Ariel Newsletter
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The Ariel Review: News & Tips on Dramatic Leadership Development

Welcome to
The Ariel Group's Newsletter
October 2003 | Vol. 1, Issue 2

Founders' Spotlight

Dear Friends,
 Welcome to the October issue of The Ariel ReviewKathy Lubar & Belle Halpern
which is brimming with news and information that we hope you will find useful and enlightening. There are a number of interesting topics we’d like to draw your attention to in this issue.

Ariel’s New Book
Download an excerpt from our book, LEADERSHIP PRESENCE, which is available this month in bookstores or online. Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager had this to say, “In Leadership Presence, Halpern and Lubar reveal what great leaders have always known: that the secret to having a commanding presence isn't about personal power, but about empowering others. Its inspiring stories will speak to anyone who interacts with others.”

Experiential Events
Check out the various events this fall that will allow you to experience Ariel’s work first-hand. You can sign up for our Public Programs in New York and Boston or attend our Breakfast Seminar on October 16 in New York.

Ariel Outreach
Read about the programs we provide to underserved communities. This summer we worked with a group of women healthcare workers to prepare them for a meeting with legislators in Washington, DC

Hone Your Skills
In this issue's Practice Your Presence section we talk about how to stay fully present in the face of the multiple demands of today’s workplace.

We send you best wishes for a wonderful fall season.

Belle Linda Halpern and Kathy Lubar
Ariel Founding Partners

Ariel Outreach :
Ariel Helps Healthcare Workers Tell Their Story on Capitol Hill

As part of our "Ariel Outreach" program, The Ariel Group dedicates 10% of our post-tax profit to delivering programs to underserved communities and service agencies. In this space we will be describing our experiences working with these wonderful organizations.

Three Ariel facilitators recently delivered a one-day program in storytelling to a group of women at the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute’s fourth annual assembly in Potomac, MD. This organization facilitates the creation of decent jobs for low-income individuals within the healthcare system and promotes change in public policy that affects this group. They predominantly train African American or Latina women to become home healthcare aids as a means to earn a living wage and move off welfare. Not only do they become trained professionals but they can also become eligible to earn ownership shares in the healthcare cooperative.

The Ariel Group was invited to work with these women as they were about to make a trip to Washington, DC to meet with legislators. Our goal was to help them tell their own stories in a compelling way to the legislative staff and to convince them not to make the proposed budget cuts that were being considered.

Ariel facilitator Liz Callahan tells this story about a young Hispanic woman. “She was the mother of two small children and her husband suffered from severe kidney disease. But her main concern was for one of her elderly clients, to whom she was ‘the only friend in the world’, and if the budget cuts went through, she would have no one. As she rehearsed her story, she overcame her natural shyness and her difficulty with English because as she put it, ‘I want to be a role model for my kids’.”

Throughout the day we were touched and impressed by the passion and commitment the women felt about their work. “These are women are proactively lifting themselves up by sheer force of will, and what they began to taste that day was a new confidence in their ability to continue to find their voice, to speak out for what they, and their communities, need,” explained Bob Walsh another Ariel facilitator.

Greta Cowan, the third Ariel facilitator at the program said, “We got to hear two storytellers in the plenary at the end of the day -- and they both got standing ovations from their peers and Goosebumps from me!”

While we don’t yet know the status of the budget cuts the presentations the following day on Capitol Hill were all wonderfully received. “The participants were so eager to do their visits that they were on the buses early!” tells Peggy Powell, Director of Workforce Strategies at the Institute. “Even when faced with skeptical congressional staffers, they persevered and stayed on point. As you know this takes confidence!”

The work of these inspirational women captured the attention of one the Institute’s regional CEO, who has placed support of the policy action group high on her list of priorities. Who knows, with impressive leadership skills like this, perhaps one of these women may end up in Congress herself.

Upcoming Events

Executive Forum

In this breakfast forum Belle Linda Halpern and Kathy Lubar bring together the worlds of business and theater to help leaders develop their own authentic presence.

Thursday, October 16th
8:00am to 10:00pm
The Beacon Restaurant
25 West 56th Street
New York, NY

To learn more and register forthis event, please click here

Linkage Women in Leadership Summit

Monday, November 3
10:45am to 12:00pm
The Westin Copley Place
Boston, MA

To learn more about this event, please click here

Public Programs

In 2003, The Ariel Group will be presenting several public programs that cover the range of our communication, relationship building, executive development and leadership work. Programs currently scheduled include:

Leading with Presence
Two Day Programs

  • Boston October 9 and 10
  • New York November 13 and 14

    To Learn More About Our Public Programs, Click Here

For more information or to register please contact sstevenson@arielgroup.com

Recent Comments from Our Program Participants

"I have used the skills we learned to deliver a rousing summary of second quarter results to our branch (not a snore was heard anywhere!), to excite a room full of agents about our products and to be truly "present" for my 15 month old during a walk on the beach."

"ARIEL has given us just the right dose of excitement, growth and learning that we needed to end our year and begin to enter the new.”

"From storytelling at a meeting with our most important customer the next day, to a series of successful ‘elevator contact speeches’, to a series of critical meetings with key customers at a major trade show that month, the skills we learned were invaluable to us!"

"I have participated in an array of workshops focused on professional development during my working career. Without mincing words, this workshop was far and away one of the best sessions I have attended."

 

Visit www.arielgroup.com or call 781-761-9000 to find out how The Ariel Group can help you and your employees:

  • Communicate for results.
  • Build strong professional relationships.
  • Inspire, motivate and lead employees and colleagues.

    View our past newsletter

    To sign up for our Newsletter, press here:

LEADERSHIP PRESENCE
AVAILABLE NOW
Ariel's New Book, With A Foreword By Warren Bennis, Is Available This Month At Your Local Or Online Bookseller

Read an Excerpt

Interview with Authors

 In Praise of LEADERSHIP PRESENCE

Order the Book


In this issue:

A Conversation with Belle and Kathy about LEADERSHIP PRESENCE

Q: What exactly is "Leadership Presence" and why do people need it?
Belle and Kathy: "We define Leadership Presence as 'the ability to connect authentically with the thoughts and feelings of others in order to motivate and inspire them to achieve a desired outcome.' This ability to connect is essential in all people who lead or motivate others, whether you are the head of a large organization or a volunteer Little League coach.

People need Leadership Presence in a variety of areas – building better client relationships, inspiring teammates to sprint to the finish, negotiating tricky alliances, and motivating a classroom of students."

Q: Who are some famous examples of people with presence?
Belle and Kathy: “We all know bosses, teachers, coaches, and ministers with Leadership Presence. Famous examples are Martin Luther King, Herb Kelleher, Oprah Winfrey, Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, Colin Powell, and Gandhi.”

Q: You’ve said that your understanding of presence comes from your own experiences on the stage. Can you elaborate?
Belle and Kathy: “In our acting and singing careers we continually found that our best performances were a result of connecting -- completely and profoundly with the audience. They were performances where we really “showed up,” where we brought our full selves, our authentic individual stories, to bear on the character or the song.

Actor’s training provides you with the techniques to unearth your own skills and experience so that you bring greater authenticity and truth to the role. It is these techniques and methods that we bring to the corporate world.”

Q: Many “serious” executives might scoff at the idea that they could learn from actors. How would you convince them they can learn from those who “pretend for living”?
Belle and Kathy: “We didn’t really need to convince them. At first, business executives actually approached us and asked how they could learn the skills they saw actors use on stage.

Good acting is not about 'pretending' but about bringing your full self to the role. Actors are required to look inside themselves because the only way an emotion can be authentic is if it comes from within. Good leaders must do the same to be effective with those they lead.”

Q: In recent years, the notion of charisma in leadership has taken a negative turn. What is the difference between charisma and presence? How does authenticity fit into the picture?
Belle and Kathy: “Charisma by itself can be empty charm or narcissism. Leadership Presence puts the focus on those you lead. It is about relationships and connections.

Lots of charisma without authenticity means no one will trust you in the long term. People might buy a product once based on packaging, but they won’t come back and buy it again if there is no substance. Charisma without self-knowing is just fancy packaging.”

Q: Is it possible to ever change your presence, to transform from one kind of leader to another in the public's eyes?
Belle and Kathy: “Yes. But we are not talking about changing who you are. The paradox is that you become more authentically you when you develop your unique leadership presence. You become able to access a broader repertoire of skills, styles and stories that can allow you to flourish in different leadership situations.

We have worked with leaders who saw themselves as knights in shining armor, only to find the situation really required them to be the wise elder. Understanding your Leadership Presence allows you to change depending on the role that is required of you.”

Practice Your Presence:
Focus on the Physical

Give Attention and Focus In
Purpose: Handling multitasking and information overload.

Practice:
In today’s organizations we are all trying to do several things at once—talking with colleagues, clients, and customers while e-mailing, surfing the web, reviewing documents, etc. The cost is that no one activity or person receives our complete attention—and in small and large ways, our relationships with others can suffer. Here are some key practices for breaking the habit of multi-tasking:

  •  Give Full Attention. When someone comes into your office unexpectedly, try doing the following:

    •     - Stop what you are doing. Turn your body to face them and make eye contact.
        - Instead of seeing them as an interruption, see what happens if you can smile and breathe.
        - Decide if you’re able to talk with the person right then or schedule a meeting later.
        - No matter what you decide to do, try to leave the interaction with a genuine feeling of having made personal, human contact, even if it was momentary.

  •  Focus In. The next time you have an important task, see what happens if you…

    •     - Make a commitment for a set period of time (e.g., one hour) to focus on this one task.
        - Arrange your office environment to eliminate all distractions: turn off the radio, close all unneeded applications and documents on your computer’s desktop (especially e-mail), turn off your cell phone and disconnect or shut off the ringer of your desk phone.
       - Before you begin, take a moment to clear your inner environment: relax your body by stretching; take a deep breath or two into your belly, exhaling on a relaxed sigh; and close your eyes for a moment and notice how you feel. You may wish to get up from the computer and repeat this relaxation process every 20-30 minutes.

    Be in the Body


    Exercise:

  •  Sit comfortably, with your back straight, your head erect, your eyes closed, and your feet flat on the floor.

  •  Starting from the top of your head, move your awareness slowly down through your body, noticing and releasing any tension. For example, as you scan through your face, let your jaw relax, and allow your mouth to drop open slightly. As you scan through your torso, relax your shoulders and consciously let go of any tightness in your abdominal muscles.

  •  Bring your attention to the body as a whole, just noticing for a moment how you feel. Enjoy the feeling that you are sensing your body fully, nerve endings are awake and all parts of your body feel alive.

    • Breathe
    Purpose: Dealing with fear and anxiety

    Exercise:

    If you are having trouble finding your belly breath, the best way to practice this is to lie down on your back, preferably on the floor:

  •  Lay one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest, so you can notice where your breath is. When we sit or stand, our habit is to breathe up in our chest. But lying down, you may notice it’s immediately easier to feel the belly rising with each inhalation and falling with each exhalation.

  •  If you have trouble feeling the breath in the belly, imagine you’re breathing through a straw. Or, imagine the hand on your belly is resting on a balloon that’s inflating as you breathe in and deflating as you breathe out. Also try inhaling through your nose. With all of these, let your mouth and jaw relax as you breathe out.

  •  You can also experiment with filling your entire lung capacity, breathing into both the belly and the chest. Imagine your inhalation is like filling a glass with water, beginning from the bottom—the lowest part of the belly—and filling to the top—the top of the chest. Once you have taken this very big breath in, try letting it out on a big sigh of relief with sound: “AAAAhhhhh!”

  •  Finally, return to your regular breathing, just noticing the rise and fall of the belly with your breath.

    Practice:

    • The goal of these practices is to train the body to breathe with the belly automatically:

  •  Training Regimen. The best way to become a natural belly-breather is to undertake a two- to three-week daily practice. Since it’s easiest to locate belly breathing when lying down, take two minutes before you go to sleep at night—and when you wake up in the morning—with your hands placed on your belly and on your chest, doing the exercise above. After a couple of weeks, you will notice yourself more naturally breathing this way as you go about your day. This was the homework that made a big difference for Michael.

  •  At Your Desk. One of the best times to practice is when you’re at your computer or doing some solo activity, and you notice that you are stressed. Stop what you are doing and take two or three belly breaths, each followed by a sigh of relief. As you do so, let your body relax, particularly your jaw and shoulders. Notice how your mood changes when you do this.

  •  Before a High Stakes Meeting. The most important time to practice, and the real test of the belly breath, is when you find yourself leading a group or giving a presentation—any time you find yourself “on the spot”. The most subtle breath is taken in and out through the nose—filling the belly, while still allowing the exhalation to be free and easy. After a few belly breaths, your heart rate will slow down. See what happens if you let your mouth form a gentle smile as you do this. Your audience may never notice, but you will immediately feel the difference: more grounded and relaxed, less tense.

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    792 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA 02476
    PHONE 781-761-9000, FAX 781-648-5551
    www.arielgroup.com

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