Your thoughts and language reflect how confident you feel and are perceived by others. The more your thoughts are of a “can do” attitude, the words you use for self-talk as well as shared with others will reflect this way of thinking. As the affirming thoughts and words keep playing on your mental loop, you will exude confidence.

To bring this full circle, let’s say you were asked to give a presentation to a large group. And let's say that it's either your first one for this magnitude or public speaking is something you've yet to become more confident in doing.

What would your first thought be? What would you initially feel? And what would you tell yourself?

So, let’s say that you felt unsure of yourself and really didn’t want to do it, how might you shift this feeling and thought so that you felt more confidence delivering the presentation? Instead of allowing the negative thoughts and feelings replay over and over in your mind, try telling yourself...

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” – Jane Goodall

I love this quote!

It puts into perspective how we as leaders influence our businesses and organizations every day with every interaction and every decision. This quote also reinforces the guiding principle behind one of my all-time favorite books, The Magic of Thinking Big by Dr. David J. Schwartz, which is “You are what you think you are.”

Take a moment and think about that for yourself – you are what you think you are.

What have your thoughts been?

Empowering?
Confidence building?
Solution-oriented?

Or

Defeating?
Limiting?
Doubting?

Our thoughts are powerful and shape how we see ourselves.

That perspective shapes our filter on what we see, what we say, and what we do. We all have times when we can get into our heads and not even realize that we have started down a path of self-doubt.

And could thoughts have influenced your decisions?

...

As you lead your business or organization, it can get noisy and overwhelm can start to creep in.

Lots of information come in from different sources, and you must decipher which ones require your attention to move your vision forward.

Sometimes it can feel like there’s so much happening.

So much information you’re receiving that it’s hard to hear that still small voice inside that’s ultimately guiding you.

Sometimes the information is more noise and not helpful or necessary.

Other times, it’s needed for your business to succeed, but even in those cases, too much data can cause overwhelm.

This doesn’t mean you have to do everything yourself or at that very moment, but it does mean that you must decide if it’s important to do or not do and take action accordingly.

So how do you ignore the noise and focus on what matters?

Simply stop, get quiet and get back to basics.

By stopping and taking a moment to calm your mind and block out all the...

It’s another day at the office, and it seems like everything that can go wrong has, and you are frustrated. Maybe it seems as though each time you complete an item on your action list, three new items are added. Or perhaps you can see delays in schedule or cost over runs and no sign of improvement. Or perhaps you are short-staffed and do not have a new employee starting anytime soon to help with the workload.

I know I’ve had each of these situations happen before, and I definitely felt frustrated and overwhelmed. It can be easy to let the things that aren’t going well to be all that we see. And when we focus on those frustrations, we tend to see even more of them.

Soon enough, it feels like a continual spiral of overwhelm and frustrations that can be challenging to stop. When that happens, how do you go about changing your perspective?

The answer is easy, but it takes effort and practice.

When you look for the positive, you will start to feel a shift. Not only...

 There are so many ways we receive and send information.

Sometimes it can feel like information overload.

Like we talk “at” each other, not with.

I think we’re all guilty of that at times.

Like being on the phone, but still scrolling through the computer while you’re in the conversation.

Or allowing texts and calls that really aren’t important to interrupt a face-to-face conversation – virtual or in-person.

Or saying something without realizing that it could be received completely wrong and not because of what we said, but how we said it.

Each time distractions like that happen, they are communicating a message to the recipient. They are apparent to the other person and convey that you don’t care, no matter how much you really do.

Take a minute and think about how you’ve felt when that’s happened to you?

I know I don’t like it, and I’m guessing you don’t either.

This skill - communication - is so important...

To be a positive, strong and influential leader, you have to develop and strengthen a leadership practice that is authentic to you. Whether you’re running your own business or leading teams or projects in the corporate world, your leadership practice is built by consistently honing your skills, gifts, and abilities.

It’s a choice you make day in and day out, regardless of title. And to honor that choice to be the leader you know you’re meant to be will require changes from you.

Such as your habits.

Those little things that we do every day, and many times, on autopilot are important to change. Yet when your habits change, you’ll see the results and they will become your new norm. So, here are five habits for you to evaluate and adjust as appropriate for where you are and where you want to go:

Number 1 - Positive leaders are continually learning

They are looking to expand their knowledge and strengthen their skills.

For instance, reading or listening to a few...

To show up as the confident business leader you're meant to be, you need to share your strengths and stay true to your vision and values and that's where confidence kicks in.

The more confidence you have, the more you will:

• Know what your strengths are and be willing to put yourself out there and share them over and over again
• Push yourself to desire a big vision and realize you're fully capable of making it happen and with confidence you declare it as yours
• Trust you can turn that vision into reality by creating an actionable and achievable plan to get there
• Make decisions that need to be made and execute them, especially difficult ones, without second guessing
• Know and trust what to say yes to and what to intentionally say no to
• Communicate effectively what the vision is and work with others to help them know what it is, why it's important and how they fit, so that they are able to buy into the vision because they're buying into you
• Develop and grow your group from high...

How to receive feedback, and let’s start with the definition of feedback - which is information about reactions to a product, a person’s performance of a task, which is used as a basis for improvement.

So with this definition – do you get a feeling that feedback is positive or negative?

Whatever that feeling is will show up in how you receive feedback about a given situation.

What I mean by this is – if you perceive feedback to be negative, then you’ll potentially be a bit more on the defensive when you receive it.

If, however, you perceive feedback as a way to enhance something you are working on such as your leadership practice or something you’re producing for your business or your organization – then you’ll be receptive to new ideas.

You may even feel that you’re supported because someone else is contributing either information, skills, or support to the success of your endeavor.

So the first thing to consider when receiving...

Whether you are new to your position or have been there for some time, there’s one activity you can do each day to make sure you are ready for the next opportunity.

This activity is applicable if you are an individual contributor or in some level of management.

It's one that may seem easy to do.

In fact, it may seem logical, yet it can be difficult to do on a daily, genuine, consistent basis.

Do you know what that is?

It's doing the best you can with the job you currently have.

This means putting your best foot forward to the assignment at hand or making sure you are prepared for the meetings you need to attend.

It means you aren't asking your boss every chance you get when you will move to the next level, but you are open to taking on new projects and opportunities if they present themselves.

It means you’re learning all you can for the responsibilities you currently have, so that you are able to do your job to the best of your ability.

It means you’re...

So let's talk about continual learning, and specifically when you've invested money or time or both to advance or strengthen your skills as a leader. 

Perhaps it's a small investment relatively speaking like reading or listening to a book. Maybe it's a course or seminar you attended, or training your company has sent you to for the day.  Or perhaps it's working with a coach or consultant. And even it didn't cost you money, it was your time spent there, including the time spent creating the space to go and getting caught up again (or close to it) once you returned.

When you first went through the course, the seminar, or even worked with your coach, you probably took some notes as a way to help you process what you're learning. Once the course, seminar or coaching sessions are finished, you have every intention of fully implementing what you've learned.

Then more time passes, and although you know you learned a lot, you might feel like you should have learned more or...