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Here is a question to think further about this great quote – What holds you back from influencing others?
MONDAY INSPIRATION: JOHN C. MAXWELL
May 13, 2013 by · 1 Comment
Connect with me. It’s conference season.
May 9, 2013 by · 2 Comments
It's conference season. The months of May and June are always a "connection" time of year with lots of movement and events going on, as well as opportunities for us to connect.
Why do conferences matter? Conferences are self-selected communities of people who come together around a shared cause. Conferences are places for inspiration, connection, and vision to be created. They are also places filled with hallways where random connections are created that can turn into fruitful friendships, projects, and long-term relationships (this is the best part!).
So you might ask–why are conferences still important in our digitized, video-based world? Conferences introduce us to people who want to talk about topics we are passionate about as well. They allow us to talk about points of view, problems, opportunities, and even wild ideas. Let's face it–Twitter and Instagram started at a conference.
What conferences will you be attending over the next few months? How will you create space to connect with 'old' and 'new' people in your life? During conference season this year, I am excited about traveling to speak at many amazing events with some of the best and brightest executives and high potentials in cities around the world. So where will I be? Here are upcoming events I'll be at. I would love to meet you personally and get blog readers together. Comment below if you'll be in town and or can join one of my keynotes or sessions. I'll be speaking on Connectional Intelligence, Innovation, Leadership and Creating Breakthroughs across Multi-Generations. I promise to offer some Bollywood too (if there is strong interest of course!)
1) KPMG Shared Services Conference Keynote, Unlock Generations through Connectional Intelligence New York, May 8-9
2) White House Office of Public Engagement, World Economic Forum, D.C, May 10
2) American Society for Learning and Development National Conference, Dallas, May 18-21
3) Blake's Unleash the Power of Generations Keynote, Toronto, May 29-30
4) ATKearney Partners retreat, Connectional Intelligence session, June 4-5
5) Huffington Post Women's Conference, New York, June 6
6) Sewickley Academy graduation commencement Keynote (my high school!), Pittsburgh, June 9
7) StartingBloc Institute Keynote, New York, June 10
8) The Future Work Institute's Emerging Majority Conference, Millennials Connectional Intelligence session, New York June 11-12
9) Working Mother Media Social Media Summit, New York, June 14
10) Society for Human Resource Management Annual Conference, Chicago, June 17-18
11) World Domination Summit, Portland, Oregon, July 5-7
12) Toastmasters International Convention, Connectional Intelligence session, Cleveland, August 7-8
Come see me speak or say hello! I'd love to chat about your innovation and leadership challenges and see how I can be of service.
MONDAY INSPIRATION: John C. Maxwell
May 6, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. – John C. Maxwell
Improving connectional intelligence can help existing and aspiring leaders build the movement and scale around their ideas. What are some of the challenges you face when convincing others about your ideas?
5 Ways of Letting Go of Behaviors Holding You Back
May 2, 2013 by · 2 Comments
Want to let go of what's holding you back? There are plenty of ways to make it happen. Here are the 5 behaviors that may be holding you back and how to let go of them in order to do the work that matters most.
1.Feeling Guilty: You know when your are feeling guilty? Its awful right? You have a sense that you can't connect and that you need to do more. You have this bad feeling about a relationship or a commitment and cant do anything about it. Instead: Reframe guilt. It is just a signal that you need to reinvest in how you are managing your role relationships, as a employee, wife, daughter, friend, colleague, or whatever may be. Instead of just 'feeling guilty', remember that you are in the process of renegotiating loyalties and defining the type of leader you want to be. Guilt can feel like a signal of disloyalty, when in fact it is a process of renegotiating loyalty.
2. People Pleasing. It is natural to want to fit in with what others say or want. However, people pleasing is a selfish act because it is all about making ourselves "feel better." Instead remember that people pleasing is fed by the ego and it wastes our time and energy from doing really important work in the world. The world needs your best, not your people pleasing.
3. Choosing to be liked instead of respected. Choosing to be liked is easy, choosing to be respected can change everything. While sometimes respect and like ability are correlated, they aren't always. When you step into your power, while some people will stop 'liking you' when you value yourself differently, the same amount of people will come up and thank you for being bold, or doing something that others don’t like but you believe in. Being respected is a more empowering feeling than anything else, we all deserve it, we just need to create it for ourselves.
4. Excessive Complaining: Yes, you know what I'm talking about. We all have times where we are upset and want to complain, vent, or just be angry. And it's healthy and normal, until it gets excessive. Complaining only keeps us in a negative cycle or pattern so we need to move resentment or frustration into a place of acceptance to do work that matters.
5. Listening to advice from everyone. How many of you have friends and family that are FULL of advice…that makes NO sense? Your parents will tell you to stay in the same job forever or your friend tells you you're not cut out for something. Well, advice is only as relative as it is to the person. We have to choose what advice we listen to so we don't hold back from doing what we really want in the world and unleash our potential.
Are there other ways you let go of behaviors holding you back?
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MONDAY INSPIRATION: Eleanor Roosevelt
April 29, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart. – Eleanor Roosevelt
Do you rely on your head or your heart to build relationships?
10 Tips to Become the Most Successful Person You Know
April 25, 2013 by · 5 Comments
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Here are 10 tips to become the most successful person you know.
1. When facing any change, understand what is at stake. Change gets made when we see what on the table matters and make real tradeoffs. We evaluate the tradeoffs rather than making rushed decisions.
2. Focus on deepening your insight, rather than gathering information. You can watch a lot of reality TV or read 3 thoughtful books –you choose. Deepening insight in a one hour phone call can be much more impactful than 10 hours of internet research. Figure out how to get the insight you really need.
3. Know Your Rhythm. Know what "rhythms" work best for you. Are you a morning or night person? When do you do your best work? Find ways to use your energy more effectively.
4. Be Politically Saavy. Recognize, understand and leverage the centers of influence and power within your environment. Always see big picture and integrate this knowledge into your decision-making.
5. Find Champions that will change your life. Build and maintain a rich network of mutually valued relationships that provide opportunities for mentorship, sponsorship and community as you advance.
6. Think of strategy as a hypothesis rather than a prediction. Think of strategy as a verb, not a noun. We never start with a plan and end with the same plan. When we dive in, we often discover new ways of thinking. Strategy is about about adapting and learning from real experiences.
7. Don't wait for a "perfect answer." Start with what you know and work your way to a solution.
8. Build an Game Plan in 3 month increments. Every few months, get committed to achieving new clearly defined outcomes and acting with purpose in order to produce results that are meaningful and measurable.
9. Find Sanctuaries that you use to decompress. Find places of rest to rejuvenate. For me it's the dance floor, home, and reading a book. What are yours?
10. Share your story. By telling others how you came to be who you are, you create space to connect with listeners, increase your visibility and move people to act. Never hold back from sharing your story with anyone you seek to build a relationship with.
I truly hope these 10 success tips have been valuable to you. And that I’ve been of service. Your success and impact in life is what we need most. Please protect it and make it happen.
Any other tips made you successful? Please share below!
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MONDAY INSPIRATION: Warren Buffet
April 22, 2013 by · 1 Comment
When I go to my office every morning, I feel like I’m going to the Sistine Chapel to paint. – Warren Buffet
Bottom line: your attitude can make a big difference. Case in point: Dan Kerpen, CEO of Likeable Local, who recently wrote about his experience of giving himself a promotion on the 2nd day of selling Crunch 'n Munch. I highly recommend reading the article here on LinkedIn.
The Answer That Changes Everything
April 18, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
The answer that changes everything is..
I don't know.
It's the I don't know which leads to believing that you don't have all the answers, that you can't solve all the problems alone, that you might not know what to do. This answer lets you realize that you can ask for help and you have more to learn (or unlearn).
This is the answer that lets you start asking the more important questions like:
Who can help us solve this problem? How can we collaborate with them?
Where can we go to better think through this problem? What should we be reading, seeing, or attending?
What do we need in order to solve this problem? What skills or resources can we use?
Remember you don't need all the answers you just need the guts to say I don't know in order to create a space to generate real solutions.
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What the Boston Marathon taught me
April 16, 2013 by · 1 Comment
I have lived in Boston for 4 years (minus my summers). For much of it, I didn't treat Boston like home. It was a place where I went to school, studied, researched, and just more recently moved permanently with my husband less than two months ago.
But today changed all that. In the hours that have passed since the explosions (a 15 minute walk from my home), my fellow Bostonians have responded with offers of housing, donations of blood, large supplies of food, and dedicated medical care. I am so deeply humbled by the connectedness of Boston right now–from opening homes to guests using Google Docs to people searches on People Finder to many donating blood (after running a marathon) or offering whatever they can to victims and families. This is #courage. The whole country has responded with prayers, volunteers, and contributions.
I am also watching how we are using our Connectional Intelligence powerfully in this disaster. Cell phones in Back Bay were shut off, trains stopped and airports closed. So instead, the threads on Facebook and Twitter guided us. Google Docs gave many visiting marathon runners a home. Google People Finder allowed us to find one another. YouTube gave us a glimpse of what was really happening on Boylston St. The world has changed and we have the capacity to move faster to help one another through it all.
I feel terribly sad for our loss but also immensely proud of our human spirit and the connectedness that we have to come together in times like this and beyond. No matter how oppressive the darkness, the light in people always shines through. For more light, here are a few of the many stories of kindness in Boston. I love this city.
MONDAY INSPIRATION: James A. Froude
April 15, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Experience teaches slowly and at the cost of mistakes.
When was the last time you took on a new experience at the risk of making a mistake? Odds are you learned more faster. What's one thing you can try this week? Share your answer in the comments below.