Larina Kase “The Confident Leader” Blog Tour is HERE!
Today is the last day of Larina Kase’s Blog Tour for The Confident Leader. I’m excited that Larina chose to stop by Small Business Boomers today. Larina did an interview for my new book The Complete Guide to Working for Yourself, and I found her to be gracious and motivational. She was a joy to interview. In this interview, Dr. Kase talks about baby boomers and leadership.
So, before today’s interview, a little bit about Larina:
Larina Kase, PsyD, MBA is a professional speaker, author, and recognized expert in peak performance, anxiety and stress management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. She has a doctorate in psychology and masters in business administration, and her unique approach is regularly seen in media such as Inc., Entrepreneur, SELF and on national TV and radio. She is the author or coauthor of 7 books including The New York Times bestseller The Confident Speaker. She has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs and executives from companies such as Verizon, Intel, Morgan Stanley, & Ernst & Young…. and me, of course.
Let’s get to the interview:
Q: Dr. Kase, how can baby boomers who are considering their next career move bring their previous experience into new leadership situations?
A: It’s interesting because a lot of the most important skills to be an exceptional leader are not the skills that most people think of as leadership per se. Instead, they are characteristics of emotional intelligence, things like empathy, listening skills, organizational awareness (understanding the big picture and vision of the organization as well as politics), confidence, and emotional regulation (keeping appropriately calm or energized no matter what the situation.
I encourage leaders to take inventory of their experience with aspects such as these. Ideally they not only write down their own views but gain feedback from others, either with 360-degree feedback or other forms of collecting data (ideally, anonymously for maximum honesty).
In taking your own inventory, first become aware of your strengths. Do this by writing down your key accomplishments and accolades in your career. Then take note of what underlying characteristic the achievement exemplified or built.
For example, “In my sales role, I achieved the highest sales in our region.” This achievement was due to natural strengths in listening to people and understanding where they’re coming from (empathy and influence). This achievement developed my self-awareness and emotional regulation by dealing with high-pressure sales situations.
Most emotional intelligence skills can be learned. We’re all stronger in some areas than others and we want to capitalize on our strengths as well as develop the areas that are important in our leadership roles.
Q: Why do we know what we need (and even want to do) but we don’t do it?
We high-achieving types are great consumers of knowledge. We always want to learn more and be our best, but most of the time we struggle with turning our knowledge into action. There are many reasons for this, including:
- The timing isn’t right
- We don’t have the right support or other resources
- We aren’t committed to making the change
- We don’t yet have the skills to successfully take action
These reasons can be legitimate and important to consider and manage, or they can be excuses. The #1 reason that we don’t take action is fear. We doubt ourselves and get paralyzed with indecision. When fear is active, these reasons all feel very legitimate, when in reality they are not important.
The key, then, is to critically evaluate your readiness to take action when you are not feeling particularly anxious about the change. If you need to address these factors, do so, and while you have momentum, start taking action!
Q: What are the keys to making difficult decisions?
A: There are essentially two processes at our disposal for making decisions. The first is rational (based on our thoughts), and the second is emotive (based on our feelings). The second includes the feelings that you’re aware of (excited, interested, skeptical, unsure, afraid, etc.) as well as your intuition or gut feeling.
We owe it to ourselves to use both of these processes when faced with a difficult decision. First, assess your gut reaction. What feels right? Then go through a logical analysis, weighing the pros and cons. Then assess your emotional reaction again. Has it changed?
Bear in mind that much of the research on decision making shows that people are happier with their decisions when they go with their gut reaction or follow their heart. This may be because we try to rationalize our decisions based on what we think we “should” do, but it’s sometimes difficult to change our feelings based on reason.
Our feelings are most helpful in making a decision when they are positive ones. Positive feelings (happiness, liking, interest) compel us toward something while negative feelings (fear, sadness, jealousy) compel us away from something. For example, if you are nervous your feelings may tell you to avoid taking action when in reality this is not the best choice.
So, when in doubt, or if you’re stuck, go with your feelings, especially if they are positive ones.
Q: What are the top 5 mistakes that people make when confronting an important change?
A: When faced with an important decision or change most people make one of the following common mistakes:
- They avoid the opportunity. They choose to settle for the status quo rather than going after an incredible change because they fear failure and humiliation.
- They go after the opportunity before they are ready. They plunge right in (knowing that if they don’t take action, they never will). The problem is that they haven’t adequately prepared. They haven’t lined up the resources and support that they need. They haven’t created a plan. They may be successful, but it is more due to luck than strategy.
- They dilute their responsibility. They go after the opportunity, but choose to be a follower rather than a leader. This way, if it doesn’t work, they aren’t to blame, but if it does, they can claim partial victory.
- They rely on old crutches. They go for it, but do so with their old crutches and habits which hold them back from truly pursuing the opportunity.
- They retreat at the first sign of failure. Unfortunately many people escape from uncomfortable situations too early—before they have a chance to get used to the anxiety and achieve their goals.
You see, avoidance is the number one killer of confidence and high-achievement. All five of the mistakes above entail some form of avoidance. The solution is to make a choice and stick to it 100%.
Q: How can Baby Boomers in businesses find out more about becoming confident leaders?
A: My new book The Confident Leader: How the Most Successful People Go from Effective to Exceptional provides a 6-step formula for taking on key challenges, making difficult decisions, and navigating outside your comfort zone.
The second half applies the formula to key business areas such as staying focused and motivated, marketing yourself, standing out, and dealing with difficult people. It includes interviews with business leaders such as Seth Godin, Tim Sanders, and Joe Vitale. Learn more and get bonus offerings for business owners at The Confident Leader.
Thanks, Larina, for including Small Business Boomers in your blog tour.
Images from Performance and Success Coaching - used with permission
Tags: Larina Kase, The Confident LeaderRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Baby Boomers Back in Business, Boomer Business Interviews, Business Quotes, Just Because You Can, Mindset
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