Do you keep telling yourself ‘the time’s not right?’

‘I’m too busy’
‘Things are too uncertain’
‘I’ll get round to it when……’

If you didn’t sign up for my Lead with Confidence in Challenging Times programme back in May there might be a good reason.

I get it.

It’s not for everyone

I’m not for everyone.

That’s as it should be.

The first group have nearly completed the programme now and every single one of the group has made big steps.

Like Shona Drummond who says:

‘As a result of working with Lynn on this programme, I have been given a 3 month project to lead on which is at a more senior level to mine AND I’m applying for more senior roles. Something I’d been holding back on. This has boosted my confidence and belief in myself no end’.

Or Susie Burdekin who says:

'I’ve been able to put myself 'out there’ more and raise my profile in my industry....

If you’re a driver, you’ll know the potential danger of blind spots. If we’re not aware of them they can cause near misses, or more fatally, carnage – for you and anyone else nearby.

And that’s the thing about blind spots. We’re not always aware of them until it’s too late.

I went for years with a blind spot. It was a belief I had about who I was. I remember a friend of mine saying ‘you’re the strongest person I know’ and I took that as a compliment – and it was meant as a compliment.

But my big blind spot was that I was unable to show or articulate hurt.

I wanted to ‘stop’ feeling the ‘bad’ stuff.

I wanted it just to go away. (It doesn’t, of course, however hard we try. It just resurfaces in mainly unhelpful or self-sabotaging ‘coping’ mechanisms).

‘Be strong’ was my mantra. I’d clench my stomach muscles so tight to try not to feel ‘that feeling’.

Good...

I’ve been recording content for my Facebook group this week and one of the topics I talk about is resistors, energy vampires, mood hoovers – call them what you will. 

Of course, those people are NEVER us. Are they?

Er – yes.

Or at least I was, yesterday.

I started to feel cross about ‘other people’ (no names ).

Blaming THEM for not thinking about me and ‘doing what I wanted them to do’ (I know - cringe )

This stopped me focusing on something productive and useful.

And I finished the day pretty p****d off with myself and the world.

Complete waste of time and energy.

Fortunately for me (and my poor husband) I was able to give myself a good talking to and set the intention to start today differently.

And I did.

Then, all of a sudden, those people ‘did what I wanted them to do’.

Now, I don’t consider myself a woo woo type of gal but I do believe that the type of energy we put out there comes back to us.

Negative...

This week I’ve recorded a few short videos for my Facebook community on the topic of confidence.

Here’s one of them on the topic of self- doubt and procrastination (5 minutes long) which might resonate.

In my experience there are two main reasons why people don’t reach their full potential in life (whatever that means for them).

It’s rarely down to a lack of intelligence, experience or knowledge.

It is partly down to a lack of self-confidence and self-belief. (That won’t surprise you).

But it’s also a lack of ability to take specific action to start to build that confidence. (Because one of those limiting beliefs we often hold is ‘I’ll wait until I’m more confident and then I’ll do x, y or z’).

We see our lack of confidence as such a big ‘thing’ but actually it isn’t. (Only in our heads).

You can work on those beliefs and you can take small actions at the same time. The key word here is small.

You don’t have to leap out of your comfort zone all the time. You can tiptoe.

And consistency pays off.

Your confidence – with a good dose of humility - empowers others. The ripple effect that it can create is...

I’ve been noticing how much there is in my inbox about resilience, at the moment. (You’ll find my team resilience articles on LinkedIn if you’ve not seen them already).

I’m also noticing something else. How much we love to ‘be strong’ or be recognised for our ‘coping skills’ (I’m guilty as charged).

We’ve often been taught to put on a brave face or a ‘stiff upper lip’ (so British!).

‘I’m resilient’ we tell ourselves (as if resilience is a fixed state rather than something that fluctuates).

So, when someone says, ‘are you okay?’ we say ‘fine’!

But I don’t think that’s a great question right now (or ever) if we want to know the truth.

When I ask, ‘what’s going on for you’? and then shut up, I can have a deeper conversation.

So, let me ask you…. ‘what’s going on for you right now?’ because I generally care about you...

I hope you and your family are safe and well and that you have time to relax over the Easter weekend – although I don’t know about you but it’s all feeling a bit Groundhog day!

My mission has always been to help you to be more successful without working harder and that’s even more important right now.

With that in mind I recorded 5 short (less than 10 minutes) live videos for my Effortless Leader Revolution Facebook group this week.

• Start with the end in mind (Monday)
• Simple but powerful questions to help your team re-focus (Tuesday)
• Compassion is key (it’s not enough to feel it – you have to ARTICULATE it) (Wednesday)
• What are you doing that’s stupid? (Thursday)
• Review and Q and A (Friday)

If you want to take a look then do join us in the Effortless Leader Revolution.

I will continue to serve you with valuable and practical resources over the coming weeks and months.

Happy Easter to you.

I don’t know about you but I’ve had my fair share of wobbles over the last couple of weeks.

At times I feel like hiding away (pretty easy to do right now!) and at times I feel like I can conquer the world. 

I know that goes with the territory. None of us has been here before.

All the ups and the downs and the in-betweens.

Maybe you feel the same.

But the question that’s giving me hope and driving me forward is this one.

‘How do I want to be remembered once this is over?'

I want to keep showing up! With humanity and love.

We can all choose our path.

Take care and stay safe and well.

My Office Manager and virtual assistant Pat has produced one of the best guides EVER for working from home.

I know there’s been a lot about this subject over the last couple of weeks but I didn’t want you to miss out on this one.

Should set you up well for the week ahead.

Get you copy here:

How to survive working from home

Enjoy!

As our inboxes are chocca full of stuff all about coronavirus right now I wanted to take a different approach.

In my Effortless Leader Revolution Facebook community I did three short videos this week with some practical guidance for leaders.

• Video 1 – What you should prioritise when there’s so much noise out there (7 minutes) - watch here
• Video 2 – Working virtually – what you need to know – tech, trust and team (13 minutes) - watch here
• Video 3 –Answers to three common questions – delegation, motivation and when to ‘check in’ with a virtual team (12 minutes) - watch here

Please feel free to pass them on.

And there are many more resources in the Facebook Group if you want to join us.

Stay safe and well.