Let’s approach this by using an example about you being asked to give a presentation to a large group. It's a big speaking opportunity and your first one like this as a speaker.

With that in mind, what would your first thought be and what would you initially feel? Would you think that it’s a great opportunity and feel excited, even if you were a little nervous?

Or would you question why you were asked, especially if you don’t think you are good at public speaking? Would you feel unsure of yourself and worry about the speech and how it would go until it was over?

When an idea comes into our minds, we start to spend time considering that idea. We may spend a few seconds, a few hours, a few days or even longer with that idea.

That idea is the thought and how we feel about that idea shapes it into a positive or negative thought.

Although the thoughts and feelings stemmed from one idea – a neutral idea - of presenting to a large group, the feelings help to create...

As an engaged leader, you know how important conveying confidence is.

It’s the key ingredient that enables your team or clients to buy into your vision or business - because they buy into YOU.

It conveys a strength, even if you don’t know all of the steps.

It conveys courage to take risks that are appropriate for growth, and even if the risks don’t pan out like you hoped, that doesn’t stop you from taking another one.

It conveys an ability to make and execute decisions and communicate the answer with grace and strength, even if “no” or “not now” are the answers.

Yet, if you aren’t really confident in yourself or your abilities, it will be difficult to be the confident leader you’re MEANT to be.

So when you think about having confidence, what does that look like to you?

• How do you stand?
• How are you carrying yourself?
• What kind of expressions are on your face?
• What words are you using?
• What kind of tone or inflection are...

Self-care is a vital part of being a successful leader because in order for you to give your best to your business, organization, or team, you have to take care of yourself.

As a leader, it's so important to refill your own cup, yet it can be one of the last things we remember to do.

There are many ways to make yourself a priority, but one easy way take care of yourself is to experience things that bring you joy.

When you get that warmth inside or a feeling that you could do something for hours and it feels like a few minutes, your enthusiasm comes through. Your joy shines through!

So instead of a life bucket list, what’s on your joylist?

What are things that bring you joy on a daily basis?

Things that make you smile.

That light you up.

Do you take time to enjoy them?

For me, getting extra cuddles from my kitties and spending quality time with my hubby are at the top. Tasting a great piece of chocolate, feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin, spending time at the beach and...

You come to work or run your own business to make good things happen, so you want to be as productive as possible.

But do you really know what’s expected of you?

Whether you are a paid employee or a volunteer, you are providing services to the organization. It’s more than just completing a list of tasks, collecting data or analyzing reports. It’s more than following the company’s policies and procedures, making phone calls or attending meetings.

And as an entrepreneur, there’s so many things that you feel need to be done or the latest and greatest idea you have is just one of many new ideas that you want to create.

And although each of those activities are necessary to keep an organization moving forward, there is one important activity that must be present for the others to be done with purpose.

You must know why you are there.

When you are clear on the company’s vision and the company’s why, AND you’re clear on why your role is...

When you think about where you are in business or life, which word would you choose to describe it - surviving or thriving?

Let me share with you why I chose these two words and why one is where you would want your mindset to be as the CEO of your life. This was inspired by our youngest kitty, Cap'n Jack.

When we found him in 2016, he was between three and five weeks old, in a parking lot flower bed, limping for coverage under a large bush. Cap'n Jack would walk a couple of steps, then gingerly move his right back paw.

After some cajoling and help from a few other animal lovers, we got him and could see his right back paw was twice the size as the others and blue. We took him immediately to our vet who determined immediate surgery to amputate the wounded leg was necessary to save him.

Over the course of a few days, Cap'n Jack amazed me. The vet said within minutes of waking from surgery, he was up on all paws and moving. He seemed relieved and happy. Since then, he’s...

Let's set the stage a bit:  

It’s the start of the week, and you have a list a mile long full of tasks that need to be done.

You take a sip of your coffee (or in my case, tea) and wonder how you are going to get it all done.

Perhaps you start checking email, only to realize you need to make a phone call before you head to your first meeting – either virtual or in person.

After finishing the call, you realize you need to update a few notes to be ready for the meeting, but you still have to get this one email sent before you leave, so you switch gears again and finish the email.

Then with only a few minutes to spare, you scribble some thoughts on a sheet of paper and race to your meeting.

As the morning progresses and you are in another meeting, you realize there are some emails you want to check, so you decide that you can listen to the meeting and respond to a few emails, too.

Does this sound at all like something you’ve experienced?

If so, you probably...

You know your resume is a paper introduction to a potential employer.

You know its purpose is to enable you to stand out from the crowd of contenders and secure an interview.

So how can you improve the likelihood that YOUR resume is screened through?

You make it easy for the interviewer to get to know you by including a resume profile.

Ideally, the resume profile is created after you have clearly explained your work experience. It’s the equivalent of an abstract to a research paper or a book summary on the back or inside of the jacket.

The resume profile has three things:

• A summary statement brings all of your work experience together into a cohesive picture;
• Six to ten bullets that identify your overarching themes; and,
• Personality assessment results, if you have them.

Let’s break these down a little more.

The summary statement

The summary statement is a way to highlight your strongest skills and work experience, so that the hiring manager can get an...

Getting Started

Whether you are entering the workforce or changing jobs, there is one document that is your vehicle to being seen and getting your foot in the door for the interview, and that’s the resume.

There are so many styles and ways to display your skills, experience and extra activities, but if they are hard for the reader to digest or really understand what you did, then the resume is not working to your advantage.

So what can you do?

1) Make it easy to read

Although this may seem obvious, take some time to really look at how the information is laid out on the paper.
• Is the selected font a reasonable reading size and style?
• Is there enough white space to break up the text?
• Are there one or two words that could replace a phrase and still communicate clearly what you accomplished?

The easier the font, the use of white space to break up the text and streamlining words all enable your resume to be easier to read.

2) What's the “so what”?

...