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Managing the Mental Clutter

Whether it’s spending time with family, friends, or engaging in activities we enjoy, our work shouldn’t prevent us from living fulfilling lives. Failing to break the cycle of unhealthy habits can lead to burnout and ineffectiveness in achieving our goals. Trying to strike a balance can often lead to mental clutter that impacts how we view and interact with the world around us.

I’ve personally experienced feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed by simultaneous tasks. It’s a common issue, especially among high performers and C-suite leaders. We often find ourselves stuck in a whirlwind of tasks, struggling to prioritize and focus on what truly matters.

To overcome this, I’ve developed a framework that helps declutter the mind and prioritize meaningful work. It includes:

  • Getting clear on daily tasks: Understand what needs to be done each day and prioritize accordingly.
  • Evaluating the work week: Look at your week as a whole and identify where your time is going.
  • Delegating and empowering others: You don’t have to do everything yourself. Delegate tasks to your team and empower them to take ownership.
  • Questioning the value of activities: Not all tasks are equally important. Ask yourself if what you’re doing is adding value to your work or life.
  • Ensuring work habits support physical and mental well-being: Your health is crucial. Make sure your work habits aren’t negatively impacting your well-being.

I encourage you to pause and reflect on this framework. Find strategies that resonate with you and implement them in your daily routine.

If you are aspiring to the C-Suite, and tired of the hustle, are you ready to change how you work and implement these tips? 

If you are a business owner or C-Suite leader, are you ready to invest in your people and help them be successful? Their success is your success! 

Now is the time for you to collect your thoughts and take action. I want you to succeed and this framework can enable you to do it yourself. 

However, if you need more help, I’m here for you as the Drop In CEO, CEO whisperer or as a sounding board. 

To hear more about my story about framework, please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 8/4/23. 

Maybe you simply need a support system to apply these new insights. I find leaders need a place to talk through the challenges and that’s why I created The Drop In CEO Collective, a forum for C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow. To learn more about our next event you can visit our page and register. 

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 via my website and let’s have a conversation. Until then, I wish you much success. 

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The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Empathetic Communication

Summer is beginning to wind down, but I’m still receiving plenty of “out of office” notifications, and honestly I couldn’t be happier. I’m seeing more people prioritize their time and as a culture, I know we’re shifting to a more fulfilling way to work and live. 

It’s because of that shift that I wanted to take a moment to discuss communication and how we can be more intentional about the way we share information. Over the past few weeks I’ve shared ways to create boundaries around your own time and email habits, but today I wanted to give you a few pointers on how you can communicate in a way that allows your team to uphold those same boundaries you’re trying to implement for yourself, while still being productive. 

At the end of the day, it’s up to you as the leader to set the standard of how and when you communicate with your team. I’m hoping that these insights will give you some direction when making plans for upcoming projects.

Here are some key takeaways for creating empathetic communication habits:

  • The Power of Lean Communication: Get straight to the point in your subject lines, use concise language, and include a clear call to action. This approach not only grabs attention but also shows your commitment to helping others.
  • Start with Gratitude: Even if the previous communication wasn’t respectful, take the high road. Thank the other person for any information they provided. This sets a positive tone and fosters better results.
  • Clear Call to Action: Make it easy for others to respond and help you. Specify what you need, offer assistance, and set up a meeting to walk them through the details.
  • Respect Others’ Time: Keep emails short and to the point, with no more than five sentences. Include attachments for additional details and close with a respectful salutation.

By following this framework, you’ll not only be seen as an empathetic leader but also enjoy higher response rates. I encourage you to try these tips and see the difference they make.

If you are aspiring to the C-Suite, and tired of the hustle, are you ready to change how you work and implement these tips? 

If you are a business owner or C-Suite leader, are you ready to invest in your people and help them be successful? Their success is your success! 

Now is the time for you to collect your thoughts and take action. I want you to succeed and this framework can enable you to do it yourself. 

However, if you need more help, I’m here for you as the Drop In CEO, CEO whisperer or as a sounding board. 

To hear more about my story about framework, please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 7/28/23. 

Maybe you simply need a support system to apply these new insights. I find leaders need a place to talk through the challenges and that’s why I created The Drop In CEO Collective, a forum for C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow. To learn more about our next event you can visit our page and register. 

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 via my website and let’s have a conversation. Until then, I wish you much success. 

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Mastering the Art of Unplugging

This year, I’m embracing simplicity, and I’ve got three pillars to guide me: investing in myself, expanding my reach to help more of you, and prioritizing my well-being. I’m happy to report that my recent annual physical showed that these efforts are paying off!

One of the biggest challenges of prioritizing well-being can be the challenge of disconnecting from work, especially when on vacation. I’ve been there, constantly checking emails, and I know it’s a struggle. But I’ve learned that most emails can wait, and it’s all about discipline and time blocking. I’ve also learned the hard way that strategic work should be a priority. After a wake-up call in the form of a negative performance review, I took a course on understanding what’s important versus urgent and developed new strategies.

Here are a few of my top tips for prioritizing and managing time in the summer:

  • Take stock of your current workload and prepare your backup for your time away. It’s never too early to make sure your replacement has all of the information they need to be successful.
  • Prepare for your vacation by reaching out to your customers and internal stakeholders beforehand. Introduce them to your backup to ensure business continuity and peace of mind for everyone involved.
  • Try turning off your phone in the middle of the day. It’s a game-changer. You’ll be able to focus on creating lasting memories with your loved ones and leave a positive impression on those around you.

Remember, it’s not about being on top of your email, but about creating meaningful experiences. What legacy do you want to leave behind?

If you are aspiring to the C-Suite, and tired of the hustle, are you ready to change how you work and implement these tips? 

If you are a business owner or C-Suite leader, are you ready to invest in your people and help them be successful? Their success is your success! 

Now is the time for you to collect your thoughts and take action. I want you to succeed and this framework can enable you to do it yourself. 

However, if you need more help, I’m here for you as the Drop In CEO, CEO whisperer or as a sounding board. 

To hear more about my story about framework, please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 7/21/23. 

Maybe you simply need a support system to apply these new insights. I find leaders need a place to talk through the challenges and that’s why I created The Drop In CEO Collective, a forum for C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow. To learn more about our next event you can visit our page and register. 

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 via my website and let’s have a conversation. Until then, I wish you much success. 

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The Most Practical Framework for Assessing Your Career Goals

So often, we hustle and try to get the work done. We cover for people that are on vacation. We’re so busy trying to keep all the balls moving that we forget that we as leaders need time to pause and reflect. Are you feeling overwhelmed and unsure of your next steps in your career or business? Sometimes the most important thing you can do to move forward is taking breaks and zooming out to gain clarity and focus.

The hard truth is that if you fail to take breaks, circumstances may provide one for you. I never used to own up to this. I have been let go from jobs a handful of times, and I can tell you the time off was life changing for me. When I got away from the work at hand, I gained so much clarity. Each time I had to dust off my resume or pause to think about my guiding principles for the new opportunity that I was seeking, I gained so much insight. When you’re in a job and you’re zoomed in all the time, you don’t take the time to assess where you’re going. If you need to slow down or speed up or change course, it’s best to do it intentionally before life does it for you.  

I remember being let go from a job that I probably shouldn’t have taken to begin with, but the money was good. I soon realized that I would not pursue that line of work in the future because it did not feed my soul. And quite frankly, I was miserable. These breaks are so important, yet fail to take them intentionally. We would rather wait for life happens to us and reflect when we’re in crisis.

If you want to be intentional about your next break, I’ve created a simple framework to make the most of your time:

  • Ask your boss for feedback: Ask what you can start doing, stop doing, and change in order to be more successful in your current position.
  • Give actionable feedback: When sharing your observations with your team, make sure there are tangible outcomes for them to pursue. 
  • Identify your actions: Listen to feedback and choose 1 or 2 actions you can take in the next quarter and focus solely on those things.
  • Make those actions a habit: Once you’ve gone to all the effort of making a change, hold yourself accountable to make that change a habit for long-term success. Deb shares her personal experiences and provides a framework for setting intentions, assessing progress, and making changes. By focusing on one or two changes at a time, you can celebrate your progress and stay on course towards your goals.

In a world that values hustle and constant productivity, it’s easy to forget the importance of taking breaks and gaining clarity. It’s essential for leaders to reflect on their actions and make changes when necessary. So take a deep breath and zoom out. Your career or business will thank you for it.

If you are aspiring to the C-Suite, and tired of the hustle, are you ready to change how you work and implement these tips? 

If you are a business owner or C-Suite leader, are you ready to invest in your people and help them be successful? Their success is your success! 

Now is the time for you to collect your thoughts and take action. I want you to succeed and this framework can enable you to do it yourself. 

However, if you need more help, I’m here for you as the Drop In CEO, CEO whisperer or as a sounding board. 

To hear more about my story about framework, please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 6/23/23. 

Maybe you simply need a support system to apply these new insights. I find leaders need a place to talk through the challenges and that’s why I created The Drop In CEO Collective, a forum for C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow. To learn more about our next event you can visit our page and register. 

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 via my website and let’s have a conversation. Until then, I wish you much success. 

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Stop the Hustle! Why C-Suite leaders work smarter and get promoted faster

Did I just say that? Did I dispel every belief you had about working harder to get ahead? I’ve learned the hard way that you can only get promoted so far with your technical capability and hard work and then you hit a wall and then you get frustrated. 

I’m even more frustrated when leaders in the C-Suite are not transparent about what to tell their staff why they cannot get ahead. Could it be you want to protect their resources? Or do they lack the skills to articulate feedback that will either help the employee or steer them in the right direction? 

Well, today is a new day and I’d like to share with you my experience and a framework that can help you to work smarter and get promoted faster. 

In a past role, I worked hard and I received 4 promotions in 7 years. That all came to an end when my advocate moved on and then I was stuck. I started shopping myself around within the company and no door would lead to where I wanted to go both career and financial. Instead I turned my energy outside and with that move to a new company, I was moved up again to 2 promotions in 4 years. This success happened by taking control of my career, networking with the right people and setting goals for myself.  I soon learned that hustle doesn’t always work but the way you work will get you ahead faster.

So let’s turn to you: How do we turn this into a framework that can work for you? 

5 Tips for working smarter, not harder towards your career goals

  • Advocates: are people who have your back and are always singing your praises. Lean into it, see how you can help, they are the ones that will promote or pull you ahead.
  •  Messaging: It’s not what you say, but how you say it – I teach this information vs. messaging; an essential skill you need. Contact me if you want to learn more, I talk about this as one of the highest missing skills for up and coming leaders
  • Talking points – aka executive presence. What are the 3-5 things you believe in and are your core values? Have stories to demonstrate them and be ready to showcase them in an interview or presentation. When you lead with talking points, you create consistency in your messaging and you become a trusted resource. 
  • Stakeholder management – when starting a project, know who the stakeholders are and make sure you have a relationship with them. Consider meeting regularly and when you have  your next initiative, float it to them for their input so when you position it, they’ve already bought into your idea.
  • Build an external network that is intentional. I regret not having done this while working within a company. I had 800 LI connections when I started and now I have 7500 and growing. With more eyeballs on you and your experience, the greater that there will be pull vs. the constant push.

If you are aspiring to the C-Suite, and tired of the hustle, are you ready to change how you work and implement these tips? 

If you are a business owner or C-Suite leader, are you ready to invest in your people and help them be successful? Their success is your success! 

Now is the time for you to collect your thoughts and take action. I want you to succeed and this framework can enable you to do it yourself. 

However, if you need more help, I’m here for you as the Drop In CEO, CEO whisperer or as a sounding board. 

To hear more about my story about framework,  please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 6/16/23. 

Maybe you simply need a support system to apply these new insights. I find leaders need a place to talk through the challenges and that’s why I created The Drop In CEO Collective, a forum for C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow. To learn more about our next event you can visit our page and register. 

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 via my website and let’s have a conversation. Until then, I wish you much success.

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How Setting Personal Boundaries can Lead to Success

I love working with CEO’s, C-Suite Leaders and leaders of tomorrow, because they’re so talented; but sometimes they hit a barrier and need my help. My heart hurts when I see them struggle and it validates the work I’m meant to do; to help them navigate challenges with confidence. One trend I have noticed is their inability to set personal boundaries to ensure their success.  

For me, as you can see I’m a prolific content creator and I produce 1 guest and 1 solo episode a month. However, I have some vacation time and a few client projects that need to get done and I can’t also be doing my usual networking and podcasting through the summer. So I’ve built an inventory of interviews and closed down my calendar for a month in June /July when I won’t be recording. I’ve also limited my calendar to allow only a few networking meetings. Setting boundaries gives me some breathing room to not feel stressed, manage my client work and also enjoy my summer. Setting boundaries feels uncomfortable to me at times, but at the same time, I have a sense of calm and peace of mind that I’m in control

How do we turn this into a framework that can work for you? 

  • Inventory the things that can be delayed / don’t have to be done for the next month or reduce the number of activities.
  • Set your schedule when you will start work, end work and force yourself to shut down your computer. For me, I start early, but I have my schedule such that most days I am done at 5. I close my laptop and know I’ve run out of energy to be most effective. I discipline myself to stop and know I’ll have twice as much energy the next morning to get those things done.
  • Time block when you will do administrative work, interactive work with colleagues/meetings, creative time – I know this is not always possible, but unless you plan your work, how will you ever get to a point where you feel like you’re in control?
  • If urgent matters come your way – pause and assess (delay) how urgent it is, or could it be delayed a few hours until you finish your creative or collaborative work uninterrupted. Sometimes people simply want to be acknowledged and know they will get your undivided attention when you are ready.
  • Take 20 minutes at whatever point in the day you feel like you start to wander and get off track. I’ve taken a late lunch between 2-3 and sat outside for 20 minutes. It’s very calming to my nerves. I told you I’m in personal wellness and when I go, go, go, my heart rate remains in the 70’s all day. When I pause for 20 minutes it goes back down into the high 50’s and it’s almost like I’ve had a nap. I come back to my work and the batteries are charged. 20 minutes for yourself won’t negatively impact your day. Go now, and take 20 for yourself!

By the way, I’m not perfect!  I’m continually honing this skill. If I fall off the wagon I realize that tomorrow’s another day to be successful and learn how to set boundaries.

So there you have it! It’s not a difficult concept, but sometimes difficult for leaders to enforce self discipline. People are watching your behaviors. Failure to change will have a ripple effect in your organization leaving everyone stressed and in less than optimal health. 

Now is the time for you to collect your thoughts and take action. I want you to succeed and this framework can enable you to do it yourself. 

However, if you need more help, I’m here for you as the Drop In CEO, CEO whisperer or as a sounding board. 

To hear more about my story about framework,  please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 6/8/23. 

Maybe you simply need a support system to apply these new insights. I find leaders need a place to talk through the challenges and that’s why I created The Drop In CEO Collective, a forum for C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow. To learn more about our next event on June 13th you can visit our page and register. 

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 via my website and let’s have a conversation. Until then, I wish you much success. 

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How Mitigating Risk Showcases Your C-Suite Leadership

The worst time to mitigate a crisis is when you’re in the middle of one. Leaders think their greatest purpose is to rush into battle with their teams to work tirelessly at all costs and celebrate surviving another day. While those leaders seem like heroes that live in the glory of their team seeing them as a great leader, I challenge you to rethink what true C-Suite leadership should be. It is the patient leader who discusses risk everyday and collaborates with their team to identify ways to reduce risk as part of daily work that should be the leaders worth following. When we have the time to methodically identify, qualify, prioritize and set a course for action during a time of calm will assure the business can respond responsibly to a crisis vs. react and be part of the crisis. 

Having been caught off guard during a crisis in a past role, all I could do was organize my team to react based on predefined protocols. We followed the protocols and came out of them with a few battle scars. And I wondered, how could this have happened despite what we thought were all the controls to avoid a crisis. We only were able to detect and then seek to contain. Given my overwhelming exhaustion from such an experience, I later found a better way and I have to say the ISO 9001 Standard for quality management systems provided me guidance on how to be a proactive leader vs. a reactive one. 

The new version of the standard which came out in 2015 was rooted in Risk Based Thinking and how to identify risks in all areas of the business both internally and external factors that opened my eyes up on a better way of leadership. Combining this with my Continuous Improvement Methodology, I developed a best practice for Mitigating risk in your business. The ISO auditor when we showed the approach was astonished at our approach and had nothing more to offer except validating it was a best practice and the company truly understood what it meant to manage risk. 

I have the template to share with you if you want and I’d be happy to go through it with you if you think it will help your organization. Connect with me and let’s have a conversation. 

If you would like to do it yourself, here is the framework: 

  • Invite every functional area to the conversation: Sales, Operations, Finance, IT, Regulatory, Quality, Supply Chain, HR, Security. You would be surprised how many risks can be identified no matter how obscure. 
  • Identify the risks – short term and anything that could happen in a 2-5 year horizon
  •  Categorize them into people, process, platforms, regulatory, compliance, safety – any category that makes sense to your business. It enables what will be an overwhelming list to sort and manage different workstreams and simplify the work. 
  • Rank them based on Severity & Occurrence. This is typically done on a scale of 1-10, but can be as simply as High, Medium and Low. A bonus would be a ranking of Detection which is the ability of your systems to detect the issue before it becomes a crisis. You can have a super high risk, but if you have an extraordinary detection system, the risk can be mitigated. Finally multiply all three numbers to get a final score; often referred to as RPN or Risk Priority Number. 
  • Sort the priorities – you can do the entire list or do it within the individual categories. This reduces the overwhelm and helps the team to focus on the critical few and plan for lower priorities in the future 
  • Take action – including assigning an specific action, assign an owner, due date and status. 
  • Re-evaluate on a quarterly or semi-annual basis. This is a living document that should regularly be reviewed to assure we are mitigating risk and add new ones as they arise. 

So there you have it: Invite, Identify, Categorize, Rank, Sort, Action, Re-evaluate. Sounds simple? It can be, but I’m right here for you if you need help to implement this. 

On a personal note: I hate surprises and managing through a crisis. I do it very well and that is why companies pull me for that support. However, out of that dislike for managing a crisis, I find the best work I can do is to help leaders like you to mitigate a crisis. It’s hard work to sit down and do this work, but most rewarding and ultimately can lead you to a place of Excitement, Optimism as well as saving a lot of time in the future. Doesn’t this sound like the leader you want to be? If you’ve got this, but know someone who is struggling, could this framework help them? Pass it along if you think someone would benefit from this framework of if my support will help another leader mitigate a crisis. 

 Now is the time for you to collect your thoughts and take action. 

To hear more about my story about How to create emotional consistency as a leader, please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 5/12/23. 

Maybe you simply need a support system to apply these new insights. I find leaders simply need a place to talk through the challenges and that’s why I created The Drop In CEO Collective, a forum for C-Suite leader support. To learn more about our next event on 5/15/23, you can visit our page and register. 

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 via my website and let’s have a conversation. Until then, I wish you much success. 

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How To Be The Leader You Are Meant To Be

So often aspiring C-Suite Leaders think they still have a long hill to climb when all they need to do see themselves at that level. I’ve met so many talented people that should be in the C-Suite, even if they have many of those skills. When I meet one of these individuals I try to put a mirror in front of them so they can see what they cannot see. Here are some ways they can be behave like they’re in the C-Suite and then other will see them as well.

Learn how to do Strategic Planning

If your leadership doesn’t paint a picture of what the future looks like, why not you? I have found once you can see the future, create a vision, identify guiding principles, pillars, detailed plan and needed resources, your confidence builds and you’ve crafted a strong message to communicate. Bounce it off colleagues, enrich it with their feedback and soon you’ll find others migrating to you as a true leader.

Listen and ask more questions

The person that sits quietly and listens to the collective input of the team slows the process down and can gain clarity in the situation. When people are part of the brainstorming or data download, they lose perspective. Slowing your mind down and asking more questions can get more data for you to formulate a response. The combination of listening, asking, reframing and coming forward with perspective is what your team needs and to set them on the right track. It takes discipline to be present and speak last, but the team will follow you or pull you for your perspective over and over again.

Have the courage to blaze a new path

I promise you if you have a crazy idea or a proposal that requires courage to come forth, others will cheer you on because you had courage. You need to be the voice that presents an alternate view and even if it’s met with dissent, you’ve pulled a conversation forward. It could be with your courage, you spawn the conversations that need to be had, but others were afraid to go first. You may be stirring the pot, but people need you to do that; if not you, then who?

While I could enrich this with stories of my own, I wanted to impart these thoughts for you to consider. If they resonate with you, let’s partner on your path to the C-Suite. Let’s talk; a quick 15-30 minute conversation may be all the support you need. If you need more, I offer a twice a month forum called The Drop In Collective; you can network, learn new skills and receive spot coaching on this topic or anything else where your struggling.

If this is you, don’t wait to invest in yourself. Have the courage to elevate yourself; the world is watching.

Be well-Deb

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How The CEO’s Compass is helping The Drop In CEO

Every 6-12 months I feel off track for which the book, The CEO’s Compass: Your Guide to Get Back on Track becomes my own self help book. Chapter 1 is titled: It’s Personal – What changed and why are you off track” followed by a quote on the facing page:
 
 “Having Clarity amidst chaos cuts through the noise.” -Deb Coviello.

I was feeling off track, took some time to reflect if I was still committed to my work. I then took some time to declutter my life as it got real messy again. I had so much I wanted to accomplish, but my efforts were diluted and not having the impact I wanted. When I looked at, I found comfort in my chapter on “People: They’re your greatest tool in your tool box” for which I realized I needed help to move my business forward again.

One of the challenges I see in CEO’s is they lack the courage to ask for help until it’s too late and then they wonder why they are in crisis. Fixing the issue becomes so much more expensive than had they moved faster with external support. I see the same challenges in businesses going through Mergers & Acquisitions. They focus on the transaction and lose sight of evolving the leadership team. Businesses spend a lot of money on consulting companies to complete the project, but have they actually created chaos? The leadership teams are not equipped with the tools to sustain the new business model. I often wonder how many companies out there could use Drop In CEO services to bridge the gap between the past and the future state. Any M&A leaders out there, just know I’d love to speak to you to  help navigate the process more smoothly. Just reply to this email as I’d love to pick your brain to help with this challenge. 

So getting back to my story about getting back my story… you will be seeing a lot of changes that evolve Illumination Partners, LLC (my business entity) and The Drop in CEO (my brand) to bring our team closer to my community: C-Suite Leaders of Today, C-Suite Leaders of Tomorrow and Sponsors & Advocates for our work. I’ve called in the calvary to support me through content writing, marketing, video & audio production and even a refresh on our brand images. I’ve set an intention on investing what works and having the courage to ask for A LOT of help! 

I’m grateful I wrote the book, The CEO’s Compass to help C-Suite Leaders of today. It servesso as a gentle reminder for myself to stay on track and make course corrections as needed to enable me to be in service to my community.

Look for a refreshed look to my Get to the point Newsletter in the coming weeks that we hope will increase the value to you and make it a go to resource for you, your teams and the network. 

If you would like to learn more about the book, you can also visit my website  to preview and order your copy. Let me know how I can help you. I’d love to support you. Until then, I wish you much success-Deb
New Date / Times for The Drop In CEO CollectiveI’m so excited about the conversations and value we’re providing attendees of the Collective.

Each week, I teach people different approaches to networking that will make you memorable vs. an elevator pitch.

We bring forward educational content from our podcast or even from the community to teach you skills needed for the C-Suite. 

The spot coaching is also amazing as it’s not just from myself, but the Collective can help you also navigate your challenges. 

I appreciate the feedback about the dates / times and with that we will offer our next Collective on Monday March 20th at 12:00-1:00 and 4:00-5:00 ET to see if this will make it easier for you to invest in your career. 

If you cannot make this session, but know of someone who would benefit, please pass this along so they can register. 

This is complimentary because I care about supporting you and The Drop In CEO Community. 
Click here to get your initiation
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What CEO’s can learn from the play “Annie”​

I’ve shared with many of you I’m working with a Functional Wellness Coach to ensure my health is in check so I can continue to be in service to you. During this journey, we’ve discovered Stress has potentially cause my chemistry to be out of balance. As part of decreasing stress, I’ve been doing more things that give me pleasure and are relaxing; one of which is continuing to go to the theater. Last evening we saw the play “Annie” and while it was a feel good story, there are important messages CEO’s can learn to get better results.

First and foremost, the song “The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow”, gives hope that you always have another day to make things right or to enjoy success and life. So many CEO’s dwell in what is going wrong vs. playing to what is going well and applying more energy. Where things are going wrong, they spend too much time in the weeds, vs. enabling teams to solve their own issues and inspire optimism. Fast Companies article about how CEO’s can lead with optimism in uncertain times is critical to enable high performing teams to meet those challenges. 

While I could gush about the entire musical score for Annie, let me share my personal thoughts. I was once a victim to circumstances and I simply wanted to “survive” until tomorrow. The turning point came when I realized I had no more energy to survive and wonder how I got to this place. I focused on the immediate vs. the future. I had my hands in most everything vs. improving my decision logic and prioritization. I worked harder vs. smarter and knew no other way. Where was my boss? Where was the coaching I needed to develop the essential skills vs. applying resources at the issues?

I am so grateful I can now see clearly these challenges are common to most C-Suite leaders and those seeking to get into the C-Suite. No where do I find a systemic approach within corporations to identify these gaps in skills nor a program to evolve them. Only a lucky few have a mentor or a coach with others falling into despair or feeling stuck. Given this insight, I have curated these gaps into The CEO’s Compass as a guide to stop and recognize the gaps and start helping leaders develop new skills & approaches to their leadership style. This is a DIY guide to get back on track, but I can also support you and your business challenges often moving you from crisis to stability in 90 days or less. Let’s have a conversation. 

If this is you, PLEASE do not continue as you have. PLEASE do start to do something different. If you are trying to get into the C-Suite, consider my book as a resource to get you on track in days vs. months. I also propose the Drop In CEO Collective that could jump start you to the right track in 50 minutes or less. Time is valuable and leveraging tools to give you back time and reduce stress is an investment in yourself that you should consider. We all want to see The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow!

Message me if you’re interested in the Drop In Collective or click here for your exclusive invite.  

Let me know; I’d love to support you. 

Until then, I wish you much success-Deb

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