Chapter 1: Living the HI Way - TAKEAWAYS AND INTERACTIONS

*NOTE TO MY READER: The following are the key takeaways and interactions to go deeper with Stage 1: Living the HI Way. This will be the last full chapter I share in this manner. To my delighted surprise, there is some expressed interest in representation for this book, and as such I will be focusing on completing the writing and then defining the optimal distribution. I will, however, share other segments along the way.

Thank you for reading and being a part of my/our story.

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STAGE 1 HI TAKEAWAYS and HI INTERACTION OPPORTUNITIES


I. HI TAKEAWAY #1: There has never been, and never will be, a better
time than right now to pursue your vision.

II. HI TAKEAWAY #2: If you think there are actions that you can implement right now (given the brutal facts of your current situation) that will yield positive results, some of which are unlike any you have experienced in the past, you are right. If, however, you think that there are no actions that you can implement right now (given the brutal facts of your current situation) that will change things for the better or move you from your undesirable position, you are also correct.

Consider: HI Leaders recognize that the true value lays not so much in the measure of whether the glass is half empty or half full (the context of your current situation), but within the context of the glass itself (your key vessel) and moving it forward in the most effective manner in pursuit of your defined goals.


III. HI TAKEAWAY #3: THE FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF HI LEADERS:

1. HI Leaders have PRESENCE. HI Leaders do not simply go to meetings or attend to situations they encounter; they are fully present, engaged and genuinely interested in each moment that is presented to them.
2. HI Leaders have VISION. HI Leaders have the ability to innovate, stretch the boundaries and have the courage to experiment, knowing that success often involves challenging the "status quo."
3. HI Leaders have CAPACITY. HI Leaders have or make the capacity when, where and how it is needed to respond to HI Opportunities.
4. HI Leaders have RESOURCE. HI Leaders know how to invest and leverage their organization’s time, talent and treasure for the greatest ROI (Return on Investment) and ROM (Return on Mission).
5. HI Leaders can pull the TRIGGER. HI Leaders can put the right ideas into action at the right time and right now.

HI INTERACTION OPPORTUNITY:
1. Take eighteen minutes RIGHT NOW. (TIME IT!)5 Ask yourself the following questions and write down ONE SENTENCE ONLY FOR EACH ANSWER that eflects your FIRST INSTINCTIVE RESPONSE:

* Based on your current situation (business, role, career trajectory, etc.), given what you know as of today, do you feel as though your situational glass is half empty or half full? Answer YES or NO.
* What is the #1 reason for this answer?
* If time, money, people, past history and other real or perceived obstacles were removed what ONE ACTION would you implement that you KNOW would lead to a positive outcome?

2A. Take fifty-five minutes with UP TO FIVE KEY TEAM MEMBERS within the next five business days. (BOOK IT NOW, THEN TIME THE MEETING!). Review the previous question and one-sentence answers, then challenge the team to a dialogue that nets FIVE GO-FORWARD ACTIONS that you feel would address the obstacles and implied successes from such actions. Write down the FIVE GO-FORWARD ACTIONS, then file them in a safe place to come back to at a later date in the HI Solutions process.

2B. Take an additional fifty-five minutes with the same FIVE KEY TEAM MEMBERS from #2A. (TIME IT!) Read each of the FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF HI LEADERS. Openly discuss, for each individual 1) if you have this characteristic and why, 2) if you do not currently have this characteristic and why and 3) ONE THING you can do starting RIGHT NOW that will move you in a direction to build that characteristic. Write down and set aside for more work to come in a later chapter.

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5 HI NOTE: The reason for the specificity of taking “fifty-five” and “eighteen” minutes, respectively, for each interaction is based on my experience advising teams as to the most effective rituals of interaction. Claiming specific time allows for the fact that meetings rarely begin promptly at the start of the allocated time; punctuality, finishing a cell phone call, catching up on sports or recapping the latest episode of American Idol. The message from this “counter intuitive” time designation is: 1) we are not going to do things the same old way, 2) catch up on “other things” at some other time, 3) each of us value the time we devote to important issues and 4) time is valuable (there is NO such thing as "spare time" - time must be "taken"), and as such we are going to stop exactly at that end of our time (I use a stopwatch), so we need to be smart how we spend it.