What Centers You?

At the Leadership Challenge Workshop last week, Master Facilitator Ken Hurdle talked about the importance of being centered before starting a facilitation.

A facilitator who is not centered can only decenter the team he or she is working with.

Ken shared his three 'triggers' with us, and asserted the importance of finding our own.

I agree with Ken, and add that it's important for any person to find those things that center them - particularly in the workplace.

In general, I have three sources of equilibrium:

1. A Hot Shower -  No good day can start without one.
2. Music -  There's a lot of music that gets me in the zone, but Peter Gabriel and Japanese singer Cocco (pictured above) are the two I can always count on.
3. Driving my PT Cruiser - with the top-down in the sun (with music, of course)

Japanese Singer Cocco

For teaching or facilitating, however, there are three things that get me off to a great start

1. Wearing Black - no worries about dirt, stains, or markers.
2. World Music - A.R. Rahman, Anggun, or Faye Wong; world music puts me in an open, inclusive frame of mind.
3. A Bottle of Ice Cold Water - I need the water, and the bottle is a sort of totem for me.

Clad in Black

So... What centers you?