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How to Lean Into Your Leadership Legacy

Marketing Strategies are broken because they lean into your pain points and tell you how they can fix you.

How many people out there are saying you are great and how can I help you to be greater?

Not many I bet you!

Marketing guru’s create a narrative that you’re broken and when people adopt that, it’s a tool to get you to buy services you don’t need.

What would it look like to lean into your leadership greatness to leave a legacy?

How many people are out there to help you on this journey to greatness?

Sure, there are publicists and media relations people that say you can promote yourself to get into the spotlight, but that’s not for everyone.

I propose you can do all of this yourself to leave a lasting impact and here’s how:

Get your thought leadership out to a broader audience!

You have what it already takes to be a thought leader and impact more people you can image. Consider taking your purpose, your talking points and leadership insights to more speaking events. Consider a podcast or even writing a book. It builds your credibility and your reach can be so much greater. You already have leadership figured out. Why waste it by not sharing it with others.

Mentorship is a gift!

If you prefer more intimate conversations to inspire people, consider mentorship or even better yet, start a program where you work. It doesn’t take much to set it up and with a simple structure, you can impact people on a deeper level. By the way, if you’ve had a mentor in the past, make sure you reach back out to them to let them know their impact. Giving the gift of mentorship one person at a time can leave a lasting impact for this and future generations of leaders.

Build a powerful network!

Connection is what humanity is about and we survive as a civilization because of our connection with other humans. By investing time in building not just vanity metrics, but deep connections, we build a set of advocates for what we stand for. They have your back when you need support, but they can also amplify your brand and personal to others who have not met you yet. Take advantage of building a powerful network as part of leaving your legacy. The worse time to build a network is when you’re out of work and need it. Build it during good times and they’ll have your back when the time is right.

In about 2 minutes, I’ve suggested ways to lean into your leadership legacy because you’re already great. I hope you can use some of these tips as you think about your future and the impact you want to make. If this was helpful, let me know. If you know of another great leader who might benefit from this, please share this article with them.

If I can be in service to you and you want to add me to your network, let’s talk and see how we can make you even greater!

If you want to learn more, I recently was on a Linkedin Live on 16 April where you can hear the full conversation on this topic. It will also be a future Podcast & YouTube episode for you to share with others.

Until we meet, I wish you well and much success!

-Deb

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How Career Transitions Become The Best Time of Your Life

Recently, I’ve me with three people in my network who are at a cross roads in their career. The themes are very similar for which I think there is great value in sharing them with you. While for most, it feels like the end of a chapter, I’d like to propose that this is perhaps the best time of your life. Don’t let these moments get away from you by throwing yourself into the game again to find your next gig. You may miss the bigger opportunity.

When I left my corporate job, I took the time to reflect on what I was good at and where I could provide value. Had I not done that, I would have been another Director of Quality in a large corporation. Instead, I have had the opportunity to interview hundreds of people on The Drop In CEO™ Podcast , written a book, The CEO’s Compass, created a business and brand, The Drop In CEO, a Newsletter and now a YouTube Channel to share my insights with C-Suite Leaders of Today and Tomorrow. I’m far from conceited and bragging about my accomplishments. I’m trying to share with you that given time and space, the future for you can be vastly different than what was in your past! And by the way, I’m having so much fun!

Crossroads and Clarity for Dan…

… and yes, I’ve changed the names to protect their privacy!

Dan is a highly accomplished C-Suite leader, but the future of the company and leadership styles is no longer aligned with his values. He goes to work because of the people he cares about and of course providing financial security for his family. Dan has so much energy and value to provide, but as you listen to their voice, there is so much dissatisfaction. They reached out to me and they’ve asked me to keep my eyes open for an opportunity & introductions. Sound familiar?

The problem with the situation is they’re seeking the same type of role. As I listen to them, I know they are ready for a CEO role and while he believes it as well, he is not ready to take that leap unless presented to him. I get it, it’s a matter of time, place and opportunity. However, they do have clarity that they want to work for a small or medium size company so they can have a great impact. Through self reflection, he knows what he wants and what he doesn’t want. While I know he’s eager for his next role he does have clarity (mostly) in what the future might look like.

Robert broke away from a culture not aligned with his values, but now what…

Robert is an old colleague of mine for which I’m grateful for our professional relationship and benefits I’ve realized from it. Now he’s at a crossroads for which he has great clarity in what he wants. He too wants to work for a small or medium size business where he can make an impact using his many years of C-suite leadership expertise. However, he’s taking his time.

He left without his next opportunity lined up. For someone who I thought was not a risk taker, he had the courage to walk away with full support from his family. He’s also taking the time to rekindle his network and consider all opportunities in pursuit of where he wants to work next both industries and geographical location. I admire him for taking a risk, but it was calculated. Some never take the leap into the abyss. However, what makes him different is the confidence that with time and networking, the right opportunity will come his way. How many people simply stay and remain miserable? For Robert, when we spoke, he sounded liberated and at peace. How often do you achieve Peace of Mind amid a career transition? Robert is one of a few that is willing to navigate uncertainty with calm.

Sarah has been making the best of a bad situation, but is ready to move on…

I’m grateful to guide Sarah during a very challenging time at work. It’s really, really bad, but amid the chaos, she’s realized the opportunity to learn, grow and expand her leadership impact. She has the awareness that while some leaders are leaders in title only, she has gained confidence to be the leader that others are not. During the chaos, she’s developed skills needed for the next step; a career accelerator that not many have had the opportunity.

However, there comes a day that she will need to move on. While it is noble to be the leader to change the culture and be what others need her to be. Sometimes you have to say it is enough. It is time to recognize her value and assess where to use it for greater impact. So often, people hope to stay under the radar during while in an organization in chaos. It’s safe to be there, but they’re losing valuable minutes and hours of their life in service to an organization that cannot realize their value. Is this you? Do you know someone who is stuck? Could you take a moment to realize your value and make the decision to be courageous and move to a place that gives you joy. Sarah is about to take that leap and so can you, if you have faith in yourself.

For Dan, Robert and Sarah, they are all at a crossroads for which I’m grateful they reached out to me. The insights from their stories that I want you to realize are:

  • See the value in who you are meant to be, not what you’ve done in the past.
  • Have the courage to walk away and take the time to gain clarity in what the future looks like.
  • If you have to endure a challenging career, leverage the best to your benefit to set you up for the next role.

I’m not advising you to jump off a cliff without a plan. I’m sharing insights that you can gracefully exit a bad situation and use the time for self discovery, self improvement and realize what gifts you have to give to others. You have one life to live to make a lasting impact. If you need a guide that can help you, just like I’ve supported Dan, Robert and Sarah, reach out to me. I’d love to be your compass to get you back on track!

-Deb

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Your Marketing is Killing Your Brand and Trust

PSA: Your Marketing Strategy is Not Working!

I am so tired of the transactional based pitches on Linkedin.

Gone are the days of networking from a place of curiosity and seeking to learn how we can help each other.

How many of you are getting the pitch lately of
a) These are MY services
b) You may need MY services
c) Book a call with MY scheduling link

Ugh!!!! I’m so tired of trying to be nice and say no thank you so I’m just going to put it all out there.

Some of these companies have totally missed an opportunity.

Had they started from a place of truly looking to form meaningful relationships… I might have invited their CEO onto my podcast to reach a broader audience!

Had they started from a place of getting to know me…they might have gotten referrals to people they can serve!

Had they started from a place of just saying “Hello”, I might have said “Hello” back and say how can I help you?

But instead, marketing strategies are to mass market and hope 0.5% might say yes.

I’m just saying… anyone that starts from a place of saying “I just want to learn more about what you do, would you be open to connecting”, will more than likely get a “Yes, let’s connect”.

Anyone else out there mad as heck that humanity has fallen to transactional relationships?

Please leave your comments below.

And to those leaders who are using mass marketing for lead gen… please stop because it’s not leaving a good impression about your brand.

If you are truly interested in reaching the people you can serve, do the hard work and start one by one saying “Hello”.

Be well-Deb

#dropinceo#marketingfailures#relationships

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Agile and Lean: A Powerful Duo for Team Resilience

I could drop into a business blindfolded and identify the three barriers to having an Agile & Lean organization. Call me arrogant, but when I see the pattern repeat itself over and over again, I think CEOs need to take note of these blindspots. Too often their organizations are based on a shaky foundation of poor talent management, unclear authority and ineffective barrier removal to unleash potential. This is the invisible waste under any strategy that detracts from your impact and then you wonder why you can’t sleep at night.

Recently I dropped into a manufacturing company where I provided interim quality leadership in support of operations. It was chaotic and I was curious why I was being consulted on every quality issue; decisions that could have been made by the supervisors. I learned the previous leadership for whatever reason needed to be consulted on all rejections and investigations. In the process, I also learned their leadership was not conducive to building confidence in the front line leaders. It was a sad set of circumstances, but I sought to understand what was missing or broken.

Putting aside the leadership issue of the past, I realized my role was to remove the barriers for their decision making and eliminate waste in the process. Most leaders throw resources at a problem or stretch the existing labor until they call off. What I saw was a much different issue rooted in poor agility and a massive amount of waste. Here is what I learned and will now share with you.

Removing the blindspots in these three areas will enable resilient teams to be Agile and Lean:

  • Assess the talent and really see their value. Elevate them in their current role to give them back confidence. Plan to move those where their talent can be amplified. Your job is not to keep people in their places, but to move them up and out. Short sighted views would see this as a risk. However, long term thinking will recognize that you amplify their impact.
  • Establish levels of authority, capability & capacity – Too often we strip people of their decision making authority and the ability to think in a risk averse environment or a culture of micro management. If there is too much waste in back and forth between your line workers and leadership, take a close look at how the authority is assigned and remove non-value added activities. Give the leaders more strategic work vs. being down in the weeds.
  • Ways of working & barrier removal – give your resources a forum where they can escalate issues and solutions early and often. They become part of the solution based culture vs. one that is guided by rigid goal posts for which they could feel helpless to make a difference. As a leader you need to bubble up their challenges and your role is to be in service to make their jobs easier. Gone are the times of being cooped up in your office for hours on end. Your job is to be where the work is being done and do everything to help them.

Does this sound familiar?

Do you or do you know someone who is having this challenge?

Would a guide help to navigate these challenges?

For the unfiltered, off the cuff discussion about this topic, please listen to my podcast airing on 2/2/24 and view the video so you see how I really feel about this topic!.

If you are a CEO who would love a partner to help you with a business challenge, be your #2 or help develop the team of tomorrow, let us partner in 2024.

Be well-Deb

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LEAN is a Four Letter Word: How to avoid the inherent waste in a Lean Initiative

Let me give it to you straight. No amount of operational efficiency you glean from a Lean Initiative is going to give you sustainable results without three fundamentals:

  • Responsibility & Accountability Institutionalized
  • Prioritization mastery
  • Critical thinking and decision logic maturity

Without these inculcated into your organization with front line leaders and those that drive the ship, you will ultimately lose money and then blame the Lean Leader for their failure.

Let’s look at waste: TIM WOODS stands for Time, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Overprocessing, Defects and Skills which is the fundamental framework for eliminating waste in a Lean Organization.

However, let’s apply this to the humans vs. processes and see the waste through a different lens.

Example 1: A quality supervisor makes a decision to reject material and hold it until a disposition of scrap or rework can be made. The production manager understands the issue and pressures the supervisor that the specifications are just guidelines and in the end application, there will not be an impact and pressures them to release.

What’s wrong with this picture? While conversation is necessary in such situations, who ultimately is responsible for these key decisions? Refocusing the energy from pressuring the release of a product to identify the root cause why the product is not in specification is a better use of time. However, in this process without clear Responsibility and Accountability defined, there is Waste. I don’t care if you have an efficient production process to create products with defects; under the surface, the organization is generating waste.

Example 2: Production is realizing the benefit of Lean and is producing products with a lower takt time (a measurement in Lean for how fast you need to produce to keep up with customer demand). Management is celebrating a win, but there is a bottleneck in the quality lab. The quality manager has two people out for COVID, another is out for training, they have several research projects to complete for R&D, Customer Complaints to be resolved and they have to work with maintenance who is coming down today to repair a leak. The Manager is stressed and sees the work piling up and is working late hours to try to meet all demands.

What’s wrong with this picture? Clearly in this situation without further context, the Research work and possibly the customer complaints can be paused in favor of the leak and managing resources to get the work done with a reduced staff. However, this manager lacks the prioritization savvy to make those decisions or doesn’t have a support system to help them manage the increase in work and reduced resources. Wouldn’t it be a better use of time in concert with speeding up production to also work with Quality to ensure they are also level loaded to meet the demands of production? Could we also help this leader to have a framework for prioritization and a voice to message when they’re in trouble? Sometimes these situations cause burnout without us realizing it in the spirit of creating a lean production machine.

Example 3: Returning to the Quality Manager who is overloaded with a reduced workforce, they make the following decisions to manage:

  • Authorize overtime
  • Work 12 hour days
  • Delay the repair of the leak in the quality department

Where did they go wrong? Their decision logic based on a position of helplessness made the decisions based on what was in their control. Instead, they could have contacted customer service to see if any orders could be rescheduled. With the increased efficiency in production, there were resources that could be pulled in to do administrative work; moving resources to where the work was needed. And let’s talk about that leak they delayed. Short sightedness may cause a long term expensive issue if that leak introduces safety or health hazards in the lab. They could have reschedule to the weekend when people were not around.

Critical thinking and better decision logic might have had a better outcome for quality keeping up with production. By not preparing them with better skills, they sometimes make wasteful decisions which is what we’re trying to eliminate.

So my advice to you is next time you think of a Lean Initiative, look at yourself and the organization.

Do they have skills to prepare for the improvements you are making or are there skills under the surface you need to Lean out Waste before moving forward?

Think you got this because the Lean Consultant is on a mission to realize cost savings on behalf of your stakeholders? Think again as your Lean Initiative can be that Four Letter Word that leaves an irreparable legacy on your organization.

For the unfiltered, off the cuff discussion about this topic, please listen to my podcast airing on 1/19/24 and view the video so you see how I really feel about this topic!.

If you are a CEO who would love a partner to help you with a business challenge, be your #2 or help develop the team of tomorrow, let us partner in 2024.

To hear more about This topic please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 1/19/24

Be well-Deb

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Building a LEAN Team: Key Strategies for Optimal Productivity

If you fell short of your Productivity Improvements in your organization in 2023, do not repeat the same approach!

If you were wildly successful in achieving your productivity results, high five and I’m right there with you! However, I do ask you if you think the efforts are sustainable? I see leaders claim victory one year to only fall into the abyss of waste and destabilization because they’ve not secured a solid foundation for apparent improvements. Might it have been brute force but with little adoption,lack of forums to remove barriers or even assure the legacy of good work is ingrained in future generations of personnel?

While you ponder these thoughts, let me share with you as building blocks to shore up good work and enable you to sustain the results. If you did not do any of these things, there is no shame in going back and revisiting these foundational elements. The only shame is to not do this and watch great work crumble.

I’m an expert in this area as I helped build a Lean Organization that started out at $500k / year cost savings to sustainably yielding $5MM annually. It was brute force in the beginning to build the capability, buy-in and enable results. It is often a tactical implementation without strategic vision and I’m here to share with you wisdom that is invaluable:

To sustain the gains of a Lean Initiative, we must build Lean Teams.

While investing in a well-being regiment including a good diet, weight training, cardio and a positive mindset is all important in building a lean body, building Lean Teams takes the same investment. A sound body and a sound mind will sustainably give you good results and longevity.

START HERE:

Build a Servant Leadership Culture: Every conversation should start with how is this going to help the people doing the work? It should never start with what are going to do to achieve $100,000 in cost savings. It should start with what do we need to do to help the people to eliminate waste and make their job easier? What is the investment needed and what do we think the ROI will be. When we start with service, the results will follow. When we start with the results, you will fail to serve.

Make Small Sustainable changes. Despite good intentions and excellent training on Lean Methodology, only 20% will truly retain the knowledge. Develop an implementation timeline that enables understanding and WIFM (what’s in it for me) and develop confidence and capability first by measuring organizational maturity. Only when we achieve each maturity level, do we progress to the next level. Let the organization dictate the timeline vs. pushing through an artificial one based on results. Lack of adoption will destabilize the organization.

Lean Communications (efficiency & kindness) : learn discipline in how we communicate in an efficient and kind manner will yield faster responses when time is critical. It’s important to teach this to our people else, the waste of excessive emails and meetings will take over any speed you were hoping for.

Misunderstandings need to be met head on: Any initiative needs a forum to identify risks and escalate barriers. Without this pressure relief valve, frustration will simmer below the surface and blindside you when you don’t get the expected result. Also challenge yourself to ask the hard question: do your people feel safe enough to escalate issues. This speaks to your culture and a bigger issue than any Lean Initiative.

Showcasing achievements builds pride and anchors the work – while it’s often built into Lean Initiatives to parade the results to senior leadership like a royal event, we lose sight of what is important. Showcasing value is not for the leadership, but it’s for the people. The outcome is to instill a sense of pride for an accomplishment such that they’re encouraged to repeat the effort and be an advocate to amplify the Lean Initiative for future generations.

When we invest in building a Lean Team, not only do we get short term results; we achieve long term health and well being in the organization to sustain productivity improvements.

So there you have it, the key to optimizing 2024 productivity improvements.

I’m here to listen and perhaps we can have a conversation about how I can get you off on the right foot for 2024 improvements.

If this episode or this year has been valuable, follow me into 2024.

If you are a CEO who would love a partner to help you with a business challenge, be your #2 or help develop the team of tomorrow, let us partner in 2024.

To hear more about This topic please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 1/5/24

Be well-Deb

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Three things you need to do to create your personal forecast for a winning year

I want to congratulate you on an absolutely amazing year! You met all your target objectives, got a promotion and you found balance in both your work and personal life! Congratulations!

I know I’ve had a great year for me and I’m sharing with you a festive moment with my husband Dan who has seen me through the ups and downs and hopefully a lot more ups!

If this is you, I’m so grateful for your good fortune and I’d love for you to share with me what went well. It’s important to celebrate your “High Five” with others!

If you’re looking around the room for who might I be speaking to, again, I’m speaking to you! This could have been a year to celebrate, but instead things just happened. You didn’t meet your objectives, you have uncertainty about the future and you’re not sure how to get back on track. I hope this is only a few of you, but if this is you, I’m here to impart a few things to get you on the right track. If it was helpful, might you share if this advice worked and perhaps we can connect!

Here are three things you need to do to set your personal forecast for a winning year:

  • Reflect on what went well and what would you Continue?
  • What would you Start doing to enhance what is working well?
  • What would you Change that could detract from what is going well?

While this is the same framework I use for giving or soliciting feedback; it is rooted in receiving external validation from others. I want you to look inside and ask yourself these questions; there is great power in creating self awareness and what will you do with this information.

As always, to help you to make this actionable, I’ll go first with some of my self feedback:

  • Continue: Leveraging my voice, investing in myself and my reach and well being- it’s been a winning combination and I will continue it this year. My clients and audience have confirmed these have served them well when we engage with each other.
  • Start: Video Strategy to reach all demographics where they’re at in the way they want to consume information. I write on LI and my website, I have a podcast that gets into your ear. I am now moving the podcast content into the YouTube. This will hopefully reach more of you and provide the value you want in visual form.
  • Change: Limit how much I work and focus only on the needle movers. Move away from distractions and it might even mean disappointing a few people. Forgive me in advance as I’m now laser focused on the most important things.

I really want you to succeed with this process, so I’m going to provide you an example that could be relevant to your situation:

  • Continue: I will continue to build up new skills / certifications to build my technical capability in my role. I will invest in my future
  • Start: I will practice telling stories when trying to communicate a message or a proposal. My technical skills are sound. Now I want to be influential through story-telling.
  • Change: I will not worry about trying to pull people along who are not on board with my initiatives. It wastes my time and energy. Instead, I’ll create a dashboard showing progress across all teams and where others are not performing it will be visible and they’ll have to change based on the visual pressure they will receive. Let the collective pull them along vs. myself carrying the burden.

So there you have it, three simple steps you can take to create and forecast a winning 2024.

I’m here to listen and perhaps we can have a conversation and unlock your future!

If this article or this year of connection has been valuable, follow me into 2024.

If you are a CEO who would love a partner to help you with a business challenge, be your #2 or help develop the team of tomorrow, let us partner in 2024.

To hear more about This topic please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 12/29/23.

Be well

-Deb

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Empower Your Year-End Review: Mastering the Art of Gathering Data to Reflect on Your Achievement

December is a time of closure and take stock in what you’ve accomplished this year. The “year end” review is simply a data point for someone else to say if you have accomplished the objectives or not. However, I’d like to say that it does not define you. You are in control of your destiny and the year end review is simply information for which you have choices to continue in what you are doing or take inventory of your capability and passion and YOU DECIDE what 2024 looks like.

This past year I’ve been giving you tips for how to manage your career, and give you the essential skills needed to be seen, heard, respected and get a “seat at the table”. While I qualify it as the C-Suite, it doesn’t have to be. Some of you say you don’t aspire to that, and that’s your decision. But what is clear to all who I’ve spoken to is you want to do purposeful work, have an impact and have joy at work and at home. 

You are why I am here today whether you’re in the C-Suite or aspiring; I’m here to help you struggle less and spend more time doing the things you want to do.

My year end review…

I’m ending this year with what I would call a strong performance review having had 3 Drop In CEO clients, 3 coaching clients, continued with the podcast, launched a video strategy, managed the Drop In Collective, had a few paid speaking gigs and I’ve almost replaced my corporate earnings. I would rate myself as a target performance and I’m happy with that. 

However, that does not define me. I have started to feel joy in what I’m doing.  I’ve made choices to stop doing certain thanks such as stepping down as my curling  Secretary and WFFC President as well as delaying writing my book. Some people would feel those are failures, but I call them wins. I had the courage and leadership to walk away or delay certain things that were causing me stress.

Now it’s your turn…

So turning back to you as the “CEO of your domain”; it’s a mindset whether you are a CEO / President / founder of a company or the CEO of your department, now is the time to take inventory of your accomplishments and decide what you are going to do next.

To my CEO friends: I ask, what type of year was this for you? Did you survive another year of burnout and only meeting targets? Did you have crisis after crisis and applaud you and the team for the hours of hard work and sacrifice? Or are you at a point of stable operations, but need to do something different to grow, expand or be sustainable? Do you have the right people on your team or do you need someone external like myself who can extend your leadership capacity and capability so you don’t burn out in the next year? I’m speaking to you now because in 2024, I am dedicated to you to provide solutions to real issues I’ve faced and want to support you and be your partner.

To my leaders who may be stuck and who may not have had a support system, this past year’s podcast solos have been dedicated to you to give you the essential skills you need to navigate your challenges. To those who said it was helpful, I am grateful. For those of you who are still stuck; please know I’m here for you.

Follow me into 2024 as I speak to the leaders who are in the C-Suite positions or CEO’s and start to adopt the mindset, behaviors and practices to further elevate your leadership. Think about listening again to all the solo’s from 2023 to revisit what we’ve talked about. Please know that in 2024 I will distill down all these lessons for you into a single resource called The Secrets of the C-Suite so you have an invaluable resource as you move to higher and higher impact. Take it with you or share it with someone. Stay tuned so you can get your copy in 2024.

As I bring this to a close, I leave you with a few questions to ponder:

As you reflect on 2023, did you survive or thrive?

Did you feel fulfilled or fell short of job satisfaction?

Do you want to thrive in 2024 and do you have the support you need?

I’m that support and follow me into 2024 where we can grow together.

I’m here to listen and perhaps we can have a conversation and unlock your future!

To hear more about This topic please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 12/8/23. 

Until we meet, I wish you well and much success!

-Deb

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Career Secrets: How the Power of Pivoting is a Game Changer

You know, these days the word “pivot” gets thrown around a lot. It’s become quite overused! But let me tell you, having the courage to pivot can really be a game changer when it comes to your leadership.

Let me share a personal story with you. My son David asked me if we could take care of his dog Gabbi, and just like that, we went from being empty-nesters to having a very energetic puppy in our lives. It completely shook up my routine, and at first, I resisted the change. But soon enough, I realized that this was my new reality. Gabbi forced me to get more focused on the things that really matter and eliminate any wasteful activity in my life. With her needing attention, I found myself taking more walks and pausing in my day to prevent any chaos that might ensue if she gets bored or ignored. This shift gave me more time to reflect on the quality of my life and what truly matters.

During this time of reflection, I made some important decisions. I put off writing my book, took a break from redoing my website, and instead, I became laser-focused on my well-being, client work, and making meaningful connections. I also dove headfirst into developing a YouTube strategy to reach a wider audience. Let me tell you, I am so excited about these initiatives, and my team is on board too. Since shifting my focus, I’ve noticed that the stress I used to feel is slowly melting away, and new opportunities are starting to present themselves.

I’m sharing all of this with you because I’m genuinely thrilled about how I feel, and I want to help you feel the same way. I want you to feel energized and excited about what you do, for yourself, your friends, your family, and your community. I want you to find purpose in your work and make a real difference in the lives of others.

Recently, I had a client who was at a crossroad in their career. They were holding onto their current pursuits, but deep down, they knew they needed a change. That’s when they reached out to me for guidance. We carefully analyzed their needs, desires, and passions. Through our discussions, I proposed ways for them to realize their value and identify where they should apply it. It didn’t take long for them to recognize a different path that would lead to a more fulfilling life, both financially and in terms of purposeful work and life balance. When our engagement came to an end, they felt more confident than ever about the new direction they had taken.

I want this same sense of fulfillment and joy for all of you. I want you to have more fun and spend time doing the things you love. And most importantly, I want you to embrace the mindset that pivoting often can open up incredible possibilities and bring more joy into your life.

So, remember, when you have the courage to pivot, your C-Suite leadership skills will not only be recognized but will also bring you greater joy and satisfaction in your work.

Do you  have challenges with pivoting? Do you avoid leaning into pivoting? Worse yet, are you a leader who has team members who lack these critical skills? Let me partner with you. I’m here to listen and perhaps we can have a conversation.

To hear more about This topic please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 11/17/23. 

Would you rather have a quick 1-2-1 to discuss your specific challenge? 

Could The Drop In CEO be your support system? Direct Message me on LI or contact me by schedule a short call and let’s have a conversation. Until then, I wish you much success. 

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Mastering the Art of Communication: How Your Delivery Shapes Success

When an old boss of mine said to me “you shouldn’t have said that”, for the longest time, I went quiet in expressing my views. This happened, because my boss did not coach me on the “how” to say it or “when” to say it, just “you shouldn’t have said that”. The context of the conversation is not important, but I wonder how many professionals now avoid conflict for fear of saying the wrong thing. Anyone have that issue?

Given that few of us have coaches or mentors, where is the professional to go to for guidance on how to say things vs. what they say? And further, how we say things can influence the outcome of a situation for better or for worse. How many times do we say the sky is falling and we need to spend money to only have it fall on deaf ears. Could we teach our professionals to express positions with the context of risk or opportunity and what is the impact?

The boss who did not coach me on “how” to say something in a controversial situation; I took it very personally and took the road of being quiet. At the same time, it is because of this situation I also have him to thank because I’ve taken many years to hone my skills in “how” to say things. It is why I’m here today to guide you on a better way of influence, reduce stress and create a future you want.

Given one of the most frequent opportunities to practice how to say things vs. what to say are meetings. We often defer to the agenda or transaction vs. realizing we’re managing human interactions and preserving relationships.

They don’t teach that in school and after years of learning a better way, I want to share a framework with you to consider:

Framework for maintaining relationships and getting a better outcome: 

Step 1:

Think about the interaction you’re going to have. They fall into a few categories in increasing importance

Exchanging information: Usually of a nature to inform so they can do their work or documenting an agreement; not always needing a next step or Call to action

Call to action Often transactional and needing information or approval

Influence an outcome Such as a proposal to move from a current state of A to a future state of B

Step 2:

Exchanging information has been dehumanized for which people get frustrated for not getting the desired outcome. Here are two ways of approaching an exchange; the “what” and the “how”. I promise you the “how” will get you what you want: 

What you say “Here is the information you requested. Let me know If you need any further support.”

How you might say it better “Thank you for the opportunity to have a great conversation last week. Per our agreement, I’m sharing with you the information you requested to support your initiative. Wishing you success and please reach out to me if I can be of further service to you.”

Step 3:

Call to action is about moving forward, but how we say it can expedite the result: 

What you say I need your approval by close of business November 30th. I can be reached at this phone number if you have any questions.

How you might say it better I sincerely appreciate your time to evaluate this proposal per our meeting last week. In order to enable us to expedite our delivery on these services to you, we do need a response by November 30th. I am happy to review this with you in person or with your designee should you have any questions to enable your approval.

Step 4:

Influence an outcome: when buy in is critical and sometimes we have to connect with ones emotion vs. simply the problem at hand

What you say We’re at risk of not meeting our customer deadline if we don’t approve funds for the purchase of this test equipment.

How you might say it better Given the trend in customer complaints is increasing and we risk losing market share, I propose we consider the purchase of the test equipment by end of November in order to close the gap we currently have and rebuild customer trust.

Step 5:

Watch the magic unfold: I promise you that when you practice how you communicate, it will improve the outcome extending from maintaining or building relationships to streamlining proposals and people acting on what you need.

In summary, when you prioritize human interactions over the transaction, you get the outcome you are seeking. 

Do you have challenges in how to effect a better outcome? Do you avoid interaction because you haven’t been taught the skills? Worse yet, are you a leader who has team members who lack these critical skills? Let me partner with you. I’m here to listen and perhaps we can have a conversation.

To hear more about This topic please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 11/10/23. 

Would you rather have a quick 1-2-1 to discuss your specific challenge? 

Could The Drop In CEO be your support system? Direct Message me on LI or contact me by schedule a short call and let’s have a conversation. Until then, I wish you much success. 

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