Coaching for Leaders

When we get beaten down, it's important for us to take actions that will pick us back up. In this episode, I suggest ten things that you can do to pick yourself up after a difficult day, week, or month. If you are feeling beaten down right now, I challenge you to take action on at least one of these suggestions.

1) Find something to be in awe of…preferably something you had something to do with

2) Call the Leena in your life

Beware of people who want to fix you

Beware of people who don't listen to you when you have a bad day.

Find the people that will stop and listen

3) Help somebody who can do nothing for you

The real test of a person's character is to watch how they treat someone who can do nothing for them.

Mother Theresa was a powerful example

“The opposite of faith is not doubt, it’s certainty." -Anne Lamott

Who could you help?

4) Get outdoors

5) Read three pages of How To Stop Worrying and Start Living

How to banish boredom

What makes you tired and what you can do about it

How to add one hour a day to your waking life

6) Teach people how to help you

7) Spend time with a small child

Our son at church

Our son at Toys 'R Us

8) Get perspective to center you

Great example: It Gets Better Project

Find people who've walked down your path. "Ahead of you, with you, and behind you."

9) Remember the Garth Brooks song, "Unanswered Prayers"

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers

Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs

That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care

Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.

10) Have More Get Tos Than Got Tos

The secret to happiness? Have more get tos than go tos.

A word of warning…the above won't be enough if you are clinically depressed. Talk to your doctor and see a counselor or therapist if you need more help.

Also...you'll forgot all of this the moment you get beaten down. That's the time to come back to this episode.

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Daniel Pink: To Sell is Human

Daniel Pink is the author of several bestselling books on the changing world of work. He recently released his newest book, To Sell Is Human, which is also now a bestseller. In this episode, Daniel joins me to speak about his new book, to tell us what's changed about sales, and to explain why we're all in sales now...even leaders.

Here are the questions I asked of Daniel:

You make a strong case in the book is that sales has changed. What's changed?

Most people I know assume that the best salespeople are extroverts. The research you've cited in your book says no. Why not?

The use of sales scripts has been rampant in developing salespeople. You call sales scripts into question a bit in this book - so what can leaders and organizations do differently to develop their sales teams?

You use the term "non-sales selling" to describe what a majority of us do in our work almost every day. One area your highlight is email subject lines. Why is the subject line so important and how does in matter in moving people?

Community member question from Josh: What are some ways to dispel the stereotypical salesperson view so you can move onto effective selling and marketing?

Community member question from Eveliina: What are the most important characteristics of a leader?

Community member question from Jackie: From Peter Drucker....what do you want to be remembered for?

What's a discovery you've made about yourself along the way that's contributed to your success?

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7 Ways To Stop and Think

Jeff Weiner, the CEO of LinkedIn, posted an article this past week titled The Importance of Scheduling Nothing. Here are seven ways that you can also stop and think:

1) Stop telling yourself the lie that next week/month/year will be better

2) Book time to think each day, especially if you are a scheduler

Dedicate time each day to think

If you really want to discover what's important to you, check your calendar and your bank account

Check out this advice from Ursula Barnes, the CEO of Xerox

3) Brainstorm with yourself before brainstorming with others

Check out the interview with Leigh Thompson on the most recent HBR Ideacast highlighting the truth about creative teams

4) Turn things off

Turn off the phone and email

Here's a recent New York Times article citing research on the importance of freeing our brains

5) Write stuff down

Check out David Allen's book Getting Things Done

Michael Hyatt produced a podcast on the Lost Art of Note-Taking on episode #47 of his show, This Is Your Life

I use the Moleskine notebook for Evernote for all my note-taking...but it's more important you have and use a system, than what the system is

6) Put things into "later" buckets

I do this most actively for physical mail, bills, and online articles

I use Pocket to save things to read later

I use Buffer to queue posts to my social networks

7) Start saying no to more

Start with something small

Are you getting at least as much as your are giving? (financial, enjoyment, love, contribution to the world)

I've left some professional organizations where the above wasn't the case

Bonus) Eliminate choices that may seem sacred

Get rid of TV?

Do you need to always be tied into the internet?

This week, I'm taking 15 minutes every day to stop and think...please join me. Connect online to discuss your results!

Thank you to Carmel Purdey, Mad Oo, MIchael Oneski, and Emad Aladawee for either liking our page on Facebook, following me on Google+, or following me on Twitter.

Want a booster-shot mid-week? I send a weekly article via email so you can stay connected with our community and keep getting ideas and tools that will keep you moving forward. If you're not already receiving the weekly articles, please subscribe at this link.

Lynette Young: Google+ for Small Businesses

Virtually everyone wants to build their professional network, but few people are truly effective at doing it in person - and many believe it's ever more challenging online. On this episode, I welcome Lynette Young from Purple Stripe Productions and author of the book Google+ for Small Businesses. Over 1.5 million people follow Lynette online, so she brings a lot of credibility and experience to those of us who want to engage online more effectively.

Please note that since this episode originally aired, Google has permanently sunsetted the Google+ social media network.

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Jamie Welsh: Red Willow Group

When any of us are seeking better results, our first inclination is often to explore how we can change others. In reality, one of the best changes we can make is to first look at ourselves. In this episode, I welcome Jamie Welsh from Red Willow Group to explain how she coaches business leaders to look inward first when there are trying to create outward results.

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Michelle Smith: O.C. Tanner

Vice President, Business Development for O.C. Tanner

The 10 steps we discuss:

Strategic planning

Understand your audience

Fact finding

Program structure

Communication

Type of awards

Budget

Measurement

Tracking

Analysis

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Michelle Smith: O.C. Tanner

Vice President, Business Development for O.C. Tanner

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Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed

Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*.

Towards the end of his life, Mark Twain famously said, "I'm an old man and I've known many troubles, most of which never happened." Like Twain, many of us find ourselves captivated by worry on a regular basis. In this episode, we'll take a look at this human reality and some of the things that each of us can do to better control worry, both professional and personally.

Make a decision that it's OK to worry once in awhile

Take Dale Carnegie's advice of "What's the worst that can happen?"

Get out of your own box and focus on serving others rather than worrying about ourselves

Address challenges proactively - when there is trouble, take action!

Live in day-tight compartments

Some of the books we mentioned on this episode are:

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers

Getting Things Done by David Allen

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Heather Backstrom: Executive Coach

Some people live about 90 years. Some people live one year, 90 times. Which one are you and how does it affect your leadership of others and yourself? In this episode, my guest Heather Backstrom and I discuss the topic of purpose and how clarity of purpose can help us be more effective leaders and have more balanced and fulfilled lives.

Not clear on your values? My one-page values exercise is available at this link.

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Jacquelyn Thorp: Train Me Today

Sometimes things show up in the workspace that we don't want and didn't anticipate. In this episode, my guest Jacquelyn Thorp and I discuss what to do when someone on your team smells and is causing issues for colleagues. Jacquelyn brings her experience from handling this situation many times to help us address this proactively.

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Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.