Tag Archive for: leadership

2020 Vision

/2 Comments/in /by

October 1st crept up on me.

Ahhhh, October. The leaves are changing. Pumpkin spice flavors appear on every menu. School is (usually) in full-swing. Football games consume our weekends, and annual trips to the pumpkin patch and apple orchards pepper our social media pages.  It’s also the beginning of the last quarter of the calendar year…a subtle reminder that we’re running out of time to cross things off our “goals to finish this year” list.  

I remember October 2019 like it was yesterday. My friends and I were enjoying pizza at Sixty Vines, a popular spot in Dallas. My event planner friend told the group how excited she was for her 2020 conference titled “Vision 2020.” It was going to be a huge conference with all the bells and whistles, and her company was planning an awesome celebration to culminate the event.

[Insert mic drop] If only we’d had 2020 vision a year ago.

Like you, I had audacious goals for 2020. This was going to be MY year. I was slated to speak at more conferences than ever before. I debuted a new keynote in December 2019 that was very well-received and I had to plans to expand my business.  

And then, March happened.  The virus and pandemic changed everything we knew about our ways of life.

The last seven months have been strange, and over the last few weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about my goals from January 1st. I had many New Year’s resolutions, hopes and dreams, and was determined to take my work ethic to a new level this year. I realized that even though October sneaked up on me, it’s not too late to make 2020 the year I had intended it to be.

Together, let’s vow to be intentional with the last three months of the year. Here’s my plan.

If you follow me on social media, you know I swear by the Best Self Journal. It categorizes three important goals into 13 weeks to divide and conquer. So, I just started a new journal and set some attainable goals:

Write 6-8 blog posts between now and December 31

Create 4-6 new YouTube videos between now and December 31

Start building an online course that goes along with my new keynote

If you had to sit down today and write out three major goals for yourself, what would they be? I’d love to hear yours. Send me an email or tag me in your post so I can see!

Let’s fight to finish this year strong! Work toward that career move you wanted prior to the pandemic. If you are a leader in your organization, find a way to build unity and strength with your team. But no matter what, let’s not waste these last three months. We still have an opportunity to show up for our careers, our spouses, our families and our friends in all the best ways. A new normal doesn’t mean giving 50%. Let’s give these next 180 days all we’ve got.

PS – if you want to buy a journal, I still have a code to get 15% off! Use “ShanDance” at checkout.

Four Journals

Looking for your next Keynote Motivational Speaker? Let’s chat!

Shannon is a motivational speaker and business consultant based in Dallas, TX. She has worked in almost all 50 states with audiences ranging from corporate executives to student leaders.

speaker headshot

Building Great Teams During a Pandemic

/0 Comments/in /by

Building great teams under normal circumstances can be challenging.  Building great teams during a pandemic can feel down right impossible. Many of us are struggling to find a work/life balance while operating with remote workforces, a myriad of distractions, added pressures and uncharted waters.

How can we use these (often uncomfortable) circumstances to make our teams better?

Let’s go back to the basics.

In cheerleading, I learned that “practice makes perfect.” We constantly honed in on the number of reps we could physically do over and over and over again. The simple thought was that by pushing the number of reps we completed, we could create muscle memory that would pull every team member through any difficult scenario we faced.  

On Sunday, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker proved that methodology applies to more than cheerleading.

Cliff Notes:

  • With four seconds remaining in the game, the Chiefs tied it up to take the game in to overtime.
  • During overtime, the Chiefs were forced to a fourth down, and Butker was thrust into a pressure cooker situation: a two-minute warning, a false-start penalty and a timeout from the Chargers, undoubtedly used as an additional means of distraction.
  • Butker was forced to kick THREE times in less than three minutes. Because of a penalty against his team, his third kick was from 58 yards out, the second longest field goal ever kicked, to win a game in overtime since 1974.

During a time of additional distractions and pressures, Butker went back to the basics. He relied on the long kicks he repeated over and over this summer. 

While few of us are professional athletes, we can use Butker’s “back to basics” approach to help build a better team.

  • Figure out the assignment, then do the homework. What does every team member need to do in order to be successful?
  • Push the reps. Does your team need more leadership drills? Communication exercises? Marketing knowledge?
  • Lead and support.  Lead with confidence that your team has the skills necessary to succeed. And don’t ask your team to do anything you aren’t willing to do yourself;  strong teams begin with strong leaders who are willing to walk alongside!

When your back is against the wall, the stakes are high and the team is counting on you – instill in your team that they have the skills to succeed.  Remind them of their past wins and acknowledge the work they’ve put in.  Encourage and reinforce the behavior that has helped them get this far. Be willing to call in reinforcements, perhaps in the form of extra training, to help your team succeed and to show that you’re willing to contribute to help them achieve progress over perfection.

Looking for your next Keynote Motivational Speaker? Let’s chat!

speaker headshot

Shannon is a motivational speaker and business consultant based in Dallas, TX. She has worked in almost all 50 states with audiences ranging from corporate executives to student leaders.

Do you have this one key attribute?

/4 Comments/in /by

I was recently leading a two-day workshop for the leaders of various divisions across a company. We were having a blast talking all things leadership, emotional intelligence, generational differences and personal development in the workplace.

I love having opportunities like this to spend so much time with corporate or student leadership teams, helping them grow and evolve!

As we started the self-awareness piece of the workshop, I asked all attendees to complete a personality test. Though I was certain everyone in the room had taken various tests throughout their careers, I wanted to focus on a different aspect for the purpose of our training. I handed each attendee a 40-question test and upon completion, we compiled the answers into four groupings of “personalities.”

As we looked at the attributes of the personality groups, nearly everyone nodded in agreement as they unveiled attributes that defined the group in which they felt like they belonged: “life of the party,” “analytical,” “inclusive,” “logical,” and so on.

Then, I changed the results from how the participant saw him or herself, to how others interpreted those personalities in the workplace. In one case, the HR Director saw herself as rational, firm on policy, and tough-minded. However, others in the office saw her as critical, ruthless, and lacking empathy. She was shocked to hear how she was perceived by her co-workers.

Being self-aware about our emotions isn’t just about knowing if we are happy or sad. It’s also about being aware of how our behaviors and emotions affect those with whom we interact. Understanding this could make all the difference in how successful our interactions are in the workplace.

It has been proven that people who are self-aware are able to achieve much more success because of this one key attribute.

If you are curious about ways to strengthen your self-awareness as it relates to personality and emotional intelligence, try this exercise:

Download your own worksheet:  SelfAwarenessActivity

On a piece of paper, create three columns: self awareness, perceived awareness, and other’s feedback. Write down all of the attributes you believe to be true about yourself in the first column. In the middle column, create a list of how you think others see you. Remember, it’s important for us to understand how we are perceived by others! The final column may take some time but is so worth it! Find a few people whom you trust to provide candid and constructive feedback.

Here’s a sample email you could send to these people:

Hi! I am working on my goals and self-awareness. Would you consider providing honest and constructive feedback about these four questions? I have intentionally left them open-ended so you can provide answers in your own words. Thanks, in advance, for helping me become a better {peer, coworker, student, boss, etc.}.

In the workplace, please describe how you view me in these areas:

  • Personality: Do others see me as funny? Inclusive? Kind? Hard to work with? Easy going? Strict on deadlines? Overly emotional?
  • Work Product: How can I improve my work as part of the overall team/company success?
  • Strengths: What are my strengths and how can I better use them to contribute to our team?
  • Weaknesses: Are there things I do that may be perceived as a weakness or that may prevent me from being seen as a leader in the office?

I hope this exercise helps you become more self-aware and emotionally intelligent in all areas of your life. My goal is to create more cohesive teams and develop better leaders, and I believe that being emotionally intelligent about ourselves and those around us is key for optimal success!

—

Shannon is a motivational speaker based in Dallas, TX. She has worked in almost all 50 states with audiences ranging from corporate executives to student leaders.