Debra Kasowski, Author at Debra Kasowski

Episode 50 – Being an Effective Communicator

December 6, 2016 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABZiHdyAQ-c[/embedyt]

Robyn’s “Lightening captured in a bottle that zaps you into a new way of thinking…”

Everyday communication is like mixing up chemicals. Sometimes it creates exciting discoveries… sometimes it just blows up!

Robyn Hatcher, communication expert and author, knows successful communication is the life blood of any thriving organization. Robyn’s cultivated a formula to transform weak communication skills into potent business gold.

Her 15 plus years as a professional actress and her experience as a certified Neural Linguistic Programming practitioner, give her a powerful combination of creative tools and scientific research.

Now, as owner and CEO of SpeakEtc., she delivers the brain science hacks that help business leaders command a room; galvanize a team and become a catalyst for change.

Robyn has elevated the communication skills for Fortune 500 companies and noteworthy brands, including Lifetime Television, Jones New York, AXA, UBS, Hewlett-Packard and others. Robyn’s first book, Standing Ovation Presentations (Motivational Press, 2013), contains a unique communication style system called ActorType s . and was named on Forbes.com as one of 2015’s Top 100 Coaching Books.

Robyn wants everyone to become more powerful, engaging and confident communicators.

Time: 43:23 min

Keywords: Communication, body language, effective communicator, Tone of voice, networking, networking etiquette, language, labels, podcast

How to Do More with Less on Your Next Project

December 3, 2016 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

No matter what the project is, it seems as though everyone is asking to do more with less. There seems to be increasing pressures on scarce resources and demands on time. Team members are becoming exhausted and overworked and morale and motivation of the team are going down. Is it even possible to do more with less without impacting quality?

When it comes to doing more with less, it really comes down to being efficient and productive and paying attention to the smaller details. How do we do that? We do this by examining the processes, the resources, the demands, the risks, and the timelines. No one wants to sacrifice the quality of their work as it impacts the reputation of being known for delivering the end results. If you manage a project, you know that you need to really streamline your deliverables and processes all while continuing to motivate your team and keep your stakeholders informed. You must be focused to ensure that none of the deliverables that you are juggling fall out of place.

There are several things that you can do to become more productive and do more with less:

Take on fewer projects on or prioritize deliverables. It is important to identify what is critical to a project to get the outcome desired. It is about keeping things simple in a complex system. Using smart goals to map out the plan.
Communicate with your team and your stakeholders on a regular basis. It is important to clarify responsibilities, processes, expectations, and the delivery of feedback. Everyone needs to be kept in the loop. It is also important to communicate what roles and responsibilities need to be delegated to ensure the team is focused on their strengths and what they’re going to be delivering.
Eliminate any waste by using lean thinking. Clear off your plate of any unfinished projects and determine if they’re still important. Delegate them if you need to. Eliminate any distractions so that you are completely focused on the work at hand. It is recommended that you keep a time log or journal of the time spent on deliverables. You will be surprised at where some of the time wasted actually goes. Remember to ensure that people are given the appropriate role and responsibility to carry out what needs to be done.
Brainstorm your options with your team and stakeholders. When times need to be tighter because everyone has a certain amount of money and resources to work with, you will need to get creative and innovative with your solutions. Draw on the experience and expertise of your people. They are your secret weapon.
Make effective decisions. Gather your facts, statistics, and information. Learn what your team members think and feel about the options available and gain an understanding of the emotions involved in the decision. Ask yourself if you are bottlenecking the process because you have the need to approve every detail. Can you offload some of the responsibility to your team members?
Measure and manage your deliverables and outcomes. What you measure can be managed. Keep track of time, money, and the efforts of your people. Readjust your course accordingly as you evaluate at certain milestones along the way.
Keep your team motivated. Celebrate the launch of your projects. Take time to acknowledge and praise your team members and your team’s accomplishments. You need to create a compelling vision that your team will be inspired by. They need to feel a part of the vision and that their role is meaningful and important in getting to the end result.

As you are working with your teams and stakeholders, you will be able to develop creative and innovative solutions in learning how to do more with less. In times of change, you may feel that is all you are doing. There may be times that you will be surprised by how much you can get done and have a team that is truly satisfied with the quality of their work and the efforts they put in. How are you going to do more with less on your next project?

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free mp3 download today! www.debrakasowski.com

Episode 49: Creating the Collaborative Advantage

December 1, 2016 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”
― Helen Keller

The saying “If you can’t beat them join them.” holds true when it comes to creating the collaborative advantage. The collaborative advantage is the ability to form beneficial and rewarding relationships with other businesses and organizations. When forming a collaboration, it is important to create a relationship that has mutual benefits in which both feel like they’ve achieved a win-win toward meeting their goals. It’s not a trade-off that if I do this for you that you will do this for me that’s not true collaboration. Many partnerships are screened for their financial contribution, however in their missing the key piece in a successful collaboration-the people.

Commitment can be high in collaboration when the value is available to both parties in a joint venture or partnership that are not in direct competition but actually complement each other. There can be barriers preventing collaboration. The barriers may occur with shared values and goals as well as behaviours. Having shared values is a good thing, there are times when collaborators try to please each other and they’re afraid to call things out when something goes wrong. Behaviours that can impact the collaboration are not seeking help or asking for help when needed, having the belief that you need to solve it all yourself, and also you may face people who were unwilling to help.

Even though we’re looking for cooperation, collaboration should not be confused with teamwork. Teamwork is when you work together to meet a common goal or vision whereas collaboration is when you work together to meet your individual or organizational goals. For example, you may see a car manufacturing company collaborate with the sound system company to ensure high-quality sound systems in their vehicles. They are working together for the interests of their own organizations. In working together you are gaining new perspectives and have the ability to brainstorm creative and innovative solutions.

“As a collaborative leader, you support people in their work—you remove roadblocks and help them win.”
― Kenneth H. Blanchard

There may be times when you need to know when not collaborate with others. There is a cost to collaborating that sometimes people don’t consider resources, money, and time. Learn and forecasts your return on investment.

There are times when the collaborative advantage is more valuable than a competitive advantage. You get to expand your network and available resources. Creating the collaborative advantage requires strategic intent. It’s important to listen and understand align with the needs of each business and organization. There has to be a commitment to the partnership.

This partnership or collaboration creates accountability and you have an opportunity to learn from each other. This is paramount. It is important to have agreements in writing as to what each partner is willing to do and not do. There needs to trust that each partner is working for the best interest of working together even though they are working for their own business and organizational gain. Boundaries need to be in place. You may even consider having an exit strategy where partners have permission to withdraw from the partnership.
Business and organizational relationships are no different than personal relationships. People need to know like and trust a business or organization before they plan to do any business with it. Conflicts and misunderstandings may occur. It is important to recognize that each party may have their own opinions and it is okay to respectfully disagree. You will just need to work together in figuring out a solution.

“When people feel trusted, they’ll begin to understand they are contributors–and you’ll get great ideas and happy people.”
― Eunice Parisi-Carew

It’s important to note that when you take the time to get to know the people of the organization that you will be able to have more influence than if you would just looking at the financial advantage. As you get to know the strengths and talents of each partner, you will be able to recognize ways to leverage it to your advantage. When someone finds you relatable based on having a family or pets or a similar hobby, they may be more apt to choose you over a competitor because you show up as a person first. A collaboration that brings out the best in each partner ends up creating a competitive advantage.

Questions to Ask Yourself When Creating a Collaborative Advantage:

How will this get me closer to my goals or my organization’s goals?
What is my level of commitment to creating this collaborative advantage?
What would I like to learn from this partnership?
How will we hold each other accountable?
In what ways, can we encourage co-operation within our teams?
What are the boundaries that need to be in place?
How can this collaboration bring out the best in us?
What are the needs of my partner and how can I understand how I can help them fulfil those needs?

Who would you like to create a collaborative advantage with? Accelerate your results by collaborating with others.

We would love to have you subscribed to the Success Secrets newsletter on my website at www.debrakasowski.com where you’re going to get us free MP3 download 10 Surefire Strategies to Power Up Your Productivity and Performance. I would love to hear about this podcast has impacted your life. E-mail me at Debra@DebraKasowski.com. Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Woman Show where we talk about leadership, business, and human potential to help you live rich from the inside out. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Share it with Your Friends. Give us a 5-star rating!

Time: 09:03 min

Keywords: collaboration, collaboration advantage, cooperation, working together, collaborating with clients, sustainability, competitive advantage, accountability, creating a collaborative advantage

Why Having a Plan B is Holding Your Success Hostage

November 30, 2016 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

Many people believe that if Plan A doesn’t work out it’s great to have a Plan B in your back pocket. When I was growing up, it was important to have a backup plan and if Plan B didn’t work you would go down the alphabet that all the way to down to Plan Z. Plan B can actually be a barrier and hinder your success. You could actually be setting yourself up for failure. Just because you hit some obstacles with Plan A doesn’t mean you automatically have to jump to Plan B or give up on Plan A altogether. This obstacle may be giving you the extra time you need to really think things through and decide how to move forward. It may be challenging you and testing whether or not you truly are as passionate about Plan A as you say you are. This test is one of commitment.

Quit holding yourself hostage from achieving your goals and start being the person you wish to show up as in the world. Plan A is only successful as the actions you take to make it become reality. No action, no results. Plan B becomes the default plan. It is where a person goes when they think that they’re not there to be successful.

“There’s no reason to have a plan B because it distracts from plan A.”― Will Smith

Let’s call Plan A your “true goal” or “ultimate outcome”. If you spend time focusing or creating Plan B, you are no longer spending your time and attention on what you really want which is Plan A. Your energy and attention will be focused on creating a successful Plan B should Plan A not work out. Your passion will wane because you will start beginning to think that Plan A is not likely to happen and you will be less motivated to put in the effort to make Plan A become a reality.

You cannot truly build a successful plan a while you are building Plan B at the same time. When your attention and focus are split and therefore you’re not putting in the 100% effort into either plan. In order to succeed, you need to be able to put your full attention and focus on your end goal. Your end goal is your target of what you’re aiming for. When having two plans and two targets, you can lose focus on where you want to put your time and energy and get off track. Eventually, you will see Plan B start gaining some traction. Opportunities and successes will arrive and you will look longingly and Plan A and wonder, “What happened? This is not what I really wanted.”

If you catch yourself spending more time than you thought focused on Plan B, it is time to stop and evaluate where you are. Make a decision to focus on Plan A. You will be motivated and passionate about what you do. Your happiness will be the driver of your actions. Spend your time, attention, and focus on creating the successful Plan A. As you start taking consistent actions toward Plan A, you will notice that Plan B will become an afterthought. Plan B is not a default due to risks or failure. It is another options – the backup should A fail. Why plan for failure? Spend more time planning for your success and what it will mean to you and those it impacts. When you start seeing results, you will be putting, even more, energy into ensuring those results are sustainable and successful. How do I know this? I caught myself focusing on Plan B and I started to see Plan A slip away. I knew if I did not do something soon I would be on the fast track to making Plan B the new Plan A even though it was not what I truly wanted. When I shifted gears and focused on Plan A, results started to occur.

If Plan A is truly what you want, why are you denying yourself? Don’t let anyone talk you out of making Plan A become your reality especially yourself. Go after it and take the steps you need to make it happen. Success may be only an action away!

9 Simple Strategies to Improve Your Decision-Making Skills

November 29, 2016 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

When decisions need to be made, most people evaluate their options with the tried-and-true list of pros and cons. Although this may be helpful, it is not always the most effective decision-making tool. For example, if someone asks you if you can complete a task, you may you look at your to-do list to see if you can fit on your list versus checking your calendar to see if you have any available time. If you do use a pros and cons list, use it to help make your decisions with the understanding and focus on your goal to ensure that you will be on the right track. The one question people often fail to ask is: How will this decision get me closer to that outcome or results I desire?”

“You can’t make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.”
― Michelle Obama

If it doesn’t, why are you doing it?

There are simple strategies that you can implement that will improve your decision-making skills.

Goal/Outcome: Be clear on what it is you wish to achieve.
Assess:

Where are you at?
What are the options available?
What are the pros and cons?
Relevance: Does it take you closer to your goals or further away?

Resources:

What are the resources available? How can you mobilize those resources?

Risks:

What are the potential risks?

Research – Do your homework. Find out as much you can about a situation and the background. Ask questions.

What are the facts? Success rates?

Impact:

What and who is impacted by this decision?

Interventions and actions:

What steps or actions are necessary to get you closer to your goal?
What are the potential risks or obstacles in the way of getting the outcome that you want?

Gut Check/Intuition. What does your gut tell you? Remember not to over analyze everything.
Ask Powerful questions:

What is working?
What’s not working?
What do I need to stop doing?

Now you have all the information you need to make a decision. Separate facts from emotions. When your emotions are high or you feel threatened, it is not a good time to make a decision. Your brain goes into protection mode. Sometimes you need to take some quiet time to think or get into a different environment for a short time. Don’t be afraid to consult others who may have been in similar situations. They may save you some heartache by sharing their experiences. It does not mean history will repeat success or failure. There will be a lesson to learn as with many things in life and business. Each step requires simple actions. Follow them to help you get the results you want to achieve- or better.