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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: May, 2018
May 28, 2018

This is the month-end episode; that means an update on goals. This month I’m going to review my goals from the perspective of being vs. doing.

Many of us believe that if we are not getting the results we are looking for it means we have to work harder. Although there are some cases where this might be true I believe, especially in this community of go-getting women, more often than not it means we have to shift who we are being as we take action toward our goals.

It’s more than just “work smarter not harder” but that can be a part of it too. It’s about the attitude you bring, your self-awareness and your presence as you do what needs to be done. Or – hold onto your hats – it’s who you are being as you step back and allow others to take action on your behalf.

I’ll go through each of my goals and explain it more as I talk about the progress or lack of progress I’ve made in the past month.

May was a busy month with The Accomplished Intensive wrapping up the first week, The Maine Women’s Conference happening the second week, a slew of corporate training in the third week and all the meetings that could not happen in the 2nd and 3rd weeks landing in the fourth week of May.

Even with all the craziness I feel like I’ve made progress and it definitely has helped to keep my goals top of mind even as I’m working on other things.

Goal #1 Build more strength and endurance

The original goal for strength and endurance was to do 300 Spartan-regulation burpees in good form in one session by June 30 but I completed that in February. My burpee goal is now at 1000 burpees. Separately, I have a goal to do an unassisted pull-up before the end of this year.

I have not done a great job of incorporating the pull-ups into my workout so I’m adding a task to my calendar each day to prompt me to at least do a few assisted pull-ups with the band.

As of the day I’m recording this episode I have completed doing 600 Spartan-regulation burpees (chest to ground) in good form in one workout session.

Doing so many burpees in one workout each week has been a little hard on my body. I recently remembered that when I was training for the marathon the program I used had the long run scheduled every other week and on the weeks in between the distance would be half what the previous long run was.

For instance, if my long run of 14 miles happened today, next week I would run 7, and the week after I would run 16 miles and the week after that it would be 8.

After I remembered that I decided that is how I am going to do my burpee workouts. Rather than add 25 burpees to my workout session each week I’ll add 50 burpees every other week and half the burpees on the weeks in between. This will give my body more time to recover after pushing my wall.

I did 600 burpees in one session 2 weeks ago, 300 last week and this week I’ll do 650.

This is an example of working smarter.

The added benefit of doing these halved workouts on the weeks in between is I can compare my current time with my original time. For instance, when I did 300 burpees in February it took me 56:36. Last week it took me 52:22, shaving 4:14 off my time.

That felt good to see and showed the progress I’ve made with my fitness.

Another thing that has made a difference in my workouts was my mentality. Who I “Be” during my workouts is “this is happening and I’m lucky I have the ability to do this many burpees.”

This impacts my presence creating one of calm confidence as I’m doing the burpees.

Full transparency: this is not the presence I wake up that morning. I’m usually feeling a little anxious about what I’m going to put myself through. But if you’ve ever trained for an endurance event you know how critical it is to have a positive frame of mind.

Did you know your body responds to your frame of mind?

When I work out, if I start thinking about the things that are stressing me out or my mind starts floating toward negative thoughts I immediately have a harder time catching my breath and my muscles start to cramp up. It’s amazing biofeedback and it is fascinating!

So, as I’m preparing to do my workout I shift my attitude and I get it done without any mental suffering.

Attitude and presence impact your ability to take action toward your goals. Keep that in mind!

Goal #4 Do a Women Taking the Lead branded full-day event in the summer or fall

In October, which is breast cancer awareness month, I will be collaborating with Emily leRoux, the Spartan Women Global Leader of Spartan Races, Inc. to do a “Burpees for Boobs” event. I am going to coordinate the event here in Maine but the intention is to have these events happening globally in October.

Now that the work for The Maine Women’s Conference and the corporate workshops has slowed a bit I’m shifting my focus to this event. I am currently in the process of scheduling a call with Emily leRoux to begin coordinating this event.

I’ve also aligned with Marie Sola of Daughters of Change to make this event happen. We are both excited. Marie says she’s never done a burpee in her life but she is looking forward to learning. I hope she’s still in after she’s done a few burpees.

I’ll admit, in the time I’ve had to put this goal on the backburner, I have had random defeating thoughts like, “can I really make this happen?” and “what if this completely flops?”

I’ve come to realize I need to take the same attitude I’ve taken on for my burpee workouts, “this is happening and I’m lucky I have the ability and the network to make this happen.”

That feels better!

Goal #3 Increase profitability in my business

Goal: have a net income (earnings minus expenses) of $80,000 minimum this year.

April’s Profit and Loss report showed a net profit of $2730.41, slightly lower than March’s profit and still far off from the average $6700/month required to see a net profit of $80,000.

In June I’ll be participating in two strategy sessions with my mastermind group to take a look at this goal and what it’s going to take to achieve it.

I realize I still have stories around selling and conveying value. One of my struggles is my ideal client is a busy, overworked woman. It is not uncommon for someone to reach out to me to explore coaching, they want to work with me but then all the things I can help them with come up and cause them to put coaching on the back burner.

It’s tragic when I hear back from some of these women a little further down the road and nothing has changed. Or more gut-wrenching, things have gotten worse.

There are definitely some actions I can take to tweak my packages, offerings and my website but I know the big piece of this is going to be shifting who I am being when I am chatting with a potential client.

I know there are instances when I am so conscious of not coming off salesy or pushy that I undermine my own calm and confidence. I know when my coaching process is the solution to someone’s biggest problems and I have to be very clear about that and also clear about the cost of putting off the solution.

It’s a dance but I know that by shifting who I am being in those conversations I can do it gracefully and be a support to the women whom I most love to help.

Goal # 5 Outsourcing

Goal: (contingent upon profitability goal) to outsource social media content creation and email inbox management.

I’m going to hold space for this goal. I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself because I know without a doubt that once my profitability goal gains some traction this is a done deal!

Who I am being in regard to my outsourcing goal is “This is happening. Oh yes it is!”

Goal #2 Be in a committed monogamous relationship with a man

I’m still doing the do. Most traction is happening on the dating app – no surprise there. I’m making connections and planning dates. I’ve also got a couple of friends who know someone they want to fix me up with and I have granted my permission for them to coordinate introductions.

You have to be careful with this because sometimes who your friends see you with is not the person that you see yourself with. I’ve been on some odd blind dates in the past and I am typically not a fan of blind dates. However, given the conversations I’ve had with my friends I’ve felt comfortable giving the “go ahead.”

With this goal I am staying in the arena, as Brené Brown has described it, and seeing it through even though it is difficult for me. I had an experience this past month that played into all my old stories about men: that they are not straightforward, they don’t tell the whole truth and the truth they leave out is the truth that would have been REALLY important for you to know.

This one shook me to my core, partially because I was worn out from a couple other things pulling at my energy, and partially because the man was a person I thought would be completely honest with me.

For about a week up was down and down was up. I questioned how much I could trust my own judgment in people because I’d had complete faith in this man to be a friend and be completely honest with me.

I’ve mostly made peace with it and energetically forgave but talking about it even vaguely with you is causing some emotion to come up again.

Historically this is when I would check out and decide finding a partner was not important to me. 

I would decide it was not worth the negative impact is was having on my energy and mindset which would have a ripple effect on my career, my business and my overall wellness.

So, I’m in the arena. I’ve been knocked around a bit but I’m still in the game and I’m proud of myself for that.

Who I am calling myself forth to be is soft, open, loving, calm, confident and playful. It is a practice but it is worth it.

One thing that has helped me with my stress level, my self-awareness, my attitude and my presence is the work I’ve done with the Energy Leadership Assessment. This is a vital tool I use for myself and in my business to get to the heart of what keeps me from naturally expressing who I am: calm, confident, powerful, playful and loving.

The Energy Leadership Assessment is at the heart of the work I do with my clients and is the reason they start having crazy ah-ha moments right away and can see impactful progress within weeks or even days of beginning to work together.

If you’ve been spinning your wheels and working harder and harder to make progress toward your goals I’m going to suggest that it’s not what you’re doing or not doing that’s holding you back it’s who you are being, and you are not being your best self.

If you are interested in finding out more go to womentakingthelead.com/coaching. There you can also purchase the assessment for yourself which will give you the information you need to achieve your biggest goals with a lot more ease.

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.

May 21, 2018

Zoe MacLaren is a fundraiser, thought-raiser, and spiritual activist who inspires women to reconnect with the unique difference they were born to make. Over the last two years, Zoe has helped raise over $1M collectively for non-profits, start-ups, and budding visionaries who are making a positive social impact for women, children, and families throughout the world.

Zoe was recently named Director of Programs and Development for yogaHOPE, a Boston nonprofit that empowers women to become catalysts for positive change in their lives, families, and communities. She is also a licensed facilitator and trainer of yogaHOPE's revolutionary trauma recovery program, TIMBo, an integrative mind-body method for healing trauma that helps women regain agency over their bodies and empowers them to share what they’ve learned with others around them. Cutting across socio-economic divides, TIMBo has transformed the lives of thousands of women in developing countries like Haiti and Kenya, as well as high-need populations of women in the United States, including prisons, state hospitals, homeless and domestic violence shelters, substance treatment centers, and more.   

Zoe and I discussed:

  • Transformation in many forms.
  • Non-profit organizations
  • Authenticity and unlocking potential
  • Presence in the world
  • Self worth
  • Building a personal brand

Links

Zoe:
Instagram – @spiritual_action 
Facebook – Zoe LeVan MacLaren
Email – zmaclaren@yhtimbo.org 

Links to yogaHOPE:
Instagram - @yhtimbo and @yh_timbo_global
Facebook – yogaHOPE 
Website: www.yhtimbo.org

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 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.

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!

May 14, 2018

Last week was such a wild week and I am still absorbing all the goodness.

To catch you up quickly a week ago I had a chance to meet Marianne Williamson for the first time and to see her speak. If you don’t know it is her words that I am quoting at the end of every episode of this podcast.

I heard that quote almost 20 years ago and it would bring me to tears every time I heard it. It has been hanging in my home and it is at the core of my personal mission.

I am talking with someone on her team this week about having Marianne on the podcast so please send some good energy, thoughts and prayers my way.

What Happened When We All Came Together

Days later an event that I have been involved in creating for the past 2 ½ years came to be. The inaugural event of The Maine Women’s Conference went down on Wednesday, May 9, 2018.

I’m getting emotional because as I’m writing this because I am still trying to take in all that happened before, during and after the event and what it means to me.

When I look back on my greatest and most meaningful accomplishments there isn’t one that I can think of that I did on my own. It has always been in collaboration that I have produced the things of which I am most proud.

I and the other women on the board for The Maine Women’s Conference knew we had poured our hearts and souls into this event, we knew we were being supported by amazingly talented women on our committees and other volunteers who wanted this day to be something special.

We knew all the details, and there were thousands of details, and we knew there was a growing curiosity and excitement for this event.

What we didn’t know was how blown away we were all going to be on the day it all came together. The board, the vendors, the speakers, the sponsors and the attendees experienced a day of energy, support, encouragement, celebration and a call to something greater.

At one point in the morning it was all starting to seem so surreal I didn’t know what to think or feel anymore and I had to consciously stay in a state of both service of the women in attendance and in receiving as woman after woman wanted to congratulate me, thank me and tell me how this event had exceeded their expectations.

Now, were there somethings that could have been better? Yes!

Things can always be better - it's no reason to declare failure

There’s always room for improvement. Something we already knew going into the event that we wished we had had the time, money, energy and other resources to make happen and there were somethings we learned as we were executing the day.

We are also collecting some great feedback and suggestions for next year from those in attendance. If you were at The Maine Women’s Conference and you haven’t filled out the survey you would have received via email please fill it out! We want all voices to be heard.

As much as I am dancing on cloud 9 and feel so gratified I could cry I know there were hundreds of people, men and women that contributed to the success of this event.

Even in the microcosm of the board of 9 women I can clearly see that without the commitment, passion, vision, skills and expertise, willingness at times to voice a dissenting opinion, and willingness at times to concede this event would not have been half of what it was.

I also don’t want to gloss over the journey. Day of we were a united team and a force to be reckoned with but it wasn’t always that way. Most of us were strangers to each other when we began working together.

And, our board had a rocky start. There was a lot of turnover in the beginning and that lead much of the community at large to believe that we weren’t going to make it.

The rumors became so strong at one point that I had several conversations with women in my network who expressed surprise to hear I was still working on the conference because they had gotten it on “good authority” that the conference was cancelled.

Team development is rarely a pretty process

With any team there are four stages of development. They are forming, storming, norming and performing. Forming is when the group members are identified and come together. Storming is the stage of tension and differing opinions as the group tries to figure out its identity, shared values, common goals, roles within the group and overall team dynamic. Norming is the stage after when all of that has been decided and accepted, consciously or unconsciously, and performing is the final stage when, because time and energy is now freed up to deliver on the purpose of the team.

With our turnover and fledgling relationships with each other we went through the first 2-3 stages of team development several times.

In the process we also went from being an annual event to needing to become a 501(c)(3) because we could not find a fiscal sponsor to manage sponsorship and donations on our behalf.

I say all this because I know there are times when you are going after a big goal and you wonder if it’s worth it. There are times when you leave a meeting where no one seemed to agree and you wonder if you can take it much longer. Maybe you’ve heard through the grapevine that people are betting you’re going to fail.

I want you to know that it is all part of it. It is so normal it’s ridiculous. And to keep on a recent theme, it’s all part of The Dip. But there is the other side of The Dip and it is an experience like no other and you can share it with everyone who was with you in The Dip.         

In Summation...                                        

Don’t be afraid of big goals. The secret to achieving big goals is to surround yourself with other positive doers that would like to join you on your journey. Some may make a small contribution; some may be there for only parts of the journey, while others will be there the whole way with you also pouring their hearts and souls into the work.

And to be clear, although I loved the idea of someday attending a women’s conference in Maine, I did not initiate this idea. Someone else came forward and declared they wanted this to be and was I interested in being a part of it. I was recruited but the goal was also my own. That’s how it works and that’s how great things happen.

Don’t go it alone. Amazing things happen when we do this together.

As always I hope this was helpful to you and here’s to your success!

Thank You to Our Sponsors!

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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.

May 7, 2018

Keisha Reynolds is an expert marketer and project management strategist. She developed skills within a 20-year career mastering being a spokesperson, handling media crisis, implementing project schedules, developing strategies, writing speeches and articles, executing events and managing online tools for nonprofits, corporate businesses and government agencies.

Keisha uses her skills to coach inspirational business owners and entrepreneurs to “next level” their brands through increased visibility and comprehensive strategies.

She lives in Maryland with her husband and son. Outside of spending time with her family, Keisha enjoys creative writing and running her podcast, Global Warriors.

Playing Small Moment

Keisha had always followed other people’s rules and thought that in order to be successful, she had to follow the path that many others had taken. Keisha was on the path that her parents had wanted her to follow, and was successful by many standards, but realized something was missing. While doing research for a children’s book she was writing, Keisha stumbled upon an internship in Tanzania offered by Jane Goodall. Keisha wasn’t sure if she would be accepted, but the opportunity both scared and excited her and she was determined to apply. Being accepted into that internship changed Keisha’s life.

Style of Leadership

Like most others, Keisha’s leadership style has changed over time and now that she trusts herself more, she would call herself an intuitive leader. Teamwork has also always been very important to Keisha, and she doesn’t try to hide in the background anymore.

What Are You Excited About?

In the past, Keisha’s marketing business and spirituality have always been separate. After attending a recent business conference, she was inspired to embrace her spirituality to help change the world. Keisha is excited about her new interview series featuring well-known influencers as they talk about how they are using their message to transform others. Two ideas that were once very separate to her have come together and given her a new way to think about marketing.

Current Business Challenge

Now that Keisha is working one-on-one with more entrepreneurs and change makers, she struggles with ways to get her message across to more people without taking away from the experience. Family, freedom and travel are all still very important to Keisha, and she doesn’t want to take away from those things, but wants to spread her knowledge.

Leadership Practice

Meditation is key to keeping Keisha level in her daily routine. When Keisha taps into that divine energy source, she has a better reaction to unexpected things that happen to pop up during the day.

Advice For Younger Self

“Be authentic.” In the past, Keisha would strive to be what others wanted her to be, but always had the best results when she was true to herself.

Inspirational Quote

“There is something inside of us that transcends the human experience of race, and culture, and class, and for me thats the human spirit.”

Links

Website: http://www.keishareynolds.com/
Podcast: http://globalwarriors.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/keishamreynolds
Instagram: @keishamreynolds
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keisha-reynolds-80680020/

Thank You to Our Sponsors

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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.

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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