Want that promotion? Change your mindset.

mindset, promotion, attitude

Did Two Sides of the Same Coin get you thinking? Was it an “ah-ha” or an “uh-oh” moment when you recognized that your ability to earn income is likely your greatest asset? If you want a different experience, change your mindset. Perhaps it was “Duh, I knew that. Why doesn’t my boss? Good luck prying an additional dime for my paycheck or professional advancement.” You’ve come to a fork in the road. You can commiserate …

What Do You Do When Others Aren’t Watching?

accountability | accountable

Provocative, yes? Pull your mind back from the gutter. This is not that type of message! In fact, it is about what we don’t do when others aren’t watching. When we’re not accountable to someone, we can easily slack off. My fitness tracker recently stopped charting my exercise and steps taken. While it did not stop me from doing my early morning workouts, the lack of tracking stopped my extra steps during the day. You …

Transitioning into a new leadership role? Get in and get known!

leader | leadership | team | relationships

A client recently took on a new position in an organization. She has been identified as a potential leader and is given the task of rebuilding a department decimated by turnover. Those remaining are there not by choice; they are there for the paycheck. Stepping in to a “new” leadership position To top it off, the “new” of the position means it is new to my client. She is coming in from the outside with …

Could Self-Imposed Limits Be Sabotaging Your Success?

success | achieve success | how to achieve success

Roger Bannister busted the 4-minute mile limit. Once he achieved that, the limit got busted over and over again. His record-breaking run gave the world of runners hope and belief that they could do it too – and they did, many times over. The moral of the story? We don’t know what we are capable of until we push our limits. And what about those limits? I know one thing: they’re often self-imposed. Here’s an …

Is Hesitation Stopping You in Your Tracks?

Overcome hesitation | Overcome second guessing

Are you ready for your next best step? I thought I was… until a coaching session revealed a big issue. It was my issue – and nothing that anyone else could fix but me. I hadn’t recognized it until a coach pointed it out to me and it pervaded every area of my life. I Needed to Overcome Hesitation (but I didn’t know it yet). After years of not owning a horse, I now own …

Why You Aren’t Getting Buy-In

Whether you are pitching a product or trying to get a seat at the table, getting buy-in from decision makers matters.   So why aren’t you getting buy-in with those who matter?  You are passionate about your product or idea and prepared with a great pitch but you still don’t have a seat at the table.  What’s missing? Let’s play with a simple example and eliminate the confusion and frustration. I LOVE HORSES!  Just to look …

Can’t Never Could

cant-never-could

“Can’t never could” and other well-known encourager statements exist to remind us that we are more powerful than we imagine. When we lose that bit of edge, “can’t never could” tells us that yes indeed, I can! Powerful in the moment, you are going to need much more than an encourager statement to get you to that next level.  If you haven’t done something before, you will need to develop in new ways.  How can …

Are You Searching For Talent?

talent

A company I work with has recently employed a Talent Manager.  The term is becoming more common in the Human Resources function as the search moves from just warm bodies to the identification of talent to ensure the best and brightest are part of our organizations.  What is not to like about this? Nothing.  Not one darn thing.  Assuming we know talent when we see it, this is a win-win for both parties.  Only it …

Do You Know What is Really Expected?

really expected

In a recent workshop on time management a participant shared that he had created blocks of time on his calendar for his various projects.  “Time-blocking” helps ensure you actually have time available to get the task done.  But it hadn’t worked for this participant.  When he got to the time block he didn’t know which project to work on.  That is not a time management problem.  That is a contribution “I know what is expected …

What Could Adjusting Your View Do For You?

view

It was fifth grade when I was found out.  Sitting at the front of the classroom demonstrated I was an engaged student, yes?  But at some point, my guise was up.  A trip to the eye doctor put me in bifocals at a young age.  I remember being amazed at how many individual leaves were on the trees.  Wow! The amazement soon turned to clumsiness and embarrassment.  Exiting the school cafeteria, I stumbled down the …

Who Benefits from Strengths?

ripples

The knowledge of strengths within an organization is not an isolated effect. Like a pebble in a pond, the impact ripples outward across the entire surface. The ripple effect occurs regardless of the size of the pebble. One individual exposed to the Clifton Strengths® assessment can begin the ripple effect that starts a different type of conversation with peers, co-workers, and management. A new leader I work with has not yet had the opportunity to …

Let It Shine

shine

This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.  Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.  Whoosh!  What happens between Sunday school where we first learn this song and where we are now?  Life.  And for many of us, that is exactly where we are now, our light snuffed out. I sat with a young employee recently helping him understand his natural talents and strengths.  He had a good grip on …

Limited by Talent

taking action

A friend is working on a new business idea and it is brilliant.  The enthusiasm in her voice and manner when we discuss this topic is amazing.  With her talent and track record of success, as a friend I might caution her from jumping too soon.  She might undermine her other established, profitable business.  It is just the opposite.  I keep asking when she is going to start it. A new business is nothing to …

Ready Set Action

action

“You mean I need to say it again?”  Yes.  “Even though we just had our weekly meeting?”  Yes.  What is so important that I had a client repeat it again and again?  In this case, it was the company’s vision.  It could also be the mission statement or the firm’s values.  It may be a reminder of this quarter’s goals.  As mentioned previously, communication is the most common failing in an organization larger than one.  …

Turn Your Vision into Action

vision into action

Now that vision is out of your head and onto paper or its technological equivalent, what do you do with it?  That grand exercise you undertook has yielded fruit and your excitement is palpable.  Purpose and mission as well as action steps are the obvious next place to go.  But let’s keep this at the 30,000 foot level and recognize the importance and power the vision statement brings. For a solo-prenuer, the next step is …

Did You Start Your Business With a Vision?

business

Did you start your business with a fully formed vision of what you wanted it to be?  Most of us don’t.  Circumstances such as a loss of a job, relocation or dissatisfaction with a previous position cause us to just take action and launch.  Our focus is on “doing” our business, and getting it off the ground rather than what we want the business to “be”.   Ready, fire, and then aim (maybe!). The vision (aim) …

Give the Gift of Truly Listening

listening

Listening is one of the most natural yet difficult things to do.  We say we are listening.  We pretend we are listening.  Yet most of us aren’t, we are simply taking in the auditory notes of the other person.  When we do listen, we can hear things that aren’t said and we learn more.  Truly listening is one of the greatest gifts we can give anyone.  It is also our key to success in life …

You Should Be Able to Figure This Out, Right?

figure this out

Are you at a point where you have done and tried everything you know to move the needle on your personal and professional goals?  Do you feel that as a capable business person, you SHOULD be able to make this happen? The glut of information on the Internet contributes to this feeling of “should.”  With information so freely available you SHOULD be able to figure this out, right? Just because you are a capable business …

What Happens When Interests, Talents and Purpose Meet?

interests, talents

Engaged workforce. Purpose. Accountability. Ownership mentality. Balance. Autonomy. Collaboration. Communication.  These are the words heard daily in conversations with business leaders and their employees.  Seldom are the words money, pay, compensation, salary heard…from either party.  It suggests that we all seek something more than just the paycheck. At a recent presentation, the speaker asked participants to think about a time recently when the participants had felt powerful.  After a few quiet moments of reflection, three …

Have You Ever Wanted Something Really Badly?

wanted

Have you ever wanted something badly?  So badly, that the thought of “it” consumed you?  Perhaps you felt that you were incomplete without it.  Or maybe that you couldn’t do something without it.  Other relatively important things in your life faded into the background.  Your sole focus was “it” and the fact that “it” was not part of your life consumed time and energy. Perhaps a feeling of regret or let-down was part of it …