Make Life at Work Better for Your Team

According to a recent Bersin Report, a major focus in the years ahead will be on human performance – a combination of how we think, feel, experience, and react to the world around us. People today are experiencing higher stress levels, pressure to do more in less time, and forced to juggle multiple priorities – all with a smile on their face. So, it’s not surprising to see employees disengaging and burning out. For example, the Bersin report shows:

• Employee engagement levels today are no higher than they were 10 years ago
• Productivity in the United States after the iPhone launch has slowed (ironic considering the device was meant to make us more productive)
• Employees in the United States take 4-5 days less vacation now that they did in 1998
• Almost 40% of employees believe it is impossible to maintain a growing career and sound family life

Work-life balance is important – but don’t overlook the importance of life at work. How do we as leaders make the work we offer one that encourages employees to perform at their best AND enjoy themselves while they’re doing it? What is good about life at work at your organization? What is not? How are you challengingyour employees to be their best? Consider adopting these strategies when assessing your company’s life at work:

Offer Purpose
We all crave to find a deeper meaning in the work we do – to have purpose, to contribute to something bigger than ourselves and to feel energized. How does the work you offer contribute to the small and big picture (company, industry, community, self)? Although this is often a personal journey, employers can support the importance of discovering purpose with their employees. 

Embrace Mentoring
Having someone who helps you work through challenges, pushes you out of your comfort zone, and helps to define your career path is something many of us long for in our careers. Effective mentors are perfect for this and go a long way in keeping employees engaged and excited about the work they do. 

In addition to these strategies, ensuring your employees have access to the resources they need and keeping the lines of communication open are always key to making life at work better. We spend a big chunk of our waking hours at work – shouldn’t making it a great experience be a top priority? We think so.

Reach out to us at https://www.successfulculture.com/contact/ to discover how we can help your organization make your organization’s life at work better.  Our SCALE Academy is the perfect place to start! Building cultures where everyone can thrive is what we do best. 

When It Comes to Rewards & Recognition Programs, Culture and Timing is Everything.

The Boston Red Sox are World Series Champions! Years of hard work, dedication, and drive culminated this past week – end result? Trophies, championship rings, banners, confetti, bubbly, praise – celebration for a job well done. Did the players have to wait long for these rewards? Not at all. The world was right there ready to reward them in real time (well, maybe not the L.A. Dodger fans!). What a letdown if everyone had to wait 6 months to celebrate!

In the workplace, the timing of rewards and linking the program to your culture is everything when it comes to offering a rewards and recognition program that delivers real impact.

In recent years, we’ve experienced a shift from traditional once-a-year performance reviews to a more continuous performance management model . This shift has brought about a new challenge as many organizations have not adjusted their rewards and recognition programs to fit this new approach. According to a study published by Deloitte, 40% of companies have re-engineered performance management, yet only 5% believe they have best-of-breed reward programs and worse yet, 74% say their programs are ‘out of date’. The result? Employees are not being rewarded in real-time for the efforts. The shine wears off by the time the reward catches up.

To design a best-in-class rewards and recognition program that fits your culture and motivates your employees, consider the following:

• Your culture should be the driving force behind your rewards and recognition program. Base your rewards around the shared values, beliefs and mission of your organization.

• Reward in real-time and even on-the-spot for outstanding performance. Gone are the days of rewarding for performance only at the annual review cycle.

• Offer a well-rounded strategy that considers both the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of your employees.

• Make rewards personal. Reward programs need to speak to all people. Offer rewards that fit your culture and that all of your employee can love.

Employee rewards and recognition programs can strengthen your organization’s culture, employee engagement and overall performance. Reach out to us at https://www.successfulculture.com/contact/ to discover how we can help your organization design a best-in-class program that fits your culture perfectly.  Our SCALE Academy is the perfect place to start! Building cultures where everyone feels valued is what we do best.

Three Steps to Living Audaciously: Setting Your Lifetime Legacy Mission

My lifetime legacy mission (LLM) is to educate, equip, & empower 100 million entrepreneurs & leaders worldwide to reach their greatest personal & organizational potential.

In my last two speaking engagements, I watched the audience’s reactions as the conference coordinator read my bio aloud. People were taken aback. They raised their eyebrows and smiled in surprise.

During my remarks, I put my lifetime legacy mission into perspective:

• There are approximately 400 million entrepreneurs in the world, so my goal only reflects 25% of that population.
• I’m only 48, so I estimate I have another 40 years ahead of me to make my impact.
• There are so many ways to reach people globally today. Between my writing, speaking, online products (in development), merchandising line (in development), and consulting, I should be able to touch a lot of people.
• Even if I achieve only 50% of my goal, I’m still impacting 50 million people, which isn’t so shabby.

Here is what I know for sure:  If I don’t envision it, and put it out there, it will never happen.

• Elon Musk (Founder of PayPal, SpaceX, and Tesla)
• Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon)
• Mark Zuckerberg (Founder of Facebook)
• Steve Case & Ted Leonsis (Founders of AOL)

These are just a few audacious thinkers who have committed to changing the world.

Why shouldn’t you think big? Because someone else may find your idea to be grandiose? Because you sound unrealistic? Are those really reasons to limit our thinking?

“Thinking realistically is the quickest path to mediocrity.” ~Will Smith

I can’t remember the exact day when I committed to my LLM, but I do know this: everything changed the day I committed.

When I start to get tired, I remind myself of why the little things matter. When I doubt myself, or question why I am doing what I am doing, I reach back to my LLM, and the possibility of helping so many others live up to their potential.

You can set an LLM too, and here is how you do it.

• Think about what fuels you. What creates a fire inside of you? When an opportunity presents itself, or when you have achieved a specific result, how does that impact you emotionally, physically, and spiritually?
• Think about your success without limits. If you had absolutely no constraints (money, time, resources, energy), what would success look like for you? Think BIG. Think audaciously.

• Craft your LLM using this format:

My lifetime legacy mission is to:

1: Insert Verb

2: Follow that with the number of people you want to impact

3: Follow that with the target population you will impact

4: Follow that with how you will impact them

Your LLM should be connected to what you are doing every day. If it’s not, you need to re-evaluate what you are doing every day, and how you are spending your valuable time.

As a Melanoma survivor, I have a very healthy respect for mortality. Our lives pass by in the blink of an eye. Every day you should LOVE what you are doing. If you don’t, what is holding you back?

Your LLM begins with the mindset that you are capable and worthy of living a life that delivers joy, fulfillment, and impact to yourself and everyone you touch.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ~Marianne Williamson

Your LLM is inside of your heart & spirit right now.  “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world.”

My hope is that as I let my own light shine, I am unconsciously giving you permission to do the same. As I am liberated from my own fears of failure, loss, and disappointment, my hope is that my presence automatically liberates you.

Today, commit to developing your LLM. I would love to hear your mission. Please email me your LLM at [email protected] and indicate if I have permission to share.

The world needs your light!

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Sign up here to receive Successful Culture’s leadership blog every Friday. All posts contain actionable content to make you the best leader you can be, to help you develop your people to their greatest potential, and to help you build your best organization.

About Successful Culture
We work with business owners, CEOs, and leadership teams that want to achieve their greatest personal & organizational potential. Through coaching, strategic consulting, retreat facilitation, and workshops, we equip leaders & emerging leaders with the mindset, tools, strategies, and processes they need to excel.

Ready to move forward? Email us today at [email protected]

Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Engage with me during my morning Periscope sessions as well (@marissalevin).

Please check out my Inc. Magazine columns on my Author Page too.

~Marissa Levin
CEO, Successful Culture
“Taking Leaders from Triage to Transformation.”

Three Ways to Find Peace in Your Personal Choices & Priorities

In today’s self-promotional, often grandiose, rose-colored online society, it’s easy to feel that you never do enough, that you’re not at the right places with the right people at the right times, and that you can never catch up. It’s a self-sabotaging mindset that can dash our hopes and deflate our spirits.

How do we find peace with where we are at this precise moment in time, and with the choices we make for ourselves? How do we not feel as if we are missing out?

I live in multiple universes. For the last 20+ years, I’ve been a driven entrepreneur as I’ve built two companies while developing my writing and speaking careers. However, for the last 18+ years, I’ve also been a full-time, hands-on mother to two sons (now 18 and 15) with my husband of 23 years. During that time, I’ve also juggled elder care and loss during my mother’s grave illness and eventual death.

I speak frequently about the elusive holy grail of work-life balance, and the myths that one can have it all. I’ve spoken with and counseled hundreds of women about juggling my dual-careers of business- building and home-building.

Microsoft selected me last Fall as one of eight entrepreneurs to participate in a discussion with other industry experts about the future of women’s entrepreneurship. In my interview, I stressed the importance of “Leaning Out,” and of being OK with passing up opportunities that don’t align with where you are in life at a specific moment in time.

After performing this non-stop juggling act for almost two decades, I’ve finally learned the secret to knowing and celebrating your personal priorities:

You alone must make peace with your choices, with no regard for anyone else’s opinion, understanding, or approval.

This inner peace results from acknowledgement of three truths:

1: Your knowledge of your personal core value system, and how it drives where you are at this point in time;

2: Your courage to live your values and reach back to them when you are challenged to depart from them;

3: Your awareness that where you are today will shift. All is impermanent, including your priorities, at any given moment in time.

Prioritization is a pyramid.

While we may think we have “competing priorities,” we can only have one priority at any given moment. To be thinking of other commitments while we are physically engaged in a single priority only prevents us from being present in any priority.

I’ve created a Prioritization Pyramid that shows the correlation between prioritization and clarity. When we fully commit to our priorities, we achieve clarity.  Clarity leads to renewed focus and a sense of calm.

When we are confused and conflicted, our path to clarity is through our core values. What matters most to us at this precise moment in time?

I was recently presented with several incredible opportunities that seemed like prioritization conflicts but through deeper analysis, I realized they were not conflicts at all. In the end, my choice of where to be at this precise moment in time manifested from my core value of “family first.”

My mother used to say, “We can’t be tall and short at the same time.” I think of this often as I continue to be presented with wonderful opportunities that may challenge my “family first” value.

When we are presented with “opportunities” no matter how big or small, we will miss something else if we choose to accept the opportunity. There are no “right” or “wrong” choices; there are only choices that do or don’t work for your specific life, at this moment in time.

Your choices don’t have to please others. They must simply work for you.

1. Knowledge of your core values.
2. Your courage to live your values and reach back to them when you are challenged to depart from them.
3. Awareness and acceptance of the fact that where you are today will shift and that everything is impermanent.

These three truths will allow you to celebrate your personal priorities without second-guessing your choices, and achieve clarity & peace along your journey of both realized and missed opportunities.

Wishing you peace and clarity as you step into your personal power of prioritization.

PS: I wrote about the path to clarity in our businesses in a previous blog here. I also share my three integrated strategies (time management, energy management, and prioritization) for Peak Productivity here.

I work one-on-one with CEOs to help them clarify their priorities in both their personal and professional lives, so that they achieve maximum clarity, productivity, peace, and joy. Through my proprietary toolkit and highly targeted coaching sessions, we clear away the clutter. Email me at [email protected] if you can benefit from greater clarity of your priorities and more effective time management.

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Sign up here to receive Successful Culture’s leadership blog every Friday. All posts contain actionable content to make you the best leader you can be, to help you develop your people to their greatest potential, and to help you build your best organization.

About Successful Culture
We work with business owners, CEOs, and leadership teams that want to achieve their greatest personal & organizational potential. Through coaching, strategic consulting, retreat facilitation, and workshops, we equip leaders & emerging leaders with the mindset, tools, strategies, and processes they need to excel.

Ready to move forward? Email us today at [email protected]

Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Engage with me during my morning Periscope sessions as well (@marissalevin).

Please check out my Inc. Magazine columns on my Author Page too.
– In my latest Inc, article, I share The Essential Guide to Avoiding Workplace Text, Email, & Social Media Disasters.
– Learn about the 9 Leadership Behaviors that Lose Employee Trust & Respect here.

~Marissa Levin
CEO, Successful Culture
“Taking Leaders from Triage to Transformation.”

How Emotional Intelligence Increases Your Success; 6 Easy Strategies to Increase Your EQ

Emotional Intelligence (EQ or EI) is a term created by two researchers, Peter Salavoy and John Mayer. It was popularized by Dan Goleman in his 1996 book of the same name. (Emotional Intelligence). They define Emotional Intelligence as the ability to:

• Recognize, understand and manage our own emotions
• Recognize, understand and influence the emotions of others

• Self-awareness: knowledge of our own emotional state and how we are showing up in the world.
• Self-regulation: ability to control how we are showing up, and to keep our emotions in check when situations call for control.
• Motivation: (defined as “a passion for work that goes beyond money and status”): what moves us to do our best?
• Empathy for others: feeling for others when they are experiencing emotions (positive or negative) as a result of their own life experiences.
• Social skills: Proficiency in managing relationships and building networks with communication.

• Insensitivity: People who are insensitive are often perceived to be uncaring. Others are less likely to want to work with them or offer help.
• Arrogance: A mentor once defined arrogance as “unearned confidence.” Arrogant people project superiority and egotism. They are often closed off to feedback from others, and believe that their way of thinking is the only possibility. They do not make good team players.
• Volatility: Volatile people are disruptive, unpredictable, and not attuned to the emotional states and concerns of others. Their presence impedes and harms progress because their emotional state can distract and destroy the advancement of key relationships or initiatives.
• Rigidity: Inflexible thinking significantly impedes an individual’s ability to connect with others at a deeper level and establish trust because they are shut down to different perspectives. A relationship can’t develop when one person refuses to grow or accept new ways of thinking.
• Selfishness: The best leaders always subjugate their own personal agendas for the greater good of the organization or the team. When we are driven by our own selfish motives, others are unable to trust us because they know we do not have their best interests in mind.

1. Keep a journal. Create a list of situations or events that “trigger” negative emotions, such as anger or frustration. Then write out a strategy to deal with these situations in a positive and effective manner. Review these strategies often so you’re prepared to put them into practice.
2. Practice being calm. The next time you’re in a challenging situation, be mindful of your response. Do you relieve your stress by shouting at someone else? Do you clench your teeth? Does your heart rate accelerate? Counting to 10, or closing your eyes and taking a deep breath, will help you control your emotions so that your emotions don’t control you. Remind yourself that a negative reaction to a stressful situation will likely make the situation worse, and will impact your relationships with others long after the situation has passed.
3. Be positive. Emotionally intelligent leaders lead from a place of optimism. They find the silver lining in the storm, and view challenges as learning opportunities. As leaders, they are aware that their reactions will set the tone for how others respond to difficulty.
4. Put yourself in someone else’s position. Strengthen your empathy muscle. It’s always easy to support your own point of view. Emotionally intelligent leaders always consider how decisions and situations impact others. Empathy tells others that you care about their well-being and success, and that they are not alone in their difficulty. They also communicate their support.
5. Pay attention to body language. When you listen to someone, do you cross your arms or look around? This tells others how you really feel about a situation, even if you are speaking a different message. Learning to read body language can be a real asset in a leadership role, because you’ll be better able to determine how someone truly feels. This gives you the opportunity to respond appropriately.
6. Practice gratitude. As a leader, you can inspire the loyalty of your team simply by showing appreciation. It tells people you are paying attention, and that you acknowledge that others are essential to your success.

Check out my interview on Organizational Culture on Tony Robbins’ Podcast!

Tony Robbins launched The Tony Robbins Podcast on March 30. Not surprisingly, it immediately rocketed to the top of iTunes. After all, anyone who can convince 6,000 people to walk across hot coals together–including Oprah Winfrey–can achieve just about anything.

My episode, “Transforming Your Company’s Culture,” was released on April 10.

In my interview, I share many nuggets of wisdom on how to build an exceptional organizational culture. My insights apply to organizations of all sizes. The one thing that is required in all organizations is a commitment from the top to build a culture that enables all employees to thrive at their highest levels, and reach their greatest potential.

All cultures start with a core foundation of a strong values system, a clear mission, and a transformational vision. I share how to build these elements, and how to ensure they live throughout your company.

I also share many other insights on what the organizational cultures of the future will look like, and how to attract & retain the very best talent.

Some insights that I shared are:

1. “Every company has a culture, whether it is intentional or whether it’s by default.”
2. “Every hire that you make, those core values have to be in the job description. And when you’re interviewing potential employees you want to say here are our core values, what inspired you to want to work for our company specifically?”
3. “The way people live their life outside of the organization is going to be reflected on how they treat the people inside the organization.”
4. “So the first thing that you have to do to fix a culture, to reverse engineer it, is to get a pulse check on what the employees think because their opinions are what matter the most.”

I am sure you will get lots of valuable & actionable content from the time you invest in listening.

Again, you can access the podcast here.

Wishing you continued success on your journey!

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Three Questions Great Leaders Ask Themselves in the 21st Century

I recently designed and facilitated a two-day leadership training program for senior managers in the Air Force. The program objective was to educate them on the mindset and skillset required to lead effectively in the 21^st century. They work in an environment of heavy demands, limited resources, and severe time constraints, and are challenged to motivate a highly-pressured workforce.

My training included 7 interactive and introspective modules. In each module I included a TED Talk on leadership and a discussion worksheet to encourage transfer of concepts from the presenter to the student.

One of the TED Talks I shared was “What it Takes to be a Good Leader” by Roselinde Torres. In her talk, she shared her experiences of working with hundreds of organizations to uncover why leadership ability is declining, even though attention to leadership development is increasing.

She presented three questions that all leaders will need to constantly ask themselves as they hone their leadership skills in the 21^st century:

1. Where are you looking to anticipate change? To answer this question, she recommends looking in one place: your calendar. With whom are you spending your time, and on what topics? What are you reading? How are you distilling?  Great leaders see around corners and shape their future based on what they see. What you read, where you are, and who you are with will shape what you see.
2. What is the diversity metric of your personal and professional stakeholder network? To some extent, we all have a network of people that mirror us. This question addresses your capacity to develop relationships with people that are different than you. Those differences can be biological, physical, functional, political, cultural, socioeconomic. And yet, despite these differences, they connect with you and they trust you enough to cooperate with you in achieving a shared goal. Great leaders understand that having a more diverse network is a source of pattern identification at higher levels, and is an important component in solving problems, because you have people that think differently than you do.
3. Are you courageous enough to abandon a practice that has made you successful in the past? There is an expression: Go along to get along. But if you follow this advice, chances are as a leader, you’re going to keep doing what’s familiar and comfortable.

Great leaders dare to be different. They don’t just talk about risk-taking, they actually do it. The most impactful development comes when you are able to build the emotional stamina to withstand people telling you that your new idea is naïve, reckless or impractical.

When you step out with a new idea, the people who will join you are not your usual suspects in your network. They’re often people that think differently and therefore are willing to join you in taking a courageous leap. And it’s a leap, not a step.

Asking yourself these three questions will force you to have important conversations with yourself, and examine how you are showing up in the world & in your organizations. All great leadership begins with self-awareness. We can only lead others well when we know ourselves well.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”  ~Aristotle

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Quarterly Recap of My Columns – All In One Place!

As we near the end of the first quarter, I’ve consolidated and recapped my columns from my Successful Culture blog, my Inc. Magazine column, and my SmartCEO column.  I have difficulty keeping up with my own content, so I can only imagine how hard it is for you to do the same!

As always, I am incredibly grateful for your continued support. I take my role in your journey to realizing your greatest potential very seriously, and strive to create content that is actionable, relevant, and supportive.

You may share all of my columns/content, as long as your properly attribute me, as well as my source.

If you have any topics you would like me to address in any of my columns, please email me at [email protected] and I will be happy to write them for you!

Successful Culture Leadership Blog

The link to access all of my Successful Culture columns is https://www.successfulculture.com/blog/

Breaking Through the Mental Barrier
Did you know that 99% of marathon runners complete their marathons? They don’t accomplish this because they are all extraordinary runners. They accomplish this because they’ve mentally trained themselves to push through the pain and the mental roadblocks. Here I share my experiences and lessons learned of breaking through two mental barriers this week. My intention is to equip you with the insights you need to push through your barriers too.

One Great Strategy to Work ON Your Business Instead of IN Your Business (With Awesome Results)
If you could make just one change, and shift your business model ever so slightly to achieve more happiness, greater productivity, better time management, and higher profitability, would you do it? If the answer is yes, then read on to learn about the one slight change I implemented at Successful Culture to achieve these things. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner!

The STARS™ Model: Six Steps for Setting Your Three Intentions for 2016
What are your top three, non-negotiable outcomes for 2016? Here I share with you the details of my STARS™ Model, and how you can set fail-proof intentions to move you forward. My model applies to you on a personal level, as well as on an organizational level. We can create the future we want, once we claim the courage to clearly lay it out before us.

Four Things Businesses Overlook When Moving Employees to a New Position
When our companies are growing, quite often existing employees are the best people for our open positions. However, to successfully transition an employee from one position to another takes great planning, forethought, and careful execution. Here I identify the mistakes most companies make when employing this strategy, and steps a company can take to circumvent any problems & ensure a successful transition.

The Two Questions You Need to Answer When Faced with Indecision
Every day we are faced with dozens of decisions in our business. Some are inconsequential, but others are significant. Invariably, we will occasionally find ourselves at a crossroads. When that happens, how can we get unstuck? In this column, I walk you through a decision process, and share the two questions that every decision must answer. Indeed, clarity has a way of eliminating our options.

Do You Follow Leadership Rule #6?
I recently learned the most important rule of all to ensure happiness and peace of mind as we move through our leadership journeys. I am quite happy to share it with you here.

10 Cardinal Rules for Working with Friends
We’ve all considered working with friends. On the surface, it seems like a great idea. Who is more emotionally invested in your success than a good friend? However, this business relationship has potential for serious problems. Today I share the 10 cardinal rules for working with friends that will help you protect & strengthen your business and your personal relationships.

How to Manage The Three Types of Haters In Your Life
“Let’s be honest. We all want everyone to like us, but we know that’s unrealistic. No matter what we do, there will always be people that simply don’t get us. How do we manage these people? What kind of impact do we allow them to have in our lives? Today, I share the three types of Haters that show up in our lives, and the two essential strategies you must know to handle them.

4 Ways Perfection is Our Enemy and 4 Strategies to Embrace Imperfection
Are you chasing Perfection?  You will never catch it. Today I share with you the 4 ways our quest for perfection sabotages our progress and our happiness. I also share 4 strategies to shift your mindset so you can embrace imperfection. The beauty of our life lies in the shades of grey. It doesn’t reside in our absolutes.

Why You Must Have That Difficult Conversation – And How To Do It
Difficult conversations make us want to run for the hills, but we know that running away is just a temporary solution. In today’s ezine, I share with you why you must take on these conversations, and how to do it from beginning to end so that both parties feel respected, heard, and satisfied with the outcome.

My Inc. Magazine Columns

The link to access all of my Inc. Magazine columns is www.inc.com/author/marissa-levin.

Why You Should Ditch Your Goals in 2016

How to adapt a mindset of intention to drive quantum growth.

7 Simple Ways to Make the Workplace More Positive

Save the drama for your mama. Stay upbeat & energized all day long with the seven strategies for increased positivity.

16 Instagram Accounts That Can Teach You to Be a Better Leader

400 million monthly active users, forecasted to bring in $2.81 billion in ad revenue by 2017, can’t be wrong.

3 Foolproof Methods for Making Every Meeting Successful

Follow these three strategies to move your meetings from awful to awesome, and go from Zero to Hero with your team and in no time.

3 Mistakes Great Leaders Avoid When a Key Employee Leaves

Great leaders know that some employee turnover is inevitable, but organizational disruption from attrition is optional.

9 Leadership Behaviors That Lose Employee Trust and Respect

These proven strategies will demoralize, disrespect, uninspire, and alienate your employees, and highly motivate them to seek employment elsewhere.

What All Great Leaders Have in Common With NBA MVP Stephen Curry

Hitting 286 three-pointers in a single season is astounding. Staying humble and approachable while shattering records is awe-inspiring.

The Essential Guide to Avoiding Workplace Text, Email, and Social Media Disasters

Know the risks, educate your employees, and implement these guidelines to avoid inappropriate communications, lawsuits, and online smear campaigns.

Working With Your Spouse? How to Protect Your Business and Your Marriage

Wondering if you have what it takes to go to into business with your spouse? These lessons learned will help you decide to say “I do” – or “I don’t.”

How to Attract the Best Advisors for Growing Your Startup

Successful business owners know it takes a village of experts to build a great company. A strong recruiting strategy delivers great people and stellar results.

My SmartCEO Column: “Get On Board”

The link to access my most recent SmartCEO columns is http://smartceo.com/get-on-board-by-marissa-levin/. I have additional columns going back 3 years on my website at https://www.successfulculture.com/in-the-news/.

New year, new board: How to evolve, evaluate and exit board members

When it comes to employees, businesses should always be interviewing and meeting prospects. The time to recruit and interview new staffers isn’t when the company is in a desperate state of immediate need. The scanning process should be ongoing. It works the same way with advisory board members.

How the right advisors helped transform Yoko Co.

This month, we spotlight Yoko Co., a Virginia-based web-presence management company. Founder and CEO Chris Yoko talks about how he selected advisory board members who helped ground him personally and define his business vision.

How micro boards and flash boards can benefit your company

Recently, business owners have been asking me about “micro boards” and “flash boards.” These are temporary boards designed to address a specific challenge or growth goal. Think of them like the various pop-up stores that are springing up everywhere.

How SnapShot Interactive recruited the perfect group of advisors

This month, we spotlight SnapShot Interactive, a digital marketing firm, and its CEO, Mark Scrivner. Through one of its client engagements, SnapShot helped a nonprofit education organization raise more than $11.5 million in grants and donations.

Employee Engagement, sponsored by CBIZ MHM

Podcast: SmartCEO and CBIZ gathered distinguished members of the 2015 Brava class to discuss their strategies for employee engagement. I was the moderator for this lively discussion with these amazing leaders.

How virtual advisory boards could take your company to the next level

Today’s technology options allow business leaders to connect with advisors around the world, provide secure platforms for real-time and recorded collaboration, and share documents and information to keep the entire advisory board informed.

Thank you again for your support! We will return next week with original content as we move into the second quarter of 2016!

In gratitude,
Marissa

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How to Spring Clean Your People and Your Processes in Your Business

Hooray it’s almost Spring! It has been a long, cold winter with lots of hibernation.

Why You Must Have That Difficult Conversation – And How To Do It

There are four words that, when we hear them, we stop in our tracks because we know they are going to be followed by a lot of other words we may not want to hear. This happens in both our personal and our professional lives. Those four words are…. “WE HAVE TO TALK.”

Did you just feel a shiver run up your spine when you read them? Did they sneak their way off of the screen, and grip your throat a bit?

I don’t know who is stressed out more by these words… the person initiating the conversation, or the person on the receiving end.

If you are the initiator, you know you’ve been carrying around this conversation for a while now. You’ve role-played how it will go, what the reactions will be, and how you are hoping it will end. You’ve determined when and where you should have the conversation. And, you’ve come up with lots of reasons why you shouldn’t have it.

If you are the recipient, first you may try to brace yourself for what’s coming with some mindfulness techniques, like deep breathing, or you may quickly tell yourself it can’t be that bad. Or maybe you will immediately launch into a defensive mode. Or, maybe you’ll say, “this isn’t a good time,” or you’ll run.

Putting all of the emotional baggage aside that accompanies the conversation, here is the one reason you must have this conversation.

IT WON’T GO AWAY BY ITSELF.

When it’s time for a difficult conversation, at least one of three things happen:

1: The person who needs to talk keeps it inside. It grows, and festers, and takes on many additional lives of its own, until the angst or anger associated with the original conversation overtakes the actual topic.

2: The person who needs to talk talks to others. Rather than having the conversation with the person they need to talk with, they seek out advice and support from others, and fuel the issue with input from people that may or may not be understanding the entire story (and are definitely not hearing multiple perspectives).

3: The person seeks out the other person (the target) to have the conversation. And, usually it doesn’t go nearly as badly as they’ve fabricated in their minds. Although, sometimes it does go badly. But when that happens, at least it’s over, and the people can address the elephant in the room.

A Self-Assessment Checklist

How can you prep and move through this conversation with as little drama as possible? Here is a checklist of questions for you to answer prior to having the conversation.

1. What are your objectives for this conversation?
2. What do you believe is the other person’s position in this conversation? What reactions are you anticipating?
3. Based on your history with this person, how effective are they at pushing your buttons, or triggering you? How safe do you feel with them? Based on this information, how can you pre-empt triggers?
4. How are your feelings about this conversation impacting how you will show up? I remember learning that the mere act of inserting a thermometer into a glass of water to measure the temperature changes the water temperature. Similarly, your disposition in initiating the conversation will impact how the conversation plays out. What is your personal temperature?
5. How have you contributed to the situation leading up to this point? Have you owned that? Have you expressed that to the other person?
6. Can you approach this conversation without blame or ego, and focus only on solutions?
7. How aware are you of your own body language? Can you do a body-language check prior to the conversation to ensure you are not projecting a defensive or offensive message?

Alternative conversation starters

Perhaps you can diffuse the situation with a softer opening. One of these may work:

“I could really use your help with a challenge I am having.”

“I would love your perspective on this situation.”

“Can you please help me to understand something?”

It is also a good idea to schedule the conversation, even if it’s for 15 minutes (although it’s important to not rush, so that nothing goes unsaid or unresolved). This way, both participants are completely prepared, focused, and present. No one feels they have been cornered into a conversation they were not prepared to have. Difficult conversations always flow best when both parties feel safe to have the exchange.

Conversation closers

Alternatively, when the conversation is concluding, both parties should feel that they have had ample time to express, and that they have been heard. Something like this may work:

“I really appreciate you having this conversation with me. Is there anything else you would like to discuss?”

“Are we good now?”

I hope these pointers can take the edge off of your next difficult conversation. It probably won’t be nearly as challenging as you anticipate. And just in case it is, you’ll be fully prepared to manage it from beginning to end.

Good luck!

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