Sylva Leduc & Sage Leadership Strategies

20 Ways To Be More Confident

Sylva Leduc — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:55:36 +0000

SAGE Leadership Strategies: 20 Ways to Be More Confident

When I work with new leaders or involving in onboarding new employees, one of the challenges for them is to remain confident as they encounter new situations where they do not have previous experience.

Want to know some quick & practical methods to increase your own confidence?

Without further ado, here are some great ideas. Decide which one(s) will work for you.

Think about someone who is confident. Act, talk and walk like him or her. Model their mannerisms and behavior. If it works for them; it will work for you.
Smile more often. That doesn’t mean putting a silly grin on your face! But smile when you walk down the street, when you meet people and generally be happier even if you’re not feeling that way.
Learn from the past; don’t beat yourself up about it. It’s gone; it’s never coming back. Instead learn from your experiences for next time.
Give yourself a makeover. Buy yourself some new clothes, get your hairstyle updated, treat yourself to something new. It will make you feel better and will give your ego a boost.
Are you prepared for situations? Are you prepared enough to meet any challenge that may come up? Are you prepared for that meeting, that presentation, that job interview, when you meet someone for the first time? If not, get to it.
Play to your strengths. Know what you are good at and expose yourself to these opportunities whenever possible – because you’re good at it, you’ll enjoy it and have more confidence.
Improve your weaknesses. Know and appreciate what these are and put a plan in place to improve them over time.
Learn how to say “No” – at least occasionally. You don’t have to say yes to everything that comes your way. Especially something not related to work that will soak up your time. Just watch the reaction after you’ve said it the first time and there will be no going back.
Be positive. Look on the “can do” side of things rather than the “can’t do”. You’ve accomplished lots in your life and you will accomplish lots more in the future.
Be in charge of your thoughts at all times. What is a thought? It’s just a question that you’ve asked yourself and the thought is you’re answer. If you’re thinking negative thoughts, you’re probably asking a negative question. Change the questions to be more positive.
Whenever you feel a negative thought coming, STOP, THINK, and say, “Is this really important in the grand scheme of things?” A lot of the time it isn’t. Many people in life major in minor things!
Do you let the words of others affect you? Do you mind what they think of you? Remember that no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. It’s not what they say to you that’s the problem it’s what you say to yourself after they have stopped talking that’s the problem. Change the way you think.
List the words you use on a consistent basis when you feel let down or annoyed. People use different words to mean the same thing and depending upon the intensity of the word – this will have an effect on your confidence. Instead of saying “I’m enraged about this” say, “I’m a little annoyed.” Make a substitute list for the words that you use. Make sure they are lower in intensity and then use them. You’ll be surprised with the results.
At the end of each day list your achievements and successes throughout that day.
Be appreciative of what you have to be thankful for in your life right now. Who do you love? Who loves you? Who do you help out?
Every morning when you are getting ready for the day, play over in your head the events in the coming day as though they have already happened and were a success. Visualize all of the meetings you had, the people you talked to, the outcomes. Visualize success and confidence and it will be so.
Improve your body language. The way you move your body has a massive impact on your confidence levels. Move your body assertively and walk with your head up, shoulders back and as though you’ve got somewhere very important to go. Feeling low in confidence? Change your body language.
Emotion is created by motion. As in #17, make sure you move around consistently. This creates energy and gets the blood pumping around your body – it makes you feel better and more confident.
Learn to brag about yourself. Yes, you heard me! Talk about your achievements and successes more often. Not to the point where all your conversations start with I, I, I. Just make sure that you give yourself credit for what you have accomplished.
And finally – you only live once, so any time that you are down just ask yourself, “In 10 or 20 years, will what I am worrying about now really matter?“

Free Hugs

Sylva Leduc — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:42:47 +0000

Someone sent a link to a great video, Every Hug Helps

Pass it on or tell them to visit www.WindowSyl.com for a peek at something fun.

Hugs,
Syl

Job Search for Introverts

Sylva Leduc — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:50:52 +0000

Earlier this week, I had a conversation with a colleague about what it’s like for shy or introverted people to embark on a job search.

One word describes how those folks often feel – Terrified!

In the earlier stages of my career I could easily be described as a shy introvert. I have many first-hand experiences of how mentally challenging it was for me like to conduct a job search. It was agonizing until I learned a few tips and tricks.

Here’s a quick story about the very first job I ever applied for and for which I was hired.

When I graduated from high school, I wasn’t sure of my career path, so instead of heading directly to university I decided to work for a year. I thought I’d laze around for that year but my parents had other plans. They said if I wasn’t going to continue my education then I’d have to get a job.

That meant I’d have to apply for jobs and go on interviews. Gulp!

I didn’t know where to start, and even worse, I didn’t WANT to go on interviews. I can fondly remember my very first interview. My best friend’s mother worked in a small, family-operated retail store. She knew they were looking for a clerk so invited me to speak (i.e. interview) with the owner. I screwed up my courage, took my mother with me and went on the interview.

Yes!! You read that right, I took my mother along on my interview. As a Baby Boomer I’ve heard that only Gen Ys drag along family members to interviews. Says who?

Anyway, I digress.

Did I get the job? Yes! Was it easy for me to go through the interview? No! After the interview, there was so much adrenaline pumping through my body that when I got home I promptly threw up.

If my experience seems to be an extreme reaction to an interview, it’s not. At least not for an introvert. I’ve coached many introverts through the years and when I share my story they always nod. We know what it’s like to be an introvert and go through the agony of looking for a job.

Anyone who has completed a Myers Briggs Type Indicator knows the MBTI categorizes people as either Introverts or Extroverts. What people may not understand is that the Myers Briggs Type Indicator looks at how people process information. An extrovert thinks out loud while an introvert thinks before speaking.

However, being an introvert does not automatically mean the person is shy. There are varying degrees of introversion, from the deathly-shy introvert to the gregarious introvert. When I came out of high-school I was a very shy introvert. Now, as a gregarious introvert who speaks in front of large groups, I appear to be more of an extrovert.

Here’s something else you may find surprising: Research with the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) shows that introverts actually outnumber extroverts, 50.8% to 49.3%. And, more men (54.1%) than women (47.5%) are introverted. What that means is there are a lot of introverts who have learned how to adapt to an extroverted world.

When it comes to introverts conducting a job search, here are a few survival tips:

First, focus on your strengths. Introverts are great researchers. They more apt to find out information about a company before applying for a job or going to an interview. Take advantage of your researching skills to tailor your resume or cover letter.
Network both online and offline. Social networking sites like LinkedIn are ideal for introverts who want to spend time thinking about how to respond to questions. But, of course, you can’t live online all the time and at some point you will also have to see people “live.”
Introverts are also great listeners. The advantage is that when you network and meet people, you don’t have to dominate conversations. Just ask questions and listen. Really listen. People will be happy to share information with you.
Prepare for interviews ahead of time. Practice by answering those interview questions, over and over and over, until you are comfortable answering a variety of questions. Initially, you can write out your answers or just think about how you would answer. Then …
Buy or borrow a Flip Video and record your answers to those practice interview questions. With a Flip you can hold the camera at arms-length and record yourself for a couple of minutes. Then play back your “interview” to watch/listen to what you are doing well and where you need to improve.
Once you’ve gained the confidence, ask a friend to interview you to see how you can handle other questions. And, once again, be sure to record those mock interviews on a Flip Video or camcorder.

While I could continue to list even more tips for introverts I’d rather direct you to a new job search book written by a fellow introvert, Wendy Gelberg. Wendy’s book is called The Successful Introvert. Find out more about it at www.GentleJobSearch.com

Sylva Leduc, MEd, MPEC
Leadership Strategist & Executive Coach
Sage Leadership Strategies

Author, “Roadmap to Success”
Get a free copy of “Roadmap to Success” with indepth interviews of Stephen Covey, Ken Blanchard, myself and others in coaching/consulting. Visit Sage Leaders and click on the book cover. There’s a nominal cost to cover S&H.

P.S. Yes, even extroverts can learn from these tips. Especially using a Flip Video to practice their interview questions.

The Sage Summer Series @ Jobing.com

Sylva Leduc — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:55:09 +0000

Better Late Than Never? What Do You Think?
For the past month I have been traveling. I fondly started calling this my “working vacation.” I was flying/driving to different cities to see family and friends (aka the vacation) and meeting with the executives whom I coach (the working part).

Every person I met along the way (family, friends, clients and even strangers) received a copy of my new book, “Roadmap to Success.” So the time evolved into a “working vacation, mini book-tour.”

Armed with my laptop and cell phone, I thought I had all the details and contingenicies worked out for staying on top of commitments while I was gone, including writing this weekly Jobseekers Tip. But I was wrong!

About half way through the trip, my laptop would no longer connect to the internet except through wifi hot spots. So I had to resort to finding places where I could log-in to my web mail account to check e-mail.

That meant finding coffee shops where I could access e-mail through their (paid) hot spots, finding unsecured networks or begging people to let me use their computer to acccess my web mail account.

This past Friday, I even conducted an early morning teleseminar from a client’s office. I reveled in the luxury of having access to a landline AND a computer. I could relax knowing the call wouldn’t be dropped, there was no cell phone echo and I could work the controls from the computer.

But, for the past two Thursdays, I was either flying or driving and not able to get online to post the job seekers tips. Therein was my dilemma: was it better to be late or to not post at all? My decision was to forego the postings for that week rather than be late.

Right now, I can just imagine that someone is thinking, “Okay, Syl, what does this have to do with jobseeking?”

Well, the similarity lies in applying for a position. If you see a job posting, when is a good time to apply and when is it is too late? If you are past a deadline, should you submit a resume anyway?

Here are this week’s simple and straightforward tips about applying for a job:

Prepare your written materials in advance.
Have a backup plan or at least back-up your materials.
Don’t wait until the deadline because you never know what can go wrong.

For jobseekers, create several resume templates you can fine-tune if necessary (read Eric Knott’s previous posting about using MS 2007 templates). Prepare several cover letter templates which you can customize for each job. Keep back-up copies of everything on a CD or flash drive.

For me, next time I will have my weekly posts written before I leave and save them in draft mode. I’ll also keep them on a flash drive for portability in case I have to use someone else’s computer again.

Until next week, happy hunting!

Sylva Leduc, MEd, MPEC
Leadership Strategist & Executive Coach
Sage Leadership Strategies

Author, “Roadmap to Success”

Get a free copy of ”Roadmap to Success” with indepth interviews Stephen Covey, Ken Blanchard, myself and others in coaching/consulting. Visit Sage Leaders and click on the book cover. There’s a nominal cost to cover S&H.

P.S., I’m curious about what other people think about applying late for posted positions. Have you ever done that? What were the results?

Rave reviews on the interview with Alan Weiss

Sylva Leduc — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:37:02 +0000

On Friday, July 10th, the first in our Summer Series began when I interviewed Alan Weiss. Alan is known as the Million Dollar Consultant, Contrarian Consultant and Architect of Professional Communities.

Recently, Alan has also been called the King of Social Media, a tongue-in-cheek reference to his thoughts about LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

I asked Alan about the origins, rational, and implementation for value based fees. This is a concept that Alan pioneered and which he wrote about in his best selling book, Getting Started in Consulting.

We also covered self
esteem and the impact on consultants, the accelerant curve (somewhat similar to the “marketing funnel” concept – but better!), social networking (Alan’s advice is to spend less time tweeting and more time writing articles or books), web sites, podcasts,
videos, writing proposals, finding the buyer, the necessary components in a press kit (aka media kit), innovation, determining the value of a project and much more.

We even spoke about what a starting consultant should do to improve business and which industries are doing well during these confusing economic times.

There were more than 3 dozen people on the call and feedback has been phenomenal. Alan shifted their thinking!

Our next call in August is with C.J. Hayden, the best selling author of Get Clients Now.Register on the IMC AZ site for that teleconference call.

Cheers,
Sylva Leduc, IMC AZ 2009 Programs Chair

Sylva K. Leduc, MEd (Psychology), MPEC
”Developing Leaders Who Deliver Results”

Award-Winning Executive Coach
Leadership Strategist, Author & Speaker
Sage Leaders Inc. & SAGE Leadership Strategies

10115 E.
Bell Road, Suite 107-307, Scottsdale, AZ 85260

E-mail: syl@sageleaders.com
Web: http://SylvaLeduc.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sylvaleduc
Follow Me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/WindowSyl