KATHY ARCHER
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How to manage your emotion and energy when leading your nonprofit

17/2/2021

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As I walked into my office, my administrative support, Wendy, asked me a question. I turned and glared at her. Then, as I turned back and kept on walking, I answered Wendy through my teeth! I certainly didn't have the patience for her BS right now. 

Timeout!
But....why didn't I have the patience for Wendy at this moment? 
Was it because she had done something wrong?

** Possibly, but the way I handled it was all on me.

Being Bitchy
Ok, let me start by saying I do not like that word at all! If you can give me another word that we all know and understand to describe what I mean, please message me and tell me a better word. It's not merely being rude or being cranky it's more than that. And we've all been there.


Staff challenges
I've had my fair share of staff challenges, and I bet you have too. We have staff that don't get along, stir the pot on the team, mess up with clients, neglect their paperwork, or in general, are somewhat incompetent at their job. And we need to address those issues.


How are you addressing the issues?
  • Confidently?
  • Respectfully?
  • With your integrity intact?
The way you handle situations comes back to your character and your reputation. What do you want people to say about you and about the way you dealt with the situation? My guess is you don't want them to leave the interaction, head to her co-worker and say, "Holy smokes, is she ever bitchy today!"

Instead, you probably want them to say something like, "That was a tough conversation, but I feel like she's supporting me and wants to help me out."

What gets in the way?
We are women leaders. There is a lot that can get in the way that has nothing to do with the work, the person we are dealing with, the sector or the issue at hand.

▶︎ It might, however, have to do with that time of the month.
▶︎ It might have to do with that time in our life cycle.

▶︎ It could also be that our hormones are off due to our diabetes or thyroid issues.

▶︎It might result from a lack of sleep because our toddler kept us up, we fought with our partner or dealt with night sweats half the night.

Hormones, emotions, burnout
How you respond to a challenge with your employee is less about the words you use and more about how you deliver that message. Hormones, emotions and burnout all factor in. They are all things you need to be aware of, manage and, yes, at times, workaround. 


3 strategies to help you manage your reputation

1) Be mindful of your body, mind and soul
  • Tune in to your body to see what's really going on.
  • Practice mindfulness

2) Be in control of your schedule so you can adjust when needed based on mood and energy levels.
  • Work at home some days. 
  • Take a break to move your body, have a healthy snack or give yourself a few moments of much-needed solitude
  • Move a talk to the afternoon if you need time to settle your emotions from the night before.

3) Be honest
  • Communicate somethings off
  • Role model vulnerability


We respect vulnerable leaders
Most of our nonprofits are full of women, all of whom are likely going through similar emotional, hormonal and energy roller coasters. When you acknowledge where you are at, it makes you seem more human and permits others to do the same. Humour is useful in these kinds of situations if that's a strength of yours, but so is self-compassion, kindness, honesty and bravery. 


Extra Resources 
For those of you in The Training Library, here are some resources you might want to check out to help you ditch the bitchiness and lead with confidence!
  • WEBINAR: Gossiping, Hormones and Backstabbing: Leading in Predominantly Female Teams
  • WEBINAR: Develop Your Strength of Character
  • WEBINAR: Managing Your Emotions at Work
  • WEBINAR: Staying Composed During Meetings, Conversations & Challenging Times
  • WEBINAR: Breath Magic - Breathe your way to being a calm, composed and in control leader!
  • WEBINAR: How to deal with OFFICE POLITICS with calm confidence
  • WEBINAR: Managing stress on the fly!
  • WEBINAR: The 5-Minute Self-Care Strategy for the Swamped Gal
  • WEBINAR: Thriving Through COVID-19 - Mini Training
  • COURSE: Wellness AT Work


You are human! Don't forget that
Remember, it's not what you do as a leader that counts. It's how you do it. And you are a human being. You have emotions, hormones and a life outside of work that factor into how you lead. Don't forget to take that into account. When you do, you'll ditch survival mode and learn to thrive in both your leadership and your life!
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6 reasons leaders need to practice mindfulness and how to do it quickly!

11/2/2021

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Did you know that practicing mindfulness can make you a better leader?
You bet it can!

Mindfulness helps you to: 
  1. Be Decisive: make better decisions
  2. Have Stamina: endure through long days
  3. Remain Calm: be more relaxed during crises
  4. Be Composed: maintain your cool when triggered by a comment
  5. Focus: able to concentrate instead of feeling frantic and scattered
  6. Prioritize: able to use your judgement to put your attention where it's really needed


AND....Mindfulness helps you to be a compassionate leader: 
Instead of being stiff, bristly and focused only on tasks and results, mindfulness helps you be a warm, caring, compassionate, emotionally and socially intelligent leader. 


You are a caring person!!!
And let's be honest, that's who you are at your core! You are kind, caring and passionate about your work. Sometimes, we just get caught up in the mess of the day, lose contact with that part of ourselves (unmindful) and lose touch with the human side of our leadership capacity.


Mindfulness doesn't necessarily mean meditation
Now that we've confirmed, it might be a good idea to practice mindfulness; my guess is your thoughts immediately go to meditation. While that may be helpful, and I encourage you to try that, you don't have to meditate to practice mindfulness.
How to add moments of mindfulness into your day
This morning I ate my breakfast. That's it. I just ate my breakfast.
  • No music playing
  • No book in my hand
  • No phone beside me
  • No TV, YouTube or training course

I just ate my breakfast

As I ate my breakfast, I was aware of the sounds around me.
  • The fan running in the fireplace
  • The sound of myself breathing
  • My dog snoring down the hall
  • The sound of myself chewing
  • The fridge running
Books on Mindfulness and Leadership
  • Mastering Confidence: Discover your leadership potential by awakening your inner guidance system 
 
  • Mindful Leadership: The 9 Ways to Self-Awareness, Transforming Yourself, and Inspiring Others
​
  • The Pause Principle: Step Back to Lead Forward​

  • Breathe: The Simple, Revolutionary 14-Day Program to Improve Your Mental and Physical Health
You don't have to live alone to do this!
But you might be saying I can't do that. I have a houseful. True. And when you sit and eat and listen to the sounds in your household, what do you hear?
  • My daughter would hear her roommates fighting 
  • Perhaps you hear the TV on, music or kids bickering 

You might also tune in to what you taste.


Use your senses at any moment to be mindful
Your senses are wonderful ways of bringing you present, being mindful in this moment 👃🏼👂🏻 👋🏻 👀 👅 Even during a meeting, travelling or watching tv, you can practice tuning into your senses.


As I practiced mindfulness this morning, I tasted the cinnamon in my oatmeal, the ground hazelnuts, craisins sprinkled in and the almond milk on top.


Mindfulness is being mindful of this moment...it's that "easy"
Practising mindfulness is simply just that, practising being mindful of whatever is happening around you. 


Are you present or in the past or future?
Instead, most of us let our thoughts pull us back to what happened and regurgitate what went wrong. Alternately, we focus on the future and fret and worry about what is to become. To be mindful is to be in this moment, whatever is going on!


Mindfulness helps you build compassion, care and connection in your nonprofit
In this week's episode of the podcast, Elizabeth Bishop and I talk about love in your nonprofit. By love, we mean compassion, connection and caring. The problem is many of us have lost touch with that part of our leadership capacity. And it shows.
  • We've lost the passion for our work  
  • We don't so much like the people we work with  
  • Sometimes we forget the meaning behind why we do what we do, the outcomes for our clients and the community
You can regain your love for your job, your compassion for the people you work with and reignite that in your team.
More help to build your compassion, kindness and mindfulness 

To help, tune in to my conversation with Elizabeth for tons of ideas, insights and the incentive to practice mindfulness.

For more information on how to use mindfulness to maintain your composure during tough meetings, those of you in The Training Library can watch this webinar.
​
TRY IT: Just for a moment now, tune into your senses. Be present to this moment!
Go make the rest of your day awesome!
Have you lost your passion for your work?
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  • Do you wish you could feel engaged, create an engaged team and enjoy the work you do?

All of that comes from allowing your heart to be involved in your work.
​
Too often, we’ve been told to stop being so emotional. To no be so caring.
We’ve been told we’ll burn ourselves out. ​ But we are burning ourselves out by not caring, not feeling and numbing out.
​
In this episode, Elizabeth and I engage in a dialogue about bringing your heart back into your work!
You’ll learn strategies, mindsets and most importantly, you’ll gain the permission to once again feel the love in the workplace!
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Compassionate leadership begins with self-compassion!

26/11/2020

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Take a moment to  consider your energy level, mood and ability to focus.

How are you doing?

This year has added incredible challenges both at work and in our personal. We've been stretched in ways we never knew we could.

So many individuals, teams, and organizations have risen to the occasion like troupers! My guess is you are one of them. And I bet you are also tired. 

I hear that a lot lately. We've done well…but we are tired.

I hear you! I am tired too.
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Effective leaders know that to be socially intelligent, they need to first take care of their own emotions!
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  • But I'm also angry. I was wearing a mask, before wearing a mask wasn't cool. I've been social distancing. I've done my part.
 
  • Also, I'm sad, worried and anxious. Many of my loved ones are struggling with the mental strain. I hear it in their voices, and I see it in their eyes.
​
  • And I'm scared. What if….
As a leader, we not only engage with the rainbow of emotions from our teams (Social Intelligence) we also have our own feelings, moods and emotions that we must manage (Emotional Intelligence).

In Emotional Control via Emotional Literacy, I teach you how to understand all of your emotions and that by naming them, you can tame them.

That's why it's essential I didn't just jump to gratitude (My # 2 VIA Signature Strength Character Strength) I need to name all of my emotions first: Anger, sadness, worry, anxiety and fear

We must name our emotions to tame our emotions!
  • I am grateful I have the skills to manage my emotions and moods.

  • I am grateful I have a loving husband to go through COVID with.

  •  I am grateful my online coaching and training have increased with COVID.
That gratitude, along with my VIA Signature strengths of Hope and Spirituality, have been lifelines for me.
AND….I also get down.


✔️ I cry. 
✔️ I hurt. 
✔️ I fall apart. 

Then, I pick myself up and step back into leadership once again. 

Today I wanted to remind you that you don't always have to be strong, stable and stoic. In fact, you can't. Not if you're going to be at your best.

You must create space to feel in a safe environment.
How to create a safe space to feel your emotions

Go for a drive and scream and cry in your car.


Rant into your journal all that is unjust in your life.


Get out for a walk and let the anger seep out of you.


Lean into a friend or loved one and ask them to hold you.
Then, when the wave of hard emotions has passed, perhaps several waves, remind yourself of your strength, determination and capabilities.

​
Say a little prayer… and step back into the world of leadership.

You can do it! I'm here cheering you on, and so are those that need you to be at your best!

Don't take so long next time to allow yourself to fall apart.
​

It's ok and in fact, a necessary part of leadership! If you don't create safe spaces to do that, you'll fall apart when it's not helpful for you or your team!
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Become a COMPOSED leader by practicing willpower!

10/9/2019

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Would you like to feel confident that you will be able to maintain your composure in your next meeting or conversation? If you are like most leaders...
​
You have a tough conversation or meeting coming up. 
  • You worry you’ll say something wrong, and everyone will know you're unsure and worse they’ll see it! 
  • You fear they will hear it in your voice, see your hands shaking or wonder if you are about to break down. 

But what you deeply desire is to feel composed. 

You want to walk away feeling like you didn’t get your panties in a knot; unruffled and clearheaded. 
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What gets in the way of that: 

Unmanaged thoughts and emotions. That’s the bottom line. 
When you feel flustered in a meeting when your nerves get the better of you, and you feel anything but composed, it’s because your thoughts and emotions have gone crazy.

​Your thoughts and emotions are in control of you instead of you being in control of them 🥴
Here’s what a lack of composure looks like:
​

🚩 You begin a bit too aggressively, to defend yourself or your point.
🚩Your voice gets shaky, high pitched or louder than necessary.
🚩You point your finger at someone accusingly or bang on the table a little too hard.
🚩You go along with something because you know you’ll get too emotional trying to fight for what you really want. 
🚩You cut people off, shut them down or use sarcasm to quiet them because their comments are triggering something and you can’t quite figure out how to deal with whatever is bubbling up inside of you. ​
I felt that way too!
I know, me too! I spent years worried I was not in control. That left me feeling incompetent, afraid and wondering if I was cut out for a leadership role. Over time, I learned how to regain that feeling of being in control. Being in control of my thoughts and emotions gave me the courage, confidence to lead.

Let me show you how, so you can lead your amazing team and make the difference your org can make!
So, what exactly is composure?
Being composed is when you are in control; in control of your thoughts, emotions and behaviour. Being composed is feeling calm, confident and in control!

How do you get more composure?
You get control of your thoughts and emotions by training your brain, which will help you become Emotionally Intelligent.

🔸Emotional Intelligence is being able to both recognize and manage your thoughts and your emotions. 

Training your brain, your thoughts and the subsequent emotions requires willpower. Willpower, or lack of it, will either give you a sense of composure or leave you feeling anything but composed in tough conversations.
If you want to find yourself feeling calm, confident & in control
in your next meeting, learn to develop your strength of will.

🦉Daniel Goleman defines willpower this way: 
​"Willpower is the ability to consciously regulate what you feel and what you do".


Think of any strong, competent and composed leader you know, and I bet they can regulate themselves! The good new is you can also learn to regulate you what think, feel and what you do too!

If you want to become a more composed leader,
grow your willpower!
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​Ongoing training to grow women leaders in ​🇨🇦 Canada's Nonprofit Organizations.

​Not a member of The Training Library yet? 
​
​Join for $24.97 and enjoy a monthly webinar plus a library of courses to support your ongoing personal and professional development that is affordable and easily accessible!

Discover the details here
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How to tackle that next tough talk with your confidence intact!

12/8/2019

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Do you ever find yourself about to enter a tough talk and wonder if you've got what it takes to pull it off? 

If you have read the first chapter of my book, you know I have! One particularly challenging meeting, that's hard to forget, I wondered if I was about to upchuck my morning oatmeal...but I digress...
️If you are really curious to hear the whole story, you can listen to the first part of my book for free here!
If you struggle with tough talks and want to learn how to prepare for them, keep reading!
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3 Kinds of Tough Talks!
There are certainly more than 3 kinds of tough talks, but let's look at what might constitute a tough talk.
  1. One-to-one meetings that are dealing with performance issues or completing a performance appraisal.
  2. Group meetings that you are leading the conversation. These meetings might be tense, charged, or complicated.
  3. It might be that the tough meeting you are entering is with someone that you deem more important than you or superior to you. For me, that would have been my boss or my funder. In those kinds of meetings, I might have been asking for a raise, a promotion, or to take a training course that costs a substantial amount or would pull you away from the team.

What makes these talks tough?
What makes these talks tough for you or me or anyone for that matter? For any talk to be considered "tough," they all have one thing in common.

Do you have any guess what the one thing is that makes talks tough?

The one defining factor is...
The thing that they have in common is that you THINK they are tough. That's it!! Each of us can enter the same meeting, and some of us will think that it's going to be a tough meeting and some of us will think it will be just fine.
It's your perspective on it that makes any conversation tough
It's time to turn it around
If you want to enter your next meeting or talk and not see it as tough, you need to change your perspective. I am not suggesting you snap your fingers and say, "It's easy peasy!" No. A perspective change is about seeing in a way that is ALSO true.
3 ways to change your perspective about upcoming talks
To change your perspective, do these 3 things:
PictureLearn more about the Inner Guidance Cycle in my book Mastering Confidence.
1) PAUSE before you engage in the conversation.
  • Mindfully and intentionally prepare for your meeting

2) PONDER your current perspective
  • Ask yourself: What's the story I am making up about this meeting?
  • You are telling yourself something about your ability to handle it.
  • Ugh...this is going to be hard.
  • I am NOT good at conflict!
  • S/he's going to think I'm a bully if I address that issue.

2) PIVOT to a new perspective
  • Ask yourself: What is another story I tell myself about my capacity to handle this talk?
  • You are telling yourself something about capacity to handle it.
  • This meeting will be tense, and I've prepared well for it.
  • I'm getting better at handling conflict because I am becoming more emotionally intelligent.
  • I know my goal is about helping this person grow, and I'm learning how to best do that in a way that they feel supported.​

Feel the difference? It's not easy peasy, but it is doable! And, you, my dear, have got this!! Now you are ready to PROCEED with confidence that you can handle the talk

Want more practice?
Not convinced? No, perhaps not. This work takes practice. But please keep at it. This is why I am always harping about the need to do the inner work. Practice makes progress!

️If you need more help with preparing for upcoming tough talks, I encourage you to check out this webinar inside of The Training Library: Preparing for a Tough Talk: So you can handle it with integrity!
Here's the bottom line: 
I believe you can handle tough talks with your confidence intact? 
​Do you?
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Ongoing training to grow women leaders in ​🇨🇦 Canada's Nonprofit Organizations.

​Not a member of The Training Library yet? 
​
​Join for $24.97 and enjoy a monthly webinar plus a library of courses to support your ongoing personal and professional development that is affordable and easily accessible!
Discover the details here
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3 Ways to connect to your inner world, so you can make a BIG difference in your outer world.

18/7/2019

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What is the thing you want most to accomplish as a leader? I mean most...not get through your ToDo list, clean out your inbox or have people just do what they are supposed to do. I mean, why are you in this job?
​
Beyond the paycheque, why do you do what you do?

Keep reading and find out how you can do that 
👆️​ more!
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Do you want to make a difference?
My guess is that it is to make a difference; To change lives; To do purposeful work. I bet that you work in your organization, deal with the politics, handle the immense responsibility, and put out all of the fires that you do because you want to know that somehow, the work you are doing will make the world a better place.

I certainly know that's why I am here today emailing you and why I worked so hard with my teams over the years. It's because I know that together we can make the world a better place to live in for the next generation.

How would you rate yourself?
If that is your "Why" too, how are you doing? On a scale of 1-10 rate, how well you did that yesterday? 
  • 0 - Purpose? What purpose? 
  • 10 - I was totally on track with the feeling I was making an impact in the bigger scheme of things. 

How do you feel about your score? Try these:
  • In the last week, how would you score yourself?
  • ​The last month?

Are you unhappy with your score?
If you are unhappy with your score, my guess is that you've been spending a lot of time chasing tasks, meetings, emails and projects. My guess is you've spent less time on relationships, people and in your inner world.

Inner world? Yes, inside of your heart and your head...the part of your head that connects to your heart.

You need to spend more time in your inner world
Our inner world is our meaning-making system. It's what we use to make sense of the world we live in. Our inner world is comprised of our values, beliefs and morals. It's this inner world that creates our mental models, those assumptions, perspectives and opinions, and what we use to make decisions. 

Your inner world might be a bit of a mess!
When you rarely visit your inner world, it gets overgrown with weeds! What was once a beautifully clear set of values around how you will treat others in life, has been taken over by the weeds of deadlines, checklists and company policies. 

You are hiding your inner beauty!
You, my dear, have a beautiful heart. 💜You are full of love, compassion and fun. But you don't let it shine enough. You hide that part of you in favour of order, control and fear.
God forbid you let your guard down, or you will lose control of your day, your people and your world. 

But in truth, you've already lost control. 😞
When you chase the task part of your world and neglect your people and your relationships with them, you'll never make the difference you want to make. Your ability to control your impact in the world will be lost.

Connect to your inner world and to your people and your score will go up!
The way to come back to finding a balance between the tasks you are responsible for and the people you are growing is to slow down and connect to your inner world a bit more. When you do, you'll find you naturally find more time to connect to your people and together talk about your united purpose and find more creative, fun and powerful ways to achieve your organizational mission and purpose together.

3 Ways to Connect to Your Inner World
So you can make a BIG difference in your outer world.
Write
For some, this means journaling, but it doesn't have to be.
I find that by writing answers to questions, I find in books, on podcasts or in courses are great ways to get me connecting to the part of me that makes meaning in my world. It's often through this that I find clarity on my values and beliefs. That clarity often helps me to realize where I have been working form mistaken beliefs or unclear values.
  • DO THIS: Find a ton of free worksheets to write your way to clarity in your inner world


Get quiet
If meditation is your thing, great. Do it. But getting quiet doesn't have to be all zen and chanting.
  • DO THIS: Practice just being quiet during regular, every day activities.
    • ️Just eat! 🥗
      • Get rid of the phone beside you and pay attention to chewing and the taste.
    • Just go to the bathroom! 💩
      • I'm serious. Stop thinking and just pay attention to the task at hand...it's called presence 
    • ️Just drive! 🚘️
      • Shut off the radio or audio books. Don't make any phone-calls. Pay attention to the road, smile at the other drivers and enjoy the drive.


Connect with nature
I recently posted about the number of plants I have in my home/office! Can you guess how many? Find out how many here. The point being, nature doesn't have to be the forest. Ways to connect to nature in the office:
  • Watering plants or picking dead leafs off of them ☘️
  • Listening to the birds outside of your window 🐥
  • Stopping to watch the storm release its torrent of rain ️​☔️
DO THIS: Look around you now and see where you could either find or create a connection with nature. Set aside time to do that today!
When you connect more frequently with your inner world, you'll find your outer world more balanced. The tasks you are responsible for are essential. But please don't forget to balance them with the people in your life!

If you want even more help to connect to your inner world, so you can make a more significant difference in your outer world, but are looking for a guide in that process? Check out The Training Library for a ton of mini-courses and training sessions to guide you to deeper understand your values, beliefs, emotions, and how to use those to more effectively lead. ​
Picture
Ongoing training to grow women leaders in ​🇨🇦 Canada's Nonprofit Organizations.
Not a member of The Training Library yet? 
​
​Join for $24.97 and enjoy a monthly webinar plus a library of courses to support your ongoing personal and professional development that is affordable and easily accessible!
Discover the details here
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Women Leaders  that expand their Emotional Literacy will increase their Emotional Intelligence

14/3/2019

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Emotionally Intelligent women leaders are more effective, stronger and more impactful than their less emotionally intelligent counterparts. How did they develop their emotional intelligence? By increasing their emotional vocabulary. The more accurately you can name your emotion, the quicker you can move through it. You get control of your emotions by getting clear on your emotions. Clarity is the ticket. 

In this blog, you'll begin to understand how to gain that emotional clarity thus giving you back emotional control and increasing your emotional intelligence.  
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Here are some trivia questions to get you started...Do you know...
  • How many notes are there in musical scales?
  • How many subject pronouns in the French language?
  • How many different emotion or feeling words are there?
I don't honestly know either 🙈however, Wikipedia says the chromatic scale has 12 notes, there are 6 types of subject pronouns in the French language, and there are 4, 6 or 8 basic emotions depending on who's theory you follow. Newer research is suggesting there are close to 30,000 emotional words.

Do you know what French, musical notes and emotion words have in common?

Here is what they have in common. They are all ways of communicating.
  • I can sing: You are my Sunshine, as I often do to my granddaughter showing her how much I love her.
  • I can ask you: Où se trouvent les toilettes
  • I can tell you: I'm angry, annoyed or irate
Each time I am communicating. But just as easily I can miscommunicate and ask for something totally different than the washroom, completely off tune annoying my granddaughter or use the word angry when I really mean hurt.

How often are you miscommunicating your feelings?
Miscommunication is one of the biggest challenges in relationships, at home and at work.
  • We don't say things clearly.
  • We assume others know what we mean.
  • We don't check to see that we were heard.
The first one, saying things clearly, means we must first know clearly what we want to communicate. That's the problem, many times we don't specifically know what we are feeling and so we can't clearly communicate it.
  • We don't know if we are mad or hurt or jealous.
  • We haven't sorted out if we are nervous or excited.
  • We don't name feeling insecure, doubtful or a lack of confidence. Instead, we get defensive or shut down.

Given there may be 30,000 feeling words, here's the problem...most of us only use a select few...Brene Brown suggests we can only name 3 emotions. Click here to hear which 3. When we stick to those basic emotions, we are missing a big part of our own understanding of what is going on inside of us. That leads to us simply trying to shut our emotions off, minimize them or push them down. When that happens, we lose control.

Emotional Intelligence requires emotional literacy
Emotional Intelligence is being able to both recognize and manage our emotions. To do that, you need to increase your emotional literacy.
  • If you are travelling to France, you will want to increase your French speaking vocabulary.
  • If you want to sing better, you may learn to read music.
  • If you want increased Emotional Intelligence, you'll take time to expand your emotional literacy.

Practice Expanding your Emotional Vocabulary: Do this:
Thank about a particular situation today. It could have been "good" or not so "good.? Then take a moment to write down a few emotions you felt then. Try to get to at least 10.
Then grab a thesaurus and look for other words that might more clearly describe your emotions. Voila, you are on the road to expanding your emotional vocabulary!

Continue to grow your emotional vocabulary, and you will become more emotionally literate. That will increase your emotional control and your emotional intelligence! One last thing: Emotions are not bad, wrong or a problem for women leaders. We just need to learn to harness the power of our emotions!!! You will do that when you expand your emotional vocabulary!

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The woes of working in a predominately female team

1/2/2019

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Do you work with a bunch of women? Do they sometimes drive you nuts?

I walked into an all-female meeting a while back and immediately knew it was going to be an hour full of sarcasm, snide comments and passive aggressiveness. And I was right! OMG! They cut each other off, spewed darts at each other as they spoke and refused to "play nice." I just wanted to shake them all and say stop! Can't you be nice to each other?
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​We work in a predominantly female sector
The majority of people that are employed in the non-profit sector are women, so my guess is you work with a lot of them. I'm also going to venture a guess that you find them "emotional" and that those displays of emotions get on your nerves. I'm curious who's driving you crazy today? Your administrative support, your boss or the team lead? Maybe it's the whole dang team!

Your mood today plays a big role!
Here's the thing, how you are feeling, your mood, affects how tolerable you are of their behaviour.
  • If you are stressed about an upcoming report that is due and slept poorly because you fought with your spouse last night, you may have zero patience left.
  • If instead, you are in a good mood, their sarcastic comment may not trigger you. In fact, you may have compassion for them, knowing they've been struggling with their own issues at home.
It's important to remember, is that your mood impacts how their attitude affects you!
Your mood impacts how their attitude affects you!
​This is what it can look like instead
Coming from a place of compassion and feeling a bit more patience may allow you to address the issue, rather than the person. I am NOT suggesting you let things slide and allow people to be rude, ignorant and disrespectful.
  • But waaaaay back when I taught parenting to families, we taught this golden rule: Address the behaviour, not the child. The child isn't bad. But colouring on the wall is not ok.
Instead of taking their comment personally and biting back, we need to address the issue at hand.
Don't take their comment personally
This is what you can do to deal with moody women on your team
One sure way to find the patience for dealing with other women: Choose your mood. Tune into this Ted Talk to hear the science behind this idea. But here's the thing, you can change your mood. You can lift yourself up, and, it doesn't take much time.
🎶  Mambo # 5   🎶
🎶  Pump up the Jam   🎶
🎶  Rock around the Clock   🎶
Are you smiling?
You didn't even need to HEAR the music, and I know already I've changed your mood! You are hearing the songs in your head...the beat..the tune..the energy. Makes you want to dance, doesn't it? Are you humming?
Boost your mood!
Tips to quickly shift your mood:
  • Sounds, like nature, a baby or music lift our moods. Even thinking about them. So conjure up a memory of a sound you love.
  • You don't have to get a runner's high feel the impact of movement on your mood. A walk around the block or a little dance shuffle down the hall can do that too.
  • Our sense of smell is powerful. Sniff your essential oils to boost your mood.
  • Look or touch the flowers on your desk - Yes you can buy yourself flowers!
  • Stand at the window and feel the sunshine on your face.
  • Probably the easiest and quickest way to boost your mood is to SMILE :-) Smiling releases a ton of endorphins into your body!
If that's not enough
I get it. This is in some ways only a temporary fix. The reality is that ongoing negativity and moods in the office can turn things toxic pretty darn quickly. Here are a couple of more resources for you.
  1. If you are a member of The Training Library, I've just added a webinar replay called Gossiping, Hormones and Backstabbing: Leading in Predominantly Female Teams. You'll find it in the webinar section. If you aren't a member of the Training Library and want this and additional training, join here.
  2. The second resource is an invite to check out the work I am doing with my colleague at The Magnetic Workplace. Our focus is helping you move your culture from toxic or tolerable to a Magnetic Workplace.

But always, start with you! Take responsibility for YOUR mood! Trust me that will have a ripple effect!
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Increase your sense of well-being by focusing on these

13/12/2018

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Here is a quick quiz for you to rank how well you are doing in contributing to your wellbeing.

Do work to do these 5 core elements of well-being?
  1. Express Positive emotions.
  2. Feeing Engaged in what you are doing.
  3. Ensure you are involved in good Relationships.
  4. Finding Meaning in what you do.
  5. Accomplishing positive things.

If you wish for more wellbeing and happiness, you might want to increase your focus on these components.

​I'll give you some ideas of how to do that below! It starts with Positive Psychology.
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​What's Positive Psychology got to do with wellbeing? Lots!

Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, says that when you practice these 5 things, (The PERMA model of well-being), you bring order to the chaos of your life. While these 5 components don't define well-being he says, they contribute to it.
The PERMA Model
  • Positive emotions isn't about always being happy, happy happy necessarily.
    • It's being optimistic. That's one of the Signature Strengths from the VIA assessment that I encouraged you to do a little while back. p.s. Martin Seligman was instrumental in the development of the VIA and the development of character research.
  • Engaged is that sense of losing sight of what's going on around you because you are engrossed in what you are doing.
    • It's often called being in flow. It's also been shown to be one of the key factors for successful teams. It's when you as a leader create engaged teams that according to Gallup research, you flourish. Oh, by the way, another tidbit of information: Tom Rath, the author of Strength's Finder, which is all about employee engagement, was one of Martin Seligman's first Masters of Applied Positive Phycology degree. Yes, I geek out over this stuff 🙈
  • The connections we develop in our relationships give meaning to life.
    • It is where compassion, caring, love and kindness all come into play. Yes, more signature strengths from VIA.
  •  I often ask you a couple of key questions: Why bother? What's the point?
    • When you have a bigger sense of purpose to your day, your work, your life, you are happier and yes more fulfilled. That sense of meaning contributes to your well-being.
  • Accomplishing something positive, whether that is at work, with your family or in your personal life feels good.
    • What's more, it contributes to your self-esteem and builds competence and confidence.
3 steps to help you impact your wellbeing!
When you focus on these 5 components, you'll be doing both. Here are the steps for doing that.

.......... √ Be intentional
  • You can't do it all. Pick one area to focus on.
    • Perhaps you will choose to work on a specific relationship with someone.

.......... √ Create a habit of practice
  • Change takes time and effort. Pick one small thing and make it a habit that you do.
    • You could start a habit of making eye contact and smiling at this person each time you walk into the office in the morning.

.......... √ Journal each day
  • Documenting, reflecting and measuring is what truly makes a difference.
    • This might be as simple as marking a little check mark at the top of each day in your agenda when you do it. A line through the checkmark might indicate they smiled back at you. At the end of the week, you can notice how often you did it and how effective it was in making them smile. You might also notice what overall effect that has had on your relationship.

Other factors that contribute to your well-being
Tom Rath, whom I mentioned above, wrote not only the Strength's Finder, but also a book called Eat, Move Sleep: How small choices lead to big changes. Tom knows that these are the foundations for being able to do the others: Feel positive emotions, be engaged in what you are doing, have strong relationships, contribute something meaningful in your life and accomplish good things.
Don't forget to take care of yourself!
This time of year can be tough on your sense of well-being!
This can be an incredibly stressful time for many of us. I've fallen apart many times in December; physically, emotionally, spiritually and in my relationships. Each year I work to add new habits, routines and practices to ensure I enjoy December more and more. And do you know what? It's working!
Tonight I'll be singing with my church choir to a group of seniors.
I created that practice last year, and it makes an incredible difference to all 5 components.
  • It gives me a burst of Positive emotions.
  • I get so Engaged I lose track of time.
  • I build Relationships with these old folks that warm my heart.
  • That connection makes me feel like I am contributing Meaningfully to their wellbeing too.
  • That will make me feel like I Accomplished something worthwhile today!
Work on the 5 components of PERMA, and you'll be contributing to your well-being!
  1. Positive emotions
  2. Feeing Engaged
  3. Involved in good Relationships
  4. Finding Meaning in what you do
  5. Accomplishing positive things
Do you need some help with the self-care components?
This month's training is coming up on Dec 19th, 2018. If you want to learn some quick self-care strategies for you and your team, that you can implement quickly, join me here: The 5-Minute Self-Care Strategy for the Swamped Gal!​
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Do you want to be calm, cool & collected in today's meeting?

22/11/2018

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Do you have a meeting coming up that is worrying you? Maybe you are not exactly worried about the meeting, but more about your ability to handle the meeting?
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Perhaps you are worried you'll be anything BUT calm, cool and collected in that meeting later today. What you really want is to learn how to stay composed during that meeting.

In this blog, you'll learn a  3 step strategy for 
staying composed!
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Once upon a time
Once upon a time, I had a meeting with my administrative support. We were meeting to clarify roles: What was her job and what was mine. Things had gotten a little murky around who was making what decisions. I felt like I was losing control. 

She had started making more and more decisions that were, in my mind, not hers to make. Being young and new to the role, I was feeling threatened. So, I decided to meet with her, put my foot down and set some clear distinctions about who did what. 

Can you guess how that meeting went?

Well, let's put it this way. I still vividly remember it today. 

Within a few minutes, she'd questioned my authority. Or at least I felt like she did. I got defensive. (You know where this is going, don't you?) The conversation became heated. I got angry. And yes, it ended in me yelling at her. The whole office heard, not just the sound of angry voices, but every word I said to her. I totally lost my composure.

I wish I could say that was the only time I've lost control of my emotions and my behavior. Sadly, that's not the case.  In truth, we all struggle to stay composed at times. 


Loss of composure = Shame
Here's the thing. When we lose our composure, do you know what we feel? Shame. Think of times when you might have felt shame:
  • Do you ever remember wetting your pants as a child and being mortified? 
  • How about being called on in school and not knowing the answer and being ridiculed for it? 
  • Did your parents ever tell you that you were a disgrace to your family? 
Can you feel the shame when you think of those scenarios? It's a familiar feeling, isn't it?

Do you feel ashamed when you lose your composure?
Shame is not a feel-good word. But shame is what we often feel when we lose our composure.
  • We should have known better. 
  • We should not have let it bother us so much.
  • We should have been able to control ourselves. 
I want you to know that you can get better at staying composed. You need to increase your emotional intelligence. That's both learning to recognize and then manage your emotions.

A trick to getting out of the shame
Shame storms, as Brene Brown calls them, can send us spiralling out of control! One of Brene's recommendations to deal with shame is to identify your triggers. Knowing what might set you off, can help you play offence instead of defence!

DO THIS: Think about your meeting today. What might trigger you?

My trigger
For me, in that conversation with my administrative support, the trigger was incompetence. At that point in my career, I was new to leadership. I had a serious case of imposter syndrome. 

Here's what I believed:
  • I did not think I was old enough to be in a leadership position.
  • I was sure I did not have the right education.
  • I knew I had zero leadership experience.
I was terrified someone would figure that out and out me. To make matters worse, I knew my administrative support had a direct line to my boss! 

√ If I had known that was my trigger, I could have prepared for it and been able to stay composed!


The 3 step strategy for staying composed!
  1. Figure out what might trigger you in today's meeting 
  2. Prepare for what you will do when you feel trigger before you go into that meeting!
  3. Feel calm, cool and collected in your meeting today! 

If you want to learn a system for identifying triggers and learning how to manage your emotions when you get triggered, you can take training on this in my membership site: The Training Library. There is a specific training called: Staying Composed During Meetings, Conversations & Challenging Times. Find out more here.

You have a job to do. A job I know you love. Don't let your emotions get the better of you and keep you from making your difference in the world! 
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    Kathy Archer

    Women leaders often hit a point where they find themselves in over their heads and wondering if they have what it takes to lead.
    ​In my online courses and coaching I teach them inner and outer tools to restore their lost confidence so they can move from surviving to thriving in both leadership and life.

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