The mad dash?
The holiday season is a wonderful time of year on many levels, but it can also be quite daunting. Recently, I spoke with a small business owner who was feeling overwhelmed by the negative energy that seems to be all around us. While there are many reasons for this, I won’t go into them here. Instead, I’d like to remind us all that we have a choice in how we approach each day.
Do you really listen?
While it does not surprise me, it saddens me that so many of the my clients and so many of my workshops include some discussion around listening. Overall, I would say that most of us are terrible listeners. When I led national sales teams, it was apparent that my sellers were lousy at listening and often missed the opportunity to connect with their clients. They thought that they knew better. The sellers would smile politely and nod, but then they would jump into their sales pitch, often ignoring what the client just said.
How good of a storyteller are you?
Stories are powerful. We all know that, and can easily recall a favorite movie or video, a song or book. So how come, in business, we rarely use storytelling techniques? We regularly talk in business speak, using a dry vocabulary and lots of facts to sound smart and impress our colleagues and clients.
How often do you deal with it?
About a month ago, I facilitated a workshop for a women’s group in Charleston and the topic of Imposter Syndrome came up. Last week, I facilitated two sessions for Women In Defense, and imposter syndrome came up again. What exactly is it, and who does it impact?
How quickly do you?
How quickly do you trust another person? I would imagine that for most of us, it would depend on our life experiences.
According to Psychology Today, when addressing if most people can be trusted they wrote that “because motivations and responses vary widely across situations, it’s likely not possible to say whether or not most people can be trusted all of the time.
How are you curious?
The other day, I met a recruiter who works for a large, global company. She specializes in recruiting entry-level employees out of college or those with a newly minted MBA. We talked about confidence, and I shared how so many of my clients of all ages and levels of experience talk about their own lack of confidence. I was curious about what she has witnessed in her job as a recruiter. Her word…arrogance. She said it was a big problem with MBA graduates in particular.
Are you open to learning?
A funny thing happened to me the other day. I was in a class to dig deeper into the fifteen skills that make up emotional intelligence and the EQ-i, and I was paired up with “Virginia”, a really cool woman who worked for the FAA.
Are you open to learning?
One of my favorite things to talk about is management versus leadership. On Monday, a
client was sharing his framework of how he handles things when they unravel. Stress is
a part of our lives, and for this client who is in a highly visible sales management role,
stress is constant. That is both a challenge and opportunity.
How open are you to change?
Change is hard. I partner with many professionals who are aware of the things they want to change in themselves. Of course, some of us are more open and aware than others.
What is the best for you?
I am curious about the struggles between back to work versus the continued push by many team members to work remotely. The other day a client was communicating how much he wanted his entire team back in the office five days a week (while his CEO is fine with their hybrid schedule). Apparently, he is not alone. The WSJ just published this article: Mondays are the new office fight.