"Are leaders born?"

This is an interesting question that I am often asked in the leadership development programs we run at 5.12 Solutions.

We believe that leadership isn't about being charismatic and it’s not about some magical qualities that are bestowed upon you at birth. And you don’t have to go through special forces training as a rite of passage.

Leadership is about employing key skills and behaviors on a consistent basis.

And those skills and behaviors can be learned.

The first week of January is over. Are your people aligned?

Is every team member, from your front line employee to supervisor to mid-level manager and above, clear about the strategic direction of the organization? In most companies, it’s well into the calendar year before team members understand the vision and strategy. If this is the case on your team, you'll probably notice a lack of clarity, confusion and unspoken expectations. The business results you'll experience are lost productivity, low employee engagement, and missed opportunities.

Let’s face it; we all need help along the way.

Congratulations on establishing your goals! That is a huge step toward personal growth and success in the coming year and beyond.

Make 2012 your best year yet!

I designed The Ultimate Goal Setting Guide after years of facilitating strategic planning and goal setting workshops for organizations and individuals. I wanted to make my proven process accessible to everyone, because I believe more than ever that we all need a clear vision and intention for how we live our lives.

If you have been following my last few posts, I have been setting you up for this goal setting article.

With guiding principles to help steer you in the right direction and a bold and audacious attitude, you are ready to establish the goals that will help you generate the life you desire and deserve.

So, what's your plan for 2012? Henry Ford said it best: Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right! What you decide to focus on has a huge impact on the goals that you set for yourself and your ability to achieve those goals. To truly create and align goals with your wildest dreams and aspirations, you have to embrace a bold and audacious attitude.

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

From everyone at 5.12 Solutions - we wish you and yours a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a reminder of the beauty of your dreams.

Everything in life is a choice.

How do you make your choices? What are they based on?

When we are clear about what is most important to us, we can make choices that are aligned with what we want in our lives. Guiding principles help keep us focused throughout the year and give us a foundation to determine the choices we make every day. It is through those daily choices that we build our lives.

Here's a quick visualization exercise you can try to help you create your guiding principles. Journal about the following:

I wanted to share a quote from a book called The Rythm of Life by Matthew Kelly.

"Everything is a Choice. This is life’s greatest truth and its hardest lesson. It is a great truth because it reminds us of our power. Not power over others, but the often untapped power to be ourselves and to live the life we have imagined.”

He goes on to say that it’s a hard lesson because it causes us to realize that we have chosen the life we are living right now.