In the Right Direction with Deb Elbaum

In our personal and professional relationships, we want connection, collaboration, and understanding. Yet, sometimes, we get the opposite: hurt feelings, frustration, and misunderstanding, especially when expectations are not met.

The key to creating more understanding is communicating – telling people what matters to us, how we see a situation, and what they can count on us for. In other words, we have an opportunity to tell people the conclusions we want them to draw about us.

In this episode, Leadership Coach Deb Elbaum explains how communicating more clearly and fully can help create trust and alignment. She shares examples of situations of when to use this leadership strategy, to help shape the narrative others might be creating about you. If you're ready to improve your relationships with those around you, press the play button now.

Full transcript at https://debelbaum.com/podcast/

We have a lot to think about, and sometimes thinking about our lives, families, and work can evoke strong negative emotions. When a situation has a big negative emotional charge, it can keep us feeling stuck and going around in circles in our mind.

Fortunately, there's a strategy that can help bypass the negativity more quickly to get unstuck from a challenge more easily. This strategy – drawing it out – is a brain tool that can help us see our situation from a completely different perspective. When we do this, it allows for more possibilities.

In this episode, Leadership Coach Deb Elbaum shares a detailed example about how to coach yourself and others to find a path forward from a challenge by drawing it out. If you're ready to be a better problem solver, press the play button now.

Full transcript at https://debelbaum.com/podcast/

Most of us want to feel happier, productive, and more fulfilled. Personally, we want to know that we're living a life that matters. Professionally, we want to feel confident that we're being an effective colleague and leader. One way to do this is to use the powerful communication and cognitive tool of questions.

We ask questions all the time – in our heads to ourselves and out loud to others. Yet we're not often thoughtful about the questions we choose to ask. Being curious and asking the right types of questions can help us build trust with others more quickly. It can also help us think about our lives in a more positive way.

In this episode, Leadership Coach Deb Elbaum breaks down the different types of questions and shares how being curious and asking more questions can help you and those around you. If you're ready to be a better leader and be more intentional as a thinker, press the play button now.

Full transcript at https://debelbaum.com/podcast/

Most leaders want to inspire others. They want to share ideas and stories that motivate people, and maybe even invite others to think and behave differently. But what specifically inspires others? In addition to a speaker's energy and stories, there's one other piece.

Inspiring leaders have clear and confident leadership beliefs. They share what they know to be true about relationships, work, and what it takes to be successful. Sharing these beliefs is an opportunity to show up as intentional, thoughtful, and confident.

In this episode, Leadership Coach Deb Elbaum shares an example of a time a speaker inspired her as well as a process to help you clarify leadership beliefs you can use, whether in a meeting or job interview. If you are ready to step up and position yourself more as a thought leader, press the play button now.

Full transcript at https://debelbaum.com/podcast/

Metrics are how we measure success. At work, we use metrics to evaluate projects we're working on and to better understand how we're doing in our job. It's the same with coaching. When you work with an executive or leadership coach, how do you know that you're making progress and investing your valuable time and resources wisely?

There are different ways to measure personal and professional growth, and getting clear about what you are working toward in coaching is critical. Success can be measured through specific achievements, shifts in mindset, and feeling differently. The key is to be clear what you're working toward.

In this podcast, Leadership Coach Deb Elbaum shares the metrics she uses as a coach that help clients think more effectively, feel more in control, and write a self-narrative that is more purposeful, confident, and impactful. If you are curious about how you might measure your personal and professional development from a coaching perspective, press the play button now.

Full transcript at https://debelbaum.com/podcast/

Many of us are self-critical and see all the things we have to do and need to do. When we talk to ourselves in this way, though, with the pressured have-tos and need-tos, it can keep our thinking constricted and in a more negative frame of mind. Being hard on ourselves can be draining. How can we ease up on how we see and talk to ourselves, to think more positively?

The words we use in our thinking and speaking can refocus and reframe what we think about and how we think about it. Language is powerful, and there's a word we can use to coach ourselves and others to shift how we think about our current challenges and situations. When we use this word intentionally, it invites our brains to relax and think more expansively, so we feel calmer and our thoughts can flow more easily.

In this podcast, Leadership Coach Deb Elbaum shares the language that can help you stay more positive, with examples about how to use it with yourself and others to think and feel differently. If you're ready to feel more empowered and in control – even in tough situations – press the play button now.

Full transcript here or at https://debelbaum.com/podcast/

We all fall into habits of thinking, where we think about life, work, and our relationships in the same way. While this might be fine most of the time, there will be times when we are ready to think differently about our goals, our commitments, and our purpose – times when we're ready to clarify who we are and what we really want. How can we invite our brains to think more creatively in an easy way?

We can help our brains and the brains around us think more innovatively and see more possibility using a type of creative writing involving crafting a specific story. This tool lets our thoughts flow and coalesce in a low-pressure, fun way that everyone's brain can try.

In this podcast, Leadership Coach Deb Elbaum talks through a way to help your brain get focused on who you want to be, what's important to you, and what you're ready for next. She shares examples and guidelines to incorporate this strategy for you, as well as those you coach and lead. If you're ready for a positive and new way to think about your life, press the play button now.

Full transcript here or at https://debelbaum.com/podcast/

We all have an inner critic, the voice that causes us pain and keeps us from thinking big, speaking up, and going for what we really want. Our inner critic can be exhausting and demoralizing to listen to! Although we might want to tune it out, it can be hard, because it's so familiar. What if there was a way to lessen the sting of the inner critic and not let it affect us as much?

Your inner critic is not the truth of you. It is just one voice, and a voice that you can shift your attention away from, so that you can feel more motivated, confident, and capable. There are concrete brain strategies that you can practice to lessen your inner critic's volume and power, and build up your inner wisdom and strength instead.

In this podcast, Leadership Coach Deb Elbaum shares personal and client examples to illustrate the strategies that can lessen the inner critic. If you're ready for more peace of mind, more confidence in your leadership, and more going for the goals you really want, press the play button now.

Full transcript here or at https://debelbaum.com/podcast/

We all want to build new habits. Maybe you want to exercise more, or create time for strategic thinking at work. It can be hard building a new habit because it takes lots of brain focus and energy. What if there was a brain-friendly tool that could help your brain more easily create a new habit that sticks?

Building a new habit takes thoughts, energy, and intention, and the brain-friendly personal growth tool that incorporates these and helps build a new habit is an affirmation. An affirmation is a statement that contains energy and clearly signals to ourselves and the universe what we want and what we're working toward.

In this podcast, Leadership Coach Deb Elbaum describes what affirmations are, how to use them, and shares a story illustrating their power for transformation. If you're ready for an easier way to create a new way of being or doing, press the play button now.

Full transcript here or at https://debelbaum.com/podcast/

Coaching expedites personal and professional growth because it helps create clarity, build confidence, and determine the next action steps to take. Unfortunately, even though most leaders know they should coach more, they too easily fall into the habit of advice giving and problem solving, or they ask a coaching question when they're really wanting to be directive.

The good news is that anyone can become a great coach if they know how. Successful coaching conversations require 2 key things: a curious mindset and having a toolkit of expansive coaching questions.

In this podcast, Leadership Coach Deb Elbaum walks people through the secrets to being a great coach with lots of examples about what to do and what not to do. If you're ready to be a coach to more effectively develop those around you, press the play button now.

Full transcript here or at https://debelbaum.com/podcast/