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How Executive Presence is the Game Changer to Get to the C-Suite

Executive Presence is often not discussed as part of performance reviews or even 360 feedback, but is an unspoken necessity to be perceived as ready for the C-Suite. Even this article I link to “Are you a Leader Struggling with Executive Presence”  only speaks to the physical attributes of how you show up to give presentations which alone won’t cut it. Contrary to executive coaches or image specialists who work mostly on the external presence, only a few will discuss the internal presence which I find is more critical. Want to learn more? Read on…

Write down your answers to these questions which qualify how you will project yourself into our community

  • Why do I lead and what type of leader am I?
  • What am I most passionate about
  • What am I willing to put money down on that if we followed would make a difference
  • How do I see the world differently
  • What do I believe in that I would pursue, even if I wasn’t paid for this work. 

I never had coaching while I was in corporate (so many of us don’t get that opportunity) and it was only after I sought coaches as a business owner that I arrived at presence. How do I know I “arrived”. Every time I show up at a networking event, introduce myself on a new team or speak on a podcast, I have the same talking points and people know what I stand for:

  • I guide C-Suite Leaders of Today and Tomorrow to navigate challenges with confidence
  • I do this because I want them to struggle less and do more of the things they want to for themselves or with family, friends and community
  • I assess organizations through the CEO’s Compass with focus on Peace of Mind vs. Results to get back on track

When I show up now, people will actually comment I have great presence. They love how I introduce myself and they know what I’m about. This can be you as well.

Write down your responses to the questions you pose and ask yourself if you have clarity? Could you talk about these insights every time you show up? Does it give you confidence when you speak? 

Post your responses in a prominent place to remind yourself. Practice applying them. What response did you get from the audience you were trying to influence?

If this exercise intrigues you, but you’re still not sure how to apply, send me your responses and I can leave you a voice message on my thoughts. You can also DM me on Linkedin. Are you ready to take action? I’m here to support you.

Conclusion: You don’t need a new haircut, wardrobe or communication training until you understand who you are and why you exist to make a difference. The rest is complementary to the entire package of executive presence. 

If you find this article helpful, I would be forever grateful if you shared with a friend. I can also subscribe them to the newsletter if you give me permission. Just message me back. 

Wishing you happiness, health and great memories as we enter the holiday season.

-Deb

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How finding “Fa La La”​ can help you get through tough times!

While most of you know me as Deb Coviello, The Drop In CEO, behind the curtain is a person that simply wants to spend more time with my family, friends and community. I love having the time to plan and prepare meal experiences that bring people together and create memories. Christmas time is a time I celebrate knowing I can do all of those things and I can say “Fa La La”. I’ve added a link to my cookie photo in this article to take you to my personal Facebook Page so you can follow me, my family, my dog Reagan and curling. I think it’s important that we take the time to get to know each other more personally so when we do come together, the work is so much more meaningful and fun. Connect with me and let me connect with you as well on your favorite personal social site. But what about “Fa La La”? Read on to learn more…

A few years ago, I was panicking to get all the Christmas shopping, cookie making, decorating and couldn’t find enough hours in the day. Don’t even ask about the Christmas cards; they’ve now become New Years cards if I’m lucky! Anyway, this particular year, things were falling apart, breaking, forgotten presents etc. and I was getting down on my self. Then out of nowhere when I didn’t know what else to say, I said “Fa La La” and threw my arms up. It was an expression of “Oh well”, that didn’t work and as a way to shrug it off and laugh at the situation. So every time things don’t go as planned, I simply say “Fa La La”

This expression became a “thing” for which my mother bought me a shirt that says “Fa La La” and showed me she cared enough about my mishaps, but also supported me as I celebrated life’s imperfections and the ability to move on. I say “Fa La La” now to you and ask for forgiveness for every time I misspoke on my podcast, mixed up my words, said it was 2020 when it was 2022, for forgetting to call you back, missing a meeting or being late paying a bill. It was because I was probably focused on the most important thing in the moment for which getting it right was less important than being in the moment. 

So my gift to you this week is to think about when / where you’ve been having challenges that ever so slightly bring you down and ask yourself how relevant is it in the grand scheme of enjoying life? Sometimes we give those little things too much relevance for which not only did something happen or not happen. It’s time to shake it off, say “Fa La La” and you would be surprised how quickly you forget about it and move on to enjoy the things you love to do.

I’m heading out shortly to finish Christmas shopping, buy some food because my mom is visiting for a month and my daughter comes home from Italy tomorrow. But I’m also buying ingredients to make Christmas cookies and enjoy memories with the people in my life. If I forget an ingredient… Fa La La. If there is traffic that slows me down… Fa La La…if don’t get to the vacuuming before people arrive… Fa La La.

So here is your challenge: Start saying Fa La La and turn mishaps into fond memories!

Wishing you happiness, health and great memories as we enter the holiday season.

-Deb

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How fixing a light bulb can solve world peace… or close to it!

I don’t often talk about my husband Dan, but he’s the center of today’s story! He’s been my partner for over 33 years and while marriage is a challenge, we find a way to make it work. He knows having the house functioning well is the key to my happiness and hence Coviello World Peace! Read on because there is always a life lesson in everything I write!

“Honey, the kitchen light is out over the island, can you fix it?”. “Dan, the front spot light went out in front of the house, can you fix it?”. “Hey, when you have a minute, can you replace the light in my pantry?”. These requests to help give me light is actually a laughing matter for us as some lights are always blowing out in the house!  While he could let the honey-do’s pile up and usually there is no safety issue or urgency to any light replacement, he knows over time it builds up my frustration. And so goes the saying: “Happy wife, happy life!”. Sound familiar? Dan knows that while fixing a light is only a small act of kindness and sometimes necessary, he also knows in the bigger picture, life will be more peaceful if he tends to these small requests. 

Now I said there is a life lesson in all of this silly little story about how my marriage works, but hang tight as I finish the rest of the story. When Dan fixes the light over the kitchen island, it enables me to cook for the family and read the recipes without reverting to cheater glasses! When Dan fixes the spotlight on our home, it adds to my joy of seeing our beautiful home properly lit up. When Dan fixes the pantry light, I can see my inventory and more efficiently make meals for my family. It’s all about creating community and the things that give us pleasure in our lives. When Dan tends to the small things, the rest of our life is peaceful (most of the time!). 

So what does this have to do with you? As always, I revert to my purpose of helping C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow navigate challenges with confidence. And why is this important? Because I want you to struggle less and enjoy the things you like to do with yourself, friends, family and community. Simple and straight forward. I now ask if you are taking care of the little things that you need to improve your confidence, capacity or capability? Of have you delayed that in favor of urgent matters and procrastinate on serving the most important person; yourself. Sure, you can delay building up your skills, but for how long? Letting it slide too long may result in a poor performance review, missed opportunities or not being respected for the value you bring? And then, peace evades you.

If you know me personally, I’m not a Debbie downer at all. I’m an optimist and everyone of you that I’ve personally met, I’ve seen the value in who you are and potential for much more. I try to inspire you to think differently at every moment and take control of your situation. Getting a good review, raise or promotion is always good, but ultimately you want peace of mind in all aspects of your life. Just like changing a light bulb and keeping the home in good order; you deserve the same. Why not invest in yourself like my husband Dan takes care of the light bulbs?!

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3 Reality Shifts That Will Change the Trajectory of Your Career

“Deb, do you have a minute?”, “Deb, can I ask you a question?”, “Deb, I’d like to bounce something off of you” are some of the things people are saying to me recently.  When the universe speaks to me, it’s clearly a sign that more of you are having the same challenges. There are important #RealityShifts that I want to share with you based on these recent conversations for which may change the trajectory of your 2023 career goals. Ready to read on?

Before I share the reality shifts you need to make, I want to give you some context of why these stories are the trends I’m seeing in talent as they struggle to break out and be the leaders they were meant to be. While the media & guru’s push the narratives of the “Great Resignation”, “Silent Quitting” or “Work from Anywhere”, are these really the topics we should be speaking about? I believe the root cause of all these Trends is a growing phenomenon called the “Human Awakening”.

We are realizing the energy we’ve invested in a corporate conformist society has taken a toll on who we want to be in pursuit of purposeful work. While we’ve enjoyed the experiences and resources of a traditional corporate pursuit, we are getting very, very, very restless about the work we were meant to do and how do we rediscover the person we once were. At the core of all these recent encounters is a yearning to do something different, but they are stuck for which I want to share some insights.

Start describing yourself as how you change lives & businesses

A new acquaintance of mine wants to elevate their side gig to full time pursuit as they think of retiring. They love both careers, but one is pulling them towards more purposeful work. During our casual brainstorming sessions, they describe what they do in terms of functional title: Coach, Advisor, Consultant. The problem with this, is you put yourself in a box with the thousands of others that label themselves as a title or function.

To stand out from the crowd, I recommend you describe yourself in how you change lives and business. Rather than saying I’m an Executive Leadership Coach, start saying “I help talented leaders rediscover their passion for play and make work fun again”. Wow! That’s certainly different and differentiates you from everyone else.  Think of it as a living Eulogy of what people would say about you when you’re not there.  

Start speaking as if you were in the next role you aspire to

I would be rich if I could monetize every person who shared their story with me about “I’m not this”, I’ve never been in that role, I can’t be that because I don’t have this” …Ugh, please stop saying what you’re not, but start speaking as if you are! Then if there are gaps, you address how you’ll fill in those gaps.

A colleague of mine is in career transition, and they are reflecting on what they’ve done and seeking new opportunities in what they have done in the past. They don’t see themselves as the next level higher such as the president or CEO of a company. They kept focusing on what they are not and not listening to who they are already qualified to be. I jolted them by saying, you’re already acting at the next level, but you don’t realize it. They stopped dead in their tracks and said they never thought of themselves in that way.

When we think about the skills we bring to the table, the title is simply a validation that we have everything we need to be successful. Where there are gaps, we are resourceful in bring in subject matter experts to advise us.

Could you shift your mindset and start thinking about yourself in the next role and the qualities (not qualifications) that are needed? Do you have most of the skills already and can picture yourself in the role? I can tell you that magic starts to happen as your mind shifts to a new persona. You have been the only you have been holding yourself back. Could we stop doing that and start being the person in your next role?

Start bringing who you are outside of work into your work

An old colleague of mine reached out to me who is thinking of a career transition. They know I’ve been through the same process and wanted to have a chat with me and pick my brain. They shared in advance some assets that floored me when it came to describing their history. Far different than a resume or website was the richness of color and their life passions which they brought forward in the copy. They were marketing a human being, rich with stories and pursuits vs. a resume of qualifications. They were interesting and fun and a person I would want to have a drink with and want to learn more about.

So why is it we go to work and check the human at the door? Yes, we’ll talk about our weekends with the kids and their soccer matches over coffee, but after these cordialities, its’ back to the grind. There’s a deeper message in bringing the human into the workplace far more than before. It’s about being authentic in your gifts and imperfections. It’s about discovering what makes you unique & interesting to others. It’s about being the human that comes naturally vs. conforming to a formal structure. I’m not saying you should be crazy, silly & reckless in the workplace, but stop being someone who you’re not!

I have recently started talking about Curling, Podcasting, writing a book, blogging, cooking, having 3 kids in Europe and everything that I’m passionate with anyone and everyone who I meet. I’m far more interesting to others than being “The Drop In CEO”, a coach or business advisor. I’m letting myself be myself, which to some it’s called a “Personal Brand”, but we are unique in that way. When we conform to ways of working like everyone else, we lose ourselves. When we position ourselves as the collective of all our passions & pursuits, we become much more interesting, and doors open. We are no longer that resume that goes in the “No” pile but move into the “Interesting” pile.

The shift is to start being the person who you already are into work, so we no longer have energy shifts into who others expect us to be. People might not like who you are or won’t find you interesting. But then you can determine if this is your tribe or should you be someplace else. It’s a risk worth taking to change the trajectory of your career.

Now let’s talk about you. Do you have questions about the trajectory of your career and don’t know who to talk to? Consider The Drop In CEO Collective where I bring together passionate leaders who want to make a difference, but need support. In the Collective we learn new skills, strategically network with others seeking the same goals and you get spot coaching that is complimentary. Now ask yourself, are you work investing 60 minutes a month into your career? Are you stuck and need someone or a group to bounce ideas around. I’m extending this offer to you and if you’re interested, message me so I can share an invite only link to attend. #askDeb

Are you ready for making a reality shift in your career or will you continue to follow the societal imposed trends? Take control now and let me part of your path forward and creating your 2023 career goals.

Until we meet, be well!

-Deb

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Why Do We Need a Holiday to Show Thanks?

As children, we are taught to say “Please” and “Thank you”, show kindness to those less fortunate, and lift up our hearts to a higher being to show our gratitude for the opportunity to create on this earth. While I enjoy gathering with family, enjoying good food, cheer & laughs, I often wonder why the reminder. Now, I know my history for which our ancestors celebrated the harvest with community. It is simply something we should think about everyday; giving thanks to all who come across our path. The title of this article may be a bit counter to the posts we see on social media and the news, but I look at things differently for which I’m grateful for a moment or two of your time. 

Almost every email or social media post, I thank the person for the information they shared with me or something about the conversation we had. When we lead with gratitude, human nature reciprocates much faster than the alternative. In this fast paced environment, this is one of my super tools to get faster responses. 

I was in a meeting recently for which I was new and the leader spent extra time giving me context for the meeting. I did not want to embarrass  the person as I was fully briefed on the issue. Instead, I thanked them for the context, that I was previously briefed and I wanted to yield to those who came to resolve issues and I would catch up with them later to fill in the blanks. The leader was keenly interested in me for which we scheduled a 1-2-1 right after that meeting. Gratitude resulted in faster human connection.

My schedule constantly fills up with networking opportunities for which I often have to delete meetings that don’t serve me at that time. Recently I canceled a meeting due to other priorities, but I thanked the person for their professional relationship and would maintain them in my referral database. While I may not have an immediate need to connect, I’ve shown gratitude for which we maintain the relationship and may be top of mind in the future.

What came easy as a child to show thanks should come easy everyday; not only as humans we have a duty to connect, but in business it can make things so much easier. Unfortunately or fortunately, showing consistent gratitude sets you apart as a leader for which others will follow.

Now take a moment and reflect on your encounters and evaluate how often you express gratitude to others? Could you add 1-2 more each day to build up this skill? What would the next and the next day look like? Would it get easier? And what might the impact be in terms of relationships?

For me, it is paying dividends as people I’ve met over the last 2 years while we don’t engage constantly periodically reach out to me and say “Deb, do you have a moment?”. 

Let me know showing gratitude has been of value to you; and remember we can celebrate Thanksgiving everyday! 

Be well-Deb

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How to be the leadership voice for those who do not have one

How to be the leadership voice for those who do not have one

While traveling with my son in Germany, we happened upon the Berlin wall for which numerous artists articulated messages such as the one I am sharing now. When I look at this artwork, I see so many voices trying to be heard and those fading off in the distance who no longer have a voice. As I ponder the meaning for me, I am grateful for my ancestors who came to the US from Austria, Czechoslovakia and Russia seeking opportunity for which I realize a better life.

I often wonder if my fierce independence is the culmination of all the DNA from those who took a risk and were driven for success. I also think of those who don’t have the confidence or opportunity to be heard. That is why much of my passion is to help elevate those who have lost their voice.  It’s in my DNA and why I share these thoughts with you. 

Insight: Be the leadership voice for those who do not have one.

Context: Whether you are already a people leader or simply an individual contributor, do you truly see those around you whose voice is not heard? Are there people that are scribbling notes in a meeting, looking down as you pass them or rush off after a meeting hoping no one will ask them a question. Think about those people and ask yourself if they need someone; possibly you to be there to listen to and potentially be their voice to elevate them? 

Impact: By simply being in tune with the people in your environment, you may see someone that because you asked them what they were thinking, you may awake them to use their voice. You can also hear their stories and elevate their thoughts if you have the access and communication skills to advocate. By being in service to just one person, their unheard or faded voice can be front and center; forever changing the trajectory of that person’s life. 

In real life: Reverting back to my son who is serving in the military, I asked him over dinner if he enjoyed his work and why. He responded that he loves his work because 1) he loves his country, 2) he dislikes bullies and 3) he wants to protect those who cannot protect themselves. As a mother, my heart is filled with joy seeing him mature, values driven and living a purposeful life. As he seeks to help those who cannot help themselves, could you do the same for others? 

Potential Actions:

  • Have coffee with a peer who is silent in your meetings and ask them how they felt and if given the opportunity, what is their opinion or how would they approach the situation. Ask permission if you could call on them at the next meeting and ask them to share their idea. Sometimes they like being called on vs. raising their voice for risk of not being heard and respected.
  • If you are quite and need to be heard, could you float your idea with a colleague? Then when you present your idea, your colleague jumps in and supports you. It’s a great way to build confidence in your own voice
  • Leaders need to set a precedence that they expect to hear everyone’s voice. Even if a person does not have a unique view, they can agree or disagree and present their reasons. You may need to set the expectation that every voice is important and to facilitate that expectation. In the process you build confidence because everyone is expected to contribute to the conversation. 

Challenge: Look back at the image and reflect on what you see and how you feel. I felt inspiration to share how leaders need to be the voice to elevate others. Through your experiences, you may feel a different message coming through to you from the artist. How does it make you feel? I’d love to know! I love the intellectual stimulation due to the interpretive nature and the ability to create new pathways in our brain. (yes, I’m a bit of a geek!) 

Need more help?

  • Send me a note with your situation and let’s talk through how to evolve your approach.
  • Want to connect as part of a collective, consider The Drop In Collective offered on October 24 & October 25th where a team can help you navigate your unique situations with confidence. See below for more details.

… and here are some more resources for you: 

Powerful words for influence is a popular webinar that I’ve given many times. I’m sharing access with you to pick up some additional tips to elevate your influence! 

The Drop In CEO podcast, my blog and my book, The CEO’s Compass can be great resources for you to navigate challenges with confidence

If you just want to connect with me and see how I can support you in a business or personal setback, let’s have a conversation.

Wishing you well and continued success!

-Deb

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Leadership Lessons from Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie was the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War, as named by the Western Allies. Wikipedia During my visit to Europe, I was deeply moved by this location as well as the museum I toured with my son David. While today it is a photo opportunity for tourists, it was a symbol of humanitarian struggles. The museum told us of hero’s who helped those those through this crisis as well as those that never made it across. Hundreds of stories of great leadership inspired me despite immense consequences. 

Insight: Look around your circle and do you see individuals or teams in crisis? Do you become their hero to help them struggle less despite immense effort and potential risk of an undesirable outcome? 

In real life: I was mentoring someone for many, many hours in my professional organization and while the person had gained their confidence and had grown so much, their situation was dire due to a toxic culture. I could have told them to leave the organization, but they never would have discovered that for themselves. I could have walked away from the relationship despite the hours invested, but I chose to ride it out to the end. In the end, they left the organization, regained their personal self worth and are living a life full of joy and purpose.  I did not walk away, because the human element is too important to me and making an impact on one person at a time is critical to leadership. 

Impact: Time is a precious commodity for which we must spend it wisely, but picking situations where we help change the trajectory of an individual or team is a worthy investment. We have one life to live and we are in control of who we help and how we leave our legacy on humanity. 

Potential Actions:

  • Start an informal mentorship program; hone your craft and realize the impact you can make
  • Look for other areas of the business where work is not running as smoothly as yours. Reach out to those leaders and offer your services in helping that team struggle less
  • Celebrate the work of others who teach new skills, help someone who was struggling on a project sacrifices their needs for the needs of others. 

Challenge: Find your Checkpoint Charlie in your organization and develop a strategic proposal that will lessen the pain and move people through the challenge. Whether it is embraced or not, you develop the skill of assessing the big picture and providing a solution to leave your legacy. 

Need more help?

  • Send me a note with your situation and let’s talk through how to evolve your approach.
  • Framework of One: One Team, One Way, One Goal was an article I wrote about immense challenges I was facing and how I took a step back to assess the landscape and come forward with a strategy to move my work from crisis to one that had a lasting impact. 
  • Want to connect as part of a collective, consider The Drop In Collective offered on October 24 & October 25th where a team can help you navigate your unique situations with confidence. See below for more details.
  • The Drop In CEO podcast, my blog and my book, The CEO’s Compass can be great resources for you to navigate challenges with confidence
  • If you just want to connect with me and see how I can support you in a business or personal setback, let’s have a conversation.

Wishing you well and continued success!

-Deb

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Less is Better in Leadership Effectiveness

Less is Better in Leadership Effectiveness

Short and sweet, I’m here to listen and help you navigate challenges with confidence. Whether you’re a C-Suite Leader navigating business challenges or a C-Suite Leader of tomorrow seeking greater impact, I’m here to provide you insights, inspiration and resources.

During this season of reflection I’ve realized that many in my community are highly aware and open to learning new things. Many of you have prioritized time & energy so you can balance career, family & community. That is why I will simply share only my best insight with you so you can consume, reflect and apply what is relevant to your situation.

Insight: Having clarity amidst chaos gives you wisdom to guide your teams through challenges.

Context: Missing an operations objective, an irate customer, loss of business, new opportunities, resource shortages; all can cause teams to go into chaos. While it is easy to be pulled into the situation, you need to find a “pause” button for which you can take in data, listen to the information and from your experience formulate a path forward. When you do this, you give yourself time to process data, formulate a problem statement or summary and when you speak your team will know they’re understood and respected. 

Impact: When you listen more and speak less, your leadership comes through. When you take a moment to respond vs. react, you pull yourself out of the chaos and become the strong voice of reason to pull your team forward. When there is a future crisis, people will either pull you in for your leadership and / or emulate your behavior so others can navigate challenges with confidence.

In real life: I worked with a client that was having challenges and we created a strategy to move beyond the challenge. However, when we slowed things down and tried to get to the root cause of the challenge, a different strategy was revealed for which the challenge was turned into an opportunity. It came from asking questions, organizing their thoughts and finding a new solution that calmed the chaos. Does this sound like something you’ve experienced? 

Potential Actions:

  • Was there a recent crisis that you didn’t handle well for which you can regroup and move forward differently? Convene the players to get back on track
  • Is there a situation for which you’re going into to practice listening more or asking questions of others to give you time to respond with more input from others? Take notes, listen more and look at the words written down to see a theme and reframe what you heard. 
  • Think about your role as a facilitator to ask people to share their perspectives in a constructive manner? Sometimes when there are email chains that go on too long. Convene the interested parties and ask well placed questions to gain clarity and get everyone on the same page to create constructive conversations. 

Need more help?

  • Send me a note with your situation and let’s talk through how to evolve your approach.
  • Want to connect as part of a collective, consider The Drop In Collective offered on October 24 & October 25th where a team can help you navigate your unique situations with confidence. See below for more details.

… and here are some more resources for you: 

A previous client and The Drop In Collective Community asked me about a set of favorite leadership books that have helped me and I would recommend. While I’ve read many, here is a collection published recently that may be a source of inspiration. Coaching Teams and Influence

The Drop In CEO podcast, my blog and my book, The CEO’s Compass can be great resources for you to navigate challenges with confidence

If you just want to connect with me and see how I can support you in a business or personal setback, let’s have a conversation.

Wishing you well and continued success!

-Deb

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Drop In CEO Top 10 Books for Coaching Teams and Influence

More than once the community has asked for resources that I’ve found useful to creating a greater impact by elevating your skills and those of others.

Enjoy this curated list, share with others and let the authors now how you found them through The Drop In CEO community.

Drive your Career (I know the author) – Great tools to align with the people who can influence your future. Been on my podcast.

The 48 Laws of Power (given to me be a prior boss / past Navy) – Hard read, but takes you through politics and power and you find the tactics that work for you. Taught me a lot and from there I started to move up faster.

The CEO only Does Three Things – I know the author, been on my podcast. For you, it’s about setting your mindset to think like a CEO and then you’ll be perceived for those roles. 

How successful people lead ( a classic by John C. Maxwell) 

Creating the High-Performance Team – I actually taught some of this book as part of a project to build a team that worked with Pepsi. 

Team Secrets of the Navy Seals – I remember learning about a high degree of personal accountability. 

The Motivation Myth – I know the author and interviewed him. A great resource on how to motivate teams; different than traditional business. 

The Leaders Mindset – I’ve wanted to interview the author, but doesn’t respond. I will someday. Very forward thinking in leadership mindset. 

Good to Great – this is a classic. I should probably interview the author someday. This was really really good for me as I was setting up my strategy for the long game vs. short term thinking. 

The only Leaders Worth Following – I know the author and he was on my podcast. Really, really good about what makes a leader worth following. 

The Trusted Leader – I know the author and interviewed them on my podcast. Really good about trust and the making of great leaders that people will follow. 

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When you focus on your superpowers, you inspire others to find theirs…

When you focus on your superpowers, you inspire others to find theirs…

Pain point marketing can be so exhausting and if you know me, I do things differently. ?

With a passion to focus on the positive, I’m sharing a quick story to inspire you and hopefully lift others in the process.

Oh my, I am so blessed that every time, every time…did I say every time! that I step onto the Zoom stage and greet one of you in my network the first thing you say is they love my voice! I am grateful for this gift to use it as a guide to exchange content and create meaningful connections. It’s one of my superpowers and when I leaned into amplifying t I find my relationships are so much stronger. While written communications can be effective, the outcome we wish to achieve is an emotion or experience for which the voice carries it so much further. 

In the process of meeting with so many of you live, via zoom or simply through my podcast I’m starting to realize the impact it’s having on everyone. When we meet, I always listen and try to find either your value and make you aware of it. I also try to impart some value, so you are in a better place because we spent some time together.

This week, I kicked off The Drop In Collective and I was inspired by the engaging conversation. I know I shared some insight with the attendees or I simply provided a space for them to feel good about who they are and are becoming.

It’s moments like that when we take the time to focus on the process, our values and our superpowers that good things will happen. Recently during a mastermind, a colleague said as soon as they let go of results and simply focus on what felt good or gives them joy, magic started to happen. It’s a hard shift in mindset, but being the optimist… I’m riding that wave right now! I’ll let you know how it’s working!

For you, I’d love for you to pause and ponder what are your superpowers? What are those things you do so easily that when you use them, people are uplifted? Shouldn’t we be focusing more on those strengths than trying to fix what you’re not? And if you are reaching down into the organization, do you have talent that is good, but could they be great? How can you encourage them to use their superpowers to amplify their impact? Are they a good trainer? An excellent organizer? Do they have good people skills and can be put in front of a customer? 

Just think about it. My job here is to help you discover what you can do to have a greater impact directly or through elevating others. We are all part of this community to elevate the C-Suite Leaders of Today and Tomorrow Navigate Challenges with Confidence. 

What’s your superpower? I’d love to know!

Be well and much success-Deb

… and here are some more resources for you: 

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If you like this article, I have oodles of content on my blog

If you need a resource that is part self discovery and part guide, please check out my book, The CEO’s Compass: Your Guide to Get Back on Track. Share your receipt and I’ll provide a complimentary 30 minute workshop for your team on any Leadership or Continuous Improvement topic to provide value to your team.

If the book really resonated with you, I’d sincerely appreciate a book review as well!?

The Drop In CEO podcast is a great resource for insights and inspiration from industry leaders.

If you just want to connect with me and see how I can support you in a business or personal setback, let’s have a conversation.

My next Drop In Collective will be October 24th at 5:00 pm ET and October 25th, 5:00 pm PT where we assemble talented professionals from Operations, Operational Excellence /CI and Quality. We educate, elevate and collaborate on new skills, solving real issues and exchanging resources. Fast paced, high value and I’m grateful for you to join as we pilot the format until we have a viable product to expand this offer. Respond if interested and I’ll add you to the invite.

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