Leaders Leave Legacies

“Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.“  - Shannon L. Alder

My flagship program for high school and college students in the Region of Peel, Ontario is a workshop called Leaders Leave Legacies. A key feature of my workshop is helping the students understand the importance of creating wonderful memories and leaving a legacy.

Let us take Thomas Clement “Tommy” Douglas, a Scottish-born Canadian who became the father of universal health care program. As boy in Winnipeg doctors told his parent his leg had to be amputated because they could not afford the cost of the treatment for the medical condition that affected his leg. Fortunately his leg was saved when his parents agreed to allow medical students to observe his treatment by a well-known orthopedic surgeon who treated him for free. The experience convinced Tommy Douglas that health care should be free to all.

Another story I share with the students is about Sir John Alexander MacDonald, the first Prime Minister of Canada. He was a dominant figure of Canadian Confederation and had to agree to join forces with his political rival, George Brown. This decision resulted in the British North America Act and the birth of Canada as a nation on 1 July 1867.

There are lots of great leaders past and present that I admire such as Nelson Mandela and Michael Manley. Good leaders are an enabling force, helping people and organizations to perform and develop. In large corporation leaders ensure that a sophisticated alignment is achieved between the aims of the organization and customers’ needs. Attitudes and behaviours as it relates to humanity and the concept of serving are fundamental to the leadership role. Leadership is a about serving others that is selflessly putting the needs of others ahead of personal needs.

A year ago I was invited to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands to join in the celebration of the 10^th Anniversary of the Tortola Toastmasters Club. Ten years earlier I had arrived on the island and yearning to make friends and integrate into the community I was instrumental in chartering the club and became the first president. On the night of Saturday November 3, 2012 at the 10^th Anniversary Dinner at the Moorings Restaurant I truly humbled by how the simplest things we do leaves the greatest memories. When I spoke that night these were my words “Ten years ago, a group of us planted a seed and that seed was nurtured and flourished to this beautiful moment. I met strangers, but we formed friendships and bonds. We had a dream 10 years ago and that dream led to this moment of glorious celebration.”

Leaders leave legacy, what memories are you creating? What will be your legacy?

Mark McKenzie is a leading Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth mentor.  He can be contacted by email mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog  http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share. Follow me on Twitter @mackynacky. Connect with me on www.youtube.com, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.

5 Wonderful Benefits of Community Involvement

Last night I had the wonderful privilege as Area Governor of hosting Toastmasters International Area 67 Table Topics and Humourous Speech Contests at the Guelph Community Health Centre. I have been a member of Toastmasters International for more than ten years. The primary benefit of the Toastmasters program is that it allows members to develop and hone their communication and leadership skills. Other than that my involvement in the Toastmasters program allows to truly get involved in my community to share and reap the benefits of sharing.

Today I would like to share five wonderful benefits of sharing based on my community activities. First you get to meet some of the most wonderful people in your community. For example, for my event last night in Guelph I met two beautiful ladies who invested their time and efforts to ensuring that all the members and guests had a memorable experience. If I was not involved in my community I would never have met Isabel and Grace. They are both caring and compassion.

Being involved in my community I learn more about other cultures. For example last night Harry shared his experience growing up with his sisters on a farm in Canada. He shared stories of the funny things they did for entertainment when television pictures were still black and white and there were only three channels. For me I could not help reflecting on how similar his childhood was to mine growing up in rural Jamaica. The truth is we have a lot more in common with each as there are differences between us.

Through my involvement in the community I have made friends who I am confident will last me a life time. For example, I spoke with Neil over the phone last week and I knew then he was a great guy and then I met him in person last night and he is even more awesome as friend.

I also get the opportunity to practice my teaching skills, develop community outreach skills and contribute towards growth of my community and its future.  However, my greatest pleasure from my community involvement is seeing the sense of satisfaction and excitement on the face of those who I have inspired and empowered. For example I first met Tyler in June when he was inducted as the President of Royal City Toastmasters Club. He chaired our Table Topics Contest last night. This was his first time chairing a Toastmasters Area Contest and he performed admirable and professional. At the end of the night when I spoke with Tyler he was elated and was already planning for the next time he had to chair an Area contest.
Yesterday I drove 45 minutes from Brampton, Ontario to Guelph, Ontario and spend about 3 hours with some wonderful people because of the benefits I derived from my community involvement. You too can share these benefits by getting involved.

Mark McKenzie is a leading Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth mentor.  He can be contacted by email mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog  http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share. Follow me on Twitter @mackynacky. Connect with me on www.youtube.com, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.

My Wife’s 3 Incredible Gut Punches

Today I would like to share with you three lessons I learned from my wife. I call them her incredible gut punches. They are the key to the success of our marriage of 20 years.

In today’s ultra-competitive environment our success and advancement is based on our on individual ability or achievement. The growth of social medias such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Linkedin plays a significant role in relevance of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship in our new world. These are key differences between the haves and the have nots, high income and lower income. It the difference between rich and poor!

There are other important factors that contribute to success. Margarent Wente in her article in The Globe and Mail on Sunday titled “Victorian values for the 21st century” alluded to the fact that in future there will be a lot more work requiring as attention to detail, good interpersonal relationship skills, ability to work in teams, calm and steady temperament. Fareed Zakaria in a commencement speech at Harvard University in 2012 that is posted on Youtube noted that intelligence, hard work, discipline and courage are the virtues that has been honoured and rewarded for thousands of years. The key point is the factors for success have not changed.

After 20 years of marriage I have learned three incredible lessons from my wife which are equally important to success. The first lesson for me is the importance of self-regulation. My wife punches me in the gut every time when it comes to self-regulation. Self-regulation is the processes that enable you to guide your goal-directed activities over time and across changing circumstances. With each challenges my wife faces I cannot help but admire how her process of self-regulation is initiated to make adjustment. She is able to swiftly adopt or even change direction to ensure that our goals are on target. Take for example this morning when we arrived at the Brampton GO Train Terminal for her 7.20AM train to Toronto Union Station and learned of a train derailment. While my initial thoughts were okay let us head back home, she promptly said let us find the next GO Station where the train are still in operations.

The second important lesson for me is the importance of conscientiousness that is the importance of being thorough, careful, or vigilant. My wife kicks me in the butt with her innate desire to doing a task well. As a 21st century working mother she is efficient, organized, neat, and systematic. She has a high level of self-discipline, carefulness and thoroughness and self-organization. My wife is incredibly organised. On the other hand I leave my clothes all over and I can never find my socks. My tendency to think carefully before acting is my wife’s interpretation of procrastination. In my chaotic and disorganised world my wife is like 911 or 1-800-HELP! My wife has an incredible ability to multi-task. She is like the conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra with her grace, elegance and diligence.

Speaking of diligence, my wife cracks my nuts when it comes to diligence that is steady, earnest, energetic application and effort required to achieve specific tasks. Catching five minutes of Toronto Maple Leafs opening game against the Ottawa Senators is like being a sluggard. My wife is diligent when it comes to perform goal oriented tasks. She is attentive, persistent and consistent whatever she set out to do.

The three incredible lessons relevant to success that I have learned from my wife of 20 years are the importance of self-regulation, conscientiousness and diligence. What have you learned from your spouse?

Mark McKenzie is a leading Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth mentor.  He can be contacted by email mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share. Follow me on Twitter @mackynacky. Connect with me on www.youtube.com, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.

Special Spoon School Bus Spat

Yesterday Marisa, my 5 year old daughter, had a spat on the school because of her special spoon.  Like the silly and shameful statesmen scrambling over spending in the United Sates, Marisa had a spat over her special spoon.

My blog today is about a spunky special spoon.  It was not a spooky spoon before spat the on school bus. The hot pursuit of the speeding car by the Secret Service agents and security officers that led to the fatal shooting of a woman was spooky.

Marisa stepped off the school bus shedding showers of tears. On the school bus most of the children cheered and sang for her to show the special spoon.  At lunch she was laughed at because of her special spoon. Her spoon was called a baby spoon. Thinking it would have been different she showed her special spoon to the cheering children on the school bus. Sadly it was not cheering but jeering. Why did she take her out special spoon on the school bus?

With showers of tears rolling down her sad face I hugged her and asked her what’s wrong? It was then that another child shouted out that Marisa had slapped someone on the school bus for laughing at her special spoon. Soon there were two other sad faces with tears rolling down their eyes. At that point I asked Marisa and the two other children for a group hug and to apologise to each other.

Why did Marisa want to show her special spoon? Her spoon is special. It is a special spoon because it was a gift from Marchelle, her sweet sister. Marisa has two special spoons plus a spunky knife and a sparkly fork.

The silly shameful statesmen had a showdown that shutdown the US government and Marisa’s special school led to a spat on the shiny school bus and September has just ended. Marisa has declared that she will not take her special spoon to school again. Being laughed at made Marisa sad and her special spoon is now spooky.  Please share your stories about your special spoon or gadget.

It is Friday thanks for your continued support and encouragement.

Let us huddle in for a big group hug for the children and the spunky sparkly spooky special spoon on school bus.

Have a joyous weekend.

Mark McKenzie is a leading Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth mentor.  He can be contacted by email mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog  http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share. Follow me on Twitter @mackynacky. Connect with me on www.youtube.com, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.

My Battle with Mother Nature

I had a serious battle with Mother Nature on Sunday as I raked the lawn. It was slightly windy and that created a bit of healthy competition between leaves falling from the trees and myself. Needless to say in my battle with Mother Nature I came out on the losing end. Even before I was finished there were more leaves on the lawn than I managed to dispose of.

In my healthy encounter with Mother Nature I reflected on the autumn equinox which marks the arrival of the season of fall. It is a signal of changes. It also means the Canadian winter is just around the corner. Winter and I are not friends.  One year I spent the entire Valentine’s Day in the emergency room at Credit Valley Hospital after shoveling snow which I swear came from across the entire country and accumulated only on my driveway. Winter for me is another story for another time!

On Sunday as I raced with the leaves falling to the ground I was in awe with how the process reflects our lives. I saw the falling leaves similar to us letting go off things that prevented us from succeeding in our lives, relationships or careers which we call the burdens of life.

Fall is the season that allows us to reflect on the impermanence of things around us and embrace changes in our lives. Just as the flowers budded in the April and May and radiated with beauty in the summer our lives in about constant changes. When the leaves fall and the branches are bared it is a preparation for the renewal of our spirit. It could the birth of a new idea for business or your career or a new relationship. It is about something exciting. It is about something that will give you joy and happiness.

Like the leaves are falling from the trees let go off the things that are preventing you from succeeding in your lives, relationship and careers. Let the leaves fall and your branches bared of your burdens of life but rejuvenate your spirit for success just as the plants budding of life in April and May. Rekindle your joy and happiness just as the flowerings and abundance of summer.

Mark McKenzie is a leading Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth mentor.  He can be contacted by email mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog  http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share. Follow me on Twitter @mackynacky. Connect with me on www.youtube.com, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.

My Wife Kicked Me Out

My wife kicked me out of the room this morning.

Every morning I wake up at the crack of dawn before the cock crow that is before the alarm clock goes off. There are no roosters near my home in Brampton, Ontario. I grew up in the 1970s as farm boy and to this day I still accustom to be up and out of bed between 4.30am and 5.00am.

I enjoy the stillness and reverence when I am up and alone either late in the night or very early in the morning. One of my favourite quotes is “Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the night” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I use the time alone early in the morning to reflect and connect with that spiritual force that makes me who I am.
This morning I woke up to the tunes and lyrics of Bob Marley’s Lively Up Yourself. The portion of the song I caught as I attempted to turn my alarm clock was:

Hey, you rock so, you rock so, like you never did before
You dip so, you dip so, and you can dip thru my door
You come so, you come so, oh yeah, like I do adore you
You skank so, you skank so, and-a I can assure you

You can lively up yourself and don't be no drag
Hey, you lively up yourself, can you dig it?

Hey (you rock so, you rock so), like you never did before
You dip so, you dip so, can you dig it?

Man, when I heard these lyrics I was on top of the world. You should see me rocking and dipping at 5am. I was dancing and prancing until my wife kicked my butt out of the room as she try to steal five more minutes of sleep. No sooner had she kicked me out she was up and about dancing Beyonce’s “Girls Who Run The World”.

Our positive energy is infectious. My positive energy was of such this morning that even when my wife kicked me out of the room she had no choice but to “rock so, dip so” dancing and prancing.

What song are you listening to this morning? What song makes you feel on top of the world? What song helps you to create positive energy?

Mark McKenzie is a leading Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth mentor.  He can be contacted by email mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog  http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share. Follow me on Twitter @mackynacky. Connect with me on www.youtube.com, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.

The Pig on Harmony Farm

I trust that you had a wonderful day on Monday.

Embrace the best in yourself and the best in others.

I like the pig on Rebecca Grazulis’ Harmony Farm, a bedtime story I frequently read with my 5 year old daughter. The story is about all animals on Harmony Farm that had grown bored of their daily routines. They desperately yearned to do something different. The cow wanted to lay an egg because it looked exciting. The cat did not find chasing mice challenging anymore. The sheepdog felt bad bossing the sheep all the time.
Harmony Farm is about the courage of the animals except the pig trying something different.  The donkey was tired of plowing and went to herding sheep. The sheepdog went to pull the plow. Cow went to lay an egg and the hen went to produce milk. The horse went to chase mice. They all exchanged jobs.  However, the pig was contented. He jollily kept rolling around in the mud.

After an hour the animals found they were no good at their new chores and they gave up. They were disappointed and unhappy.  As they shared their disappointments and unhappiness, the pig pointed out to each not to focus on what it can’t do but rather to think about what each can do. The pig noted that the donkey was the best plow puller and cat could catch more mice than the pig can count. Harmony Farm is about accepting the best in ourselves and each other.

I remember few years ago when my eldest daughter was in grade nine she decided to enter an art competition. The night before the contest my wife and I stayed up until 2AM the next morning keeping our daughter’s company as she finished her art work. When she was finished we were extremely impressed like any other doting parents. On the day of the competition I drove her to the community centre in Oakville, Ontario to display her art work alongside work of hundreds of other students in the region. Judges reviewed the work of the aspiring young artists.

As impressive as I thought my daughter’s piece was the judges saw it differently. At the end of day as I began our one hour drive back home I looked across at my 13 year old daughter and I saw the tears rolling down her eyes.  She was disappointed and unhappy just like the animals in Harmony Farm but I knew she would be just fine. Like the animals she had demonstrated tremendous courage entering the competition. I knew she had done her best and like the pig in Harmony Farm I told her she was the best. Today she is an aspiring cake designer and pastry chef in world class culinary school.

Today I would like to encourage you to be like the animals on Harmony Farm having the courage to try something different but above all being comfortable in yourselves while seeing the best in others.

I like the pig on Harmony Farm. Have a great Tuesday!

Mark McKenzie is a leading Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth mentor.  He can be contacted by email mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog  http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share. Follow me on Twitter @mackynacky. Connect with me on www.youtube.com, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.