Tag Archives: booking

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FFP 034: Innovation’s Greatest Challenge

Leaders are Innovators! What is innovation? How to Overcome Innovation's Greatest Challenge!

This episode of The Future Focused Podcast was recorded before most COVID-19 restrictions. I have been unable to post it due to work and family obligations from the COVID-19 pandemic. I am excited to share it with you now. I believe it is timely, but the intro oddly does not reference the current state of our global situation well.

This episode of The Future Focused Podcast is all about innovation. Innovation is a buzz word that quite often gets misused or tossed around without people fully understanding it. The purpose of this episode is to define what innovation really is, how it plays an important role in leadership, and I’ll identify innovation’s greatest challenge. By the end of the episode, you will fully understand what innovation is and will be excited to make it a part of your leadership style.

People admire innovators. People want to hire innovators. People want to become innovators.

Listen to this episode and learn what true innovation is, why it escapes so many, and what a leader can do to make innovation part of their organization’s culture.

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Future Focused Podcast.

Kelly Croy is an author, speaker, and educator. Want to learn more? Send an email. • Sign-up for Kelly’s Newsletter. Listen to Kelly’s other podcast The Wired Educator Podcast with over 148 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

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FFP 026: Ask Better Questions, Live a Better Life!

In this episode of the Future Focused Podcast I focus on questions!  We need to ask better questions. You see, we ask ourselves hundreds of questions every day. We ask questions of others. Our life is guided by the questions we ask. I will explore how we ask, who we ask, and when we ask and offer guidance on how to improve our questions to get better results.

In this episode I want to help YOU design a more dynamic life. We design the life we want by the questions we ask. Great questions have power.

Great questions have several qualities that you will learn in this episode. Get your journal ready to start designing the life you want by the questions you ask.

Stop asking the same questions and pretending to be surprised when you get the same results.

Many of you are purchasing gifts this time of year; I hope you will consider my book Along Came a Leader as a gift for yourself, a colleague, and administrator, and a family member this holiday season. It’s available on Amazon. It was a work of love. I am so proud of it. Level-up your leadership. Discover the 8 core attributes of leadership and how to put them work to impact lives and lead. We need leaders. If you’ve already read it, I hope you will leave a review. 

 

 Looking for a speaker for your event? • Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. Want to learn more? Send me an email. • Sign-up for Kelly’s Newsletter. Are you ready for a personal coach? Click this link to learn more.• Listen to Kelly’s other podcast The Wired Educator Podcast with over 150 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

 

 

 

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FFP 002: Goal Setting Workshop: How to Set Goals to Change Your Life

The Future Focused Podcasts Episode 2: A 20 Minute Goal Setting Workshop

In this episode of the Future Focused Podcast Kelly will guide you through a powerful goal setting workshop. He will show you how to get your goals down on paper and prioritize them into a workable plan. This workshop will help put you on the path to a life you will be excited about living and offer you the ability to make a meaningful impact in the people you love.

Goal setting is an art the Kelly has been practicing for decades.

Whether this is your first time setting goals, or whether you are a veteran goal setter, this podcast will provide some great take-aways and value to help plan your year.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Moleskine Journal: This is the journal Kelly uses to brainstorm, plan, set goals, and stay on track.

The Daily Stoic: This is Kelly’s Favorite Book from 2017.

Special Index Cards To-do List: This is what I use to use with a special lined surface on front & back.

Things 3: A To-Do App for Mobile Devices

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review. 

Should I hire a coach? Yes, but only if you can afford it. You can accomplish much with the right resources. (If you are interested in working with me as your coach this year, please send me an email.)

Kelly Croy

Inspirational Speaker & Performance Artist

www.KellyCroy.com

Click Here to email Kelly. 

1-800-831-4825 

 

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Conversations and a Gathering of Great Minds

Bag and hands by Alejandro Escamilla

Image by Alejandro Escamilla

I recently had breakfast with an old friend at a restaurant. He told me he meets there with a group of men regularly, and they talk about education, kids, curriculum, and the world. They even had a little brass plaque on wall with their initials engraved on it.  It was early, but the conversation put my mind in the right mode of thinking for the entire day. New perspectives were shared. I saw topics in a new light, and, well, I shared some of my ideas too.

Today, I was listening to a few minutes of a show titled GPS on CNN. I caught it just by chance. Just one of those moments where I was getting a snack when I shouldn’t have, and the TV was on in the kitchen.  What a great show! I’m not sure I am intelligent enough to grasp everything it covered, but I enjoyed the variety and richness of discussion. The show focused on solutions and big ideas.

I was inspired by the host’s guest too, “Homeless Billionaire” Nicolas Berggruen, who has recently  started a ‘think tank” where the top minds of the world will gather and well… think. He is building an institute that focuses on free speech, curiosity, and diversity. Nicholas calls this institute a “secular monestary” where scholars will live, work, host meetings, and talk about a range of topics from technology, philosophy to government, and more! He says he wants to give the world a place where people can have conversations.

These two events, my friend’s gathering at breakfast and the CNN story, are the same concept at different levels. Both groups, one big and one small, are focused on getting great minds together and having a conversation.

Are we doing this? Are we having discussions? This is more than liking pictures and status updates. These are face-to-face conversations in real time. This is setting aside a time to meet in person, spend time together, talk and then collaborate on solutions.

I was fortunate to have been invited to Berlin, Germany this summer to do just that with amazing educators from all around the world at the Apple Distinguished Educator Global Institute 2016. It was amazing and beneficial. This was thinking big on a big scale. This should happen often and so should smaller discussions too, at smaller levels.

How can we do more of this?  How can you or I get a group of thinkers together to talk and collaborate?

I challenge you this week to do just that. Start something. Join something. If you accomplish it online, well, I guess that is okay,  but if you can find a way to meet in person I think you will see many added benefits.

As an English teacher I am reminded of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and G. K. Chester meeting at a pub regularly for a talk. They called themselves The Inlkings. What came from these “talks” is some of my favorite literature and essays.

On my podcast I recently interviewed two authors about a trip they took home after a conference. They rode together in a car and talked. From this conversation sprang forth the idea for a book which was recently published on a very important topic.

These ‘think tanks’ or conversations are important. While they of course can “just happen” from time to time, imagine the results if we actually planned a few.

Kelly Croy  • Speaker, Artist and Educator • Invite Kelly to speak at your event!
www.KellyCroy.com  •  info@kellycroy.com  •  1-800-831-4825 

Please send me information on:

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The Importance of Celebrating Others

Nobody wants to be around people who just tolerate them.

Everbody loves to be around people who celebrate them.

Leadership is a skill which can be learned and taught, and one of the most important lessons is celebrating the success of others.

It’s a refreshing change in a “Me First” world: First and foremost, celebrating others is not only the right thing to do, it places those who practice this unique and powerful craft at the top 1% of people others want to be around. It’s easy to celebrate others and it doesn’t have to cost anything. In an age where “selfies” are the mainstream of social media, celebrating others is a refreshing change of pace. People are enchanted by those who place others above themselves. The greats practice celebrating others. Oprah, Ellen, Jimmy Fallon are all quick to congratulate and share the success of those they are around. We love it! We love seeing others genuinely happy about the success of others.Click to Read More

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How to Stay Focused on Your Goals and a Special Offer

Focus

Setting goals has always been a part of my life.  It is something my parents taught me, scouting taught me, school taught me, and sports taught me, and— it works! I have been setting goals my entire life and I finally developed a system that serves me well.  

In this post I will share the method I have developed that keeps me on-track with my goals. It’s easy and it really works. I know it well help you as your prepare to set goals for the upcoming New Year, but first I want to tell you about a special opportunity that someone I really admiring is offering: It is a program called: Five Days to Your Best Year Ever! The creator of this powerful tool is Michael Hyatt, a man I have been gleaning advice from for several years. I highly recommend you check out his video listen to Michael share with you how you can create the most successful year of your life, regardless of your age or current situation.  It is really worth the investment of your time: 

Here’s the link to Michael Hyatt’s video for: Five Days to Your Best Year Ever!

Now, here’s how I stay focused on my goals: 

My recent natural gas bill arrived. While bills are my least favorite piece of correspondence each month, I have to admit the helpfulness of the statement. It included a nice graph of my usage over the last year.  It let me know how much I have paid and what I owe. Interestingly enough, it even predicted my usage for the following month. Each statement serves as a reminder and holds us to a certain level of accountability of what we owe. It lets us know where we are.

Wouldn’t it be great if we received a similar billing statement each month for our goals?

Seriously! Most people never know where they are with the goals they wish to accomplish. It would be awesome to receive a statement each month telling us how much time we’ve put into our dream, what we owe, where we are at, and what we need to finally finish it.

Well, we can. My billing statement each month is in my journal. I choose the 28th of each month as the due date for my dream statements because I was born on the 28th of July and that’s easiest day for me to remember.  It’s like a private monthly celebration of my life and what I plan to do with it.

You can do the same.

You see, if we don’t review our life goals regularly we get behind, just like we would with a real bill. Unlike the natural gas company, we won’t receive any late notices, but what we owe starts piling up. (Most of the time to a level that makes it appear impossible to accomplish. That’s why people quit.)  Can you imagine how hard it would be if you tried to pay two months at a time, or your entire bill all at once? Ouch! The same is true of our goals and dreams.

Just like our billing statements from our utilities we need to make monthly contributions and track our progress.

So, bust out that journal daily or weekly if you can, but especially on the date of your birth each month. Create a reminder or alert on your phone or calendar if needed.

Write down the big three questions that will drive you toward success:

  1. What do I need to continue doing?
  2. What do I need to start doing?
  3. What do I need to stop doing?

Kelly Croy is a professional speaker and speed artist. 

He has entertained and amazed audiences across the nation

with his art and words.  

 Please consider booking Kelly for your next event.

www.KellyCroy.com

1-800-831-4825

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The Perfect Day

KCBen

What would your perfect day look like? What would it need to include?

It’s fun to think about a perfect day, but of course, we realize, a perfect day isn’t really possible. Still, how great would it be if your day included most of these qualities you listed? Half? Some?  It would still be an incredible day, right?

I wonder how many of us aren’t even hitting one of these per day?  Why is that?  I’m guessing it’s because we didn’t make time for it and plan it into our day. Sure, conflicts come up and there can always be urgent tasks to finish, but planning some of what we love will brighten anyone’s day. Right?  Let’s remember to schedule blocks of time for some of the activities we enjoy doing along with all those pesky to-do items from our daily rat race.

We cannot have a great day if we don’t even know what it would look like, right? Let’s plan for it.

What does your day look like now? What do you need to start including?

I had the good fortune a few year’s back of asking David Blaine any one question I wanted, so I chose, “What is the most influential book you have ever read?” His answer to me? The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.  I did a quick search on iBooks and found it was a free book.  I downloaded it and began reading.  What a treasure trove of applicable life lessons.

Benjamin Franklin tried to live a perfect day and deduced that while it wasn’t possible, we can do much to improve our day.

Here is a peek at Ben’s schedule from 1750:

KCBFDay

I look at his day and I find some great advice that we can apply:

1) Begin Your Day With an Empowering Question: Franklin asks “What good shall I do this day?”  What questions are you asking yourself and are they empowering you? Create some great questions to help you get yourself moving in the direction you want.

2) Work is for Work: Franklin clearly establishes the need to focus and finish work while at work. He doesn’t bring anything home. Make the best use of your time when at work. Don’t bring work home. What a great philosophy. Make time for work and knock it out of the park, and when quitin’ time hits, well… enjoy yourself.

3) Make Time for Yourself: Franklin made time for himself each day. He balanced this in with his chores and work. He made time for himself. Too often I find if we don’t schedule what is meaningful it just doesn’t happen. To live without a schedule means leaving things to chance and that’s when we either don’t make time for things we enjoy, or we lose hours wandering the internet meaninglessly or watching way too much TV. Make time for yourself and balance it in your day.

4) Everything Has it’s Place: Rather than a huge spring cleaning, Franklin builds in time for organizing what he has. I will take the liberty to assume Franklin is somewhat of a minimalist and avoids clutter. Sure these could be chores around the house as well, but if so, it is not the all-encompassing chores many of us bury ourselves in each day.

5) Make Time for Reflection: I really like how Franklin ends his day in reflection, asking himself what good he has done. I think each of us needs to reflect at the end of the day and examine how we spent it. We should ask ourselves what we should keep doing, start doing, and stop doing. Reflection is key.

6) Rest is Important: For many, a good night’s sleep is negotiable, but not for Ben. he made it a priority and accounted for it. Rest is important to those who want to make the most of life. He didn’t over sleep. He kept to a schedule. He made sleep of equal importance in his day as all of his other activities.

7) Wake Early: We can see the Franklin woke up early and that this was important to him. When you look at his life it is amazing what all he accomplished. Waking early was clearly a key to his success.

Make your day great!

Kelly Croy is a professional speaker and artist.

He has entertained and amazed audiences across the nation

with his art and words. 

Please consider booking Kelly for your next event.

www.KellyCroy.com

1-800-831-4825

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Parenting an Artist

Screen Shot 2012 10 31 at 10 32 51 PM

I have heard a lot of people tell me that they were born without an artistic gene in their body, and that they don’t have any artistic skill. But I don’t really believe it.

I believe everyone is born with a desire and the natural ability to create and express themselves artistically. It’s what happens once you start making the art that determines whether or not you’ll continue as an artist.

Children take to art naturally. They create architecture with wooden blocks, sculptures with Play-Dough, and wonderful works of expression with paint, crayons, sticks, mud, legos, and any other medium they can get their hands on and use. They even create art with their food at the dinner table! Children are born artists.

As we grow, we create art, and it is either encouraged or deterred.

The encouraged become the artists of the world. They see what others miss. They create expressive works. They add value.

The deterred are still artists, but just need an awakening. They need a little encouragement, an opportunity, a gentle nudge. Some of the deterred rediscover their artistic talents later in life. They paint the picture, write the novel, bake the cake. Sadly, many others never find it. They cling to the fallacy that they just weren’t born with that special gene.

I am fortunate that my parents encouraged me.

Here’s how my parents helped unleash the artist within me.

My parents:

  • encouraged creative play focused on imagination and pretending.
  • read me books.
  • encouraged me to tell stories.
  • hung my art on the fridge and praised it.
  • involved me with cooking and preparation of meals.
  • filled our home with books. So many wonderful books!
  • took me to unique experiences like fairs, circuses, and concerts.
  • had instruments in the home. (I remember harmonicas, guitars, a piano, and so much more.)
  • kept paper, pens, and crayons within easy reach.
  • spoke well and with fascination of writers, painters, and performers.
  • asked me to make them gifts. (I made birthday cards and Christmas gifts.)
  • listened.
  • played with me.
  • gave me books or lessons on areas I showed an interest.
  • kept encouraging me even after I was a grown adult. (My mom still does. She’s my biggest fan.)
  • listend to music with me.
  • asked questions about my art.
  • bought me my first art supplies
  • bragged on me to others in my presence.

Parenting an artist sounds much like just good parenting, while never ceasing to make opportunities to invite artistic moments in to the life of the child.

Taking time to draw with a child is the artistic equivalent to playing catch in the front yard. A book of paintings becomes the box of baseball cards, and a trip to the museum the seats behind home plate.

If your child expresses the slightest inclination for the arts, seize every opportunity to encourage it, especially if it’s not something you know a lot about. What a wonderful opportunity to explore someplace new with your child.

I am so happy my parents took an interest in my art. It has made all the difference.

A ream of paper, a Sharpie Fine Point, and some music, and I become all that I ever dreamed of as a child.

Parent an artist.

Kelly Croy is a professional speaker and artist.

He has entertained and amazed audiences across the nation

with his art and words. 

Please consider booking Kelly for your next event.

www.kellycroy.com

1-800-831-4825