The Secret Groundwork to an Extraordinary 2016

A new year is just around the corner.  Another year is about to end.

Be honest with yourself …

·      Are you feeling tired, stressed or depressed?

·      Are you feeling disconnected from what really matters to you?

·      Are you feeling like you have lost your way, not even realizing it?

In my experience, when December hits, many leaders are burned out and depleted.  They are running on empty.

And understandably so.  The demands on a leader’s energy and attention throughout the year are endless.   I’ve been there myself.  I know.

Since that time, I have learned to make December a transition month.  Not only to prepare for the new year.  Also to revitalize my spirit and reconnect to the fire within.

This article provides you with 3 critical leadership steps for transitioning from the end of this year to 2016.   Let’s first address what are transitions.

What Are Transitions?  Why Are They Important to Leadership Growth?

Think of a transition like the period at the end of sentence.  It’s a pause.  It ends one sentence and creates a bridge to the next sentence.

Transitions are a natural important part of leadership growth, whether you realize it or not.  Some are by choice.  Some come from natural endings – like the end of a year, the end of a project, etc.

The problem is that leaders are often such doers, high initiative individuals, that they ignore or avoid transition periods, even though they are essential to your next level of growth.

Leadership breakthroughs can only happen in the pauses.   In transition periods.

These periods …

·      Provide the needed space for defining new directions in your leadership role.

·      Can revitalize your spirit and leadership fire

·      Reground you to what really matters.

·      Clears out the internal/external clutter that holds you back

3 Steps for Preparing for an Extraordinary 2016

Step 1:  Closures, Completions and Letting Go

Imagine a blackboard cluttered everywhere with writing. Not only will it be impossible to decipher the contents.  There will be little room for anything new.

The same is true with yourself and your organization.   Many leaders start the new year with excessive “energetic clutter” that will hold them back, if not addressed.

Below are 3 leadership areas for decluttering prior to the new year.

1.    Get closure on “unfinished business.”

“Unfinished business” is those items that consume your physical, mental and emotional energy and require closure to free up your wasted energy. For example,

·      What projects or goals have you started this year that you neither completed nor are working on?

·      What communications have you not delivered that needs to be completed– whether it be to a peer, employee, customer, etc.?

·      What clutter do you need to get rid of or file from your desk, office or email box?

2.    Eliminate “energy drains”

“Energy drains” are people, places, activities or procedures that undermine your effectiveness, violate your integrity standards or “cost” you or your company in some fashion.  For example,

·      What boundaries do you need to set with difficult customers costing you excessive time, your values (or company values) or resources?

·      What actions or projects do you need to stop doing and/or delegate to others?

·      Where are you tolerating underperformance or violations in behavior norms that needs to be dealt with?

3.    “What’s wrong with this picture?”

These areas include where you are out of integrity with yourself, your desires or your sense of fulfillment.  For example,

·      What strategies, behaviors, attitudes and/or beliefs that created success in the past are now obsolete and blocking your future leadership growth?

·      What things this year did you want to be that you’re not being?

·      What things did you want to do or start that you’re not doing?

·      What things did you want to change that you’re not changing?

·      What things have you done yet not acknowledged yourself for doing them?

December is a natural transition time to complete, eliminate or take inventory and action around current leadership “clutter” areas.

Whether you realize it or not, the unresolved past will not only weigh you down and undermine your leadership performance.  It is also the biggest contributor of your current stresses, internal conflicts and lack of motivation.

Whether it’s 20 minutes a day till end of the year or taking larger blocks of time away from the office, answer the above questions to start the new year clear, rejuvenated and at the top of your game.

Step 2:  Imagining a New Compelling Leadership Story

With each new year, leaders take time to look at their individual and organizational goals and visions.  There are many positive benefits to doing so.

Where most such efforts fail or are ineffective, however, is in 2 areas.

1.    Visions and goals are often extrapolated from the past and/or present (the known), rather than created from the future (the unknown).

2.    Developing visions and goals is often a forced intellectual exercise, rather than a creative, passionate and emerging exploration of new possibilities.

You will know you are ready for Step 2 when you feel connected to the part of yourself that knows your destiny.  When your mind’s eye starts to give you images, sounds and feelings of the leader you are about to become.

True visions emerge.  They pull your energy forward.  They are neither forced nor what you expect.

Your old way of being as a leader will simply seem wrong.  You are giving birth to a new vision of yourself as a leader.

To get your imagination going, fill out the matrix below for the new year as sequenced as follows.  Think in terms of behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, qualities, accomplishments or whatever else is important to you for the new year.

Lower Left Quadrant:  What you don’t want and don’t have

These are your non-negotiables.

Example:  You don’t want to unethical and you currently are not unethical.

 Lower Right Quadrant:  What you don’t want yet have.

These are the things you want to eliminate or let go of.

The trick with this quadrant is to convert all the “don’t wants yet haves” to their opposites (or what you do want instead).  Why?

Because the brain reinforces the very thing you no longer want.  The brain is unable to process the word not.

Example:  You don’t want stress yet you have it.

So what’s the opposite of not wanting stress?  That is, what do you want instead.  Peace?  Calmness?  Focus?  Centeredness?

Incorporate these opposites into the last quadrant (want/don’t have).

Upper Right Quadrant:  What you want and have.

These are the things you want to keep/preserve.  This is your gratitude list.

Example:  I want to start my day with a plan and am currently starting my day with a plan.

Upper Left Quadrant:  What you want yet don’t have.

These are your desires.  Your BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals).

Example:  I want to have strong accountability in my organization yet don’t currently have it.

Once you have filled out this matrix fully, imagine what your days will be like in the new year, having what you want (and eliminating what you don’t want).

This is a critical step.   Write out your new leadership story in present tense.

It should start with the words … “It is now December 30, 2016.  I am/have … (then write your new leadership narrative).

Step 3:  Testing for 100% Congruency.

At this point, you have completed all your unfinished business from the past year and have written a new leadership vision for 2016.

However, you are NOT done yet.  In my experience of working with leaders, Step 3 is the most critical (to realize your new goals and vision) yet rarely done.

The #1 reason why you did not realize your goals and vision this year is because you were not 100% congruent (on an unconscious level).  You wanted the goals yet …

You had your foot on the brake and accelerator at the same time. 

Denise Corcoran

Below are some questions to test for 100% congruency.

·      What might you lose if you achieve your vision or goals?

·      What are the possible benefits or secondary gains of not realizing your vision?

·      What might achieving your vision cost you?  Is it worth the cost?

·      On a scale of 1-10, how strong is your belief that you will achieve your vision?   Or that you have the capabilities to achieve it?

·      Do your new leadership goals conflict with other goals in your life?

·      When, where and with whom do you want to achieve your new goals?  (For example, if you want to be more assertive as a leader, is it ecological to do that in all situations and with all people?)

Without 100% congruency, your leadership vision will not only NOT be compelling.  You will unconsciously sabotage yourself from not achieving it.   Is that what you really want?

Bottomline:  Take time in December to follow these 3 steps to prepare for a groundbreaking new year in your leadership growth.

If you find yourself stuck in the process, click on the box in the right margin and sign up for a complimentary Leadership Strategy Session.  I have only 3 openings in December.  Sign up before it’s too late!

The post Re-Igniting Your Leadership Fire appeared first on The Empowered Business.

Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities.   Gloria Steinem

When I was a little girl, my mother encouraged me to dream. She would often tell me … “Dream big dreams. It does not cost anything to dream.”

So as a child, I would imagine myself becoming …

possibility thinking

… A gold Olympic ice skater on one day.

… The first woman astronaut on another day.

… Then it was a toss up between a princess, a cowgirl or a Mickey Mouse musketeer on the other days.

Nobody ever told me that anything was impossible. I am grateful for those early days that shaped me to thrive possibilities.

Now that I work with leaders, I find the art of possibility thinking extinct in many companies. If you are a leader that …

• Rarely challenges the boundary conditions of your thinking
• Struggles in creating new visions that fire up you and your organization
• Freezes at opportunities and problems with no precedence,

it is time to thrive in possibilities again.

Before addressing the what and how of possibility thinking, let’s look at how over-focus on accountability is preventing possibility thinking in your organization.

Is Too Much Accountability Stifling Your Organization?

While accountability is absolutely essential to the health of your organization, from a brain perspective, it drives your focus and thinking in an opposite direction to possibility thinking.

Why?

Accountability is all about …

• Discipline
• Control
• Order
• Measurement and metrics
• Limit in focus
• Here and now
• Excellence in execution
• What is
• Stability
• Norms

Accountability actually trains your brain to think in terms of boundaries … to stay in the box … to limit your focus. That’s a good thing to a point. You need accountability to achieve your company goals.

However, for many organizations, over-emphasis on accountability stifles creative thinking, innovation and visioning. The key for leaders is to know how to intersect and integrate possibility with accountability.

If you are like many leaders, the likelihood is that possibility thinking is the weaker muscle. Let’s look at how you can change that.

What is Possibility Thinking?

The only limits to the possibilities in your life tomorrow are the ‘buts’ you use today.     Les Brown

Interact with a child and you will know what possibility thinking is. For them, the world is filled with new things to discover. Their curious minds want to explore everything around them. Their imaginations fire up as they pretend to be their favorite heroes and villains.

As we mature as adults, we lose that creative spark. We lose our inquisitive thinking. We forget how to create the world around us.   We get stuck in our sense of reality and don’t dare new horizons.

We’ve stopped believing in what is possible.

From my experience, possibility thinking …

• Is a mindset in which, as a leader, you think beyond limits (yours and your company’s).

• Asks possibility questions.

• Thinks BIG

• Challenges status quo

• Creates breakthrough solutions

If you want to see possibility thinking in action, watch this inspiring 90 second video clip.

Noah Galloway – an army veteran who lost both his right arm and leg in the Iraq War – was a contestant on last season’s Dancing with the Stars. He defied the odds in both what he could accomplish (with a metal leg and a missing arm) and how far he could go in the contest.

It’s a must watch video.   It will inspire you to eliminate excuses and reach new heights.

7 Ways to Cultivate Your Possibility Thinking

What we can do or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of true capability.  It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are.  Anthony Robbins

Possibility thinking is a brain muscle. If you let yours get flabby, it needs to be strengthened again. Here’s 7 ways how.

Ask Possibility Questions

Possibility questions are critical in your leadership role because they break through the boundary conditions of your (or some else’s) thinking. They transform disempowering beliefs to empowering ones.

Here are examples of possibility questions to get you started.

• What if you could achieve ‘x’ (a seemingly impossible) goal, what would be the first step you would take?

• What leader inspires you the most? What would they do in this situation?

• How do we need to lead differently to double our growth in the next year?

• How do you know “that” (such as belief) is true? Are there any other possibilities?

• What is the ideal outcome you seek?

Find Who and What Inspires You

In NLP, one of the foundational principles is — if one person can do something, anyone can do it (through modeling).

Find the leader who inspires you. Someone whose success and excellence you would like to model. As Isaac Newton said,

“The reason I see so far is because I stand on the tall shoulders of those who have come before me.”

Once you have identified someone, the next question is: what specifically about this person would you like to model?

Externally, it could be his/her behaviors, habits, physiology, etc.  Internally it could be his/her beliefs, values, character traits and more.

For example, if Richard Branson inspires you, you might want to model his beliefs (such as, business is fun) or personality traits (such as, resilience) or values (such as, adventure). The person you pick can be someone you know or don’t know, someone alive or dead.

In a future article, I will address the process of modeling at greater length. The first step is to decide who and what to model.

Creative Destruction 

In 1942 Austrian economist and ardent capitalist, Joseph Schumpeter coined the phrase creative destruction – his theory about what drives busts and booms in the economy.

Creative destruction is the process in which new technologies, new kinds of products, new production methods, etc. made old ones obsolete, forcing existing companies to adapt or fail. Kodak is a good example of a company that failed because of creative destruction.

Given the pace of change in today’s business world, modern leadership must learn to embrace the concept of creative destruction within their companies to create new possibilities. Such as:

• What ways of thinking from your past should you obliterate to make room for a brand new future?

• What systems and structures should you destroy to keep up with change?

• How must you destructively and disruptively instigate change (before needed) to stay ahead of the competition?

“Dream One Size Bigger”

In his book, How Successful People Think, John Maxwell addresses 6 ways that possibility thinkers think. One of those ways is to dream one size bigger.

Are you a leader that tends to dream small? Do your visions and goals fall well below who you can be and what you can achieve?

Challenge yourself to dream more expansively. Push your team to set bigger goals. Ask your peers every time that you get trapped in impossibility or “realistic” thinking to step up your game. Get into the habit of dreaming one size bigger.

Change Your Beliefs

The biggest obstacle blocking your possibility thinking is your beliefs.

• Beliefs about what’s possible
• Beliefs about yourself and your capabilities
• Beliefs about the effort required
• Beliefs about the risks

and more.

Because I have covered the topic of beliefs in great detail in other articles, I recommend that you check out:

• How Leaders Break Through Sabotaging Beliefs … Rapidly
• The Secret to Rapid Leadership Breakthroughs
• Real Truths That Fuel Real Leaders

Cultivate “Out of the Box” or Lateral Thinking

My favorite expert on creative, “out of the box” thinking is Edward de Bono.

My two favorite tools of de Bono are:

• His book, Whack on the Side of the Head
• His creative brainstorming deck of cards, Creative Whack Pack.

Next time you get stuck in your thinking, I recommend the above resources to recharge your creative juices to a whole new level. They are always my “go to” tools for out of the box thinking.

DECIDE Your Leadership Future

While you may not fully embrace this one truth yet,

you are the creator of your leadership future.

 The clearer you are about who you want to become and what difference you want to make in your future, the more power you have to achieve it.

However, knowing what you want is not enough. Deciding your future – even without knowing how – is the catalyst that transforms bold dreams into reality.

Are you ready to give up your old stories that say you can’t?

Are you ready to decide your future story?

In Summary

While possibility without accountability is wishful thinking. Accountability without possibility is a dead end street.

The new frontier in leadership is knowing how to intersect the two.

What are you doing to make that leadership leap?

If you’ve enjoyed this post, I’d be grateful if you’d share it with your friends and network on Linkedin, Twitter or Facebook. Thank you!

The post Accountability to Possibility: The Next Frontier in Leadership Growth appeared first on The Empowered Business.

In 1987, I flew to LA to a women’s leadership conference for one reason only.  To meet Anita Roddick, founder and “then” CEO of multi-billion dollar franchise,

Photo by David Niblack

The Body Shop, and asked her to write the forward of my book (to which she did say yes).

When I met her, I was stunned how amazingly small she was (even smaller than myself J).  Yet her commanding presence was so powerful, 30 years later, that memory is still vivid in my mind.

Leadership presence includes character, charisma and self-confidence YET is much more.  People with large presence actually exert a magnified energy field or aura.  You feel it.  You know it.  You are impacted by it.

The BIG question is … How can YOU develop your own leadership presence?

It all starts within, even before you speak.  Let’s look at the 3 most important how to’s.

Presence Factor 1: Own Your “Space”

I learned about the importance of owning my space from 3 completely unrelated interests — dancing, professional speaking and Qi Gong.

I learned, for example, to own my space as a speaker by claiming the stage as my “home.” Mentally, saying to myself “This is my place. I am home here. I own it.”   It also meant pausing before I spoke … as I stood centered and grounded on the stage … connecting silently with every single person in the audience.   It meant utilizing the entire stage – not just one area – to move and connect with my audience.

Owning your space is not physical nor visual. It is kinesthetic, energetic and spatial. It’s mindset, attitude, personal power and congruent physiology/tonality all wrapped up in one.

Owning your space is absolutely crucial to become a powerful, influential leader. Practice these 2 steps and you are on your way.

• Decide you belong …

whether it is on the dance floor, on the stage, at the head of a conference table or leading an entire nation.   Know you belong. Claim it. Step into it fully.  It’s your space, your place. And no one else’s.

When you own your space, you are letting your organization know that you believe in your value … that your voice and contribution matter.

Are you a leader that owns your space?

Or do you do everything you can to take up as little space as possible?

In your role, do you tend to shrink back from shining? Uncomfortable with attention? Feel insecure about yourself?

Your feelings about yourself and your ownership of space are directly correlated.   The question is: how do you change one or both?

That brings us to the next step for owning your space.

• Clear your space and make it your own.

According to quantum physics, every living creature has an energy field or space. The problem is that you are bombarded continuously by the demands, thoughts and emotions of others to the point that their energy is in your space. That’s right … their energy is in your space. And you are not even aware of it.

Many of the fears you experience are not even yours. They may be your parents’, spouse’s or colleagues’. They may be the media’s fears about the economy or other social ills. Or any other person for that matter.

The solution … you must clear your inner space of other’s “emotional clutter.” Here’s one simple exercise to do so.

Take a few deep breaths. Now simply observe your self-talk, emotions and thoughts. Are you replaying a conversation in your head? Are you feeling resentful because of another’s actions? Are you anxious about any specific area of your life?

Now set an intention to claim your space, mind and thoughts only for you … no one else. It’s time to clear your space. Imagine a giant magnet or vacuum cleaner – bigger than you – clearing out the “garbage” from your space. Give yourself a minute or so to pull out as much as you can.

Notice how much more space and freedom you now experience. Fill your space with an empowering color that signifies who you are and what you want to project to the world.

Guess what? You now own your space. Keep doing the above steps till owning your space becomes a part of who you are.

Presence Factor 2: Get Into Your Zone (aka “flow state”)

 Like it or not, your imagination drives both your leadership successes and failures. 

What you rehearse in your imagination, you tend to get.  If you imagine yourself going on stage and forgetting your lines, guess what? That’s what will happen

If, on the other hand, you see yourself giving a confident, mesmerizing performance (assuming you prepared), you will likely get that.

Mental rehearsal is a process, using your imagination and 5 senses, that puts you into your flow state. Every Olympic athlete uses it. That’s what got Michael Phelps 18 gold medals!

Phelps would lay in bed, eyes closed, and mentally rehearse the entire race. The start, diving into the water, and every detail of every stroke as though it was happening in real-time. He imagined even his warm up routine, possible mishaps and his responses to them, over and over again.

NOTE: Mental rehearsal is NOT the same thing as visualization. There are 2 main distinctions.

The focus of visualization is on the end result – such as, making a certain income. The focus of mental rehearsal is on the experience and execution – such as feeling confident, your movements and gestures, etc.

Visualization just includes the visual sense or images. When I teach mental rehearsal, I want my clients to use at least 3, ideally all 5, senses to have a powerful internalized “memory” of how they want to show up.

To use mental rehearsal to develop your commanding leadership presence, you need to:

Step 1: Describe how you want to perform

Identify a specific situation where you would like to exhibit leadership presence. Describe in detail … what will you see, feel, hear, smell and taste when you experience presence? For example, I am smiling and energetic. I exude confidence yet remain calm and authentic. I notice the audience engaged and present.

Step 2: Mentally rehearse as though watching yourself in a movie

Imagine you are watching yourself on a movie screen. See yourself showing up with presence in a specific situation. Include rich colors and images that are large and close to make real. See yourself acting decisively and without fear. Now include all sounds – eg., your voice exuding authority and background noises in the room. Include all feelings – temperature, mood, your body moving effortlessly. Who else is with you? What are they doing?

Step 3: Mentally rehearse as though you are in the movie

Now step into the image of yourself and run through the scenario again. This time you are seeing, feeling and hearing it as if it is happening NOW. Allow your imagination to create even greater details, more vivid colors, feeling exactly as you want to feel.

Repeat these 3 steps a number of times before your designated event or situation.

Presence Factor 3: Cultivate Your (Life Force) Energy

Knowing how to work with life force energy – yours and others — is key to successful leadership.  According to the book 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership,

“We have found that conscious leaders are masters at managing energy. When they allow energy to flow, they are alive, engaged, passionate, on purpose, creative, innovative, intuitive, clear, visionary, playful, relaxed and refreshed. Energy flow is our natural state, but when it’s blocked or interrupted, the life force so essential to great leadership is dampened, and effectiveness wanes immediately and drastically.”

When you learn how to work with and control your life force energy, your leadership presence, influence and performance will skyrocket. Where you put your mental attention can actually change your physical body and emotional energy. Here’s an exercise to demonstrate that. Do it with a partner.

Cultivating Inner Balance

First, put every ounce of your attention on your right ear lobe. Make sure your thoughts are on nothing else. When there, ask your partner to gently push you on the shoulder from the front. You will discover that the slightest touch will put you off balance.

Next, imagine there is a large golden sphere of energy in your belly area, just below the navel. Now put all your attention on this sphere. (In QiGong, we call this your energy center or dantian.) Once all your attention is there, ask your partner again to push your shoulder. Notice the difference. While the shoulder may move toward the back, you spring right back and don’t lose your balance.

Just 3-5 minutes a day, focusing on a golden sphere of energy in your belly is all you need to cultivate mental, emotional and physical balance, as well as build your life force energy. Even YOU can afford that little time for such a high payoff.

Now It’s Your Turn

The 3 strategies above – owning your space, mentally rehearsing and cultivating your life force energy – will put you on your path to a commanding leadership presence.   These strategies only take a small investment of time and daily practice.

As you increase your presence, you will find yourself closing more deals, wowing your audience and/or employees, achieving your vision and igniting passion in your organization.  Not to mention you will feel happier and at ease within yourself.

MAY PREVIEW:

Want to know the leadership secrets for building a climate of trust with your employees?  Stay tune for part 3 of our article series — How To Unlock Your Leadership Influence Instantly — in May.

Want to learn more about leadership influence?   Check out the following articles.

The post Unleashing Your Leadership Presence … appeared first on The Empowered Business.

Influence is not something tangible, physical or material.  Yet it’s real.  You know when you are in the presence of it.  Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Steve Jobs just to name a few.

The Power of Words

There is no leadership without influence. You can have a leadership title, yet have no  influence.  How influential are you?  Does your team listen to your every word with attention, openness and trust?  Is your team inspired to take action simply by what you say and do?

Influence comes from the latin root “influere” meaning to flow in.  When you are an influential leader, your words and intentions flow into another’s unconscious mind without resistance.  Your words are not just accepted.  Your words motivate.  Your words change minds, attitudes and behaviors.

The BIG question is … How do you develop and increase your leadership influence?

This big question has a big answer.  In this first of 3 articles on this topic, let’s look at the easiest and quickest way to increase your leadership influence.

The Power of Language and Influence

What makes certain words or language particularly persuasive or influential?

Influential words bypass the reasoning or critical mind and into a person’s unconscious mind.  When using these words, you avoid a person’s resistance or defenses to what you are communicating.  You are speaking directly to the part of the brain that houses his/her memories, emotions and creativity.

When you gain such powerful access to one’s mind, you can lead people to where you want them to go.  Because of such power, these words should be used only for positive intentions and never for manipulative reasons.  Use these words wisely and only to help a person change and grow.

Given that caveat, let’s take a look of 5 power words that can change your capacity to lead.

1.  “IMAGINE …”

Anyone who has ever worked with me knows I use the word “imagine” often to help my clients achieve breakthroughs that once seemed impossible or improbable.

As children, we lived our lives through our imaginations.  And it all seemed so real.

Whether we wanted to be a monkey, or fly to Paris, or find hidden treasures of gold, our imaginations could create a whole new world in our minds in a single moment.  A world where there were no limits.  A world where we could be or do anything we wanted.  A world where the possibilities were endless.

When I use the word imagine with my clients, my intent is to take them beyond the boundary conditions of their thinking and create new realities, new possibilities that are not accessible through the conscious mind.

Leaders who know how to tap into the imaginations of others can move mountains in their organizations without much effort.  The more you tap into others’ imaginations, the more successful you and they become.

Are you ready to increase your leadership influence … right now?

Then close your eyes and …

Imagine how good it feels as you tap into your employees’ imagination, creativity and inspiration with one simple word … imagine.

Imagine how good you will feel as you prove to yourself that you can be an influential leader simply with practice of one simple word … imagine.

Don’t wait till tomorrow.  Start using this one powerful word now.  Have fun with it!

2.  “BECAUSE”

Think back to those times when you were a child and you attempted to negotiate with your parents for extra money, or to stay out later, or to have a snack before meals.  Do you remember what mom or dad said?

After 2-3 times of your mother/father turning you down, you probably said in a pleading tone …

But why, mom?

To which your mother said …

Because  I said so.

If you were like me as a kid, you backed down after that.  Why?

The word because assumes a cause effect relationship.  For this reason, when the critical factor of your mind hears that word, it treats it as a cue to let the speaker through to your unconscious mind.

It’s been found in various studies that when you make a request followed by the word because (with a phrase), doing so will increase responsiveness to your request by as much as 50%.

That has huge implications to the business world In sales, negotiations, customer relations and, most of all, leadership.  Let’s take a look at a few scenarios.

Delivering Corrective Feedback

Most leaders when giving corrective feedback simply make a request for a new behavior, like …

“Tom, you need to turn your cell phone off during meetings.”

Some employees will adhere.  Others will resist, rebel or ignore.  Let’s replay the conversation.  This time using word because.

“Tom, you need to turn off your cell phone during meetings because others find it disruptive and a distraction. Please watch it going forward.”

Explaining why the behavior needs to be changed (because) causes the recipient of the feedback to see the damage caused.

Goal Buy-in

“Our goal is to answer all customer calls within 60 minutes.”

VS.

“We will always answer all customer calls within 60 minutes because we have found that doing so, increases customer retention and that will increase the frequency of bonuses.”

That is persuasive. Just stating your goals does little for employee motivation.  Helping employees to see the why behind the goal – for them and the company – does.

Motivation

“We’re going to have an awesome month, team!”

VS.

“We’re going to have an awesome month because we have the best company culture in the industry, our customer returns are at an all time low, and our sales team is on the fast track to closing more business.”

It’s great to believe in people.  It’s more motivating, however, to tell them why you believe in them.

3.  “AND”
(always use in place of “but”)

And – when used with intention – is one of the most powerful, persuasive words in the English language.

Let’s look at one specific leadership application of this word that can eliminate all resistance, even in the toughest of conversations with your employees.  That application is using and in place of the word but.

It’s a leader’s responsibility to give honest feedback – even corrective feedback – to its employees.  Unfortunately, many leaders use the word but in delivering their corrective feedback.

“You did a great job with this report, but it was filled with many misspellings.”

But is one of the most dangerous words to use in any conversation.  It negates everything you said before the word but.  In the above examples, it means – you did not really think that person did a great job.

Now eliminate the word but and replace it with and.  Notice the difference in tone, the ability to receive the feedback without resistance, as well as the ability to add a follow-on.

“You did a great job with this report and it was filled with many misspellings.  So let’s get started in cleaning up those misspellings to make it even better.”

4.  “AWARE”

This is one of my personal favorite power words because simply saying the word will cause the listener to mentally process what you brought up.  Aware … and related words like realize or experience … are important additions to your influence arsenal because everything that follows those words is presupposed to be true.

Let’s take a look at some powerful leadership examples.

“You are probably already aware of the fact that when you practice our company value of respect, you will create comradery with your teammates.”

“Are you starting to experience  how easily you can use these words to become a more influential leader?”

5.  “NOW”

With the word now, you direct one’s thinking and focus to the present time.  In your leadership role, let’s look at some examples where you are implanting, at the unconscious level, a thought of positive change in the here and now.

“As you take a few minutes to collect your thoughts, notice how effortlessly solutions come to you NOW.”

“By NOW, you may be wondering what other changes can you make with the power of words.”

While, by no means, are these the only power words that leaders can use to influence.  The above words, however, are unique in their ability to bypass resistance and create positive change easily and naturally.

The most influential people know how to use words and language intentionally to inspire, motivate and win the hearts and minds of others, even their biggest opponents.

The next time you give feedback to your employee … the next time you want to inspire your team to follow your vision … the next time you negotiate a big deal with a potential customer, imagine how good you will feel because you used your power words and achieved your desired outcome.  You can start experiencing those good feelings now.

In part 2 of this article series, we will look at 3 little known, yet powerful techniques to unleash your influential leadership potential, even before you speak a word.  A must read!

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Denise Corcoran helps growth-seeking companies develop game-changing leadership teams and organizations that drive double and triple digit growth … by design. Her company — The Empowered BusinessTM — is one of the few companies providing whole brain, strategic solutions for unleashing leadership and organizational potential that conventional methods can’t achieve. Learn how to master your Inner Game of Leadership, by downloading our free report – Wired to Win Big. Connect with Denise at her Blog, LinkedIn, Twitter or contact her via email.

The post How to Unlock Your Leadership Influence Instantly appeared first on The Empowered Business.

It’s that time of the year!  Most business leaders are preparing for an executive off-site to define their company’s future direction for the new year.

Yet, in my 30 years experience of working with leadership teams and companies, the terms “vision,” “mission” and “values” are THE most overused, misunderstood and abused words in the business community today.

Vision statements, mission statements and strategic plans in many companies reduce to mere academic exercises with no real value in driving an organization forward.  Why?  Let’s take a look.

Why Most Company Visions Get an “F”:  The Big 3

1. Your company’s vision lacks the necessary specificity and inspiration to pull your company forward.That is, your vision lacks intentionality, concreteness and emotional teeth on a gut level in what you really want to achieve and who you need to become in the process.Powerful visions grab and motivate people toward your desired future. Weak visions are meaningless superlatives or vague language that have no energy and fall flat on your organization.  How would you rate your vision?
2. Your vision lacks commitment and “ownership.”There is a big difference between wanting vs. deciding a desired future.One is built on hope and maybe’s. The other is backed by 100% commitment to the outcome.The word decide in its Latin root form means to cut off all other possibilities.  While none of us can guarantee our future, owning your future will make it a reality.  Have you chosen to go the distance, no matter the obstacles?
3. Your vision lacks the necessary leadership capacity and infrastructure to drive that vision into everyday activities.While passion, specificity and commitment are all prerequisites for a successful vision, your leadership and organizational capabilities must be at the necessary level to drive it.In the words of Thoreau, “For things to change, we must change.”   The leader and organization you are today cannot take you to where you want to be tomorrow. This often missed piece is why most companies’ visions fail.

Examples of Poorly Designed Company Visions  —  Can you guess the company?

 Before we address the essential ingredients to a well-designed vision, let’s first look at examples of what not to do.

 Example 1:  “To be the most successful computer company in the world at delivering the best customer experience in markets we serve.”

This vision is generic, lacks specificity, is loaded with meaningless puff words, that it could be any company in the computer industry.

Who is this mystery company?    Dell Computers.

Example 2:  “Undisputed Marketplace Leadership.”

Yes, a well known company has adopted this vision statement to drive its future direction.   While it may sound nice as a tagline, it gets the award for pointless generic buzzwords that really say nothing.  The company?  Hershey.

Both of these visions are sadly bland and generic that they could have been thought of by high school students as a homework exercise for their economics project.  It is not what you would expect from experienced senior leaders of well known companies. 

The “Secret Sauce” to Highly Successful Visions:  7 Essential Ingredients How

A company’s vision is like a beautiful work of art.  It’s personal and it connects with you and everyone in your organization deeply. 

The capability to create such a vision is THE single most important responsibility of a leader and a leadership team. 

For your company’s vision to succeed, however, it requires more than a good feeling.  What you need in addition is:

Secret 1:  A compelling vision that wins the hearts and minds of employees, resulting in buy-in and commitment.

According to the dictionary, the word compelling means urgently requiring attention; arousing interest in an irresistible manner.

Compelling visions move employees to action with a sense of urgency, change their behaviors, give meaning to their work and inspire them to reach new levels in their own potential.

Secret 2:  A clear vision that ignites your senses – ie., a vision you can see, hear and feel – to internalize and make it real.


A clear vision should ignite the imagination.  Generating passion about your company’s vision is a right brain activity, igniting the emotional center of your brain.

Most companies’ visions are defined in intellectual, abstract and/or quantifiable terms   While quantifiable outcomes are important later, they don’t motivate people to action.

In order for your vision to excite employees and pull your company forward, it must be described in clear sensory language.  The question to ask yourself is …

As you imagine your company’s new future, what do you see, hear and feel in your mind’s eye that tells you that new future has been realized?

Secret 3:  A big vision that challenges you to bold heights.

Big, bold goals are actually easier, more fulfilling and a heck more exciting to achieve than small goals.

Yet most business leaders get stuck in small thinking because:

• They lack confidence.
• They focus on today and what’s not working, rather than on the future and what can be.
• They have no experience with big and can’t even imagine how to conceive a big bold vision.
• They are overwhelmed with short term demands at the expense of long term possibilities.

The reasons why big visions are easier?  Because they challenge status quo thinking.  They force you to go beyond your comfort zone.  They stir passions and motivations.  Bold visions also catalyze new creative thinking.  And, most importantly, thinking big actually eliminates impossibilities.

Secret 4:  A shared vision that creates synergies, buy-in and cohesion.


Failed visions are usually created by a few leaders at the top.  A successful vision represents the entire voice of your company.  Your employees want to participate in a bigger cause and be involved in the creation and execution process.

The big challenge for business leaders is to create a vision that incorporates the wants, needs and aspirations of those who will be tasked with achieving it — your employees.  Your company’s vision must articulate … what’s in it for them?

Despite what many leaders think, the collaborative process of envisioning with your employees is more important than the actual vision product.  If you hear your employees saying “That’s my vision too” or at least feel like they influenced it, only then do you have a shared vision. 

Secret 5: A concrete vision aligned with your values and purpose.


Your vision is only one stepping stone to a new future.  Your values are your compass of how to get there.  Your purpose articulates the bigger cause or why your business exist.

While having a vision, purpose and clearly articulated values are the first step, the alignment of these 3 foundational elements is what determines success or failure of your vision.

 As best selling author, Jim Collins, notes: There is a big difference between being an organization with a vision statement and being a truly visionary company.

The difference lies in alignment.  The best use of an executive retreat at this time of the year is to look at alignment issues and your plan for eliminating them.

Secret 6: A concrete vision with “feet.”


Strong visions must also be strategically sound.  They must be concrete, tangible and have a clear proof of success.

When I work with executive teams in formulating their vision, I ask them to address critical strategic questions as part of their vision to give it “feet.”  Such as …

• What obstacles and challenges did your company have to overcome to achieve your vision?  What did you have to do extraordinarily well?
• What “enemies” (external or internal) did you have to defeat along the way?
• What do your competitors now envy the most about you?
• What new boundaries … ie, what you said ‘yes’ and what you said ‘no’ … did you need to have in place?

Secret 7:  A memorable vision that tells a story.

To create a powerful vision, you must articulate it as an unfolding story – both about the destination and the journey.

Why a story, not a statement?  Most visioning and vision statements miss the pathos element, or emotional connection. If I got $5 each time a company’s vision declared becoming the employer of choice or a talent magnet, I would have retired a long time ago :).

Vision stories, however, unite, create trust, are easy to remember and are transformative.  Great vision stories reveal the hero within us all. 

What is the future vision story that your leadership team will write that ignites the energy and the emotion to sustain action  on days even when nothing seems worth it?

Contact me for specific resources to get started on your memorable vision story.

As your leadership team gets ready for 2014, may you get started writing your magnum opus company’s future story.  May your visions allow you and your company to become larger than what you ever thought was possible.  Happy 2014!

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Denise Corcoran – CEO, The Empowered Business^TM – helps growth-seeking companies develop game-changing leadership teams and organizations that drive and sustain profitable growth by design.   Denise can be reached at denise@empoweredbusiness.com or www.empoweredbusiness.com.

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