Category Archives: Uncategorized

We are Paid for our Judgment, Not for our Stamina

June 18, 2014Career Advancement, Health and Wellness, Leadership Development, UncategorizedAriana Huffington, Career, Health and Well being, Leadership, ThriveDorisBraun

Resumes list our accomplishments and highlight our skills. Where do we state that we are willing to work 12 hour days? What part of the resume lists that we are willing to log back in and work more as soon as we get home from the office? Did you mention “willing to work weekends and ignore your family” under Hobbies? Of course not! Then why do so many of this fall into this trap? Somewhere, someone led us to believe that we are paid for our stamina – working long hours means future success. Well, it doesn’t. As a matter of fact studies show that the less sleep we have, the less productive, creative and effective we are, at work and at home.

So for all of you women out there, who are trying to burn the candle at both ends, here are my recommendations to help you achieve more, while getting more sleep:

Start Delegating!
The number one reason I hear women AND men say that they don’t delegate is because they can do it better themselves. In all of the leadership programs I have led, this comes up time and time again, without fail. I will tell you what I tell them: Stop thinking you can do it better than anyone else. If you keep doing the jobs yourself, you will remain in this position for the rest of your career. And if for some reason, it is actually true that you can do it better than anyone else, you are in the worst shape of all, because you have surrounded yourself with a team that is not going to lift you up – they are only going to bring you down.

What will you be able to achieve for yourself and your organization if you start to delegate?

Hire People Smarter than you!
Surround yourself with smart and talented people, who will help you executive and deliver your initiatives. You will learn more, achieve more, and get ahead faster by building a team that helps everyone succeed.

Why are you hiring people who know as much as or less than you?

Network and Build Relationships
Do this with people inside of your organization. You will be more successful when you are able to work with others and through others. You cannot influence people you don’t know. And if you can’t influence people, then you will never make it into a senior leadership position. Influence is the key skill leaders at the top have mastered.

What would you be able to achieve if you strengthened relationships with your colleagues?

Schedule Family and/or Me time
What doesn’t get prioritized doesn’t get done. We need to recharge to be effective in the office and at home. Don’t think you can go 24/7 and still be happy, enthusiastic, joyful and helpful to others. Get at least 7-8 hours of sleep or else you will create negative effects on your body and health.

What do you have to do differently to get to bed earlier?

I heard Arianna Huffington speak this morning in NYC. She had me laughing out loud when she said “No one is going to read your Linkedin Profile as your eulogy.” Mary was able to increase sales by 58%…. Not going to happen! So let’s be GREAT at what we do, without killing ourselves. Create the life you want today. If not now, when?

REinvention is the Mother of Necessity; Five Steps to Reinventing yourself for your next career

January 15, 2014Career Transitions, UncategorizedDorisBraun

I had coffee with a friend in New York City this week. When she asked about my business, I told her about the women I coach and the training solutions I create for my corporate clients.

Her follow-up questions indicated she was less interested in WHAT I do and more interested in HOW I made the transition from Wall Street to entrepreneur. It was then that I realized Lisa was considering her own REINVENTION and wanted to know what she needed to do to reinvent herself.

In the 1970s, women left home to join the workforce. Now, women are leaving corporate America to become entrepreneurs. ForbesWoman wrote an article last year titled Entrepreneurship is the New Women’s Movement. http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/06/08/entrepreneurship-is-the-new-womens-movement/ Because I am a part of this movement, I decided to share the steps I followed to reinvent myself and create a new career.

Follow these five steps and you’ll be on your way to your own REINVENTION:

Know What You Want
Please don’t leave your corporate position, your paycheck, and your health benefits to ‘find yourself’ (unless you can afford to do this). Know what you want to achieve, and have a vision for yourself. This will allow you to create a plan. If you’re not sure what you want to do, ask yourself these questions: What do I truly enjoy doing? What am I enjoying when I lose track of time? What comes easily to me?

So many women have an interest, but dismiss it because they don’t think they can monetize their idea. You still have a job, so don’t worry about the money. Just identify what you love to do and would be willing to do all day, every day.
Take the First Step
As I considered my own reinvention, I talked about coaching as a career, but I wasn’t taking any decisive action. In fact, I was ALL talk and NO action! My coach said to me, “Take one step in the direction of your vision.” I did, and signed up for a coaching course at New York University. The rest, as they say, is history.After you’ve identified what you enjoy doing, take a course, educate yourself, and learn as much as you can about your interest. Please stop THINKING about it and take decisive action.
Shadow Other Professionals
To ‘try on’ careers within coaching and corporate training, I shadowed two business professionals to see what was right for me. As a result of those experiences, I knew the direction to take because I could envision myself in that role.Lisa reminded me that we tell our children to shadow professionals, but we don’t heed our own advice. Shadowing allows us to get a feel for the position and helps us visualize ourselves in the role. If I hadn’t done this, I would have gone down the wrong path and wasted a lot of time, energy and earning potential.
Take the (Part-Time) Plunge
Thankfully, NYU recommended everyone in the coaching program start coaching pro bono. Once you find what you enjoy doing, do it on a part-time basis and for free. The pressure is off, because no one expects you to be an expert. Enjoy writing? Blog something. Enjoy baking? Bake for your friends and neighbors. To borrow from Nike, whatever your passion, just do it!
Learn From Others
Once I completed my studies, I realized even though I was successful IN business, I wasn’t experienced at building my OWN business. I immediately started to work with coaches, who have created their own successful coaching businesses. There’s no need to recreate the wheel.Women often don’t ask for help. Please believe me: there’s no shame in asking for help. To quote Jim Rohn, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” That’s why I spend my time with successful business owners, who are generating 6- and 7-figure incomes.

Now that you know what you need to do, when will you start your REINVENTION?

If you liked today’s article, you’re welcome to use it in your own ezine or blog as long as you include the following blurb:

Doris Braun, Leadership Development and Executive Coach, helps women business leaders promote themselves, transition to new leadership roles and take on new career challenges. Follow her on www.LeadershipSolutionsforWomen.com and Twitter @dorisbraun.

You better be RUNNING, not walking; Three ways to improve body language for career advancement

January 3, 2014Career Advancement, Leadership Development, UncategorizedDorisBraun

I run the track at our local high school. Towards the end of the summer, the Fall sports programs begin and the student athletes start to work out with their coaches. I love to watch the girls’ soccer team practice, because I played soccer during high school and college.

I was a forward, a striker. I loved the game and that position, because a striker’s responsibility was to do what it takes to score goals for the team. I will never forget my first goal, I was a freshman in high school. The ball was coming from the left side of the field and I could tell as it approached me that it would be placed perfectly in front of my right foot. As the ball was mid-air, I told myself, “Doris, you are going to kick the ball and score a goal. I kicked it and it went high, over the goalie’s head and into the net. The next thing I knew my teammates surrounded me, hugging me and cheering. We won that game.

As I was running the local track, the girls and coaches took the field for stretches and warm-ups. A latecomer arrived and was walking across the field towards her team. As I watched her, I thought to myself, ‘Gee, if that were me and I was late, I would be running towards the team, apologizing to the coach and getting my butt on the field as quickly as I could.’ Just as I finished my thought, I heard the coach yell to this girl, “You better be running, not walking!” She immediately picked up her pace and ran.

Prior to the coach “advising” her to run, what was she thinking? She could see she was late; all the other girls were already warming up. What made her think that she could just walk over; why didn’t she have a sense of urgency? Whether she knew it or not, her body language was speaking volumes on her behalf and it wasn’t speaking positively. She appeared to be saying, “Yeah, I’m late, so what, I’m here now.” I couldn’t believe she needed the coach to tell her to hurry it up.

What does your body language tell your management and co-workers? Do you have an appropriate sense of urgency, or do you wander around? Are you present in each conversation or are you mentally checked-out? Do proactively interact during team meetings, or do you sit quietly while others are sharing their ideas? What we do and how we do it says a lot more to the people around us than just our words.

Monitoring ourselves is key to how we present ourselves as leaders, role models and someone worthy of promotion. What we are thinking and feeling on the inside does not remain there. When thoughts or attitudes are negative, they present themselves in the form of lateness, detachment, unawareness, distancing, poor quality and the list goes on. We may think we are fooling people because we show up each day and complete our tasks, but we are only fooling ourselves. Everyone around us is aware and can easily see that we are not totally engaged in our work, with the team, or the company.

Here are three ways to monitor how we present ourselves to others:

How we think is typically how we behave. We own our thoughts and attitudes. Don’t like what you are thinking, you are the only one that can change it. Take responsibility and ownership for negative thoughts and attitudes. Focus on your strengths, your abilities, and your goals. Think positively, and you will act positively.
Our beliefs will allow us to flourish or remain stagnant. If you believe you won’t be successful, you won’t. Time to banish those limiting beliefs in order to achieve further success. If you don’t believe in yourself, why should anyone else?
Carry yourself as if you have achieved the next level of career success. Managers promote individuals, who are already performing at the next level. Raise your standards, hold yourself accountable, and do what you say you are going to do. By performing at a higher level, you will make it easier for management to take notice and eventually promote you.

Next time you aren’t speaking, what are you telling the people around you?