Piso and Associates LLC

1. Promoting Healthy Personal Power with Adult Education StudentsNCTN – November, 2013Providence, Rhode Island Piso and Associates LLC

2. The greatest need we have in this whitewater world, this permanent whitewater world, is something that does not change…a changeless core. Stephen Covey Piso and Associates LLC

3. Leadership is an Art When we think about leaders and the variety of gifts people bring to corporations and institutions, we see that the art of leadership lies in polishing and liberating and enabling those gifts. Max DePree Piso and Associates LLC

4. Core Strength Core Strength development at our center affords openness and flexibility at the surface, enabling adjustment, maturing growth, and adaptive change to take place—a person or system with a solid core can afford to be more open and non-defensive at the surface.

5. Core Weakness Core Weakness at our center requires a closed, protective shell that manifests as rigidity, resistance to change, failure to make mature adjustments, and developmental arrest—a person or system with a shaky and vulnerable core must become externally rigid and controlling to protect such weakness.

6. Becoming a POWERFUL Student P…Personal Responsibility…………Personal Irresponsibility O…Optimistic Expectations………….Orchestrated Suffering W…Win-Win Relationships…………Win-Lose Relationships E…Energizing Joy………………………..Egocentric Pleasure R…Reality-Based Choices………………Regressive Choices F…Focused Action……………………….Fragmented Activity U…Unrelenting Courage………………………Unsettling Fear L…Lifelong Purpose………………………..Lifelong Grasping

7. Personal Responsibility Accountable & transparent Balanced & trustworthy Followed & supported I can solve a problem only when I say ‘This is my problem and it’s up to me to solve it.’ M. Scott Peck

8. Healthy Power Principles Power = Responsibility: Power and responsibility develop in direct proportion to each other and are functionally related within healthy individuals and systems. Therefore, if you want to become more powerful within any reasonably healthy system, then act more responsibly.

9. Healthy Power Principles Great students always take responsibility for the choices they make, whether it is to obey an order/rule/law or to break it. We all have ultimate control over the choices that we make, therefore we are free to the extent that we take responsibility for our decisions and actions.

10. The Voice of Healthy Power I take complete responsibility for my choices and the consequences of my actions, neither making excuses nor blaming others. Therefore, I am accountable to myself and others. I become more powerful each time I take responsibility, thus I hold others accountable appropriately with the acknowledgment that my doing so can serve to empower them also.

12. Optimistic Expectations Positive attitude, outlook, & expectations Helpful use of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Strategic use of Placebo Effects People all say that I’ve had a bad break. But today, today I consider myself to be the luckiest man on the face of the earth—that I might have been given a bad break—but I’ve got an awful lot to live for! Lou Gehrig’s Farewell Speech, 1939

13. Healthy Power Principles The engine of self-empowered living is the Hope-Energy Relationship. We cannot generate positive thoughts or feelings from negative ones…it’s like trying to get a fresh drink of water from a poisoned well.

14. The Voice of Healthy Power I build and maintain positive expectations for the future while bringing a positive spirit and outlook to the present moment in all that I do. I do these things knowing that I am likely to fulfill my own expectations, and because I understand how positive energy and faith tend to be contagiously helpful and uplifting, both for me and those around me.

16. Win-Win Relationships Understands Win-Win or no deal (Covey) Works under an Abundance Mentality Core strength enables autonomy & security Have you died to your animal nature and come to life as a human incarnation? That’s the beginning of humanity! Joseph Campbell

17. Healthy Power Principles All great relationships are mutually empowering in healthy ways, thus you know you’re in a great relationship when you and your student enjoy increased Healthy Power through your union. Information is power, but only when it is communicated clearly in an accurate, timely, and relevant manner.

18. The Voice of Healthy Power I am neither greater than nor less than any other human being, and we are interdependent with each other and our planet. Therefore, I always strive to develop Win-Win Relationships knowing that any great relationship is mutually empowering and that life is enhanced and made more rewarding through healthy personal/social connections.

20. Energizing Joy Internally resourceful, honorable, & independent Seeks fulfillment & lasting value via service orientation Enjoys peace of mind, openness, & truthfulness Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart. Martin Luther King, Jr.

21. Healthy Power Principles Trust is gained with our students when they recognize our competence and perceive our good character both (i.e., our trustworthiness). Respect is earned with our students when they experience our strength (e.g., courage, commitment, skills, intelligence, etc.) and understand the benevolent intent (i.e., Win-Win) we consistently intend on their behalf, even when correcting or disciplining them.

22. The Voice of Healthy Power I seek joy and fulfillment in all that I do, knowing that it comes from the heart and stems from unconditional love. While I enjoy healthy pleasures, I do so in moderation in order to avoid over-dependency and addiction. When I become energized in joyful pursuits, I am enlivened through feelings of gratitude, contentment, and peace.

24. Reality-Based Choices Ascribes to adage, Information is power Values unfiltered, accurate, & complete data Decisions based upon facts, reality, & integrity God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Reinhold Niebuhr

25. Healthy Power Principles Study and develop Emotional Intelligence (Daniel Goleman, 1995) in order to reduce or eliminate any emotional hijacking that triggers us to become blind to what is factual and real. Keep the jury out when hearing reports of interpersonal strife and conflict. We then show our students how to let cooler heads prevail amidst the drama and chaos through our silence and dispassionate reflection whenever necessary.

26. The Voice of Healthy Power I acknowledge truth as the foundation of Healthy Power, thus I strive to use facts, accurate data, and other credible input to form my opinions and make key decisions. To the greatest extent possible, I speak the truth and strive to empower others with reliable information. I have biases, so I confer with others when necessary to validate my thinking.

28. Focused Action What you focus upon tends to expand (Dyer) Once confident, refines focus with laser-like precision Perseveres with faithful Hedgehog Focus (Collins) When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Wayne Dyer

29. Healthy Power Principles Use the power of focus. Recognize that since our focus on people and things tends to expand, either positively or negatively, it influences how we interact with them. Selection…what we choose to focus upon Concentration…our investment of time and attention Perspective…the lens through which we see things

30. The Voice of Healthy Power I make constructive use of focus in all three facets: Selection—the object of my attention, Concentration—how I maintain attention, and Perspective—the lens through which I view things. Knowing that my focus tends to expand, I use focus constructively for my inner world, thoughts and emotions, and my outer world, the universe in which I live.

32. Unrelenting Courage Takes deliberate, effective action amidst doubts & fears Engages in logical more than emotional reasoning Practices the Serenity Prayer for confidence & freedom Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the making of action in spite of fear, the moving out against the resistance engendered by fear into the unknown and into the future. M. Scott Peck

33. Healthy Power Principles Courage = Commitment + Confidence To be fully courageous is to awaken each morning with an outlook and perspective that when verbalized cry out: the world is my oyster…damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead…my life is an adventure to be lived, not a problem to be solved! Act in real time to solve problems and to complete key tasks first, rather than procrastinating about jugular issues (i.e., open the closet and hug your monster).

34. The Voice of Healthy Power I acknowledge my need to take effective action, even in the presence of fear, discomfort, and other negative feelings, so I can maximize my life experiences and reach my greatest potential. While always exercising good judgment before taking risk, I welcome challenges and adventures with a courageous spirit of confidence and commitment in order to live and die with no regret.

36. Lifelong Purpose Has a clear & meaningful sense of dharma (Chopra) Believes with hopefulness in eventual attainment Endures difficult things as the tolls required for success To live fully is to live with an awareness of the rumble of terror that underlies everything. Ernest Becker

37. Healthy Power Principles Strengthen your commitment to building meaningful interpersonal and professional relationships toward the achievement of worthy goals. Nurturing healthy interdependence between yourself, your co-workers/staff, your students, and your family/friends/community is important for living with a sense of wholeness, safety, and purpose. Lead your students with transparency, authenticity, and trustworthiness—the keys to empowerment of others and, thus, to gaining their following in support of your leadership.

38. The Voice of Healthy Power I acknowledge my most important developmental milestone: making the shift from myself toward others to find a purpose greater than myself. I can then accept my mortality in a manner that makes life a joyful pursuit. I strive to be altruistic, to leave a positive legacy, and to die with grace and dignity—at peace for having attained my personal greatness.

40. Sharing the Merit…Takeaway Pearls Piso and Associates LLC