sscascades: Recent Episodes
Srilatha Samineni
Success is more to do with continued growth, improvement, progress and achievement. These podcast episodes are mainly designed for Success Seekers who are committed to CAN (Constant And never ending ) improvement or self-change and contains posts with motivational insights and different dimensions of emotional/psychological wellness and personal -growth which you can apply to any area of your life. Challenge yourself to keep growing in pursuit of your goals.
Today’s information overload makes many of us experience overwhelm and our indulgence in limitless activities, day-to-day busyness makes us lose connection with ourselves and to that of what really matters. The heavy stream of never ending information related to work, changes and events happening around the world not only diminish our sense of well-being but focusing on matters that are not in our control can make us fall into reaction trap, reacting to interpretations, people, opinions, assumptions, fears and expectations. A complex and interconnected work environments and organisational structures thus demand leaders to practice conscious leadership—take a more conscious approach towards their work, business and leadership.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/09/12/how-to-practice-conscious-leadership/
As the work places are changing all over the world because of the new normal, as individuals and as leaders, one must demonstrate a spirit of purpose and optimism. This is where mindset plays an important role in how one approaches to influence and lead people through crisis situations.
When it comes to demonstrating leadership at personal or professional level, more than our skills and talents, it is our mindset that guides us.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2020/08/22/how-to-upgrade-to-leadership-mindset/
Most of us often wonder as to what mindfulness has got to do with the fast-paced, performance-driven style of leadership, but in tough times and otherwise, mindful leadership is one of the most most influential style of leadership. This is because as a leader, one must be aware of the ways they are able to impact other people and should be able to recognise the implications of their actions for the long-term which is possible only if you are mindful to the present moment.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/05/12/how-to-practice-mindful-leadership/
At some point in your life, you may assume on leadership role in some capacity. Whether it is leading a project, a team, a department or a group of people. As you do so, you will most likely use different processes and methods to achieve your objectives and meet the needs of people by identifying with or adopting to a definite leadership style.
In other words, as there are personality types, there are different leadership styles and no one size fits all. We all have a go-to leadership style consisting of default set of markers when it comes to enhancing the morale, performance and motivation of people we are leading or managing.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/03/02/what-is-your-leadership-style/
Difficult and uncomfortable conversations are something we all participate from time to time and are hard to avoid both in our personal or professional lives. A difficult conversation is any conversation in which there are strong differences of opinion and involves contentious and sensitive issues that may elicit strong, complex emotions that can be hard to predict or control.
Avoiding a difficult conversation will only lead to more problems and will make the situation bigger in your mind than it really is. We are usually reluctant to open a difficult conversation out of fear of the consequences as they usually involve disagreement over what happened. Key is to be aware of how you frame your thinking and what to avoid during such conversations.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/04/22/how-to-handle-difficult-conversations-effectively/
Non-verbal communication not only influences how we are perceived, respected and trusted by others, but also how we think of ourselves. But most of the times, in our interactions with others, we either don’t pay attention to or unaware of the non-verbal signals we are giving off and receiving. Developing an ability to understand people’s non-verbal behaviour and also be aware of yours in a conversation is an important tool for any effective communication.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/06/22/what-are-you-unknowingly-communicating/
Criticism if not handled properly can really create stressful and unpleasant working environment. Being criticised causes most of us to feel poorly about ourselves and can lower our self-esteem and productivity as we devote more time and energy dealing with it and are less focused on important things.
When faced with criticism, not everyone deals with it in the same way. There isn’t one size fits all responses. Some instantly know its not personal, some get defensive, some may feel completely crushed by even the most minimal feedback. Here are some ways people deal with the negative feedback.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2018/11/02/deal-with-your-criticism-constructively/
Assertiveness is a must learned skill when it comes to handling stressful and conflicting situations in our personal and professional relationships and to overcome traits like passivity, sensitivity to criticism, insecurity, anxiety and low self-esteem. Some of us struggle to be assertive in some situations, but can find the right words in other. Some are not assertive for fear of upsetting or displeasing others and of not being liked.
The right amount of assertiveness can help you get ahead. Assertiveness can be learned and the key is to understand the context and to set realistic goals to make small changes. Here are some strategies to help you become more assertive.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2019/07/22/how-assertive-are-you/
Disagreements and differences are inevitable and they often spark a conflict. We all have different opinions and ideas that often lead to serious disagreements in a discussion be it in work places or in our personal lives. You won’t always agree with the beliefs or ideas of others and everyone won’t always agree with yours. We tend to and want to take sides. We all are different in the way we view the world which is influenced by our values, upbringing and background.
Conflict can cause lot of stress and strain relationships both personally and professionally if not managed well. If left unresolved, it can have various negative effects such as low morale, choosing sides, quitting and violent outbursts. But it also serves as an opportunity for our transformation and personal growth if handled constructively.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2018/11/24/how-to-handle-conflicts-constructively/
Being a good listener is one of the most important life-skill we all can have. In today’s fast paced and high-tech world, communication has become an important means of achieving our goals and objectives. Yet we devote very less time when it comes to listening to one another. When was the last time, you listened to what the other person is saying without any distraction?
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2019/06/08/how-to-be-an-effective-listener/
We make assumptions about people’s feelings, needs, thoughts, motives and behaviours. Sometimes we guess about morality or credibility or goodness or badness in others. Despite facts and information, we bring our selective focus, our assumptions and our beliefs to what we think we observed. This not only derails us from our goals and stops progress in tracks but also creates self-imposed limitations, self-fulfilling prophecies, distorts motives and damages relationships. Also leads to wrong conclusions, results in conflicts, and impedes your creativity.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2019/09/26/how-to-challenge-your-assumptions/
The decisions you make in the moment and habits you establish overtime determine your level of resilience in any situation. Even though mental strength is innate, it is not something we are born with, but it is something we develop overtime. Just like physical endurance, it comes through experience with how we handle the circumstances life throws our way. You can increase your mental toughness by indulging in habits that stretch your mental endurance. The only way to know how strong you are is to keep testing your limits by stepping out of your comfort zones.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2020/11/24/how-to-improve-your-mental-toughness/
Thinking is consciousness and is one of the most important human trait. But when you get caught up in a vicious cycle of compulsive thinking about the past, future or get overly worried, it leads to stress, anxiety and indecision. Overthinking keeps you from getting things done and can be detrimental to your well-being as it puts you in a state of emotional and physical distress.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/03/12/why-overthinking-is-bad-for-your-productivity/
We live in a world where we want everything based on instant gratification. Everything we want is within our grasp, like instant buying, instant streaming, instant viewing so on and so forth. Almost whatever you want, you can have it instantaneously which is why a lot of us are accustomed to crave for both immediacy, faster outcomes and ease. The ease at which everything is available immediately at our finger tips can cause more harm than good. Such instantly gratifying behaviours often become habitual and roll into other areas of our life and can have a markedly negative impact on our personal or professional lives.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/03/22/how-to-delay-your-gratification/
How do you manage people who always play the victim ?
Victim mindset can be quite distressing and creates problems, both for those living with it and for the people around them. People who play the victim not only damage productivity of workplaces, but also their personal or professional relationships.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/07/22/how-to-deal-with-people-who-always-play-the-victim/
Behaviours and habits that we employ in our everyday life are most important. In a way, they run our life as pretty much everything what we do is based on a habit or a behaviour we have developed at some point in our life and have a long term impact on our health and happiness. Some of them help in building the life we want while others leave us astray. Unproductive habits or behaviours do not support our desired goals and can hold us back from reaching our full potential and are often stress-inducing.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/07/02/how-to-break-your-bad-habits-or-behaviours/
Over-emphasis on self-esteem to achieve our aspirations, goals and ambitions leads to wrong self-concept.
When we treat ourselves with compassion unconditionally, we are better able to perceive our real worthiness which is the foundation for personal and professional improvement.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2020/11/02/choose-self-compassion-over-self-esteem/
Emotions play an important role in our everyday life both personal or professional. Here are some ways to increase your positive emotion. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/06/12/how-to-improve-your-positivity-ratio/
A simple questioning framework for how to motivate yourself to change and take more specific action towards your self-change goals.This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/10/02/how-to-motivate-yourself-to-change/
Disagreements are normal part of any kind of relationship, whether it is social, work or personal. When we don’t share the same views with someone, we try to convince or persuade people to our point of view. But sometimes, these disagreements can turn into ugly spats or arguments.
Even though it is important to win an argument, you cannot always make it as a purpose. Instead turning them into productive conversations, you can develop the potential to understand other perspectives, spur growth and challenge limiting beliefs of everyone involved. This episode is also available as a blog post:
https://sscascades.org/2022/04/22/how-to-strengthen-your-stance-in-an-argument/
Even though fear of rejection is psychological in nature, it appears real. Eventually it shape-shifts into self-doubt, insecurity, shyness, inhibition, or reluctance to be yourself. And not able to manage or deal with it means unnecessary worry, tension, embarrassment or panic. Whatever form it takes, growing in your awareness, understanding and perspective will help you handle it constructively. Here are some practical steps you can take today to deal with it constructively.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2022/04/02/is-fear-of-rejection-holding-you-back/
As human beings we are constantly striving to improve ourselves and growing. The same stands true in our leadership pursuits, be it personal or professional. No matter which field you are in, you might always come across situations where your current leadership abilities may not serve you entirely in fulfilling some of your organisational or workplace needs. However, when leading others, there is no one best style of leadership, because different situations demand different kinds of leadership. And one must be adaptive in their approach rather than sticking to fixed leadership skills. Situational leadership could be one such leadership style that you can adopt, to ensure that you are leading in the most appropriate and successful way.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2022/03/22/what-is-situational-leadership/
Problems are often opportunities in disguise for learning and improvement. Good problem solving skills empower our personal or professional lives and they seldom come naturally. And effective problem solvers consciously learn and nurture their skills to apply across a range of areas. Whether it is to improve your productivity, resolve a conflict, or an issue, there is one important factor which is very essential and that is having a problem solving mindset. It is as important as growth mindset is to navigate through leadership challenges.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2022/03/02/skills-to-develop-a-problem-solving-mindset/
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2022/02/22/are-you-a-people-pleaser-here-is-how-to-stop-being-one/
Conflicts are an unavoidable human phenomenon. They are bound to arise from time to time in our everyday life situations, be it at workplace, in business, or with strangers, friends or family. In fact, conflicts are something that leaders might have to deal with on a fairly regular basis. It also seems quite natural that a conflict would come up in situations where people feel passionately about what they do or feel strongly about what they feel or want to communicate.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2022/02/02/how-to-communicate-without-conflict/
Felling like an impostor frequently can often prove to be counterproductive and is damaging to your confidence, balance and emotional strength. If you are spending too much time in self-doubt, it leads to well-being issues such as depression, anxiety or frustration related to feelings of inability to meet your self-imposed standards of achievement and low or lack of confidence and depression.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2022/01/22/how-to-overcome-your-impostor-syndrome/
Impulsive decisions are made when emotions prevail while good decisions are made with adequate knowledge, intellect or information. As a leader, one is expected to make and execute decisions quickly. But, being too impulsive actually decreases a person’s ability to trust his or her own instincts.As a result, your decision-making skills often get impacted making you risk-averse, pessimistic and less confident.Being too quick to act can lead to impulsive choices that you may regret later.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2022/01/12/how-to-make-well-informed-decisions/
Persuasion is the art of getting people to do things that are in their own best interest and that also benefit you in the process. Good persuaders are able to influence those around them to get things done instead of dictating, nagging or through coercion. Everyone can be persuaded given the right timing and context. Whether you are pitching your idea or negotiating, one way to improve your skills is to know what does and what doesn’t work.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/11/02/the-dos-and-donts-of-a-persuasive-communication/
One thing that is constant in our life is change. Implementing and managing change is often challenging, especially when it involves multiple people, large organisations and different workplaces. The current climate of uncertainty has increased the need for many workplaces and people to embrace change more than ever.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/11/22/how-to-overcome-resistance-to-change/
Incongruences in physical, emotional and cognitive function are the signs of overwhelm and stress. Since we can’t go back to the way things were pre pandemic, the reviewing of these areas helps us create an atmosphere that allows us to use our time to do more and achieve more. And start of a new year is good time to assess how to achieve more congruence in the areas that are more most important to you.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2022/01/02/how-to-live-life-with-more-congruence-in-2022/
Ever wonder why we get successful only in achieving relatively a small percentage of the goals we have set out to achieve? The reasons can be many, but the key to whether we go on to become goal-accomplishers or remain goal-setters depends mostly on our willingness to improve ourselves. Listen more……
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/12/22/6-goals-you-need-to-set-to-become-a-goal-accomplisher/
Many of us assume that we can transform our working life from distracted to focused overnight and that we can switch between a state of distraction and one of concentration as needed, but once you are wired for distraction, you begin to crave it and it becomes difficult to bring your focus back with one time decision to think or work deeper.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/11/12/are-you-distracted-here-is-how-to-disconnect-from-your-distractions/
There is a difference between positive outlook and toxic positivity. Forcing ourselves or others to always be positive can be harmful to our well-being and our relationship. Know more. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/12/12/what-is-toxic-positivity-and-how-to-avoid-it/
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sscascades.org/2021/12/02/how-to-apply-design-thinking-in-problem-solving/