15 Effective Ways To Gain More Influence In Your Space

Forbes Coaches Council

Kim Svoboda, CEO of Aspiration Catalyst® featured in Forbes

15 Effective Ways To Gain More Influence In Your Space

Even before the age of digital influencers, becoming influential was a major challenge for anyone. Now, in spite of an ever-growing number of online outlets through which authority, credibility and influence can be developed, it’s exceedingly difficult to carve out a space and a name for oneself that will stand out and earn recognition and respect from the masses.

Here are a few ways to gain more influence: 

Ask Great Questions And Listen Deeply

“Want to become more influential? Having influence is about finding solutions, being credible and doing what you say you will do. Instead of worrying about what to say, start by asking great questions and listening deeply. When you understand what the other person wants, get creative; how could you find a way to help the person get what they want while getting what you want at the same time?” - Kimberly Svoboda, Aspiration Catalyst

Be Physically Present And Share Observations

“We want to be where influencers are, see what they see and do what they do. To be an influencer, be physically present with others, share what you observe with them and demonstrate alternative responses to what they’re currently doing. My clients tend to focus on the middle by sharing opinions rather than observations, while undervaluing being present and demonstrative. Focus on others.” - Theodore May

Develop Self-Awareness And Empathy

“Influence isn’t a function of what you say or even what you do. It’s a matter of how you make people feel. In the long run, improving influence means developing greater self-awareness, heightened empathy and high levels of emotional intelligence. People don’t care about how smart you are or how much you know—but what you accomplish and what that means to them says it all.” - Philip Liebman

Click here to read the rest of the article on Forbes.com

13 Tips For Professionals Who Want To Advance To The C-Suite Level (as Seen in Forbes)

Climbing the corporate ladder is a challenging journey that takes passion, determination and a lot of strategic planning. While some professionals are happy to level out at a midlevel position, others are set on moving up higher, into a coveted C-suite position.

The move from a midlevel role to the C-suite isn’t always an easy one to make. Here, 13 members of Forbes Coaches Council discuss the most important things they would advise their clients to start doing right away if they expressed an interest in making such a career move.

1. Build A Development Plan

Have this important career discussion with your leader and build a development plan to ready yourself. You will also need to get noticed in a positive and productive way. Do more than is expected of you. Build relationships with those who can help you by providing feedback, advocating for you or connecting you with others who have power and influence. - Kimberly Svoboda, Aspiration Catalyst®

2. Demonstrate Strategic Thinking

It’s important to showcase your ability to see the entire landscape and articulate a cohesive strategy (both short-term and long-term). This will signal that you are able to shift from leading managers to leading the business. - Kristy Busija, Next Conversation Coaching, LLC

3. Find A Mentor To Invest In You

Find a great mentor who is willing to invest in you and your future by preparing you for the next steps. Then, “pay it back” by mentoring someone else, but not someone who works for you, of course. (You cannot mentor a direct report—ever!) Read. Ask questions. Learn to understand “numbers.” Learn strategic business models (even if you never use them). - Antonio Garrido, Absolute Sales Development

4. Demonstrate Thought Leadership

Lean into opportunities to demonstrate thought leadership. Write, post and comment on LinkedIn. Volunteer to coach, mentor and train others around you. People follow leaders they understand, know and trust. It’s really not about tactical skills at the C-level; it is the ability to motivate and cultivate the best in others that is most valuable. Demonstrate that clearly and often. - Stacey Staaterman, Stacey Staaterman Coaching & Consulting

5. Consider What Success Looks Like In The Role

Get curious about what success looks like in the target role. Being curious includes mapping how your strengths, experiences and career goals align with the target role, developing a plan to address any gaps and letting the right people know you are interested in the target role while seeking their advice on the right way to pursue the role. Then, have confidence and go for it! - Sandy Schwan, Evolving Strategies LLC

6. Create A Succession Plan

Those who desire to climb the ladder into a C-suite position should create a succession plan that identifies leadership gaps and strengths. By identifying these gaps, they can obtain the necessary coaching and professional development to fill the gaps while further developing the strengths. This approach will help them identify a lateral or detail position to fill gaps. - Diane Hudson, Career Marketing Techniques, LLC

7. Upskill, Network And Explore Opportunities

Think about the competencies and capabilities needed for the new role you desire and then create a plan to start developing them. As you work on upskilling, continue networking and exploring new opportunities. Often, the role you think you want won’t be the role that is available, or it won’t actually be the best fit for your ongoing career development. - Jonathan H. Westover, Utah Valley University & Human Capital Innovations, LLC

8. Create A 30-60-90 Day Plan

After creating a 30-60-90 day plan, you’ll feel grounded and can share insights with your employees. This approach allows you to gather information and create a foundation for a plan to succeed while still supporting and serving others. Plus, if you remain open, you’ll see solutions others may miss and be able to share a new perspective that could benefit your company. It’s a win-win for everyone! - Rosie Guagliardo, InnerBrilliance Coaching

9. Refine Your Internal Board

What is an internal board? These are the people who are your closest influencers and “have your back,” personally and career-wise, as you go through a C-suite move. Create or refine this board to build the network you need to achieve your next goal. Find people who believe in you, understand C-suite issues and can critique you along the journey to your leadership position. - John M. O’Connor, Career Pro Inc.

10. Assess The Perceived Gap Against The Actual Gap

Assessing the perceived gap and understanding the actual gap may render some useful insights. In practice, I have found that the former is overestimated and the latter underestimated. With reflection comes awareness and the opportunity to reset the narrative and set ideas in motion that will help you incrementally progress toward the desired goal. Making progress and taking the correct action are both vital. - Arthi Rabikrisson, Prerna Advisory

11. Clarify What You’re Willing To Sacrifice

Before making the leap, the client should clarify what they are willing to do and, ultimately, to sacrifice to get there. There are opportunity costs to everything in life. No matter what we’re trying to accomplish, we’ll have to give up something to make it happen. As such, the first step is to conduct a cost-benefit analysis to ensure you know the price you’ll have to pay. - Andreas von der Heydt, Andreas Von Der Heydt Coaching & Consulting

12. Understand The Cultural Climate

Understand the cultural climate of the team you now serve. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” as the saying goes. Spend time with each direct report, getting to know them as a human and listening to what they think is working and not working. Find ways to connect to the great team that doesn’t report to you. Step one should always be to listen and find out what the cultural norms are, good and bad. - Alex Draper, DX Learning Solutions

13. Build New Relationships And Evolve Current Ones

Moving from a midlevel position into the C-suite means one thing for someone with those aspirations: building relationships. You want to start evolving your current relationships by answering questions such as, “Are you connected and getting to know them at a deeper level?” Then, you can start to build business plans to help elevate them and grow profits. - Jon Dwoskin, The Jon Dwoskin Experience

What To Do When Your Workplace Culture Doesn’t Align With Your Authentic Self

Forbes Coaches Council

Kim Svoboda, CEO of Aspiration Catalyst® featured in Forbes

Workplace Culture Doesn’t Align with Your Authentic Self?  14 Tips

In a professional setting, being your most authentic self can help you forge open and honest working relationships, as demonstrating authenticity and transparency helps one come across as genuine and trustworthy. However, there are times when you may feel compelled to conform to cultural or organizational norms in your workplace that don’t align with your own personal values or morals.

Here are valuable tips on what to do about it: 

Evaluate the Gap Between Your Work Culture And Authentic Self

“Is it manageable? If it is, then find the alignment between who you are and the cultural or organizational norms and explore ways to increase that synergy. Where is the misalignment, and what is within your power to lessen the chasm? Are there allies who could help you navigate the challenges? Solicit their help. If the gap is too big, it might be time to find a new employer”. - Kimberly Svoboda, Aspiration Catalyst

Assess Next Steps To Find Greater Freedom Of Choice

The ideal solution is to choose to work for companies that allow you to show up as your authentic self. The reality is different, however, as many opt to work for a company, at least in the short term, in order to support their families. In these situations, assessing next steps—determining what kind of training would give you greater freedom of choice, figuring out what you can influence or what is under your control and so on—becomes critical. - Elizabeth S.

Consider How You Hold Yourself In Relation To Others

What is genuine or authentic for us changes as we grow. When arriving at a meeting, how do you choose to show up? Rushed and angry, upbeat and collaborative or open and present? Authentic self-expression is projected by how we hold ourselves in relation to others. Bringing forth our authentic selves in ways that contribute to company performance creates standout leaders with unique capabilities. - Jessica H.

Click here to read the rest of the article on Forbes.com

6 Powerful Questions to Move from Mediocrity to Boldness

If there is one thing I believe without question, there is something very powerful inside each of us. We are all destined to do great things in our own way. Yet, in today's world, we find ourselves subject to the laws of conformity: "Don't stand out too much! Don't be too much this or that! Don't speak too loudly!" and the list goes on. Pleasantville was a comedy movie, not a desirable destination.

Why does this happen? Why do we pull each other down versus lifting each other up to celebrate each person's rugged uniqueness? Standing out draws negative attention, so many will stop doing whatever it is. Or perhaps it is the spirit of competition that drives this behavior—we yank the other person down to our level so they can't get ahead. "Do what you do best, but not too much." Nobody wins in this scenario, and it's out of congruence with the person we are meant to be. How different would our work be if we supported and encouraged each other to be our authentic selves and march to our own beat?

Those who have it in them to rage against the machine stand out because their drive to unleash their power is so great. Or perhaps it is because conformity is too painful. These leaders will not play by someone else's set of rules and go along with the crowd. They will go above and beyond, and they will chart their own course. This is the heart of boldness.

What is BOLDNESS? 

It is the willingness to take risks and act innovatively. It is possessing confidence or courage.

Are you living your boldness? Or are you still working to uncover what your boldness is?

Here are the six essential questions to ask:

1) What am I here to achieve?

2) What am I destined to do? 

3) What matters most to me? What do I value?

4) How have I leveraged my power and potential?

5) How could I further unleash my potential?

6) If I knew I wouldn't fail, what is the most significant leap I could take?

You may not have the answers to all of these questions right now. The pursuit of these answers is where the adventure of boldness begins.

Reflection

The way to begin the alignment process with your boldness is to spend time reflecting. These essential questions deserve the proper time, space, and attention to arrive at your best answers. The vision we cast for our lives and our leadership is not set-in-stone but will evolve. It should reflect who we are at that moment and put us on the path to create our most powerful unique impact. The process of listening to yourself is the way to dig deeper for ideas and watch for cues to uncover your unique flavor of greatness. This is one of the first steps to take on your journey. 

Asking for help is a sign of strength. I didn't always feel that way. There were many times in my life and my career when I should have asked for help and did not. When I did ask for help, I was always glad I did. When I didn't ask for the support needed, I floundered or took a much longer route than required. One properly placed question can help you shift your thinking and provide clarity in a way pondering alone cannot. You can and should enlist others to provide guidance and support to help you on your journey. Two heads are always better than one, and especially if the other person is skilled at asking questions, listening deeply, and providing insights that you may not have recognized on your own.

When we work with leaders searching to uncover their purpose, looking to the past helps them gain clarity. We look back to review where they were courageous and innovative in the past, and this often provides clues for their bold future. For many of us, we may have taken the path of least resistance, followed the well-meaning advice of a loved one trying to keep us 'safe,' or we ran into obstacles and changed course. We may find ourselves on a different path, losing sight of our original vision. Does this sound familiar?

We all have the knowledge inside of us of what we want to accomplish in life and who we are meant to be. Deep down, we know that we have the unique talents to achieve big things in the areas that matter most to us. But the path gets diverted, and we follow a different one that is not true to ourselves. You could be in a role where you are making it work, and you might even be achieving success. However, you're not feeling fulfilled or like you are making the difference you want to make. There's the niggling feeling that you are not doing what you are meant to do or making an impact, and it won't go away.

The Moment of Truth

It is always the right time to get back on the correct path. You can hit the reset button at any point. Sadly, for so many, it doesn't happen. Those who do, begin by deciding that they're not going to just go through the motions. They want to stop feeling like life and work are an endless slog, day after day. There is a moment where they say:

ENOUGH

"I choose not to live like this anymore. I will do what I am meant to do. I am finished with mediocrity."

And make no mistake – this is incredibly bold because most people don't go there. The road to boldness is not crowded; at times, it is lonely and painful, but the rewards you will reap are worth it. When this happens, you are now ready to discover what bold leadership is about. You can set a clear vision of how you want your life and career to be and take the steps to make it happen:

Step 1: Decide to take the path of boldness

Step 2: Reflect on the six essential questions and journal your answers

Step 3: Enlist the help of others to ask questions and provide support

Step 4: Recognize and encourage others on their journey to boldness

So rather than fear this journey, run towards it. Because that's what brave people do on their path to BOLDNESS. This person could be you. 100%!

---

Would you like some company on your journey to boldness? Enlist Aspiration Catalyst® to help you get there fast and achieve great results. 2021 only comes once and this moment is the right time to choose to be bold and achieve the success you deserve. 

www.aspirationcatalyst.com

Stop “Pivoting” Already, and Run A New Play

The top ten list of overused words this year would indeed include "pivot." We are all looking at doing things differently, which is why this word has become so popular. Changing the status quo is necessary, but let's understand why we're making change and be open to the possibility of significant shifts in our products, the way we do business, our client's needs, and our employees' needs. There should be a purpose when the time calls for diversifying or innovating in the form of new products or new services. In a pivot, you are only picking up one foot, and your movement is limited. When you can move both feet, your options increase dramatically.

How do we do that?

Start with a deep understanding of changes in your business, your current needs, and what has evolved for employees and clients: 

• What has changed in your marketplace? What constraints and opportunities now exist? Who are your clients, and what? What do they typically come to you for?

• What products/offerings should stay? Which conditions should be modified? Which should go?

• What has changed for your employees? What has stayed the same? What needs to evolve?

 Play #1 Client Engagement

In my business, we do many large keynotes, group sessions, and in-person workshops and coaching sessions. With the pandemic, this method of delivery isn't feasible right now. 

The need for leadership, high performing team development, and executive coaching didn't go away. We can't do things the way we were doing them before. So how do we meet the need while we can't all be together in person? We can be together via video conference, like Zoom. We've found that in some ways, that video conference is better than being in person. Video group sessions with great content and the right facilitator are engaging, interactive, and entertaining. What makes them better? People are engaging from the comfort of their own homes, which can often break down barriers that exist when we are all in person. We can also get people together from anywhere in the world—there's no travel or additional expense required to attend. Distributed teams are now much easier to get together than they were before, and a new opportunity.

Meeting clients where they are, that's what we need to do. Refocus your efforts to deliver the experience/product that they need now. 

Play #2 Process

Now is an excellent time to look at your processes. 

What's in your control? Let's take sales: have you thought about what a valid lead is for you today. How do you gather leads in today's environment? Could you move clients through your pipeline faster—is your "getting to know you" stage too long, or has it changed significantly? What would make a difference? Is there a point in the process where prospects are leaking out? Take this time to fix your processes so that you can continue to move forward on achieving your goals, possibly even better than before. 

Enhance the client experience, and the opportunity to be leading the charge is in reach.  

What's not in your control? What challenges do you have with product availability? 

In construction: are you reliant upon lumber, which is currently in high demand with skyrocketing prices? Could you use a different material? Or could you be sourcing differently? Taking a step back and surveying the current landscape can illuminate options you might not have considered before. 

Are you hiring? 

Lucky you! On-boarding looks completely different right now for many companies. How are you creating a great experience for your new employees? How can you recreate the "in-office" experience today?  

Innovative organizations have great welcome kits, onboarding meetings, diligence around setting up mentors, continual communication, and engagement materials.  

Play #3 Communication

A big challenge in today's work environment is communication. We aren't able to participate in the typical watercooler or hallway conversations today. Dropping by and walkarounds are on hold. When we aren't together, we are missing the physical aspect of communication, and body language is much more challenging to read.  

In the absence of communication, people's brains go negative. They will make up a negative story in their head and will believe it until told differently. These are the reasons why regular communication is so paramount for organizations and teams right now. We need to get or keep people re-energized, motivated, and refocused to create that necessary momentum. Goals and priorities of the organization and will be clear that the work they are doing matters. Connecting them back to the big picture and helping them see their role is crucial, especially now. 

Send a regular email every Monday morning outlining priorities for the week, create a newsletter that goes out bi-weekly or monthly and get the team involved in making it, have regular fireside chats, coffee talks, brown bag lunch connects, or watch motivational videos together. The options to connect and communicate are endless. Get creative and be consistent with your communication and watch how your employees respond and engage. Speaking of engagement, let's talk about that next.

Play #4 Employee Engagement

I recently read that a study showed lower productivity on Mondays and Fridays for remote employees of a large well-known company. The solution? 

Bring everyone back to the office again. 

Really?!?! So that isn't an option for most right now, and it will be quite some time before that will be feasible. Instead, let's look to fix the cause of the productivity issue. Why aren't they engaged on Mondays and Fridays? How could you encourage your employees to hit the ground running on Monday morning and keep it the momentum through Friday afternoon? Create a Monday morning huddle where everyone shares their top priorities and goals for the week and includes a celebration of the goals accomplished the prior week, so work is recognized. Could Friday be a "big idea" day where everyone gets time to work on their pet project where they are empowered to work on the intersection of what is meaningful for them, the team, and the company? Get creative-gather ideas-put them into place-and have some fun with it, and watch your productivity rise!

Another consideration, how are you leveraging your employee's talents? How could they be contributing more to the team? What do they have that your clients need? What is the common goal or challenge that your team could embrace, and each person gets to bring what they do best to work on it together? 

Keep your employees engaged through intentionality. Do well-being checks: reach out just to check-in and see how they are doing, discuss what's challenging them right now, and how you could remove barriers and obstacles for them. Or you could talk about the latest episode of Away or another show you are both binge-watching on Netflix. The point is to connect and meet them where they are. This investment in relationships matters a lot right now and will pay dividends into the future.  

Play #5 Focus on the Goal

Suppose you're familiar with the story of Apollo 13, where the mission went terribly wrong: an explosion ruptured an oxygen tank and caused it to leak rapidly. The crew needed to figure out how to fix it and fix it fast. 

They were in big trouble and didn't have the apparent tools and equipment to address the problem. They were all sweating bullets. In a great example of synergy and teamwork, the ground team and the crew worked together to develop a solution and protocol for installing it. Mission accomplished! (It's a great movie by the way, and spoiler alert: they made it home safely)

What is your Apollo 13 challenge where "failure is not an option"? How could you get everyone engaged in solving your biggest problem? 

Let's say your biggest challenge is growth and hitting your goal for the year. Let's say you want to grow your revenue by $5 million or even $500 million, and with all of the volatility, your original plan won't work. What can you do now? Some might decide to lower the goal by 25% or 50% and explain it away by saying, "it's too challenging right now, and we'll get back at it next year." 

Personally, I think that is crap and not what a BOLD leader does.  

Instead of changing the goal, change the plan to get there:

• Are you used to doing all in-person meetings? Have virtual coffees instead. 

• Are you planning on lead gathering at conferences and networking events? Use video and video conferencing instead.  

• Your product isn't feasible right now due to distancing? How could you adjust it to meet your client's current needs?

Rethink your plans and processes and come up with creative solutions. There are TONS of examples of companies who have done this; distilleries making hand sanitizer, retail increasing their online presence, shipping products, creating bundles, and adding curb-side deliveries, restaurants creating special menus for families stuck at home, leadership development experts moving all offerings to online, etc. How could you gain economies of scale, increase margins, use inventory creatively, and apply innovation to your business? Many incredibly successful companies have been born out of challenging times. What if instead of looking at this as a downfall or paralyzing event, you looked at this as your opportunity to rise to the occasion and stand out from the rest? 

Finally, keep the team energized and focused by celebrating wins along the way. Have your executive send an email to the group or each individual praising them for work well done. Celebrate excellent client feedback and stories. Recognition goes a very long way. Teams that are inspired will create and maintain momentum. You will keep moving forward on your goals and put the finish line back into your sights. Your team has the opportunity to complete the race with strength.  

Play #6 One Step at a Time

 Goals that at the beginning of the year seemed a stretch, yet attainable, might appear more daunting right now. Take your gigantic goals and think small. Break them down into bite-sized chunks. 

Back to the Apollo 13 example: Thinking about getting a disabled spacecraft back to Earth, it sounds impossible. What if we tackle each obstacle and challenge, one by one? 

First, we must make our craft be able to withstand the heat. What can we do about that? We have to repair our shields with the materials we have. Ok, done, what's next? We have a power problem. We must generate more power so that our thrusters keep us on the right path. Let's focus on that. What is each person on the spacecraft going to do at specific points of flight to get us safely back to Earth? Let's map that out for everyone. As you move through each small step, create a plan to maintain progress, and each person knows what to do to ensure success; this is how you build momentum.

Now's the time to run new plays, not pivot. Chunking it down and figuring out new ways of operating makes our big goals more palatable and do-able. You can always take the next smallest step, and then the next one after that. When you continue to take steps day after day, you will look back and be amazed at the progress you have made and look forward and see your goals within reach.

The toughest of times can seem overwhelming. When we refocus with a purpose and a great plan, we can shift gears, put the next steps in motion and be transformed for the better…forever. The opportunity is here, partnering with us will help you get your new plays into action now. Talk with Kim Svoboda of Aspiration Catalyst®. Connect with us today!

Don't Sacrifice Your Goals - Adjust Your Strategy!

In these very challenging times, many professionals and their companies are finding themselves in “survival mode”. They are trying their best to navigate as well as they can and just get to the finish line at the end of the year.  You might be surprised to learn that many of our Aspiration Catalyst® clients have adjusted their goals very little, if at all.

Yes, you heard me correctly.  And no, they don’t have their heads in the sand.

Many of our clients have found ways to keep their goals right where they were before the pandemic.  I even have a few trailblazing clients who have raised their goals higher.  How is this possible? I’m glad you asked!

When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us  

-Alexander Graham Bell

Many times, we are so focused on the original goal and the path we defined to get there, that when seemingly insurmountable obstacles appear, it can look like the only option is to succumb to the waves.  Or just ride the storm out in survival mode, being more reactionary than proactive.  Here’s what we have found works in this challenging situation: focus on the path. It’s often the path to those goals that needs to dramatically change—rather than the goal. 

Determination and proactive, forward-thinking helps us adjust to new market conditions and reap the rewards of adjusting our sails to take advantage of the new opportunities presented.  You’ve worked too hard to not reap the rewards of making timely adjustments to take the new path to achieving your goals. Don’t adjust the goal, adjust the path.

Here is an example:  We have many clients who prospect and gain clients through face to face interactions. They attend many events such as trade shows, conferences, and networking meetings. They establish a connection with key people, and then follow up with them after the conference to eventually turn them from prospects into clients.  If this is their primary method of gaining new clients, their plan is almost obsolete now.  So how do we handle this? 

Look back to gain insights on moving forward

To begin, we look back at where our clients have come from in the past.  We identify what our best sources of clients were and brainstorm to come up with new ways of reaching them.  We also look closely at our existing clients.  These are almost always your best source of new prospects/clients. Referrals received by former and existing clients are like gold, and once you let your clients know you want them they will come in by the truckload. If you aren’t asking your current and past clients for additional work and/or referrals – you are missing out.  Don’t assume they know—you have to ask.  They might think you are too busy or already have more than enough business. If you have a great relationship with them and if they know that you are sincere in your desire to help them, they will be really glad to help you too.  Give them the opportunity to do so! 

Reminding your past and current clients of the great work that you do and sharing your new products, services, and examples of great work you’ve done with other clients can be key and keeps you top of mind. This approach is 10x more likely to help you expand your relationship and gain additional business.

An example: while I was working for a highly successful Fortune 500 Technology company, we would bring our nationwide clients in for a VIP experience which we called a “Red Carpet”.  We would give them the grand tour of facilities, an insider’s view of our highly efficient distribution center, and high-level meetings with our engineers and executives.  In the meetings, we would do an overview of our full capabilities. During the presentation, much to the chagrin of the Account Executive responsible for the client relationship, the dreaded words would be spoken by the client: “I had NO IDEA you could do all of that!”  The executive’s heads would swivel immediately to the responsible parties in the room; the account executive, their manager, and/or their VP.  The unspoken communication was clearly; “WT_!” (I’ll let you insert your own expletive) “How did you not let the client know that we did this?!!!”  And the Account Executive would telepathically respond with “But, I did!”.  And likely they had.  Once.  Maybe twice. But here’s the thing: clients don’t remember what you tell them, especially if what you are sharing with them isn’t a need they have at that particular moment in time. Therefore, you must ‘rinse and repeat’ often. In fact, the rule is that you must repeat a message an average of 7x before you can be sure it was received by the other party.  The point is, communicate often with your clients about your offerings and asks.  Don’t assume they know already.  You’ll know if you’ve over communicated when they ask you to stop, and in my experience that almost never happens. 

Ask and You Shall Receive

Here are the ways to take action on expanding relationships and gaining more referrals: 

Expand Current Relationship

“We are so grateful to be able to work with you and have really enjoyed our partnership.  We’ve currently got some more bandwidth and I’m wondering where we could be helping you more right now?  What projects are you working on where we might be able to provide value?  Would it help if I gave you an overview of our services? Some of our newer offerings might be interesting/just what you need.”

Referrals

“You have been so great to work with and in my experience great people know other great people.  Who else in your network might be looking for services like ours?”  (The more specific you get here—the better—like I want to meet Chief Executive Officers, Heads of Sales, Learning & Development VPs, or Meeting Planners…)  “Could you connect me with them through an introduction?” (To make this even more powerful, provide them with exactly how you’d like the intro—like having a call all together, giving them the verbiage to use for your intro, etc.…)

These two simple ideas can make a world of difference in your performance this year. In what ways could you adjust your strategy to make a big impact on your performance? Instead of changing your goal or resigning yourself to this being the worst year ever, change your path and reap the results and the rewards! 

Want to refocus, adjust your strategy, be BOLD, and keep moving forward with relentless purpose? Are you going to bet on yourself and go all in? 

A session with Kim Svoboda of Aspiration Catalyst® can be amazingly clarifying and show you that challenging times don’t have to mean abandoning your goals. Instead, you could be on your way to crushing those goals and setting new ones!  Set up a free 15 minute strategy session today.

The Silver Lining, July Edition

It’s easy to get caught up in scarcity during these challenging times. You don’t have too look very far to find negative headlines, scary stories, conspiracy theories, and many other things that fill our heads with fear, uncertainty and doubt.

I’m looking further—beyond the headlines—to the place where we can find bright lights. I’d love for you to join me on this journey of gratitude.

This month, I am most grateful for:

Time with my family

We’ve visited with my sister and her family several times and it has been great to have a change of scenery and watch our kids and our relationships deepen.

We love our new rescue puppy, Nala.

She’s so exuberant about everything!  Our 5 yr old dog, Lolly, has welcomed Nala to our family and they play all often.  Nala has been good for Lolly’s confidence and well-being. Heck, she’s been great for all of us!

Summer

1000% my favorite season. Running, biking, swimming with my triathlon training group, walking, movie watching in our backyard—it’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Giving Back

We’ve donated to several charities and great causes like The Hunger Food Network, Black Lives Matter, Greater Chicago Food Depository, and more.  We are grateful to have enough to share with others and support the causes we are most passionate about.

Aspiration Catalyst®

Supporting our clients through these times of turbulence has been incredible.  I’m grateful to work with leaders across the country who continue to inspire me with their perseverance and resilience.  From finding new ways to serve clients, to keeping employees inspired and connected through great leadership, and balancing high accountability with care and compassion—I am confident that we will all make it through this crisis TOGETHER.

What are you most grateful for? Inspire us with your comments below!