Leadership matters! I help tech leaders develop the skills and capabilities they need to attract, engage, and align great employees. My goal is to give successful companies the tools and mindsets they need to grow the next generation, the next level of leaders throughout the organization, and not just at the C-suite level.
I ran into a couple of delays…
|
What do you do when you run into a delay? Maybe you’ve been looking forward to hitting a project milestone and it gets pushed out. Or time you’ve scheduled with a friend or loved one gets canceled. How do you feel? How do you react? This is a moment where self-sabotaging thoughts and negative emotions can grab us if we’re not aware of it.
Likely, you’ve been in the same boat. Unexpected delays cause a sense of disappointment, frustration, or maybe even anger or blaming. We waste more time and emotional energy than the situation warranted. This is natural! Don’t beat yourself up if you feel this way. And don’t let those negative emotions stick around for more than a few seconds! That would be like keeping your hand on the hot stove after you realize you are getting burned. Instead, you can consciously adopt the Sage perspective that any circumstance can offer you a gift or opportunity. (See my previous article on using confirmation bias to achieve positive outcomes.) For example, I was looking forward to launching my “Circuit Breakers” podcast in January. I had completed two of my interviews with regional tech business leaders, loaded them up to my editor’s site, and told the people I interviewed that their interviews would be up at the end of the next week. But my video editor took two weeks to do the edits and then another week to get approval on them from my marketing partner. And an image that I needed to set up the podcast in YouTube wasn’t done until I realized it needed to be a square rather than a banner. This delayed the scheduling of more podcast interviews as we sorted out the process and editing details. I was puzzled, then disappointed, and then frustrated by the delays. But I did PQ reps to quiet my Saboteur thoughts and (grudgingly) decided to look for the gift or opportunity in this situation as it developed. My podcast launch ended up being delayed by a total of six weeks. “Where’s the gift in that?” you might ask. There are several! One is that I have more time to get comfortable with my interviewing technique. After seeing my first recorded interview, I realized I was putting WAY too much nervous excitement into it. I was trying too hard, and it showed. (And I’m not a person who usually gives off an “excitable” vibe.) Now that I have feedback I can tone that down. Another is that I have a story to share with you here in this newsletter! I realized that others might also benefit from a way to handle delays and disappointments. It goes back to the saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” I can find other gifts just by thinking about it with the Positive Intelligence lens turned on. Try doing the same thing the next time you run into a delay or disappointment. Recover quickly. More than anything else, mental fitness helps you spring back to positive thoughts and actions when you encounter difficulties. It can be very helpful. I’ve got Positive Intelligence® classes forming up for March and April. Hit reply to talk with me about getting into one of those classes. I also offer free 30-minute demo classes if you are curious. Please contact me to schedule one for you or someone you think would benefit. Wishing you gifts and opportunities (without the delays), |
Steve Semler
Leadership matters! I help tech leaders develop the skills and capabilities they need to attract, engage, and align great employees. My goal is to give successful companies the tools and mindsets they need to grow the next generation, the next level of leaders throughout the organization, and not just at the C-suite level.
Have you ever gotten a bit tongue-tied telling people what it is that you do? Being a coach can be hard to explain. People have lots of different ideas about what a business or executive coach does. On top of that, I have a few specialties that I love to talk about, but that makes explaining what I do even more challenging. Let me boil it down: A coach is someone who helps another person get better at something in ways that person couldn’t do on their own as easily, quickly, or effectively....
If you and I have talked much, you probably know that I write science fiction. While that’s another story… (insert dad joke grin here) …I have been using my writing skills in more business-focused ways for a long time, as well. In the work I do for clients, I often write “business fiction.” Business fiction is about creating scenarios, case studies, and simulations that help people get into the topics they are learning about. The key behind this is storytelling. Stories get people engaged....
Maybe you can help me solve a dilemma I’m wrestling with. What would you do if you were faced with a decision about whether to stick with a proven formula for success or to depart from it because your heart wasn’t into the things it required? Image by James Oladujoye on Pixabay The success formula I’ve been given works well for the great majority of people who follow it. It requires tailoring to find “the sweet spot” for each person, but it will produce results for a business owner who...