CIRCLE OF FUSION

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Write your name in the heart.
2. Ask the listeners to your story to place their positive comments (key words only) on small stickers or labels as you talk, then paste them in the outer ring as they respond verbally.
3. Write your response to them (key words only) in the inner ring as you verbally acknowledge their positive comments.

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SPARK FUSION THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE GROUP

Like an alloy, Fusion is stronger when every woman is engaged. Here are seven strategies that will help facilitate engagement.

1. No individual should be placed in authority over the others.
2. All decisions should be agreed on by discussion and, if possible, unanimity. When a consensus cannot be reached, consider tabling the decision until more information can be collected and members have had a chance to sleep on the idea.
3. Commit to growth, for yourself and every woman in the group. It's natural that some women will progress more in one area or at a specific time than others. It's also natural that one woman will be on a fast track to external successes, while another may be exploring internal advancement. Overall, Female Fusion should result as every woman makes extraordinary leaps to astonishing successes.
4. Hold your Fusion as a sleepover retreat. Book a condo in a nearby resort area, or stay at someone's weekend house. Divvy up the responsibilities.
5. Hold Fusions in “neutral” territory so that no member misses out on the Fusion energy by playing hostess. If a home environment is the only place available, consider rotating locales, keeping snacks simple and banning spouses or children for the day. Send them to the zoo, a park or the beach. Some neutral meeting locales:
   • Hotels, where you can often book a conference room free when you pay for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Everyone pays for her own meal.
   • Restaurants that have private meeting rooms.
   • A room at a church or a local club.
6. Refuse to tame your ambitions. So often we are taught as women that we should tame anything within us that is bold and affirming. In Female Fusion, encourage one another to be audacious, to project their vision way out there, and go for it.
7. Ask for a volunteer to keep track of time. It's normal for some members to be more talkative and for others to listen without speaking up, but listeners need to be drawn out, and chatterboxes need to be tactfully quieted. Encourage every member to participate in every discussion so that Fusion will happen consistently.

UNLEASH BOUNDLESS FUSION ENERGY

Invigorate your Female Fusions with energy and mutual benefit.

1. Leave time at the end of the first Fusion to decide where and when you will meet again and the frequency of future Fusions. Attempting to do this or to make other routine decisions at the beginning will inhibit Fusion. Consider gathering:
   • Weekly, to complete the 5 Promises in all 10 chapters quickly.
   • Monthly or semimonthly, if a weekly schedule is too intense.
   • Every other month or quarterly, if members intend to complete the chapters on their own, coming together for Fusion reinforcement and feedback.
   • Once or twice a year, after you've completed Wicked Success Is Inside Every Woman and want to maintain Fusion but not move on to other purposes.
   • Spontaneously, for special needs, announcements or celebrations. Special Fusions can be called to brainstorm ideas for one individual's current and pressing goal.
2. For additional fun, design rituals to start and end your Fusions. You might:
   • Play uplifting music before the Fusion and during breaks.
   • Start by sharing results of action steps taken since the last Fusion.
   • Start with a provocative question or statement, such as:
     • When you realize your passionate vision, what changes will your friends and family notice about you?
     • Choose an imaginary mentor, either real or fictional. From your mentor's perspective, what sage advice would you give yourself?
     • What will be the epitaph on your tombstone?
   • End by having everyone commit to an action step to accomplish by the next Fusion.
   • End with a devotional, a moment of meditation or a theme song.
   • End by reciting together a meaningful or humorous Fusion statement (e.g., We are women and we can do anything !).
3. Differentiate between critique time and non-critique time.
   • Nonjudgmental sharing of important triumphs and letdowns, fears and frustrations, expectations, desires and humorous or moving encounters can facilitate Fusion at any time. Keep the account moving, allowing two or three minutes to each speaker and keep responses brief, positive and supportive.
   • Reserve critique time for strategizing goals, objectives and action steps.
4. Discuss each chapter thoroughly. Focus on each Feminine Force in turn, and engage the 5 Promises before moving to the next chapter. Your discussion might include:
   • What this strength means to each member.
   • How she has relied on or developed this strength in the past.
   • How this strength can activate her passionate vision.
5. Turn off cell phones and discourage any other interruptions. It's important to be emotionally focused as well as physically present.
6. Sit at a round table, where no one is at the “head,” or pull your chairs into a circle. Or get into your pajamas and sit on couches or cushions.
7. Take a five-minute stretch break every hour.
8. Celebrate frequently. Especially celebrate one another for what you each bring to the Fusion.
9. Share your successes with other women at our website: WickedSuccess.com.

FUSE WITH PROFESSIONAL COLLEAGUES

Since that first Female Fusion I have created Fusions for professionals (both men and women) with amazing results. I've had Fusions with small entrepreneur groups (of 10), and large entrepreneur groups (of 150), the latter divided into smaller Fusion groups. Using all of the principles discussed in this chapter, but with a very focused business objective in mind. I've also used Fusion in my office to get the staff heated up for a tough business brainstorm.

Corporate professionals can fuse with a group of like-minded professionals who want to expand career goals.

Entrepreneurs can fuse with other entrepreneurs. You can also fuse with your employees. The deepest, most effective Fusion will happen when you connect with entrepreneurs who are not your direct competitors, so fuse with entrepreneurs from different businesses or, if in the same business, from a geographical location that doesn't compete with yours.

Fusing with entrepreneurs at a distance will take some planning, but it's worth it. Don't expect to have monthly meetings. Instead, plan for getting together quarterly or twice a year. To keep the Fusion going between get-togethers, use Skype or other videoconferencing technologies, a Facebook group and monthly chats or emails.

Whoever comprises your Fusion group, set accountable and measurable business objectives. This is your private brain trust, exclusive board of directors and personal planning committee.

HAVE FUN WITH FUSION AS YOU ATTAIN THE IMPOSSIBLE

The bottom line of that UCLA study seems to be that having close female friends is beneficial in many ways. Yet when women get overly busy with work and family, often the first thing they set aside is the time they spend with other women.

Female Fusion is an opportunity to engage the 10 Feminine Forces in your life at levels you might never reach alone. Each Fusion will take you further and will cement your group socially, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually and physically. Expect to be together for a very long time after completing the 10 Feminine Forces in Wicked Success Is Inside Every Woman. You will look back and be amazed at how far you've come, and without the stress that might otherwise have accompanied such strides.

Female Fusion is such an amazing Feminine Force that I'm willing to guarantee it will change your life if you let it. In Leigh's thank-you note following the event, she eloquently captured the power of this life force: