Author Archives: Kit Prendergast

May 2009: Zits

Jeremy and Mom: A ZITS Retrospective, by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman, 2008.Pick up any of these Zits books (excerpts from popular Zits comic strip) and you’ll find yourself laughing out loud among the book stacks at Barnes & Noble. Whichever book you pick, and there are several of them, you will recognize yourself in the throes of life.My favorite is this one on the relationship of Mom and her newly behind-the-wheel teenage son, Jeremy. “That’s me and Davis!” I shriek to anyone who will listen.

I keep it next to the computer and when I need a quick shot of laughter, I flip it open to revisit those wonderful, chaotic days of raising a teenager.

Davis moves so fast in one short year (Beirut, Lebanon; Vanderbilt University and now to West Point) that I feel that I’m just trailing behind him like Jeremy’s Mom, asking, “Now what are you doing?” — “Where are you going?” and most importantly, “And what is this going to cost me?”

To keep my sense of humor and perspective, I’m clutching the Zits book.

Find your special comic. And keep it close. You need it, your staff needs it, and we all need a good belly laugh to get us through.

 

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May Tip: Resurrect Your Sense of Humor

Good, healthy humor is a business asset. It creates an atmosphere of optimism, spirit and energy – all great qualities to integrate into your company culture. On a personal level, humor connects us with others in a very real way.

The ability to connect with your colleagues up and down the company ladder in a positive and supportive manner is key to your own career development and excellence. Your co-workers will gravitate to you because it feels good to work with someone who keeps their perspective, has a smile for others and helps us feel that times are good and getting better.

This is Emotional Intelligence at its best! Here are 5 tips to keep the laughter coming.

  • Practice laughing (which will embarrass your teenager), so laugh harder
  • Read two comic strips daily (my favorites are Zits & Pickles)
  • Watch some of those old movies instead of doing another load of laundry
  • Seek out the funny people in your life – they are good for your heart
  • Give yourself permission to laugh at yourself – we really are great entertainment
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April 2009: Taming Your Gremlin

Taming Your Gremlin: A Surprisingly Simple Method for Getting Out of Your Own Way (Revised Edition), 2003, Richard D. Carson.

This is a powerful book that challenges you to think deeply about your own Gremlins. Carson defines your Gremlin as the narrator in your head. It is the source of all self-defeating behaviors and beliefs.

The Gremlin is constantly there with messages cautioning you with old worries and fears.

The result is that the “natural you” steps aside and lets the messages of “I can’t, I shouldn’t, I wouldn’t” take over. The self-doubts stop you and undermine your confidence and sense of self-worth.

Carson gives excellent suggestions on how to reduce the power of the Gremlin’s influence so that you can step forth into your own power and strength.

In these times, when there are so many defeatist messages in the business arena that we have to deal with, Carson’s message is needed more than ever: keep your core power strong; wrestle those Gremlins down.

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April Tip: Master Your Inner Critic

As we swirl around in that small boat in the middle of a rushing river, it’s normal to have old doubts resurface. Some call it the inner critic, the saboteur or the gremlin.

This chattering voice in our heads is endless – Do I still have the right stuff? Do I have the right skills? Do I have the right knowledge? Do I know the right people, am I too old, too young, too experienced, too inexperienced? And this voice holds us back just when we need the confidence, the energy and the focus to chart these new waters.

While we are busy convincing ourselves that we can’t, or shouldn’t, take action on our own behalf, others are digging deep to find their inner entrepreneur spirits and creating opportunities for themselves. So, look carefully at your own beliefs and behaviors and if they’re not helping you right now, make them the first things to toss out of that boat. Here’s how:

  • Know What You Want (Personally & professionally in 2009)
  • Name It (What are those self-limiting beliefs that keep creeping in?)
  • Ask Yourself (Is this belief getting me where I what to be?)
  • Move It Over (Don’t argue with it, just move it over for now.)
  • Substitute (Practice another message that is positive & proactive.)

Here’s an example. You want your business to stay open and show some financial growth in 2009. But the “tried and true” product or service you have been providing is not selling right now. Do you stay with what is comfortable even if it’s not working, or do you reposition and remarket your business? That takes guts. This is when those self-doubts can come rushing in to immobilize us.

These are strategic choices – a fork in the river – that can make all the difference in how 2010 will look for you and your business.

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March 2009: The Next Level

The Next Level: What Insiders Know About Executive Success, by Scott Eblin, 2006.This is a wonderful, highly readable book that I picked up at the ICF International Coaching Conference in St. Louis recently. Author Scott Eblin starts with the astonishing statistic that 40 percent of new executives fail within 18 months of their promotion.

As a former Fortune 500 Human Resources executive, Eblin is now an executive coach bringing the best of coaching to his work with high-level managers. Eblin starts by encouraging us all to know when we are at our best and then to – with clear intent – choose to perform at our best.

He identifies 9 key sets of behaviors and beliefs that executives must pick up and let go of to succeed at the next level. I found it very interesting that this process of strategic choice applies equally to navigating our businesses through today’s waters of turbulent change.

I’ve already started making my check list of what I’m letting go and picking up to succeed in 2009 and beyond. What about you?

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