I think of all the times we are asked to share ideas, to help solve problems, to brainstorm new ideas, how many of those times do we hold ourselves back? How many of those times do we question our ideas?  In a conversation with a friend, I asked her to describe a leader she really admired that was inspiring and supportive. She told me that she considered herself lucky because she did have an example for me.  This leader would often sit with the team to brainstorm, and ask many questions to get her team to engage and just say whatever was on their mind.  She would bring a blank canvas to a meeting and challenge her team to fill it.  The idea was meant to inspire them and to challenge them to think outside of the box, but also to trust that she was listening. They would come up with the most amazing ideas that they could. The sky was the limit.  And in our conversation my friend and I talked about the importance of encouraging and engaging our teams to want to share their ideas, their thoughts, to question processes and investigate possibilities.  What would you do if you were given a blank canvas? How would you fill the space? What would you be willing to share? Express? 

Often situations in life can undermine our confidence, frustrate us and feel like obstacles that are difficult to overcome. Our morale decreases; the energy, excitement and passion we put into a new activity or enterprise is affected and replaced by a concern for failure, by a shadow, that continues putting us down and lowers our performance and our rhythm. We lose that spark that we envy in all of those who are excited to start something with a passion for success.

Con frecuencia las situaciones de la vida pueden mermar nuestra confianza, frustrarnos, cansarnos y sentirse como obstáculos difíciles de vencer.  Nuestro ánimo decrece, la energía, emoción y pasión que ponemos a una nueva actividad o empresa se afecta y se reemplaza por una preocupación del fracaso, por una sombra que nos desanima mas y que baja nuestro desempeño y nuestro ritmo de actividad, perdemos esa chispa contagiosa que envidiamos en todo el que está emocionado por iniciar algo con la pasión del éxito.