Category Archives: Kit’s Tips

Three Tips to Increase Your Self-Awareness

How self-aware are you – really? During a typical day are you tuned in to your emotions (positive & negative) when they are actually occurring? Can you label these feelings and do you know why they are being triggered right now? And most importantly, do you take the time to learn from these insights and consciously use this learning to improve in your career?

Sounds easy . . . but actually this level of awareness takes constant practice. Here are three tried and true ways to “self-coach” yourself to increase your self-awareness a day at a time.

  1. Slow down! Give yourself permission to simply be in the moment. Focus on what you are doing right now, minimize the distractions and let yourself concentrate.
  2. Next check-in with your feelings each hour (or more frequently). What are you feeling physically, emotionally and mentally? Label these feelings in your own words.
  3. Ask yourself what these emotions are telling you – what personal values, concerns, hopes or worries are being triggered?

Now the important part . . . listen to your own intuition to gain some insight into how you might approach a challenging issue or situation at work. What is coming up regularly and why? Challenge yourself to be curious. Allow yourself to step back, think, and perhaps take another path to solving a problem. Be open to learning from the best teacher you know – yourself.

 

Posted in Inspirational Leadership, Kit's Tips | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Practice Flexing Your Communication Style

How flexible are you . . . really?  It’s easy to get along with people who think and act the way we do but about 75% of people behave quite differently than us.  The ability to positively relate to different people styles is critical to your career success especially the higher you go in your company.  Because people problems are so prevalent in the workplace, you have the opportunity to establish a reputation that is highly valued – you can get along with people.  You take the initiative to make it easier for others to connect, communicate and cooperate with you.  And you do it by practicing flexing your own personality style.  Here’s how to start . . .

  • First, practice the “basic flex” which is treating others the way we all want to be treated – with kindness and respect.  This is basic to all personal interactions and essential for communicating with anyone.
  • Second, practice “style flex” which is adjusting your own behavior style to create a rapport and to open up communication with another person.  This requires you to know your own style well and to be willing to temporarily flex it to make the interaction more comfortable for the other person. The ability to do this consistently requires a high degree of self-awareness and empathy –  key social & emotional intelligence competencies.

Now, I can hear you protesting a bit . . . “why should I have to be the one who changes?” I would suggest that it is simply easier.  We all know that we really can’t change other people significantly and we just get frustrated and angry waiting for them to change on their own.  But with some agility on our part and an authentic willingness to work with others, we can and will bring great value to our employers and to our own professional well-being as well.  Try it!

Posted in Kit's Tips | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Business Case for “Happiness”

So which comes first? Success or “happiness”? It’s ingrained in our American culture that if we work hard, we will become successful and once we are successful, then we will be happy. But is this really true? As we learn more about what really motivates people and how positive emotions influence all facets of our lives we see that this formula is actually backward.

Don’t believe me? Think about it . . . if success brings happiness, then each time we get that new job, new promotion, find that ideal husband, new house, new car or lose that five pounds we would be happy. But often something very different happens. We start thinking that this isn’t enough – we push out the criteria for our happiness even further. We are always waiting, waiting, waiting to really be happy.

So this is what the hard science tells us . . . in the last 10 – 15 years there has been an abundance of research in the area of positive psychology or “happiness”. And the results are clear . . . positive emotions engage and motivate us to stretch, grow and perform at our very best. We see the world clearer, especially the possibilities that we could tap into. And from that foundation of personal confidence, resiliency and creativity, we make ourselves available for opportunity. Success then seems to find us – almost falls in our laps.

So here’s the ROI of happiness . . . People do business with people they know, like and trust. We all like to be around positive, energetic and optimistic friends, family and work colleagues. We even do business with companies that project that positivity – think of highly successful Southwest Airlines. And we have total control over our own emotions – negative and positive. I vote for putting my time and energy into where I’m going to benefit the most and that is in my own “happiness”.

Posted in Kit's Tips | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Key Questions: The Who, What, When & Why of Your Audience

This is a hard lesson to learn. But ask any experienced public speaker and they will tell you a story (or several) of a presentation that flopped because they didn’t know the real needs of the audience or maybe even who the audience was going to be. Sound familiar?

We can’t skip this step ever. Even if the organization asking you to speak is in a hurry and tells you “just talk about anything” don’t do it! You must know who will be listening to you, what their needs are and what they are expecting from you. Here are the classic Who, What, When & Why questions to ask about your audience.

  • Who is the audience? (numbers, professions, age/gender)
  • What outcome does the audience (and the organization) want to walk away with?
  • When is the presentation? (time of day, over a meal, with other speakers, or?)
  • Why is the group meeting? (entertainment, learning, continuing education credit, or?)

Once you know these answers, you can begin designing your presentation with confidence. Need more? Check into my upcoming tele-seminar starting in January. Love to have you!

Posted in Inspirational Leadership, Kit's Tips | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

First 3 Steps to Creating Your Career Portfolio

Fall PumpkinsWe can learn a lot from artists, photographers and savvy career professionals who have always taken the initiative to routinely collect examples of their best work. They then organize these examples in a variety of ways depending on who they want to show these examples to and for what purpose. We can do the same. Start your own career portfolio by taking these first three steps (keep it simple):

  • Buy a large plastic box (your Master Portfolio) with five hanging files.
  • Label the files with P.E.A.K.S. (Personal Characteristics; Experience; Accomplishments; Knowledge and Skills).
  • Go on a scavenger hunt. Find documents (certificates; evaluations, testimonials; photos etc) that are “evidence” of your efforts in each of these areas. Toss them into the folders.

Now this just gets you in the right mind set. It’s a delicious feeling of “I can do it” and the proof is right here at my fingertips. That’s a great shot of confidence – realizing that you have done a great deal and as a result you have a lot of value to offer others.

With this memory jog and resulting momentum move on to creating your own LinkedIn profile. Pull ideas and inspiration from your Master Portfolio. This is a process, so relax and enjoy giving yourself the recognition that you have earned over the years. And pick up Jason Alba’s book (scroll down) for step-by-step instructions on how to create your profile and how to use LinkedIn effectively.

Posted in Kit's Tips | Tagged , | Leave a comment