I am bothered by the June 2009 cover of Fast Company magazine. It features a glamour shot of business woman and Presidential Fellow of the MIT Media Lab, Ms. Neri Oxman. This very well could have been the cover for Cosmopolitan magazine. But it was the feature picture for a lead business story “The 100 Most Creative People in Business.”

What struck me was the personal impact that spending time with this magazine had on me. It made me feel inadequate: as a woman and as a business leader. I felt old, ugly and worthless. I had the urge to go and take a shower (which I did) and then asked my husband if he would give me a haircut (which he did beautifully!). Within minutes of separating myself from this magazine, I felt better.

Then I remembered a statistic that I had read that teen girls and young women begin to feel depressed after spending only 3 minutes with a beauty magazine. All the images that the media portrays of how women and girls “should look” is having a devastating impact on the self-esteem of our country – women and men, girls and boys. Our beauty-obsessed culture, driven by our media, has led to all sorts of serious social problems that have huge negative economic impact, including eating disorders, suicide, depression, unnecessary surgeries, consumerism of products that poison our bodies (such as much of the skin care and cosmetic regimes that women and men buy into). Even obesity could be linked to this root cause of media driven idealism of American beauty and success.

Now, you and I both know that beautiful and sexy cover photos and sensational headlines are what SELL magazines and newspapers. But I think we all need to be aware of the kinds of deep-seeded messages that this media portrayal sends out.

What does this have to do with business and leadership?

Consider what is this teaching younger professionals about how to dress for business? Read the rest of this entry »

As human beings, we are neurologically wired for “flight” or “fight” – that is, we either prepare ourselves for battle, or we run like hell the other way. But there is another unconscious response that we must all be aware of: FREEZE. This is when you are unable to respond, perhaps for moments or even for days. When you freeze, you have effectively disabled yourself for a critical period of time. As a result, you go into the state of suspended inaction.

Suspended inaction. Does that sound familiar?  Think about your decisions of late. Have you put things “on hold,” waiting to see what happens to the economy? Have you frozen projects and moved them into the file folder labeled “Important, but not Now“? Have you canceled meetings with vendors or consultants, because there is no budget to work with, so why meet with them? Do you feel like you are buckling down and waiting it out? These are the symptoms of the FREEZE response. You are in a dangerous position…and you have put yourself there. So why stay there? Now is the time to rethink, regroup and alter your course of action.

Get Motivated. Go Lead.

If ever there were a time to lead and to show your character and faith in the future, it is now. Now is the time to move forward: to actively learn new things; to connect with new people; to think about the future; to invest in yourself. Now is the time to lead yourself, your team, your company, your community.

Motivated Leaders don’t freeze (at least not for prolonged periods of time). And they don’t run away from problems or challenges. They do reflect, strategize and make decisions. They fight to see another day.

What kind of leader are you?

Accountability is the Key (need some help?)

We are living in very challenging economic times and need to call upon every internal and external resource that we can to turn around this mess and start heading in a positive direction again. But sometimes the things that we should be able to do ourselves (like holding ourselves accountable to our new resolutions and commitments) are even more difficult than the external factors. Can you hold yourself accountable?

What do you mean by accountable?
According to Wikipedia, Accountability is often used synonymously with such concepts as responsibility, answerability, enforcement, blameworthiness, liability and other terms associated with the expectation of account-giving.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary suggests that Accountability is an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.
Being accountable means no more blame game and no more excuses; only action and personal acceptance of the consequences of your own action or inaction.

“Thinking well is wise; planning well, wiser; doing well wisest and best of all.”- Persian Proverb

What the heck is an Accountability Coach and why would I need one?
Most of the time, it’s not other people that get in our way, but rather, ourselves. Yes, we get in our own way. We prevent success. And we often need assistance to stay out of procrastination land and to leverage the motivation that we all have deep inside of us.

“Get out of my way. I’m getting things done.” That was a statement made by a new client of mine. She is top notch, successful financial planner, but even she needs help staying focused and getting important things done. She hired The Marketing Motivator as her accountability coach.

Motivation is a funny thing. It’s not a goal or objective that you achieve over time, rather it is a state of being that you can call upon any time you need it. Yet, it is do so challenging to sustain the personal motivation and to stay on track to completion. That’s why an accountability coach may come in handy for you: to remind you of your internal resources and your commitment to your specific goals. To hold the mirror up for you and to give you that daily dose of personal go-power!

You are accountable for your own success
Susan Nolte, Founder and CMO (i.e., chief mixologist officer) of the May Cookie Co, LLC hired me as her accountability coach. She’s an entrepreneur with a big vision. Here’s what she had to say about the experience. Given her focus on re-inventing the cookie mix, we naturally “mixed” accountability coaching with marketing coaching to help her stay focused and on-track to achieving rapid success.

“Having a coach has kept me from feeling isolated, and at the same time, provided guidance and ideas that I would otherwise be without. Kathy has pushed my thinking beyond what I could do on my own. She keeps me focused on making my product remarkable – about having a product (or service) that people will seek out and pay for.” - Susan Nolte, May Cookie Co. LLC

Even highly successful people need accountability coaches
CEO Coach, Marshall Goldsmith, author of one of my favorite business books, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, talks about how he has worked with an accountability coach for the past 15 years. Every night, his friend Jim who is also a Read the rest of this entry »

One of the most important traits of leadership presence is your ability to be fully present. Many business leaders are constantly distracted by their technology and communication aids such as BlackBerry, cell phones, email – the very tools we acquire and use daily to help boost our productivity and leadership effectiveness.

Are you addicted to technology and it getting in your way of being fully present with the people that you want to lead?

Our business days are consumed with To-Do lists, lengthy and frequent meetings, phone calls and other interruptions that demand our attention NOW!

Executive coach and leading authority on the subject of Achieving Leadership Presence, Adrienne Milics of Parnassum Executive Coaching and Training explains why it is important:

“To keep up with the increasing demands and fast pace of business, many business leaders have developed the basic survival skill of multi-tasking. Its negative impact on the leader is a chipping away at his/her leadership presence – that important and often elusive leadership trait that can make or break a leader’s credibility.”

Five Things You Can Do to keep technology in check and ensure you are fully present with your people, projects and career:

1. When you meet with people, turn OFF your cell phone or Blackberry. Actively do it in front of them to make a statement. Be fully present.
2. When you are on conference calls, lower your laptop computer or move away from the monitor. Close down and disengage from email. Be fully present on that conference call.
3. When working, select one key project or initiative at a time. Focus on it 100% of that moment. Put everything else aside. Clear your desk and allow yourself to be fully present in mind and body on that key initiative for a set period of time. Be fully present.
4. If you are expecting an emergency phone call, manage expectations and let your people know that you must leave your phone on in case you get this call. By doing this, they will understand that it is not about them. You are fully present with them and have managed their expectations effectively.
5. Learn more about Leadership Presence – what it is, why it is important and how to develop more of it for your business and career success.

To sharpen your leadership presence you can work with an executive coach. Check out:

• Adrienne Milics, Parnassum Coaching & Training
• Kathy McAfee, Executive Presentation Coach and Certified NLP Practitioner.

Remember the classic B-rated horror flick, Night of the Living Dead? Well, sometimes it feels like we are moving towards Workforce of the Living Dead.

Most employees are doing their job, but with very little heart and soul; plenty of complaining, internal jockeying for position, and other non-productive activity.

With average employee engagement levels are low as 33% (reported by the Gallup poll) and escalating turnover costs, companies are at risk of losing serious money by not addressing this issue. It’s a problem of sizable proportion.

In my experience as an executive coach, my clients often express their disenchantment with the corporate world. Pay and benefits seem to be the only values that are being currently satisfied. The delusion of job security plays more of a role of “barrier to exit.”

This a leadership challenge, not just an issue for HR to handle. It’s time for a soulful intervention.

Imagine recapturing the same level of enthusiasm and go-gettedness that your workers brought to the job the first days of employment? There was so much energy, passion and possibilities in their spirit. Where did it all go? And how do you get it back?

Personal branding expert, Rahna Barthlemess of Beacon Marketing (www.Beacon-Marketing.com) believes that organizations have a strategic imperative to renew the spirit of work.

People are looking for more meaning in their work. They want to be authentic and work with companies whose values mesh with their own. They need to be allowed to discover and express the very best of themselves. And it’s not just the individuals who benefit; companies benefit big time!” says Barthlemess.

“When companies engage and align the personal brands of their workers with that of their organization, productivity goes up, morale skyrockets, and group dynamics flow much more easily. The resulting spirited performance can drive serious bottom line impact.” suggests Barthlemess.

Barthlemess has developed a transformational work place course called Your Light. Your Potential. that helps employees explore, discover, clarify, create and evolve their own personal brand and work through how that brand aligns with the company’s overall goals.

“The intention of the course is to breathe new life back into the today’s professional work force. By reigniting the internal spirit of the employee, the company benefits from the renewed productivity, passion and loyalty from their most important company assets: their people,” says Barthlemess.

For more information on the Signature for Success personal leadership branding program, please contact Rahna Barthlemess at (860) 254-5907 or visit Signature for Success.

I had an unpleasant experience recently with a large corporate entity – well actually, one person within the organization. It reminded me of how common it is for large companies to misuse their “buying power” and to treat their suppliers as “vendors” rather than people. In my 25 year career, I’ve been on both sides of the table, and I’ve probably behaved in a bully fashion at one time or another. Of course, there is no better teacher than having the treatment done unto you. It’s the golden rule working in reverse.

So motivated leaders, here’s something to think about:

1. Your Reputation. Does your behavior at work reflect that kind of leader you desire to be? Would your children be proud of you?
2. Your Relationships. Will your actions and delivery style help to build up or break down important relationships at work and at home?
3. Your Results. What impact will your behavior actually have on your results? Do you operate from a results through people leadership philosophy or is it results at all costs?
4. Your Outlet. Are you using the right outlet to vent and work off your stress? Perhaps physical exercise versus email ziggers or personal attacks might be a more effective (and less damaging) stress outlet?

While there a probably no prizes for being a Corporate Saint, there is no excuse for being a corporate bully. The good news is that you can change your behavior. Accept the leader. Change the behavior.