The shortest newsletter on the planet

Time to read: 20 short seconds

My tween rocking her leadership!

Today, I have one question for you. Below is a definition of leadership that I use in my own life and with my clients.

Leaders take responsibility for their worlds.

It's both simple and profound. What is your world and what does it mean to take responsibility for it?

We'll dive into leadership more next week.

Ponder away!

Christina

Do you choose work? Or life? Or both? Ack!

It's short. One minute tops!

My daughter, choosing NOT have her energy sucked by a photograph.

Disclaimer: Any resemblance to the Boyd-Smiths, real or imagined, is purely fictional.

Imagine this morning: You were up in the middle of the night with a sick child. A text awaited from a dear friend wanting to chat about something. You are preparing a presentation. Even this morning, you might be recreating something because you had a better idea (like, for example, this newsletter) while your kids are getting ready for school and the dog is whining for her breakfast.

Ack! Work/Life Balance!

Can you relate?

Here's the thing, sometimes managing work/life balance is a minute-to-minute affair.

There is so much more to say on this subject and for today, think about how you choose to use your precious time and energy in each minute. Here are some examples to get you started:

A sick child. Yes seems like a good choice. You can motor through the next day a little tired. Not ideal but workable.

For those of you who know me personally, you know that I would love to do nothing more than yack with a friend. In fact, it's my favorite hobby (and honestly, avoidance tactic). To stay focused, sometimes you have to counter-offer with support that will take less time. And tell your friend how much you love her and be transparent about what's going on.

Create a new newsletter? This choice is a toss-up. Depends on your priorities, timing, and what else is going on. In this case, I can ignore that my son is eating Cheetos for breakfast and watching YouTube. The commitment to get quality content to you each Thursday, is non-negotiable.

Get dressed? Later. No one cares if you drop off at carpool in your PJs.

This, my friends, is what wild, weird, dynamic and real life balance looks like. Really and truly.

And now, I must return to preparing next week's presentation. Besides client sessions, YOU are my #1 focus today.

I hope this helps.

Christina

You're running into obstacles. What do you do?

Estimated read time: 1.3675 minutes.

Webinar problem-solving central! (The replay is below!)

You walk into a conference room. Your presentation is gorgeous. You have butterflies in your stomach because the next hour feels like a chance to establish your credibility with an important group of stakeholders. You set up your laptop, connect to the projector, and...

Thud! Bleep! Bam!

The projector doesn't work.

Actually, your sound effects are probably more like this... &^*%*%($#@#

Participants are due to arrive any minute. What do you do?

Have you ever experienced something like this? Maybe this description is enough to make you stop breathing. There's hope! Keep reading.

I've had mucho experience with things going wrong this week (thank you webinar technology fairies) and have lived to share my lessons learned with you.

Here is what you do:

1. Breathe. Ground yourself so you can feel your feet on the floor and your butt on the chair. This gets you ready to do #2.
2. Remember why you are doing what you're doing. What's the bigger picture? What do you want your audience to learn? Stay connected to the bigger picture which enables you to do #3.
3. Problem solve. Problem solve. Problem solve. Send someone out to make copies of the slides while you deliver a riveting introduction. Talk to your slides while doing interpretive dance. Suppose the webinar system doesn't send out any reminders for your upcoming event. Problem solve by setting up another system to send the reminders. Then, maybe, the webinar system fixes their issue and sends out all four reminders at THE SAME TIME. (All examples are purely hypothetical, of course). Move to #4.
4. Maintain your sense of humor. Seriously, all four reminders at once? No projector? It's comedy. Laugh out loud. A sitcom couldn't do this better. And #5 brings you home.
5. Remember that people are on your side. Be transparent about what's happening and how you're fixing it. Use the obstacles as a chance to ask for help and show that you value your stakeholders and what they want. They want your success as much as you do, and your situation makes them feel better about the times they've been in the hot seat.

You can trust yourself to handle anything that happens. Hit reply and tell me a story about a time you creatively problem-solved an obstacle.

It's been a week!

I hope this helps.

Christina

The only trick you need to do something hard

Estimated read time: between 1 and 2 minutes

Ahhh…corporate glory days. (Crazy hat day courtesy of the wonderful Michele Chin-Purcell.)

My clients are starting new jobs and expanding their opportunities and having brave conversations and doing things that are new to them. Some stuff feels hard for them, too. (And they're excited and moving forward and getting what they want).

That's why I'm writing this to you. I said there was one thing that will help you do hard things and as I'm writing, I realize there's a BONUS thing. (2 lessons for the price of one! Yay!)

Here's the one thing:

And it's funny because the lesson is this: do one thing. That's it. I learned this from my husband at 3:00 am after I'd been worrying about producing an Excel spreadsheet for a team of VPs in my new corporate job and OMG, I've never seen Excel before in my life! "All you have to do is go into the office tomorrow and do one thing." He said those words either because they are wise or because he thought they were his best chance of getting any sleep.

All you have to do is one thing. Then the next thing. Then the next until, amazingly, you've done all the things.

Here's the BONUS thing:

Hold onto why you are doing the hard thing. I'm producing a webinar because I care deeply about making sure that your freedom is never negotiable. You told me you:

• feel stuck
• want to get out of your own way
• lack opportunities
• want work/life balance
• are exhausted
• are worried that time is slipping by

I am delighted to keep testing the systems and producing content because I know the process I'm teaching next Wednesday will help you find the peace, balance, and opportunities you crave.

Christina