Increase your Self Esteem

Your level of self esteem is an often overlooked but important attribute for success.

If you have high levels of self esteem you can achieve the results that matter to you most by tapping into a self worth and a core confidence that is powerful in every situation.

Remember the following principle… Whatever you focus on you get more of.

If you focus on problems you’ll get more of them, if you focus on solutions you’ll get more of them.  Start focusing daily on what makes you happy, what fulfills you and what excites you.  This is the first secret to dramatically improving your self worth and self value in every area of your life.

For example:

If you want to like yourself as a person, focus on what you like about yourself, not what you don’t like about yourself.  If you want to increase someone else’s sense of self then focus on what you like about them and tell them.  For those that have an inner critic running this unexpected compliment will cause some disruption in their circuitry.  Those with low self esteem will have to counter your compliment, but over time things will shift.

The more you focus on what you want, the more your self worth, happiness, charisma, motivation and passion will increase and these new qualities will assist you in every area of your life..

When it comes to building your self esteem, a great source is the work of Nathaniel Branden, here’s a link to some of his articles.

Inspire and Instruct

“Most important, leaders can conceive and articulate goals that lift people out of their petty preoccupations and unite them in pursuit of objectives worthy of their best effort.”  

                                                                                                   John Gardner

Leaders are expected to provide inspiration and instruction to their team throughout the course of work, but that is so much harder if the leader has no clear vision for the organization and its associates.   As we approach a new year, and given the increasing uncertainty in the future survival of organisations, now more than ever vision is crucial.  

A vision helps in deciphering the right direction which needs to be followed to make the organization reach marvelous heights of success.  Yet just formulating of a vision is not sufficient; it has to be coupled with gaining the confidence of the employees.   As a leader if you don’t buy the vision, then you’ll never sell it.  If you don’t have a passion to live and breath the vision, then you’re on an up hill struggle to encourage others to have confidence in it, the organisation and you.

As a leader you’ve also got to get real good and embedding the right values within the workforce; instilling a sense of responsibility and resilience, so they have enough zeal to endure the difficulties and challenges that 2009 will bring.   

2009 will also bring great opportunities, but if you and the team don’t know the destination, you won’t know where to focus. 

What’s the something bigger, more compelling and inspiring that you and the team can focus on?  As opposed to solely focusing on firefighting today’s problems.

 

 

Book Recommendations - Job & Career

Here are a handful of books that can help take you through the various aspects of finding job fulfilment. 

 

We’d love to hear your recommendations on the books and sources that have helped you through redundancy, career transition and promotion.

Coping with redundancy

Well it’s the run up to Christmas and not all the news is festive.  MFI, Woollies fell and other companies are announcing redundancies and lay-offs, so what can you do to smooth the uncertainty and pain.  No leader ever wants to give the news “your role has gone”, let alone have to do it on the run up to Christmas.

The Sunday Times ran an article on helping redundant staff start again and if it’s time to look for something new then it’s daily version has a few tips on finding a new job .

As uncertainty increases what matters most is you taking action to feel as resourceful as possible.  Being told you’ve lost your job can be a little like having your legs whipped from under you, a stunning blow and one that leaves you reeling like a kelly wondering what to do next.  Having helped many people through this difficult time the one constant is that the more you know about you, the more resources you have.   You don’t have to wait until you’re coping with emotional shock too.   Here’s s a product you can work with which will equip you well for your future.

 

 

Conversations leaders should be having

Came across this post about President Obama’s first 100 days.  http://www.fierceinc.com/blog/?p=56 I recommend you read it all (it’s not long).

Here’s an extract from the post ….

• Engage in fierce conversations from the very beginning.
• Have conversations during which those at the table come out from behind themselves into the conversations and make them real.
• Surface mokitas (a Papua New Guinea word for “that which everyone knows and no one speaks of”) and finding out what they’re made of.
• Raise the bar on the degree of boldness, openness, transparency, collaboration and cooperation at all levels within the administration.
• Send the internal and external signal that this administration will not be conducting business as usual.

…… obviously it’s written from the perspective of presidency.  Yet this equally applies to the leadership of an organisation.

I wonder how often do we as leaders have real, meaningful conversations with everyone involved with the success of the organisation (so that’s not just the employees then).   How often do you do all the above?  Would it be every conversation, once a day, only with those we feel are on our side?  And what stops us from having them?

Conversations appear so simple, yet if they’re not real aren’t we just short changing those involved?

Look forward to hearing your thoughts….

 

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