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Category: Personal Development

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Growth Leadership Skills

How to Publish a Book

How to Publish a Book – What are the Options?

You have a wealth of knowledge about running a company. You want to share your knowledge in a new way – through publishing a book. You may have a body of work ready to repurpose (such as a blog you’ve maintained for several years) or a ghostwriter at the ready. Or you just really like to write; you find that writing the book comes easy.

How do you share your book? How can you get your book published? There used to be only one option: a traditional publisher. Now you have several choices.

PDF Ebook. Probably the simplest method to publish a book, all that’s required with an ebook is to click “Save as…” in your Word document and choose “PDF.” Then you can sell the resulting file on your own website, or upload it to a number of other ebook marketplaces online.

However, as a member of a c suite, you may want a higher profile product. Ebooks don’t have the authority that printed books carry. But this can be a viable option to get you off the ground. It’s also a great way to share your book with people who will write reviews for you before you publish your book. Advance readers will give you those all-important testimonials.

Kindle. Amazon’s Kindle marketplace makes it easy for you to publish your book. In fact, with just a few minutes of formatting, and another several minutes spent on their step-by-step uploading system, you can have your book on their virtual shelves in less than an hour. You can also readily find people with experience in formatting a book for Kindle. Check out a site I use, http://upwork.com, where you can hire people for a project like this.

With its incredible popularity and the ability to offer “free days” during which anyone can download your book at no cost, Kindle is a great way to build a buzz quickly.

Print on Demand. Print on demand means just that. Someone orders your book and it is printed in response to that order. Print on demand is a more economical model than vanity presses which require you to pay for hundreds if not thousands of copies up front, leaving you with a room full of books to sell on your own.

Create Space is the giant in this industry. As part of Amazon, Create Space makes it easy for you (or your graphic artist hired through Upwork) to load a book and its cover.  I recommend you hire someone to do this. It is not hard, but there are steps best tackled by someone who understands the process.

Buyers order your book from sellers such as Amazon and the book is printed and shipped the next day. This makes it easy and cost-effective for everyone to become a published author. But not all self-published books are well-written. Invest in an editor to polish your manuscript, to catch those embarrassing typos, and to help ensure that what you wrote is going to be clear to others.

Traditional Publisher. The options for self publishing have had a profound impact on traditional publishers. Their world has shrunk, and this affects you as an author if you are seeking a traditional publisher. They are bombarded with manuscripts and are very selective about the ones they take on. There are advantages to signing on with a traditional publisher. Getting your book published with a traditional print publisher will get you the most audience and press. The publisher may hire a publicist to get you on radio interviews, for example.

It is extremely difficult to get a traditional publishing house to take on a new author. An agent can be effective in getting the attention of a publisher. Your name, your brand, your platform (the ability to attract buyers) are crucial and may be even more important to the publisher than your content.

If you do manage to get a publisher, your royalties (the amount you earn from your book) will be very small—maybe as little as 8% of the net cost. The publisher may ask you to purchase a specific number of copies of your book and will rely on you to help promote it.

Indie Publishers. These publishers vary from the pattern of traditional publishers in the sense that they may expect you to make a substantial financial contribution to underwrite some of the costs of producing a book. The publisher spreads the risk to you, knowing the sad truth that the majority of books don’t sell well.

Be sure to thoroughly read a publishing agreement so you understand the terms of a traditional or indie publisher, if you decide to take this option. I recommend having an attorney familiar with publishing contracts give you some guidance.

The important thing is to get your book written, and then publish where you’re most comfortable. The rest will come naturally.

There are an unbelievable number of books languishing on hard drives because the author did not take action to release them to the world. Share all that knowledge you have learned through your experiences in a corporate world!

Pat Iyer is a ghostwriter who has written or edited more than 800 books, chapters, online courses, case studies or articles. Her website is http://editingmybook.com – check it out for more information.

Categories
Growth Human Resources Leadership Personal Development

How to Know When to Give Feedback – Be a Supportive Reporter

Ever since Adobe, GE, Microsoft, Accenture, Deloitte, and SAP decided to radically change their performance management processes HR exerts have been touting the need for managers to give more frequent, less formal, and more useful feedback.  But how does an effective manager know when to give feedback?  Furthermore, do managers even know what to give the feedback about?  Putting aside how to give the feedback, let’s focus here solely on when the timing is right and the role of the feedback giver.  I suggest managers and leaders need to be “supportive reporters.”

In my experience, there are two clear situations that can trigger useful feedback.  The first is when integrity is broken.  The second when a process has too much variation.

Imagine you are a weather prognosticator (meteorologist).  You call for rain and it doesn’t rain.  Should your boss give you feedback?  Wouldn’t you already know that was a mistake?  Would your boss’s feedback help you to learn something new? If not, what’s the purpose?

Did you lie? Do meteorologists lie?  I know what you are thinking, do they exaggerate just to get ratings?  This seems to be especially true when a snow storm is forecast.  The reporting often seems a bit sensational and people scurry to the grocery store to empty shelves of water and milk.

If meteorologists don’t lie, then what was the root cause of the mistake?  Was it the computer models used to forecast?  Was it the data used to enter the models?  Maybe we don’t even know.  Obviously, the meteorological process has too much variation.

Again, there are two clear situations that can trigger useful feedback.  The first is when integrity is broken.  The second when a process has too much variation.

When people break their promises (agreements) they damage performance for themselves and for others. Any broken agreements require immediate feedback.  An agreement is like a promise.  It is a specific and time sensitive task where a predictable process is used to achieve it.

Delivering information completely and on-time can be considered an agreement.  Arriving on-time is an agreement.

In an organization (a system) people are interdependent.  If one person expects something from another, and they don’t get it, their performance will suffer.  If the meteorologist expected new data from an affiliate and did not receive it on-time, the quality of their prediction will suffer.  The affiliate broke an agreement.  The affiliate needs feedback to prevent that from happening again.

Anytime an agreement is broken, there is an immediate opportunity for feedback. The feedback discussion will focus on preventing that agreement (promise) from being broken in the future.  An apology from the offender might also be appropriate. The discussion will center around improving the process to keep the agreement next time.

This past Sunday I was supposed to be the lector at the Church. It was not in my schedule on my phone and so I showed up at the Church not expecting to be the lector. Somehow I made a mistake and mis-read the schedule.  I still don’t understand how that happened.  I just missed it. A friend of mine had to stand in for me at the last minute. I had no idea I made a mistake (broke my agreement from the perspective of the Priest and the lector coordinator) until she called me later that morning and told me I had broken my agreement.

She and I laughed about it. She was loving and caring and funny in her feedback. We laughed even though I was embarrassed.  I immediately checked the schedule (and my phone) again to be sure that wouldn’t happen again (my process).

We need to be sure employees are aware they broke an agreement and that you and others know they did it as well. Because it is so important employees understand and appreciate the need to keep their agreements, feedback in these situations is essential.  It’s important everyone self-manage their own agreements and the feedback encourages this skill.

Be a supportive reporter and a coach for integrity and help others if they need help.  My friend in Church was a supportive reporter.

The second reason to give feedback is when a process needs improvement.  This is a bit more complicated and usually requires the use of quality improvement tools.

When integrity is broken and when processes need fixing are the two triggers when feedback is needed.  Anything else might be interpreted as either micro-management, and or bullying.  Be a “supportive reporter” instead.

How-to-Know-When-Feedback-Video

Categories
Best Practices Growth Management Personal Development

Motivation and the Big Picture

In the first article on motivation we explored how to motivate your team and then we dug deeper on the topic of alignment. In this article we explore the second way to tap into your teams motivation with the big picture.

You’ve already heard me talk about internal and external motivation so let’s look at how the big picture can help your team internalize their motivation to enhance productivity and results.

The fact that most people are motivated by more than just money is even truer today because Millennials are more commonly driven by purpose. This is important because this diverse and well-educated group is expected to make up 36% of the U.S. workforce by 2018 and nearly half of all workers by 2020. For you to have the best of the best employees and stay competitive in this ever-changing marketplace, this is a group you want to take seriously, whether you have been running your organization for a long time or are an emerging leader.

Your workforce wants to know where they fit into the big picture, what the organizations goals and mission is, and that their work has purpose. Punching a clock or showing up to do a job with no meaning is not going to cut it anymore. Your most loyal, dedicated, and hard working employees will be the ones that understand and believe in the purpose of their role in the organization.

The message on purpose starts with you helping to ensure everyone understands the big picture, the purpose of the organization; what the organization set out to accomplish and why. What is the reason the organization was founded in the first place, who did the founders want to serve, and why? If you, as a leader of your organization cannot articulate this it may be time to re-visit the mission and vision. These statements should be more than just plaques you hang in the lobby or around the office; they need to be beliefs that people can understand and be part of. But they have to be easy to articulate and understand for everyone in your organization for them to be meaningful.

Once the big picture is communicated, it needs to be included in conversations on a regular basis so that your employees will start to work towards that mission, because they are part of something bigger than themselves. However, for this to be true they need to continue to hear the mission, its importance, and how they are helping make this happen. There are many times when an employee does not understand the direct link between his or her job and the bigger picture. With each role, each task, each project, continue to communicate and teach others to communicate why the work is important to the big picture, why it has purpose.

Encourage these types of conversations among the ranks; it should become a viral conversation that anyone can have at any time about the purpose, mission, and vision of the organization. The more people truly feel the connection to something bigger, something important, the more they will dedicate themselves to serving that purpose. And once they start to internalize this purpose you have made the important shift from external motivation to internal, which is the most important type of motivation to move people forward.

For more resources visit www.c-suiteresults.com where you can find articles, videos, assessment tools, books, and the C-Suite Success Radio show. To discuss purpose and motivation in more detail reach out to sharon@c-suiteresults.com

Categories
Best Practices Growth Human Resources Management Personal Development

Eve of Disruption – Future of Work – People

Are you providing the environment and support for your employees to be ready for the changing environment of the Future of Work?

Last week, I wrote about the high level impacts and components that are impacting the future of work.  This week, we will explore your employees, that are following the path to have a stable work career but are being affected by the rapid change in the way we live, work and play.

Life expectancy is growing at a rapid rate with health and technological advances.  For the boomers and many in the X-generation, the path forward was having one career, in a specific function or company which was very linear.  However, the work environment and how individuals think have changed the trajectory of what a career looks like.  As a leader, you adapt to change through your own motivations and drive to sustain and move your company forward. This mindset is not shared by most of your employees or staff.  They are there for a stable JOB to support their families and lifestyles.  As a leader, as change happens and employees no longer have the skill(s) set to run your company, you displace them. The impact on these individuals is devastating, emotionally and financially.  These employees were taught to do good work and stay in one place to provide continuity for their companies and stability for themselves.

These employees have developed a loyalty to your company, as each year goes by.  They also get comfortable with the status quo and are probably the least adaptable to change.  Their engagement is high if you don’t make massive changes but they are also the biggest dissenters as they feel the pressure of their little world crumbling away.  However, leaders need to think about keeping them and engaging them as they move forward.  Loyalty is something you can’t buy through a paycheck.  It happens over time through years of working, in a company, that supports the employee’s motivations for working. Relationships solidify the loyalty through understanding the individual and stability over the years.  As we know, in today’s day and age, the younger generation does not stay in one company or job very long and they are in fact, guided to have multiple experiences, so they are well rounded.  The boomers and X-generations were always taught to be in one place otherwise you don’t have the ability to follow through and be a good worker.  So, they put their heads down and stuck around and in turn became complacent. However, many of them are still great workers but don’t have the motivation or understanding of how to change to keep up with the times.  They are soft wired in how they think and you have the ability to impact their mindset.

In high school and college, we had school counselors who helped us navigate our skill sets, likes and subjects.  We would take tests to understand what we were good at and what subjects we would need to take to have certain types of jobs.  This counselor was separate from the person in the main office that would deal with school issues, attendance, etc.  Their sole purpose was to help guide us as we took a step forward on our path (not all of them were good!)   As we adapt to the future of work, we need to look at the structure of our companies and make some drastic changes.  Now, everything to deal with an employee sits in HR.  However, HR has become a very process driven organization versus a human driven organization.  Due to the nature of laws, there are so many policies in place that everyone becomes a box and can’t bring their entire self to the organization. (This is a whole other topic for another day.)   There is no one in HR or a company, that truly works with individual employees to look at the future of their career in a company and helps them adapt.

Companies should be creating a new department with work counselors.  Their sole purpose is to work with employees as movement happens in the market and therefore inside the company.  The counselors work with individual employees to understand what skill sets they currently have and match them to future roles.  In the meantime, as new roles are being created these employees are trained by the company with the support of keeping their job if they can adapt, to their new stability.  This allows the loyal and experienced employee to continually be engaged with the company and not miss a beat.  This creates a deeper sense of purpose for the individual and provides the benefit of prior knowledge and a cost savings to the company.  Instead of spending the money looking externally for the skill set you build the skill set in house with the right employees that you can train to do new and different jobs based on their prior skill set and personality.  Employees want their employers to support this on their journey versus going about it alone. As business leaders, we know the change is coming and need to bring the human element to our employees.  Employees are beginning to understand their own paths and if a company can support them in their journey they will benefit.  Take advantage of loyalty, experience, cost savings and a powerhouse of knowledge right in your backyard to move your company forward as the future of work manifests for each of us.

What programs and processes do you have in place to help support navigating your employees to the future?

 

Eve of Disruption – A weekly series depicting what the future fabric of our society could look like and ideas that could propel your company forward. There is a changing paradigm in how we live, work and play. Are you and your organization moving with the times and adapting to the massive and rapid changes happening right now? The Eve of Disruption looks at ideas that could be 5 – 10 years in the future but most likely will happen in the blink of an eye.

Contact Urvi for a free 30 minute consultation to see how she could infuse the innovation mindset into your organization and help you move to the future.

#jointhejourney

Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

13 Qualities to Look for in Your Next Business Speaker

Every business leader I know is looking for the same thing: An edge. They all want that elusive something that will get their team and their organization ahead of — or keep them ahead of — their competition. And one place many look for it is by investing in the wisdom of an outsider — the professional business speaker.

Yeah, that’s me. But I’m one of many, some good and some, well … caveat emptor, as the Romans used to say. The fact is, not all business speakers provide that edge, and leaders can ill afford to waste time and money on those who don’t.

If you’re just looking for some inspiration, that’s one thing. But most leaders want more bang for their buck. They want a return that doesn’t fade when the rah-rah rock star is gone and everyone is back with the grindstones pressed against their noses. They want a speaker who provides knowledge, tools, and techniques that actually improve the quality and success of the business.

They want someone who gives them an advantage in things like leadership, strategy, customer service, and technology.

They want someone with no fewer than these 13 qualities.

  1. EXPERIENCE

Speakers who have never left the ivory towers of the world can offer some great theories, many of which actually work. Speakers who have lived and led in the trenches can relate those theories to the topic at hand and the experiences you and your team face.

  1. PROVEN TRACK RECORD

The top business speakers can offer an impressive list of clients who willingly and enthusiastically vouch for their effectiveness from the stage. If a speaker has no raving fans, don’t bet the farm (or the widget factory or the sales team) that you will become the first.

  1. UNIQUE MESSAGE

A friend of mine puts it this way: “Tell me something I don’t know and tell me something I can’t get anywhere else.” Yes, but there’s nothing new under the sun, you might say. True, but effective speakers don’t provide the same old take on the same old, same old. They bring a distinctly different message and/or delivery. They have a provocative message and a unique point of view. They have fresh ways to bring timeless truths to new circumstances and new market conditions.

  1. ACTIONABLE CONTENT

High-flying philosophy is fine, as long as it’s translated into something valuable and practical you can use today.

  1. MAKES THE COMPLEX SIMPLE

Problems rarely are simple, and solutions to complex problems are rarely easy. But solutions need not be complicated or complex. The best speakers do the hard work of simplifying their message. As Steve Jobs said, “Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

  1. RELATABLE

Great content might as well be awful content if no one absorbs it. And if your audience can’t relate to the speaker’s style or content, then your audience won’t absorb the speaker’s message. Yes, this is a purely subjective assessment, but no one knows your audience better than you. So go with your gut and choose someone whose personality you think your group will enjoy.

  1. PROVIDES FOLLOW-UP OPTIONS

Most speakers with valuable content are given an hour or less for their initial presentations. That’s enough time to teach some important lessons, but the best content inevitably requires resources that help you and your team go deeper.

  1. PRESENTS AND FACILITATES

A presenter puts on a great show from the stage, while a facilitator draws the audience into the conversation and promotes discussion. It’s hard to find both qualities in the same person, but it’s worth it when you do.

  1. PUTS IT IN WRITING

The most effective speakers have published books and/or articles on their topics, which gives them credibility with your audience and provides a resource you can read to study and reinforce their ideas. Sir Francis Bacon once said, “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.” Speakers who have refined their message into written forms tend to have the excellence that comes with precision.

  1. OWNS A FUNNY BONE

No audience wants to sit through a dry and academic presentation. Even very serious topics require a little relief. The best speakers don’t have to be the next Steve Martin, but they need the ability to lighten the mood and make people smile and laugh.

  1. BREADTH OF EXPERIENCES

You want a speaker who has wide exposure to a variety of industries and audiences. Even if you’re looking for someone who is very specialized in your specific line of work, the broader the industry experience, the more ideas they’ll have on how to apply their knowledge to your business.

  1. OPEN TO QUESTIONS

Beware the speaker who works from a script and quakes at the thought of questions from the audience. Even if you choose not to have a Q&A session, you’ll want a speaker who welcomes it.

  1. SHARES INSTEAD OF SELLS

Unsolicited solicitations from the stage can confuse the audience and dilute the message. Is the speaker here to share a message or sell products? There might be value (to your team and the speaker) in allowing a sales pitch, but be clear about those expectations on the front end and don’t permit speakers to sell from the stage unless you have an agreement that allows for it.

Finding a business speaker for your organization is easy. Finding one with all 13 of these qualities takes a little time and research, but the payoff comes in gaining the edge you need to grow your team and build your business.

 

[This post was originally published on my weekly column at Inc.com]

Categories
Best Practices Health and Wellness Human Resources Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

How to Avoid Conflict – Part 1

At some point or other, we all have to have important conversations that have the potential to get ugly and uncomfortable. When in doubt, I say do your best to avoid the conflict.

I’m not talking about avoiding people in the hallways, refusing to answer the phone or saying “yes” to everyone – whether or not you mean it – so that you don’t have to say “no.”

There will always be disagreements and necessary discussions about difficult or unpleasant topics. But these conversations do not need to degenerate into round after round of browbeating to try to get your point across.

Ideally, the goal is to address the issue in a way that gets to the heart of the matter, and reaches a mutually agreeable resolution quickly and efficiently without raising voices or blood pressure. There is one intuitive – and yet commonly overlooked – key that can keep most disagreements in the realm of civil, productive discussion.

The key is consciously listening to understand. This is where most people fall woefully short in both their efforts and their outcomes. Listening to understand is critical to avoiding real argument for one crucial reason: most people continue to argue a point because they feel like they have not truly been heard or understood.

Most people think that they listen, but the short answer is that they don’t do it right. Let’s look at the difference and key strategies for listening in a way that gets to a peaceful, positive, and productive result.

 

Listening “wrong”

In disagreements, most people “listen” in order to find an opportunity to interrupt, contradict, or defend. This isn’t sincere listening; it’s more like scanning the horizon for the best time to retaliate.

When both parties are simultaneously focused proving why they are correct and the other is wrong, what they are both (rightfully) saying is, “You’re not listening to me!”

This quickly leads to an impasse with one of two outcomes: The first is that both sides leave feeling frustrated, with no resolution to the issue at hand. In the second, one side “wins” by forcing the other side to concede, i.e. lose. This leaves the winner with a bitter-sweet “victory,” and the loser feeling resentful, a combination that will have a variety of negative repercussions down the line in the form of morale, work quality, and office politics just to name a few.

The irony is that when people are able to voice their concerns, and truly feel like they have been heard and understood, they are often willing to accept “no” for an answer. So how does that work?

 

Listening “right”

When you listen to understand, you start by erasing any presuppositions and assumptions that you already know what they’re going to say and why. Instead, you enter the conversation from the perspective that there’s a missing piece, something you don’t yet know or understand about their position, priorities, interests or concerns. Be curious.

Invite the other person to share first. A good strategy is to take notes as you listen, which serves several purposes. First, you can record any key points so that you don’t forget them, which serves as a good future reference resource.

Second, you can jot down any questions or other thoughts you want to share. Don’t get me wrong – the idea is not to list all the points you disagree on just so you can launch into a point-counterpoint debate when it’s your turn to speak. That feels litigious, not collaborative or respectful.

Writing down your ideas as you listen has a variety of benefits. First and foremost, it keeps you from interrupting. When people aren’t interrupted, they feel more respected and less stressed or frustrated, which helps to keep the peace. But it also gives you a chance to reflect and organize your thoughts before you do finally speak, which can streamline the process, avoid clumsy and emotionally-charged knee-jerk responses, and help you prioritize issues to address.

 

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In part 2 we’ll address Talking from Listening: once you’ve heard them out, what do you say to keep things moving in the right direction?

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Do you have questions or comments about the issues in today’s post, want to know how to apply them, or how to help others with them? If so, contact me at laura@vocalimpactproductions.com or click here to schedule a 20-minute focus call to discuss them with me personally!

Categories
Best Practices Health and Wellness Human Resources Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

How to Avoid Conflict – Part 2

In my previous blog, we looked at the difference between “Listening Wrong” and “Listening Right” as a part of “Listening to Understand,” a fundamental principle in laying the ground work to have a potentially difficult conversation in a way that is constructive rather than combative.

Now, let’s look at strategies for when it’s your turn to talk, after you have successfully demonstrated listening to understand. 

Once the other person has finished sharing their perspective, don’t sabotage the exchange by launching into a “now it’s my turn to talk and your turn to listen” monologue. Remember that you entered the conversation with the initial goal of understanding their perspective. So the first step you need to take in line with this goal is to confirm your understanding.

A great segue can be as simple as, “Thanks for taking the time to explain that to me. I want to make sure I understand the key issues. Can I run through my main takeaways based on what I heard, and you can correct me if I’m off somehow?” Who would say no to such a request?

Once you have the go-ahead, start by paraphrasing your understanding of their key points. You should use simple, reporting language such as, “You said that your budget _____,” or “Did I understand correctly that in your department _____,” or “Your primary concern is that _____, right?” Whatever you do, do not comment on anything yet.

This step also serves multiple purposes with mutual benefits. From the other person’s side, they are happy to know that you are valuing their input enough to take time to ensure that you understood it. Plus, it is reassuring for them to have you confirm that whatever they said was received as it was intended. This builds trust and facilitates further discussion.

More importantly, paraphrasing this way ensures that you actually did understand all of their key points. Misunderstandings could be due to missing or improperly stated information in their initial explanation, or perhaps you were writing something down and didn’t catch something else they said at the time.

Regardless of the cause, once you have had a chance to confirm the facts, then everyone is satisfied that all key information is on the table, and, most importantly, they feel relieved to know that they have been heard and understood.

From there, you can transition into sharing your side of the story with something like, “Okay, well, let’s start with _____.” It’s important to keep your language objective, and if you feel like their view on something is incorrect, keep your explanation fact-based, calm and impersonal. There’s a big difference between saying, “There are a few details I don’t think your team is aware of,” and, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

If the other person does not play by the same rules and interrupts you when it’s your turn, you can explicitly draw their attention to the contrast and make a respectful request: “I’m sure you’ll have some comments and questions, which I welcome, but I listened to you without interrupting, and would appreciate the same courtesy in return.” You can offer them some paper to take notes on while they listen, for their own benefit, and ask them to paraphrase what they understood when you’re done, so they can follow your model more completely as well.

At best, once you have heard each other out, and truly sought to understand each other’s objectives and reasons, you can come to a solution that meets everyone’s needs. But at the very least, if the answer still has to be “no,” there is still potential for positive outcome.

At that point, “no” can sound more like, “I truly appreciate the fact that/your concern about ___. For now, we have to prioritize _____ because of _____, but I understand the impact that it will have on your situation, so…”

Even though the other person might not be happy with the immediate result, it’s much easier for them to accept the outcome because they understand why, and are emotionally satisfied that they have been respected as a person and a professional.

In the end, difficult topics are addressed productively without fighting and casualties of war, and respectful relationships are not only maintained but strengthened. You’re not avoiding the issue, you’re avoiding creating a mess.

More importantly, you’re leading by example, and fostering a healthy culture of open communication, transparency, and mutual respect.

That’s the difference between someone who has a leadership position, and someone who is a leader.

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Do you have questions or comments about the issues in today’s post, want to know how to apply them, or how to help others with them? If so, contact me at laura@vocalimpactproductions.com or click here to schedule a 20-minute focus call to discuss them with me personally!

Categories
Best Practices Economics Growth Leadership Personal Development

Eve of Disruption – Future of Work

What is the first thing you think of when you hear the words “FUTURE OF WORK?”

I recently went to a well curated panel event hosted by The Freelancers Conference on the topic of “Future of work.”  The first thought in one of the panelists was fear.  Fear of what is going to happen and how do we go through the change and accept it.  There was fear that “robots” (technology) would replace entry level jobs. There was fear of the implications of remote working on infrastructure if people didn’t drive to work on a normal basis.  There was fear of what does career mean versus work.  There was fear on how the continued interaction between all the generations in the work force will affect the “stability” of what is work today.  With the entry of the millennial into the workforce and the proliferation of technology (social media, phones) there has been a shift in the path, individuals are taking for their career.  For those in the Gen-X generation and older, we were taught to go to college, maybe get a graduate degree, get a corporate job, go up the ladder and on the way get married, have children, buy a house and car.  This would bring about stability so we could retire and enjoy life when we were “older.”

The world has changed since we have grown up and the future of work is definitely in a different place.  Between 1975 and 2015, life expectancy at birth increased from 72.6 to 78.8 years for the total U.S. population. We are living longer for multiple reasons including better: health systems, infrastructure, food sources etc.  It also means that we have a longer span to support our lifestyles and many people are not retiring to just live out the rest of their lives and have fun. The boomer generation is not retiring  as we expected and the millennial generation is entering the workforce at the same time making a paradigm shift on how work should be done and what matters.   Millennials are driving the notion that work should be purpose driven. They want to have experiences in their life now. We have generations in the workforce who didn’t expect to be working past retirement or having multiple careers.  On the flip side you have generations coming into the workforce who know they will have longer lives and be working multiple jobs throughout their lives.  The definition of career versus work has changed dramatically and means different things to every person.

This trend is showing that more people are thinking about their individual path in the scheme of helping our world survive as we go through these massive changes.  As business people we are digitizing individualization through social media, technology such as AI and big data to see products and services.  These technologies also change how people conduct their own work.  Technology will make it easier to do many jobs in a more efficient manner.  Interestingly, many companies are cropping up to help corporations focus on their “employees” (stated loosely as it could include freelancers etc).  However, if you go into many large corporations they still struggle providing the same environment inside their business as their employees are living outside.  A large Fortune 10 company based in a small town wants to be the retailer of the future.  Yet Airbnb, Uber and other tech companies in the sharing economy are still “new” fangled companies in 2017.  If your employees are not experiencing or researching the end customer, you won’t be able to keep up with the times and you will also lose employees very quickly as opportunity to be engaged and grow is everywhere.

The trust level between employees and employers is starting to deteriorate and that will be one of the many downfalls of the current system. Individuals are beginning to realize they have more freedom in their lifestyles as freelancers and the numbers are growing rapidly, to 1/3 of the American workforce.  This changes the dynamic of businesses who are hiring individuals who want to work remotely, don’t really care for employee benefits or the physical spaces in offices.  This will change how office space is designed and how HR processes are managed.  Yet, these individuals want to be seen as people and the human element comes into play.  When we are taught that scale drives business and revenues, it will get harder to engage employees for the individual mindsets that they bring to the table.

There are lots of aspects of the future of work that are being worked on by many different groups right now.  There are businesses that help executives understand their new workforce which is multi-generational, diverse and has a new mindset on the future.  Other companies help businesses to design their future physical space and separately companies who help create the technology infrastructure to manage remote employees.  Focusing on individualization of employees is going to be critical as we move forward and new ways of doing business come about.  Laws, retirement age, work hours, work ethics, rules, HR processes, physical space, city infrastructure, products and services are just the tip of the iceberg on what will change as we move forward.

What does Future of Work mean to you as an individual and what changes do you see right now?

 

Welcome to the Eve of Disruption. A weekly series depicting what the future fabric of our society could look like. There is a changing paradigm in how we live, work and play. Are you and your organization moving with the times and adapting to the massive and rapid changes happening right now? The Eve of Disruption looks at ideas that could be 5 – 10 years in the future but most likely will happen in the blink of an eye. #jointhejourney

Categories
Entrepreneurship Personal Development Women In Business

The 2 Things You Must Look For in a Mentor

I was at a crossroads. My social media agency was just a couple years old and I was struggling on what steps to take next. Should I double down on my investments and expand? Should I slow down and take time to learn. How should I handle the issues in my marriage and parenting that the business growth was causing. I decided to look for a mentor. But, I had no idea how to find one and what type of person to look for. In the end, I found two incredible mentors, both of which I’ve had meaningful relationships with for the past 6 years and I learned there are two things you must look for in a mentor.

First, find a mentor who works the way you want to work.

I found my first mentor, Tom Niesen, in my Vistage group. Vistage is an amazing group for CEO’s where you are surrounded by your peers to discuss your success, failure and needed learnings both personally and professionally. Over the months, I couldn’t help but be impressed. Tom is the CEO of Acuity Systems and often talked about how he groomed his employees and ways to bonus them in that truly meant something to them personally. Tom owns Acuity as well as a few other companies (including a coffee company in Hawaii, because he loves coffee). He takes 8 weeks of vacation a year and actually unplugs from work to enjoy them. Tom has been married forever and has an amazing and loving family. When I saw Tom speak, I thought he was captivating and engaging. I realized I wanted to work more like Tom. I don’t think I ever asked Tom to be my official mentor but over the years I’ve watched him and modeled some of my behaviors after him. When I have questions or want an opinion I respect, I ask to see him and he always guides me in the most honest way he can. Plus, the guy is just hilarious. One of my proudest moments is when my administrative specialist, Brisa Castillo, outgrew the opportunities at my company and left to pursue other options. She later went on to work for Tom, where she is flourishing.

Second, find someone who lives the way you want to live.

When I began to search for my next mentor, I decided I wanted to find a woman CEO/Owner who was married had children. I used LinkedIn and struck gold. When I found Lois Melbourne, the the CEO/Owner of Aquire, I was a bit awestruck. She was doing what I was doing, but on a much larger scale! I reached out to her through LinkedIn and Lois could not have been more kind. She agreed to meet me for lunch to see if we would be compatible for a mentorship. We got along famously and scheduled regular lunches where I was able to pick her brain for an incredibly valuable hour. Lois has mentored me for years and still does today. I’ve watched her navigate the sale of her company, successfully working with her husband, raising her son who is now a teenager, building the most beautiful house I’ve even seen, publishing her first children’s books and now starting a nonprofit. Lois is an incredibly busy woman who never turns me away when I need help or advice about divorce, work, parenting, being a woman executive, selling a company and searching for what fulfills me.

Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

4 Presentation Tips When Speaking to Boards

When senior leaders speak to the board of directors, they know it’s a high stakes presentation. A lot is on the line. They must be able to persuade not only with numbers and ideas, but with their presence and leadership. And if they don’t perform, their jobs may be on the line.

Watch Your Language

Recently, a client called me to prepare for her presentation to the board of directors. As a Senior Vice President reporting to the CEO, she spearheaded a merger between two Fortune 500 companies. Her presentation was an update on the success of the merger. The message was upbeat. Under her leadership, all company milestones were achieved, the merger was profitable and they were ready to go. So why would she want coaching to deliver such a positive presentation? Because she was the only woman and knew that speaking to a board is a high stakes situation. You need to bring your A game.

During the coaching session we discovered she had a tendency to use the word “just”. She’d make statements such as, “I just want to update you…” Wimpy words minimize conviction and undermine the authority of the presenter.  Just, only, think, feel, perhaps, are examples of weak language and not the language of leadership. Lesson Learned: A leader can have a powerful message and still lose the confidence of the board if her language is not definitive and congruent.

Speak at a High Level

A newly promoted CFO became a coaching client because when he talked to the board he would get stuck in the weeds. He was still speaking like a finance person presenting reams of details that were not relevant to a high level audience. He realized he was losing credibility when he saw their eyes roll. This CFO learned to share his vision, tell the story of the numbers at a 30,000 foot view, and embody the role of a senior executive. Lesson learned:  If you talk small, you’ll be perceived at a lower level and not as a leader.

Convey Executive Presence

A respected CHRO was identified as the choice to report to the CEO in a spin-off from a Fortune 500 company. He was an HR expert and well-liked and respected in the company. He delivered effective presentations at Town Hall meetings but now the bar was going to be raised. He would be required to present to the board and this audience was uncharted territory.  His issue was that he had a regional accent. He’d say “duh” for “the”, omitted /ing/ endings on words, and greeted people with “How ya doin’?”  Although likeable and endearing, his causal style lacked the formality to be taken seriously by the board members. To create more presence and power, he upgraded his attire and worked diligently on his speech and posture. He continued to communicate with more gravitas every day with his peers. He understood that he would be judged by his presence as well as his content. Lesson learned: Keep your guard up. Board members are not friends.

Get to the Point

Sometimes, the issue is not solely about details. It’s about coming to as stop.  A senior executive whose tenure with the company rivaled most of the executive team, yet he was undervalued by the board. He had encyclopedic knowledge of the company, the products, the customers and the industry. But during meetings and conversations he would rattle on. As long as eye contact was maintained he would keep talking. He didn’t know when to stop talking, listen, and engage. Because of this, the board doubted his abilities. They’d say, “He’s not the guy”. Their lack of confidence in him was unfounded based on his ideas, knowledge and competence. But his talents got lost in a sea of ongoing verbiage. This executive hadn’t learned to speak in soundbites. Lesson learned: Brevity is the key to executive communication.

 

Diane DiResta, CSP, is Founder and CEO of DiResta Communications, Inc., a New York City consultancy serving business leaders who deliver high stakes presentations— whether one-to-one, in front of a crowd or from an electronic platform.   DiResta is the author of Knockout Presentations: How to Deliver Your Message with Power, Punch, and Pizzazz, an Amazon.com category best-seller and widely-used text in college business communication courses. www.diresta.com

 Diane is a Certified Speaking Professional, a designation held by less than 12% of speakers nationwide. And her blog, Knockout Presentations, made the Top 50 Pubic Speaking blogs.