Why the Peacock?

    I’ve been fascinated with peacocks since childhood. Our neighbor’s screeching peafowl were “noisy” to some, but magical to me. A peacock’s call still evokes that mystical wooded backyard of my youth.

    Peacocks symbolize self confidence, magnetism, and beauty without arrogance. Their feathers are said to have protective powers of healing and foresight. Peacocks teach us to strut our stuff with dignity and grace -- great role models as we learn to claim and share our own gifts and talents.

    These birds need a tranquil environment to thrive. They might noisily show off their beauty – but come from a centered, un-frenzied space to do it. I find this to be true for me, and most successful business leaders & entrepreneurs, too!

    ~ Martha Carnahan

The #1 Key to Great Business Partnerships (or, how eavesdropping makes a wicked good writing prompt)

Tweet Coffee shop. Crowded and cramped. Awkward moment, attempting to close my ears to the crescendo of conversation between a man and a woman sitting inches from where I stood waiting for my Chai Tea Latte. I would like to have poked my fingers in my ears and sang, “la-la-la-la-la-la,” to drown out their argument. [...]

We Are All Self-Employed

Tweet Often, new clients come to coaching because they feel trapped in their jobs. Trapped by money, loyalty guilt and quite often, fear of the unknowns of a new job. They hate Monday mornings, resent management decisions and often feel quite stressed out. There is actually a cure for this misery! And you don’t even [...]

Why Failure is FANTASTIC!

Tweet “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  ~Thomas A. Edison I know you’ve heard this many times, but it bears repeating: Failure = Opportunity to Learn. A device I use to remember this comes from a story I heard many years ago during a coach training class. We had [...]

It’s Thursday… Time to Recalibrate!

Tweet Almost every Thursday I announce that it’s “Recalibration Thursday!” on my BrilliantVisions Facebook page. Some folks have asked me, “What the heck is Recalibration Thursday, and what the heck do you actually do to recalibrate?” Well, here is everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask. Recalibration Thursday = A Mindset, a [...]

Fetching? Guarding? Herding? What’s Your Natural Talent?

Tweet I truly get off on witnessing a talent shared and embraced. It’s a beautiful thing. Let’s start with dog competitions. I swear, I cry at dog shows and agility trials. There is something about seeing the natural instincts of a particular breed come to life that makes me weep. I once watched a television [...]

How to Clean Up Your Idea Clutter

Tweet You know all about cluttered spaces. Even if you’re not a clutter person, you probably know someone who is. Or maybe you’ve seen one of those reality TV shows about hoarders. It’s rare to find anyone in Western civilization who hasn’t experienced even a short-term bout of clutter. But what about “idea clutter”? So [...]

How to Get Your Values Honored at Work

Tweet Do certain things about your workplace rub you the wrong way? Do you go home at night and tell your family and friends that, if you were in charge, you would do things differently? It could be a case of mis-aligned values. If your personal values and your company’s values are at odds, it [...]

Your Job is to Let In the Goodness

Tweet “Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and the thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.” ~Edmund Lee Someone emailed me the other day about a project we are collaborating on and in her note she [...]