Best Photo 2008

A New Year, A New Sunrise, A New Day. Photo by Richard Chicoine. iCopyright 2008

Grand Marais, Minnesota. From the series: "Sleep Around Lake Superior" by Richard and Maggie Chicoine. http://www.lakesuperiornews.com/

A New Year...A New Sunrise...A New Day

"For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning."~T.S. Eliot

"One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things." ~John Burroughs

"We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential." ~Ellen Goodman

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

2009: Welcome!

- Maggie and Rick

How To Love A Lonely Planet

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2008

Or
Why Falling In Love with What You Do Is Good For Business!

David Wells exudes the energetic silence of a boundless explorer. His finger points beyond the smooth rocky shore to the horizon of Lake Superior: “Look from left to right,” he says. “You can actually see the curvature of the earth from here.” He is right. Rock Island Lodge is at the edge of infinity.

The Lodge is home base for Naturally Superior Adventures, an award winning eco-adventure company founded by Wells in 1994. Situated at the junction of the Michipicoten and Magpie Rivers, about 6 miles south of Wawa, Ontario, the property embraces the shores of the Big Water, Lake Superior. Luxurious in its simplicity, and consciously designed to appeal to all the senses, Rock Island is its own 7 acres of secluded lonely planet.

Wells seems to have found the business formula which matches his own personal passions. “I was trained as a forester and ended up here as the Business Manager on the Michipicoten Reserve. Michipicoten, means Big Bluffs in Ojibwe”, he explains. “The intrigue of nature is at its max around here. The contrast of the landscape, from endless hills to vast watery horizons, is enough to create an ancient ache in the pit of your stomach. This is a prime spot.”

He’s felt that way, it seems, from day one. “Paddling from Marathon, we rested on some rocks. I realized that possibly I was the very first person in the history of time to be there. On this shoreline, I could find spear heads and pictographs that other white people had never seen before. It was an amazing, life changing experience.”

Falling In Love With Where You Are Is Good For Business

It’s the kind of altered headspace that Wells and his extremely skilled staff want to create for their worldwide client base. Wells has focussed his business model on his own inner passions – nature, art, risk, history, excellence and a love of Lake Superior.

His clientele is different from the usual Circle Tour road trip types. “We appeal to personal desires for lifetime achievement, individuals who want to reach ultimate goals. They are trophy hunters of sorts. Boomers want to collect experiences, good or bad, but not mediocre. We give them a really good presentation, meaning top quality gear and excellent training. Maybe they had a bad experience on the water thirty years ago. It’s important to spend 20 minutes to find out what makes them tick, and then teach the skills.”

Clients are seeking adventure, usually in a kayak. Expert Guides offer courses that range from watercraft skills to storm watching packages for photographing the gales of November. In all of this natural silence, with the potential of regaining the soul’s inner quiet there is also the potent possibility of engaging in the thrill of a lifetime - simultaneously.

Finding the Niche

“My first business plan didn’t work. I didn’t know myself then.” Wells says, “We finally found our niche: “Silent Sports”. Kayaks are the heart of the company. People were asking to stay here, so we added four voyageur themed rooms with large windows and without telephones. We include a hearty breakfast. I like the kind of people who are our customers: hikers, sailors, photographers, musicians, artists, folks who like to watch storms, get married on the beach, or spend a night in a tepee.”

Employees are obviously top notch characters. Subservience doesn’t cut it. They have to have opinions.

“We have amazing staff. We don’t give them a policy manual. They need to be performers, and lead actors, especially when we take a group out for a week on the Big Water. They have to understand weather patterns and respect the lake with its craggy, wild shorelines. It’s dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing. They must know first aid and safety procedures, but more importantly, our guides must be pro-active and people friendly, with a grasp on group dynamics.”

Wells claims that Lake Superior’s offerings are becoming better known in the global travel market. “We were written up in The Lonely Planet Travel Guide. We won a Tourism Pinnacle Award this year, and National Geographic honoured us as one of the top ten kayak outfitters in the world. I tell people that this is comparable to places like Greenland, but the difference is, you can drive here. We’re innovative and sophisticated, yet affordable. We promote eco-tourism and ecological diversity in everything we do, and also donate 1% of our revenues to the Lake Superior Conservancy and Watershed Council. We are very much part of the Wawa community.”

Wells never tires of watching the water ebb and flow. “Back in 1994, I invested in the most expensive piece of property anywhere around Wawa. I think have horseshoes. I am where I like to be, and where Lake Superior wants me to be.”

Entrepreneurs Take Note

David Wells shares some important insights during this interview.

To find your niche in business, search for what you naturally love. What makes your heart sing? What do you never tire of doing? Where in the world is the spot that is yours infinitely?

Answer these, and you’ve found your niche strategy.


- 30 -

Maggie Chicoine is a professional member of the Professional Writer’s Association of Canada, the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers and a Master Coach. She specializes in strategies to think ahead. Reach her at 1 800 587 1767 or http://www.theideasculptor.com/

Calling Leaders

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine. All Rights Reserved 2008

If Leadership is a Calling, Then Why Don’t I Hear Me?

Leadership isn’t a title. It’s not a job. It’s a calling.

Leadership doesn’t attach to demographics.

Young. Old.

Male. Female.

Urban. Rural.

Rich. Poor.

Abraham Lincoln said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

Leadership IS character. Character births passion, and vision. Leadership is speaking the truth – consistently, and visibly. It’s knowing when to race ahead, back off… let go… reflect on the multi-dimensionality of issues. It’s about tactics, strategy and synchronicity. In fact, it's all of those “ies”, like idiosyncrasies and ideologies.

Leadership is deep character...
Leadership is about being humble while being powerful. It’s mostly the pull, and sometimes the push. It’s about looking up and not being intimidated by an artificial ceiling that no-one but “me” erected. It’s about shouting loudly for what is right, and for quietly acknowledging the efforts of others even when.... it's doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, for the right reasons. It's being aware of doing it right - or wrong - ethically. It's knowing what you really stand for, at the deepest root.

Leadership is deepest when...

There's time to reflect. Leadership is about musings, like this one, inspired by the intriguing variety of pebbles and stones on the shore... in the big waters... of Lake Superior. When the waves roll in, the questions are carried ashore. Why do rocks, like leaders and followers, all have the same potential, but only one creates a gentle ripple that affects its surroundings?

“Sometimes a leader emerges from among equals, a man whose natural charisma, stability, and sense of purpose make everyone turn to him, just as office plants turn toward the window. There’s something special there, and everybody recognizes it, even if no one can put a finger on it.” – David Zinczenko, Editor, Mens Health Magazine

Your Face LEAKS

Your Mind Shows On Your Face

"The human mind is a lot like the human egg, and the human egg has a shut-off device. When o­ne sperm gets in, it shuts down so the next o­ne can't get in. The human mind has a big tendency of the same sort.” - Charlie Munger

Your face leaks. Whatever you might be thinking shows up as the raise of an eyebrow or the furl of your lip. Reading facial “body language” gives you the most clues about the intricacies of character.

What’s in a face?

Think about an imaginary line that connects in a square, eyebrow to eyebrow, cheek to cheek and forehead to chin. That’s the key space captured by cartoonists and portrait photographers. Let’s just say that your personality lives there. It’s home base.

The lines and wrinkles that have formed over the years, are proof of who you are and what you have been thinking. Your unique character is visible to the world from across a football field. Split second impressions which slip across your face thousands of times a day, are instantly interpreted – or misinterpreted by friends and strangers through their own rose coloured glasses.

So when your mind shuts off, or judges someone or something, your face leaks those thoughts, even if you don’t say a word out loud.

Facts About Your Face

Among the findings of Professor Dacher Keltner Ph.D. at the University of Berkley, California:

· There are six basic expressions: happiness, anger, fear, disgust, surprise and calm

· With just 44 muscles, nerves and blood vessels threaded through a scaffolding of bone and cartilage, all layered over by supple skin, the face can twist into 5000 expressions, from an outward grin to a faint sneer.

· There is a distinct difference between feigned and real expression, and in the biological responses produced.

· Smiling eyes can actually pull the face into a smile through the zygomatic muscles.

· We send and read signals at lightening speed and over great distances. The lift of an eyebrow, which lasts a sixth of a second, can register surprise or displeasure even at a distance of 150 feet.

· Smiles are so important to communication that we can see them more clearly than any other expression at a distance of over 300 feet (the length of a football field)

· Facial expressions are largely universal. Babies are programmed to read faces; it is genetic and evolutionary.

· When a female baby hears a loud noise or gets anxious, she wants to make eye contact.

· When a male baby hears a loud noise or gets anxious, he will react by looking around, in a fight or flight response.

· Culture and experience can dull our ability to display and interpret emotions. Abused children may not correctly interpret facial expressions for example.

Let me issue a WARNING:

“Displays of emotion are only half of the equation. How they are interpreted is the other half.”

We are all quite good at reading the obvious signals, but we need to remember that reading faces is complicated. Shortcuts and snap judgments can lead to misinterpretation. Keep the whole conversation in mind before jumping to conclusions.

As a Master Coach, I’ve found that many of my clients aren’t aware of the signals they send, especially when they are subconsciously judging a comment. Eyebrows, eye movements, the tilt of your head can destroy a career opportunity during an interview. A welcoming nod, understanding smile or a kind signal of reassurance can change the mood of a stalled negotiation.

Take a closer look at the distinctive character of faces. They are fascinating. Pay attention to what your mind is telling you. What signals are you sending in return?

This is a study that can keep you amused for a lifetime.


Maggie Chicoine is a professional speaker, facilitator, writer and Master Coach. She specializes in Strategic Systems Thinking. “Experience Speaks…with a twist of ingenuity.”

Reach her at 1 800 587 1767 or www.theideasculptor.com

New Column! “Superior Secrets: A Good Place to Sleep Series”, featuring exceptional lodgings on the shores of Lake Superior.

Maggie and her photographer husband Richard hit the highways this summer in search of fab accommodations in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ontario’s north shore: antique rich B&B’s, magnificent garden Inns and condos a step away from cobblestone beaches.

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine at Egli's Sheep Farm, Dryden Ontario Canada

Less is More

3 Sure Fire Ways to Kick It UP a Notch

Let's talk about using leverage by heading in the opposite direction. You can "kick it up a notch" with a conscious effort to think: "less is more".

1. In order to speed up, you need to slow down.

Paradoxical as this may sound, let me assure you that the incessant rush mode brings delays and mistakes. Author Steven King describes his analytical brain, the "boys in the basement". The boys are logical and linear. They are in charge of discipline and structure. Creativity needs a system, or it just vanishes into thin air.

2. Set up a daily scan for leverage worthy ideas: WSD

Random thoughts that aren't recorded will remain as...random thoughts! Every day, write stuff down (WSD). This is a ritual for the boys in the basement. They love it!

3. Wander and Wonder

Inspiration flows naturally when you pay attention to the world around you. You've got to insert new routines and delete old tired routes. Park your car further down the block, and wander to your next appointment. Detour through a greeen space...slowly...

Incorporate "wonder" in your day. Get up earlier to observe the sunrise. This photo was taken on the shores of Lake Superior on the first day of spring 2008. Last year, we were in the same place, at the same time, viewing a "different" horizon. Be aware of the changes around you, so that there can be change within you.

Leverage is the conscious combination of innovation with analysis.

Get the boys in the basement to do their busy structured work, and then kick it up a notch with the intersections of ideas. (For more on that, see the archives!)

- Maggie

Let me know how you're wondering and wandering, will you?

L E V E R A G E ! Your Turn to Help Me

Smll t Roses

We're in such a rush...we abbreviate our language, our thoughts...take shortcuts even when we sleep!...this week, it's time to STOP and smell the roses. Get your nose up to that bloom: Real Close. Don't hurry...take a long time. Be the bee that lingers...

See the veins running through.

Understand the design.

Examine the simple complexity of each petal.

Think about how systems unfold.

Place yourself inside. Gently...

Enjoy!


On a personal note...March 16 to 21...
Leverage, for me, means spending "self" time on a regularly scheduled basis. We are doing a road trip, our quarterly time out for the week. You won't find us easily, since we will be hunkered down on the shores of Lake Superior in a remote lodge in Minnesota. No putes, no emails, no cell phones. Yes: inspiration, nature, silence, fresh air and good wine.

So, I need your help! The "Ideas du Jour" are totally YOURS this week... check out the archives, get inspired, and send me your 7 - 7 word phrases that define LEVERAGE in your world. I'll post them next week!

BTW, roses say more than I love you! Roses mean, "I love me". Treat yourself, or someone you love to the magic of just one fresh bloom.

My grandma used to say, "Bring me flowers now, not when it's too late." That's a phrase that echoes "Leverage to love".

See you soon!

Maggie

Gee...This is Simple

You know the saying, "Less is More"

...another phrase referring to LEVERAGE as a concept.

I'm saying "Concept", because most of the time, leverage gets ignored. Complexity takes over.

The "G" list in Idea du Jour should stir up some thinking about how to simplify your thinking...

Using less than 7 words in each daily inspiration, my goal is to train your brain to use unfamiliar activities to unlock the goodies... your synapses are waiting to be ignited, much like spark plugs in a frozen machine. The "Say It in Seven" tm technique forces you to condense your major thoughts into memorable actions. Try it! Not as simple as it seems at first glance.

BTW, subscribe to this Mag-Oh!-Zine and you'll get tips every Tuesday. Check out the archives for Why Tuesdays! Leverage Day!

If you are bogged, stuck or in need of inspiration, just ask, ok?

- Maggie