Drink Like a Lady Podcast

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Welcome to the 7.22 Edition of the “Beyond Words” newsletter where I share scripts for better public speaking.

Today at a glance:

10 ways to dream
Scripts for when someone claims credit for your work
VIP Day Immersive in Portugal (with me)

Did you know that you have 1440 minutes in a day?

You CAN devote 60 minutes of them to dream.

To tell a new story.

Here are 10 steps

I’ll share my planning for a VIP Day in Lisbon to illustrate how.

Visualize your future daily

Interestingly enough, I made a vision board in February and I wasn’t closing a client for Lisbon. To be honest, I’m weary of cities. I already live in one of the biggest in the world (NYC). The countryside is truly where my nervous system gets to rest. I had a bigger yen for Portuguese wine country, an hour outside Lisbon.

It’s no wonder there was a disconnect between what I said I wanted—-

And what I was getting.

The toggle? I put up images of the ‘feeling’ of being in Alentejo around my mirror.

I had done this for Nice, France, when the retreat details still felt far away and unclear. All of it came true, even down to the image of my apartment.

(You can read more about the “Magic Mirror” practice in Claude Bristol’s book,“The Magic of Believing.”)

Journal. Write down your dreams, thoughts, what you want

Read more here

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1.Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a TEDx talk on stage in front of 200 people at the end.

I only enroll for this program once a year.

The waitlist is open for the Class of 2025.

2. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)

I’ll add to it each week.

3. Register for my Wednesday Sept 18th workshop on “Building a powerful personal brand on LinkedIn”hosted by my alma mater, Bucknell University.

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1.Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a TEDx talk on stage in front of 200 people at the end.

I only enroll for this program once a year.

The waitlist is open for the Class of 2025.

The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)

I’ll add to it each week.

Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

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She told herself a story that she wouldn't be able to make a living as a photographer.

Sometimes, however, no matter many exercises or deep dives I do with a client, there is a block. And I'm open to finding other modalities to 'unblock' them.

When Mahima Razdan did a hypnotherapy session with the aspiring photographer, she uncovered

↳This client had a parent who couldn't make a living doing something he/she loved.
↳That story embedded in the client's psyche at a young age
↳That story informed the way she went into every sales meeting, posted every social media post, and priced her offerings (low).

Mahima, in this video, shares how she accessed
A. The story that was running on autopilot beneath the surface
B. How she created the whitespace to bring awareness to it.
C. How they both worked to attach 'new meaning' to the story
D. How the aspiring photographer began to act in a new way, given the new awareness and new meaning

Listen to how the photographer turned things around to have a thriving business.

In other words, started telling a ‘new story’ once she dealt with her blocks.

I help 1 time pressed woman tell 1 better story about herself to unlock that next chapter. Download my cheatsheet on how to become a clear storyteller:
https://lnkd.in/ebncnNha

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

I only enroll for this program once a year.

The waitlist is open for the Class of 2025.

The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)

I’ll add to it each week.

Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

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Welcome to "What I Did Last Week (and what I'm looking forward to)," a newsletter where I offer actionable tips, based on what I am doing personally and professionally.

Today at a glance

Best practices when asking someone to be your potential mentor
13 signs of a 'high agency person'
How to use AI to remove unwanted objects in your travel photos
The 4 best dress shopping places in Nice (IMO)

Read here:
https://www.joyadass.com/6-best-practices-mentor/

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

I only enroll for this program once a year.

The waitlist is open for the Class of 2025.

The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)

I’ll add to it each week.

Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

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She sells a $100,000 package.

When she talks about it in her friend circles, she hears,

“Who are you to charge that?”

“That’s nuts. Nobody will ever pay you that.”

So-she started to doubt herself too.

This week, she participated in the retreat in Nice, France.

We did intense writing sprints.
We reflected on deep questions out loud.
We shared stories we had never shared before.
We shared dreams we had never shared before.

At the end, she wrote, “You know? Now-I feel more confident. I have a group of people who are encouraging me to take risks and step outside of my normal box.”

Things feel possible for her.

What changed?

Her environment design.

Because, you are not only the sum of the 5 people you surround yourself with, you are also the sum of the 5 people THEY surround themselves with.

Workplace culture expert David Burkus cites a study in a Medium article:

In it, they found that if your friend smokes, you are 61 percent more likely to be a smoker yourself.
If a friend of your friend smokes, you are still 29 percent more likely to smoke.
And for a friend of a friend, the likelihood is 11 percent.

That's the power of the 5 people you surround yourself with. And the power of the 5 people THEY surround themselves with.

My client has always questioned herself when posting content to get clients.

Ever since the retreat, she has been on FIRE! and churning out some of the best writing I have seen from her.

I’m so proud.

All it took was changing her environment design.

Surrounding her with 5 women who normalized the ambition to sell a $100,000 package.

Now on to..

The 6.16 Nice Edition of What I Did Last Week (and what I"m looking forward to)

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

I only enroll for this program once a year.

The waitlist is open for the Class of 2025.

The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)

I’ll add to it each week.

Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

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I'm a little obsessed with the Netflix series "Baby Reindeer."

Have you seen it?

It's pretty dark, so buyer beware.

But it's the incredible writing that compelled me to watch it 3 times.

The central character is a Scottish man trying to make it as a comedian on the London scene. Richard Gadd adopts several "camp" and over-the-top personas while he's trying to "make it."

Night after night, he speaks to barely there crowds.

Night after night, he makes no money.

And to boot--some really bad things happen.

In Episode 5, he has a 'come-to-jesus' moment on stage.

The dam really breaks.

He stops his comedy act short, heaves himself on a stool, and starts talking.

He shares all of it.

The good. The bad. The really ugly.

It's a story he had never shared before.

____________________

We’ve just spent the last four days in France planning my Mastermind's first TED style talks for the stage. (The 4-day retreats, btw, are one of my favorite offerings in my entire business.)

I always ask this question on Day 3:

"What is a story you have never shared before?"

Now, it's always a seminal moment in the progress of the retreat.

-Folks are familiar enough with one another.

-Feel safe enough with one another.

-They have spent 48 hours together.

Folks share stories their own mothers have never heard.

But, unlike, Richard Gadd, they aren't necessarily ready to boil it down and share THAT story with the world come the TED style talks on stage come November.

So---Here is the simple yet highly effective system I use to get women ready for the stage with their stories.

STEP 1

What is a topic you care about? What is a breakthrough you had?

Richard Gadd has his "breakthrough" when an audience member recorded his "break down," which went viral.

Ironically, that's when his career took off. Agents started calling. Podcasts were booking. He was on stages everywhere.

If you were honest with yourself, what story would you share?

STEP 2

What is your message around that share?

Do you have a unique position on it?

What is an assumption you want to challenge?

What's something that doesn't make sense and needs explaining?

In episode 7, a friend asks Gadd how the comedy is going. She had seen the confessional video.

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

I only enroll for this program once a year.

The waitlist is open for the Class of 2025.

The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)

I’ll add to it each week.

Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

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Today I want to show you how to “share your values” in your content to unlock opportunities you never dreamed of accessing

You might wonder what this means

And how does it relate to public speaking/storytelling?

I attended a entrepreneur’s luncheon in Saint Tropez, France this past Sunday. I was touched to be invited and have a seat at the table.

First touch point: Share something that announces your values on LInkedIn

The host, Neo, first connected to me when he commented on my post 3 months ago.

Then he posted some stunning photos of past locations for his own leadership retreats. The photo of Sinop Farm in Africa immediately got my attention. A friend of mine has been talking about wanting to go to Namibia for the 20 years I’ve known her.

I immediately commented and connected with him for a phone call.

I also host leadership retreats in other countries annually. I hired photographers to shoot equally high resolution photos of my retreats in Marrakech, Croatia, and Tuscany.

Our values matched on several fronts.

Second touch point. Opportunity Spotlight + Continued Value

We spoke about him planning the retreat for my group in Namibia in 2025.

He shared the itinerary. Options

When he sent this to me, I felt like I was talking to someone who was smart, thoughtful, had deep expertise, and was invested in my success.

He wasn’t selling. He was helping.

He saw this as an opportunity to educate me and show off his expertise.

Third touchpoint Storytelling on each other’s posts + Continued Value

Both of us post daily on LInkedin.

We continued to support one another’s posts

I much prefer this method of relationship building.

We built community.

Fourth touch point: Organizing meeting in real life

He was tying up his entrepreneurs retreat just as I was readying to kick off mine In the south of France early June.

He wrote, “If you can get yourself to Saint Tropez, join a lunch with a handful of other entrepreneurs at Gigi’s.”

What happened next?

I researched car services and got myself to Saint Tropez.

Once at Gigi’s, which stayed true to his brand of breathtaking places, with the sand and beach and beautiful people, I led with curiosity, and asked questions.

I’m not one who is ever lacking in conversation, but I keep this Notion file of questions to ask when networking should the well ever dry up.

I did storytelling about what I do and how I do it.

We shared lengthy conversation about business. It was a mutual exchange of information and best practices.

It was great.

Daily, I get DM’s from people selling their services.

Given the tone and timber of their DM’s they haven’t done any research.

This weekend, a woman wrote, saying perhaps I’m not on LinkedIn very often. Did I see her message?

I make it so easy to engage with me, given that I post each day. I would notice if you comment daily and support my posts.

Compare this exchange with those cold DMs.

I’ll probably end up organizing a retreat in Africa with Neo for 2025.

But, by sharing your values today you could get started unlocking something great.

2.The Anatomy of a ‘No’ If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)

I’ll add to it each week.

Joya is currently enrolling members for international (Europe) and domestic (NYC) strategy days. She also leads a year-long intensive mastermind of C-Suite level women, which is accepting applications for 2024.

https://www.joyadass.com/
info@joyadass.com

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Welcome to Beyond Words, a weekly newsletter designed to help 1 time-pressed woman tell 1 better story about herself in 1 day.

Today I’m offering you the #1 method to bring a room to its knees when public speaking.

🎧 Option to listen instead here

Context This week, I’ll be sharing exercises to help my clients harvest deeply vulnerable stories in service of their personal brand and their TED style talks on stage come November.

My corporate clients have historically had a hard time with this.

Being publicly vulnerable takes courage.

And most have a hard time accessing that courage.

I get it.

In order to make in a corporate setting

Personal and professional had to be kept separate
Some memories are too deeply painful to revisit
There is the worry “Will they judge me?”

But I know, from giving hundreds of keynotes and interviewing hundreds of leaders, that nothing brings a room to pin drop silence, than incredibly raw and authentic stories.

So today I will offer a framework for raw and honest storytelling for business.

A framework Last week, I shared this post about Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia.

His company’s valuation (at $2 trillion dollars) rivals that of Apple and Microsoft, and he does it with a fraction of the employees.

His own net worth is about $3 billion.

But he wasn’t afraid to tell the audience that he started out cleaning toilets.

Intro/Context

He was born in Taiwan, but was sent to live with his uncle in the United States when he was 9 years old.

Challenge

His uncle mistook a reform school for a prestigious boarding school. As a result, the kids had chores, working in the tobacco fields. But Huang was too young for that kind of labor.

Action

He was assigned to clean toilets. “You can’t unsee that stuff,” he said.

Outcome

He also was a dishwasher at Denny’s when he got older. That’s where Nvidia had its humble beginnings.

Lesson Learned

No matter the task, he was determined to be best toilet cleaner, dishwasher, and bus boy.

Raw and honest storytelling also requires a specific mindset

Focus on these 10 principles, and you’ll be on the path to authentic, impactful storytelling.

https://www.joyadass.com/
info@joyadass.com

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If you are a woman leader and need help telling one better story about yourself to build that brand, schedule a 30 for 30 with me. Share any challenges you have for 30 minutes. Ask any questions you have for 30 minutes. I record it.

Calendar here. (It's free)

Yesterday, I posted 7 Mistakes Highly Deferential People Make in the Workplace (& How to Fix them). It was prompted by a woman leader who wants her team to become better advocates for themselves. What's the challenge?

They are largely technical people in pharma. It's not always their strong suit.
Many of them are of Asian or Indian background. Culturally, it's not their strong suit.

Both cultures were raised to be deferential to authority. While that works at home, it doesn't always serve people best at work.
SO I CREATED 7 TIPS TO HELP:

1. SAYING "NO" (AND DO IT NICELY)

In 2019, I hosted a workshop for a smaller pharma company, about to be acquired by a much larger one. The fear was: What happens as we become smaller fish in a much bigger pond? How will we be heard and seen?

I hosted a role-playing workshop. Six employees from the Asian American Pacific Islander group came up with the scripts to demonstrate common scenarios they came up against

How to ask for a raise
How to ask for meatier projects from your boss
How to say 'no' to a colleague

Here is the script we came up with for #3

Your colleague comes to you with an invitation to project/dinner/event

Script: “I would love to be a part of this event, but every event I say yes to means I’m saying no to the_____current project I am working on. So, I have to sadly decline, knowing that you’ll all have a wonderful time.”

How does that question feel?

2. BE A PART OF MONDAY MORNING CONVERSATIONS

Indra Nooyi, former CEO of Pepsi, in her book "Life in Full" remembers many a Monday morning meeting, where her (mostly male) colleagues chatted away about baseball. Being an immigrant from India, she wasn't familiar, but she also didn't want to be left out of the camaraderie the others clearly shared.

Monday after Monday swooped by, without her contribution to the conversation at large. But here's what was happening on the side: She was quietly (obsessively) learning about the sport.

And then the day came....

A colleague was going on about Jackie Robinson leading the Brooklyn Dodgers to the World Series in his rookie season.

She finally piped up.

She corrected him: Jackie Robinson won the Rookie of the Year award in 1947 but the Dodgers did not win the World Series until 1955.

You better believe her colleagues stood up and took notice that day.

What is the conversation of the day (non-work related) that you could bone up on and contribute to?

Read the rest here

Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1.Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to buil

https://www.joyadass.com/
info@joyadass.com

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Effective branding is one of the ways to ensure your business remains competitive. But you’ll require persistence to keep promoting your brand to achieve success in business.

PR Strategist Emily Heyward engaged us in a conversation on branding. Here are ten valuable tips to persistent leadership that she provided.

Be clear about your brand from the beginning.
Make your business story personally applicable.
Connect your product’s functionality to an emotional feeling.
Incorporate an element of surprise in your branding
In a crowded market identify your unique value.
Identify a narrative line that interweaves many aspects of your brand.
Focus on your core market and grow from there.
Find the right language to reach a wider market.
As a brand, your actions should be louder than your words.
Build a community around your brand.

https://www.joyadass.com/
info@joyadass.com

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The CEO of Seramount, Subha Barry here presents the business case of diversity, offering tips and insights into how to bring greater diversity into the workplace, in a way that is beneficial to all.

Barry begins by contrasting the situation in 2021 with how it was ten years ago, when she was a senior executive at investment bank Merrill Lynch. Then, diversity was a governmentally mandated program, with EEOC Requirements forming a basis for a lot of the DE&I work. Much of the focus was on the market side – targeting more diverse groups of customers and clients.

In 2021 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a much more far-reaching project. Following the disparities thrown up by the pandemic and by the deaths of George Floyd and other victims of violence, there has been a much greater focus on systemic racism and bias, both within organizations and processes.

An example she gives is the bias that may be exhibited by an all-male, all-white panel when interviewing employment candidates, even when there’s an explicit instruction to engage in more diverse hiring.

FIVE WAYS TO MAKE A BUSINESS CASE FOR DIVERSITY

Barry has five key tips for helping make the business case for more entrenched DE&I work:

Speak the language of business leaders. Helping leaders see that the ethnic stereotypes they may have grown up with are wrong and there are valuable untapped resources in diverse communities.
Utilize big data. There’s more evidence than ever before that diverse working groups, for example, beat homogenous ones hands down in problem solving, because they bring different insights and assumptions to the table. Diversity drives innovation, and this can be backed up with data.
Minimize Staff turnover. A recent study showed that more than 50% of women of color in large organizations are waiting out the pandemic to leave their organizations for better opportunities. This shocking degree of turnover can be mitigated by building workplaces that respect differences and build a more tolerant culture.
Diversity of Perspective Drives Innovation. Building on point two above, it can be shown that the different backgrounds and experiences that diverse employees have can increase creativity and innovation. To leverage this, employers must recognize that employees from different backgrounds may have to take time out from busy lives to make a special effort to fit into a homogenous organization. Draining energy resources by expecting everyone to “fit in” is unwise and alienating.
Diverse employees have different expectations. Appreciating this builds a more flexible workplace. Stakeholder capitalism is the term to bear in mind, replacing a shareholder-focused approach with a more all-encompassing on, where staff, vendors, customers and even the wider environment are considered when key decisions are taken. The largest drivers of this new culture are Gen Z / Millennial employees, who now make up 75% of the workplace. It would be foolish to overlook their expectations.

Blog post here:
https://www.joyadass.com/how-can-i-be-more-inclusive-making-a-business-case-for-diversity-with-subha-barry/

https://www.joyadass.com/
info@joyadass.com

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Virtual Fireside Chat with Sarah LaFleur, Founder and CEO of M.M. LaFleur

Have you found your superpower?

Do you listen to your clients and the zeitgeist?

Sarah M. LaFleur, founder and CEO of MM.LaFleur clothing company, believes every successful entrepreneur must address these questions.

Founded in 2013, MM.LaFleur clothing rose to prominence among executive women just in time for the 2016 election. Despite the curveball of a COVID pandemic that made work-from-home casual the new norm, Sarah’s gift for perseverance and out-of-the-box thinking led the way to marketing campaigns that went viral.

MM.LaFleur’s mission, and Sarah’s founding vision, was to help working women take the work out of dressing for work.

She succeeded.

In the process, making office attire so elegant yet comfortable—you won’t want to take it off.

Joya Dass, founder of a women’s leadership platform, sat down with Sarah for a fireside chat. Here are 6 tips that speak to her leadership style and marketing savvy.

Joya is currently enrolling members for strategy days in

Paris
Florence
Barcelona
Istanbul

info@joyadass.com

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It's Tuesday morning. Back at my desk after an epic 11 hour flight back, an overwhelming sadness grips me.

After 13 days of discovery, magic, nature, and sun, its hard to re-integrate.

I was actually really irritated with Istanbul the first two days. Previous visitors called it 'magical.' I found it dirty, crowded, hot, and very commercial. If I saw one more KFC or Popeye's Chicken, I was going to scream. Sitting in taxi's, the traffic rivalled LA, but on streets dating back to the 13th century and not designed for the load.

Where was the magic?

It came the last night.

We had no dinner reservations at Michelin star restaurants. No art historians leading us on a historic tour of a mosque. Matt and I wandered the city until the sun set. It was Sunday, and all of Istanbul was out, walking on foot. Modern women in hijabs and Converse sneakers, walking with purpose. Women in full black abayas in 90 degrees walking slowly.

By nightfall, we were crossing the Galata Koprusu bridge. I was eager to get back to the hotel, the weight of an 11 hour flight awaiting. Fishermen bent their long rubbery poles over the sides of the bridge, patiently waiting for catch. Some set up makeshift tables for conversation and cigarettes. The silver flecks of fish visible in gallon water bottles sawed in half and off to the side.

I was engrossed in my phone. Google maps is my north star when traveling, offering directions back to our hotel in the Old City. I looked up, searching for Matt, who was busy photographing the fishermen. Something had happened in the interim. The entire city had lit up. It was like looking at the inside of a glittering jewel box, like the ones I had as a kid, with the ballerina tinkling music inside. The Blue Mosque with its six minarets, floodlit at night, held its own against the Hagia Sophia on the other side of the square, both standing high on the hill overlooking the Bosphorus Strait and Golden Horn.

As the driver brought us to the airport the next day, I was really emotional. I didn't expect Turkey to impact me so deeply. If you are seeking ways to keep pieces of vacation in your routine once back, here are a few things I do:

Write Down Realizations

Often you come back with a renewed sense of what is actually important. WRITE THAT DOWN. For example, I came back knowing I needed to figure out some way to better manage reading and learning daily. Out to sea, my mind was like a sponge, soaking up stories and habits of 7 figure founders. Rather than watch TV, I wrote down that I will reserve one hour each night to read. And be kind to myself. Implement one new idea each week. Not all at once.

Use 5 Senses to Connect to Being Present

I'm surprised at how many connections my brain made while quietly paddle boarding. New ideas bubbled to the surface while looking at fish. I wasn't making decisions, code-switching, being on sales calls like the typical work day. I can't be on a yacht forever, but I each night, as I journal, I record

What I smelled.
What I tasted
What I heard
What I saw
What I did

Effectively be present to the sensory experiences I find in my own home and neighborhood.

The rest in this blog post

I am currently filling for my 2024 Mastermind. Each woman leader is building a powerful personal brand, culminating the year delivering in a TED x style talk on a New York City stage.

Joya is currently enrolling members for strategy days in

Paris
Florence
Barcelona
Istanbul

info@joyadass.com

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There is a picture of myself and my business partner from February 13, 2013 (above). Eleven years ago, when my women's leadership platform first launched. We are standing on a stairwell, speaking to a sea of faces.

"You have 300 women RSVP-ed."

I was overwhelmed. I had no website. No membership. No Mastermind. I had no idea what I was doing.

What I didn’t expect was:

1) This would become my full-time business.

2) This would allow me to travel the world.

3) That it would completely change my self-worth.

When I launched this business, it was a by product of a documentary production company. My partner and I were hosting free monthly meetups to build our project pipeline.

First there were 8 attendees.

Then 40.

Then 300.

Many had grown up watching me on television at a time when no Indian women were on mainstream TV. I looked like them. I spoke like them. After years of having a one-way relationship with me from their living rooms, they were coming to share that they were building something. They were doing something outside of the Indian-parent-approved ‘doctor, lawyer, engineer’ professions.

Today, my business provides me with so many pinch-me moments, including a month in Paris this year. Watching my clients tell their stories, get clients, get the promotion, get the job—--It’s why I do what I do.

Since last year’s anniversary I’ve created VIP Days, so women can work with me one-on-one on their thought leadership strategy. This year, I’ll be in Paris, Istanbul, Barcelona, and New York working with women.

I’m already creating the retreats and curriculum for the 2024 Class of the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join the waitlist here.

To give back to YOU, the top three lessons I have learned as an entrepreneur:

1) Work on your mindset first. The clients, the money, None of it becomes possible until that piece is attended to.

2) Protect your energy. You wake up each morning with a reserve. It's depleted over the course of the day. Be clinical. Be critical about where that energy goes and who gets it.

3) Thought leadership is a powerful tool for an entrepreneur. Be customer focused when creating content. Be customer obsessed when creating content. Always be thinking "What's in it for them?"

So much is happening behind the scenes and I can’t wait to share it all with you.

Thank you for being a part of the community that built this.

Joya

Joya is currently enrolling members for strategy days in

Paris
Florence
Barcelona
Istanbul

info@joyadass.com

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My business turned 11 years old on July 12th.

The very first event was July 12, 2012 at a champagne lounge in Tribeca. Eight people showed up. Then 40. Then 300.

Very few people know this: I had started a documentary production company. My contract with ABC had come up, and I was having a moment of reflection. If I was on my deathbed, would I have a body of work I could look back on and say proudly “I did that?”

I didn’t.

For 10 years, I had been getting up between 3:00 am and 4:30 am to do morning television on TV. Business news. It was get it out, get it out. On the hour. Never stopping to make the stories beautiful.

I wanted to produce longer stories, have time to revise them, and make them beautiful. I decided to launch a documentary production company. I took on a partner, since I was still on the air. Greta suggested hosting monthly meet-ups to do business development and build a project pipeline.

Avenue Media had a short run. But the dark horse brand that really took off was my women’s leadership platform. Eight women showed up to that first event. Then 40. Then consistently 300.

It’s been 11 years since that first event, and today, how I network and build community has changed slightly. Here are my top seven tips on how to network strategically.

Joya is currently enrolling members for strategy days in

Paris
Florence
Barcelona
Istanbul

info@joyadass.com

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Joya is currently enrolling members for strategy days in

Paris
Florence
Barcelona
Istanbul

info@joyadass.com

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Michael Parrish DuDell is an entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of Shark Tank Jump Start Your Business and Shark Tank Secrets to Success. He is listed as one of the most popular business authors on Amazon and listed as one of the top Millennial voices by IBM.

He shares advice on how he acquired sponsors like Forbes and Citrix for his web series The Next Crop and how you can build a brand that attracts sponsors for your podcast or web series.

Joya is currently enrolling members for strategy days in

Paris
Florence
Barcelona
Istanbul

info@joyadass.com

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Last year, 30 members of the Women's Leadership Lab did an 8 day sail of the Dalmatian Coast. Drone footage of the yacht here.

https://vimeo.com/733969105?share=copy

This year, we are doing a sail of the Turkish coastline with women leaders August 12-19th. It's my version of Richard Branson's "Summit at Sea," where he puts folks in a closed ecosystem to network, interact and connect over shared activities. We will be on a "gulet," which is a style of yacht native to and built in Bodrum, Turkey. Our vessel is traditional wood on the exterior, but was built in 2022, and features a very modern interior. I feel truly 'disconnected' from my work life when I'm out to sea and in nature.

I had one person drop. Do you want to take the spot? Dm me at joya@joyadass.com to join.

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We are ten days away. Members of my Samita Lab Mastermind head to Tuscany for the annual retreat. All 8 are giving a Tedx style talk on a NYC stage November 16th. The retreat is a time for deep reflection and writing time to flesh out the message each will leave the audience.

Afterwards, I return to Florence to host a VIP Day. I'm excited to take my one on one client to the Roman Baths. I'm delighted to do yoga at sunset, overlooking the Duomo. However, the most important place I wish to take her is to Michelangelo's David at the Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze. Audio here.

I'm fascinated by Michangelo's story. Since he was 17 years old, he was obsessed with the human form since he was 17. How would he carve the human body in marble, stone or any other material if he didn't understand the dips and the connections of muscles. He would steal away to the morgue in the local hospital to study the cadavers in the morgue. However, his father was poor and had serious doubts about Michelangelo's ability to make a living as an artist. He wanted his son to go into business. Michelangelo would lie to his dad, saying he was commissioned to sculpt this statue or that in order to get the project. It wasn't that he wasn't getting commissions, but perhaps not for the florins his father had hoped. In 1501, Michelangelo lobbied to take a crack at sculpting something from an abandoned 17 foot piece of marble. It had been lying fallow in the Duomo's backyard, baking in the Mediterranean sun, doing a whole lot of nothing. Two artists had started and failed. Michelangelo was convinced he was the man to create something magnificent from it. When finished, David was placed in the Palazzo Vecchio, with much fanfare and celebration. It was a symbol of Florentine independence and spirit. When asked, how Michelangelo created this magnificent piece of work, he replied, "I removed everything that wasn't David."

This is the message I want to share with my client. Often, women leaders want to talk about EVERYTHING they are qualified to talk about. We are spending her VIP Day, going through a series of exercises to find out THE ONE thing people she will be known for. The thing I notice women forget is that your ONE THING, needs to be repeatable. If you are writing an essay or a laundry list every time someone asks "What's your one thing?" it's not repeatable. Its not repeatable nor clear for someone to put you up for an opportunity. She and I will figure out this ONE THING and then forge a content plan and calendar to position herself as a thought leader around it.

Coming to Italy is a huge big step.

I can take one more client in Florence. Join the waitlist here.

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This is an excerpt from a podcast, where executive recruiter Deepali Vyas interviewed me on "How to Get on TV?" It's a question I get alot. I wrote an article explaining some simple steps you can take starting today. Download by entering your email here: https://joyadass.lpages.co/how-to-get-on-tv/

Executive recruiter Deepali Vyas hosts this podcast, "What would Deepali Do" to land that dream job, promotion or career pivot. She interviews industry leaders that have hit new levels of success, all while answering everyday questions on your career path, pivot or promotion.

Deepali Vyas is a serial entrepreneur, advisory board member and executive search consultant with a recognized eye for spotting talent, rising trends and breakout business models. She has advised companies like JP Morgan, Uber, Fidelity, Citadel and Conair on how to spot tomorrow’s hottest trends in digital, artificial intelligence and data science.

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I built a business around my top values — — adventure and beauty. Early May, I host the next 8 Woman Mastermind Dinner in Montreal.

Villa Marie is my favorite town for a few reasons:

It’s a quick one hour flight from New York City. Europe, without the jet lag
Home to Luna Yoga. My workouts are a daily joy and I maintain my practice at this beautiful studio in Old Montreal when I land.
Home to one of my favorite restaurants. Da Emma is located in a subterranean stone space on Commune Street, girding the waterfront. Roman dishes. Great wine list. I discovered it in the dead of winter in 2014. I love the story: It’s a former women’s prison.
Home to the David, which allows me to live like a local when I visit. Not an Airbnb. Not a hotel.
Home to one of my biggest chapters of members, outside of NYC

Why in a private space?

10 women — -some familiar, many new — — will be gathered round the table in a private home for this dinner. We have a private chef making 3 types of “bouchees” while we talk. I now insist on hosting in a private home or dining room because the evening is conversation-driven. If members can’t hear, the exercise is lost.

What’s the conversation design you host?

I created a very specific style of conversation design after years of attending women’s events that left me frustrated and unfulfilled.

They weren’t properly curated. You have been to events, where he or she just can’t be bothered to talk to you? I invite women who uphold my values of thoughtfulness, kindness and a propensity to share resources. By the time, women get to the VP, Parter, Principal, 7-figure business owner level, they are seasoned in their leadership, so these are the profiles of women I invite with a view to have the same level of conversation. Each woman attending is either an existing member, or has come recommended.
They weren’t properly moderated. I was at a dinner recently which turned into trauma therapy. The business conversation we had prepared for, never happened. I was disappointed because there were so many intelligent brains at the table and I was eager to hear from them. At my table, I want to hear the loudest person in the room. I also want to hear the quietest person in the room. As a recovering journalist who has moderated one too many CEO panels, I say, “Let’s pause there,” to shut a line of conversation down when the point has been made. Should the runaway train continue, the promise of the evening is lost.
No idea who will be in the room. I’ve bailed on an event before. I didn’t know who would be in the room. In the 30 day lead up to the event, I publish a landing page private to the attendees only. It shares a profile and photo of each, with current focus, current goals, what she doesn’t want (nobody asks this) and her challenge. This way, there is less ‘discovery’ and more rolling up the sleeves and true masterminding at the table. Each woman attending is also encouraged to be thoughtful and make bullet points ahead of time in response to the challenges posed.
Don’t start on time. Don’t end on time. To me, observing the time is the most respectful think I can do for my guests. I love guests who are thoughtful and arrive early.

How the evening will go?

Once everyone is seated, I start by introducing myself and why I do the work I do. I didn’t have an independent advisory board when I was building a career as a business news anchor. Where was the playbook on how to hold an audience with a CEO in the commercial break? Today, I formalized the playbook by creating the Women’s Leadership Lab. But the members and the idea exchanges a

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I run the Samita Lab Mastermind for women leaders. All eight are working on building a powerful personal brand in 2023, culminating in them giving a Tedx style talk on a New York City stage on November 16th (I've applied for the official Tedx license.) I can't think of a quicker way to build a personal brand than having to get on a stage in front of 200 people I never met and give a talk from my zone of genius. It's like personal branding, put on steroids.

The fear is real. When I first announced to the group they were doing this, two flat out said, 'no.'

There is the fear of being judged or not taken seriously
There is pressure to perform, present or speak in a certain way
The Imposter Syndrome is real. Women doubt their own qualifications or ability to speak on a topic, even if it is in their zone of genius.

I want to acknowledge and address these in order for all 8 to confidently and authentically deliver their TedxTalks November 16th.

One of the exercises they will be doing is called "Your Life is a Wealth of Knowledge" from a book by Lawrence Block's book. Block hosts seminars for people suffering from writer's block. He designs weekend seminars to get folks 'get out of their own way.' One of his exercises is called:

YOUR LIFE IS A WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE

Women love to tell me, "Who would listen to me?" or "What do I have to say that hasn't already been said." Aha. But there in lies the gold. A recent attendee of my April event spent 22 years as a corrections officer at Rikers Island. In her retirement, she decided to launch a business: A luxury perfume, made in France, and retailing for $200.

Okay, there are literally thousands of perfume brands peddling their wares to the world. ChatGPT tells me so.

However, there is only one person who can tell a story of functioning as a woman at one of the highest security prisons in America. And only one person that can connect the dots between a very 'masculine life' to her decidedly feminine offering now.

Most think that public speaking is about confidence. I think public speaking is about the other C word: Courage. It takes real courage to dig deep inside and tell those personal stories.

A student in my Public Speaking Masterclass was interviewing for jobs and couldn't get past the first interview. For weeks, we had been working on digging deep for those personal stories. She just couldn't get there. In week 4, we had a breakthrough. She told a story about being homeless as a teenager. She said, she didn't want pity, or handouts. More than anything in the world -- she wanted options. The secret: She suddenly started to showing up more authentically to her job interviews. Today, she not only has a new job she loves, but got a 15% pay bump from her previous role.

So this is the exercise: Listen to the audio to hear it.

``` One Public Speaking Tip

``` If you regard everything you do as groundwork for a story you may tell someday, you might be inclined to pay more attention to it. What's the story you could tell from this day?

For anyone who may have a heavy heart with all the violence in the world, I share this TedxTalk. Matthew Dicks talks about his nightly habit of reflecting on his day in a journal. At 6:00 minutes in, he talks about a paradigm shift that resulted from engaging in this habit daily.

I do this each night. Write reflections on my day and what I'm committed to being tomorrow. Sometimes it's a list. Sometimes it's just words. Today, it will be a story, because I did something that lights me up.

Take a listen at 6:00 minutes in I love this talk from TedxBerkshires.

``` One Adventure Tip

``` The retreat is th

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Why experiences

I’ve been bringing people together ever since I could remember.

My home, growing up, was between two little neighbor girls. I wasn’t allowed to go out to play until 6pm. My Indian mother worried about me getting too dark. So I watch them run back and forth across my yard until then. We would dream. We would create plays and perform them for our parents. I would perform on my bike to a pretend audience of no one, doing tricks. I’d sing along to Madonna on a tape recorder. I remember the excitement I felt when I discovered the woods behind my own backyard.

When I got to New York city, my group of friends and I would create themed wine tastings that would stretch from afternoon to night. We would photograph the progression of the day. My really good friend at the time would say, 40 bottles of sips later,

“I don’t t know about this tv stuff, Joya but you should be an event planner.”

**Then I became one. I built my business by hosting events.

Creating experiences is one of my gifts and I truly believe that you can be of service when you start sharing them. When you come to Paris with me, first of all, you are changing contexts, which is powerful to begin with. There is no way, you have the same thoughts, the same left turn to your office, the same true and tried way of workflows when you are eating a pastry at Odette. Or gazing up at the Rodin sculptures in the Rodin Garden. You just can’t. Your perspective has to shift,. You have also created white space where there was none before. To think to strategize. So let’s write that e book. Let’s draft that TedTalk. Lets find that one thing you will be known for.

Visit my favorite places in Paris.**

Le Meurice

Louvre

Chanel

This moment will never replicate itself again

The people won’t come together in this denomination again

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Why Paris

I first went to Paris in high school. It was a chaperoned trip of London, Paris and Spain.

I remember arriving in Paris, with a pocket full of English pounds jingling in my pocket

Now I was fussing with francs. We were kids. A woman had an ice cream cart and we all bum rushed her, asking for the flavors. I picked vanilla. I was still fumbling with my change and I guess I gave her the wrong number of coins. My little high school brain was still trying to convert dollars to francs. She was channeling the Seinfeld soup nazi guy long before that character existed and said in brash French “NO ICE CREAM FOR YOU!” I knew that because promptly dumped my pint sized vanilla cone back into her bin.

I didn’t get ice cream that day, but the experience didn’t dim my verve for the City of Lights. I’ve been back every year for the last few years. My partner works for a firm based in Paris, so the annual summit of managing directors brings us to the city. I also host events for my women’s leadership platform there a few years running.

Paris gets the label ‘the most romantic’ city in the world. I think that’s the Disneyfied, American point of view. To me, what makes Paris romantic is the architecture. When I walk the streets, I marvel because Paris stands in spite of something.

Not because.

General Dietrich von Choltitz was in charge of the German forces in Paris during WWII. He had razed many a city before. Hitler was a point where he was losing ground, and so he knew Choltitz was his man to issue this order: Raze the city of Paris. Destroy the Eiffel Tower. Destroy Notre Dame. Burn 65 bridges to rubble.

Choltitz chose to disobey. He was wracked with remorse, and chose intead to negotiate a ceasefire with the French Resistance. As a result, Paris was spared. The city we see today, stands because someone dared to defy.

It aligns with my own story. I grew up with traditional Indian parents who had very tight script for how I was going to live my life. And I wasn’t having any of it. I left home at 18. I have alot the life I”ve designed today. The business I’ve designed today, because I dared to defy them.

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In this audio you will get,

How I come up with event ideas
How to get high quality attendees (and low drop out rates)
How to add value on the spot

Over the last 10 years, I’ve built a business mastermind with an element of adventure.

My mission is to help women build a powerful personal brand.

I help both corporate women and business owners tell better stories about themselves

I am the founder of the Women’s Leadership Lab.

My portfolio

I am the founder and CEO of the Women’s Leadership Lab, a 12 month business mastermind with a goal to build a powerful personal brand, culminating in a Tedx style talk on a NYC stage.
I work with women seeking a promotion to the C Suite
I work with business owners who need to tell better stories to get clients
I work with women to pitch to investors
I work with former executives launching consultancies
I work with artists looking to command a higher price point in the market, by telling better stories
I help women land their TedTalk

My results

1 Got the job with a 15% pay bump
1 got the promotion to the C Suite with a 10% pay bump
1 built a $50MM real estate fund
1 said ‘yes’ to live television interviews
1 got her first check for her startup from the community
1 went from commanding $500 to $5000 for her art
9K followers on LinkedIn
8K followers on Instagram
5K followers on Facebook

If you want to learn more about how I built this, you can download my 8 steps

Go here: https://joyadass.lpages.co/how-to-build-a-powerful-personal-brand-and-how-i-did-it/

If you want to explore 1:1 coaching or consulting, you can go to my website.

www.joyadass.com

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In this discussion, let's talk about why women lack confidence in leadership roles and how to change the narrative.

Carol will discuss:
- Why confidence continues to hinder women leaders
- How to remove the "We" and believe in "You"
- The importance of advocacy and support
- Why "Bragging" matters to your success
- How to start your own rumors @ work and in business
- The impact of verbal cues
- Becoming the leader you are meant to be

Carol Sankar is an international R&D advisor, investor & founder of the Confidence Factor for Women. Her research has been featured at The University of Miami, Harvard University, Columbia Business School, Facebook, and more.

In addition, Carol has been featured in numerous publications, media outlets, and conferences; including recent features in Forbes, SXSW, Essence, Entrepreneur, TEDx, The Steve Harvey Show, The TODAY Show, and Inc. Magazine.

Carol holds a Political Science & International History degree from Hofstra University in New York. Sankar also has earned several professional certifications; including but not limited to, NYS Notary Public, The American Bar Association Intellectual Property Executive certification from Long Island University, and an American Political Science Fellow.

Today, Carol is an active real estate investor, bestselling author & writer, advisor, and the founder of The Confidence Factor for Women in Leadership, which is an executive firm for women leaders and one of the leading global negotiation training platforms for women entitled Increase Your Ask. In addition, she is a leadership contributor for Inc., and Entrepreneur.

Joya is currently enrolling for her 2023 Mastermind here
Looking for adventure? She is enrolling for her 2023 Tuscan Writing Retreat here
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Join Joya in discussion with Ruth Bernstein of YARD to find out how you can build your brand in a manner that will result in engaged clients. They will discuss 6 key points to consider:
Go to the heart of your brand and identify its purpose and core values
Determine your brand’s aspirations and potential challenges
Understand the difference between target audience and brand muse
Focus on how your audience is feeling in this moment, and how they will be feeling when they will be purchasing your product or service
Meet your audience where they are
Utilize your real life experiences for inspiration

Ruth Bernstein is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at YARD NYC. As CEO, Ruth leads the strategy team and blends insight, intuition and intellect into an uncanny ability to see straight to the heart of each and every brand. Whether it’s problem-solving, uncovering brand equity and purpose, or foreseeing untapped potential, she is constantly connecting the dots, and using her keen awareness of the landscape to carve out the right road for every client. Prior to co-founding Yard NYC in 2002, Ruth worked with Robert Redford as his brand guardian for the Sundance brand (including the channel, film festival, catalog and resort & spa), and was a Senior Strategist at Tattoo in San Francisco. She has worked with such brands as Gillette, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Colgate, Discovery Channel and Cirque du Soleil.

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Looking for adventure? She is enrolling for her 2023 Tuscan Writing Retreat here
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In times of volatile change, resilient leaders will be able to plan, adapt, and thrive. Resilience is a key factor to the success of individuals and teams and helps to maintain a sense of mental well-being even in the midst of chaos.

Join us as we discuss the 5 Practices of Highly Resilient People. Find out which ones you may possess and which ones you and your team may need to cultivate:
1. Vulnerability
2. Productive Perseverance
3. Connection
4. Grati-osity (don't worry--join us and learn the meaning)
5. Possibility

Dr. Taryn Marie Stejskal (pronounced Stay-skull) is the Founder and Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) of Resilience Leadership Institute (RLI), she is recognized #1 international expert on resilience, mental health, and wellbeing in both leadership and life, whose mission is to positively impact the lives of 1 billion people, by enhancing hope, healing, and health as well as enhanced consciousness through the practices of resilience. Her work has been featured by Fox and NBC News, Bloomberg Business, Thrive Global, and Forbes. LA Progressive magazine calls her “the go-to person” and “a secret weapon” for people who want to find and maintain their edge as well as rise above the competition.

Her book entitled The Five Practices of Highly Resilient People: Why some flourish when others fold is set to release in March of 2023, and her online course, Flourish is available now!

Joya is currently enrolling for her 2023 Mastermind here
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Anne Irene Ryan is a career coach, her answer to the question "how to get clients, how to get recurring clients" has a slight spin to it.

Her clients' clients are potential employers - companies, hiring managers, CEOs, entrepreneurs, entire teams, etc. So as she pondered this question, she replaced clients with "employers" - "how to get employers, how to get recurring employers" and realized that her philosophy of how to market yourself to a potential employer translates really well to marketing yourself to a potential client. And what is a client really? Someone who uses your services (aka employs you, in a sense).

In this discussion, Anne will help you with six key points:
Understand who you are and the problems you solve
Define your target audience
Make it easy
Your client is smart
Prepare, execute, follow-up
Your network is invaluable

Joya is currently enrolling for her 2023 Mastermind here
Looking for adventure? She is enrolling for her 2023 Tuscan Writing Retreat here
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...

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Late night drinks don't always give rise to a successful business venture but in the case of Minibar Delivery, that's exactly how the business was born.

While at the Wharton School getting an MBA, Lindsey Andrews and Lara Crystal were doing "takeout Tuesday night" and thought wine would pair nicely. But there must be an easier way than trekking out of the apartment in search of the closest wine store.

The two friends became business partners, and in turn partnered with local stores to provide consumers the ability to shop for wine, liquor, and beer, from a smart phone, and have it delivered to the doorstep. As mom-and-pop stores were the suppliers so Minibar Delivery was also supporting small business.

In this conversation you will learn:

The full story on how Minibar Delivery was founded
How Minibar changed the alcohol business
How Minibar was able to handle a 500% increase in deliveries during the pandemic

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IIana Raia, founder of Être, collated questions she got from young women, asked the questions to 180 successful business women like Bobbi Brown, Hoda Kotb and Angela Duckworth. The culmination of these interviews is her book “The Epic Mentor Guide."

In this interview, we share the top 6 insights for women seeking mentorship today.

In our conversation you will learn:
- Why mentorship matters
- How to find a mentor
- How to conduct successful mentorship at work
- How to be a mentor

Bio:
Recently named one of the first 250 entrepreneurs on the Forbes Next 1000 List, Illana Raia is the founder and CEO of Être - a mentorship platform for girls. that aims to provide curated resources and role models to girls approaching high school.

Être means “To Be” and her ideas was to help girls figure out – at an early and important age – who they wanted to be. They bring girls into companies such as Spotify, Google, YouTube, Morgan Stanley, and the NYSE to meet female leaders face to face.

The impact so far is unmistakable: girls with varying backgrounds and interests ask unvarnished questions to rock stars who remember exactly what it feels like to be in middle school. The anecdotes, candor and hard-core advice offered will last a lifetime.

Prior to launching Être in 2016, Illana was a corporate attorney at Skadden, Arps in NYC and an occasional guest lecturer at Columbia University. She graduated from Smith College and the University of Chicago Law School, and remains unapologetically nerdy.

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"Don't you miss TV?"

I get this question often. For the first 15 years of my adult life, being a journalist was all I wanted. I got of bed somewhere between 2:30am and 3:45 am everyday to do morning TV. I had a fire in my belly for it. Passion.

In 2012, I launched a networking platform on the side. 8 women came. Then 30. Then 300. They were all coming to share that they were doing something outside of the Indian parent approved "Doctor, lawyer, engineer" professions.

In between my hourly updates on the markets, I began spending all my time working on events for my platform. I understood my purpose. A career on TV was no longer it.

Our speaker for this podcast is Laura Gassner Otting. She wrote a book called "LIMITLESS." In our conversation, we are going to talk about how YOU can find and live a life of purpose.

Calling.

It's the pull to do something larger than yourself.
What fuels you?
Why do you do the work that you do?

Connection.

What would happen if you didn't show up to work today?
How much of your work is related to your goals?

Contribution

How the work you do gives you the lifestyle you want, making you 'limitless'
How do you want your work to contribute to the life you want to live?
Would you be okay making less money if the work you did was aligned with your values?

Control

Do you feel that your opinion matters at work
Do you know what you do well?
Do you have influence over how many hours you work or how much you earn?

Join me in conversation with Laura Gassner Otting. Learn how you can break free of the structure and limits that stifle you so that you can reach your full potential and calling.

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Many of us are accomplished but despite all of our successes we are still held back by the fear of truly going after what we want. Fear is often something that keeps us in our comfort zones and struggling
with achieving our goals. But imagine a life where fear does not dictate your lives and steal your power.

In this workshop you will learn:
- How to identify, expose, and shatter your fear
- How to build confidence in the face of fear
- 3 steps to break out of the fear cycle
- How to accelerate your journey from fear to success

Bio:
Bisi is an expert in mastering and transcending internal fears, an Award-Winning International Speaker, TEDx Speaker and results focused facilitator with a Corporate Finance career of over two decades. Bisi overcame the challenges, demands, and politics of Corporate and answered the calling of her soul.
She is the Founder of Fear2Freedom whose focus audience is executives, high level professionals, business owners and companies. She delivers coaching, training and speaking services using her proprietary Live More Fear Less™ methodology to disrupt the status quo of their mindset so they can discover their own unique fearless formula for success. She is based in Georgia, US and works with clients internationally.

Bisi works with individuals to disrupt the status quo of their mindset so they discover and reconnect to the powerful parts of themselves that have been buried or lost.

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An expert on human nature, Gretchen Rubin discusses the ways we, as women, can develop a framework to create happier, more productive, and creative lives.

In our conversation, you will learn:

How her pursuit of happiness began
How habits cultivate happiness
How you can change your habits
Tips for sticking to your habit resolutions
The four tendencies framework and how knowing which category you fall into can help with habit formation
How we can build a happy life by looking at the foundation of our own nature, our own values, and own interests

June 8, we have a conversation with former lawyer turned author of four best sellers, “The Four Tendencies”, “Better Than Before”, “The Happiness Project” and “Happier at Home” Gretchen Rubin

Bio:

Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human nature. She’s known for her ability to distill and convey complex ideas with humor and clarity, in a way that’s accessible to a wide audience.

She’s the author of many books, including the blockbuster New York Times bestsellers The Four Tendencies, Better Than Before, and The Happiness Project. She has an enormous readership, both in print and online, and her books have sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide, in more than thirty languages. (The Happiness Project spent two years on the bestseller list.)

On her top-ranking, award-winning podcast “Happier with Gretchen Rubin,” she discusses happiness and good habits with her sister Elizabeth Craft.

She’s been interviewed by Oprah, eaten dinner with Daniel Kahneman, walked arm-in-arm with the Dalai Lama, had her work written up in a medical journal, and been an answer on the game show Jeopardy!

In her work, she draws from cutting-edge science, the wisdom of the ages, lessons from popular culture, and her own experiences to explore how we can make our lives happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative.

Gretchen Rubin started her career in law and was clerking for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor when she realized she wanted to be a writer. Raised in Kansas City, she lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.

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Community builder and advocacy strategist, Christina Garnett, uses audience intelligence and social listening to learn more about audiences to determine needs, behaviors, and more. Her work serves to help brands better connect with their current customers, potential customers, and fans.

In our conversation you will learn:
- How to foster organic relationships and connections with your audience
- How to nurture your audience into a customer base
- What does an audience-to-customer journey look like?
- What you can do to get out of your own way

Bio:
Christina is featured in HubSpot Academy's Social Media certification course as well as their separate course on social listening. She is a partner for On Deck's Community Builder Program, teaching a module on advocacy as a community growth lever. She has been a speaker for national events like INBOUND19, Social Fresh 2021, Adapted Digital Media Summit, and local events for the Virginia SBDC. You can also find her featured in ebooks by HubSpot, Social Insider, and Talkwalker, and articles in The Next Web, Adweek, and Meltwater.

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In this workshop, you will learn the 6 reasons why capable people are reluctant to lead. It's something only people in positions of formal authority should do It's something people are born with rather than something they grow into It's a mindset issue making growth into leadership impossibleIt It will create interpersonal strife or hurt their image If things go south, they will be blamed It's easier to stay focused on the "doing." You have the knowledge. You have the skills. What is stopping you from grabbing the reigns? Join television presenter and founder of the Women's Leadership Academy, Joya Dass, as she engages award-winning scholar Sue Ashford in a conversation around why the most capable are often the least likely to step into leadership roles.

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Amanda used to wish there were more women creators for her to look up to. But she realized two problems: 1) It was her own fault for not paying closer attention, and 2) She could be the change she wanted to see. So she took her Twitter account seriously and started publishing online. One year later, she grew herTwitter following from 1k to 60k. And she would love to share her learnings with you. I will be interviewing her this Thursday at 12pm EST on LinkedIn Live

What you will learn:
Why the world needs more women to create and publish online
How to uncover your personal "why"
Redefine the typical audience building goals
Define and create your content strategy
How to deal with trolls (and red flags to look for when engaging online)

Bio:

Amanda Natividad is VP of Marketing for audience research startup, SparkToro. In her 9-year marketing career, she has managed B2C and B2B marketing teams across consumer packaged goods, software-as-a-service, and agency side. Earlier in her career, Amanda created Fitbit��s B2B content program and helped build their B2B marketing team. She also led marketing for ski lift ticket company Liftopia and for SEO content agency Growth Machine.

Amanda has spoken at marketing events like Demand Curve’s Growth Summit, and guest lectured at Columbia Business School and Cornell University. She is also a contributor for Adweek, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef, and a former journalist.

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Did you notice that FIVE of the letters in the word MOTHER is "other." It's no wonder moms put everyone else first.

In this workshop, you will learn:

How to be SELF-ish and role model self care for your children
How to hold your own well-being sacred
How to give yourself permission to give your own needs a vote each day
How to identify your legacy
How to identify your values
Lisa Druxman is the author of "The Empowered Mama" a practical and interactive workbook full of simple, powerful tools to help moms reconnect with themselves.

Moms often try to juggle the roles of wife, mother, and homemaker while also being professional, competent women. Many moms feel like they can't take time to replenish their bodies and minds, despite their many roles. There's just not enough time in the day, and it seems selfish to take time when families and work still demand more.

Join us for this workshop with Lisa Druxman for some tools and learning on how to hold your own well being sacred.

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In this workshop, you will discover:

The difference between being busy and productive
How to reject the pressure to do more, be more, and achieve more
How to focus on doing what’s important so you can live the lifestyle you want
How to create a map to your ideal future

Did you know that your brain is FIVE TIMES more prone to noticing the negative than the positive. Why? Because that negativity bias was the difference between life and death for our ancestors. Thousands of years ago, they faced real fears, like being eaten by a lion.

But TODAY, that negativity bias could be torpedo-ing your ability to put 'self-care' in your calendar. Because your mom challenged you when you were getting your hair done at 7 years old. "Who do you think you are?" or someone told you at 13 "You didn't deserve it."

Here's the rub. Our brains love order. We are constantly referring to the past so we can guess what will happen in the future. Order. So, how can we short circuit our patterns, our negativity bias and start to make new choices?

In her latest book, productivity expert Tanya Dalton doesn't tell you what to think. She empowers you to choose how to think with a framework

________________________________________________

Reflection: Why do we make the choices that we do?

You wanted a promotion at work. Why?
To feel the success of climbing the ladder.
You wanted to run a 5K. Why?
To feel the joy of completion. To run over that finish line.

Projection. Based on the reflection, what are the choices you want to make?

Action: How do we move forward on the choices we are making?

Alteration: How do I protect for the times I get off track?

Join us April 27th for this workshop.

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Zoë's company started over a sibling rivalry.

One Christmas, she was locked in a debate with her brothers about which direction the stock market was headed. To settle the score, she decided to gift them a competitive, social trading experience.

Except----there wasn't one.

So she built one.

Cue Zingeroo, a platform that allows you to compete and track performance on individual trades with your friends or family. You can be a seasoned trader or a new one. Its downloadable from the iOS store. She's raised $8.5M to date.

This is Zoe's second venture-backed company. Her first company was also founded because of a pain point. She had a relative with a rare disease and the cost of specialty medication was through the roof. She created an "Amazon of specialty medication." Zoe raised over $42M for ZappRx before the company was acquired by Allscripts in June of 2019.

Join me in this incredible conversation with serial entrepreneur Zoe Barry. When she isn’t busy building her company, Zoë enjoys mentoring first time founders. She has invested in over 20 startups to date.

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You have shared over and over with me, how you need to set clear boundaries. But where do you start?

In this workshop, psychotherapist Terri Cole teaches a specific set of skills that can help you stop abandoning yourself for the sake of others (without guilt or drama) and consciously become empowered in every aspect of your emotional, physical, personal, and professional life.

Since becoming a Boundary Boss is a process, Cole also offers actionable strategies, scripts, and practices that can be used in the moment, whenever you need them. You will learn:

How to recognize when your boundaries have been violated and what to do next
How your unique “Boundary Blueprint” is unconsciously driving your boundary behaviors, and strategies to redesign it
Powerful boundary scripts so you will know what to say in the moment
How to manage “Boundary Destroyers”—including emotional manipulators, narcissists, and other toxic personalities
Where you fall on the spectrum of codependency and how to create healthy, balanced relationships

_____________

Are you endlessly giving and doing for all of the people all of the time?

Do you feel you are the one people come to when they need something because they know you’ll get it done, no matter what?

If you’re nodding your head, then this workshop is for you

It's easy to fall into the trap of seeing ourselves and our actions as being “nice” and a “good” person.

We’ve been taught to believe that taking care of ourselves makes us selfish and bad. So many of us were raised to define our goodness by putting others before ourselves.

When we give from a place of need and fear, what can happen is we end up resentful, angry, exhausted. We can feel like the people in our lives are taking advantage of us and our generosity. Every relationship is a dynamic, which means each individual is responsible for their 50%.

We need to ask ourselves, “How can I set healthy boundaries?"

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What you will learn in this interview:

Rejection. How do you deal with it?
Why 'courage' is more important than 'confidence' ?
The question of deserving. What is that nonnegotiable for you?
Most think about the 'why' in life. Then the 'what.' Then the 'where.' Why Debbie puts the 'where' first?

I could tick off all the accolades and accomplishments of Debbie Millman.

She designed the merchandise for the movie Star Wars.
She worked on the redesign of Burger King. Hershey’s, Tropicana.
At one point, if you walked into any given grocery store or supermarket, anything like that, she had a hand in about 20 percent of everything you might see or touch.
She helped co found the world’s first master’s program in branding at the School of Visual Arts in New York City,
She is founder and host of "Design Matters," which is the world’s first and longest podcast about design.

But what I'm really about to give you is one of the most motivational talks you have ever experienced from a successful woman in business.

I will ask Debbie about three exercises she teaches her students:

Her "10 year future you exercise." In your best possible life, what are the things you could accomplish?
Understanding how you come across. How do you want to be perceived?
What's a three-word combination that could only describe you?

And other questions.

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Are you having a hard time finding talent? Keeping talent? In this workshop, Amanda Bedell shares non traditional places you aren't looking.

In response to your queries on hiring challenges, we bring in a strategist on the NON-TRADITIONAL places and ways to find and keep employees in this job market. Business Growth Strategist Amanda Bedell of BCC Business Consulting will share resources such as

Local Worksource
Success stories from clients who have used untraditional hiring methods.
How and where to start to employ from these employment pools.

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Are you a caregiver to an aging parent? Are you back to homeschooling children in the not so post pandemic environment? You will learn these things from this interview

Sociologist and Author Tracy Brower shares the capabilities that you develop as a caregiver and how you can leverage them to fuel your career:

Leadership.
Empathy.
Stress Tolerance.
Communication
Time Management.

So you have built great skills which you know are relevant to business. You can convince your employer about your capabilities by making a strong business case. Tracy shares how.

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Global human resources and talent development executive Amy P. Kelly presents six tips for building a corporate culture post-COVID-19. Given that we can’t return entirely to the old ways of working, it’s a great idea to step back and use this moment as an opportunity to rethink how we do business whilst protecting and developing our teams.

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You have great ideas. You write about it. But how do you ensure the right people are reading it? This talk shares six tips In this workshop, you will learn Writing about the people you’d like to connect with (or the companies you’d like to work for). Proactively sharing articles you create. Using the “ladder strategy” for your content.

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David Burkus, keynote speaker, and organizational psychologist, and author of Leading from Anywhere shares his six tips for not only being a more effective leader of a virtual team, but how to be a key contributor to the overall company culture – even when that culture is reduced to Zoom meetings and DM chats.

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In this talk, you will learn to: Be disciplined about your 'me' time. Learn to say 'no'. Buck convention. Go it alone. Try new things. Say 'yes' to new experiences. Embrace the lessons, rather than fight them. Be kind to yourself. If you make a mistake, move on take stock of your values so you can prioritize. I'm in conversation with author Alka Joshi, author of the "Henna Artist" and "The Secret Keeper of Jaipur." It's fascinating trilogy that is a Reese Witherspoon Bookclub Pick and set to become a Miramax TV production.

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In Season 4 of the Drink Like a Lady Podcast, we have focused on how to kickstart the process if you need to lay out strategy. We also shared how that strategy worked at Spanx and Amazon. In this final episode of Season 4, we offer up SIGNS that you are, in fact, a strategic thinker. And steps you can take to make your strategic thinking skills BETTER.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE A STRATEGIC THINKER?

Here are some signs that you're a strategic thinker:

Spending time in self-reflection: If you frequently find yourself reflecting on your work, completed tasks or experiences that you wish had gone differently, then you likely are a strategic thinker. One of the characteristics of strategic thinkers is reflecting on events and experiences and then using that knowledge to impact your future performance.
Asking a lot of questions: Strategic thinkers try to understand context and avoid problems that could arise ensuring everyone involved understands what they need to do and why. Strategic thinkers ask questions about why an issue is important, what key factors led to a decision, what outcome is most desirable and who it will impact.
Compartmentalizing distractions: If you are a strategic thinker, you likely are effective at compartmentalizing your responsibilities and minimizing distractions to focus on whatever priority is most relevant and highest.
Setting regular goals: Strategic thinkers often set performance goals for themselves in order to continue progressing professionally.
Demonstrating decisiveness: Strategic thinkers understand the importance of being decisive in their decision-making. They efficiently gather information and then make a decision based on that information. They recognize that reaching decisions and being decisive takes both knowledge and confidence.
Welcoming to feedback: Another sign that you're a strategic thinker is that you are collaborative with others and open to feedback in order to improve your abilities.
Enjoying helping others: Strategic thinkers often enjoy helping others to perform at their best and achieve their fullest potential. They recognize that it's important to help everyone overcome challenges in order to reach company-wide goals.
Planning long-term career goals: If you are someone who regularly imagines where you will be professionally in one or even five years and begin taking the steps to get to where you need to be, then you likely are a strategic thinker.

Here are the steps you need to take to further develop your strategic thinking skills:

1. Pause and reflect

The first step you need to take to improve your strategic thinking skills is to commit to slowing down and spending time reflecting on a situation. To ensure you do this regularly, you may want to schedule time each day or week to actively spend time just thinking.

2. Gain experiences and ideas
Try to gain new experiences whenever possible. Visit new places and meet and have conversations with new people. You could even just take a different route home after work or visit a new part to stimulate your mind.

3 Discuss ideas with people who think differently than youIf you need to resolve a problem, bringing together people who are extremely different, such as creative people and technical people or introverts and extraverts, can be extremely useful for generating new ideas.

4. Make decisions about what to do nextPart of being a strategic thinker is executing on what you learn. After you spend time thinking and generating ideas, you need to execute your strategy. Identify the resources that you need to execute your idea and then take action.

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In this episode, we share two lines of questioning you can use to become a more strategic thinker. We use Spanx as the case study to illustrate both schools of thought.

PART I

Look for solutions, not problems.

When she wanted to find manufacturers to make her prototype of her shape wear, all she could find was men making hosiery.

She, her mother, and her friends personally testing the garments. This was innovative at the time, as the industry did not test products with people. Blakely's research revealed that the industry had previously been using the same size waistband for all hosiery products to cut costs, and a rubber cord was inserted into the waistband. For her product development, Blakely created different waistbands to suit different-sized consumers

Ruthlessly prioritize

She wasn’t going to go door to door like she did selling fax machines. She knew she needed to get into department stores.
Blakely had a meeting with Neiman Marcus Group, at which she changed into the product in the ladies restroom in the presence of the buyer to prove the benefits of her innovation.[9] Blakely's product was sold in seven Neiman Marcus stores as a result of the meeting;

Spending time in the stores where your product lives will not only let you pull sneaky marketing maneuvers, but it will also let you learn directly from customers about what’s missing in your market.

Do some research and find out what podcasts, television shows, publications, social media platforms, and events your target demographic is into.

Sara’s top media priority was Oprah, so she sent the TV mogul a gift basket of Spanx to get her attention. Don’t be shy about sending samples of your product to your favorite podcasters, Instagram celebs, or journalists in the hopes that they want to review it.

In 2017, Sara invited her friends to take pictures of themselves skiing in Spanx. In your notebook, label a page “(Kinda) Crazy Marketing Tactics.” Come up with at least 10 out-of-the-box marketing ideas

Be Willing to Take Risks.

Sara decided to patent Spanx early.

Use Packaging to Stand out

Spanx’s packaging shone in bright red—and the color alone subsequently became a form of advertising.

For inspiration, go on a recon mission to the types of stores that might carry your product. Take a good long look around. What packaging trends do you see? More importantly, what do you not see at all? Write your observations down and look for a packaging niche you can fil

Listen to and Recruit Others' Perspective.

She met Laurie Ann Goldman at the Saks Fifth Avenue in Atlanta in 2001, while she was on maternity leave from her employer at the time, Coca-Cola. Goldman was specifically looking for a Spanx product, and the pair exchanged contact details—Goldman became the CEO of Spanx in 2002.

Goldman crafted a business model for the company based on lessons she learned during her 10-year stint at Coke: thinking big, starting small, and scaling fast. She advised her team at SPANX to focus on product quality over profit margins.

Free Yourself from Execution.

Just 2 weeks ago, founder Sara Blakely sold a majority stake in Spanx to Blackstone, valued at $1.2 Bilion

PART 2

Question 1: Why should I care about this problem?

Market opportunity: The number of women was on the increase

Question 2: What does success look like?

Question 3: How might I solve this problem?

Question 4: How should I actually solve the problem?

Question 5: How can I take action?

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In EPISODE 8, we take a deep dive into Amazon’s business model. The company started out selling books. But that was a beta test for everything else it could sell online.

We look at the company's strategy to sell everything else and how it keeps customers in its ecosystem.

We leave you with questions you can ask yourself about your business. What can you do to become indispensable?

WHERE AMAZON STARTED

Jeff Bezos started Amazon with $245,000 from his parents, in his garage.
It launched in 1995 as the world's largest bookstore. But books were simply a beta test for Amazon's sales infrastructure and business model. After conquering the book business, Amazon realized it could feed more than paperbacks into its incredibly efficient sales network. Bezos believed in always be evolving.

1. Figure out what your customers crave.

Amazon's initial work with book sales helped it recognize that people cared quite a bit about getting goods as quickly as possible. This realization helped Amazon as it began to offer different products. It recognized that the delivery logistics involved were just as important as the quality of the goods it offered.

Figure out what truly matters to your customer base, and adjust your business model to address those needs.

2. Create Unexpected Value

Delight your own customer base by solving problems they never knew existed. Pinpoint a shortcoming that people generally accept as a cost of doing business -- slow delivery, a lack of options or a lackluster review system -- and explore potential ways to eliminate those stumbling blocks. Once Amazon solidified its logistics based on one product category, it began to implement its model to other verticals.

3. Satisfy every customer.

Lesson here is that if your company can meet a basic human need (and do it better than anyone else), you're in solid shape to carve out a substantial customer base.

4. Pivot into things you make

Until the Kindle was introduced in November 2007, Amazon sold stuff. It didn’t make anything. But Bezos knew that ebooks wouldn’t take off without a sweet device on which to read them and an online store to make purchasing them easy. First-mover status does not necessarily guarantee that a company will lock up an entire category, but it worked for Steve Jobs, and Bezos was confident it would work for Amazon. Today, Amazon maintains an estimated 60% of ebook sales

This pivot into hardware, while surprising at the time, also helped usher in Amazon’s whole cloud computing initiative, because like Apple, Bezos wants to lock in customers into his ecosystem. Purchase ebooks, music and now movies from Amazon, store them in Amazon’s cloud, play them on Amazon’s device and, with a nod to Microsoft’s Windows strategy, if you don’t want to buy a Kindle you can use Amazon’s Kindle app on your iPad.

More than merely wanting to sell as much stuff as they can to the most people, Amazon strives to become so ingrained in people’s lives that they can’t imagine living without it.

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We take a look at companies with successful business models and companies who successfully pivoted their business models. We share questions you can ask yourself as a leader if you think you need to make a pivot too?

COMPANIES WITH SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS MODELS

When they were founded, they didn’t have rivals.

Apple: Valuation in Trillions is 2.2 Founded in 1975. Function and design can co exist.
Amazon: Valuation in Trillions is 1.7 Founded in 1994. Reliable delivery of any item you want.
Facebook: Valuation in Trillions is .9 Founded in 2004. Worldwide connectivity.

WHAT DID THEY HAVE IN COMMON?

They had recurring revenue streams (subscriptions) or recurring traffic
They didn’t make a one time sale of a physical product. They build a long-term client relationship.
They tailored solutions to create value for the customer and more profit for themselves.

Kathie's STORY: While working at WSJ, and then consulting with multiple companies, we concentrated on LTV (Life Time Value) for our customers. Segmenting out those customers who would bring added value, allow for increased products and services, allowed companies to positively contribute to the bottom line and grow their businesses competitively.

NETFLIX SUCCESSFULLY PIVOTED ITS BUSINESS MODEL

Mailing DVD’s to pivoting to an online streaming service

What did it do for the customer?
- Made it more convenient
- Enabled impulse purchases
- Enabled access to recent best sellers
- Gave customers access to a large back catalog
- VOD serves customers better than brick and mortar stores.

Why Streaming Video Beat Rival Models:

Monthly subscription fees = recurring revenue
Lower cost to operate
Cost to Customer (2007):
- § Streaming: $0.25
- § DVD by mail: $1.25
- § Video Stores: $2.24

QUESTIONS YOU CAN ASK YOURSELF ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS MODEL

Is what got you here, going to get you there?
Are you agile?
Does your team have the authority to experiment with new configurations?
Are you investing in capabilities for the future?
Don’t design a completely new competitive position. Can you support entrepreneurial activity in house?
Rather than fix the current operation, can you undergo a one time change-management process to execute a different strategy.
How do the elements impact each other? How are you testing the hypothesis, experimenting, learning, and taking action? The faster a firm cycles through the process, the more effective it will be in the marketplace.

LOOK AT YOUR COMPETITION

Where are the hot trends?
Where can you create value? Look at their business model.
How attractive are you in the industry? How are you positioned?
How are you realizing and implementing?
What is the outcome?

And then you “re-loop” the continuous improvement on the strategy.

QUESTION: CEOs of mature companies should ask themselves, “When did our annual strategy process last generate a truly breakthrough idea?” like ride-sharing or mobile banking or even “streaming as we discussed above”?

These higher-level strategic programs must be owned and championed by the CEO.

TO RECAP: HOW CAN YOU ASSESS A PIVOT IN YOUR BUSINESS MODEL?

Have clear direction and allow time for experimentation/innovation in house
Dedicate time to a change in strategy
Ear to the ground. What is working for the competition?
Be willing to be agile.

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Let's talk about benchmarks. Better known as KPI's. These are the 10 or so metrics that will be used to track progress. We also talk about how to talk strategy to team members so they can execute on the HOW.

STEP 1 THE LANGUAGE FOR SHARING STRATEGY WITH OPERATIONS

COMMUNICATE GOALS AND MEASURES to your team leaders and/or team members
TURN STRATEGY INTO TARGETS. You want to set the goals that convert the strategic objectives into specific performance targets.
THINK BIG PICTURE IMPROVEMENTS. Strategies help the business improve the way it operates and set new goals, as opposed to goals that simply improve or fix what the company is already doing.
WHAT IS AN EFFECTIVE GOAL. It states the what, when, how, and who. They are SPECIFICALLY measurable.
SHORT TERM ACTION ITEMS. They should address what you need to do in the short term (1-2 years) to achieve your strategic objectives.
WHAT IS A RESULTS STATEMENT? These are outcome statements expressing a result expected in the organization. They are issued annually. They are specific, measurable, attainable, responsible and time bound.

STEP 2 SELECT THE RIGHT KPI’s

WHAT IS A KPI Metrics that track and measure an organization’s progress toward its strategic objectives. KPIs tell a story about how well a company is performing.
INDUSTRY KPI As a Senior Executive at Macy’s, when working at the individual store level, each of the departments had their % increase in sales measured against the following: the store's performance. The region's performance. The corporate's performance. The Goal…always to outperform any of the above metrics.
KPI= BETTER DECISIONS Leverage these metrics to pivot.
KPI= ARE OBJECTIVES BEING MET? A KPI measures a company’s performance against its primary objectives. High-level KPIs focus on a company’s overall performance, while lower-level KPIs focus on departmental processes, products, and productivity.
10 KPIS are sufficient
KINDS OF KPIS.
Revenue and net profit margin.
Customers- satisfaction or customer churn.
Operations- time to market and average order fulfillment.
Talent Management metrics- workforce retention and turnover.
Leading-predict what may happen in the future.
Lagging-reflect past results, measuring the aftermath of actions.

STEP 3 THE LANGUAGE FOR SHARING STRATEGY WITH TEAM MEMBERS

Lay out the short-term goals organizational goals and measures
Select the top 5-10 KPIs that will be used to manage the performance
Use your SWOT Analysis to Set Priorities and create traction
Evaluate the options you have prioritized and identify the ones that create the greatest benefit and to best achieve the mission and vision of your organization.

STEP 4 Define the Long-Term Strategic Objectives

Create Annual Milestones. ...
Create a Year One Operational Plan. ...
Monitor Regularly at Board Level. ...
Adjust Accordingly.

EXAMPLE: Amazon's primary goal: link the digital and brick-and-mortar shopping experience in order to be part of every single purchase made.

A short-term strategy includes a detailed action plan: what platforms will the marketing appear (TV, radio, print, social media). Who will carry out the strategies, budget, profit, etc

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How do you road test your strategy? How do you poke holes in it to see if it can stand up to the market forces? In this episode, we are going to share how to do a SWOT Analysis.

1. START BY ASKING ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS.

How do we create sustainable growth?
How will we diversify our revenue streams?
When I was in the wholesale business in fashion, it was always a challenge to not put all of your revenue growth into one retailer. (Or eggs in one basket as we would normally say). Many times, we have a single retailer who begins to take up a lot of our production, leaving us vulnerable to an unexpected “pull out” or their own economic limitations that may impact you. Diversifying your customer base.
How do I adjust margins and costs to stay competitive?
How do I innovate?

2. DO A SWOT ANALYSIS

Collect competitive intelligence. What are the opportunities. What are the threats from your competition? How does it impact your own strategic offering. With your ears and eyes to the information being conveyed through customers, media, etc.

STRENGTHS- Ask yourself

What do you do well in sales, marketing, product innovations, data capture and analytics as well key leadership?
What are your core competencies?
What differentiates you from your competitors? The standout word that anyone will refer about you.
Why do your customers buy from you?

WEAKNESSES

Where do you lack resources? People, talent, skills etc.
What can you do better or should outsource?
Where are you losing money, or your margins are nominal?
What competitors have an edge over your current strategy and infrastructure?

OPPORTUNITIES

What’s possible? What can you bring to market?
What is it that you want to capitalize on?
What do you have in the way of internal knowledge, resources, and capabilities to optimize?
Can you run with this? Can you optimize part of the process whether it is technology, product offerings, global reach, or marketing.
WHAT ARE THE NEEDS OF TARGET CUSTOMER. And how can your brand meet those needs?

Customer segmentation and targeting is critical to developing your strategy and understanding the overall needs and lifestyle preferences that you will serve.

What needs or wants define your ideal customer? Utilizing surveys of current customer makeup will show gaps of fulfilling those needs.

What characteristics describe your typical customer? In my past brand building and strategic planning, I would have the teams create a Brand Persona- Give them a name and describe them so that we can bounce the strategy off of that persona for clarification.
Are there different profiles based on needs, wants, and characteristics? And do they align differently with each of those characteristics while remaining true to the umbrella persona?
For the segments of the target customers, are there clear communication channels and platforms to reach a large, targeted audience in that segment?

THREATS

INTERNAL THREATS
Lack of talent in the areas of perceived expansion.
Lack of bandwidth to deliver the product/services that make up the opportunity list.
Lack of cohesion in an organization for delivering the product or belief in the strategy and time implementation plan.
Lack of motivation to meet the plan or those individuals who continuously say “What’s in it for me?”
EXTERNAL THREATS
Negative economic trends- think COVID last year.
Competitor market conditions

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Let’s say you are ready to think strategy, how do you get started? In this episode, we will talk about the steps to take and much of this is shaped by Kathie's time at the Wall Street Journal to build up the Lifestyle Brands division.

THINK STRATEGY

To Get Started You Will Need to:
Plan your team
Create a Schedule
Gather documents, data, and information for decision-making
Establish a Timeline
Most productive strategic planning sessions take 3-4 months on the average.
Make sure that the process moves along at a pace that allows you to not just “Check the Box” but to actually believe that you are accomplishing your objective(s)
Invest the Time Needed

1-2 Weeks (1 – 1.5 Hour Meeting with CEO/Owner, Strategic Director, and facilitator to discuss process, information collected and direction on how often you plan to revisit the strategy and reassess.

Questions to Ask the Planning Team
Do they have the right answers or ability to envision a different outcome than the current path of events?
Do they have the time to dedicate to this endeavor?
Do they have the skills to pull information together and create a concise strategic plan?
Who will lead? Will there be a strategy Director or special task lead? You absolutely need to have a point person to guide the entire process.
Fast forward 12 months from now, what do you want to see differently in your organization as a result of embarking on this endeavor.

CREATE A BRAND PLAYBOOK

ESTABLISHED ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE TEAM MEMBERS. 1 day meeting dedicated to this. Key functions were data operations, marketing, customer service, finance and analytics, and advertising.
ESTABLISH TIMELINE FOR BRAND BOOK. Decide what will be used internally and externally? (with Brand partners). This took 2.5 Months including the interviewing of potential brand partners.
DATA COLLECTION/MEASUREMENT. We used current planning information and established a feedback loop to continuously get data. Customer service ongoing demo and psychographic studies
BUILT A BRAND BOOK. Hired outside consultants to create logos, fonts, how to’s, the brand’s tone of voice, positioning statement and brand story, emotional connections of the brand to our customers, voice, tone, and the right and wrong way examples on how to use our brand.

COMMUNICATIONS

Planned Introduction Meetings for Internal Stakeholders
- List of those departments/brands that we needed to meet.
- Calendar meetings and availability of the top interactions to optimize brand expansion
- Reconnecting via a brand intranet site.
Formalized strategic plan with the use of the following information:
- The last strategic plan
- Mission, vision, and values statement
- The Business Plan for moving the numerical and financial goals forward.
- Historical financial data with explanations of the new plan and how to’s.
After reviewing all of the data we took a look at:
- Emerging trends
- Areas of weakness or specific strengths

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Currently, only 63% of individuals take the time to “strategize/plan” for the future of their organization or their team.

In this episode, we will explore WHY we don’t strategically plan? What is strategic planning?

WHY DON'T WE STRATEGIZE?

We have to look forward and not focus on the current situation.
It takes imagination
It is using a different set of skills that is based on the “belief” that you can reach your vision and a new future.
We do not understand the POWER of strategy and therefore, do not see it as the powerful tool that it can be when used systematically.

WHAT IS STRATEGIC PLANNING?

It provides a sense of direction and outlines measurable goals.

It helps to prioritize efforts, allocate resources, ensure goals are backed by data and sound reasoning It guides day-to-day decisions, tracks progress and informs when its time to make change.

2. Strategic planning is an evolving process—not a one-time meeting. In a study of HBS graduates who started businesses, 93 percent of those with successful strategies evolved and pivoted away from their original strategic plans.

Strategic planning can come out of crisis or unexpected events. When we run into unanticipated opportunities and threats, we have to respond. Sometimes we respond successfully; sometimes we don’t. But most strategies develop through this process.
Strategic planning requires time, effort, and continual reassessment.

BENEFITS OF STRATEGIC PLANNING
1. Have one vision. Have several 'sub visions'

Create a single vision, make everyone aware of your company’s goals, how and why those goals were chosen, and what they can do to help reach them. Make sub visions so a manager doesnt make decisions on a team level that counteracts the bigger goals' efforts.

2. Discover where the bias lives?

Here are examples of what bias looks like. Examine where they may lie in your organization.

The tendency to select the option presented most recently because it’s fresh in your mind
The tendency to assume the most obvious decision to be the best decision
The tendency to select options that allow you to think, feel, and act in familiar ways
Confirmation bias. When seeking to validate a particular viewpoint, it's the tendency to only pay attention to information that supports that viewpoint.

Enlist others with differing views and opinions to help look for information that either proves or disproves the idea.

3. Track Progress using KPIs

Create metrics that measure to find out if every level of your organization is aligned. Pivot your KPIs as goals shift and communicate the reasons for change

QUESTIONS TO ASK UNDER PRESSURE & MAKE GOOD DECISIONS

David Robinson, author of "The Substance of Leadership," wrote 7 questions to lead Marines and teaching them to make good decisions under pressure.

Is this a decision that I need to make now?
Did I consider the context and constraints?
Did I get the right people with the right expertise in the room?
Did I accurately frame the issue and encourage debate?
Did I collect all of the relevant facts and consider all aspects of the issue?
Did I identify and appropriately weigh the risks and opportunities?
Do I feel enough conviction to be decisive and explain why I made the decision?

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In Season 4, Episode 2 of the "Drink Like a Lady" podcast, we talk about how to improve your decision making skills as a female leader.The focus for Season 4 is "How to Think Strategically." Strategy and decision making are close cousins.

In Episode 2, Meghna Shah, Director at PwC and a member of my Women’s Leadership Academy, leads teams and is client facing. She speaks from her experience, on what makes for GOOD decision making skills.
1. Not all decisions are created equal

Understand the types of decisions being made and consider the severity of impact
Keep it in perspective

Have the Right Mindset | Be Solution Oriented

Ask yourself, "What are you trying to achieve?" or "Does this action help solve the problem? If this problem is solved in this way will it get e closer to my overall objective/outcome?"
Always have your OKRs - the big objectives and key results you are want to achieve, close at hand.

Take Action | Avoid "Analysis Paralysis"

Make a plan
Set timelines
"Observe don’t absorb"

It’s not a "Till Death Do us Apart" decision

Review decisions periodically to see if the original need is being met/resolved

Cast a wide net

Have a wide variety of acquaintances - working with new people, colleagues improves teamwork and active listening skills and activates a different side of your brain
Talk to experts in the field. Diversity of thought is key.

If stuck - Rest and Recharge

Power of exercise - movement brings momentum
Sleep on it

You can listen to all 4 seasons of "Drink Like a Lady" at https://joyadass.com/podcasts/
or on Spotify, iTunes, and Amazon Music.

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It's Season 4 Episode 1 of the Drink Like a Lady podcast, designed to get you, as a female leader, a seat at the bar and a seat in the boardroom. This season, we are focused on
HOW TO THINK STRATEGICALLY as a woman leader. I'm joined by guest host Deb Boulanger, The Great Do-Over

Start with the end in mind - how does your initiative connect to the strategic goals of the organization?
What are the potential benefits of this initiative if successful? Can you cite other use cases or similar challenges/approaches in other companies?
Who are the key stakeholders involved in this decision? What do THEY care about?
What is your business case - pros and cons of each approach - give leaders choices. What are the associated risks / benefits?
Framing your presentation - Take a McKinsey Approach - Create your Hypothesis and use data to tell a story
Seed the room by pre-socializing your idea with key stakeholders so that your presentation is just a formality to get approval.

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American entrepreneur and author Jim Rohn said "Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development." With the demands of family, work, kids, home schooling, self-care and personal development gets siloed to the back burner.

What if we flipped the paradigm?
What if we worked harder on ourselves?
So when we do show up for

Immediate Family
Extended family
Work
Side hustles
Kids

We show up with our best-selves. We're more effective as leaders.

Imagine that.

In episode 11 of Drink Like a Lady, our final episode of Season 3, we talk about the steps you can take to reinstate self-care ---and what it looks like.

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As women leaders, we can't blame ourselves for the stories in our head. Some of those stories have been whispered in our ear by our grandmothers, parents and reinforced by our community. According to a recent study conducted by the United Nations, 50% of the world's population believes men make better leaders. In some countries, 70% believe men deserve a job more than women do.

Even though its like turning around the Titanic, we have to start somewhere. In this episode of Drink Like a Lady, we share 5 ways to start telling ourselves different stories

What does it mean to 'want' versus 'will'
What actions steps are you committing to?
How are you building that self awareness muscle?
How can you expand your story?
What are they saying about you when you're not in the room? You should know

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Each week, business strategist Kathie (De Chirico) Stuart and I host the "Drink Like a Lady Podcast," designed to help women leaders get a seat at the bar--and a seat in the boardroom.

In Season 3 Episode 9, we talk about the 6 tips to help women leaders get the best performance out of their teams as we transition back to the office.

Make space to lead. Make space for learning.
Be able to anticipate and get ahead of problems.
Communicate, communicate, communicate
Keep the team goals in mind, Help them see the big picture
Role model values and encourage feedback
Have vision. Be decisive.

Kathie: (18:21)
Well, they can. There's the email [stuartkathie @gmail.com]. I love that. So I don't have to spell Stuart and Kathie are two names that are often this spelled based on how I do it or directly at my, um, line number, which is (609) 933-7600. I forgot what my number was

For all other episodes, go to www.joyadass.com>Podcast

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In Season 3 Episode 8, we talk about transitioning back to the office. Emotions are running high Some are still working from home. Some are back in the office. Some are resisting coming back to the office. Culture is difficult to maintain with a hybrid schedule.

When so much change is in the air, it's easy to lose your cool. In this episode, we walk you through eight tips to keep a calm as we transition back.

Build that awareness muscle
Set boundaries
Keep things simple.
Delegation
The "football post-mortem"
Manage expectations
Offer feedback
Manage yourself.

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In Season 3 Episode 7 of the The Drink Like a Lady Podcast, we talk about
7 tips to optimize stress for top performance.

KNOW WHAT STRESS IS
stress is a hormonal jolt of adrenaline and cortisol brought on by our nervous system to deal with actual or perceived threats.
The calm that ensues after stress allows us to tap into our decision-making brain
Chronic stress is the pathway to burnout.
Our stress-response capabilities expand when they get “practice.”
KNOW YOUR STRESS TRIGGERS AND OTHERS' STRESS TRIGGERS
Know yourself as to your stress triggers,
Become aware of stress triggers for others on your team

What this did immediately was energize me for those tough conversations with others who also needed to be “redirected” into different responsibilities- more in line with what their less stressful and superfluous responsibilities.

HOW TO BECOME FAMILIAR WITH YOUR STRESS TRIGGERS

Ask yourself some key questions.

During your work week, how often do you feel well rested?
How often do you feel totally engrossed in your work or in a state of flow? How long do these periods last? And what time of day or night do they occur?
What are the biggest sources of stress in your life?
How do you cope with stress? Do your coping mechanisms energize you or deplete you?
How often do you recognize your stress in the moment vs knowing that you are through that stressful period of time?

Locating and describing your stress is a process of discovery and the more you learn the better you will live through your own stress response.

4. HOW TO RECOVER FROM STRESS

Create Conditions for Rest and Recovery

Block time for deep work
Reduce distractions
Take a break from videoconferencing
Learn to say no.
How much of your life are you enjoying? Laughing.
HOW TO BUILD IN RECOVERY

Before the pandemic, we had built-in pauses- our commute, the wait in the elevator, business trips on an airplane, time to briefly chat with others as our workday unfolded. All of these (and more) offered cognitive recovery. Now we must plan them consciously. Here are some tips for creating those recovery periods AFTER the pandemic.

Take micro breaks during the day
Make sure that sleep is a priority
Exercise regularly
Eat better and drink lots of water
Socialize outside of work

Use the time immediately after a stressful situation to reflect and consider the behaviors for recovery that work…and those that don’t. Other choices to minimize stress are to stick to a predefined work schedule and create “end of day” rituals that make sure that you especially know when it is time to “turn off” and reenergize – creating space for you to be able to optimize future stress related situations.

HELP OTHERS MANAGE STRESS
Observe teams and individuals and their own stress cues.
Are the norms that have been created in your teams and company- are they conducive to minimizing stressful situations OR allowing for periods of recovery, learning recaps, and energizing for the next task at hand.
Meetings…do they energize your teams or are they just another time sucker?
Be clear about work times and expectations – respecting those of others. (Understand that no one can be in “crisis mode” every day.)

Since we spend more time virtually, it is important to look for signs of burnout and critical loss of productivity.

Arrange agenda-free, one-on-one catchups with people to stay tuned in. Watch your high performers for burnout as they usually are the first to add more work to their already pile of obligations.

CONSIDER EXTERNAL SUPPORT (A COACH)

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In Season 3 of the The Drink Like a Lady Podcast, we are focusing on what we learned from the pandemic and where the growth opportunities are. This as the conversation turns to recovery. In Episode 6, we will be discussing the most inviting of leadership skills for the post-pandemic —creating PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY for employees.

The benefits of creating psychological safety is agile teams and the ability to adapt quickly.

IDENTIFY BURNOUT

Signs of “burn out” include

Becoming more cynical with time
Everything that occurs gets to be a big deal or seems to be a big deal.
Feelings of uselessness or not purposeful are discussed openly.
Depression and anxiety are now commonplace and identifiable.
Excessive use of alcohol and drugs becoming more recognizable
Haven’t use their time off, vacation, or taken sick days when needed

NEXT STEPS: Create the right climate for open-minded thinking

Developing positive mindsets. Create safety in risk taking
Role model behaviors such as compassion, respect, and support – starting with the individual.
Positive team climate is the #1 driver of psychological safety and occurs when leaders demonstrate supportive, consultative behaviors, and then this is when the real power of leadership folds into the mix of management and leadership.
A shift In leadership style that work is key: The traditional command and control leadership is no longer key to success. In fact, this form of style is detrimental to psychological health and well-being.

Here are some key metrics on the positive relationships of leadership behaviors and their outcomes:

Authoritative Leadership- -.08% impact
Consultative Leadership- +.54% impact
Supportive Leadership- +.33% impact
Using a combination of the consultative and supportive leadership styles shows that the POSITIVE TEAM CLIMATE impact is +.77%
Consultative leadership solicits input and considers the teams views on issues that affect them.
Supportive leadership has an indirect effect by helping to create a positive team climate, ie “What do you need to meet the objectives set out for you?"

All of these behaviors encourage team members to support one another…mirroring the executive leadership’s behaviors. It all starts with a catalyst…and that is from the top down.

YOU are or can be that catalyst!

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As the world transitions out of the pandemic, women executives are entering a changed workplace. Being a great leader in this space means more than just management skills. It's about empathy, compassion and understanding what everyone's up against.

Joya and Kathie offer us six insights into the post-pandemic workplace, from the exponential growth of e-commerce and the increased demand for workers in the healthcare & STEM space. And they discuss how we're no longer beholden to the metro area for work - because more flexible, innovative working models are here to stay.

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Welcome back to our Fourth (4th) Episode of 2021 Drink Like a Lady

In Season 3 of the podcast, we are exploring the growth opportunities post pandemic. In today's episode, we are tackling the opportunities for innovation. Note that:

80% of consumers will switch to another company after just ONE poor customer experience,
59% of consumers will care more about their customer experience than they did “before COVID times” when deciding which companies to support or buy from.

The companies that innovated well and worth noting are:

Dialogue

Because it's an e-commerce platform is backed by machine learning, your sales systems are always getting smarter. Dialogue will create tailored messages for different potential customers based on specific preferences and sales patterns to achieve the best possible outcomes. Its been known to boost conversion rates by up to 25 percent.

With the multitude of businesses going online, competition in the e-commerce is fierce. Personalization and customization is key.

WalkMe

This company offers a platform that can help any organization of any size go digital. WalkMe helps train employees who use software, websites, apps, and other digital solutions. It also trains management on how to use analytics.

Better.com

Better.com is a fintech concern. The company is disrupting the mortgage application process by bringing it to the internet. With automation, it shortens the weeks of mortgage application waiting time to minutes.

Its business model is such that instead of charging fees or commission for transactions, the company focuses on interest. The company says it has already extended more than $4 billion to homebuyers in 2019. The company has already received approval to operate in 44 states across the USA and is set to cover all territories.

Innovating for the next normal

Companies involved in the internet, software, finance, e-commerce, and business intelligence will play a big role in the upcoming economic recovery everyone is hoping to see soon.

BUT IF YOU ARE IN AN ESTABLISHED COMPANY, then there are 3 themes for change:

Create or confirm a case for change (e.g. burning platform for growth)
Talk about innovation in terms of tangible results to help create a better future.
Provide a step-wise approach to getting these results and make the journey credible through anecdotes, past successes and visualizing the story.

In our next Episode of Drink Like A Lady, we'll focus on the GIG ECONOMY.

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Season 3 of "Drink Like a Lady" is focused on the growth opportunities in 2021. We are looking in the rearview mirror of 2020 and sharing what we learned from the pandemic.Today’s episode explores the changes to the GIG Economy. Since everyone began working from home during the pandemic, the 'gig' economy becomes the new way that many Americans will participate in the workforce of the future. In this episode, we explore

What is a 'gig worker?'

Someone who takes on small tasks
Someone who takes on projects that they can complete on their own time
Someone who participates in the marketplaces that have been created to match talent with needs.

What are the pros of being a gig worker?

It offers FLEXIBILITY to work from anywhere, which clients to take on, and how much you charge for your services
It allows you to TEST DRIVE a new career.
ITS SIDE INCOME that is steady and can support another goal
As an employer, it helps to get the job done without the expense of full-time help

What are the cons of being a gig worker?

No set salary. No health benefits.
Its demand dependent.

The takeaways

WORK-LIFE BALANCE has been disrupted For some workers, the flexibility of working gigs can actually disrupt the work-life balance, sleep patterns, and activities of daily life. Flexibility in a gig economy often means that workers have to make themselves available any time gigs come up, regardless of their other needs, and must always be on the hunt for the next gig. Competition for gigs has increased during the pandemic, too.
NO STEADY JOB WITH BENEFITS In effect, workers in a gig economy are more like entrepreneurs than traditional workers. While this may mean greater freedom of choice for the individual worker, it also means that the security of a steady job with regular pay, benefits—including a retirement account—and a daily routine that has characterized work for generations are rapidly becoming a thing of the past.
LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPS SUFFER. Because of the fluid nature of gig economy transactions, long-term relationships between workers, employers, clients, and vendors can erode. There goes the benefits of building long-term trust and familiarity with clients and employers. It could also discourage investment in relationships that would otherwise be profitable. Nobody has incentive to invest in a relationship since it only lasts until the next gig comes along.

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Welcome back to our Second (2) Episode of 2021 Drink Like a Lady

Last week, we looked back at 2020 and shared examples of companies, industries that GREW during the pandemic.

This week we focus on CUSTOMER SERVICE and how that has changed

Last week I interviewed the CEO and Founder of Silk + Sonder. She talked about doubling down on customer service. Your existing customers, this who already converted are GOLD

SO what’s changed about customer service

59% of consumers will care more about their customer experience than they did pre COVID when deciding which companies to support or buy from.
And, if you are a business, this means that there is very little room for mistakes heading into 2021. ANY friction is a customer’s journey can cause a loss in potential revenue (Life time value of a customer), and a potential gain to competitors.When you consider that 80% of consumers will switch to another company after just ONE poor customer experience, this opens the door for companies to not only compete on pricing and product bu

What can you consider doing now: WE SHARE 3 KEY THINGS

EMPOWER YOUR AGENTS

If in a company with a separate customer service department- you will need a GREATER FOCUS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF AGENT EXPERIENCE.

a) To be truly successful, companies need to see their agent experience as a valuable part of the customer experience.

b) The agent experience is defined as the view of how empowerment, efficient, and effective a company’s customer service agent is. As in the case with almost any department in a company, prioritizing your team and staying in touch with the employees and their morale is the only true way to ensure positive reactions from your customers.

c) It is as simple as this. Happy agents=happy customers.

d) How do you facilitate greater Agent Experience? HERE'S HOW

i. Better tools in software programs

ii. Enhanced training

iii. More accessible customer data

iv. Specific and relevant feedback that’s based on context and specific conversations.

v. Clear process documentation and flexible guidelines that empower agents to prioritize customer outcomes over their own performance metrics.

What can you be doing now: OMNICHANNEL COMMUNICATION

Omnichannel communication will be everything.
- Customers need direct access to companies
- Unlike years prior, this new type of conversational commerce is much bigger than just offering live chat. Facebook, What’sApp, email, phone, text, etc.
- The right strategy will allow you to deliver a unified. Budgets need to support these channels aggressively.
- Consider the customer’s experience from start to finish. The customer journey is a valuable tool for recognizing the gaps in the customer’s experience and where new initiatives can be implemented

What can you be doing now: INVOLVE YOUR CEO

Customer Service will play a bigger role in C-Level Strategy
- CEO being part of the social media messaging as well.
- measure success. “Please Rate Our Service.” AND, they really want to know.

Customer service in 2021 will be your number one differentiating factor. Are you ready? What do you need to get yourself set up for success?

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Welcome back to Season 3 of Drink Like a Lady.

With the pandemic, our personal lives were disrupted. The way we do business was disrupted. Business models, products and services, team building and culture building were scrutinized in a way we haven't seen in 10 years.

Companies that weren't early adopters of technology --now are. More are obsessed with analytics in order to learn about their customer.

In today's episode, we are looking at the companies that pivoted successfully in 2020.

1. Grocery Stores Became Dark Fulfillment Centers

In the effort to better serve customers AND to protect employees , a number of grocery stores are banning customers from entering and instead transforming the stores into DARK stores, or order fulfillment centers.

Whole Foods (for one) converted stores in both Los Angeles and New York, and Kroger and Eagle have done the same with multiple locations.

Dark Stores allow grocers to fill pickup and delivery orders much more quickly than using fulfillment centers further from customers.

2. Restaurants Entered the Grocery Market

Many restaurant chains, including Panera, California Pizza Kitchen and Subway, have begun selling fresh groceries such as : eggs, fresh vegetables, meat, and even liquor to pick up alongside their restaurant orders. They have access to fresh produce and need a revenue stream anyway.

3. Retailers Ramped Up Curbside Pickup

As customers were barred from shopping in-store, retailers brought merchandise to the curb. It was a way to move inventory, keep customers, and be safe. Retailers such as DSW, Best Buy, Staples, Macy’s, Kohl’s created "PickUp Stations"where customers could pick up items with low risk.

4. Hotels offer “day rates” for remote workers.

Red Roof Inn started offering day rates for folks to work remotely for as low as $29.00 a day at some locations. You can't beat a fast internet connection and a quiet place to work, plus hotels needed the revenue.

Fitness Companies Move Workouts Online

Folks don't have to go a physical gym to work out and be healthy. Online classes in yoga, Pilates, weight training, aerobics blew up during the pandemic.

The successful pivots had these traits in common:

Agile mindset. The companies pivoted quickly. Strong leadership prevailed.
Acceptance that consumer demands were changing. The way we buy products and services will never be the same.
Acceptance that personal and business life is different now too.

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The good news is that negotiating skills can be learned and perfected. Let's show your how.

Prepare fully. Do your research at fairy godboss or glassdoor. Know what your seat commands. Ask your peers. Ask mentors.

a. In general, people don't like what they believe they're not good at

b. I once have a friend who I admire for how she negotiated her bonus's, salary, her clients, etc. in the middle of a male driven organization. She was absolutely tenacious and prepared this in writing and did her homework beyond what you could ever imagine- her numbers. Company numbers. Sales department numbers all pulled together to create the picture of WHY she deserved what she was asking for.

Cultivate positive emotions. Be prepared to tell stories about your wins at your previous jobs and why you are good for this job.
Boosting Emotional Intelligence. Watch body language. Your non verbal cues can convey 12.5 times more information than the words coming out of your mouth.

a. With increase self awareness, women can build their confidence levels and, therefore, decrease their anxiety around the task of negotiating.

b. "Using Mindfulness"- ask yourself what you really need and your interest is during the negotiation process. Be aware!!

Negotiating Communally
Negotiating a Package. Women are so excited to be invited to the table, that they doln't take agency over the process. When given a salary offer, say, this is a good place to start. Or, buy time by saying, Let me gather my notes together. Have your other items you want ready to ask if you don't get what you want initially.

a. People from other cultures negotiate differently. Whereas Americans and Germans prefer a linear, one-issue-at-a-time approach, the French prefer a more holistic approach, and will move back and forth on issues that other negotiators may have believed were long since settled. What is your style and how can you bring a style to the table that gets you what you need?

b. In the case of salary negotiations, women would better themselves by looking at the total compensation package, which might include paid time off, the hiring of an administrative assistant, or a commuting allowance. (So important during our COVID 19 time period).

c. Rather than saying, "My minimum salary expectations is $120,000", try, "I'd be willing to consider a salary that is below my minimum if we can agree on the total compensation package. In addition to my eligibility for year-end bonus's , I'd like to discuss administrative support, relocation assistance, and the possibility of two-months rental in a furnished apartment, given my 800 mile relocation." ideally, you should back up these requests with data that supports your ask.

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WHERE DO LIMITING BELIEFS AROUND MONEY COME FROM

Women were brought up with a negative money mindset. This can be generationally transmitted.
Professor Steve Peters explains that the female tendency to conform and let the man deal with safeguarding the nest by how our primitive part of the brain works (=(The Chimp) operates. This is the part of the brain that contains all the natural drives and instincts (need for survival, food, sex, shelter) and has been passed on to us since the caveman. A risk taking female was much more at risk of getting killed in the jungle than the one who stayed close to the physically stronger male and let him make all of the decisions.
Our neural pathways are configured to remember and imprint the negative stuff MORE than the positive things that happen to us. Again ,this is primal. Registering the negative stuff kept us safe.

HOW DO WE CHANGE THEM?

BUILD AWARENESS AROUND MONEY Awareness is the first step to developing your new money beliefs. As a continued reminder from our previous MINDSET episodes, being conscious of the relationship between thoughts and behaviors allows us to grow in our emotional awareness, make powerful decisions, and see optimal outcomes.

2. DEBUNK UNHELPFUL BELIEFS

BUILD HELPFUL BELIEFS
logical attitude towards debt.
live within their means
" They tend to spend money on things that improve their well-being, move them towards their desired future, or help others

4. TALK ABOUT MONEY

5. JOURNAL AND BUILD POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS AROUND MONEY

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Having a global perspective enables you to learn from others, and can open up your business to new opportunities. It can also help you grow in new ways. Further training to ensure that business leaders can effectively make decisions within a leadership role is top of mind for management

Going back to our earlier episodes this season on mindsets and where our beliefs come from, we often take on a belief that has been ingrained in us from our earliest years. In my case, the idea of having an "opinion" was constricted by parents due to the old adage of "parent knows best or your opinion doesn't matter."

Here is where the conflict of mindset came in and WHY working with the word "perspective allowed me to move into a whole new level of leadership

So why was there a conflict in my "subconscious" about opinion/perspective and how did this play out by truly looking at meanings and then owning PERSPECTIVE as a weighted tool for leadership?

per·spec·tive

a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.

o·pin·ion

a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.

Notice the difference in the meanings (although sometimes- people use perspective and opinion interchangeably) but what leapt out at me was the "point of view" and the "judgement" contrast. Taking judgement out of the equation SHIFTED my belief system.

Understanding the Other Person's Perspective Will Radically Increase Your Success AND Increase Your Ability to Communicate Your Own Perspective

The key to successful relationships lies solely in our ability to understand the perspective of another and to communicate our own. Here are 6 ways to improve your perspective in business.

1. ASK QUESTIONS. ASK WHY. BE OPEN

2. HIRE FROM OUTSIDE

3. CO LOCATE. GET TO KNOW PEOPLE

INCREASE AUTONOMY

5. BE CLEAR IN YOUR COMMUNICATION. GET CLARIFICATION

6 RESPECT DIFFERENCES.

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Today we are focused on the COMPANY WE KEEP to anchor in a new belief system.You have heard the phrase, We are the sum of the 5 people we spend time with. This relates to the law of averages, which is the theory that the result of any given situation will be the average of all outcomes

Who are the 5 people you should surround yourself with

#1 Take a hard look at friends and family

For Joya to answer - "Joya, you always wanted to be a journalist. Who inspired you and what did you see as the traits and belief systems that came across in the way that the individual was being?
I remember my mother making a comment to me when I had gotten promoted (in a very short period of time) again at Macy's and then had the privilege of buying a house that was 2x's as big as hers. Instead of supporting my positive ambitions her comment was "Who do you think you are?"
I will never forget the cut of that statement (especially from a mother). Nevertheless, I knew then and there that she was not a fan of my ambitions and achievements. BUT that I had a cheerleader within my family that would take on the role of supporting me.

#2 Critics

These are the people who are always finding ways to disrupt your confidence by telling you that your vision is wrong. They are quick to inform you that your knowledge of the marketplace is not realistic. But we need them!According to a study in the Journal of Consumer Research, novices have a preference for positive feedback, but experts want negative feedback, so that they can make progress. Without them, you'd never sharpen your skills or develop tough skin.

Michele Obama example

a. Princeton and her high school guidance counselor said that "she should look for other alternatives to that school." Instead of listening to her and letting that become a belief, she turned and said "I will not let anyone dictate the ambitions I want in my life." After only hearing this 2 months ago, it has now become a strong belief for me. A belief that changes the trajectory of who I listen to and who I absolutely do not. And I can use her quote for other young ambitious women.

#3 Coaches

If you're surrounding yourself with people who never ask you tough, thought-provoking questions, you'll never be living up to your full potential to conceptualize those answers.

#4 People you admire or Role models

Hanging with someone you want to be like will make you more like them, and you're going to start realizing value in yourself where you may not have seen it before once you get more of them in your life.

#5 Mentors

This is someone with qualities you hold in high regard who's willing to discuss them and help you develop those qualities on your own

#6 Peers with positive habits

Taking stock in the value that people add or remove from your life means you will draw someone to you who does the same, and the cycle of self-improvement and general awesomeness perpetuates itself.

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The 90/10% Rule

The subconscious mind is like the court stenographer. Its recording every trauma that has happened to us. Maybe it was the first time we got fired. Every bad thing that someone has said to us. That time that someone called us fat.

Left unchecked, all of that ’stuff’ and scripts in our subconscious is operating on autopilot.

I’m not deserving

I’m not worthy

I can never do that.

When you say I want to lose weight. You are harnessing willpower. Willpower is about 5-10%.

You can see why its a losing battle.

So today, we are going to talk about the 5 ways to reprogram the subconscious mind.

#1 WATCH THE SELF TALK. RECORD IT. SAY THE OPPOSITE

If you are constantly saying something that is limiting, you will begin to believe that subconsciously, ie if you are afraid of flying (an example). Say something like FLYING allows me to feel the freedom of travel and experiences.

#2 REPETITION AND CONSISTENCY

Affirmations or the opposite of the negative self talk takes a daily commitment. It has to become anchored in your belief system. One of my favorite quotes is from Lady Gaga who told herself a lie each day that she was a star You tell yourself a lie enough, it becomes the truth. Mohammad Ali used to tell himself “I’ am the greatest” Jim Carrey used to say to himself as he sat above Hollywood, “Everyone wants to work with me"

For example- if you are afraid of flying, you have to consciously add positive thoughts and experiences around flying into your subconscious in order to REWIRE your belief about it. I call it RECALIBRATING, like a GPS system.

#3 MEDITATION

Quiets the conscious mind and lets you become less aware of your surroundings and more aware of your breath, an image, or mantra that you are focused on. During meditation, you can focus on what you want and let your subconscious mind begin to reprogram with the new idea, image, and desire. You become less reactive.

#4 VISUALIZATION

The subconscious mind does not distinguish between false or true, research has proven, so if you are visualizing something strong enough, it will feel as if you are already doing it and store it as something that is part of your life. It will reshape your reality.

#5 ANCHORED IN BELIEF

“You don't become what you want, you become what you believe.” Oprah Self Fulfilling Prophecy- For example, if you wake up and immediately think-for whatever reason or for no particular reason at all-that today is going to be a terrible day, your attitude might make your prediction come true. You may unconsciously work to AFFIRM YOUR BELIEF by ignoring the positive, amplifying the negative, and behaving in ways that are unlikely to contribute to a positive day. This then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. This also happens in work "I won't get promoted". "I won't win that account". Etc, etc.

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People with a growth mindset don’t see failure as the end of the journey. They view failure as an integral part of the growth process. Because of this, these individuals are better able to bounce back from failure. Failure is the first step to success.

Here are five ways you can practice a growth mindset and embrace failure.

1. LOOK FOR CHALLENGES

If you are afraid of failure, seek a challenge that isn’t going to be life altering if you fail and something that is reasonably difficult, but not impossible.

My journey in failure: Being a "buyer" for Macy's gave me the playing ground for enough failures that I was able to deal with those failures quickly and with solutions that still met the objectives of the department I was buying for and the product selected. When something wasn't selling, I was able to change direction QUICKLY and still realize long term success through strategic actions. Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of "triggering points" I had during my career on failure but rarely do I perceive that failure in business actions is the end of the world.

2. TAKE TIME TO REFLECT

I’m a big fan of journaling to reflect and keeping a brag book, where I keep a list of my achievements. I look at it on days that get me down.

3. START SAYING THE WORD “YET”

Every time I tell myself that I can’t do something, I add the word “yet.” It opens the opportunity for me to learn and become knowledgeable enough about the topic. it shifts my thinking to possibility. POST IT NOTE STORY

4. TAKE AN OUTSIDE-IN VIEW

When you fail, can you reflect upon the cause of the failure as an outsider. Examine the decisions you made as well as external forces that were beyond your control. By looking at what happened as an outside investigator, you save yourself from the negative self-talk spiral.

5. CELEBRATE SMALL WINS

Counting the small celebrations. As the small wins start to build up, you’ll feel more comfortable challenging yourself with bigger things.

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It is absolutely imperative to strong and progressive leadership to understand the difference between open mindsets and fixed mindsets.

The most successful leaders are focused on growing their skills, their approaches to business and problem solving, and their teams. This growth mindset is based on the belief that the basic qualities that we have can continuously be cultivated to move us forward and add to our bank of skills.

I've gained entry into a mastermind. While 50% will be dedicated to business strategy. The other 50% is dedicated to mindset because we know that it can upend the best of strategies. Right now I am grappling with the decision: Do I take the first retreat virtually or do I go to Atlanta in person. I know that I will glean more relationship wise by going in person. But I have what I would consider a growth mindset.

I love this example. And I think the pandemic really shed a light on those who had one mindset or the other. My favorite example is that of the chef Daniel Humm of the chic NY restaurant Eleven Madison. He knew, when the pandemic set in, nobody was giving a hoot about his lavendar duck recipe. He took his job as a soldier in the hospitality industry seriously. He wanted to serve. So he turned the Michelin 3-star restaurant into a commissary kitchen and began serving 5,000 meals daily

What are some of the experiences in our workplace that illustrate how this difference in mindsets can impact progress and change in our current working environment?

Here is a story about a letter Thomas Edison brought home from school, that illustrates this point;

"One day Thomas Edison came home and gave a paper to his mother. He told her, "My teacher gave this paper to me and told me to only give it to my mother."

His mother’s eyes were tearful as she read the letter out loud to her child: Your son is a genius. This school is too small for him and doesn’t have enough good teachers for training him. Please teach him yourself.

Many years later, after Edison’s mother had died, he was looking through old family things. Now one of the greatest inventors of the century, he suddenly saw a folded piece of paper in the corner of a desk drawer. He took it and opened it up. On the paper was written: Your son is addled [mentally ill]. We won’t let him come to school any more.

Edison cried for hours and then he wrote in his diary: “Thomas Alva Edison was an addled child that, by a hero mother, became the genius of the century.”

I love this nature versus nurture example. Growing up, I was raised in a household where there was alot of messages about money. Money was for 'others' but not for us. So anytime, I would see that so and so raised $4.2M for their business, my immediate thought is "oh I could never do that" But I learned alot by our chat last week. Reframe and repose that sentence: Is it true? Is it accurate? I don't know how to raise that kind of money YET. But if I focused my energies on it and got the right advisors, I could.

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Season 2 of Drink Like A Lady explores the most powerful ingredient to success and that is mindset.

Each of us brings skills and talents to the table, but mindset is key to the mindset happening.

What exactly defines beliefs and mindsets? And let's explore why these definitions guide us to understanding not only ourselves but others in our career.
Our brains create up to 60,000 thoughts per day. The National Science Foundation says 95% of these thoughts are repeated daily. Thoughts become beliefs which become your mindset. Your mindset fuels your actions, which create your reality.
How were our mindsets challenged this year by COVID19?
Limiting beliefs

We all have limiting beliefs that stop us from getting our dreams or goals. It’s primal. These beliefs are designed to keep us safe and in our comfort zone. But Limiting beliefs inhibit our progress. . Limiting beliefs are often wrapped up in the following phrases: I don't, I can't, I mustn't, I am not, Others are/will, this is how the world works....etc.

Other sources of limiting beliefs:

• Our family and friends-what the generational messages are that are relayed down to us. (Especially women) and the influence of our friends and their own beliefs. Likeability.

• Our communities and organizations •

Experiences-If our experiences are small, we remain insular in our thinking and perspectives. If they are enriched....then we can lead with powerful perspectives. For instance, it is said that they experiences of world travel through college exchange programs, working with international companies, and the like give individuals more of an ability to work and thrive in diverse communities of workers.

• Faulty Logic-conclusion of a thought appears to be true? (one of my own beliefs is that in making leadership decisions I may have strong opinions based on the "limited information" I have in time but that if something comes forward to change that belief I have the right and responsibility to modify that belief for decision-making.

“The only thing that’s keeping you from getting what you want is the story you keep telling yourself.”—Tony Robbin

• Excuses-something we make up that doesn't allow us to move forward. • Fear-of the unknown and of change. It is absolutely important for each one of us to dissect and understand our beliefs in how we work through our days and our decisions if we want to move ahead as a leader and follow your own success path.

Our core beliefs and values will create a strong foundation for success and happiness. As we discussed in Season 1, knowing your values and sticking to them sets a foundation that makes you an authentic leader

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With the ever increased “reordering” of businesses, many of our listeners have the new opportunity to move up from an individual contributor to a manager of others . As we discussed in previous episodes, self-leadership and building of our leadership brand has gotten some of you to a place where you are being asked to MANAGE A TEAM. Exciting? Or Frightening? Overwhelmed? Or…How can I best meet this challenge?

Define Your Role- Make sure you fully understand your new responsibilities, goals and objectives. Not only study the job description but Definitely sit down with your superior and ask them to point out the top 3 points that your role will create value for the company.
1. Understand the goals and objectives in order of priority.
2. Once again, spend time with your direct reports and find out about them. Know what drives them, what they need from you (resources) and understand the gaps in talent.
3. Find a mentor that will support you and understands the nuances of navigating the company culture AND has an inside perspective on accomplishing what is needed.
Build Good Relationships with your team.
1. According to Dale Carnegie Training, the most important part of a manager’s role is his ability to make an authentic, personal connection with the people on his team.
2. Your first responsibility is to be a LEADER, and to do that you need to take a balanced approach to relationships. You need to be able to guide them to the success, and ultimately to their own successes.
Identify and Communicate Goals
1. The “new broom syndrome”- sweeping away all the “old ways” as soon as you arrive is guaranteed to put people on the defense. Work with your team to collaboratively find out what is NOT working and how change will increase effectiveness and efficiency.
2. Create a Mission Statement for your team. This will allow them to understand the WHY and HOW of working on your team while they are working on the WHAT.
Provide Timely Feedback.
1. For me, this was always key for insuring that I didn’t hold any of my direct reports up from a decision making process. I would answer questions and give feedback within 24 hours AND when I had to give direction for a project or decision- I would communicate first thing in the morning. This allowed them to connect to other teams, departments, etc so that they could insure ease of process.
Understand the many hats of a Manager and know when to use each of them to get the job done.
1. Inspirational Leader
2. Mediator
3. Facilitator
4. Negotiator

And Finally..enjoy the ride and be authentic to who you are.

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Why Women Need to Delegate?

You need to be more essential and less involved. When you justify your hold on work, you’re confusing being involved with being essential. But the two are not the same — just as being busy and being productive are not necessarily equal. To know if you’re guilty of holding on to too much, answer this simple question: If you had to take an unexpected week off work, would your initiatives and priorities advance in your absence?

This means shaping the thoughts and ideas of others instead of dictating their plans, having a sought-after perspective but not being a required pass-through, and seeing your own priorities come to life through the inspired actions of others.

Too many of us are in a constant state of overextension, which fuels an instinctive reaction to “protect” work. This survival instinct ultimately dilutes our impact through an ongoing, limited effect on others

I lead people, priorities, and projects — in that order

A manager alone cannot perform all the tasks assigned to him. In order to meet the targets, the manager should delegate authority. Delegation of Authority means division of authority and powers downwards to the subordinate.
Delegation is about entrusting someone else to do parts of your job. Delegation of authority can be defined as subdivision and sub-allocation of powers to the subordinates in order to achieve effective results.
Duplicating the energy to accomplish the objectives within the scope of your responsibility or targeted goals. OR the Power of Many

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“I NEED A BREAK!.” But my work consumes me.

We are doers. We accomplish. We take action. We resist the temptation to rest. But rest is an important key to effectiveness and productivity. ... You will have the stamina to move through the different seasons of leadership and have a greater chance of leave a lasting legacy.So first we will talk about where this came from. Why do we resist taking breaks? Then we will talk about how to take that break!

EXPLORING THE WHY WE RESIST TAKING BREAKS

Myth #1- You will accomplish more

Workaholics tend to be less effective because they are not team players. They have trouble delegating tasks, or they take on so much work that they lack organization.
As people work longer hours without rest, diminishing focus and energy result in less productivity. Former NASA scientists have found that people who take vacations experience an 92% increase in job performance upon their return, with longer vacations making more of an impact than short ones.
I took a page from Jeff Weiner, Former CEO of LinkedIn, and starting building in breaks between tasks.

Myth #2- You must be a workaholic to succeed

Fact- there are financially success people working less than 40 hours per week. They have set up systems and learned to only do things they can make the most difference, delegating the rest.
Tim Ferris’s 4 hour work week. Ask yourself "What would excite you?" What can you outsource? What can you automate? What can you productize so it makes you money while you sleep? Pareto's principle. 20 percent of what you do drives 80 percent of your revenue
Work will expand to fill the time you allott it. How can you use apps likeToggl.com to track how long it takes you do something, and parse your calendar that way.

Myth #3- No one ever died of hard work

There is a word in Japan, karoshi, meaning death from overwork, estimated to cost 1000 deaths per year, and almost 5% of Japan’s stroke and heart attach deaths in employees below 60.
This was one of my father’s favorite sayings. He died of a heart attack at the age of 58.

Conclusion: Hard worker vs Workaholic- Hard work is not bad. On the contrary, most successful people are usually those who worked hard to get where they are, but past a certain point, it can be a compulsion. Something not done out of enjoyment or reward, but because a person for unhealthy reasons cannot do without it.

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There’s a good chance the leader was someone who gave you an opportunity to prove yourself to yourself.

Leading through opportunity requires matching the opportunity to the person and then helping him or her exploit the opportunity for all it’s worth. Doing that means attending to these four factors:

1. Know Your Employees: Be knowledgeable about the backgrounds, needs, and desires of your employees. Ask them directly about their career goals and aspirations. What do they want to get out of this job? Leaders create new opportunities and roles that make the most of a person’s talents, rather than trying to fit people into pre-existing roles.

Why is leadership so critical during these times and how to make sure that the culture created is one of perpetuating leadership thinking?
What are the critical leadership thinking skills that move you forward?

2. Match Suitedness: Draw connections between the opportunity and the developmental needs of your employees. When opportunities are identified, ask, “Whose growth and development would pursuing this opportunity most advance?” Smart managers create opportunities for people to use their strength, providing people with meaningful, skill-stretching opportunities is a leader’s most important job.

3. Envision the Desired Results: Have a clear picture of the desired benefits that given opportunities present for the employee and the organization. Do some “future-casting” with your employee, thinking through the potential benefits that could be gained if the opportunity is successful. Also identify the actions that will maximize the probability of success.
Look at market conditions and evaluate new business models and how quickly you can change.
Analyzing your sector of business. Getting real numbers and looking at your opportunities.
Analyzing supporting sectors of supply chain, etc. for optimizing the business objectives created.
Don’t be afraid to come up with wild ideas and business moves.
Create a time and space to bring new ideas that were never discussed before.
Ask others outside your circle for ideas. They won’t have the blinders on
4. Provide Ongoing Support: Genuinely want, and support, your employee’s success. Stay involved by periodically asking what support they need from you, removing barriers that might block their progress. Offer encouragement and guidance when they meet roadblocks and bottlenecks.
Create metrics that measure impact and change
Know the metrics OFTEN for decision making
Share the metrics for buy-in and acceleration.
Have team members own their own metrics
Capacity and Resource Management – What do you need, how is it working (especially in remote situations), measure, measure, measure.

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1. Communication Style

Oral and written messages must be clear and specific. Employees generally want to do good work and align their priorities with what they perceive the leader wants. The more effectively a leader communicates his or her priorities, the more effort team members will contribute to accomplish them. Effective leaders provide clear and frequent communication regarding business priorities and convey information respectfully.

Kathie's comments:

Continuous discussions around change and direction
Circling back on HOW you are doing and what do you need from me (without micromanaging)

2. Consistency

This factor can be a make-or-break trait. Is the leader consistent with their direction, how they treat people, their expectations and their approach to holding people accountable? Do they say what they mean and mean what they say? Do their actions match their words?

Team members closely monitor leader behavior and direction for consistency. Leader consistency enhances influence, because team members know what to expect and how to respond, and they understand the leader’s perspective. Alternatively, volatile behavior, inappropriate communications or lack of follow-through on assignments quickly inhibits a leader’s ability to influence. For example, if a leader meets with her team and tells them that finishing reports on time is important, and they see her turn in reports late, how seriously are they going to take her request? Let’s say another leader tells his staff that he has an “open-door” policy, but when they come to his office, he is short-fused and tells them they should not interrupt him. How likely are employees to come back and ask for assistance when they need it?

3. Compassion

Does the leader care about their team members as people, and do they convey their appreciation and interest in their success? Team members work harder and demonstrate a higher level of commitment to their leader when they feel that he or she cares about them and is interested in their success. Showing that they care about someone as a person and demonstrating that they are invested in their success strengthens the relationship and increases influence and commitment.

Feedback is most effective when it is recent and frequent. Additionally, leaders should ask staff members what their personal goals are and then help them create a plan to achieve them. If someone is facing adversity, their leader should keep an open mind. It is possible to be compassionate and still hold individuals accountable.

Kathie's Comments
1. Walkarounds
2. 3.
3. Both of these skills allow you to feel the pulse and the energy of your teams and your management.
4. My own routine was simple- I was consistently in the office at least an hour before all other executives. This gave me the ability to walk the company and speak with the team leaders -both personally and professionally. I had my finger on the pulse almost 95% of the time- which means I was viewed as a key player for knowing.
5. I also walked around the offices (or made calls to the regional offices) at the end of the day…it allowed me to see if there was just one more thing that I could impact someone to ensure that their evening was free of stress or allow our conversation to prepare them for the next day.
6. Increase facetime- especially when there are now hybrid work situations.Because change for many is difficult and we are “routine oriented” thinking individuals, keeping people focused on the new vision is critical

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1. Support and encourage people to lead themselves

Part of your role as a leader is to fuel the inspiration and confidence your staff need to lead themselves. Consider that if you want the best from people, they must first believe they're capable of more, and then that giving more matters.
What's more effective, Getting the fish. Or teaching a man to fish.
Culture starts from hire #1
Mentor Mentee relationships.

2. Make bold requests

Kathie’s Story- New Company or new division. Take the time to do a one-on-one assessment with each team player.
“Confidential Internal Survey” that I have used for over 25 years in “transforming” a company or team into a powerhouse.
If you truly want to cultivate leaders, you'll want to make bold requests - the kind that make someone's heart race a bit because they know it's going to require them to stretch themselves to be more and do more.
Make the results you're asking for meaningful to your staff, to you and to your organization, and you'll heighten their level of commitment and ownership as well.

3. Know their WHY (and if they don’t know it, support them in discovering it).

Why is it worth it for them to risk being a leader? If they don’t have a strong enough “why,” it will be very hard for you to support them in elevating their leadership. Leading involves risk, and risk requires courage. This is especially true when we are learning and may not do something perfectly or succeed with the first attempt. We all need a 'why' that is strong enough to compel us to take the risk to lead. Tend to the “why” for others, and you will help them build a strong foundation for their leadership.
Based on the Confidential Internal Survey’s given to people- are they in the right role for the new organization being developed? Can you better utilize them in a different capacity for change?
Readjusting individuals roles based on their own leadership brand- skills, talents, and management styles to keep the strategy moving along.
There are different types of leadership players – survivors, adapters, and thrivers. How do you use each one of these types of players to move the organization forward.
What is the “change story”? – utilize multiple levels of communication to create the new story- while holding onto the enduring values.
How do we get there through our people, our leaders?
Showcase stories about how individuals and the company are living their purpose during this time.

4. Develop partners vs. good soldiers

Reinforcing the power of collaborative leadership during this time while we are still unfolding from a total COVID 19 shutdown.
Ability to course correct and remain agile for competitive advantage with a team of leaders that make it possible.
Consider identifying at least a few people who you could confidently invite to be your partner - as people who work with you rather than just for you. Practice leadership development this way and you'll see their level of ownership increase dramatically.
The hard part may be that you'll have to let go of more than may be comfortable with. But just think of what you might now be able to take on instead

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Episiode 1 we talked about the merit of the pivot as a leader

Episode 2 we talk about empathy as a leader

Episode 3 we talk about building a leadership brand

Your leadership brand is how you work with others to produce results. So how do you build a leadership brand? 5 steps

1. What results do you want to achieve in the next year?What are the expectations of those you serve, rather than your personal strengths. Leadership brand is outward focused; it is about delivering results. Clarify what is expected of you.

2. Understand Your Current Brand

How do others perceive you. Reflect on how you learn, share information, and influence others. Ask for feedback from your manager, teammates, and family regarding your communication and decision-making styles, and strengths and weaknesses. Make note of common keywords and areas for improvement.

3. What is your mission statement? What do you want to be known for? Stephen R. Covey introduced the concept of a personal mission statement in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In the second habit, ‘Begin with the End in Mind’, Covey argues everything is created twice; once in our imagination, as we visualize an outcome, and again when we actually achieve the goal. A personal mission statement, which draws on your values and desired end-goal, helps integrate this thinking into our lives. It becomes the north star by which you make decisions. example of a mission statement “I want to be known for being ______________ so that I can deliver __________.”

4. Identify Your ValuesTeam members will follow leaders they like, trust, and respect so what are your values? What do you stand for and what will you not stand for? What traits and habits are admired in your organization? Do you currently exhibit these traits? If not, can you or should you do so?

5. Live Your BrandConsistency and frequency distinguish adequate and brilliant leaders. Build trust in your band by living it. Share your mission statement with your colleagues so they know what to expect from you. Use your values as a compass for actions, interactions, and decisions. Ask for feedback periodically – do they see you as you imagined in your mission statement? Is your behavior consistent? How are you building your brand online? If you use mediums such as LinkedIn or project management forums, your profile and interactions should be the same across all sites and tally with your daily behaviors.

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About this episode

Last week, we talked about the merit of the pivot. This became important during the pandemic. This week, we talk about empathy. The pandemic demonstrated that we need to be human first and show empathy as leaders.

1. Amp Up Your Emotional Game. Basically all the virtual forms of communication lessen the emotions that come through to the receiving end. Make it clear when you don't know what you don't know. Ask for help. When asking for more diversity and inclusion, It doesn't have to be just the race consideration. A person who heads up diversity at a corporate is a champion of 'diversity of thought'.' How are you hiring different thinkers? I like to take quiet time every morning and journal. It helps to raise my own self awareness as a leader.

2.Cut Your Employees Some Slack. Meet people where they are. Your employees are deep in home schooling. spending more time with their nuclear family than they perhaps have in a long time. They may have lost someone close to them because of the virus. They are down at the safety level on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and that makes it hard to think about anything higher up on the pyramid. I was on a call last week, where the person's dog barked the entire time we were on the call. She apologized profusely. I said, Its happening to everyone. We made the best of it.

3. Ask permission before offering advice. Creating a safe environment for giving and receiving feedback. I had an instance where we offered feedback as a group. My feedback didn't land well on the recipient. It was a teaching moment for me as a leader. I believe in being a responsible leader, I asked another member, who is a leadership coach, how would you do it differently? She recommended asking "On a scale of 1-10, how open are you to feedback today?" If it's anything below a 5, you don't offer the feedback. Create a safe environment where people can give and receive feedback. Have each person in the group offer one positive and one thing the person can do to improve.

4. You Need to Make Your Intent Clear. Zoom and audio calls both bring with them little, barely noticeable, transmission delays. Those delays can add up to a second or two of dead air after someone stops talking. We humans tend to unconsciously assume that dead air means lack of enthusiasm at best, open hostility at worst. In this unintentionally negative atmosphere, it’s easy for all the players to assume the worst. So it’s up to you to be particularly clear about your intent on each call. Send an agenda before meetings to make sure all points are covered

5. Make time for Both Work and Human Connection. Even for the more scheduled nature of a virtual day, do set aside time for catching up on the human side of the equation. And don’t try to do it at the start of a Zoom call, say, because those usually begin with stress and awkwardness while people figure out how to make the tech work. Wait until the middle or end of the call, then say, “Now let’s set aside some time to check in with everyone. I want to know how you are all faring during this difficult time.”

6. Address your 'Why.' A friend really pressed me on my 'why' this past Friday. I shared it. One of my members was present and expressed, I never knew your why. And I"m your biggest fan. This is the time to make the “why” of your organization clear to everyone you reach. If you can’t articulate the company’s mission in a concise, compelling, and lucid way, don’t expect the Zoom calls to be productive machines.

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The pandemic has taught us a great deal about the importance of the pivot. Women are actually great pivoters because of a high degree of emotional intelligence, communication skills, and the ability to build community.

Explore the power of “pivoting” in your business and how with the COVID19 situation you can create impact by relooking at your brand and business
- Why is this so important for the future of a business?
- How Purpose sets the stage for change.
What is the mindset needed to embrace pivoting?
- What leader has done it and what are their results? Mindy Grossman, Bob Iger
- Creating mindsets for innovative returns on customer equity
Why women are cut out to be excellent “pivot” leaders?
- High aptitude for emotional intelligence
- Elevated communication skills
- Thrive in community settings
Key Takeaways
Women were born “pivoters” and easily understand how to change direction for impact.
Open Mindsets create change.
Purpose rules results

Drink Like a Lady Podcast: Recent Episodes

Joya Dass