I find it interesting in my coaching practice that if I ask a client to list their flaws or things they don’t like about themselves, they can rhyme off a list without delay. However, when I ask them to list their strengths or what they DO like about themselves, there is often hesitation (or a very short list!). I am saddened by the fact that we often associate identifying our strengths with conceit or bragging. And so I’d like to point out that knowing you are a good cook is no different than knowing you have brown eyes – it’s just a fact. What makes it bragging is when we “compare” with others and consider ourselves better than someone else. (OK…I’ll get down off my soapbox now :) )
Back to the question at hand…what are two of my best personal qualities?
What pops up for me right now is determination and creativity. From a young age I learned that if I really wanted something (not in a material sense) and I stuck with it and tried different approaches, I could figure out a way to make it happen. I still think like that today. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way!” Likely, this is where my creativity comes into play. Solutions to challenges are rarely “in the box” but instead often require looking at things in new and different ways.
My challenge today? Getting as many of you as possible to share YOUR best qualities right here on this blog.
My solution? Hmmmm…any ideas?
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
How do I personally define success?
As a woman and leader, how do I personally define success?
I often take a 30,000 foot view on my life and realize that in my lifetime, I have been about 6 different women. I am totally different today than when I was at 16, 24, 39, 45, 50 and 60.
We all come fresh from the hand of God with a specific purpose and plan. Buried deep within us are gifts and talents that need to be discovered, used, and developed. The ultimate goal is to function within our giftings to bring the highest good and greatest glory to God.
Because we all have issues, insecurities, past baggage and fears, the discovery and development of our gifts and gift-mixes is a long and sometimes painful process.
My own teen years of deep and crippling insecurity and fear of people was a labor-some inner process to bring me to the place of public leadership today. For years, I was locked in a self-inflicted prison that became a place of comfort and strange security. Being drawn out of that fear-filled and personal debilitating place could only happen by yielding in often baby-steps to the call of the Spirit.
The steps I followed are well identified in Robert Clinton’s book: “The Making of a Leader”:
Awareness of a gift
Discovery of a gift
Increased use of a gift
Effectiveness in using that gift
Discovery of other gifts
Identification of gift-mixes
Development of gift-mixes.
Success is not measured by what I can do, but by what God and I are doing together to draw out latent gifts and abilities that He has placed within me. God will allow and bring into our lives all sorts of circumstances, tough positions and often challenging people. I am called to yield with His workings, learn and grow.
If I honor God in the processes, He will honor me. Haggai 2:20-23 gives this assuring, rock-solid word: “I will honor you. I will treat you like a signet ring on my finger for I have specially chosen you. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken.”
What stage best describes where you are at in using your gifts for God?
Your friend,
Margaret
I often take a 30,000 foot view on my life and realize that in my lifetime, I have been about 6 different women. I am totally different today than when I was at 16, 24, 39, 45, 50 and 60.
We all come fresh from the hand of God with a specific purpose and plan. Buried deep within us are gifts and talents that need to be discovered, used, and developed. The ultimate goal is to function within our giftings to bring the highest good and greatest glory to God.
Because we all have issues, insecurities, past baggage and fears, the discovery and development of our gifts and gift-mixes is a long and sometimes painful process.
My own teen years of deep and crippling insecurity and fear of people was a labor-some inner process to bring me to the place of public leadership today. For years, I was locked in a self-inflicted prison that became a place of comfort and strange security. Being drawn out of that fear-filled and personal debilitating place could only happen by yielding in often baby-steps to the call of the Spirit.
The steps I followed are well identified in Robert Clinton’s book: “The Making of a Leader”:
Awareness of a gift
Discovery of a gift
Increased use of a gift
Effectiveness in using that gift
Discovery of other gifts
Identification of gift-mixes
Development of gift-mixes.
Success is not measured by what I can do, but by what God and I are doing together to draw out latent gifts and abilities that He has placed within me. God will allow and bring into our lives all sorts of circumstances, tough positions and often challenging people. I am called to yield with His workings, learn and grow.
If I honor God in the processes, He will honor me. Haggai 2:20-23 gives this assuring, rock-solid word: “I will honor you. I will treat you like a signet ring on my finger for I have specially chosen you. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken.”
What stage best describes where you are at in using your gifts for God?
Your friend,
Margaret
Monday, September 14, 2009
How do you define success? (Part 1)
Working in Women Alive, I have been frequently asked, “So, what is your annual budget?” or “How many women are in your database?” or “How many attended your conferences last year?” These are common questions asked to determine success.
While strategic plans, goals and stats are important, numbers are only a small part of what determines success. In a ministry such as Women Alive, the impact of changed lives cannot be fully measured in this lifetime and certainly not by numbers.
How do you define success?
~ Margaret
Continued next week...
While strategic plans, goals and stats are important, numbers are only a small part of what determines success. In a ministry such as Women Alive, the impact of changed lives cannot be fully measured in this lifetime and certainly not by numbers.
How do you define success?
~ Margaret
Continued next week...
Monday, September 7, 2009
Where are you, God?

"I didn’t want it to end up like this," she cried into the phone. "I'm so alone. Life is not worth living."
Suffering from a mental illness, her life had become too complicated. Nothing made sense. How could there be purpose if this is all there is? If this is the way it ends?
I wonder if any of you have ever had those identical feelings of doubt and confusion. The roadblocks we talked about earlier often give rise to mental uncertainty. From the human perspective, bleakness hovers.
In Mark 15: 16-25 we read about what the disciples experienced during Jesus' last day before he died. Their friend, mentor and guide was tried in a Roman court and crucified. All potential hope of a better life buried with the saviour. Or so they thought.
Did they think right?
Try to imagine some of the thoughts that might have gone through the disciples minds?
Did they anticipate life taking this sharp turn? How would you feel if you had been there?
All the confusion that clouded their thinking did not make sense. But again, when bleakness hovers, where is God? In God's big picture, what happened on the day Christ hung on the cross?
Think of a time in your life when you could not understand (maybe right now) what good could possibly come from all the confusion in your life. Have you been able to look back and discover God at work?
Consider this when you face life's confusing times:
"God's silence is in no way indicative of His inactivity or involvement in our lives. He may be silent but He is not still." ~ Dr. Charles Stanley
I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Ruth
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Roadblocks and Waiting
Did I hear correctly? The words that filtered through my mind, but did not register, came from my husband who told me that he no longer had a job. It couldn't be. Thirty years of climbing the business ladder of success could not possibly be at an end. With four children -- one in university, one in high school, one in public school, and one in diapers -- there needed to be a pay cheque. It would not come from me, for I enjoyed the “stay at home mom” role.
"When does this take effect?" I cautiously asked.
"You didn’t hear me, did you? I do not have a job." My temporary hearing loss protected me momentarily from the shock of such unexpected news.
Suddenly, I recalled my prayer of just days earlier asking God to free Bob up just a little (not a lot), as he frequently travelled. As General Manager of the company, he worked long hours.
Without warning, the next day, Monday, Bob ate breakfast with all of us. Then, lunch with me and supper with all of us again. The next day repeated that Monday and each day following for several months.
Roadblocks...we all have them at some time in our life. Life as we once enjoyed comes to an abrupt halt, leaving us with a form of whiplash. The muscles, sinews and ligaments in our head have been stretched and torn. Thinking becomes a mixture of doubt, confusion and fear causing more wear and tear on an already fragile mind.
For the Coghill family, this roadblock forced us to make some decisions we had not intended to make. Well-established in Windsor at the time, we had just finished renovations and added a beautiful in-ground pool to our yard. Our eldest son studied at the University of Windsor with a final year ahead. We had every reason to stay except... no job.
Look at the verses God directed me to at the beginning of that year: Psalm 27:1 & 14, "The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Wait on the Lord be of good courage and He shall strengthen thy heart. Wait, I say on the Lord." God provided through His word the hope that He had not forsaken us. He wants to do the same for you.
Naomi portrays a woman whose life, for a number of years, contained many roadblocks. Famine, a major move, the death of her husband, then within ten years the death of her two sons. Her provision, security and identity threatened, she battled many of the questions all of us do when confronted with the STOP sign. Where to turn? Where to go? Read in Ruth 1: 1-18. Feeling forsaken by God, these roadblocks forced her to make choices.
Can you think of any positive outcome from roadblocks? What new life awaited Naomi because of those challenges?
Let me know what roadblocks you are facing. What are you learning through them? Let's talk.
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