What gifts can I give to serving leaders this holiday season? Every year I face the challenge of what gifts to I give to our serving leaders community. It’s been an amazing year. I want to find the right gifts for you and your family this Christmas.

Serving Leadership is about serving others through our mission, passion, and purpose. It’s easy to get caught up with the day to day activities and miss the bigger picture. I was recently sharing with friends that many of us spend more time planning our vacations for than the rest of our lives.

Many of us prepare to take on a new mission, or transition from our professional  careers to a different role. Over 10,000 baby boomers are retiring every day or 270,000 people per month. Can you imagine how much we could accomplish together if we all chose to use our unique gifts to make a better world?

It’s critical that we invest the time to find the best way to align the next stage of our lives with a greater mission and purpose. One of the gifts I got while working in hospice is a better understanding what we regret when we enter our final days.

My work in hospice confirmed that given a choice between preparing for the future or living n the past, many people choose the later. To be fair, its hard to be certain how people might use their gifts in the final stages in life. Many people I’ve known struggled to explain how they felt about their impending death.

When dealing with younger people, many expressed regrets not for what they did, but for those opportunities left untried. There’s nothing worse than going to the grave wondering what might have been. How will you choose to use your gifts and strengths? Is it for the greater good, in service to others? Do you have a longtime passion that you are wanting to express?

It’s been a very long time since you started down this path. Your life has had many ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies. Your journey is unique and shared. I thought it might be helpful  to remind you of your gifts as you prepare to take the next steps towards your brighter future.

I have several questions to help you focus on what you might like to do with the rest of your life. These questions come from a fantastic book by Bill George, called Discover Your True North expanded and revised edition. These questions are on page 40. If you’re preparing for your retirement, this book helps you reconnect and reignite your passion for making a difference in the world.

Bill George and I both believe that the past provides clues for future possibilities. Bill’s books on Authentic Leadership have always been a part of what I provide my clients during their life transitions.

I call this part of my transition program Life Leaves Clues. Connecting your past successes to your future opportunities provides you incredible insight into not only who you really are, but why. If you discover your why, almost anything is possible. Each of these questions helps you find your gifts.

1. Looking at patterns from your early life story, what people, events, and experiences have had the greatest impact on you and your life?
2. In which experiences did you find the greatest inspiration and passion for your leadership?
3. Do the failures or disappointments you experienced earlier in your life constrain you, even today, or have you been able to reframe them as learning experiences?
4. Do you think you need to make any adjustments to your personal and leadership development as a result? IF, so, what are they?

The biggest gifts of these four questions is that when you’re done answering them, you have started creating the foundation for your future. Over the next several weeks we explore how you can use this information as you begin building your personal transition plan

You might enjoy a blast from Christmas past at Merry Christmas, Seven Gifts You Should Bring Your Clients in 2019!

Merry Christmas. See you in January, 2020!