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With 2020 officially behind us, it’s time to focus on the opportunity of 2021! The workplace has a good, albeit flexible handle on the fact that we must provide new skills for employees, teams and cultures to meet the demand of the future. Let’s go 2021!

Remote, socially distanced, outside or in lock down, businesses and their leaders are ready to make up for lost time and navigate the future. The theme with which we are all approaching our comeback is a combination of gratitude, caring, people, community and impact for others.

Both individually and organizationally we are craving, wanting, needing, planning and orchestrating “The Purposeful Comeback.” It’s a framework to create next generation leadership that will see our organizations into the future. Mastering “The Purposeful Comeback” roadmap and tools below will help you create real and lasting success, growth, business results, and engagement for your people and workplace culture.

 

1. Winning Mindset and Energy

Companies don’t outperform their leadership and the same is true of teams. Creating a purposeful comeback in 2021 starts first with focusing on leadership using integrated purpose as the path to organizational success. We as individuals must show up every day as our best self. That means putting on your oxygen mask first – you can’t help anyone if you don’t first help yourself.

Mindset:

Your mindset really, really matters. Everyone from Marcus Aurelius to the Buddha to Victor Frankl and lately the best, Mel Robbins, has shown us how important thoughts and beliefs are in creating success for ourselves and others. To stage “The Purposeful Comeback” in 2021 we must cultivate a mindset that is positive, self-aware, growth-minded (see Carol Dweck’s phenomenal book, Mindset), and other-focused. Changing our mindset is about changing that talk track in our head.

Physical Energy:

We know that moving your body daily has a positive effect on the mind. Studies have shown that “exercise improves brain function, structure, and connectivity. These brain improvements are directly linked to improved learning, memory, and cognitive function.” Showing up as a leader in 2021 starts with taking care of the temple and setting aside time for the essentials: exercise and nutrition, adequate sleep, and recharging. We must make them a daily habit.

 

2. The Audience is the Hero of Any Story You Tell…So Make Them One!

Want to become a real purposeful leader? Figure out how to create meaningful followers.   Create meaningful followers through this simple basic tool: learn how to build relationships from the inside out. First, with yourself and then with others.

You know the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have done unto you. But do you know and understand the Platinum Rule?

The Platinum Rule says this: treat others how they want to be treated. It’s other-focused and becoming other-focused is what you need to really succeed in the year ahead. Putting the focus on treating others how they want to be treated will help you build stronger relationships and relationships are the key to success. Make them the hero because they are! Use these two principles to help you:

-Remember WIFTHEM: This is an acronym for “What’s in it for them.” In every interaction, positive or negative, you must consider what the other person wants and how they are looking to benefit.

-Consider the Action: What action do you want your audience to take that can and will benefit them? This action will benefit you, too, of course.

 

3. Know Thyself to Help Others

Impact is created by working from the inside out. If you want to help others you must Know Thyself. If you don’t know or understand yourself, you’re almost guaranteed to get it wrong with others.

So, how do you start? First, just START. We teach the following framework to our clients inside our new on-demand coaching product, Hooga. Knowing yourself comes from really understanding and being able to articulate the following four core concepts about yourself:

  • Strengths
  • Values, Passions, and Skills
  • Brand
  • Story

This is the value you bring to others and the world. Getting really clear on this allows you to demonstrate your value to your peers, team, and clients.

 

4. What’s Your Story?


Humans have always told stories. From huddling around a fire to hieroglyphics to books to the vlogs, blogs, and podcasts of today, we have an innate desire to share our own stories and discover those of others. Storytelling allows you to captivate an audience, shape thoughts, and communicate purpose and value.

What do you do? Why do you do it? What impact do you create? Why does it matter to you, to your client, to the world?

Remember, your story is not a script. It’s not static or boring. It recognizes the audience and what’s important to them, then captivates them through the use of humor, drama, and narrative arcs. Want to learn to create impact? Then become your own best storyteller.

 

5. The New ABC’s “Always Be Connecting”: Bridge the Gap

We all come to the workplace with different life experiences, skills, and values. We come from different generations, cultures, and backgrounds. We are driven by the need for human interaction, to belong, to be part of a community. We are better together, and we know that (more on that in a second), yet technology, socioeconomic disparity, and generational differences easily divide us.

To seize the opportunity of 2021, we have to find a way to bridge the gap between us so we can pull together and connect. COVID-19 and remote work certainly hasn’t made this any easier. It’s also forced us to acknowledge the diversity (or lack thereof) in our workplaces and community64% of applicants say that they consider diversity and inclusion when considering a job, yet only 55% of people think their organizations have policies to promote it. Even more troubling, 90% of them say they’re not treated with respect at work, discriminated against, and even harassed.

This means it’s even more important that we make this the year we figure it out once and for all. Learn how to connect pure and simple. There are so many ways. Just one way we devised is our B.R.I.D.G.E. the Gap system, an integrated six-step plan that will help you unleash the potential of your employees and your workplace.

 

We cannot do it alone. You know that and I know that. Yet the greatest dysfunction of teams persists in our workplaces today. For some organizations, getting their teams to work together efficiently and in harmony is one of their greatest challenges.

Solving the team divide starts by focusing on and ensuring these principles are present in your workplace:

6. It’s Better Together: Teams

  • Do your people feel safe enough to share their ideas, true opinions, and feelings?
  • Is your workplace culture one that empowers, connects, and inspires?
  • Are your employees engaged and connected to the purpose and impact of their work?
  • Is everyone on the team working in alignment with the team’s values?
  • Is there a culture of trust in your workplace?
  • Do people communicate with each other effectively, openly, and often.
  • Do you empower accountability? Do you ask great questions?
  • Got a strategic vision or plan and is it shared universally?

 

7. Make Culture Last: Sustainability

In order to drive and sustain “The Purposeful Comeback,” you need to do the work and then create a system. An integrated system to sustain culture and engagement is necessary for our organizations.

Your system will need different parts, so ask yourself what that system would look like in your organization and what it should include. We recommend having systems to create and sustain purpose, to grow the next generation of leaders and develop their skills, to share in a purposeful vision and story and that all employees be able to articulate it and their own value, and to further coach employees to be their best, work from the inside out, and deliver on the organization’s core values.  Start now by devising your system.

 

8. Pay it Forward: Cultivating Disciples

Seizing the opportunity of 2021 and creating “The Purposeful Comeback” is about looking to the future of your organization. What comes next? Who will lead in five years? In ten? How will you continue to evolve and stay relevant in a changing world?

Create those next generation leaders (your disciples) from within. Get clear on your purpose, define it, live it, and then empower your people to buy into that purpose. When you can do that, then you’ll become known to clients, the market, and even potential employees. Look at all the top companies of today. Most were once unknown operations working out of someone’s garage. They got really clear on their purpose, wove it into the fabric of everything they do, and then the world caught on and embraced them.

You can do the same in your organization. You have all the tools you need. Start now with this roadmap to cultivating your Purposeful Comeback in 2021 and if we can help, please reach out. You control what happens to you, your team, and your organization this year. Start now to make it the best year yet and maximize your impact!

One of our most popular blog articles ever is this one: The 5 Most Common Fears That Are Keeping You from Success. However, fear isn’t the only thing that keeps us from success. Well, what does? After training over 20,000 young employees and their managers, we found they were simply underdeveloped in three key areas critical to personal success.

Dig in and be honest with yourself about where you could use some improvement – growth is essential and worth the work. We can support you so can start creating the impact you want to have on the world. Start now with the most common areas where we see people holding themselves back:

  1. You Don’t Know Your Strengths

We all have our own innate talents and strengths – yes, even you! However, if you’re struggling to see the results you want in your career, it might be because you’re not working from your strengths. This usually happens to people for two reasons:

  • You’re not aware of what your strengths even are so you don’t know how to leverage them in your current role.
  • You’re not aware of your strengths AND you’re currently in a role that’s mismatched for the strengths you actually have. In other words, you’re working outside of your “zone of genius.”

No matter what the reason, the first step to solving is to get clear on your strengths. At launchbox we love the StrengthsFinder test – we actually recommend it inside of our on-demand coaching program, Hooga. Start by taking the test to discover your strengths. Then figure out how to make them work for you. Just being aware of them might be enough to create change, but probably not. Do the work and really think about whether the strengths you have fit the role you’re in. If they don’t match up, you might want to think about changing positions, jobs, or even careers! If they do match up, spend some time thinking about how you can better leverage your strengths for success.

  1. You Don’t Know How to Articulate Your Story

Once you’ve identified your strengths, you need to get clear on your story: who you are, where you’ve been, and what you have to bring to the table (e.g. your strengths!) Your story is your “connection currency” – it’s how you build real deal relationships with other people and form connections. When you have a well-defined story, you can use it at any time to strengthen relationships with people you already know, make new bonds, pitch a client, etc. Humans are hardwired to tell stories – so make sure your story is your competitive advantage! Use these three questions to get you started:

  • Who am I?
  • What is my experience so far?
  • What value do I bring?

Want detailed help? Hit us up for assistance. Our app coaching program, Hooga, walks you through discovering and developing your story.

  1. You Don’t Know How to Communicate Effectively

Communication is a really, really big deal. We spend a lot of time here at launchbox not only talking about why communication is important, but how to do it better. Because quite frankly we suck at it.

Luckily for us though, better communication is a coachable and learnable skill. All of us are already in possession of the #1 most important communication tool we could ever need – our ears! Great communicators are great listeners. They also ask great questions. So, if something’s holding you back in your life and career, take a hard look at how you’re communicating. Are you talking more than you’re listening? Is it all about YOU? Do you ask questions and not really listen to the answers? It’s easy to slip into poor communication habits, but our relationships (especially in this virtual world of work) need us to figure this out. Click here to check out a recent blog we did with 5 more tools you need for great communication.

These are 3 of the most common ways we see people holding themselves back. For a more personalized evaluation and recommendations for improvement, reach out to us about our one-on-one coaching. We’ve helped hundreds of individuals kickstart the next chapter of their story through our high-performance coaching solution – get started today.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy to start improving your life now, check out Hooga. With Hooga you’ll build a strong, sustainable foundation that will allow you to unlock the best version of yourself on your terms. Try it now!

We believe the formula for human success through RESILIENCE is the exact same formula we’ve been coaching our clients on over the last five years. And it’s the same formula we’re still going to be coaching on after the curve has flattened and we’re all back to work:

SELF + OTHERS = RESULTS

SELF

Success starts with you. Take control of you!  You’ve got to figure out who you are, what you stand for, and then how to articulate your value to others. That creates real resilience by simply knowing with immense CLARITY who you are and want to be and how you show up and impact the world.  That simple.  Once you’re solid and are CONFIDENT with owning your foundation you’re ready to be tough and spring back or recover from anything. That’s resilience!

So understanding you (SELF) allows you to move on to the second part of our success formula.

OTHERS

Figuring out yourself is the basis for cultivating better relationships with others through connection. Relationships are what make us happy and help us live longer.  And, as humans we need connection!  COVID-19 shows us that now more than ever.   Relationships are built and created on connection and meaning, which is why the CLARITY and CONFIDENCE in knowing who you are and the real deal value (IMPACT) you have to offer is most important – it’s the not-so secret tool to finding ways to connect with other people.  Understanding what impact and meaning you are and want to pursue is the fuel.  What is purposeful to you? 

Connecting with others is the secret to impact and life.  As Zig Ziglar said, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” We all want everything so we can make the world and ourselves better. Both at work and at home, which we now see is the same thing.  YEAH!

Therefore, the most critical skills we can build are mastering SELF + OTHERS.   Such mastery will lead you to results, and you get the opportunity to define those results for yourself:  

  • Is it more resilience?
  • More meaning?
  • More relationships?
  • More money?
  • Better work/life balance? 
  • A promotion?
  • More confidence? 
  • More ideas?
  • More impact?

Whatever result you’re after, you’ll get there by first working on yourself, then your relationships with others.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be creating bite-sized learnings to SHARE our success formula and offering new ways for you to develop the skills you need to get results as we beat the *&%$2! out of this global pandemic. We’re planning to offer our signature Mindset exercises, tips and tools and our Foundational Strengths & Story workshop as a virtual course to help you master SELF & OTHERS with CLARITY, CONFIDENCE AND IMPACT.

So if you’re:

  • Starting a new career
  • Figuring out your purpose and impact
  • Looking for a way to expand your business or opportunity
  • Trying to build engagement and resilience for your employees
  • Want get clear on your value and connect with others better
  • Or want more confidence

 Reach out to us if you’re interested in joining the wait list.

Also, if you’re looking for personalized coaching and attention to help you up your game and get the results you’re after, give us a call at (858) 314-9867 – right now we’re offering complimentary coaching sessions because we want to help you succeed and thrive.  You just need to step up and request a free session!

The #1 thing people ask Executive Coaches is  “What do you actually do?” Which of course really means, “How can you help me be better?” Usually, people know we are Millennial experts that focus on bridging the gap between generations in the workplace. But they want to know how we actually help individuals and their companies?

To put it succinctly, we are speakers, coaches, and consultants who train and coach high performance in the workplace. We work with people of all ages from Millennials and Gen Z employees to their managers, Boomers, Traditionalists, and Gen Xers to help them break through their own BS to lead, transform, and empower results through connection.

What Will Our Speaking Do for You?

Empower your audiences through takeaways that improve mindset, leadership behavior, and empower growth.

How, you ask? We love customizing our presentation to fit the unique needs of your audience. Yes we have speaking topics ready to go (click here to browse our current selection of keynotes), but we believe in bringing as much value as we can to make the biggest impact for the audience. No matter your industry or the unique challenges in your company, we will tailor our presentation to ensure what we deliver moves the needle. When you book a launchbox speaker, you can be sure that your audience will walk away with actionable tools and strategies they can immediately put into practice. No fluff or BS.

What Will Our Coaching Do for You?

Provide you or your team with individualized help and the tools you need to break through any obstacle. 

We offer individualized, group, and team coaching to help people connect to themselves and their story so they can show up as their best self in the workplace and crush performance. We focus on providing a dynamic, bold coaching system that creates lasting transformation. Through years of experience we have perfected the art of  “speed coaching” where we’re able to quickly isolate what the problem is and equip our clients with tools and solutions. And we’re ready to help you, too.

What Will Our Workshops & Consulting Do for You?

Shift generational perspectives to solve the disconnect in your workplace and create lasting impact.

Our workshops are the perfect complement to both our keynote speeches and our individualized, group, and team coaching. We go into businesses to talk about the current disconnect and what the future of the workplace looks like. Through a series of targeted exercises and education, we help the different generations of employees learn to bridge the generational gap, create trust and engagement. Workshop attendees leave with strategies they can use to change the conversation and connect to drive results and create impact.

 

Ready to create high performance and solve the generational divide in your organization so you can grow your business, make more money, and create more results? Click here to book an exploratory call with us.

Over the winter holiday, in a snow-covered house in the mountain town of Deer Valley, Utah, my family gathered for a week of skiing, eating delicious food, and spending time with great company. But it wouldn’t be a Negroni holiday if there wasn’t at least one spirited discussion about how to succeed at work and in life.

One evening, I had the pleasure of defending my position that building relationships is the most important life/work skill any employee or person could have. My host had a different viewpoint, firmly believing that technical skills were more important for success.

“Technical/schmecnical” I said, “Anyone who gets hired should have those basic skills, otherwise the company or hiring manager would be a moron.” To further back my stance, I pulled out my phone, and pulled up this Ted Talk on what makes a good life, by Harvard psychiatrist Robert Waldinger.

In my book, Chasing Relevance, I quoted key insights from the longest-running study on adult development. Directed by Waldinger, the study tracked the lives 700+ men over a period of seventy-five years. Every year, researchers checked in to ask about their work, home lives, health, and happiness.

What they discovered supported the idea that relationships are the most important thing in life: when you have better relationships with yourself and also with others, you’re happier, you live longer, and you even become more successful monetarily.

After we viewed the video clip, I continued to argue my point like only an ex-New York lawyer can and eventually my host capitulated.  He did have one additional question for me though: what relationship would I prioritize over all others on in 2019?

My real-deal, no-BS answer on how to achieve business success is simple. If you want to crush it (yes, that is a technical term) in 2019 then you need to learn how to build a relationship with yourself.

Yes, you. Really!

Your relationship with yourself is the primary relationship you need to focus on in 2019 and always.

Want to know why? Check out the rest of this article that was featured on GLG’s website. And if you need help building a better relationship with yourself, shoot us an e-mail at dan@launchbox365.com or call us at 858.314.9867.