Category: Leadership

A NEW MINDSET FOR 2021

Typically at the start of a new year, we think about big goals and resolutions. But this year feels a little different. While we’re all grateful for a fresh start, we’re probably feeling a little tired and overwhelmed as we come off of 2020. If the past year taught us anything, it’s that:

  • We thought we were ready for anything, but it turns out that our resilience and fortitude were put to the test.
  • We thought we had everything planned (or at least attempted to), but the last year tested all of those plans.
  • We thought we had a positive mindset, but learned that when that mindset is challenged, problems may seem bigger than they really are.

So yes, we’ve had some hurdles thrown at us. How do we navigate the coming months with a refreshed mindset and add more doses of positivity in our lives? Here are a few basics to start you through the process:

  1. Start your morning with a consistent, positive routine that will set the tone for the rest of the day.
  2. Focus on the good things happening throughout your day, however small they may be.
  3. Surround yourself with positive friends and mentors.
  4. Become aware of self-sabotaging behavior and negative self-talk.
  5. Focus on the present because we can’t change the past and we can’t predict the future.
  6. Try to find humor, no matter how challenging it may be!

No matter how much you want to hit the refresh button, it can feel challenging to make changes on your own. The past year has been isolating for so many of us and it can feel like we’re stuck on autopilot waiting for the world to return to some sense of normalcy. But you don’t have to go through this journey alone. Working with a coach will help you build the core skills and habits to propel you forward – not just through the coming months, but well beyond.

There are still many things that may still feel up in the air as we’re entering the New Year, but we do still have power and influence within our own lives.  What will 2021 hold for you?   Leah M. Joppy and Associates is ready to help you move forward with renewed energy and focus. Call us at 301-670-0051 or email us at leah@lmja.com.

Happy Mindful Monday!

Last week was indeed a privilege for us as we continue to facilitate a variety of  leadership development opportunities for our customers.  Enlightening discussions were had around managing the challenges, stress and anxiety this pandemic has created. We explored how to strengthen resilience; how to create successful virtual communication; leading in times of crisis; holding on to our personal values; managing blind spots; and dealing with isolation – just to mention a few. Most importantly, we talked about the importance of checking in on each other from time to time.

We were also privileged to have a peek into the participant’s other world. You know,  the roles that makes them SUPER!  We got to see Dads braid their daughter’s hair, clean up spills and provide snacks to their little ones. We heard Moms directing home improvement projects and where to put the new microwave. Every once in a while a little face would appear in the corner of the monitor, trying to see where all the commotion was about. Carrying out these responsibilities while focusing, engaging and sharing their workplace successes and challenges in a 8-16 hour span of training! That gives the definition of multi-tasking a whole new meaning!

Our public servants are “getting it done,” “moving and shaking,” helping our brothers and sisters all over the world during these very unpredictable and stressful times.  LMJA is so honored to be a part of their story; to support our customers in any way we can. Whether it be ‘staying after class’ to provide guidance on a pressing career decision or helping to create ideas for ‘fun food’ for their kids, we are here for our customers. We hope to return to some level of normalcy soon.

In the meantime, be MINDFUL of your team mates and loved ones and most importantly, BE MINDFUL OF YOU! We are all in this together.

Be safe.

Leah Payton

Benefits of Mindfulness

Mindfulness benefitsYou may have heard the term “mindfulness” thrown around, but what exactly is it and how can it help during times of crisis? Jon Kabat-Zinn, psychologist and founder of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, defines mindfulness as “paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment and nonjudgmentally.” In short, to be mindful is to be purposeful about where you direct your attention. Instead of letting your thoughts run wild, you take a step back and become intentional about where you put your focus.

We are all dealing with different stressors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For some, work responsibilities are greater right now and it’s difficult to juggle professional and personal duties. For others, work has slowed down or stopped and the anxiety of remaining productive and dealing with uncertainty can feel paralyzing. Research has shown that practicing mindfulness reduces activity in the part of your brain called the amygdala. The amygdala is central to switching on your stress response, so by practicing mindfulness, you’re reducing your background level of stress. And who doesn’t need a little of that right now?

Here a few of the benefits of practicing mindfulness:

Physical and Emotional Health: According to research, practicing mindfulness regularly can help manage anxiety. It also complements medical and psychological treatments and can help reduce pain and symptoms of conditions such as depression, high blood pressure and addiction.

Emotional and Cognitive Regulation: A regular mindfulness practice has been shown to increase focus and help with memory and problem-solving abilities. It can also improve the brain’s capacity for decision-making.

Happiness and Joy: By practicing mindfulness, you’ll find it easier to take a few deep breaths and respond in a more patient and thoughtful way to a challenging person or situation. You’ll begin to slow down during particularly challenging parts of your day and not react to a problem hastily. That enables you to more easily tune in to pleasant experiences that are around you, even during times of stress.

Mindfulness takes practice, but the effort is well worth the reward! Leah M Joppy and Associates has been conducting webinars focusing on strategies we can all use to get through these challenging times. We can tailor a webinar that focuses on mindfulness practices, stress reduction and more. How can we help you? Call us at 301-670-0051 or email leah@lmja.com to learn more.

 

LEADERSHIP COACHING

leadership coachingWe’ve all had at least one job where it felt like leadership was lacking. You probably remember what it was like – a lack of communication, no clear expectations or defining of roles and difficulty handling conflict. Add it all together and it makes for a less than pleasant work experience and likely one where you didn’t want to stay long-term. Strong leadership matters and it’s the backbone to every successful work team. Team leaders are responsible for more than just delegating tasks and monitoring employees’ progress. To be effective in this role, true leaders must understand each staff member’s overall goals, strengths and weaknesses and then use this information to build a strong team.

What do you need to do to be an effective leader? There are many lists out there outlining what it takes, but when it comes down to it, they all focus on these 6 core strengths:

  • Communication
  • Cultural Competence (the ability to work with people from other countries and cultures)
  • Flexibility
  • Vision
  • Empathy and Emotional Intelligence
  • Personal Skills (areas such as authenticity and trustworthiness)

When you look at your leadership style, how would you rate your strengths in these areas? Whether you’re new to a leadership role or been in the boss’s chair for years, it’s important to take a step back and look at how you’re leading your team. Frequent changes in focus and conflicting priorities can leave staff feeling stressed and anxious. That’s certainly not the environment you want. Working with a coach can help you identify areas where you need improvement, develop leadership skills that you can begin using immediately and learn techniques to develop a stronger, more cohesive team. The benefits are numerous: happier, more loyal employees, increased efficiency and greater productivity. And who doesn’t want that?

There are so many differences between being a boss and being a leader. Bosses command, while leaders influence. Bosses discipline, but leaders act as a mentor. That’s just the beginning. If you want to improve your leadership skills and be a team leader who inspires, Leah M. Joppy and Associates is ready to help. Call us at 301-670-0051 or email us at leah@lmja.com. And if you’re wondering if you should be working with a coach, check out our article on Why Should I Work With A Coach?

EOY BUDGET NEEDS: POPULAR COURSES

If you’re examining your EOY budget and have last minute money that needs to be spent, now is an ideal time to invest those dollars in your team. Looking back on the last year, can you identify areas that need improvement? Perhaps there was a conflict that could have been resolved more effectively? Maybe communication is an area that needs improvement? Or maybe you just want a jumpstart on strategic planning for the next year and how that may look during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, LMJA has a number of courses that have changed the way offices communicate, operate and deal with issues.

Here’s a look at four of our most popular courses and how they can be a great investment in the most important part of your department – your people:

  • Effective Interpersonal Skills: Interpersonal skills are sometimes referred to as people skills, soft skills or emotional intelligence skills. Valuable interpersonal skills include: teamwork, leadership, empathy and active listening. In this course, we discuss verbal and non-verbal cues, why they matter and how to build strong interpersonal skills that will enhance both the harmony and productivity of your office.
  • Conflict Management Skills: Problems can arise on any team and you will likely need to resolve conflict at some point in your job. Our course helps you develop conflict resolution skills, deal with constructive criticism and gain important counseling, mediating and problem-solving skills.
  • Developing Inclusive Teams: While most managers believe having a diverse and inclusive work culture is critical to performance, they don’t always know the best ways to achieve that goal. Our course covers a broad range of topics, such as examining the culture of an organization, identifying current and potential problems and providing tools for change.
  • Organizational Strategic Planning: Organizational strategic planning involves setting priorities, determining where to focus energy and resources, ensuring that employees are working towards common goals and much more. Our course helps you develop an effective strategic plan that clearly lays out where your organization is going, the actions needed to make progress and a blueprint for success.

If you have money left in your EOY budget to spend and are interested in making meaningful, long-lasting change in your department, Leah M. Joppy and Associates is ready to help. Many of our courses have been reformatted to deliver in a virtual format.  We also have a half-day course delivery option.  Whether you’re a novice or a pro, our excellent course producer ensures a smooth delivery of our virtual courses.   Call us at 301-670-0051 or email us at leah@lmja.com.

COACHING FOR HIGH LEVEL ADMIN STAFF

If you’re an executive assistant, does it feel like you make the impossible happen every single day? It’s a job that requires a lot of knowledge and flexibility, along with the ability to deal with all types of personalities. With the COVID-19 pandemic and all of the changes it’s brought to the workplace, you may be dealing with more stress now than ever and even starting to feel some burnout.

Executive assistants often feel like they need to put the needs of their managers and departments first. This can lead to a number of challenges, such as maintaining a work/life balance and feeling like you need to be available 24/7. What if you had someone in your corner who’s ready to listen to YOU and help you make changes both in your job and outside the office? By assessing the unique challenges you face in a high level administrative position, a life coach can work with you on the best ways to tackle tough situations and develop a clear and detailed plan of action. Best of all, you have someone who has your best interests at heart and is going to hold you accountable. Some of the outcomes from working with a life coach include:

  • Establishing stronger boundaries (this is big one!)
  • Building a stronger partnership with your manager(s)
  • Improving communication and streamlining processes
  • Increasing productivity and feeling more focused dealing with day-to-day tasks
  • Learning tips for practicing self care and making yourself a priority
  • Reducing stress and enjoying your job (and life!) more

Whether you’re new to an executive assistant position or if you’ve been at it for years, it’s always beneficial to take a step back, look at the big picture and examine what areas you’d like to work on both in and out of the office. If you’re ready to make some meaningful life changes and looking for a life coach that can help you through it all, Leah M. Joppy and Associates is ready to help. Call us at 301-670-0051 or email us at leah@lmja.com. And take a look at our article on Why Should I Work With A Coach?

 

Shifting Priorities During COVID-19 Pandemic Part 2

shifting prioritiesLast month, we looked at how the COVID-19 pandemic has caused many of us to reexamine our priorities and how we’ve been spending our time up to this point. We also delved into some simple suggestions to get started on making change: clarifying your values and priorities, incorporating those priorities into your life and beginning to shift your routines even while we’re in the midst of a lifestyle upheaval. Perhaps you’ve started to incorporate some of these ideas into your life. Or maybe you started with the best of intentions and now you’re feeling stuck and frustrated. Don’t worry and most of all, don’t be hard on yourself! Maintaining motivation, particularly during these unprecedented times, is challenging. Let’s take a closer look at what it takes to find motivation.

The Three Ds of Motivation

Simply put, motivation is the ability to initiate and persist at a task. Finding the motivation to change means maintaining consistent effort when it would be easier to give up. It begins with the three Ds:

  1. Direction: When you’re ready to make meaningful change, consider the different directions you can go in your life. You can continue with things as they are now, make drastic and immediate change or take things slower.
  2. Decision: Based on your three choices of direction, you decide which one is best for you and the type of change you’d like to make. None of the choices are right or wrong. They’re simply dependent on what works best for you and the amount of effort and time you’re willing to put into making those changes
  3. Dedication: Once you’ve made your decision, it’s time to go all-in. This is the step that determines whether your decision to make changes is a priority in your life and if those changes will be realized.

The difficult nature of making changes and staying motivated means that you will likely be putting in effort long after the point of it being fun and inspiring. It’s hard work, but you don’t have to go it alone. That’s where coaching comes in. Having a coach by your side means that you have someone who asks the difficult questions you may be avoiding, helps with the three Ds of motivation, holds you accountable, keeps you motivated during the tough times and celebrates your victories with you.

While we can’t anticipate and plan for everything in our lives, we can decide how, where and when to concentrate our energy. It requires some motivation and problem solving, but in the end it will lead to a more balanced and fulfilling life. Leah M Joppy and Associates is ready to help you on your journey to discover what your priorities and values will look like moving forward. Call us at 301-670-0051 or email leah@lmja.com to learn more.

LIFE COACHING FOR SINGLE WOMEN

Life coachingIf you’re a single woman, it can sometimes feel like you’re part of a forgotten group. And if you’re a single woman of a certain age, it can feel like that times a thousand. Gone are the days where single women feel like they need to get married in order to feel fulfilled. Yet popular culture so often portrays them as lonely, unhappy and looking for a partner. The ways single women see themselves versus how they’re stereotyped in our culture are vastly different! So, what’s the real story?

A 2018 study by creative marketing agency Hill Holliday and its market research company Origin sought to answer the question, “What do single women really want?” The answers offered a real life glimpse into their top priorities. Here’s a look:

  • The number-one priority of single women was living on their own. Nearly half (44 percent) said it was what mattered most to them.
  • Another top priority? Establishing a career. About one-third of single women (34 percent) listed their career over everything else.
  • The third most popular priority among single women was financial security with 27 percent of respondents saying it mattered most to them.

The study states that, “on the whole, today’s single women have a strong sense of self and reject the outdated notion that they’re missing out on all that life has to offer.” More proof? Here’s a look at some of the characteristics single women most often use to describe people like them:

  • Independent: 77%
  • Confident: 54%
  • Responsible: 49%
  • Ambitious: 43%
  • Strong-minded: 42%
  • Adventurous: 32%

Perhaps as a single woman you see yourself in the characteristics listed above, but you’re feeling like you could use some assistance in reaching out and grabbing all of the opportunities in front of you. That’s where coaching comes in. Leah M Joppy and Associates can work with you to help identify your priorities, create a realistic action plan and set you on a course for living the life you’ve always wanted. Call us at 301-670-0051 or email leah@lmja.com to learn more.

And please take the time to read our article on the reasons why people seek out a coach.

Unlocking Employee Engagement

How do you keep employees engaged? And especially now, in this time of crisis, how do you keep employees focused, while understanding the impact of these unprecedented times on their very lives? It’s not easy. Most people will take any tips they can to realistically move projects along. And knowing how to lead beyond work takes some creative initiative.

Leah M. Joppy & Associates recently hosted a webinar titled 5 Tips to Unlocking Employee Engagement in Crisis – And Beyond. The purpose behind this webinar was to explore ways we all can use to keep employees engaged, active and interested.

Obviously, this subject was a hot one! During the highly interactive webinar we informed each other. Creative ideas were tossed around. Each participant could absorb the information and ask questions. Everyone came away from the webinar with insights into what they could do given their individual situation.

Here are some of the takeaways from the webinar.

  • First, lead by example. We learn from each other. How we react is often an extension of how our leader deals with the situation.
  • Encourage virtual collaboration. For some, this may seem silly, or scary. Technology is often puzzling. But showing how easy and effective it can be puts everyone at ease.
  • Get to know your team on a social level. We’re not robots, rights? Getting to know your team as individuals, with specific needs, helps you appreciate more fully exactly what they’re going through and will help to identify resources needed.
  • Offer honest feedback regularly. Think about what we hear on the news now – don’t we all appreciate honest assessment rather than vague direction?
  • Recognize team members using their Appreciation Language. Everyone wants, and needs, appreciation, but you have to know how THEY want to be appreciated. People are different and they have a preference of method in which they like to be appreciated.
  • Mindfulness. How do you feel about the current crisis? Whether your glass is half full or half empty, it is refillable. Taking care of ourselves today will determine our tomorrow, post-crisis.
  • Practice empathy and flexibility. People have a lot going on – loss of job, homeschooling kids, personal health issues and maybe elderly parents who may live in another state – all of which is only made more complicated by the crisis. They need someone to be able to talk to and understand – to LISTEN. This is a new situation for most of us.
  • Stay connected. There are so many ways nowadays – through phone, messaging, Zoom, Skype, GoToMeeting, and more. Staying connected keeps us occupied and engaged.

All in all, the webinar left us all energized. See the additional resources we sourced below. And stay tuned for the next one. If you want to make sure you don’t miss it, send me your email so I can include you on the next announcement. 

Additional Resources:

Be safe, be well everyone!

Navigating Through A New Normal

As we all try to adapt to the changes going on in the world right now and establish new routines, one of the biggest challenges is feeling disconnected from our team and working from home in solitary. As a manager, you’re trying to stay calm and positive. You’re checking in with your team and helping them with prioritization and staying focused on achievable tasks. It’s a daunting undertaking and can make you feel more than a little overwhelmed and stressed. It can also feel a little lonely. You’re focused so hard on helping your staff that you can start to neglect your own goals and well-being. That’s why coaching can be just the answer. Working with a coach provides you with the partner you need while you’re trying to navigate the new normal of life. Here are a few areas where a coach can help right now:

Establishing routine. Just the act of having a coaching session once a month can start a new routine. And that time is yours to discuss goal setting, planning for the future, whatever you like! Having a concrete action plan with a sense of accountability can also jump-start a new routine and will carry you into well into the future.

Encouraging self-care. So much is out of our control, but one thing within our control is how we take care of ourselves. As a manager, you may be so focused on your team that you forget to make yourself a priority. However, maintaining a sleep schedule, taking time to exercise and eat properly are just some of the activities that encourage calm and rejuvenate the mind, body and spirit.

Looking to the future and establishing a path forward. We all have a little more time on our hands right now. Rather than thinking about what you can’t do, it’s an ideal time to think about what you CAN accomplish, both for yourself and your team. What were some of the goals you had in mind before we all needed to adapt to a new normal? Was it working on conflict resolution? Or perhaps learning how to manage multiple tasks and priorities more effectively? Now is an ideal time to set a strategy for the future with the help of a coach.

If you’ve thought about working with a coach, but have been setting the idea aside for a more convenient time, now is the perfect time to start. At Leah M Joppy and Associates, we’re here to help you find a newfound focus during these challenging times. Call us at 301-670-0051 or email leah@lmja.com.