Post Type ArchivesPosts

The Power of Perspective – Changing Your Scenic View

We recently visited the Shenandoah State Park in Western Virginia. You might have heard the name before, made famous by John Denver in the song Country Road.
Reflecting upon our experiences in the country of blue mountains and deep green valleys made me think of perspectives. From what perspective are you writing your life and career story? Creating some mental and emotional distance to what your are experiencing or to your past can help your find new opportunities, creative solutions and reframe a painful past.
#leadership #career #mentalhealth #resilience #mentalhealth #opportunities #inspiration #openmind #growthmindset #coaching #perspectiveshift

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/katarina-holm-didio/message

Difficult Conversations Made Easy – Part 2 During the Conversation

In the previous episode we talked about how to prepare for difficult conversations, today the topic is how to manage a difficult conversations while you are in the midst of it, to ensure that the outcome is optimal.
We looked at the six steps to take to prepare for the conversation, they included among others, to have a clear goal, to check your assumptions, and to try to understand and anticipate the other party’s goals and needs.
Let’s imagine that you are now having that so called difficult conversation. Perhaps you are connected virtually by video conference. How do you start? First focus on creating trust
  1. Have a positive mindset  – assume the positive
  2. Communicate empathy and a will to collaborate and understand – avoid judgmental statements
  3. Communicate the topic / purpose clearly
  4. Give the other person room to clarify the purpose and their perspective
  5. Manage your emotions
  6. Listen for facts, feelings and values/ needs communicated
  7. Don’t overwhelm them with detail and arguments
  8. Look for commonalities – find an alignment

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/katarina-holm-didio/message

Difficult Conversations Made Easy – Part 1 Preparation

Have you ever dreaded a conversation at work, or one of a private nature?
Perhaps it was about a job you wanted to be considered for, or a new project you really wanted to shift your focus and company resources to? And you needed to convince your supervisor of why they should agree to it. Or maybe you needed to have a chat with a supervisee over their behavior at work? Someone had complained about their combative and rude communication style? It was your job to bring this to their attention and get their agreement to commit to change.
All the situations above fall under the umbrella of – difficult conversations.
How can we make difficult conversations easier?

Envision the outcome. Ideal outcome. Also envision obstacles and how to overcome them.
Clarify your goals
Anticipate the reactions of the other person
Check your assumptions
Understand the needs and goals of the other person
Pay attention to communication styles

Listen for more thoughts on how to manage difficult conversations… 

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/katarina-holm-didio/message

Giving Feedback Across Cultures

Most of us find both receiving and giving feedback stressful.. or at least uncomfortable.

Add to the mix cultural differences and it can become really complicated.

Many of us are familiar with the so called sandwich method of feedback; start by sharing some positive feedback, then move to discuss the areas of improvement, or growth (weaknesses) and then finalize the discussion by committing to goals and actions that will help improve performance or growth.

The sandwich method has been taught for years in business schools, trainings and workshops. But, does it really work in every cultural context and with every person?

No.

Listen to this episode to learn about different sandwiches and how to communicate feedback effectively in global and multicultural contexts 

#feedback #culture #crosscultural #communication #intercultural #globalleadership #leadership 

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/katarina-holm-didio/message

The Perfectionism Trap – On Leadership, Excellence and Letting go

Perfectionism is the enemy of innovation & creativity. Playing with a new perspective can help us break free and discover a new world. 
This episode explores the perfectionistic tendencies many of us have, how they hold us back from fully realizing our potential, and from being inspiring and successful leaders, and what we can do to shift our mindset towards a growth mindset.  A mindset that gives us permission to fail, grow and let go. 
#perfectionism #leadership #growthmindset

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/katarina-holm-didio/message

How to Stay Motivated in The New Year – Having Sisu in the Pandemic Year 2021

It is the first week of 2021. Many of us were excited about leaving 2020 and all its challenges behind.  We were energized by the thought of a new year with new opportunities and new hope for the future fueled by the promise of a vaccine and the beginning of the end of the pandemic.
Yet, we woke up to a January 1st  that was very similar to December 31st.
At least that is how I felt.
I don’t know about you, but staying motivated and resilient into the new year feels a bit like biking uphill in headwind.
So, what can we do?  What is helping you to stay motivated? Where do you draw energy to go on? In this podcast I share five steps for nurturing your Finnish sisu and staying motivated.  To have sisu means to not give up, even if the odds seem stacked against you.  We all have Finnish sisu. You are stronger than you think, but don’t go at life’s challenges alone. Resilience needs company to grow. Start by sharing how you are feeling and end by finding ways to have fun.  Listen to the podcast to uncover the three steps between. 

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/katarina-holm-didio/message

How to Survive an Organizational Restructuring

How do you survive an organizational restructuring?

1. Be a surfer, ride that wave of change

2. Spread contagious enthusiasm

3. Kindness conquers competitiveness

4. Turn survivor’s guilt into empowering empathy.

#change #jobsearch #careerchange #leadership

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/katarina-holm-didio/message

New Year’s Eve 2020 – Envisioning Your Ideal Future – An activity to help you identify your purpose and goal.

As it is New Year’s Eve today, I am re-publishing this early episode as the topic is timely. 

Wishing you all the very best in the New Year!  The challenges of 2020 will not disappear simply because the year changes, but I believe we can envision a brighter future. 

 This podcast takes you through a future vision activity to help you identify your purposeful life and career goals. #visioning #future #visioningthefuture #visualization #idealfuture #careers

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/katarina-holm-didio/message

Mental Health at Work- Let’s Create a Healthier and Happier World. Together.

World Mental Health Day Episode from October 2020 – let’s create a healthier and happier world. Together.  At home. In our communities. At work. Across cultures.  

Today is World Mental Health Day! Let’s celebrate wellbeing and mental health today by doing something that makes us happy, perhaps together with someone we love, and by thinking about how we can create a healthier and happier world in our communities and at work. What have you done lately to show that you care about how your colleague is doing? Have you asked how you leader is handling all the stress that comes with the uncertainty we are currently experiencing? Here is my message to you.

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/katarina-holm-didio/message