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Women Taking the Lead

The Women Taking the Lead podcast is a resource for women leaders, allies, and organizations looking to promote more women into senior leadership. Episode formats include specific leadership challenges, "on-air" coaching with women leaders, and interviews with internal talent and organizational development leaders. Women Taking the Lead inspires women to overcome self-doubt and lead with confidence, integrity and a sense of humor.
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Now displaying: December, 2017
Dec 25, 2017

In the last 100% Jodi episode I shared the first step to creating your goals for 2018: reflecting back on all you’ve accomplished this past year. In this episode I’m going to go over the whole process I use for setting worthy goals so if you’re celebrating Christmas today you may want to save this episode and come back to it in a day or two.

My background is in psychology and I’m one of those people who, after spending 6 years working on my undergraduate and graduate degree, realized I didn’t like where my studies were taking me and so opted for something else.

I was really discouraged and disappointed with where my life had gone and when I took an entry level corporate position I decided I was not going to stay there for long.

However, I thrived in that position and in the next 6 years I was promoted 5 times and it had everything to do with my mindset and my practice of setting goals.

I use this combination of mindset and action goals to help my clients achieve the results that they have been craving without having to work themselves into the ground. The tools and exercises I use with my clients help them to identify their own mindset and start zeroing in on the actions that are going to lead them to their ultimate goal.

Although we’re not getting into mindset here, there are plenty of episodes I’ve released that definitely help you with mindset, for this episode I’m diving into the exercise I’ve been using for the past several years for myself and on occasion with my clients to create goals.

This is not something to rush through so be sure you can dedicate a decent amount of time to give each question some thought.

A Process for  Setting Worthy Goals

Pull out a blank piece of paper or on your electronic device write down and answer the following questions based on the prior year:

1. What were my successes and opportunities (personal and professional)?

If you listened to the last 100% Jodi episode, Before You Choose Your Goals, Do This, you may already have done this.

Do not do this quickly. Really dig deep and look at every area of your life: health, finances, relationships, career, spirituality, personal development, etc. Ask others to help you with this one if you don’t have a good list going. We often dismiss our successes thinking they are no big deal. They are a big deal and they should be acknowledged.

2. What are the lessons I learned?

This may be easier to come up with if you are someone who tends to focus on or beat yourself up over mistakes. Think of the things that happened that prompted you to think, “I won’t be doing that again.”

3. What surprised me?

It's the unexpected that helps us to make our blind spots a little smaller. What results, outcomes, opportunities, or consequences did you not expect - good, bad or neutral?

4. Based on my Values and who I REALLY am, what do I want?

Don’t hold back, be honest about what you want to happen in the coming year. Don’t worry about how it’s going to happen.

You’ll use this section later to calibrate your answers to make sure your goals are worthy of you. These can't be things that incrementally build on the goals you've accomplished (or did not accomplish) last year. These goals must reflect your values and focus on creating, rather than changing, a situation or relationship in your life.

For instance, the goal would not be to lose 10 pounds. A goal that is worthy of you is to wake in the morning feeling refreshed and energized, comfortable in your own skin.

Part of attaining that goal may include changing your nutrition or getting more activity in your day but 10 pounds is arbitrary and does not guarantee you'll feel energized. To feel refreshed and energized in the morning will call on more than diet and exercise and will have a greater ripple effect than the scale moving or your clothing size changing.

Find What Intrigues and Interests you

5. What from the list of answers above informs me how I can recreate any area of my personal or professional life? (Circle or highlight the one’s that stand out)

Of the items you circled or highlighted pick four or five. These are your focus areas in 2018.

Define your overarching goal and set milestones

From here you will create a plan and milestones (or smaller goals) that will help you to achieve your overarching goals. You will also use these focus areas to weigh whether or not to let some things go or take advantage of a new opportunity.

6. Create your goals or metrics based on your focus areas.

For example, you’re focus area may be to increase your income or profitability margin. You’ll want to define what that means. It may be to make to make $5,000 more than last year. A metric may be to ask for a raise, start a side-business or improve your retention rate.

Another example, your focus area may be to run a Spartan race successfully. You’ll first want to define what “successfully” means to you. Based on that definition you’ll create metrics and milestones to help you get there. It may be how fast you can run 5 miles, being able to do pull-ups, etc.

With each goal create an action plan with milestones that will take you to your goal.

Plug in celebrations and rewards for hitting the milestones and get an accountability partner. Having another person who will witness your challenges and successes will motivate you to stay on track.

Make sure the goals you choose reflect your highest values and get you excited. The satisfaction you feel on achieving your goals is directly related to choosing the right goals for you, the ones that stretched you a bit, and how well you executed your plan.

A goal that is worthy of you calls you to express the best parts of you and motivates you to keep going, even when staying on track is tough. And upon reaching a goal that is worth of you, you will feel pure joy.

And if you want to set yourself up for a great new year by playing along with the Tolerations Detox Challenge register here womentakingthelead.com/tolerations.

As always, I hope this was of value to you and here’s to your success!

Thank You to Our Sponsors!

Zebralove Web SolutionsYour website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!

Resources

Private Facebook CommunityChat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!

Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to DoingA simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.

The Accomplished Community: A community of entrepreneurial Type A women uniting to achieve their biggest goals with confidence, integrity and a sense of humor.

Dec 18, 2017

Marie is a veteran of the Portland and Maine media markets, in sales, business development and management positions. She also produced and distributed television programs that received industry acclaim.

Most recently, Marie worked internationally for the Young Presidents’ Organization, the premier Chief Executive Leadership organization in the world - with over 20,000 members. As Director of Integration, she interfaced with business leaders around the world in a myriad of areas including, but not limited to, membership support, event and workshop planning, corporate communication, and creating the first, full-fledged new member integration program from the ground-up.

In this on-air coaching episode Marie needed some clarity around using live video to engage her audience. It was something she resisted and was surprised to find…she loves it! However, she wants to make sure she is doing it purposefully it helps her to forward Daughters of Change and doesn’t become another thing to do.

Although on the surface it appears like we are just talking about live video. However, as is common in the coaching I do, there is a lot more going on under the surface that is keeping Marie from releasing live videos to more than just her friends and family.

Thank you again, Marie, for sharing what you are struggling with right now. And for those of you listening, if you’re experiencing doubts in your business or your career, reach out! This is what I do. I was email corresponding with Nicole Boucher yesterday, who was on the last On-Air Coaching episode and she reported that things have been wonderful over the past few weeks and to quote her, “I feel that I have such a sense of purpose and clarity. I need to blog about my word of the year ("Nourish") and your help in getting me to that place.

Nicole, I cannot wait for you to post that blog. I’m going to blast it everywhere.

Again, if you feel like you’re spinning your wheels because it’s not clear what direction you should take or how to go about making things happen, reach out to me. Email me at jodi @ womentakingthelead.com or message me through any platform. I’m always happy to hear from you!

Marie and I discussed:

  • Being in the “Sandwich generation”
  • Reluctancy with being on camera
  • Facebook Live
  • The importance of being on camera
  • Connecting and interacting with people live

Links

Web: http://www.daughtersofchange.com
Email: msola@daughtersofchange.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/daughtersofchange
Women Taking the Lead Interview: https://womentakingthelead.com/marie-sola/

Thank You to Our Sponsors

Zola Registry: Zola is an all-in-one wedding registry that will do anything for love. Register for the things that you need and want, as well as experiences, cash funds, and honeymoon funds – all in one place! Choose products from their beautifully curated assortment in the Zola store, and ask for contributions towards your honeymoon…or anything at all! To sign up and get a $50 credit towards your registry, click here.

Zebralove Web SolutionsYour website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!

Resources

Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women in the community!

Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to DoingA simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.

The Accomplished Community: A community of entrepreneurial Type A women uniting to achieve their biggest goals with confidence, integrity and a sense of humor.

Subscribe to Women Taking the Lead

If you enjoyed this episode subscribe in iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play Music or iHeart Radio and never miss out on inspiration and community!

Dec 11, 2017

I hope that as you’re listening to this episode you are in a good place physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I hope you are enjoying the season and surrounded with love. This time of year there is greater emphasis on having gratitude for what we have and to be kind to those around us.

I’m going to encourage you to especially be kind to yourself. I know you all are working so hard to hit your goals, to take care of your families and to honor your responsibilities. Just remember, you at your best can get all that done more quickly and easily than the version of you that is over-tired, feeling frazzled or unappreciated; or the you that is fighting off an illness.

Those around you are happy when you’re happy so give them what they want.

Are You Sick of Being Tired?

I also have some exciting news for the New Year. Year after year I, and many of you, experience the post-holidays fatigue. I’ve gotten the low-down from many of you. You’re so wiped from all the activity that you limp into the New Year and don’t hit your groove until late January or even February.

Let’s change that this year. Starting on January 1st I’m going to help you get re-energized within days. I’ve done this work with my clients and it is remarkable how quickly this can help you go from feeling tired and burdened to light, energized and ready for action!

This is a Tolerations Detox. What happens is that over time in our busy lives we begin to tolerate things because we tell ourselves that we don’t have the time or energy to deal with them head on. So we ignore them, put up with them; we try to let go, move on, accept or make peace with these things but consciously or subconsciously they are still bothering us so we have to use some of our energy to try to keep them off our radar.

And when I say we have to use some of energy I mean we have to use some of our energy for each little thing we are tolerating, and the bigger the toleration the more energy it takes. And for some of us we are tolerating so many things we are expending a great deal of energy to keep from getting bogged down by them, to keep up appearance of “everything’s fine” and to stay on top of the important things that need our attention.

As our overall energy becomes depleted we start to feel busier and so we feel like we have even less time and less energy to deal with the things that bother us. These tolerations start to build like plaque and clog up our energy system.

Want to Get Back Your Energy?

To explain away our lack of energy and lack of ability to focus and engage, we say things like “It’s because I’m getting older” or “I’ve just been so busy” or “the weather is bringing me down” or, “I think I have adult ADD.”

At the end of the day you’re probably baffled by how tired you are and wonder how other people get the energy to get in a workout, go out with friends, or work on a hobby or project after dinner. While you are sitting on the couch watching TV because it’s the time you can check out and unplug from the day.

What I’m going to tell you, and I want you to sit with this, is you have as much energy as all those people. You could also be waking up in the morning jumping out of bed, rocking your day and spending your evenings doing whatever you like, whatever you find fulfilling.

What I have for you that will help you get back your energy is a Tolerations Detox Challenge.

This Challenge will kick off on January 1st and every other day for 10 days I’m going to guide you through identifying all the little and big things you are tolerating in your life, your home, your finances, your relationships, your work and even your car or mode of transportation; not all at once, we’re going to do this little by little and I’m going to share with you how to remove the tolerations in a way that feels good to you. I’m not going to ask you to do anything that you’re not ready to do.

You’ll do this process at your pace. You’ll have a couple of days in between each challenge to remove a couple of tolerations (or more if you’re so motivated). Let me tell you, once you do a few you’re going to feel a difference and it’s going to feel great.

If you are interested in playing along with this challenge go to womentakingthelead.com/tolerations to register. Let’s kick off the New Year with a bang and with an abundance of good energy. Go to womentakingthelead.com/tolerations to sign up for the Tolerations Detox Challenge.

Pre-work to Goal Setting

Last week I promised to take you through a goal-setting process I use for myself and my clients. Today, we’re going to take the first step.

Years ago, my coach and I were talking about my goals for the coming year. Before I got into the list I had created she asked if I had captured all my accomplishments from the previous year.

It gave me pause and at first I resisted the notion.

All I could think was, "great, another task." It reminded me of preparing for my own performance reviews in the past and that thought brought me no pleasure. It felt like I had to prove I had been productive and valuable in the past year. That was a turn off.

Then she explained the reason she was asking. She said, "Often times I find I've accomplished way more than I would have given myself credit for at first glance. It's so easy to forget the small victories you've had along the way when you're focused on all the obstacles that still need to be faced to achieve the big goal."

She was right. When I started to create the list I started with the obvious. That year I had survived my second corporate acquisition with my sanity intact, for the most part. I became certified as a professional coach, started my business, took my first paying clients and performed a comedy skit in front of 150 people and received a standing ovation.

Then I started remembering the less obvious accomplishments.  There was a relationship with one of my sisters that had previously been on life support was transformed that year, I developed amazing connections with fellow coaches and business owners, I changed my coaching niche...etc.

Quiet Your Inner Critic

It had the desired effect. I was awed at what an amazing year I had, amazed at who I became in the process and grateful for all that I had faced.

Reflecting on and writing down your achievements is like a booster shot in the arm.

Giving yourself the credit you deserve increases your confidence, quiets the critical voice in your head and energizes you to go after bigger goals.

The first step to creating your goals for next year is to start with what you've achieved this past year. What worked for you? What went well? Even if it was unexpected, write it down!

We are all capable of more than we give ourselves credit for. Celebrating and remembering all our victories great and small will get us that much closer to reaching our full potential.

Do yourself a favor, take the time to sit still and reflect on the most important thing in your life: you.

And if you want to set yourself up for a great new year by playing along with the Tolerations Detox Challenge go to womentakingthelead.com/tolerations to register.  Again, that’s womentakingthelead.com/tolerations.

As always, I hope this was of value to you and here’s to your success!

Thank You to Our Sponsors!

Zebralove Web SolutionsYour website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!

Resources

Private Facebook CommunityChat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!

Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to DoingA simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.

The Accomplished Community: A community of entrepreneurial Type A women uniting to achieve their biggest goals with confidence, integrity and a sense of humor.

Dec 7, 2017

We are now in December and it is getting chilly here in Maine but I’m getting excited for Christmas. What’s been fun has been chatting with those of you in the Facebook group who are in the southern hemisphere. As I’m posting about the cooling temperatures you are getting ready for some hot days. I love that this podcast has allowed me to connect with so many amazing people all over the globe. I feel blessed and I’m looking forward to meeting more of you in the year to come.

Speaking of the year to come I have an episode coming next week that will start you thinking about goals. Tis the season for goal setting but I’m not a believer in jumping right in and setting arbitrary goals. I have a process I am going to take you through over a couple of episodes that will make sure the goals you set will inspire you and be worthy of you.

In the meantime, I want to talk to you about the assessment tool I use in my business because I don’t think I’ve given it its proper due up until this point.

Be in the Know!

I am licensed to administer the Energy Leadership Index Assessment. This is a one-of-a-kind attitudinal assessment that acts as a mirror to reveal your perceptions, attitudes, behaviors and overall leadership capabilities – as they currently are. Because attitude is subjective it can be altered and get you the results your looking for. But the first step is awareness and the Energy Leadership Assessment provides that.

This assessment is administered online – so you can do it when it is convenient for you – and it takes about 20 minutes to complete. You’ll then have access to my calendar to schedule a 75-minute debrief of your results. You get a report that breaks out 7 levels of awareness and we are going to go through each one and identify what perceptions, attitudes and behaviors are holding you back and what ones are working for you that you can lean into.

I have administered this assessment to over 100 people and the common reactions are amazement, relief that there are simple solutions to common problems and a feeling that the future holds a lot more opportunity than what was previously perceived.

Although I commonly use the assessment as a beginning to a coaching package or a lead in to a strategy session it can be a stand-alone opportunity to identify some hidden areas of opportunity that you have overlooked.

I can’t stress enough this assessment and debrief is powerful and well worth the money. If you are ready to do this next year differently, with better results and less stress, contact me at Jodi at Women Taking the Lead dot com.

Changes to Ensure Better Content

Next on the agenda that I wanted to let you know is there is going to be a frequency change to the podcast. I am now going to be releasing one episode per week. This is coming about for a couple of reasons. Taking on doing a 100% Jodi episode each week has been awesome and taxing. I don’t want the quality of these episodes to slip so I’m going to weave in some natural breaks.

Also, I’ve been getting feedback from all of you about the episodes that are hitting home for you and providing the most value. Everyone agrees the interviews are good and there’s always a nugget of wisdom, if not more, to walk away with. You are loving the 100% Jodi episodes, thank you, and the On-Air Coaching episodes are blowing your mind. Awesome!

Taking all that in and the new frequency of one episode per week, here’s what it’s going to look like. I will release one interview episode per month, one On-Air Coaching episode per month and the other weeks will be 100% Jodi episodes.

I think this will give the right mix of content that you are looking for and that I can provide.

Now, to do one On-Air Coaching episode per month I am going to need volunteers from the community. What I am asking is that those who volunteer either have read my book, taken the assessment or done private coaching with me. This will ensure that the content of the coaching episode stay focused on the intent of the podcast: to help you overcome self-doubt so you lead with confidence, integrity and a sense of humor.

If you meet this criteria reach out to me. I am scheduling virtual coffee chats with volunteers so we can meet, talk about what the experience will be like and answer any questions. Email me at Jodi at Women Taking the Lead dot com.

Changes are good!

Wow, there have been many changes made since launching Women Taking the Lead over 2 ½ years ago. I can’t think of a change that was initiated by the feedback in this community that didn’t result in a better quality podcast. Continue to give me your feedback and I promise to continue to do my best to make the changes that will provide everyone what they need.

I found this quote by Pearl Zhu. “Change shouldn’t be treated as a singular occurrence when it is an ongoing, continued process and dynamic capability within the organization.” I believe that! Rather than seeing change as a bad thing we can see thought out changes as opportunities for growth, experimenting, finding efficiencies and getting better results.

Having said that, I’ve got one more thought for the Energy Leadership Index Assessment. If there are some changes you know you need to make but you’ve been hesitating or resisting them this assessment could be the catalyst that will make those changes much easier. Get this done before the New Year and I guarantee your 2018 will be much more fulfilling than your 2017.

I hope this was of value to you and here’s to your success!!

Thank You to Our Sponsors!

Zebralove Web SolutionsYour website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!

Resources

Private Facebook CommunityChat, share and collaborate with other women listening to the podcast!

Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to DoingA simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.

The Accomplished Community: A community of entrepreneurial Type A women uniting to achieve their biggest goals with confidence, integrity and a sense of humor.

Dec 4, 2017

Suzanne Anderson is a change agent for women change makers. As a psychologist, author, executive coach, speaker and transformational facilitator she has dedicated the past 15 years of her career in leadership development to decoding an embodied, integral and accelerated pathway to awaken consciousness and leadership capacity in women. In her global online programs and retreats she guides women to do the deep work of upgrading their inner operating systems and becoming a match for these complex times. She is the co­author of the award­-winning book The Way of the Mysterial Woman: Upgrading How you Live, Love and Lead.

Click to tweet: @MysterialWoman is sharing her story to inspire you on Women Taking the Lead https://womentakingthelead.com/244 #inspiration

Playing Small Moment

At the end of 2012, Suzanne was preparing for a huge launch for the new year. It was time to take what she knew and bring it out into the world. A few days into January, Suzanne’s world came crashing down as she came home to find her husband dead. Within 6 months, her life had drastically contracted, when she had expected expansion, and everything she considered the most dear was gone. Through it all, Suzanne’s center held, even though she had never felt so uncertain.

Style of Leadership

Suzanne’s leadership is Mysterial. She brings together the feminine and masculine principles and embraces the capacity to unfold the emergent.

What Are You Excited About?

Suzanne is excited about her transition into the online world. When the online world wasn’t as present, Suzanne had a vision of 144,000 Mysterial Women. At the time she didn’t know how she would achieve those numbers, as most of her work in the past was based around retreats. Now with the worldwide online community, Suzanna can see her vision coming to life.

Current Business Challenge

Though Suzanne is excited about the online world, she finds it challenging to get her name out there in order to reach those 144,000 women.

Leadership Practice

Suzanne starts each day with what she calls her Morning Flow. “How we enter into the day has everything to do with what actually unfolds in the day.”

Advice For Younger Self

“I know it doesn’t feel like you belong, but your time is coming. Keep following the thread of your destiny. You were born for these times and we are getting you ready for what you need to do.”

Inspirational Quote

“The place life calls you to, where the most aliveness is, is where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” ~Frederick Buechner

Links

Website: mysterialwoman.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Suzanne.Anderson.MysterialWoman/
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mysterialwoman/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mysterialwoman/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MysterialWoman

Thank You to Our Sponsors

ThirdLove: Tired of compromising comfort, ThirdLove® set out to create a better bra. Armed with research and a lot of opinions, they scrapped the standard bra cup size molds—literally broke them!—and developed their own half-cup sizes based on real women’s measurements. Check out ThirdLove today!

Zebralove Web SolutionsYour website tells a story about your business! At Zebralove Web Solutions, Milly and her team are going to make sure your website tells the story you want your customers to hear. Connect with Milly at zebralovewebsolutions.com to create the impression you want to make!

Resources

Private Facebook Community: Chat, share and collaborate with other women in the community!

Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to DoingA simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.

The Accomplished Community: A community of entrepreneurial Type A women uniting to achieve their biggest goals with confidence, integrity and a sense of humor.

Subscribe to Women Taking the Lead

If you enjoyed this episode subscribe in iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play Music or iHeart Radio and never miss out on inspiration and community!

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