Boundaries are a part of self-care. They are healthy, normal, and necessary.

Doreen Virtue

As we enter wrap up week six of working from home during COVID-19, many of us are looking forward to a weekend free from yet another Zoom meeting.

While I'm grateful for what technology has offered us during this time, it isn't without its challenges. Today, we're going to talk about why setting digital boundaries are vital to preserving your well-being and capacity as a leader - especially now.

Enjoy the episode and stay safe.

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Doing nothing is sometimes one of the highest duties of man.

G.K. Chesterton

Do you worry that you’ve got to make this quarantine count? Are you measuring yourself against what everyone else is getting done while at home?

In today’s episode, we continue with our shorter sessions as we navigate COVID-19. We’re going to talk about why there is no test at the end of this and how to let go of the fear of not making this time at home count.

Enjoy the episode and stay safe.

Recommended Resources:

Join LEAD.Well – a new leadership subscription for women who want to be better, braver leaders. 

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We can endure almost anything if we are centered, if we have some focus in our life. You can endure if you have an anchor.

Renita J. Weems

A reminder that for the next little while, I’ll be publishing more often with shorter episodes as a way to talk about and support you during the uncertainty of the times. 

Today I want to chat about finding your anchors. 

A month into self-isolation I’ve learned that there are a few things I need to do every day to stay grounded. This goes beyond my micro-moves I talked about in the last episode – those were more about what I wanted to accomplish each day. 

My anchors are the activities I do my very best to ensure happen every day, no matter what. These are simple things that help me feel more like myself, turn down the volume on any anxiety I’m feeling and remind me that at this moment – I’m ok. 

When I do these things, I feel more capable of taking on the to-do items on my list. And when I do these things, I feel better, more hopeful and like I’ve had a mindset reset. Listen in to hear what they are and how you can find your own.

Enjoy the episode.

Recommended Resources:

Join LEAD.Well – a new leadership subscription for women who want to be better, braver leaders. USE coupon code: communitycare for 30 days free (April sign-ups only)

In praise of micro moves

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As I mentioned in last week’s extra episode, for the near foreseeable future, I’ll be coming to you more often - every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to drop a shorter episode with the hope of helping you navigate these new and uncertain times. 

Alright, let’s dive in. 

It’s Monday, April 13th and we’ve been in self-isolation for a solid month now. I don’t know about you, but my productivity has been all over the place. Some hours I’m raring and ready to go, and others I find myself lethargic and questioning my ability to get even the most basic of tasks done. 

I know I’m not alone in this - countless pieces online and memes galore speak to this middle place we find ourselves in - where we’re home more and theoretically have more time (though any fellow parent can agree that we don’t have more time - we now just have more fragmented time). 

We’ll talk about productivity more in a future episode, but for now, let me offer one simple strategy that’s helping me with the tension of wanting to get my work done while finding myself with depleted energy stores. 

Enjoy the episode.

Recommended Resources:

Join LEAD.Well – a new leadership subscription for women who want to be better, braver leaders. USE coupon code: communitycare for 30 days free (April sign-ups only)

Here are the top 5 business lessons I learned in 2017

How to do more brave things

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A quick note to share a podcast update. 

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.

~ Hal Borland

We are navigating new territory as the world collectively deals with the impact of COVID19.

Today, as we all continue to orient ourselves to this new 'normal', I want to come in and offer three reminders that I'm using daily (ok, hourly) to cope.

These three reminders aren't a one-and-done, we'll be flowing in and out of them regularly, but hopefully, they're helpful touchpoints when the anxiety rears its ugly head or you're struggling to stay focused on anything, except refreshing your Twitter feed (or is that just me).

Enjoy the episode.

Recommended Resources:

Join LEAD.Well – a new leadership subscription for women who want to be better, braver leaders. USE coupon code: communitycare for 30 days free

Burnout: the Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle

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“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.”

~Coretta Scott King

I’m excited to kick-off a brand new series on the podcast all about masterminds, communities and networking for leaders. I’ve been planning this series for a while and given that spring is hopefully right around the corner, it’s a good time to think about getting out into the world and building relationships and deepening connections.

And the good news is that all of what we’ll be talking about over the series also translates to the digital world.

If you can’t travel, if accessibility is a challenge for you, if you’re a raging introvert or if unexpected forces ie. Coronavirus prohibits going into crowds, we can always leverage the power of online masterminds, communities and networking to support our connection goals. 

Today we’re going to talk briefly about all three, and why they matter in your own leadership development path. It’s easy to take connection and community for granted in our busy, on-demand world, but it’s a vital component to how we get better as leaders and how we stay resilient in the face of uncertainty, change and setbacks. 

Enjoy the episode!

Recommended Resources:

Join LEAD.Well – a new leadership subscription for women who want to be better, braver leaders.

Learn more and apply to the Leadership League Mastermind

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Most miscommunications and blow-ups happen because we enter into a tricky conversation without much thought. We’re angry, or frustrated, or overwhelmed – so we fire back words that don’t truly reflect what we feel, nor how we want to show up in the world. 

We react first, and process later. We let our emotions rule before we can even stop and consider what we think and feel about the situation, and how we best want to handle it. 

As leaders though, we will be faced with tricky and sticky conversations again and again. How we show up to them matters and with practice, we can get better at this.

And it always, always starts with this one question. 

Enjoy the episode!

Recommended Resources:

Join LEAD.Well – a new leadership subscription for women who want to be better, braver leaders.

The Accelerator Sessions – private accountability coaching

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“Learning is not compulsory…neither is survival.”

~ W. Edwards Deming

In 2003, I took part in a program called Leadership Calgary (now called the Human Venture Institute). This program was instrumental in my personal and professional development, and in many ways has shaped who I have become. 

A few years ago, I decided to revisit the program through an alumni 10-month program offering. Given that it had been 13 years since I spent much time with the concepts, it wasn’t an easy re-entry. 

Over the course of the program, I wrestled with feeling like I was on the trailing edge compared to the others in the room who have taken the program more recently and stayed connected along the way. 

I felt insecure. I doubted my own intelligence. And many, many times I questioned if it was worth continuing. As such, I held myself back from actively contributing, and stayed in my comfort zone as an observer. 

And yet, something kept nudging me to keep going. 

At one point, I needed to make a decision about whether to continue. A friend and fellow long-time alum was also wrestling with the same issue, so we hopped on a conference call with a guide in the program to sort through it. 

I’ll spare you the details, but I stuck with the program.

Here’s why, and how it may be useful to you.

Enjoy the episode.

Recommended Resources:

Join LEAD.Well – a new leadership subscription for women who want to be better, braver leaders.

Human Venture Institute

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Yeah. No, no, no, wait a minute, I always have tuna on toast. Nothing's ever worked out for me with tuna on toast. I want the complete opposite of on toast. Chicken salad, on rye, untoasted... and a cup of tea. 

~George Costanza, Seinfeld

We all have things we’ve believed for so long, we no longer even question their accuracy. 

In our minds, they are facts. 

Hard, cold truths about who we are, what we’re capable of and what our future holds. 

Some of these truths are helpful and reflect our best selves. 

Most of them, however, do not. 

Listen in as we talk about how to start believing something different. 

Recommended Resources:

Join LEAD.Well – a new leadership subscription for women who want to be better, braver leaders.

Sign up to receive my weekly Leadership Letters

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Thanks for listening:

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Your review goes a long way to help this podcast get found by more people. Thank you!

You can review & rate the show here Rise without Compromise