Ask More: The Power of Questions to Open Doors, Uncover Solutions, and Spark Change pdfdrive com

Intentional Is as Intentional Is Perceived
You may be thinking, “Isn’t every functioning professional intentional? If I
weren’t, I couldn’t keep my job.” Well, yes, you’re right. And I bet you can
point to many times in your day when you aren’t as thoughtful about your
actions as you could be—especially as it relates to your presence. And we can
easily call out this tendency in other people, too.
Let me take a moment to describe what I mean by being intentional: I define
having an intentional presence as understanding how you want to be perceived
and subsequently communicating in a manner so that you will be perceived the
way you want. It means aligning your thoughts with your words and actions.
And it requires a keen understanding of your true, authentic self, as well as your
impact on others.
There are different kinds of intentions. Some are broad and relatively stable,
such as when you declare, “I want to be a visionary leader.” Other intentions are
situational, such as, “In this strategy session, I must be the catalyst for change.”
We’ll discuss various types of intentions in the chapters in Part 1, and how to put
them into practice in your life.
Trust that intentions change your presence. I see it every day. You will, too.
You Are What You Think, Even When You’re Not Paying Attention
In January 2001, Harvard Business Review featured an article by Jim Loehr and
Tony Schwartz labeling today’s executives as corporate athletes.
1
The article
addressed how to bring an athletic training methodology to the development of
leaders. This approach makes tremendous sense on a number of levels, and
especially in terms of mental conditioning.
Anyone who follows sports knows the importance of an athlete’s focus. We
all admired Michael Phelps at the Beijing 2008 Olympics as he listened to his
iPod stone-faced, concentrating, before he dove into the water. We respect an
athlete’s ability to use positive visualization and intention, and readily
acknowledge its benefit.
Somehow, though, outside of athletics such rituals seem unnecessary or even
silly. It reminds us of Al Franken’s famous Saturday Night Live character Stuart
Smalley saying to himself in the mirror, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough,
and doggone it, people like me.” Taking the time to have the discussion with

---

yourself about what you want to accomplish with your presence may seem more
like pop psychology/self-help than hard-core executive training.
Guess again. Taking the time to figure out what you want your presence to
convey is a critical and powerful first step. That is the image of yourself you
want to keep in mind as you do your own dive into the water. It’s your mental
aim.