An important part of what we teach in our Total Leadership Connections Program is that it is an illusion to think we can separate who we are at home from who we are at work. That split causes a multitude of emotional and even physical issues for lots of people.

 
Even more, we teach that what we do in our present work organization is most definitely based on what we learned in our original organization – the family.

 

So, when I was waiting for a turn to get a haircut, I did what many of us do. I flipped through the gossip magazines. And there it was; validation from some of our favorite stars.

 

First I was mesmerized looking at the resemblance of mom Goldie Hawn and daughter, Kate Hudson. Their smiles are so similar and the look, alive and ready for a good laugh. Yet, it is so much more than just color of eyes or stature; it is the habits and patterns we pick up from our parents that are carried from generation to generation. They both drink cold coffee throughout the day. Who knew!

 

 And there is Charlize Theron and her mother Gerda. While there is a strong resemblance, it is as Charlize said, “a certain cheekiness, a capacity to be direct and honest that ties her so closely to her mom.” And Kim Kardashian states about her mother Kris Jenner, “I am turning into my mom. She over exaggerates her stories all the time and I see myself doing the same thing.’

 

Kelly Osborne who gathered a slew of fans when she danced with the stars said what most daughters so often think as they grow out of that wicked stage of adolescence “A year ago, I woke up and thought…… I’m just like my mother! And I got kind of depressed….But since I got off drugs, our relationship has become absolutely incredible.”

 

All the comments were made with a sense of appreciation that comes with growing out of the tumult of teen years and finding ways to be our own type of person. Yet, mom is always in the background. Look at your own relationship with your parents, dads as well as mothers. We do bring traits and foibles, what, in our work we call “patterns”, into our own lives.

 

Maybe this Valentine’s Day is a good time to express the love for the good, true, and beautiful our parents have given us, and find ways to change the patterns we no longer wish to repeat, as a gift to the next generation. 

Tags: Behavioral Patterns, charlizetheron, Communication, Family, Family ties, Family-Based Patterns, Goldie Hawn, Health, Home, Kate Hudson, Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Leaders, Leadership, Parents love, Transformation, Valentine's Day, Workplace Relationships

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 11th, 2010 at 11:50 am and is filed under Coaching, Collaboration, Communication, Conflict, Diversity, Economy, Education, Family, Health, History, Holiday, Integrity, Leaders, Leadership, Media, Money, PatternAware, Patterns, Psychology, Reflections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.