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How to Win More Negotiations — Focus Your Thoughts


“Be leery of the man that attempts to sell you someone else’s clothes when he himself is unclothed. That’s when he may be engaged in a diversion.” –Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert, www.TheMasterNegotiator.com

To win more negotiations, you should focus your thoughts. That’s to say, you should be very thoughtful of what you’re thinking during the negotiation, why you have such thoughts, and where those thoughts might lead. To do otherwise could mean you’re led haphazardly towards a negotiation outcome that doesn’t serve your goals of the negotiation. Observe the following to increase the focus of your thoughts in a negotiation.

Breaking News: Do you take note of how and when TV News organizations flash that moniker across/on the screen? At that moment they’re attempting to grab your attention from what you were focusing on and directing it to what they want you to focus on. In most cases, the breaking news is nothing that would really demand you lend your attention to, but they’ve captured your focus, which was their intent. If you raise your awareness to what’s being attempted by such ploys in a negotiation, you’ll focus your thoughts on not losing your focus per what’s important to your negotiation effort.

Be mindful of when timeouts are called: When timeouts are called in a negotiation, note the reason cited for the timeout and assess the reasoning validity. As an example, if you happen to be winning the negotiation or a point in that process, and the opposing negotiator asks to take a break, he could be doing so to slow your momentum, take the time to gather additional insights/thoughts, and/or to refresh himself. All such insights will give you guidance per what may be occurring in his mind, as to the reasoning he called a timeout. Thus, it may or may not behoove you to grant his request, depending on how hard you wish to push at that time and/or what your next move is intended to achieve. The point is, be aware when there’s a shift in the negotiation and what may have occurred to cause it.

Diversions – Sizzlin’ Korean BBQ: Take note of what the opposing negotiator is asking you to focus on. Question yourself, and possibly her, why she’s asking you to lend your attention to the point she’s highlighting. Note the same when you make a point and attempts are made to divert it. Ask yourself, why was my point given less credence? Why doesn’t she want to address my point and what implications does that have?

In a negotiation, the other negotiator may not tell you how to think, but he may attempt to direct your thoughts by suggesting what you should think about. In so doing, he’s controlling you and the negotiation. To the degree that you think of what you’re thinking about, why you have such thoughts and how those thoughts are aligned with the goals you seek for the negotiation, you’ll combat his efforts while promoting the outcome you seek.

By focusing on what you think about and why you have such thoughts, you’ll be in more control of the negotiation, which will allow you to win more negotiations … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

 

 

Categories
Management Marketing Operations Skills Women In Business

They Don’t Appreciate Me

Have you been in environments where you felt you were not appreciated when talking with acquaintances that you’ve known for some time? In such cases, did you question to what degree your enhanced skills, knowledge, insights were not recognized, and thus your acquaintance saw you as possessing the same level of insight/knowledge as in prior years? After all, they know you as the person they’d interacted with 3, 5, 10, etc., years ago. They haven’t updated the new you that you’ve become.

As we go through life, our knowledge increases and thus we morph into a different person. To the degree someone who knew you from your past sees you in that past light, and not for the person that you’ve become, they see you as the person they’ve always known. Thus, in their eyes, you’re the same person.

When you find yourself in a position where you’re not appreciated for whatever advances you’ve made, you can do one of four things:

  1. Stay in the environment and attempt to change it
  2. Leave the environment immediately and move on to greener pastures
  3. Destroy the current environment and remake it to serve your needs
  4. Stay in the environment, not let it impact you and wait for the right opportunity to leave/escape it

In any case, when you feel you’re not appreciated, understand the mindset you possess per why you feel unappreciated and to what degree there’s validity to your emotions. If you assess your feelings are valid, adopt an action and take control of your life.

Life is too short not to be appreciated. Thus, always seek environments in which your contributions are appreciated and you’ll flourish in such environments … and everything will be right with the world.

What does this have to do with negotiations?

The same thing is true in a negotiation as what’s stated above. If the opposing negotiator does not see value in you, your offer, or the value that you bring to the negotiation table, exit the negotiation. The more time you invest in a negotiation that you’re not appreciated, the greater the chance you’ll end up with a bad deal. So, be very aware of the degree you’re being appreciated during the negotiation. Therein will lie the degree of success you might achieve. Once you raise your awareness to such, you’ll gain more from all of your negotiations … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

 

 

 

Categories
Growth Human Resources Management Skills

Fearless Feedback: The White Flag

Fearless Feedback: The White Flag®

In a previous blog I identified the three barriers preventing effective feedback namely confusion between feedback and criticism, the fear of making things worse, and not knowing how to deliver feedback to ensure it is positively accepted.

What if there was a way to provide feedback clearly and safely so it is welcomed?  What if there was a tool to eliminate the fear for both the giver and receiver?  That tool is called the White Flag®.

One of my very first clients was a very tall woman who often received complaints claiming she intimidated others.  She did not have a “mean bone” in her.  She had an assertive manner which could often be misinterpreted by others (harsh and intimidating).

Although I was able to share powerful techniques and she demonstrated a desire to change her communication she would sometimes fall back on bad habits.  She would forget to make the changes and I couldn’t always be there to remind her to use the new techniques.    I needed to find her help in the moment.

She had a few highly trusted and trusting employees who loved working with her.  If I could somehow get them to help remind her when she fell back on bad habits perhaps it would help her make the changes we were all looking her to make.

I was watching the movie the Patriot starring Mel Gibson.  His men had been captured by the British and he was on his way to negotiate with General Charles Cornwallis to release them.  He was carrying a large white flag.  He was safe from attack.  He had information Cornwallis wanted to hear.

The white flag is an international sign of truce or ceasefire, and request for negotiation. It is also often associated with surrender, since it is often the weaker military party which requests negotiation. A white flag signifies to all that an approaching negotiator is unarmed, with intent to surrender or a desire to communicate.  The American Red Cross has a similar symbol to protect neutral parties help the wounded in a war or a disaster.

If I could get the trusted employees to use the White Flag® in the moment they could help her make the desired changes.  She had good intentions.  She wanted good performance in her department.  She was not using the right methods and needed help to remember.

The White Flag® tool is important to provide safety for both the giver and the receiver of feedback.  The White Flag® is about learning and not about attacking.  The White Flag® initiates a valuable discussion about process and method.  It optimizes learning about method while minimizing or eliminating the possibility for criticism.

My client was able to hear the feedback from her trusted employees exactly when she needed it.  She was able to make the changes needed to her method of communication. She stopped being threatening and intimidating.

How does the White Flag work?  What is the technique?  The next blog will clarify. Stay tuned.

Wally Hauck, PhD has a cure for the “deadly disease” known as the typical performance appraisal.  Wally holds a doctorate in organizational leadership from Warren National University, a Master of Business Administration in finance from Iona College, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania.   Wally is a Certified Speaking Professional or CSP.  Wally has a passion for helping leaders let go of the old and embrace new thinking to improve leadership skills, employee engagement, and performance.

 

Categories
Best Practices Economics Human Resources Industries Investing Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

7 Questions You Can Ask That Will Make You a Better Negotiator

Questions form the foundation for the exchange of information in a negotiation. To the degree you ask better questions, you’ll achieve greater negotiation outcomes. The following are 7 questions you can ask that will make you a better negotiator, and enhance the probability of your negotiation outcomes.

  1. Did you hear what you just said?

This question can be used to draw attention to a point that you wish to highlight. It can also serve as a distraction away from a point that doesn’t serve you.

  1. What’s the best outcome you’d like to see us reach?

This question gets at the heart of what the other negotiator would like   to see as a ‘best outcome’ situation, which gives you insight into his thought process.

  1. What’s most important to you in this negotiation?

Similar to question number 2, you’ll gain insight into the thought process of the other negotiator, which will give you a glimpse of how to negotiate with her. You’ll also get an idea of her priorities.

  1. What concerns do you have about this negotiation, this point, etc.?

This serves as a way to probe deeper into the mindset of the opposing negotiator per what he fears the most about the outcome of the negotiation. Observe his body language. If he says he doesn’t   have any concerns. Note if he sits back or leans forward as he’s speaking. If he leans forward, he’s more likely not to be concerned at that time. If he leans away, that could indicate he does have concerns, he might not want to share them with you at that time.

  1. What can we do to get past this impasse?

By getting his perspective, you gain a sense of how you might unravel the impasse. If you can adopt his suggestions, to the degree they serve you, you’ll be granting him the outcome he wants. That means he’ll buy into it. Remind him that you’re following his suggestions if he balks later.

  1. Why is that so important?

First, be observant of your tone when posing this question. Your tonality might be perceived as the matter being trivial. If it possesses true value to her, you don’t want to give the impression that it’s not a big deal, especially if it is to you. By doing so, she could say, okay, then give it to me. That would leave you in a weakened position.

  1. What can I do to make things right?

Be very cautious when asking this question. You don’t want to open the floodgates by allowing the other  negotiator to ask for the moon and you not be able to grant the request. On the opposing side, once again, you get a sense of what it might take to make it better, which means you can choose to grant some or none of the requests.

As you can see, the questions you pose during a negotiation set the tone and pace of the negotiation. The questions above can be strategically used during a negotiation to direct or redirect the negotiation in a particular direction that serves your purpose. To do so, use the questions in the order that are best suited for your purpose based on when a particular question is needed. If you do this masterfully, you’ll leave the negotiation with more gains than you otherwise might have had … and everything will be right with the world.

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

 

Categories
Growth Human Resources Management Skills

Let Go of What You Know – 6 Steps to Meaningful Feedback

Click here to watch the video Let Go of What You Know – 6 Steps to Meaningful Feedback

How many times have you received the same response when you have asked for feedback? You ask someone you think will tell you the truth, “How did I do?” and you hear “Good,” “Nice Job” or “That was great!” These responses are not feedback.  Instead they’re telling you what they think you want to hear rather than the truth.  In some instances, this person may be lying to you because they don’t have the confidence to tell you that you take too long to get to the point and it’s difficult to follow your message.

Avoid falling into the trap of fake feedback.

Honest feedback is tough to come by for two reasons.  First, the higher you are in an organization, the less likely people are to give you truthful feedback about any topic, let alone your communication skills and level of influence.

Begin growing your influence today by applying these six steps to meaningful feedback Monday to Monday®.

Categories
Best Practices Growth Human Resources Management Skills Women In Business

The Missing Piece in Mentoring

 

Mentorship, sponsorship, advocacy… call it what you will, but it needs to go beyond the perfunctory semi-annual meeting to discuss career goals. For most people in that kind of relationship, it probably does, but does it extend to seeking, offering or accepting guidance on the way someone speaks? This is a huge factor in developing executive presence. Short of generically suggesting that someone work on his or her communication skills as is commonly referenced on the annual review, leadership communication tends to be a major missing link.

So what are some of the things to look for in the leadership communication skills in your mentee, and how can you help them work on those areas?

Communication Skills to Look For

Let’s start with content. When presenting information to senior leadership, employees frequently tend to provide too much detail – or “get lost in the weeds,” as they say. Recognize that this is often because they want to convey the thoroughness of their efforts and thought processes, and justify any findings or recommendations that they provide. Reassure them that they’ve been given the opportunity to present this work because they already have the benefit of the doubt that they are qualified and capable, and their results are trustworthy, so get to the point.

Sometimes the challenge is not the quantity of the content, but the level of diplomacy that is used – or missed, as the case may be.

On the one hand, maybe they tend to be conflict-averse, getting tongue-tied at the idea of having to confront someone directly. If so, they often need help finding the words to frame critical feedback in a way that doesn’t beat around the bush, but still allows them to prioritize their relationship without upsetting the other person.

On the other hand, they may have a reputation of being excessively blunt, and come across as unnecessarily combative or defensive. They may need help understanding how their choice of words and delivery (see below) are harmful to their short-term discussion goals and long-term career interests. Then, they will also need alternative framing suggestions to help get their point across without alienating people in the process.

Getting more into the delivery, the ability to show poise and “grace under fire” are often demonstrated by how they control the pace of their speech. Does it sound like one giant run-on sentence? When speakers can articulate their thoughts in finite sentences, like when writing, they sound more in control. They “own” their material. Even if they are fast talkers, something as simple as remembering to pause, just for a second after each point, allows the listeners’ brains to catch up with their ears and digest the last point.

Another problem is that modern social patterns have popularized a bad habit known as “up-speak” or “up-talk,” which is where people sound like they’re always asking a question? At the ends of all their phrases and sentences? Even when they’re not? Which gets really annoying, you know?

The irony is that most people don’t realize when they do it – and it is just as prevalent in men as in women, and in Baby Boomers as in Millennials, contrary to popular belief. It doesn’t even sound like they are interested in what they’re saying… and if their own content doesn’t interest them first, why would it interest anyone else?

So if you are mentoring someone, formally or informally, start listening for some of these patterns. Neglecting to address these issues can undermine all the helpful and well-intended guidance you are otherwise offering.

And if you really want to challenge yourself, remember that taking steps to improve the effectiveness of your own leadership communication is mentoring by example.

********

Do you have trouble determining which of these patterns or others are negatively influencing someone’s image or reputation? Are you unsure of how to talk to them about it, or how to help them improve? Or do you have other questions or feedback about this issue? If so, contact me at laura@vocalimpactproductions.com or click here to schedule a 20-minute focus call to discuss it with me personally!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Best Practices Growth Management Personal Development

Motivation and Feedback

I lied. In the last article, Motivation and Growth, I said that it was the final article in the motivation series. But in fact, this is the last article in the motivation series and also the shortest. To read all the articles in the series go to http://csnetworkadvis.staging.wpengine.com/advisor/sharon-smith/

Last and definitely not least when it comes to motivating those around you, is feedback and recognition. Do you realize that most people go through their day not getting feedback, praise, or recognition, not even at home or from those they love? Praise and recognition differentiates us from animals; it is something we crave and something that drives us to do more and do better. Feedback, both positive and critical is how we improve and grow.

Let’s first look at praise, recognition, and positive feedback. These are often overlooked because many leaders assume that their employees know when they have done a good job and as such don’t provide what’s actually a big piece of motivation.

This can be for something as small as a quieter employee speaking up at a meeting or a more talkative employee staying quiet while others share, as much as it can be for bigger accomplishments. This can be done in front of others or in private. That is best decided based on the individual and what they prefer. It’s about knowing your people because when you know the people you work with at their deepest level, you know who craves public attention and who prefers a quiet “thank you” or “job well done.”

Constructive critical feedback is also important and all to often saved for that dreaded annual appraisal or evaluation. In these one-time-a-year evaluations, feedback is often limited to what is remembered and often too late in the game to fix problems. If I don’t know that I have offended someone or I don’t know that my approach is not well received, how can I fix it?

Have you ever received feedback that sounds something like “people have been complaining about you for the last few months” or “that email you sent two months ago really ruffled a lot of feathers”? That feedback needs immediate action and you are doing your employees a disservice if you wait too long to provide it. If they are damaging their reputation through their approach they deserve to know it and have the opportunity to fix it as early as possible.

I know you might be thinking that giving critical feedback is difficult or uncomfortable. Yes, it definitely can be, so let me share a technique with you to help. It’s called “the sandwich method.” You start by setting time aside to have the conversation in a place that is private. The conversation starts with the good stuff, what they have done well, what you have enjoyed seeing them accomplish, what you are proud of. The positive feedback, praise, and recognition I was talking about.

Then you transition to what you want them to work on, improve on, and know about. This is the critical feedback that they need if they are going to improve and grow. You ask them for their input, ask them how they feel they can make the changes necessary, and get their buy-in. Then you end the conversation on another positive note, another piece of praise or even bringing up the first item again. You want them to leave the conversation on a positive note.

Remember: people cannot fix what they do not know about, and you are not tapping into their motivations when you don’t allow them to improve. They also crave praise and when you can combine a healthy dose of praise with the right amount of constructive critical feedback you will be known as the leader that everyone wants to work for and your employees will be motivated to do good work for the long run.

For more resources please visit www.c-suiteresults.com where you will find articles, video, and audio content to help you get better results and find the edge you are looking for. Questions and comments are always welcome at sharon@c-suiteresults.com

 

 

Categories
Best Practices Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

Persistence — in Negotiations

Sunday Message of Hope

“Persistence”

How focused and persistent are you about being successful in your life?

A small boy is sent to bed by his father. Five minutes later…. “Da-ad….” “What? “I’m thirsty. Can you bring me a drink of water?” “No. You had your chance. Lights out.” Five minutes later: “Daaaaad..” “WHAT?” “I’m THIRSTY. Can I have a drink of water??” “I told you NO! If you ask again, I’ll have to spank you!!” Five minutes later..

“Daaaa-aaaad…..” “WHAT!” “When you come in to spank me, can you bring a drink of water?”

That story highlights the persistence the little boy had for reaching his goal of getting a glass of water. It also highlights the consequences he was willing to endure (spanking) to get the glass of water. What are you willing to endure?

I suggest, if you’re willing to persevere and apply the degree of dedication that’s needed to succeed, along with applying the correct knowledge to do so, you can achieve almost any goal you set your mind upon. Your success really is up to you. Be it in a negotiation (you’re always negotiating) or other aspects of life, commit to the action needed to reach your goals, no matter what that goal may be. If a goal is worth the outcome, it’s worth the effort required to reach it. If you’re persistent and follow your commitment with action, you’ll be better for it no matter where you end up, because you will have gained insight about your abilities to move towards a goal … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!  

Categories
Growth Management Operations Personal Development

Your Company May Be Next

The Story of Two Businesses

After being forced to change the design of their businesses, the companies reported dramatic loss of sales and even bankruptcy. Though they did everything right, they still were unable to survive. They had a plan based on a target customer, had the funding and the location they needed. Yet an insignificant population prevented them from succeeding.

Story #1

We can determine who will be in a movie theater by what the movie is rated. If it is rated G there will be kids present. Rated R and we don’t anticipate kids there.

There are PG movies that adults would be interested in like Shrek, Despicable Me, and Beauty & the Beast. Grownups might not go to these movies since they don’t want to deal with kids in attendance. However, they would show up if there was an adult only audience. The result would be increased ticket sales for the movie makers and the theaters, extra exposure for the film since a higher amount of people will be viewing it and a pleasant experience for the adults. A win-win for everyone.

Wouldn’t it be great if adults could go see movies and not be surrounded by kids. I’m not talking about denying families from seeing the movies. Instead having movie times for adults only. Something like adult swim in public pools where the kids must stay out of the pool for 10 minutes while the adults swim.

When the topic of adult only movie screenings is mentioned parents complain they want to bring their children. Despite there being numerous movie times for everyone and only a few that are adult only, people will object. If the adult movie time is only once a day or starts at 11pm people will complain, ‘My kids should be able to attend.’ Even though the parents have a multitude of screenings to pick from, they want what they are told they can’t have.

So the adult only screenings are dropped. We let the meager amount of voices prevail. When did this become the norm? The bellyachers say their kids have a right to attend. What happened to the rights of the adults?

Story #2

There was a bar/restaurant by me that had sand courts so the customers could play volleyball and consume beverages. Parents would bring their kids, who of course used the volleyball courts as a sandbox. When asked for the kids to move so a game could be played, the parents would complain stating their kids had a right to be there.

Remember, this is a bar/restaurant. Even at 11pm the adults couldn’t play because children would be in the sand. I’m talking about little kids. What are they doing at a bar at 11pm? The company created a venue where people could play volleyball yet the courts sat empty. Finally, it drove the adults away and the bar was unable to keep afloat. It closed. It could not survive when its target customer had been chased away. Instead, it was taken over by parents who in essence needed a place that could babysit their kids.

What makes it right for the complainers to get their way? The restaurant had an adult venue. It welcomed everyone, including kids. Yet when the children were asked to move the adults were being chastised by parents for wanting to play volleyball. The owners lost their business because a meager amount of people, who were not the target customer, were too selfish to let the owner run his business the way it was designed.

I enjoyed family time and wanted to do as much with my children as I could. I wouldn’t take my children to places that weren’t designed for them. It was fine. I just went somewhere else. There were so many places that were family friendly I didn’t need to be at any of the very few that weren’t.

Yet somehow we allow a small number of people determine what should be. The business owner created a place made for adults. Why can’t he do that? It’s his business and his vision. I don’t go to a barber shop to get my hair done and complain they don’t have stylists for women. I go to a salon.

We have been submitting to a small, overly verbal group too long. No one gets to determine how things will be in our business. We create our company to run the way we want. No one has the right to change a company’s DNA. A business can’t satisfy everyone so let the owner decide who its customers are.

Build your enterprise the way you want and stick to it when the pressure is on. You’ve created this entity and know it better than anyone. You have set a goal and are shooting for it. Only you have the best interest for your company, so stay on track.

We have to stop allowing the self-absorbed, the nut jobs, the complainers, (whatever you want to call them) determine what we do with our business. Their voices may be loud, but their numbers are few. Explain to them why you have set up your organization this way. Those who do not like the way things are need to do business elsewhere. You don’t care; they weren’t who you were shooting for.

Categories
Growth Human Resources Management Personal Development

Belle’s World – Personal Relationships

Original Prompt published on July 16, 2017 on Belle’s World.

Do your personal relationships affect your business success?

If you were to look at the world of business, many successful executives have business coaches. Business coaches focus on helping a leader become more charismatic, lead better, manage people or situations better and even become self-aware of themselves (a small list.)  I’ve had multiple business coaches, in my career and they have supported me in very specific situations. Over time they helped me manage my emotions, the process of dealing with the situation and making me a better business woman.  In all instances, they delved into my personal life, personality and way of thinking based on my experiences.

My first business coach spent more time on my personal life than on the business situation. I only had three sessions with my first business coach (Brandon) but our conversation Day 1 became a turning point for where I am today. Brandon was a year ahead of me in B-School and came back after he graduated to coach students still in the MBA program.  I started talking about my aspirations of becoming a Fortune 100 CMO one day.  On paper – I was on track – I had 4 years of marketing and branding experience at a Fortune 200 company and additionally, had 1.5 years with a top 10 global advertising agency.  However, within 10 minutes he started asking me about my life – my personal life. At the time, I was living with my, to be second husband and dealing with hiding it from my parents.  I was struggling with opening myself up to my parents about a large piece of my life and yet was living as the dutiful daughter completing her MBA and going on to bigger and better things.  Emotionally I was all over the place and my coach could see that in the first 10 minutes.  He started taking me down a path of helping me understand, that I was shouldering a lot of emotional responsibility for multiple people.  He described it to me as a 2 story burning house. I could only save one person at a time including myself.   My decision on who I saved wasn’t based on the fact that I did love or didn’t love the people in my life.  However, he was trying to show me that burning house was my constant, in my everyday life and at some point would burn me.  He gave me the example because my emotional dial was always burning and I wasn’t putting any emotional effort into what I wanted. If I wanted to be successful at business, I was going to have to learn to be honest, with those around me that I loved and additionally, with myself.  Over the next two sessions, I started making progress on mentally understanding the path I needed to take to get myself in a good place to be the business woman I wanted to be.  The self-awareness process took about 5 years including a second divorce, multiple promotions and eventually leaving the corporate world 3 years ago.  The business success of multiple promotions happened when I truly remember starting to own my personal emotional health and it opened myself to becoming a better employee and leader.  If you get a chance check out Brandon Smith who was my first business coach and made the biggest business impact on my life by focusing on my personal side.

My second business coach was given to me as a reward for dealing with a very intense personnel issue at work.  I was leading a project to get data and evidence that a leader in our organization had committed fraud with the company and additionally was not doing any work.  The individual and I had a good relationship because they didn’t like conflict.  However, I had to change my personality to be strong about the situation and collect the information and yet keep a civil attitude in the situation.  After the situation was taken care of, the company provided me a business coach, to groom me for the next level in my career. About halfway through our first meeting, my coach had somehow come to the topic of my second divorce, which had just happened, in the 6 months prior to this incident.  She realized there were still some lingering emotions and conflicts that I was dealing with personally that were not allowing me to take my current job to the next level.  Over the next six months we spent 50% of our time talking through and giving me homework on managing my emotional baggage and 50% of the time setting a specific goal for my role.  To be honest, I spent more time on working through my personal stuff which in turn helped me exceed my professional goal we had set.

Over the years, I have met very successful business people and when we meet, we don’t talk about business.  We talk about life – their families, their travels, their fears and other vulnerabilities that they don’t want to talk to others about.  With me, I show them that I value my personal world as much if not much more than my business world even though I am an ambitious business woman.  However, I give them stories on how each time I dealt with personal issues (whether relationships, money, love, family, health etc) that allowed me to take my business career up one level because of the lessons I learned from dealing with the issue, having honest conversations and processing the emotions that came out of it. The stories are based on a current issue that they are facing. Every time life throws a lemon, I try to make a stiff lemonade that will take me through an array of emotions and may not be the easiest thing to deal with (hence a stiff lemonade.)

So today, I work with business executives to understand their personal lives – the trials and tribulations they are going through.  Understanding what are the hidden fear or issues they are dealing with that they don’t want to speak to others about, for fear of looking like they don’t have it together.  I give them a safe space to unleash what’s in their mind by using me as a sounding board that gives no judgment but helps them become accountable for their thoughts and actions.  I take them out of their comfort zone for a while so they can dig deep into what they truly want and how they want to move forward in their lives.  All the self reflection and hyper awareness makes them cognizant of their actions and behavior in the business world allowing them to take themselves up a notch so they are not dealing with a burning house in the background but instead hearing the birds sing as they move forward.

So why do many executives roll their eyes when a life guide / coach comes to them to prioritize their personal life which in turn will make them better leaders / business person? 

 

Welcome to Belle’s world. Everything in this world is based on a bell curve. Our media concentrates on giving advice to make everyone be a part of the masses.

This is a weekly series of Urvi’s insights on her perception of the world. They say perception is reality and she lives in her own fantasy world. This allows her to delve into the human element of our lives, helping individuals decipher their own souls, to understand, who they are and what they want, in the journey of life.

Belle’s world explores the extremes and goes beyond the surface. Ready to read about some of the “elephants in the room?”

Contact urvi, for a free, 30 minute consultation, if you want to build your emotional wealth and enhance your life based on your inner core. #thehumanelement