Carefully Choose the News and Messages You Listen To
I have had it! I have made my home a NO NEWS ZONE! I’m not going down that path any more. I’ve also decided not to read the front of Yahoo anymore because it’s all of the news of doom and gloom and I have cut myself off from all that is negative. As a matter of fact, if you’re a friend or family in my life and start to talk about the economy and anything related to that, then I will politely say, “it’s not for me” and I’ll change the topic and move on.I feel like I’m putting on an armor every day. I’m gearing up for battle. Every single day going into the world is like getting attacked by vicious bad energy and negativity, so I am now spending more and more time reading positive things and spending more time with my journal and in the quiet space of my home.I’ve now announced on through Twitter that I will no longer follow any bloggers or Twitter users who are not espousing goodness and positive energy and stories. One guy whose name has something about making BIG money, is only reporting how many companies are closing and how many people are out of work. So I announced to all of the 75 people who are now following me, most of who I don’t know, that if they don’t stand UP and be a leader now, then I will STOP following them! I’ve blocked a few people whose name indicates they’re big $ makers when in reality they’re following everyone else and not a leader at all.I’m also finding some really great people who are staying positive and moving forward in spite of what else is going on around them. This is the person who will excel in this environment.. the one who knows where they’re going and has the ability to get others along with them.This morning, my son and I were riding our bikes to school. He’s in second grade and when we got nearer to school I heard a girl call his name over and over. He told me who it was and said she’s always chasing him. HE didn’t even STOP to take a look around to see who it was. He noticed it but didn’t change HIS course of action which was to zoom as fast as he could to the school, park his bike, and get inside so he could see his buddies. No girl was going to distract HIM from doing what he wanted to do. Once he parked his bike he RAN inside, where I found him stomping on the feet of one of his buddies and messing with the boys. So for HIM, it was important to be with the kids and having HIS kind of fun. Nothing else, not even a cute blonde girl, would distract him!Then, I saw a mom sitting on the ground with the kids, basically just having fun with the kids – and she was pointing to every child who had Velcro on their shoes instead of laces. She was calling them CHEATER, CHEATER, CHEATER! When she called out MY SON and called him a CHEATER, I quickly responded… NOPE! In our house.. it’s called AN ANSWER TO PRAYER! She laughed!But.. why should we succumb to HER labels? Just because SHE feels that wearing Velcro isn’t a wise choice, doesn’t mean that we have to accept that negative label she tried to put on my SON. I deflected her comment and turned it around to a joke but let her know.. NOT EVERYONE IS THE SAME.I see how important it is to chose what filters we allow in our brains. I see how important it is to keep the RIGHT messages coming in so we don’t start altering our behavior to match everyone else who seems to be just looking at WHAT they’re seeing instead of WHERE they want to go.Make a choice, and then set up your army around you. Get good music, positive friends and plug into people who are excited about the opportunities we have right now.It’s your choice. Make it count!
Healthcare Executive Leadership – Global Career Planning Creates New Opportunities
Healthcare executive leadership has gone global. As a result, a growing number of opportunities are becoming available for individuals whose career planning efforts have prepared them for the extraordinary challenges and the long-term rewards that an international assignment offers. However, the expectations are high when it comes to making Healthcare executive leadership placements into a foreign market, and a prospective executive must be fully prepared to meet those challenges head-on.”Well done is better than well said!” is a quote from the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady (and Ben Franklin) and it summarizes the mindset of global investors and global operators as they recruit individuals to lead foreign or multinational business entities. In other words, a successful track record delivering superior financial and operational results will help your achieve your international leadership goals far better than merely words and potential. This is why personal global career planning pays off in the long-run.We recently helped sponsor the “2007 Strategic Investing in Healthcare Forum.” This was an invitation only, one-day conference that brought together members of the Harvard Business School and the Argyle Executive Forum, plus 150 senior operating executives from public and private Healthcare firms, select private equity and hedge funds, prominent research fellows, and key senior advisors. And, as a result of these discussions, I now find myself thinking about ways that up-and-coming Healthcare executives can best prepare themselves to achieve their global career planning ambitions.I should mention that over the course of this one day event, Healthcare leaders shared their focus and innovative approaches towards booming global markets, the financially-stretched domestic market, and the global demographic trends that will either clobber economies or empower businesses to solve complex issues. Speakers for the event included representatives from Apax Partners, GE Healthcare, GE Healthcare Financial Services, Bain Capital, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, The Blackstone Group, CCMP Capital Advisors, Merrill Lynch, GTCR Golder Rauner, Ropes & Gray LLP, Bank of America, and Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.All of the speakers were extremely candid and informative. However, here are just two examples of the broad array of globally-focused topics that were discussed:Buddy Gumina, a Partner at US Healthcare – Apax, discussed coverage, consumerism and convergence as it relates to managed care, healthcare services, provider transparency, interactive technology, preventative medicine and outsourced pharma. Apax has a thirty year track-record as a global private equity firm with a strong healthcare presence.Joe Hogan, President and CEO of GE Healthcare, stated that the company’s basis for growth and the focus of its global-leading $17 billion business is to continue to drive innovation and world-class dominance across IT and diagnostics. The breadth of opportunities for GE Healthcare is tremendous as a result of the exploding second and third world markets where infrastructure and utilization are the focus for the design and development of full-scale digital hospitals.Other speakers focused on the current strategies that healthcare investors and operators are pursuing as providers, payers, investors, patients and technology converge. And, through this convergence, I am fortunate to play an active role in finding the outstanding Healthcare executive leadership talent that international Healthcare organizations will require to achieve their aggressive business goals.As a result of my ongoing involvement in the Healthcare leadership arena, I have three career planning suggestions that aspiring international executives would be wise to adopt as they strive to develop the knowledge and skills to lead a global Healthcare business.
Use Coaches and Mentors. Tiger Woods has used multiple coaches over the years to help improve his game. Similarly, you need to identify two or three senior individuals who are interested in taking an active role in your executive leadership development. Whether as coaches or mentors, these individuals can provide you with invaluable insight and global career planning guidance. In addition, you can select your own informal mentors by watching Healthcare executive leaders who are currently successful in the roles you are striving to achieve. Study their successes and their mistakes. In completing more than 225 Healthcare retained searches, those who have achieved the greatest corporate success have aggressively pursued mentoring relationships throughout their career.
Be Seen and Be Known. Financial investors and operators who are deploying tens and hundreds of millions of dollars in new capital are consistently looking to hedge their bets through the recruitment of experienced, well-referenced and well-known executives. Show a keen interest in your industry, in your businesses fundamentals, and in your opportunities and obstacles in order to deliver stellar results and develop relationships with influencers. Through your efforts and success you will find interest from those within your industry to invite you to speak, present or join an industry panel on key issues and trends. The value of your business success can lead you to exceptional personal contacts, which in turn can significantly improve future business opportunities. Your business acumen and success can take you to the door of a global Healthcare executive leadership opportunity. Having strong industry relationships can be what actually opens that door and allows you to enter.
Do your Best Work Today. Without a doubt, ambition is required for the level of success you desire. However, focusing too early on your next opportunity can cause you to lose sight of your current business goals and responsibilities. This can negatively impact your trajectory. Outstanding performance is recognized and should always be your primary objective.
Establishing yourself as the winning executive for a global Healthcare executive leadership opportunity requires strong foundational skills, a successful track-record, solid relationships, keen industry insights, and much more. Global career planning presents new opportunities. Therefore, keep pushing yourself forward in your professional growth and remember, “Well done is better than well said.”
Benefits of Fitness
Fitness is a great way to stay healthy. Exercising on a regular basis has countless benefits for the body and the mind. A study done on 25,000 volunteers has shown that physical exercising is more important to the health than losing weight. Overweight people who are fit have lower chances of developing heart problems, diabetes or osteoporosis. Who can practice fitness? Is fitness for you? The good news is that anybody, regardless of age, can benefit from fitness. Fitness exercises range from developing flexibility, to building up strength and losing extra pounds.Short-term benefits of fitness:• A healthier heart – Fitness makes the heart pump faster and it helps develop and strengthen the muscle of the heart.• Stronger muscles and bones – Fitness exercises that work the muscles, such as weight lifting, develop the muscles and increase bone density. This translates into a body that is more resistant to fractures and injuries. People over 40, who have higher risks of developing osteoporosis and arthritis, can maintain a younger body for a longer time through fitness.• Losing weight – Fitness burns calories and reduces body fat. If you exercise on a regular basis, the body will not only burn calories while you’re at the gym, but it will also burn calories while you’re resting. If you combine fitness with a healthy diet, you will have a fit and great looking body.• Reducing stress – You have countless stress factors in your life, and stress is very dangerous to your health and it can give you a general state of crankiness and anxiety. Exercising relieves stress and triggers the secretion of endorphins in the body. Endorphins, also called “the happiness hormone” create a state of relaxation. There is something called “a runner’s high”. This basically means that people feel happier after exercising.• A more restful sleep – Stress and health problems sometime cause insomnia and other sleep disturbances. Fitness will give you a deep and restful sleep, which is important for the body to be able to recover and function normally.• Increased ability to focus – Research shows that people who exercise think faster and clearer. Fitness does not only do wonders for the body, but it also benefits the mind, through improving circulation in the brain and taking away the stress that sometimes clouds our judgment.Long-term benefits of fitness:• Reduced blood pressure – High blood pressure can lead to strokes and heart attacks. Heart problems are the leading cause of death in the world. Fitness means a stronger heart, which pumps blood more efficiently through the body and the the force put on the arteries decreases. Regular exercising is one of the drug-free methods to treat hypertension.• Reduced coronary problems – People living a sedentary life have twice as many chances of developing coronary problems that those who exercise.• Reduced cholesterol levels – People with high cholesterol levels have higher chances of developing cardiovascular problems. Fitness helps reduce cholesterol levels by burning the fat in the body. Studies show that people with high cholesterol levels who make exercising part of their daily routine cut their chances of developing heart problems in half.• Improved posture – Fitness helps maintain a strong backbone with a healthy posture. It helps with back problems and back pain, that are often associated with a sedentary life.• Reduced risk of developing diabetes – Physical activity lowers the risk of developing type 2 diabetes through the effect it has on insulin levels, through lowering the level of sugar in the body and though maintaining a fit body.People are starting to understand more and more the importance of including physical activity in their daily routine. If you want to have the fitness routine tailored for you, fitness companies offer personal training. You can regularly go to the gym or you can go to a fitness boot camp, to push yourself harder and really work your body. You can practice fitness alone, with your friends or co-workers. There are a lot of corporate entities that work with fitness companies to allow their employees to exercise at the work place, because fitness increases work productivity. Make sure you exercise for 30 minutes at least two or three times as week, or even daily if possible, to get all the wonderful benefits of fitness.