons in this gem that will help you to become a leader of sound integrity.
I was reading some of the reviews on Amazon today by fellow admirers of The Integrity Dividend. Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Integrity-Dividend-Leading-Power-Your/product-reviews/047018566X/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
Hope you'll enjoy the reviews, the book, and most ulitimately, the integrity dividends you and your organization will experience as a result of your interest and efforts to incorporate the leadership style Tony Simons professes.
Ardently,
Kathleen Betts
Friday, December 4, 2009
Toronto Observer Article November 26, 2009 - Local Scarborough Writer : )
Hello Dear Blog Reader:
Kareen Awadalla, a writer from the Toronto Observer and a wonderful person to have met, found me on Facebook when she was looking for an arts and literature story for Scarborough.
I was so honoured that she wanted to share my story and I hope you don't mind that I'd like to share her article with you too.
http://www.torontoobserver.ca/2009/11/26/local-author-receives-first-book-publication/
For friends from Microskills, please note my gratitude to Nancy (as mentioned in the article to my delight) for alerting me to the chance to get published and also my gratitude to Katherine Young for daring me to try. The article mentions Nancy's name and I dearly wish it named Katherine as well. I didn't see the draft before it went to print. If I had, I would have asked to give credit specifically to Katherine Young as I doubt I would have tried if I had not had the good fortune of being dared by Katherine. Hope others among you are also finding happiness and success from Katherine's very positive influence.
Thank you again and again to Katherine and Nancy and to all of you from Microskills, Dale Carnegie, Toastmasters, Keep Any Promise, Napoleon Hill, Canadian Voices, Good News Toronto, and especially my family and friends, who have encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and to hope for something wonderful.
Thank you again and again to Lou Holtz for reminding us that we're in a good place when we have "Something to do, someone to love and something to hope for."
Ardently,
Kathleen
Kareen Awadalla, a writer from the Toronto Observer and a wonderful person to have met, found me on Facebook when she was looking for an arts and literature story for Scarborough.
I was so honoured that she wanted to share my story and I hope you don't mind that I'd like to share her article with you too.
http://www.torontoobserver.ca/2009/11/26/local-author-receives-first-book-publication/
For friends from Microskills, please note my gratitude to Nancy (as mentioned in the article to my delight) for alerting me to the chance to get published and also my gratitude to Katherine Young for daring me to try. The article mentions Nancy's name and I dearly wish it named Katherine as well. I didn't see the draft before it went to print. If I had, I would have asked to give credit specifically to Katherine Young as I doubt I would have tried if I had not had the good fortune of being dared by Katherine. Hope others among you are also finding happiness and success from Katherine's very positive influence.
Thank you again and again to Katherine and Nancy and to all of you from Microskills, Dale Carnegie, Toastmasters, Keep Any Promise, Napoleon Hill, Canadian Voices, Good News Toronto, and especially my family and friends, who have encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and to hope for something wonderful.
Thank you again and again to Lou Holtz for reminding us that we're in a good place when we have "Something to do, someone to love and something to hope for."
Ardently,
Kathleen
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Good News Toronto - Our Everyday Heroes, December
Hope you'll enjoy the December issue at: www.goodnewstoronto.ca.
If you would like to receive a hard copy, please let me know or contact Eva Karpati, publisher and editor, at info@goodnewstoronto.ca.
Patricia's class did the "Children's Heroes" page!
Ardently,
Kathleen
If you would like to receive a hard copy, please let me know or contact Eva Karpati, publisher and editor, at info@goodnewstoronto.ca.
Patricia's class did the "Children's Heroes" page!
Ardently,
Kathleen
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Luckyone
“We should dig the well before we’re too thirsty.” That was the Chinese proverb Jack would spout to inspire his son Franky and his pet donkey, Luckyone, along with the other dedicated workers on his farm, to get on with it lickety-split when flavour-of-the-month notions flooded his head. Outfitted with an untamed imagination and a cream-of-the-crop view of himself, Jack had a uncanny ability to charm the people around him into getting his dirty work done like dinner. To say the least, his Atilla the Hun leadership style was remarkably noteworthy.
Jack loved his farm. Above all he adored flaunting the fruits of the toil of labourers who marched to the beat of his drum. His mind tripped into high gear one day, over a conversation he had with a crony. Showing off the precision-straight furrows Franky and Luckyone had ploughed, Jack conceived an idea to streamline his operations.
To keep his farm running as tickety-boo as it did in his head, it tickled his fancy to sneak some new blood into the midst of his workers. He made up his mind to hire himself a high-falootin right-hand man. In fact, Jack rhapsodized in his vision of modern farmers like himself all across the land, each having their very own patronage-appointed right-hand man.
Sure, the change would be a kick in the gut to Franky who had grown up devoting his most cherished years to the farm, with the faithful help of Luckyone -- but times they were a changin’. “It is what it is,” Jack exclaimed as he bamboozled Franky and others into an upheaval in his attempt to usher in new blood and shed what may. Feeling like he'd fallen into a bewildered haze of disbelief, hoping it was all just a nightmare he's soon awake from, Franky truly believed his father would soon flip-flop to a new flavour-of-the-month plan for the future. He purposely and vividly imagined his dad would abandon this notional structure he was threatening to impose, without any regard to the mass confusion, and the crushing blow to morale it would inflict on the loyal crew.
“It’s going to be okay,” Franky said, thinking out loud and meaning to reassure himself and the others. “Soon my dad will introduce a new flavour of the month and we’ll get ready to dig that well instead.” With his relentless arrogance though, Jack, forged onward in oblivion to the devastation of his relationship with his son Franky, who for whatever reason still wished so to admire his father -- and with equal and apalling disregard for all the others who had toiled with pride and integrity for the good of the farm. Jack audaciously introduced his new wonder, Charlie, who fit perfectly into the devilish image concocted in his more and more evidently half-lame brain. As the new right-hand man Charlie was no stranger to dirty work, Jack knew he was just the right guy to step into it on the farm. In unison, Jack and Charlie chimed a banal, “We should dig the well before we’re too thirsty.”
Ominously, soon after Charlie’s arrival on the farm, Luckyone awoke in horror one day, to find herself in a dark, dank, and lonely place, just like deep situational depression. She cried out heartbreakingly to get the assistance she expected would come naturally from anyone who could see through the tainted scheme of the wrongdoers. When Jack himself heard the commotion, he went running with Charlie right at his side, to see what it was all about. Reeking of irony even more than she did of the bilge she was in, there was Luckyone looking up to them from the depth of a derelict well she and Franky had dutifully helped to dig for a gung ho flavour-of-the-month plan that Jack had sampled years earlier. He and Charlie had to think quickly of a way out of this particular pickle they'd unwittingly put themselves into when they discovered it was going to be so easy to get Luckyone and the othersw to go quietly along with their devious plan to clean house. In their blue funk, with total disregard for common sense and humane decency, Jack decided to just fill the neglected well with all the dirt that was piling up since he'd undertaken his baneful initiative. It felt like way too much trouble to think of a way to lift Luckyone out of what he'd dumped her into. She didn’t fit in well anyway with Jack's plan for his new streamlined operation.
Jack decided he'd better send Franky out on a proverbial wild goose chase to distract him while Charlie recruited help to fill the pit, with the more and more woeful Luckyone still at the bottom. Unbeknownst to the members of the ad-hoc committee struck to help with the shovelling, it was Charlie who had deviously led Luckyone to the depression she was in and willfully tipped her over the edge to hit rock bottom. The devil is always hidden in the details.
Some of the shovellers did wonder fleetingly if there might be something more humane that could be done. All the same, regarding the farmer as a leader among them, most of them simply resigned to go with the flow. They didn’t all actually shovel of course. Some just stood by and watched the others aiding and abetting in the atrocity. After all, Jack said he wanted the well filled. ”What can you do?” they mused. "It's his farm after all." To get the whole nasty deed over and done with as quickly as possible, some of them actually did grab their shovels to help Jack and Charlie mudslinging and filth-flinging over the once loved Luckyone.
At first Luckyone screeched in terror, unable to believe what was happening. Hardening their souls to avert each and every own consciencious feeling they each had, the mob of shovellers had to be strong in their resolve to continue what they had started. With their collective integrity dangling by just a thread, some were feeling an annoying sense of remorse about the obvious fate they were inflicting on the faithful old donkey. To the hard-headed relief though, Luckyone eventually calmed down as though in acquiescence to the morose destiny in store. She was presumably too exhausted to fight any further -- just as they had all hoped. Not having to hear her pleas to their principles made it easier for the mob to continue without having to endure the annoyance of niggling pinches of guilt.
When When Jack mustered the gall to peer down into the well that the mob was dutifully transforming into a grave, he was astounded. With each shovel load that the band of followers dumped onto her, the sanguine burro was doing something Jack could never have imagined was possible. There stood Luckyone, strong and calm, shaking off the dirt as it landed on her head and back. To what would turn out to be the good fortune of all, Luckyone sensed the quiet support and encouragement from her friends on the farm as well as the unbearable longing that Franky would suffer if she were to succumb to the wicked plan of the sheepish ones. She was able to draw the strength and resolve she needed to fight for what was right. While the throng of adherents continued to shovel, Luckyone kept shaking it off and taking a step up. When she finally stepped firmly up onto level ground she trotted off immediately and exultantly to find Franky.
Wouldn't you know the shovellers circled around the old well were in perfect formation for a congratulatory round of pats on the back for the achievement of having “helped out.” Jack and Charlie even gave each other a big ol’ high five for masterminding Luckyone's rescue. Some among them must have struggled you would think, with the sense of evil and betrayal in which they had been willing to partake. Those ones made up their minds to join more honourable circles so that when what goes around comes around, they could hope to be the better for it.
In the years that followed, Franky marveled at how different the outcome would have been for everyone if Luckyone had just laid down to accept the sinister fate the accomplices had drummed up. What finally happened with faithful old Luckyone was that she vengefully gnawed off her rightful pound of flesh from Jack and Charlie for trying to bury her alive, along with the hopes and dreams of Franky and the other workers. They learned a valuable lesson when the festering wounds from their bites got infected and they both became so sick they had to take an early off-ramp and retire early from the farm they had professed to love so much. It all goes to show -- "If you try to cover your, er uhm -- Luckyone, it will come back to bite you.
Luckyone was a donkey and did what she felt she had to do to strike a chord for justice. As real-life good fortune has it, we don't all have to be asses and seek revenge. We can just decide to be Luckyones and to take each challenge we face as an opportunity to shake it off and take a step up!
Ardently,
Kathleen Betts
Jack loved his farm. Above all he adored flaunting the fruits of the toil of labourers who marched to the beat of his drum. His mind tripped into high gear one day, over a conversation he had with a crony. Showing off the precision-straight furrows Franky and Luckyone had ploughed, Jack conceived an idea to streamline his operations.
To keep his farm running as tickety-boo as it did in his head, it tickled his fancy to sneak some new blood into the midst of his workers. He made up his mind to hire himself a high-falootin right-hand man. In fact, Jack rhapsodized in his vision of modern farmers like himself all across the land, each having their very own patronage-appointed right-hand man.
Sure, the change would be a kick in the gut to Franky who had grown up devoting his most cherished years to the farm, with the faithful help of Luckyone -- but times they were a changin’. “It is what it is,” Jack exclaimed as he bamboozled Franky and others into an upheaval in his attempt to usher in new blood and shed what may. Feeling like he'd fallen into a bewildered haze of disbelief, hoping it was all just a nightmare he's soon awake from, Franky truly believed his father would soon flip-flop to a new flavour-of-the-month plan for the future. He purposely and vividly imagined his dad would abandon this notional structure he was threatening to impose, without any regard to the mass confusion, and the crushing blow to morale it would inflict on the loyal crew.
“It’s going to be okay,” Franky said, thinking out loud and meaning to reassure himself and the others. “Soon my dad will introduce a new flavour of the month and we’ll get ready to dig that well instead.” With his relentless arrogance though, Jack, forged onward in oblivion to the devastation of his relationship with his son Franky, who for whatever reason still wished so to admire his father -- and with equal and apalling disregard for all the others who had toiled with pride and integrity for the good of the farm. Jack audaciously introduced his new wonder, Charlie, who fit perfectly into the devilish image concocted in his more and more evidently half-lame brain. As the new right-hand man Charlie was no stranger to dirty work, Jack knew he was just the right guy to step into it on the farm. In unison, Jack and Charlie chimed a banal, “We should dig the well before we’re too thirsty.”
Ominously, soon after Charlie’s arrival on the farm, Luckyone awoke in horror one day, to find herself in a dark, dank, and lonely place, just like deep situational depression. She cried out heartbreakingly to get the assistance she expected would come naturally from anyone who could see through the tainted scheme of the wrongdoers. When Jack himself heard the commotion, he went running with Charlie right at his side, to see what it was all about. Reeking of irony even more than she did of the bilge she was in, there was Luckyone looking up to them from the depth of a derelict well she and Franky had dutifully helped to dig for a gung ho flavour-of-the-month plan that Jack had sampled years earlier. He and Charlie had to think quickly of a way out of this particular pickle they'd unwittingly put themselves into when they discovered it was going to be so easy to get Luckyone and the othersw to go quietly along with their devious plan to clean house. In their blue funk, with total disregard for common sense and humane decency, Jack decided to just fill the neglected well with all the dirt that was piling up since he'd undertaken his baneful initiative. It felt like way too much trouble to think of a way to lift Luckyone out of what he'd dumped her into. She didn’t fit in well anyway with Jack's plan for his new streamlined operation.
Jack decided he'd better send Franky out on a proverbial wild goose chase to distract him while Charlie recruited help to fill the pit, with the more and more woeful Luckyone still at the bottom. Unbeknownst to the members of the ad-hoc committee struck to help with the shovelling, it was Charlie who had deviously led Luckyone to the depression she was in and willfully tipped her over the edge to hit rock bottom. The devil is always hidden in the details.
Some of the shovellers did wonder fleetingly if there might be something more humane that could be done. All the same, regarding the farmer as a leader among them, most of them simply resigned to go with the flow. They didn’t all actually shovel of course. Some just stood by and watched the others aiding and abetting in the atrocity. After all, Jack said he wanted the well filled. ”What can you do?” they mused. "It's his farm after all." To get the whole nasty deed over and done with as quickly as possible, some of them actually did grab their shovels to help Jack and Charlie mudslinging and filth-flinging over the once loved Luckyone.
At first Luckyone screeched in terror, unable to believe what was happening. Hardening their souls to avert each and every own consciencious feeling they each had, the mob of shovellers had to be strong in their resolve to continue what they had started. With their collective integrity dangling by just a thread, some were feeling an annoying sense of remorse about the obvious fate they were inflicting on the faithful old donkey. To the hard-headed relief though, Luckyone eventually calmed down as though in acquiescence to the morose destiny in store. She was presumably too exhausted to fight any further -- just as they had all hoped. Not having to hear her pleas to their principles made it easier for the mob to continue without having to endure the annoyance of niggling pinches of guilt.
When When Jack mustered the gall to peer down into the well that the mob was dutifully transforming into a grave, he was astounded. With each shovel load that the band of followers dumped onto her, the sanguine burro was doing something Jack could never have imagined was possible. There stood Luckyone, strong and calm, shaking off the dirt as it landed on her head and back. To what would turn out to be the good fortune of all, Luckyone sensed the quiet support and encouragement from her friends on the farm as well as the unbearable longing that Franky would suffer if she were to succumb to the wicked plan of the sheepish ones. She was able to draw the strength and resolve she needed to fight for what was right. While the throng of adherents continued to shovel, Luckyone kept shaking it off and taking a step up. When she finally stepped firmly up onto level ground she trotted off immediately and exultantly to find Franky.
Wouldn't you know the shovellers circled around the old well were in perfect formation for a congratulatory round of pats on the back for the achievement of having “helped out.” Jack and Charlie even gave each other a big ol’ high five for masterminding Luckyone's rescue. Some among them must have struggled you would think, with the sense of evil and betrayal in which they had been willing to partake. Those ones made up their minds to join more honourable circles so that when what goes around comes around, they could hope to be the better for it.
In the years that followed, Franky marveled at how different the outcome would have been for everyone if Luckyone had just laid down to accept the sinister fate the accomplices had drummed up. What finally happened with faithful old Luckyone was that she vengefully gnawed off her rightful pound of flesh from Jack and Charlie for trying to bury her alive, along with the hopes and dreams of Franky and the other workers. They learned a valuable lesson when the festering wounds from their bites got infected and they both became so sick they had to take an early off-ramp and retire early from the farm they had professed to love so much. It all goes to show -- "If you try to cover your, er uhm -- Luckyone, it will come back to bite you.
Luckyone was a donkey and did what she felt she had to do to strike a chord for justice. As real-life good fortune has it, we don't all have to be asses and seek revenge. We can just decide to be Luckyones and to take each challenge we face as an opportunity to shake it off and take a step up!
Ardently,
Kathleen Betts
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
So Much To Do!!!
Hello dear Blog Readers:
According to the legendary and inspiring football coach, Lou Holtz, the definition of success and happiness goes more or less like “Something to do, someone to love and something to hope for.” By that measure, working moms and working dads and teachers and kids and neighbours and friends and grandparents and colleagues and just about everybody I know is a resounding success, basking in the glories of elatedness.
Some of us just mix things up a little thinking we’ve met with some degree of failure because we have lots to do, many people who rely and depend on us, and great dreams we have yet to achieve. Mr. Holtz’ quote can help us put things back in perspective when we remember how very much more fortunate we are to be in our situation than what we would be if we had nothing to do, nobody to care for, and no goals to strive for.
Here's to our success!!
Ardently,
Kathleen
According to the legendary and inspiring football coach, Lou Holtz, the definition of success and happiness goes more or less like “Something to do, someone to love and something to hope for.” By that measure, working moms and working dads and teachers and kids and neighbours and friends and grandparents and colleagues and just about everybody I know is a resounding success, basking in the glories of elatedness.
Some of us just mix things up a little thinking we’ve met with some degree of failure because we have lots to do, many people who rely and depend on us, and great dreams we have yet to achieve. Mr. Holtz’ quote can help us put things back in perspective when we remember how very much more fortunate we are to be in our situation than what we would be if we had nothing to do, nobody to care for, and no goals to strive for.
Here's to our success!!
Ardently,
Kathleen
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Canadian Voices
Book Launch November 10, 2009
from 6:30 - 9:00 p.m.
at the SUPERMARKET ART BAR
268 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2L9
Canadian Voices is a powerful and moving collection of prose and poetry, which stretches across the boundaries of age, skin color, language, ethnicity, and religion
to give voice to the lives and experiences of ordinary Canadians.
This vibrant, varied sampler of the Canadian literary scene captures timely personal and cultural challenges, and ultimately shares subtle insight and compassion written by a wide spectrum of stylistically and culturally diverse authors. Canadian Voices is more than simply an anthology — it is a celebration of wonderful writing by some of today's finest emerging Canadian writers.
This book is an ambitious, lasting, and meaningful work of literature that will not soon fade away. It is an exceptional reading experience to be enjoyed and savoured.
Participating Authors:
John Ambury
N. Patricia Armstrong
Elizabeth Barnes
Dahn Batchelor
Kathleen Betts
Yvonne Blackwood
Karim Bondrey
Alison E. Bruce
Altug Cakmakci
Mauro Cappa
Joan Chisholm
Christina Clapperton
Nancy Kay Clark
R.G. Condie
Juliet Davy
Jasmine D’Costa
Susan Desveaux
Sally Dillon
Josie Di Sciascio-Andrews
Graham Ducker
Mary Craig Gardner
Zita Hinson
Sherry Isaac
Manny Johal
Nancy Jonah
Fatmatta Kanu
Perparim Kapllani
David Kimel
Sharon Knauer
Bianca Lakoseljac
Karen Lam
John Maar
Maria Pia Marchelletta
Cassie McDaniel
Gemma Meharchand
Braz Menezes
Jatin Naik
Lisabeth Neuman
Judy Powell
Sylvia Price
Elana Rae
Maheen A. Rashdi
Pratap Reddy
Larry Rodness
Philomena Saldanha
Mel Sarnese
Andrew Scott
Marian Scott
Reva Stern
Sandor Stern
Steven H. Stern
Anna Stitski
Hailun Tang
Linda Torney
Edwin Vasan
Herb Ware
Karol Zelazny
Zohra Zoberi
Hope you'll be able to join us for the event!
Proudly promoting my cohorts and shamelessly self-promoting : )
Ardently,
Kathleen
from 6:30 - 9:00 p.m.
at the SUPERMARKET ART BAR
268 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2L9
Canadian Voices is a powerful and moving collection of prose and poetry, which stretches across the boundaries of age, skin color, language, ethnicity, and religion
to give voice to the lives and experiences of ordinary Canadians.
This vibrant, varied sampler of the Canadian literary scene captures timely personal and cultural challenges, and ultimately shares subtle insight and compassion written by a wide spectrum of stylistically and culturally diverse authors. Canadian Voices is more than simply an anthology — it is a celebration of wonderful writing by some of today's finest emerging Canadian writers.
This book is an ambitious, lasting, and meaningful work of literature that will not soon fade away. It is an exceptional reading experience to be enjoyed and savoured.
Participating Authors:
John Ambury
N. Patricia Armstrong
Elizabeth Barnes
Dahn Batchelor
Kathleen Betts
Yvonne Blackwood
Karim Bondrey
Alison E. Bruce
Altug Cakmakci
Mauro Cappa
Joan Chisholm
Christina Clapperton
Nancy Kay Clark
R.G. Condie
Juliet Davy
Jasmine D’Costa
Susan Desveaux
Sally Dillon
Josie Di Sciascio-Andrews
Graham Ducker
Mary Craig Gardner
Zita Hinson
Sherry Isaac
Manny Johal
Nancy Jonah
Fatmatta Kanu
Perparim Kapllani
David Kimel
Sharon Knauer
Bianca Lakoseljac
Karen Lam
John Maar
Maria Pia Marchelletta
Cassie McDaniel
Gemma Meharchand
Braz Menezes
Jatin Naik
Lisabeth Neuman
Judy Powell
Sylvia Price
Elana Rae
Maheen A. Rashdi
Pratap Reddy
Larry Rodness
Philomena Saldanha
Mel Sarnese
Andrew Scott
Marian Scott
Reva Stern
Sandor Stern
Steven H. Stern
Anna Stitski
Hailun Tang
Linda Torney
Edwin Vasan
Herb Ware
Karol Zelazny
Zohra Zoberi
Hope you'll be able to join us for the event!
Proudly promoting my cohorts and shamelessly self-promoting : )
Ardently,
Kathleen
Saturday, June 20, 2009
The 333 Story by Bob Proctor from Chicken Soup for the Soul
Hello Dear Readers led here from Good News Toronto Fundraisers or from other places of inspiration,
As we embark on our fundraising adventure, I can hardly think there can be more compelling story to help us grasp how very very realistic our target is.
The 333 Story by Bob Proctor, Chicken Soup for the Soul
I was doing a weekend seminar at the Deerhurst Lodge, north of Toronto. On Friday night a tornado swept through a town north of us called Barrie, killing dozens of people and doing millions of dollars worth of damage. Sunday night, as I was coming home, I stopped the car when I got to Barrie. I got out on the side of the highway and looked around. It was a mess. Everywhere I looked there were smashed houses and cars turned upside down.
That same night Bob Templeton was driving down the same highway. He stopped to look at the disaster just as I had, only his thoughts were different than my own. Bob was the vice-president of Telemedia Communications, which owns a string of radio stations in Ontario and Quebec. He thought there must be something we could do for these people with the radio stations they had.
The following night I was doing another seminar in Toronto. Bob Templeton and Bob Johnson, another vice-president from Telemedia, came in and stood in the back of the room. They shared their conviction that there had to be something they could do for the people in Barrie. After the seminar we went back to Bob's office. He was now committed to the idea of helping the people who had been caught in the tornado.
The following Friday he called all the executives at Telemedia into his office. At the top of a flip chart he wrote three 3s. He said to his executives "How would you like to raise 3 million dollars 3 days from now in just 3 hours and give the money to the people in Barrie?" There was nothing but silence in the room.
Finally someone said, "Templeton, you're crazy. There is no way we could do that." Bob said, "Wait a minute. I didn't ask you if we could or even if we should. I just asked you if you'd like to." They all said, "Sure we'd like to." He then drew a large T underneath the 333. On one side he wrote, "Why we can't." On the other side he wrote, "How we can." "I'm going to put a big X on the 'Why we can't side.' We're not going to spend any time on the ideas of why we can't. That's of no value. On the other wide we're going to write down every idea that we can come up with on how we can. We're not going to leave the room until we figure it out." There was silence again.
Finally, someone said, "We could do a radio show across Canada." Bob said, "That's a great idea," and wrote it down. Before he had it written, someone said, "You can't do a radio show across Canada. We don't have radio stations across Canada." That was a pretty valid objection. They only had stations in Ontario and Quebec. Templeton replied, "That's why we can. That stays." But this was a real strong objection because radio stations are not very compatible. They usually don't work together. They are very cutthroat. They fight each other. To get them to work together would be virtually impossible according to the standard way of thinking.
All of a sudden someone said, "You could get Harvey Kirk and Lloyd Robertson, the biggest names in Canadian broadcasting, to anchor the show." (That would be like getting Tom Brokaw and Sam Donaldson to anchor the show. They are anchors on national TV. They are not going to go on radio.) At that point, it was absolutely amazing how fast and furious the creative ideas began to flow.
That was on a Friday. The following Tuesday they had a radiothon. They had fifty radio stations all across the country that agreed to broadcast it. It didn't matter who got the credit as long as the people in Barrie got the money. Harvey Kirk and Lloyd Robertson anchored the show and they succeeded in raising three million dollars in three hours within three business days!
Hope you enjoyed Bob's story. It reminds me: That's why we can raise $60,000 to keep Good News Toronto alive and well and inspiring all of us and our neighbours too. We'll have our own 60K in 60 Days Story to tell by the end of August. Really, if you go by the math, I suppose we have even more than 60 days, but 60K in Seventy some days doesn't have the same zeal and appeal. Let's roll.
Ardently,
Kathleen
As we embark on our fundraising adventure, I can hardly think there can be more compelling story to help us grasp how very very realistic our target is.
The 333 Story by Bob Proctor, Chicken Soup for the Soul
I was doing a weekend seminar at the Deerhurst Lodge, north of Toronto. On Friday night a tornado swept through a town north of us called Barrie, killing dozens of people and doing millions of dollars worth of damage. Sunday night, as I was coming home, I stopped the car when I got to Barrie. I got out on the side of the highway and looked around. It was a mess. Everywhere I looked there were smashed houses and cars turned upside down.
That same night Bob Templeton was driving down the same highway. He stopped to look at the disaster just as I had, only his thoughts were different than my own. Bob was the vice-president of Telemedia Communications, which owns a string of radio stations in Ontario and Quebec. He thought there must be something we could do for these people with the radio stations they had.
The following night I was doing another seminar in Toronto. Bob Templeton and Bob Johnson, another vice-president from Telemedia, came in and stood in the back of the room. They shared their conviction that there had to be something they could do for the people in Barrie. After the seminar we went back to Bob's office. He was now committed to the idea of helping the people who had been caught in the tornado.
The following Friday he called all the executives at Telemedia into his office. At the top of a flip chart he wrote three 3s. He said to his executives "How would you like to raise 3 million dollars 3 days from now in just 3 hours and give the money to the people in Barrie?" There was nothing but silence in the room.
Finally someone said, "Templeton, you're crazy. There is no way we could do that." Bob said, "Wait a minute. I didn't ask you if we could or even if we should. I just asked you if you'd like to." They all said, "Sure we'd like to." He then drew a large T underneath the 333. On one side he wrote, "Why we can't." On the other side he wrote, "How we can." "I'm going to put a big X on the 'Why we can't side.' We're not going to spend any time on the ideas of why we can't. That's of no value. On the other wide we're going to write down every idea that we can come up with on how we can. We're not going to leave the room until we figure it out." There was silence again.
Finally, someone said, "We could do a radio show across Canada." Bob said, "That's a great idea," and wrote it down. Before he had it written, someone said, "You can't do a radio show across Canada. We don't have radio stations across Canada." That was a pretty valid objection. They only had stations in Ontario and Quebec. Templeton replied, "That's why we can. That stays." But this was a real strong objection because radio stations are not very compatible. They usually don't work together. They are very cutthroat. They fight each other. To get them to work together would be virtually impossible according to the standard way of thinking.
All of a sudden someone said, "You could get Harvey Kirk and Lloyd Robertson, the biggest names in Canadian broadcasting, to anchor the show." (That would be like getting Tom Brokaw and Sam Donaldson to anchor the show. They are anchors on national TV. They are not going to go on radio.) At that point, it was absolutely amazing how fast and furious the creative ideas began to flow.
That was on a Friday. The following Tuesday they had a radiothon. They had fifty radio stations all across the country that agreed to broadcast it. It didn't matter who got the credit as long as the people in Barrie got the money. Harvey Kirk and Lloyd Robertson anchored the show and they succeeded in raising three million dollars in three hours within three business days!
Hope you enjoyed Bob's story. It reminds me: That's why we can raise $60,000 to keep Good News Toronto alive and well and inspiring all of us and our neighbours too. We'll have our own 60K in 60 Days Story to tell by the end of August. Really, if you go by the math, I suppose we have even more than 60 days, but 60K in Seventy some days doesn't have the same zeal and appeal. Let's roll.
Ardently,
Kathleen
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Extra Extra Read All About Good News Toronto On-Line for June 2009
Extra Extra Read All About It! The June issue of Good News Toronto is ready for reading. Good News Toronto (GNT) is a not-for-profit newspaper distributed on the first Tuesday of the month in the TTC and throughout the GTA. As the Editor, Eva Karpati tells us, Good News Toronto celebrates the multitude of inspirational people who live in Toronto, with the goal of inspiring each other and motivating all of us to continue to make this city rich in everyday heroes.”
GNT is a monthly gazette of all good news and only good news and comes to you completely free of charge. Talk about good news! Because we are all concerned about the environment and about spreading the good news as far and wide as we can, GNT is vamping up its on-line presence. Please check it out at http://www.goodnewstoronto.ca/. Keep an eye out too for the next issue in September, when the site will be all the more enhanced. Any feedback you can offer is greatly appreciated.
If you do like to have a traditional hard copy of the paper to sit and read with your coffee, or while you’re doing whatever you do, wherever you read the paper, you might prefer to subscribe to ensure you always get your copy every month for the rest of the year. It costs only $18.00 per year (to cover delivery cost of postage.) You can get more details by visiting the site or writing to info@goodnewstoronto.ca ,or calling 416-661-2556.
We hope you’ll enjoy the good news. When you savour every delightful morsel of inspiration to be gleaned from the pages of GNT, you'll feel empowered to handle all the news that comes your way for this day, any day, and everyday. Last but not least, if you have good news you would like to share, please report it to Good News Toronto at: info@goodnewstoronto.ca. Sharing your “good news” of an everyday hero among us will inspire others to do more good for the world around them as well and gladness will come full circle. Happy Reading!
Ardently,
Kathleen
GNT is a monthly gazette of all good news and only good news and comes to you completely free of charge. Talk about good news! Because we are all concerned about the environment and about spreading the good news as far and wide as we can, GNT is vamping up its on-line presence. Please check it out at http://www.goodnewstoronto.ca/. Keep an eye out too for the next issue in September, when the site will be all the more enhanced. Any feedback you can offer is greatly appreciated.
If you do like to have a traditional hard copy of the paper to sit and read with your coffee, or while you’re doing whatever you do, wherever you read the paper, you might prefer to subscribe to ensure you always get your copy every month for the rest of the year. It costs only $18.00 per year (to cover delivery cost of postage.) You can get more details by visiting the site or writing to info@goodnewstoronto.ca ,or calling 416-661-2556.
We hope you’ll enjoy the good news. When you savour every delightful morsel of inspiration to be gleaned from the pages of GNT, you'll feel empowered to handle all the news that comes your way for this day, any day, and everyday. Last but not least, if you have good news you would like to share, please report it to Good News Toronto at: info@goodnewstoronto.ca. Sharing your “good news” of an everyday hero among us will inspire others to do more good for the world around them as well and gladness will come full circle. Happy Reading!
Ardently,
Kathleen
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Talk about good news!
Extra Extra Read All About It! The April issue of Good News Toronto is ready for reading. This monthly gazette is all good news and only good news and comes to you completely free of charge. Talk about good news!
Good News Toronto (GNT) is a not-for-profit newspaper distributed on the first Tuesday of the month in the TTC and throughout the GTA. As the Editor, Eva Karpati tells us, Good News Toronto celebrates the multitude of inspirational people who live in Toronto, with the goal of inspiring each other and motivating all of us to continue to make this city rich in everyday heroes.”
Because we are all concerned about the environment and about spreading the good news as far and wide as we can, you can check out the latest issue on-line. Please visit http://www.goodnewstoronto.ca/. If you do like to have a traditional hard copy of the paper to sit and read with your coffee, or while you’re doing whatever you do, wherever you read the paper, you might prefer to subscribe to ensure you always get your copy every month for the rest of the year. It costs only $18.00 per year (to cover delivery cost of postage.)
For more information, you can visit the site or write to info@goodnewstoronto.ca or call 416-661-2556. We hope you’ll enjoy the good news. When you savour every delightful morsel of inspiration to be gleaned from the pages of GNT, you'll feel empowered to handle all the news that comes your way for this day, any day, and everyday.
Last but not least, if you have good news you would like to share, please report it to Good News Toronto at: info@goodnewstoronto.ca. Sharing your “good news” of an everyday hero among us will inspire others to do more good for the world around them as well and gladness will come full circle.
Happy Reading!
Ardently,
Kathleen
Good News Toronto (GNT) is a not-for-profit newspaper distributed on the first Tuesday of the month in the TTC and throughout the GTA. As the Editor, Eva Karpati tells us, Good News Toronto celebrates the multitude of inspirational people who live in Toronto, with the goal of inspiring each other and motivating all of us to continue to make this city rich in everyday heroes.”
Because we are all concerned about the environment and about spreading the good news as far and wide as we can, you can check out the latest issue on-line. Please visit http://www.goodnewstoronto.ca/. If you do like to have a traditional hard copy of the paper to sit and read with your coffee, or while you’re doing whatever you do, wherever you read the paper, you might prefer to subscribe to ensure you always get your copy every month for the rest of the year. It costs only $18.00 per year (to cover delivery cost of postage.)
For more information, you can visit the site or write to info@goodnewstoronto.ca or call 416-661-2556. We hope you’ll enjoy the good news. When you savour every delightful morsel of inspiration to be gleaned from the pages of GNT, you'll feel empowered to handle all the news that comes your way for this day, any day, and everyday.
Last but not least, if you have good news you would like to share, please report it to Good News Toronto at: info@goodnewstoronto.ca. Sharing your “good news” of an everyday hero among us will inspire others to do more good for the world around them as well and gladness will come full circle.
Happy Reading!
Ardently,
Kathleen
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Over-The-Top -- It's Not Bragging. It's Inspiring.
Welcome Dear Readers led here from Napoleon Hill Yesterday and Today, Dale Carnegie, Microskills, and other places of inspiration:
I'm inviting everyone to write in the most over-the-top thing that has happened to you or to someone you know. Even better, write about the most over-the-top thing you dream of doing. We can all aim together to inspire and motivate each other to strike the abundance we deserve. It's gotta feel better to be over-the-top than to be toned down. Let's all step out of our comfort zones together and feel how it feels. It will be exhilarating. My husband called me over-the-top one time. I need to thank him for setting a high standard to live up to when he laid down that challenge. One last word of caution for us all to share. Be careful not to protect yourself and others from the opportunity to do greater things!
While I was doing the dishes with my Mum one day after a family dinner, she said she had one recommendation for this blog she dutifully reads from time to time. Mum thought I should tone it down a bit. With the greatest of intention to offer helpful advice, Mum said, "It's a little hard to read much of it for too long." We talked about it for a bit, trying to pinpoint what exactly she was recommending, while treading carefully to avoid hurting any feelings. "Maybe it's a little too optimistic could be what you mean" I offered, or maybe even "A little Pollyanna’ish?" "No," we decided that was not quite it and we got sidetracked before we finished our discussion.
I think I figured it out as I thought about it more afterward. I think we were looking for "over-the-top." Maybe it's all a little too over-the-top. Thinking more about my mother's advice, I agreed that maybe I should tone it down a bit to strike a balance that might make it a little easier to read more of it. That was right before the thought burst to mind that what would be even better than toning it down a bit would be taking it up a notch.
There’s plenty going on out there in the world to tone it down and strike a balance so that we can maintain our middle-of-the-packth place or maybe even finish in also-ranth. Mum’s caution to me serves as a great example of the well-intended advice that we give as parents to protect our children from doing something where there is a risk of getting hurt or of being criticized. Those of us who are lucky enough to have parents who say and do things to protect us are secure in the sense that our mothers and fathers care so much about us they cannot bear to see or feel our hurt.
Fortunately, from this sense of security, we can decide to draw the strength of self-confidence. We can listen to what our parents say and do to help us feel secure and loved and we can watch what they and others who influence us positively do to set a good example for us to follow, at any age, to develop the confidence we need to lead the way and then invite others from the middle of the pack to join us as we go over the top. Come to think of it, my mother’s a little over-the–top.
Thank you Mum for your made-with-love words of caution that give me a sense of security and thank you too for showing me how to stay grounded while going over the top! With a healthy sense of security bestowed upon us with love from our parents, and the confidence we need to take the risk to step out of our comfort zone in the middle of the pack, we can aim for and achieve success to the nth degree and strike abundance instead of striking the status quo balance we’ve worked so hard to maintain for as long we have.
In the human race, keeping up with the middle of the pack has its merit. Just imagine though how you can rejoice and be glad in it when you make your breakaway or make your splash. Instead of striking a balance, we could strive, along side our parents and our children, to strike abundance. With all the toning it down that's already going on out there, we're well equipped to keep the balance we've all been living and to keep ourselves at the same level or lower, without me or anybody else jumping onto that band wagon. To strike abundance, to make our dreams come true, exactly what we need to do is to take it up a notch from where we are toward where we want to be.
Over The Top To You,
Kathleen
I'm inviting everyone to write in the most over-the-top thing that has happened to you or to someone you know. Even better, write about the most over-the-top thing you dream of doing. We can all aim together to inspire and motivate each other to strike the abundance we deserve. It's gotta feel better to be over-the-top than to be toned down. Let's all step out of our comfort zones together and feel how it feels. It will be exhilarating. My husband called me over-the-top one time. I need to thank him for setting a high standard to live up to when he laid down that challenge. One last word of caution for us all to share. Be careful not to protect yourself and others from the opportunity to do greater things!
While I was doing the dishes with my Mum one day after a family dinner, she said she had one recommendation for this blog she dutifully reads from time to time. Mum thought I should tone it down a bit. With the greatest of intention to offer helpful advice, Mum said, "It's a little hard to read much of it for too long." We talked about it for a bit, trying to pinpoint what exactly she was recommending, while treading carefully to avoid hurting any feelings. "Maybe it's a little too optimistic could be what you mean" I offered, or maybe even "A little Pollyanna’ish?" "No," we decided that was not quite it and we got sidetracked before we finished our discussion.
I think I figured it out as I thought about it more afterward. I think we were looking for "over-the-top." Maybe it's all a little too over-the-top. Thinking more about my mother's advice, I agreed that maybe I should tone it down a bit to strike a balance that might make it a little easier to read more of it. That was right before the thought burst to mind that what would be even better than toning it down a bit would be taking it up a notch.
There’s plenty going on out there in the world to tone it down and strike a balance so that we can maintain our middle-of-the-packth place or maybe even finish in also-ranth. Mum’s caution to me serves as a great example of the well-intended advice that we give as parents to protect our children from doing something where there is a risk of getting hurt or of being criticized. Those of us who are lucky enough to have parents who say and do things to protect us are secure in the sense that our mothers and fathers care so much about us they cannot bear to see or feel our hurt.
Fortunately, from this sense of security, we can decide to draw the strength of self-confidence. We can listen to what our parents say and do to help us feel secure and loved and we can watch what they and others who influence us positively do to set a good example for us to follow, at any age, to develop the confidence we need to lead the way and then invite others from the middle of the pack to join us as we go over the top. Come to think of it, my mother’s a little over-the–top.
Thank you Mum for your made-with-love words of caution that give me a sense of security and thank you too for showing me how to stay grounded while going over the top! With a healthy sense of security bestowed upon us with love from our parents, and the confidence we need to take the risk to step out of our comfort zone in the middle of the pack, we can aim for and achieve success to the nth degree and strike abundance instead of striking the status quo balance we’ve worked so hard to maintain for as long we have.
In the human race, keeping up with the middle of the pack has its merit. Just imagine though how you can rejoice and be glad in it when you make your breakaway or make your splash. Instead of striking a balance, we could strive, along side our parents and our children, to strike abundance. With all the toning it down that's already going on out there, we're well equipped to keep the balance we've all been living and to keep ourselves at the same level or lower, without me or anybody else jumping onto that band wagon. To strike abundance, to make our dreams come true, exactly what we need to do is to take it up a notch from where we are toward where we want to be.
Over The Top To You,
Kathleen
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Keep Any Promise in 2009
Dear Readers,
What would it feel like to keep all your new year's resolutions, and every promise you make? Yes—fantastic! Imagine how it would feel. Create a mental picture of yourself living a life where you are doing what you want most for yourself and for others. While many of us have been living a life of broken promises—to ourselves, our families, the world— the good news is we can change. At any age, the cost of not keeping our promises is staggering: in failed relationships, stalled careers, lack of connection, and poor physical and mental health. Are you living life to its fullest every day, or are you ambling through life to see what happens?
I recently came across a wonderful resource by author and inspirational speaker Karim H. Ismail called Keep Any Promise: a blueprint for designing your future. I found the material to be both inspiring and very practical! With the wonderful blueprint this book offers, I know this book can help us find our way to financial abundance, great health, wonderful relationships, a strong spiritual connection, and a positive world impact. How would you like a step-by-step blueprint to keeping your promises—and building and achieving the future of your dreams?
Karim shares the inspiring stories of twelve “ordinary” people who do extraordinary things. You will learn how they embrace their fears, change their thinking, reach for the seemingly-impossible, achieve great goals, and keep their promises. These dramatic stories will help you learn how to build and transform your own unique life. I hope you will click here: http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=853142 to learn more and to take the first step along the path from where you are, to where you want to be. One small click for you here --one giant leap toward reaching your true potential.
Ardently,
Kathleen
Psst! The e-book is only $24.95. You could be on your way for that little, that soon. The 3 CD audio set, or instant download audiobook are also very affordable, for those of you who would like to take advantage of your commute time to learn the stories of the extraordinary accomplishments of ordinary people. There is also the traditional hardcover book option for those of you who would like to hold it in your own hands and flip back and forth through your pages and highlight as you go along. Best of all, the 120 page Keep Any Promise Life Blueprint workbook, a $149 value, is a free download once you purchase the book in any format.
What would it feel like to keep all your new year's resolutions, and every promise you make? Yes—fantastic! Imagine how it would feel. Create a mental picture of yourself living a life where you are doing what you want most for yourself and for others. While many of us have been living a life of broken promises—to ourselves, our families, the world— the good news is we can change. At any age, the cost of not keeping our promises is staggering: in failed relationships, stalled careers, lack of connection, and poor physical and mental health. Are you living life to its fullest every day, or are you ambling through life to see what happens?
I recently came across a wonderful resource by author and inspirational speaker Karim H. Ismail called Keep Any Promise: a blueprint for designing your future. I found the material to be both inspiring and very practical! With the wonderful blueprint this book offers, I know this book can help us find our way to financial abundance, great health, wonderful relationships, a strong spiritual connection, and a positive world impact. How would you like a step-by-step blueprint to keeping your promises—and building and achieving the future of your dreams?
Karim shares the inspiring stories of twelve “ordinary” people who do extraordinary things. You will learn how they embrace their fears, change their thinking, reach for the seemingly-impossible, achieve great goals, and keep their promises. These dramatic stories will help you learn how to build and transform your own unique life. I hope you will click here: http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=853142 to learn more and to take the first step along the path from where you are, to where you want to be. One small click for you here --one giant leap toward reaching your true potential.
Ardently,
Kathleen
Psst! The e-book is only $24.95. You could be on your way for that little, that soon. The 3 CD audio set, or instant download audiobook are also very affordable, for those of you who would like to take advantage of your commute time to learn the stories of the extraordinary accomplishments of ordinary people. There is also the traditional hardcover book option for those of you who would like to hold it in your own hands and flip back and forth through your pages and highlight as you go along. Best of all, the 120 page Keep Any Promise Life Blueprint workbook, a $149 value, is a free download once you purchase the book in any format.
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