Mark traveled from site to site to interview his team, observe what was going on, and build networks and connections throughout the organization. With offices in 3 continents, this kept him on the road constantly. He loved the travel and the contact with his branch offices, the more than 200 of them.

As he talked to his staff, he learned a lot, was able to  see trends and market opportunities long before they were obvious to competitors.... They were picking up more than 15 % new market share annually, completely reversing the negative downturn in the market as a whole. In the last 5  years they moved from number 9 in the industry to just shy of being the market leader.

Mark realized, too, that his ability to "sense" the industry trends and needs was a special gift. It was not gift that can be taught or easily duplicated.  Yet, he had been tagged to take over the soon to be vacated CEO position. He knew that  if he took the position, it would leave a massive hole in marketing and was reluctant to accept.

Yet, he had several people in mind who could replace him in many ways and would bring different skills to the table. His concern was  how to keep the growth in new product development going--a major key to their continued growth.

Over the years, his learned that people simply didn't know what they know... you have talk to them and ask them, then find the trends, decipher this knowledge and create a whole picture.

With the support of two facilitators, he decided to experiment with collaborative change techniques ... he held a couple of different large -scale meetings around very specific themes... one Open Space and one Future Search. He was amazed at the results--the ideas that came forward and how not only was knowledge shared, but the synergistic impact of having so many people and knowledge in the room brought forth ideas that he could not have come up with alone.

He accepted the CEO position... continued to travel and visit the branch offices whenever he could to keep in contact ... and participated in an array of collaborative approaches designed to integrate the knowledge of the company to not only maintain their market edge, but to enable a healthy, dynamic and innovative place to work.  New products continued to be developed, faster and easier than before... simultaneously, they were able to foresee trends faster. His new VP of Marketing more than met his expectations. He pursued new lines and developed markets fluidly.

While Mark's branch office travel was dramatically reduced, he had much more time for customer contact and two unplanned secondary events occurred. At 52, he got married and their annual survey showed that already high employee engagement had significantly increased. 

As the end of the July was approaching, budget season was soon coming to a close. It was the time of the year that always required long hours and a lot of stress. He saw little of his family during this time of year. As Senior VP of Finance, this was a critical time of year.

She was a single mom with a teen daughter and managed an office that covered 600 square miles. No one knew her job the way she did and being gone for any length of time was difficult. Beyond a few long weekends, she had not even taken a vacation in 4 years.

He was a young entrepreneur who sold one venture and was a critical point in the start-up of a new venture. He was busy, He was moving so quickly that he rarely was in one city more than a day. His conversations were short and direct.

He was 63, in a coma and the father of these threee. He wasn't going anywhere.  No on knew what would happen. He had a quadruple bi-pass, did fine and then had a stroke and went into a coma.  They were waiting to see if he would come out of it. None of them lived near by.

So, the wait began to see what happen. All were busy.  No one knew what would happen. If he died, they would surely come. Somehow, we all find time for a funeral. Somehow when he worst hits, we all usually manage to stop.

Nine days into his coma and his vital signs looking awful, his kids had had enough and all came out. They stayed with him nearly around the clock for 3 days. Soon after their arrival some changes happened... one would notice their hand squeezed, another a eyelash flash, another hand would be squeezed, a quick flash of a smirk formed on his face... All this happened, as they talked with him about what was important to them, shared their stories and their love, talked about  the past and future... appreciated him and each other. They called other family members who could not be there and let them to talk to him over a mobile phone. They helped him connect anyway they could.

On the 4th day after their arrival, he was released from ICU into a normal hospital room to begin physical therapy. He was fully awake and there were no signs of the stroke. He will have a lot of muscle re-building to do, but it looks like he will be fine with more light in his eyes than anyone had seen in a long time. His prime ICU nurse said that it was wonderful to be part of this miraculous family. 

What is important to you that you "don't' have time for?" Where is smoke building in your organization that if not attended to will soon turn will become a blaze?  Is it worth taking action before it becomes a fire?  Is there someone you have had not had time to spend time with recently who is important to you? Could you take the time to make contact. 

Executive Coaching with Backbone and Heart : A Systems Approach to Engaging Leaders with Their Challenges by Mary Beth O'Neill, Jossey-Bass, 2000 ISBN: 0787950165

This is a classic - which means it has a good "shelf life".  You can use the link to go to Amazon directly are read the short book review that Roberta did in 2001 that consistently gets great ratings.  Just scroll down to the helpful reviews. 

Close your eyes and imagine your special place of renewal.  The most beautiful place you can imagine. Imagine that you are sitting in this place reviewing an issue that you want to resolve. Imagine that you have invited a friend to join you there. Relax and look around the beauty. Really take the beauty in ... Enjoy the feeling of being surrounded by so much beauty. Notice a river near by.

Then, imagine that you are sharing your problem with your friend   As you share the problem notice that your words and problem drift down the river, flowing away. They may just continue to flow away or they may turn into a solution. Allow yourself to soften and flow with the river too. You may have a desire to laugh as you notice this. However you feel is fine. As you notice this change... the drifting away or your impressions of the solution, open your eyes and write down your thoughts.... 

"To the person who does not know where he wants to go, there is no favorable wind."~ Seneca