leadership development

July 2, 2015 by sereynolds

Do You Need A “Workover?” 5 Questions To Ask Yourself

The following article appeared on Inc.com today as a part of my column, “Behind The Desk.” Look out for new columns every week!

Do you need a “workover?”

You’ll know a “workover” is right for you if:

You want to spruce up your reputation with clients and co-workers.
You want to improve the value you provide.
You’re looking for a new job, a new position, or a new company.

You’ll know you need a makeover if you love the idea of reinventing yourself or elevating yourself to a whole new level. Showing up differently. Stronger. More compelling. You…. only better.

So what, exactly is a workover? It’s a new take on the old model of you. Think of it as a work makeover. A positive calling-out of your very best traits to show you in your very best light. And who knows what can happen from there! New opportunities, new challenges, new successes.

Everyone needs a workover eventually. No one wants to be caught in last years’ shoes or a hairstyle from their high school days. But it happens anyway. You get settled in a routine and become satisfied with the status quo. Don’t let that happen – you’ve got to keep current.

If you’re in the market for a new job altogether, as many people are, the workover is absolutely essential, and the time is now.

Once you’ve had your workover, you’ll discover how much more is possible for you at work–a sense of fulfillment, the opportunity to do what you’re passionate about, and the ability to rise above the fray to land (or create) the job of your dreams–not just the job you’re most qualified, or whatever job come along first.

It’s a win-win situation for many entrepreneurs: you’re jumping out of your comfort zone to face boundless growth, and at the same time you’re aligning yourself with your passion.

In my workover series, I’m looking forward to helping you to discover–and follow–your passion, and turning that passion into your next career move! Later, in an upcoming column, I will be walking you through the process of giving yourself a workover, but for today, let me start you off with an assignment to get you thinking.

Try these five questions to decide if a workover is right for you:

Are you ready to refresh your reputation with clients, co-workers, the market or your bosss?
If yes, what specifically appeals to you about a workover?
What will change for you when you have overhauled your professional “look and feel?”
What, specifically, do you want to change or improve?
What would you want to retain and not change–the part of your work and work ‘presence’ you already love?

Anthony Smith, author of The Taboos of Leadership: The 10 Secrets No One Will Tell You About Leaders and What They Really Think, calls this his 3 C’s model: What can you celebrate? What would you like to change? And where are you coping with what you’ve got? Gaining this level of clarity will focus your workover and position you to quickly become the new model of success you have in mine. Get ready for a professional transformation.

This is the first part of a three-part series. Next time we will focus on the three things you must do to shed the old you and come back, new and improved.

June 26, 2015 by sereynolds

The Mirage of Success and the 3 Stages of Feeling Fulfillment

The following article appeared on Inc.com today as a part of my column, “Behind The Desk.” Look out for new columns every week!

You’re successful. You’ve read tons of books, read a ton of “best practice tips” articles online. You’ve scoured tradeshows and networking events. And all that time has finally paid off–your business is thriving, your clients are happy, and the future is bright.

But do you feel fulfilled?

The sideffect of success isn’t always happiness. Sometimes it’s anxiety, existential apathy, or even a sense of isolation.

I worked with a corporate vice president in the banking industry, and, on paper, she had it all: the salary, stock options, and security. Yet she felt vaguely dissatisfied, even bored, wondering if something better was out there. This is a fairly common occurrence for successful entrepreneurs and leaders.

Here are the three stages of finding fulfillment–the next time you feel deflated or discontent, despite the green numbers on the spreadsheet, do the following:

Stage 1: Mining for values. Mine your experience to find values; values are the cornerstone of fulfillment. Living in alignment with your values is crucial for harmony and fulfillment. Values include principles, standards, and qualities. They don’t include material goods or people.

Revisit good memories, dream up ideal scenarios, or recreate the imagery you saw when you envisioned a you-and-improved future. Go back to a time that was “just right.” Take notes, explore what it was about that time and those experience that make it a peak experience. Write all the elements, and reexamine the bigger picture.

Stage two: Defining your values. After you have your list of potential values, define them. Choose your top 5-10 values and describe what each one means–the significance they have for you, and how it looks and sounds in your life. Defining your values moves them from platitudes to personal priorities.

Write a sentence or two about each top priority means to you. Defining your values gives them specificity and clarity.

Stage three: Refining your values. After you’ve defined your values, refine them with a process of prioritization. It’s revealing to understand which “top” values truly matter the most.

Imagine you are starting over in a brand-new work environment. Looking at your draft list of values, as yourself: If you could only be certain of having one value honored, which one would it be? Test it. If you had to live a life where you could count only on this one value, could you survive? Would you want to? And if you could have two values? Three? Continue ranking your values in this manner until you’re satisfied you have them in priority order.

Ultimately, once you’ve completed these three stages you have collected the raw materials of a golden life. It’s up to you to build a life with them. By looking at the role your values play in helping you achieve fulfillment, you are already beginning to live your values, as coaches say. In living your goals, you’re connecting with yourself, truly allowing yourself to feel fulfilled, and opening yourself up for more success to come.

June 4, 2015 by sereynolds

Breaking Down Your Roadblocks: The 4 People You Need To Help

The following article appeared on Inc.com today as a part of my column, “Behind The Desk.” Look out for new columns every week!

When it comes to facing roadblocks, or any obstacle in the way of your success in business, popular speaker Kingsley Grant said:

“You overcome roadblocks by first identifying the roadblock. Assess the situation, the roadblock, and then look at your options to bypass it. Focusing on overcoming the roadblock can consume so much energy that you are depleted in finding ways around it. Roadblocks can lead to very creative solutions that you would not have thought about had it not been there.”

So how do we get to that action step, allowing us to bypass that roadblock? It all comes back to the people we surround ourselves with that keep our learning at a higher level, which I discussed in my last column where I shared some of Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer’s strategies.

Essentially, there are four different types of partners you need in your life to keep you learning at a higher level. The way you improve your learning is to work with others who know more than you in various areas, to help you expand your field of knowledge. Having partners in learning can help remove roadblocks that you can’t always remove yourself.

For example, I recently worked with an entrepreneur who came to me seeking a coach because she was facing a major roadblock–namely, a Strategic Plan. She knew she needed a better strategic plan, but she didn’t know how to create one. Having wasted many hours trying to find the right approach, template or system for strategic planning, she became overwhelmed. It dawned on her that trying to eliminate this roadblock on her own would be an enormous time sink–and frankly, she wasn’t sure she could do it on top of everything else in her business, especially since she would be relying on a frustrating process of trial and error to try to figure it out.

I helped her to understand that tackling this goal, which would ultimately help her to grow her business, would be greatly eased by looking for partners to help her move the roadblock.

Whether you’re looking for a new Strategic Plan, trying to reorganize your business, tackle a major challenge, or to stretch into an exciting new goal, there are four main types of people you can look to for help.

Advocates. Advocates cheer you on as you move roadblocks for yourself. Surrounding yourself with advocates is important to help remind you of your commitment to your goal and the importance it holds for you.

To follow from our earlier example, if the entrepreneur above decided to tackle that strategic plan in a Do-It-Yourself spirit, she could minimize the frustration and overwhelm by getting the support of her advocates. In this case, it might be her work team, who would understand the importance of the task and encourage her to complete it, with reminders of how helpful it would be to the business.

Running a business is hard work. A little support and encouragement can help.

Mentors. Mentors play a different role than advocates. Whereas your advocates cheer you on as you move the roadblocks, your mentors actually show you how to move it. They’ve been there. They’ve done it. They can show you how they moved their own roadblocks. As your “older and wiser” counterparts,–they’ve been where you are, and can coach you by using their own experience. They can tell you how they got over a roadblock, and how they were bale to navigate the unexpected along the way.

For our entrepreneur creating a strategic plan, getting a mentor would shorten the learning curve and eliminate the time-consuming task of starting from scratch. There’s nothing like a great example to get you on the right path, and a mentor can be that example for you.

Sponsors. Sponsors move roadblocks for you. Unlike mentors, sponsors have a responsibility for you being successful. A sponsor might be someone like your boss, who has a vested interest in your success. Or it might be an angel investor, whose success is tied with yours financially. In addition to the motivation provided by your advocates and the role modeling provided by your mentors, your sponsor actually gives you help. Your sponsor will open the door for you and get you the next job, or make an introduction, or in some other way move you forward in a way you can’t do for yourself.

If you want to move further, faster, you need a sponsor.

Imagine what would change for our entrepreneur who needs the strategic plan if she not only had the plan, but also a well-connected investor who was committed to helping her achieve her goals. Now she’s playing at a whole new level. Even the assistance of a sponsor, however, does not complete the set of partners she will need to be successful. It will still be up to her, ultimately, to do the work, and two more partners will help.

Coaches. Coaches help you move your roadblocks alongside you. Even with the best of partners to help you with the roadblocks, the ownership for moving forward past the roadblocks stays with you. A sponsor may be able to get you opportunities…but you have to take those opportunities and make sure you excel. This is where your coaches come in. Your coach will roll up her sleeves and help you do the heavy lifting related to taking action, overcoming new barriers, defining the process and the plan, and so on. She will help you implement the plan help you make the decisions that are right for you.

For the entrepreneur who wanted the strategic plan, coaching involved designing the specific plan that would lead to her ideal future – keeping her unique vision in mind and allowing her to lead her business, her way while still striving toward the end result.

Succeeding in business–especially when you’re the leader, responsible for defining vision, strategy, goals, plans, actions and all the rest–is no easy task. Let’s not make it harder than it has to be by trying to do it all yourself. Keep your eyes open for the roadblocks, and when you find them, don’t spend your time and effort insisting on moving them all single-handedly. You can move them more easily, faster and more effectively–with the help of your partners: your advocates, your mentors, your sponsors, and of course, your coach.

May 12, 2015 by sereynolds

3 Ways to Re-write a Bad Work Relationship

The following article appeared on Inc.com today as a part of my column, “Behind The Desk.” Look out for new columns every week!

See if this sounds familiar: you’re working with a business leader who you find to be quite difficult. He’s demanding, makes assumptions that are unfair, blames others. As a result you back off from any relationship with him at all.

There is an assessment called the “Influence Assessment” that we use at LRI to help individual managers and leaders understand where they’re having a positive impact and where they could have a positive influence. One of the items on that survey reads: “Has positive relations with others regardless of the differences we may have.” What I like about that item is that even though the relationships may be partly out of our control, and even though the differences we have with the other person is certainly out of our control, we have the potential to take control of how positive the relationship is. This means taking active ownership for being the one that makes sure that the relationship is positive.

I recently worked with a client who had the same situation I just described: a work relationship with a demanding, unfair, blaming colleague. When we did her influence assessment and she read the item about taking active responsibility for having positive relationships with others, she realized two things. First, she did not have positive relationship with this person. Second, she had the opportunity to change it by taking the lead in a relationship and change the dynamic. She also realized that this particular gentleman may actually have an influence over her career.

So what do you do to improve a relationship with someone when you think it is not as good as it could be?

Give yourself the opportunity to reach out. I know it takes some courage, and it may not be comfortable to be the one to reach out, but you can certainly do it. Most people respond very favourably to someone coming to them and extending a hand in rewriting a relationship. In some cases we may have to apologize for something, or may have to explicitly start a relationship off on a different foot.

For example, you might say something like this: “Jim, I want to get together with you today, as I understand we started off our last discussion on the wrong note. I would really like to start all over again.” Or, “Allan, I wanted to sit down with you because I know I was harsh with you today. I owe you an apology. I realized I reacted too quickly, I was unfair and I am sorry. I hope you will forgive me for that so we can start over.”

Swallowing your pride and being the first to reach out can be all it takes to erase mistakes in a relationship and start fresh.

Assume best intent. “Assume best intent” means making an effort to believe that the person opposite you is doing the things he or she does for a good reason. Most people have positive motives. They want to do good and be good, but something may get lost in the implementation. I had a client who couldn’t seem to click with her manager. She was a real optimist, her manager was a real pessimist. When my client recognized this dynamic, she was able to take control of her own perspective. She didn’t want to apologize for anything, and also didn’t want to start the relationship all over again. So she instead chose to assume best intent. That simple shift in perspective helped her see that what came across as criticism from her manager was intended to be helpful feedback, and it helped her to quiet her inner critic.

Channel their motivations. People are driven by different motivations. Sometimes you can change a relationship by identifying what the other person wants. One of my clients was constantly locking horns with her direct report. I suggested that she might study him to understand his motivation–or better yet, to ask him. She did. She opened a conversation and said, “You’re doing your job very well. I appreciate that, but I sense there are some things you would change if you could. If you could work in the way that was best for you, how would you like things to be different?” He said, “I want to have the freedom to do my job. Just let me do my job.” It became clear that this employee’s motivation was freedom; he needed more latitude than she was giving him. Having identified the importance of freedom to her direct report, this manager was able to shift her way of doing things so that he could perform better in his role and contribute to a more positive relationship.

If you want to have positive relationships or a positive career with an endorsement from the people who are important to you, identify those people that you want to have positive relationships with. Who are the people who are influential in my career and who are the people for whom I am influential in theirs? Those are the people to focus on.

Businessmen and businesswomen may find the most influential people to be their managers or key stakeholders in their careers; entrepreneurs may find the most influential people to be their business partners or even their clients. You may never know who in your life is going to have the most influence over your career. But you can be the one to take control of the relationship and create those positive relations with others regardless of the differences we may have.

April 21, 2015 by sereynolds

5 Ways to Lead in Challenging Times

The following article appeared on Inc.com today as a part of my column, “Behind The Desk.” Look out for new columns every week!

What do leaders do when their stock price has dropped 75 percent and it’s their job to get it back up? What should leaders think when the thrilling vision they had for the future has been clouded by economic uncertainty? How do leaders get inspired when their employees are dejected, worried, and distracted–and let’s face it, on some level so are they?

Wait–don’t answer that. You can’t.

Because no matter how much you know about leadership, regardless of what the research says or what best practice implies, there’s only one way to find the right answers to these questions. Leaders need to find them for themselves.

In a time of unprecedented challenge, leaders don’t just need to lead their companies. They also need to lead themselves. They need strategies for improving their effectiveness while sustaining a sense of professional well-being. Every one of us has an internal source of strength and stability. Without care and consideration these renewable resources are seriously at risk.

In order to survive and thrive, leaders can’t just go about business as usual. Business isn’t “usual” anymore. It’s undergoing a seismic shift. Leaders need to get their footing in a shaky reality and learn to embrace the possibilities ahead.

So how does a leader actually practice personal leadership? What do they need to do? It looks like this:

Take time to think. Leaders need to step out of the daily rush and think about what they’re doing and why. Doing so, they will find the clarity and focus they need to get back into the action in the most effective way.

Look inside. Instead of being driven by the demanding urgencies, leaders can discover their inner resources–their strengths, their values, and their aspirations. Take for example, the leadership practice of visioning. Visioning is so vital that it is practically the prerequisite Chapter One in any book on the subject of leadership. Leaders of all kinds must have a clear vision to succeed. They need to know where their organization is going and why, and they need to communicate that vision clearly at all levels inside the organization and out.

But on a more personal level, leaders must also have a vision for themselves. At the level of the leader, visioning becomes something different than that longstanding vision that has to stand the test of time. It becomes something more fluid, more intuitive, and more flexible. It is a vision that changes as they change, but with consistent themes over time. The goal is not for a leader to establish one clear and permanent vision but to learn the skill of getting clarity about their vision again and again. For example, take an operations executive in a global medical equipment firm who had gotten overwhelmed by the pace of change in his company, which was growing exponentially, and his personal life, in which he was supporting aging parents. He had begun to be plagued with the big existential questions, like, “What am I doing?” and “What’s it all for?” By using visioning techniques as a way of finding clarity, he was able to discern what he wanted for himself as a leader, a son, an aspirational executive, and a person. As his circumstances continued to change, he learned to reconnect with clarity about his own personal vision–one that helped him to both be a better leader and lead a better life.

Rethink time and teams. The efficiencies of personal leadership come from a paradigm of abundance. Leaders need to recognize the wealth of resources available to them when they maximize their time and use the supportive people in their lives to help them achieve.

Work with a coach or mentor. Personal leadership is supported by a partner who can pose thoughtful questions, make observations, and help leaders learn to see new possibilities.

Look for ways to align and integrate one’s life. We are who we are wherever we are. The closer leaders can tie their true selves to their leadership roles, and in turn their leadership roles and their lives, the happier and healthier they will be–on all fronts.

Is it easy? Not necessarily. Introspection can be hard work. Is it worth it? Ask yourself: What would change for leaders if they had an inner resource to help them maintain stability and security within themselves when the world outside seems so unsound?

Successful leaders know that answer. Here are a few words from leaders who value the personal side of leadership:

“Leadership is personal. Management is personal. There’s something very powerful about bringing your whole self to work.” -Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook

“If you can get your talents and passions to align with the organizational need, you’re really in a position when you can maximize contribution to company and achieve your career best.” -David Kilby, Director of Intel University, Intel

“As leaders it’s time to dig deep personally. There are a lot of people out there that are frozen. It’s a time to create a new future, and we can’t do it if we can’t think clearly.” -Lisa Weber, President, Individual Business, MetLife

When you practice personal leadership, you can take the practices of leadership more generally and apply them to oneself. As a result, both you and your team will flourish, even in challenging times.

January 28, 2015 by sereynolds

The Top Learning Strategy Used By Leading Fortune 500 Companies

The following article appeared on Inc.com today as a part of my column, “Behind The Desk.” Look out for new columns every week!

Often in the beginning of the year we’re energized to learn new things. As an entrepreneur you have many opportunities to do this, like attending workshops or conferences.

But the strategy that I find the most effective, which you can do inside or outside a workshop or conference, is to create what I call a “mastermind.”

A mastermind is a group of approximately three to five people supporting each other in their learning. The group offers support, helps keep other members accountable, and keeps the momentum going to help build upon lessons learned or projects underway.

Think about your biggest challenge. Now imagine that today you have two or three other people dedicated to helping you work it out. They listen to your questions, they offer advice, and they help you find solutions. Then, when their problem is resolved, you turn and listen to theirs. This is the essence of a mastermind.

If all you do is attend an event or read a book, you won’t get the mileage you could if you set up a group of people who want to learn this with you and put it into practice. Set up your own mastermind to follow through. The more you follow-up on your learning, the more in-depth your learning is.

Based on a study by Edgar Dale, we remember:

10 percent of what we read
20 percent of what we hear
30 percent of what we see
50 percent of what we see and hear
70 percent of what we discuss with others
80 percent of what we personally experience
95 percent of what we teach others.

Since masterminds are all about discussing with others, cultivating our own personal experience with the subject matter, and teaching others, the information has a better chance of being applied and built upon.

I have set up leadership development programs for companies like Adobe, MetLife and Microsoft, and while many of these programs have traditional components, the mastermind strategy is the one that can accelerate your learning past the program.

Whether it’s part of your professional development learning or an independent project, you can set up a mastermind group for yourself.

First, identify two or three people from whom you get energy from and who you think you can learn from, either at your level or above.

Ask if they’re interested in setting up a meeting once a month, whether it be a phone call or in person.

For example, three saleswomen from around the world might get on the phone once a month and discuss how they’re tracking their numbers, which will keep them accountable for their tracking, and then they can discuss how they can attain their goals.

After you have set up logistics, set a regular agenda. For example, establish that once a month for two hours each person will have 40 minutes-each. Or, a mastermind can be held once a week for an hour, each person receives about 20 minutes. Another option is to set up a mastermind every other week for one hour, giving each person 10 minutes and saving time for a group discussion.

To get the most out of your meeting, acknowledge some of the hurdles you’re facing. You might have masterminds that last for just a few sessions, or you might have some that last 10 years. You get an edge if you keep focused and keep learning.

January 15, 2015 by sereynolds

Start 2015 With Your Vision In Mind: When You See Possibility, You Find Success

The following article appeared on Inc.com today as a part of my column, “Behind The Desk.” Look out for new columns every week!

Seeing possibility and finding vision means being open to surprising opportunities. To succeed with this practice, we have to consider the idea that sometimes success comes to us instead of us having to create it for ourselves.

Essentially, if your firm has decided to make its talent a priority and use that as a competitive advantage, then your as a leader must lead with intention. How do you do that? You become clear about your vision, then make sure that everyone is aligned that vision. Explain the strategy clearly for your firm, and help individual leaders create their own unique visions or goals for themselves and their team. The last step is to support and motivate them to deliver on their vision by honing in on skills like time management, planning, and so forth.

The goal is that the individual leaders are so energized and motivated by what’s in it for them and their team that they will align their strategy to move toward that achievement, and that specific achievement falls under the vision of your firm.

So when it comes to creating that initial vision, the one that drives the rest of the individual leaders in a firm, it’s important to open yourself up to possibility.

Seeing possibility looks like:

You’re in the shower and suddenly the answer to your toughest question flashes into your mind
You’re driving along the freeway and suddenly the solution to a sticky problem becomes instantly obvious
You’re thinking about an old friend and suddenly the phone rings. It’s him.

Now, imagine your vision of your life as a leader appears in the same way:

You want a specific opportunity, and suddenly that opportunity arrives.
You need a certain kind of mentor, and suddenly that mentor shows up.
You want to make a certain kind of impact, and suddenly you realize you do.

Every time something like this happens, you are experiencing the rewards of seeing possibility.

Keeping your vision in mind, ask yourself these questions:

What’s going your way?
What’s not going your way?
What do your answers suggest about what to do next?

First, name a situation in which you need some kind of answer or idea. Next, rephrase the issue into the form of a question. What do you need to know? Then, take two long and slow breaths, letting the air clear your mind. Breathe and clear your mind. After a few minutes of breathing, sit quietly and ask the question again. What ideas did you get?

When you open yourself up to possibility, to the potentiality of your vision, success comes to us instead of us having to create it for ourselves. Keep your eyes open, and be ready to act when your good fortune shows up. Because when you have a clear vision for your firm, and individual leaders within it have goals that align with that vision, you’ll find sustainable success.

November 4, 2014 by sereynolds

Self-promotional Tips Entrepreneurs Should Avoid: My First Inc Column

The following article is appeared on Inc.com yesterday as my first column. Looks out for my columns every Monday!

How many times have you received a newsletter or heard a marketing pitch and recoiled with an uninspired, “Ick?” We can spot an insincere, self-promotional message from a mile away–and yet, as entrepreneurs wanting to communicate our message, we may be sending those same “icky” messages out, sometimes without even realizing the long-term negative affect it can have.

You can promote yourself in a way that engages others and draws them to you. When you do, you will stand out in the crowd, as well as grow your business.

You likely know many of the common tips for how to promote yourself and get noticed, but you also need to know what self-promotional strategies to avoid.

Don’t ask for business when you’re desperate. The time to promote yourself is when your business is doing well, not as a last resort. Every entrepreneur has been there–when times are tough and new business seems hard to come by. The key is to trick yourself into residing in a more confident place by getting into the right mindset. Even if things are going wrong and you’re desperate for business, take the time to ground yourself, meditate on your successes so far and those yet to come, and get clarity on what you’re trying to create in your business. Remember who you are and who your clients are. There will be plenty of business coming your way. There always is.

The key to self-promotion that works is to come from a place of confidence so you’re not asking for business from a place of fear. Moving to a place of trust and confidence will represent you in a better light and is more likely to get you the kind of business you want.

Don’t be a toddler. If you’re a parent you’ve been there–you’re at the store and your child innocently asks for a piece of candy. So you say maybe. Then they ask again. And then again, until finally, unable to withstand the whining, you say no! Entrepreneurs–and all of us, really–turn into toddlers when we don’t’ get what we want. Sometimes we believe that if we ask enough times we’ll get the “yes.” The truth is you may ask your way into a no. The lesson here is that asking again isn’t going to help.

As an entrepreneur you have a vision in mind for yourself. If you’re a business owner, it could be a vision for new partnerships or clients. If you’re part of a bigger firm, it may be asking for promotions, raises, or better opportunities. You can keep your vision in mind and work towards it with intention, but without asking so often that you turn people off.

The trick is to show instead of tell.

If you want a new title, don’t say you deserve it. Instead, actually deserve it. The way to get noticed is to become invaluable so that other people can’t overlook you, showing that you deserve it intrinsically. For example, if you’re a consultant, don’t tell people you’re a fantastic consultant and they should hire you; instead, actually provide valuable advice and guidance to a prospective client so they can see you in action. If you’re a salesperson, don’t tell people how great your product is and implore them to buy it; look for opportunities to show them your product in action in a situation in which they genuinely need your product. If you work for a bigger firm and want new responsibilities you want, don’t tell someone you want that certain responsibility, just take it on. Deliver on a project, and express interest by directly engaging in the effort and asking good questions to move the project forward

Don’t let your self-promotion stand for itself. Don’t let the only thing people remember you for be your self-promotion. Instead, provide value.

I once attended a full-day workshop designed to help entrepreneurs set up a successful business, but it turned out to be 95 percent self-promotional, putting emphasis on what the sponsoring company had to offer rather than what attendees could take away. I thought to myself, “I spent an entire day here, and what have I really gotten?” Entrepreneurs who are too self-promotional either consciously or unconsciously design events, communications, newsletters and client meetings that can be viewed on the receiving end as pure marketing events–and nothing will lose a client faster.

Shift the emphasis off yourself and onto to your clients. What do they need from you? What do they want to hear? What help do they need? By listening to your audience and trusting that your commitment to them will pay off, you will set yourself apart. Your audience will see you as a trusted advisor who can truly help them. You will steer clear of irritating self-promotion and find yourself in a much better place–a healthy, long-standing, profitable relationship with your clients.

As an entrepreneur, you have something valuable to offer. Your talent is enough to impress your customers and draw them in. Trust your results and look for opportunities to help. Today, reflect for a moment on the promotions you have planned. Choose just one of the techniques above and experiment! See how it changes your results.

You can also connect with Joelle on Twitter and Facebook, she’d love to hear from you!

October 30, 2014 by sereynolds

A Great Leadership Development Strategy: Marathon Training With Your Colleagues

This past week, an editor from the New York Post contacted me to let me know that she was going to run a story on those training for the New York Marathon with their colleagues or bosses. They were interested in how this dynamic might translate to the workplace. As a runner myself, I was happy to lend them some insight.

The truth is that any group activity that involves a specific goal and employs both leadership and teamwork is a great way to form a deeper bond with those you work with – running especially! This is what I told the Post:

This deeper relationship is common, says executive coach Joelle Jay, author of “The Inner Edge.” “Their walls come down when people have the time and opportunity to connect on a personal level with running or walking or on a long car ride,” she says.

Jay adds that marathoners’ contagious attitudes can even inspire their non-running colleagues to take up the sport — like vice president Melissa Sgaglione and senior account executive Max Puro did at their company.

It’s also important to note that there should be a way to include those who didn’t participate in the run. Those not running can still participate in other ways, such as cheering at the finish line, handing out water or holding up encouraging signs at different mile markers along the way, or even making team shirts. A post-marathon briefing, where the experience and stories can be shared, can bring other coworkers up to speed and help them feel in the loop and part of the team.

You can read the full article from the New York Post here.

You can also connect with Joelle on Twitter and Facebook, she’d love to hear from you!

September 23, 2014 by sereynolds

Executive Women in Fortune 500 Companies Face Issues No One Else Does

No matter how talented you are, and no matter how high your position, it’s still a challenge for women to succeed in today’s business environment.

It’s bewildering. When someone as confident and accomplished as you seems unable to break through to the level of success you know you’ve earned, you start to ask yourself the Big Questions:

• “What should I be doing to excel in my role and show myself to be a leader?”
• “Am I really performing at my best – and is my best even good enough?”
• “Will I ever get ahead in this organization?”
• “Are women really valued in my organization? … And more importantly, am I?”

Reality starts to sink in when you start to wonder whether what you’re putting into your success is really worth what you’re getting out of it. You see other, less talented people getting promoted past you. You hear the glowing praise of your work but it never seems to be followed by the rewards. You rarely make it to the soccer games, the family dinners, or the date nights you used to love, or if you do you find yourself distracted and distant – pulled between the tug to be present and the persistent buzzing of the Blackberry in your bag. You feel heavy, weighed down. On the worst days you find it hard to breathe.

You don’t have to live this way. You can be successful in a way that works for you.

You can be a successful, overachieving, results-oriented business leader at the seniormost levels of your organization, and you can do it in a way that works for you . You can leverage your talents, stay aligned to your values, make the most of your time, and still have some of that time left over for you.

Imagine…

• You feel excited about your work again – committed, engaged, and leveraging your talents to the fullest – because you know you’re valuable and that you get the very best results.

• You finally do get the promotion you deserve.

• Your salary goes up, you earn more respect, and you feel the full power of your authority at work.

• Best of all, you get your life back. You become a mom again, a friend, a sister. You go to lunch with the girlfriends. Spend Saturday mornings with your kids. Your boundaries are clear. The guilt is gone.

• You feel focused. You feel lighter.

• You finally made it.

If it’s so easy (if it’s even possible) … Why haven’t women done this before?

There are multiple forces working against women’s ability to achieve the professional success they want along with the quality of life they deserve.

Few role models. For one thing, there are so few models of success that it’s hard for women to really see what’s possible. They can imagine it and strive for it, but they can’t see the models of truly powerful women who are successful in every way, including their work, their family and personal lives, their happiness, and their sense of peace and prosperity.

Busy lives. For another thing, women are just so busy! With husbands, partners, kids, clients, bosses, teams, homes, groceries, personal finance, fitness, and more, women often don’t have time to step back and breathe, much less to reflect on their lives and align them in a better way.

A secret lack of confidence. Surprisingly, many extraordinarily successful women harbor a secret – potentially even unconscious – lack of confidence. Compared to men, they opt in to the Big Opportunities less often and more slowly than men. They may not be sure of their ability to succeed in a bigger role and want to prove themselves first, or they’re waiting for the invitation or the nod from higher-ups to give them the signal to go for it.

Isolation. Even though women are known for their strong relationships, it’s lonely for women at the top. Even executive women they felt they could overcome the obstacles they face, in that effort they feel very alone.

A lack of information. This may surprise you, but we already know what makes women successful. We know the steps to the top of the ladder. The secrets are out. The problem is that the information is still hidden and struggling to reach real women in organizations. The good news is the solutions are out there; the bad news is no one seems to know it.

But there’s good news. You can reach the highest levels of leadership while achieving your personal goals and preserving your quality of life.
Here’s what women in highly successful leadership roles are learning about how to succeed:

• Get clear on your vision. Not just your vision for your organization or your role, but for yourself.

• Focus on the outcomes. Know what you want to achieve, with clear specificity.

• Capitalize on your strengths. Understand what it is that makes you so valuable, and learn to leverage it for a better result.

• Align to your values. Know what you love and want to protect, and put systems into place to preserve what matters most to you.

• Maximize your time. Learn to make more of every minute.

• Find your network. You will perform at your best and feel most supported when you surround yourself with the people who build you up, guide you, and give you opportunities.

• Learn the secrets. Despite the low numbers, women have made it to the top in some of the best and most admired companies of the world. They have learned how to do it, and their secrets are there to share with you.

Now it’s your turn!

If we haven’t already, let’s connect on Twitter and Facebook!