I remember when I first became a leader of a team. I went to a training class for three days to learn how to be a leader. I learned a lot of things at that first session, but I didn’t have a whole lot of real life experience to apply at that point. However, I took those lessons to heart and began to lead my first team. Even though I tried really hard, I made many mistakes along the way. …
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It is great to be humble and modest, but there comes a time that you need to self-promote. Remember that you were hired for a reason. You have knowledge that others do not have and details that could make a difference in decisions that your management needs to know. Just start by interjecting a comment about what you are working on in a meeting, asking a question that shows you have thought about the conversation or sending a status report…
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Over the last few months I have been trying out a bullet journal to plan my business and my life. I had originally looked at this about a year ago on bulletjournal.com, but I never pursued using it. In June of this year, I somehow ran across an article talking about a woman using a bullet journal in a pretty creative way. I remembered that I had looked at it before, so I checked out her you tube videos. Her…
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I came across an article by Amanda Johnson called “The Common Misconceptions of Perfectionism.” I totally agree with the myths of perfectionism that are highlighted in this article. Why do we feel that we aren’t already perfect? Why do we think that things have to be done in a certain way? I used to try to be “superwoman” by working a lot of hours, trying to do everything at home and getting very little sleep. I was actually proud of…
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There are so many people with so much anxiety in their lives. Some of it is their career or job that they chose and it may not be what they expected. Some of it may come in their personal lives by trying to keep up with everyone else, issues in their relationships or financial struggles. I even see it from kids in high school and college. They feel that they have to get the best grades, go to the best…
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I just watched the season premiere of Madam Secretary tonight. It is absolutely one of my favorite shows! I love the character of Elizabeth McCord who is the Secretary of State of the United States played by the actress Tea Leoni. She has a tough job to do as she is navigating the politics that surrounds her, managing up (imagine if the President was your boss?), staying connected with what is going on, having a good staff that she had…
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When you think about your career, have you planned it all out or has it been mostly accidental? When you are asked to take on a new role, do you consider whether the role is a good fit for you or do you just agree to take it? Many people just take it. Why is that? Maybe you are flattered that someone picked you for the role, you are ready for a change, you are happy to learn something new or you…
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I have seen many occasions where people don’t always support each other in the workplace. Why don’t we assume the best about each other? There is already enough negativity in the world, let’s not add to it. Helen Keller said “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” Imagine what we could accomplish if we all worked together and supported each other? There are so many people who have helped to mentor and support me in…
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One of my favorite quotes is “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great” by Zig Ziglar. Have you ever struggled to get started on something that was new to you or you held yourself back because it was out of your comfort zone? What causes this hesitation? Is it fear, a lack of confidence, the fear of failure, the concern about what others may think or just the uncertainty of not…
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Leaders need to focus their efforts on areas where they can add the most value. There is never a shortage of priorities, so what do you do? One of the biggest transitions for a new leader is that you no longer do things by yourself, but you need to get things done through others. Focus on delegation and accountability or it becomes very easy to fall into old habits of doing things yourself and you get overwhelmed. Doing things really…
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