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How often do you take a chance to reach out to someone you don’t know for the pure join of getting to know someone?
Even more important is how deeply do you ask questions and listen to the wisdom they may share with you?
I ask this because forming human connections is the antithesis of networking which can be quite superficial.
Sound familiar? Read on…
I took a chance to speak to a quality professional and they took a chance on me to share their story.
While I was listening to both their backstory, a piece of wisdom came from them that I’d never heard before. They shared that in an organization where compliance requirements need to be met, they set that as their “Ceiling”. Their philosophy is to set the compliance requirement as the “Basement”.
Organizations who only seek to meet compliance requirements will forever be in a place of just seeking results and never take advantage of the power of compliance and how in the end it builds confidence in your customers to buy your products or services.
Organizations who see the compliance requirement as the “Basement” and seek to achieve a higher level of performance are ultimately rewarded with your customers dollars and achieve sustainable peace of mind.
It’s a monumental mindset shift when it comes to true leadership and I ask you to ponder this point. Are you a leader that seeks to simply meet requirements or use them as a platform for achieving excellence?
Because you took a chance to read this article and apply it to your situation, might I / we have changed the trajectory of your career?
I’d love to hear your successes or the battle scares you received while leveraging this wisdom.
I’m forever grateful I took a risk to get to know someone on a deeper level. They were excited I found value in their words and allowed me to share them with my community.
If you have a story or want to form deeper connections as part of building a valuable network, reach out to me and let’s talk.
Be well-Deb
I took a chance and reached out to a CEO of a company with an invitation to get to know who they were as a person and what did they do to leave a legacy. What unfolded was 45 minutes of realizing what an amazing human I found and someone who was so aligned with my values and leadership style. I can’t wait to get them onto my podcast for you to meet them, but until then here are a few things we can learn:
Take a chance and just say “Hi and I want to learn more about you!”.
I reach out to 100-200 people per week just to connect with humanity. Unfortunately, there is so much transactional outreach, people are numb to entertaining a real conversation. I persevere for the few that are willing to say yes! For those who have met me, I think you will agree that I’m sincerely interested in learning about you and also imparting some kind of value during that time. No transaction, but real human connection. I take a chance on humanity and it has rewarded me in people I can help and even those who come onto the podcast.
Be present and seek the outcome of building a relationship.
I’m sorry, but networking groups who advocate for “closing the deal” and get 2-3 referrals or push “how can you help” makes the encounter transactional and puts too much pressure on people. What we are truly after is building relationships that if you’re patient can turn into trust and possible collaboration. I made this mistake early on in my networking days and since being more intentional about relationships, the transactions come in the form of a collaboration or commitment of support. Play the long game and don’t be fooled by the guru’s that promise 10x inbound calls or 10x your Linkedin or YouTube following.
Treat those as you want to be treated.
If you are lucky to arrange a networking call, lead by seeking to learn about the other person. This is no time to download your CV/Resume because you revert to the transaction vs. the outcome of building a relationship. When people see you are sincerely curious about them and asking follow up questions, you build trust. Naturally the person will reciprocate and ask about you; ensuring you lead with who you are as a person and then what do you do to be in service to others. When you treat others with respect, it will come back and further deepening the relationship that is part of humanity.
I leave you with one last thought that while Humanity has evolved to be fast paced, divisive at times and we lose sight of what really matters, we need to depend on each other to survive as a race. Connect with others, seek to build deep bonds and help the collective survive what can feel like impossible times. Networking if we do it right can be the key to survival in business, careers and even family and community.
Focus on what really matters. The Human race depends on it.
If you like this article, please share with others so we can inspire others to reach their fullest potential.
Be well-Deb
I might sound like a broken record, but time and time again when I meet someone new or perhaps an old colleague who has reconnected, I see them in ways that they cannot see themselves. This is what I call Mirrorless Leadership; when they think they know their value, but can’t really see their true self.
It’s like being the picture of someone else’s narrative. They sound like they’re a leader and their doing leader-like things, but it sounds like an empty recording of what others are saying about themselves. It contains nothing unique and can quickly fade until people don’t really know you.
I will also say that if you’ve been fortunate to have a 360 review of your performance or received actionable feedback, sure you can change your mindset and behaviors, but it’s only a partial mirror. The problem with this is people are measuring you against their expectations for which the bar may be too high or it’s the wrong bar.
Infrequently do people listen to you and find the nuggets of value that you bring to people and your environment. When we can see our unique gifts, it opens up our eyes to greater possibilities and builds confidence in yourself. If we don’t have a mirror, we accept the judgement of others who are not seeing us, but simply telling us what they expect.
So how do we solve this?
Find a trusted partner and do the following:
- Start sharing with them what gets you excited; tell a few stories.
- What are the the things that you’re most proud of?
- How have you helped people either at work, in your family or community?
- Where have you made an impact and people have thanked you?
- What environments stifle your creativity?
- What have you done differently that has changed the lives of others?
- What frustrates you about your current situation and what would you like to do to change it?
That trusted partner becomes your mirror and if they have the gift of deep listening and can reframe what it is that makes you unique, you start to see yourself differently and regain your confidence to move in the direction you decide.
Sure, I’m offering you a bit of coaching right now and I hope you can go away and do this yourself or find a partner who can work with you. But if you don’t have a support system, let me be your mirror and help see yourself for who you really are.
Until we meet, I wish you well and much success!-Deb
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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
The recruiter is not calling you back.
The job opportunity is put on hold.
The manager is out of office.
The client is not responding to your proposal.
The list goes on and on for which there is a growing trend of Mental Mayhem plaguing professionals today trying to navigate their next opportunity. We don’t prepare professionals for these challenges and instead they fester over what “is not” happening vs. what “is” happening.
I call this Mental Mayhem because as professionals we are results driven with heroic skills to “get things done”. When it’s out of our control, nothing we do can force something to happen. And there lies the Mental Mayhem when nothing we do seems to work.
I’m going through the same challenge right now for which my coach inspired an A HA moment in me that may help you as well.
When we think about what we cannot effect, think about everything you did up until this point to reach a point where the world is saying “No”. You took control of your situation, researched the opportunity, composed an email or set up a call and engaged in healthy dialog or interaction that appeared to be going in the right direction. When you hit a wall and nothing has happen, I propose to you that actually something did happen and it’s up to you to decide what to do next.
Given the world is saying “No”, you have a choice. You can continue to bang on that door and waste energy or quickly pivot, leverage what you learned and pursue another direction. Gone are the days that you should feel victim to circumstances, but quickly take these events and move on… quickly.
Had you not done all that work to get to this point you may not have tested your value, updated your resume or made 2-3 connections in the meantime. You have moved the needle and like my coach said; celebrate the wins that got you to this point in time. It’s not the actual result, but it’s about the journey.
As we speak, I’ve had no-shows to meetings, I’ve re-opened doors that I thought I should shut and, I’ve shut doors that looked promising, but my gut said they were not. Each day we have a choice to move forward or sideways, but never feel stuck or retract.
That is my thought for you to Manage Mental Mayhem. If there is a delayed response to something you are pursuing, pursue those things in your control. It’s a healthy state of being and will serve you well while navigating the obstacles of delayed responses.
What Mental Mayhem have you had to Manage? I’d love to know. When you share, you inspire others.
Be well-Deb
So many leaders never learn their lesson. They see snow and they send their team out to shovel. They see a blizzard and they give their team more shovels. They see an avalanche and realize they don’t have a crisis plan and see the team get swallowed up by the catastrophe. Once the people dig out, he gives them a shovel to clean up the mess. The lucky ones escape to warmer climates where it doesn’t snow.
Short sighted leadership ultimately causes the crisis because they have not put on their ski goggles to see what the real issue is.
Recently I dropped into a client who had a crisis and we’re solving the issue to get them back on track. They’ve even hired a top talent who will help them evolve their quality systems so they don’t have the same issue again. When they shared they hired this talent, I said I guess I’ll be handing over the reigns shortly. To this, they said “No”, and wanted me to stay for at least 2 more months. They saw the value in setting up a strong foundation and setting the next leader up for success. I’m grateful that they find value in my work and avoid a crisis again.
They could have been short sighted and cut my services and fees right away. However, these leaders knew that in order to avoid another crisis, they needed to assure a smooth transition; giving the new leader all the tools they needed to avoid the avalanche.
Given I’ve seen the pattern over and over and over again that leaders only fix symptoms or wait too long to ask for help, here are my best tips to avoid causing the leadership avalanche:
- Step back and look at the landscape; if you see the same issues happening over and over again, what are the conditions that exist that enable the same issues to happen? That’s your job to ask those questions and be able to face harsh reality. Sometimes you or your predecessor set up the conditions to exist.
- Assess if you have the capability or capacity to address the conditions that exist for repeat issues. This takes courage to accept the reality, it might not exist within your environment. Be the leader that asks for help sooner before it’s too late. Be the leader your team needs you to be.
- If a crisis is looming, the cost of the clean up is far more extensive than the short sighted cost containment of doing nothing. What legacy do you want to leave? If you’re struggling with making the best decision, find someone to talk through the challenge.
For me, I’m excited that recently a few people in and outside my community have found me and reached out to use my services or start with a conversation.
These people see the rough conditions and want to avoid a crisis for which we’ve started to have conversations where I try to impart some immediate value.
If you are seeing the avalanche coming, are you giving your people more shovels or are you going to be the leader who helps them to avoid the avalanche all together? Failure to do anything, you become the Avalanche Leader and leave your legacy that people remember. I don’t want that for you. Let’s talk. If someone you know would benefit from this article, please share it so we can help others.
For more insights, please listen to my podcast airing on 2/23/24 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
Lean Initiatives will never work unless you start with a strategy to eliminate wasteful management practices.
Now don’t get scared, I’m not talking about chopping headcount! This is short sighted as a way to get financial gains, yet so many organizations engage in this proactiveness. Lean is about eliminating the waste that was created to serve leaders vs. the value added activities that serve the people that impact your customers.
If I’ve made you feel uncomfortable, I’ve done my job well!
If you’d like to learn more about doing Lean right, read on…
Let’s use a typical production example to explain what I mean.
An operator on the floor can increase their output to improve the workplace organization so a team is deployed to “fix” the symptom.
But why do the conditions exist to create a workplace set up that was not optimal? Was it a legacy set up? Was it set up with certain outcomes in mind?
Did we leave it up to the operator to create their own work standard?
Regardless of the history, the operator was not set up for optimal efficiency hence why we deploy Lean Methodology to “fix” the symptom.
But what are the management practices that allow the conditions of an inefficient workplace to exist for the operator for which we now need to fix him and his workplace?
The reason why this happens is that leadership is more interested in getting the equipment in place with the promise of efficiency and cost savings. They don’t take the time to understand the interactions with the operator..
Had leadership started from a place of how the operator had optimal conditions to leverage the efficiency of the new equipment, might there have been a different result?
Instead, we deploy consultants, hours of training of white, yellow, green and black belts to hurry, scurry and do the work and claim success when we save a few dollars here and there.
I’m not saying I’m anti-Lean, but had we dealt with the management practices at the top when deploying an organizational design, we might have realized the lean efficiency out of the gate?
Lean starts with a leadership strategy at the top:
- What Management practices need to exist to set the organization up for success?
- What Conditions exist to management practices that need to be mitigated to eliminate the opportunity for inefficiency?
- And have we evaluated the Symptoms that exist due to the conditions to assure we identify the possible causes for inefficient performance?
It’s not about throwing more resources to find a solution.
It’s about setting up the right Lean Leadership Strategy so you don’t have to allocate more resources later due to short-sighted decisions.
One client of mine did not have regular leadership meetings to discuss changes in the organization and actions needed to mitigate risk. Then one day, a risk manifested into a crisis and now I have the good fortune to “Drop In” to fix the issue and set up the conditions to mitigate the risk in the future. Had the organization had the Management Practice of a regular leadership cadence, might they have seen the risk and mitigated the condition before the crisis happened?
Given this insight, let’s turn to your situation.
Have you deployed initiatives that fail to gain traction?
Are you now throwing money at bad hoping to get better?
Are you doubting yourself because you didn’t get the results you expected due to a poor execution strategy that should have dealt with management practices?
If this is you or someone you know, could we have a conversation to adopt these insights to your situation and set you up for success?
For the unfiltered, off the cuff discussion about this topic, please listen to my podcast airing on 2/16/24 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
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
CEO’s that gloss over mentorship realize corporate destabilization due to poor performance and retention challenges. Why does leadership invest so much in bringing in great talent to leave it unmanaged and wither with time? When we buy a car we’re better at changing the oil and rotating the tires. Why not have the same discipline with our resources who are the engine that run the organization?
I asked my mentor, what do I need to get ahead in my career and they said “Get an MBA.” At that time, I was busy with a career, three kids and doing the best I could to deliver results. Who at the time could manage another degree? In retrospect, they could have advised how an MBA might enable me to have a greater impact on the organization. I’m sure it would have been helpful, but without proper mentorship even if I did get the MBA, I might not have reached my potential. Without that guidance, even if I got the MBA, I may have failed to reach my fullest potential. This is an example of poor mentorship and why I’m forever speaking to you about how important it is.
Let me break it down to the essentials so you can launch your own mentoring initiative:
- Pair trained leaders to meet monthly with each of their staff. It may not be their boss
- Focus first on the essential skills / barriers to improve core competencies and unleash their potential
- Focus on the strategic work and evolve their thoughts on approach and progress
- Focus on the tactical and what barriers are needed to be removed
- Be present and really listen to the person and what are the underlying concerns
- See them for who they should be or already are that they cannot see. Bring forward insight so they can see themselves in a new or different or higher light. When we can help them see their potential, they rise above.
You don’t need an expensive consultant to help implement such an effort. You as a leader can easily explain to your team why this is important and the measurable impact you are expecting. Then hold your teams accountable for this process just like you would manage any other Key Performance Indicator (KPI) in your organization. The mindset shift is that we are in the business of performance management. When we close gaps in confidence, capability and capacity, the results for stakeholders will follow.
For the unfiltered, off the cuff discussion about this topic, please listen to my podcast airing on 1/12/24 and view the video so you see how I really feel about this topic!.
I’ll leave you with one more closing thought:
Without effective mentorship, you are building a business on a shaky foundation of talent that may have gaps / cracks that you will notice when the planets align against you.
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 1/12/24
Be well-Deb