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Inspire Your Genius · Is Your Way In Your Way?

0:25
Cassandra: Out there, and I'd like to welcome all of you to Is Your Way and Your Way.
0:30
Cassandra: Yeah, for those new listeners out there, my name is Cassandra Crawley Mayo, and I'm your host.
0:36
Cassandra: And this podcast title comes from my book, Is Your Way in Your Wedding?
0:43
Cassandra: And you know, initially when I started doing this podcast, it was more about empowering women, you know, to be the person that you were created to be.
0:53
Cassandra: And I'm not gonna minimize that, but now I've kind of pivoted a little bit, and it's more about freedom.
1:01
Cassandra: Free to be, free from that old stuff, free from that stinking thinking, free from what happened to you back in the day, just just being free.
1:12
Cassandra: So, in other words, I invite women or men to uncover limiting belief patterns that's preventing you from living your best life on your terms, not my terms, your best life on your terms.
1:29
Cassandra: And my guest today, she adds practical strategies for taking action while navigating the unwritten rules that can also hinder your progress.
1:39
Cassandra: And I'd like to introduce to you today.
1:43
Cassandra: Her name is Caroline Esterson.
1:48
Cassandra: Well, hello, Caroline.
1:50
Cassandra: How are you today?
1:51
Caroline: Hello, Cassandra.
1:53
Caroline: I am excited and I'm really good.
1:56
Caroline: Thank you.
1:57
Caroline: What a lovely introduction.
1:59
Cassandra: Absolutely.
2:00
Cassandra: And my listeners, today our topic is going to be inspiring your genius.
2:07
Cassandra: I love that title.
2:09
Cassandra: And actually, we're going to get into that title and where that came from.
2:13
Cassandra: But I know you want to know a little bit about Caroline because what we're going to talk about, even inspiring the genius, you may be thinking, who would qualify her to talk about that?
2:23
Cassandra: So let me just give you a little of her bio.
2:25
Cassandra: Caroline, she helps brilliant people recognize what's holding them back and turn insight into action.
2:33
Cassandra: She has over 30 years in learning and development.
2:37
Cassandra: She brings sharp questions, practical tools, and refreshing honesty.
2:43
Cassandra: I love that.
2:44
Cassandra: She is the founder of Inspire Your Genius and pointer and host of Unshakable Her.
2:52
Cassandra: She champions small, deliberate shifts that creates lasting, I mean, lasting momentum.
3:02
Cassandra: Wow.
3:03
Cassandra: I love that.
3:04
Cassandra: I love that.
3:04
Cassandra: And I want one of the things I said, not only are you the founder of Inspire Your Genius, and I have an pointer and host of Unshakable Her.
3:13
Cassandra: And we're going to talk a little bit about what pointer means, just so you guys will understand.
3:19
Cassandra: But my first question for you, Caroline, Caroline, is what was the catalyst for doing the work you currently are doing?
3:31
Caroline: I think the main catalyst was when I was early in my career and I started work, I had this label.
3:37
Caroline: I was labeled a maverick.
3:40
Cassandra: Oh, a maverick.
3:42
Caroline: Yeah.
3:42
Caroline: So as a maverick, I was questioning why we were doing what we were doing.
3:47
Caroline: And sometimes people didn't like that when from a very junior person.
3:51
Caroline: And I'll give you an example.
3:52
Caroline: My first job was at a Christmas temp in a retail store, big department store.
3:57
Caroline: And we were paid overtime to get the store looking ship shape for the regional director's visits.
4:05
Caroline: And that really grated on me because I couldn't understand why we were being paid overtime to get it spic and span for an internal person.
4:14
Caroline: Surely we should be getting it looking like that all the time for the customer who was paying us money.
4:21
Caroline: And so that kind of challenge has always been in me, just questioning why do we do what we do?
4:28
Caroline: Yeah.
4:29
Caroline: And that label was like baggage that I was carrying around with me in my career.
4:36
Caroline: And I had a pivotal moment when I was 26, I think.
4:44
Caroline: I'd been fast tracked in a financial services firm.
4:50
Caroline: And I was one of the managers responsible for customer services.
4:56
Caroline: There were seven of us, and I was the only female, and my boss was male.
5:01
Caroline: And I was questioning things again.
5:05
Caroline: And my boss called me into his office, he closed all the blinds and he locked the door, which in itself was pretty scary because he was a big man.
5:16
Caroline: And he came right up to me and he said, Caroline, I've had stilettos between the shoulder blades before.
5:23
Caroline: It didn't work then, it won't work now.
5:26
Caroline: And I thought, Oh wow, welcome here.
5:30
Caroline: I'm not welcome here.
5:33
Caroline: I tried to get support from HR, it didn't come.
5:36
Caroline: So I had choices to make, didn't I?
5:38
Caroline: Right.
5:39
Caroline: So I collated all my documentation that I'd made, and I said to him, I'm leaving.
5:49
Caroline: But mark my words, if I hear a hint of you doing anything like this with any other woman, I will make sure that they have all of this evidence.
6:01
Caroline: Oh my God.
6:02
Caroline: So I left.
6:05
Caroline: And in leaving, I realized that the strength that was potentially holding me back in work, that maverick label, yes, the real strength on the outside.
6:18
Caroline: Because you almost have permission or license, don't you, to be questioning?
6:24
Caroline: If people are bringing you in, they want to be challenged.
6:26
Caroline: Yeah.
6:27
Caroline: And so it became a much more natural fit for me.
6:32
Cassandra: Wow.
6:33
Cassandra: So what precipitated the founding of Inspire Your Genius then?
6:41
Caroline: So I've been working in learning and development.
6:45
Caroline: My ambition with the business is to move people.
6:49
Caroline: That's always been my ambition.
6:51
Caroline: It's not just about providing skill-based learning, it's the curiosity to work out what will it take to move somebody from here to here and to create an experience for that.
7:03
Caroline: And in that process, just over years, as we've been doing it, we were working with, we've been working, we've worked with thousands of people in hundreds of companies all across the globe.
7:17
Caroline: And what became very apparent to us is that so many people are held back by their own limiting beliefs, by the structures within the organization, the unspoken ground rules.
7:33
Caroline: And if we could get them to realize that each of them is their own unique little genius that she's waiting to spring out, then the power of that would be phenomenal.
7:47
Caroline: And so it comes from a belief that everybody's unique and individual and has gifts that they need to share.
7:53
Caroline: And that's why we came up with the name.
7:56
Cassandra: Absolutely, absolutely.
7:58
Cassandra: So when I'm thinking about my listeners to hear that because we all have gifts.
8:03
Cassandra: And for some reason, we're not there, they're being, I don't know, somebody may have made them feel small.
8:12
Cassandra: So therefore, it's kind of like your former boss.
8:16
Cassandra: I mean, that would have deflated me.
8:19
Cassandra: You know, I would have lost my uh confidence, or I it would have gotten larger.
8:25
Cassandra: Either one, I'm not quite sure based on my personality, but I've had an incident like that where I had a man throw a chair, he was so angry.
8:35
Cassandra: And I thought, oh my gosh, this is unbelievable.
8:39
Cassandra: And there was another manager in the same room, so I can imagine how you were feeling and also the behavior that many of us have women based on because we're women, period, you know.
9:00
Cassandra: So let me ask you then.
9:02
Cassandra: So, what are the biggest barriers you think to women's potential?
9:08
Cassandra: What are some of those barriers to their potential?
9:14
Caroline: I think it comes back to the title of your podcast.
9:16
Caroline: From a young age, we are taught that you know you can have opinions, but don't be too assertive that you you should do this and you should do that.
9:29
Caroline: My parents expected me to go to university.
9:32
Caroline: Right.
9:33
Caroline: That was a real should.
9:34
Caroline: And I knew I didn't want to go.
9:36
Caroline: I didn't like education, it wasn't who I was.
9:39
Caroline: And I think you've got a sense of me.
9:41
Caroline: I'm a real practical girl.
9:43
Caroline: Um, formal education didn't work for me.
9:46
Caroline: And my dad said to me when I left university at the first term, and he said, Okay, you can stay home as long as you get a job.
9:54
Caroline: If you haven't got a job by the end of by the end of Christmas, you have to go back.
9:58
Caroline: So I was so determined that I was going to get a job, and I did.
10:02
Caroline: But I think that we are given labels that we we accept, we just accept them, and we listen to the voices around us so much more to our inner voice and what and they become our guiding principles, and I think that's the biggest, the biggest thing.
10:27
Cassandra: Interesting enough, they're not written down anywhere.
10:29
Caroline: No, they're not, and actually, they're not real, right?
10:34
Caroline: They're not real, they they are what we make them.
10:39
Cassandra: So, so what are the unwritten rules of the game in work?
10:46
Cassandra: Unspoken norms.
10:51
Caroline: There are tons of them, but I think it's it is things like let me give you an example.
10:57
Caroline: An HR director that I was talking to a couple of weeks ago said to me, she's the HR director, and she's still expected to sort out the meeting room for the board and make sure everybody's got coffee and water at the start of the meeting.
11:13
Caroline: And so I said to her, and how do you feel about that?
11:16
Caroline: And she said, It's not on, it's not on.
11:18
Caroline: I said, So what are you doing about it?
11:20
Caroline: Yeah.
11:21
Caroline: And she just stopped.
11:23
Caroline: And she said, Well, I can't.
11:25
Caroline: I mean, you absolutely can.
11:27
Cassandra: Right.
11:28
Caroline: So I think that we we accept the things that people suggest to us.
11:35
Caroline: I think another unspoken rule is that we are the carers in work.
11:40
Caroline: So we are the ones that remember the birthday that make all the things actually work, and we just take on these additional responsibilities that have no reference in our performance review or in our bonus, but we're the ones that make things make things happen and happen naturally.
11:59
Caroline: But it's the significant additional piece of work that we have to do.
12:03
Caroline: Exactly.
12:04
Cassandra: So, so Caroline, you're like a naysayer, you know.
12:08
Cassandra: You know what I mean?
12:09
Cassandra: Like that is unacceptable.
12:12
Cassandra: Yeah.
12:14
Caroline: And I think, you know, I'm my parents taught me to be really curious.
12:19
Caroline: Yes.
12:20
Caroline: So I think that I've always brought that curiosity to work, and I have the ability to step back and observe as though it's a movie going on in front of me.
12:32
Caroline: Yeah.
12:32
Caroline: And look at what's okay, what's not okay.
12:35
Caroline: And I hope that I challenge it in a cheeky way, in a palatable way, that people see it and want to do something about it rather than feel that I'm poking the bear, because I don't think that we affect change in that way.
12:50
Cassandra: Exactly.
12:51
Cassandra: And how you know we internalize it like we can't, because this is what we're supposed to do.
12:59
Cassandra: So we gotta make the coffee in the mornings for everybody and go get their lunch, even though we in a similar role as they are.
13:10
Cassandra: Yeah, that's amazing.
13:12
Cassandra: So we were talking about promotion strategies that help women get recognized in their workplace.
13:41
Cassandra: What were some of those strategies?
13:44
Cassandra: Particularly, you know, when you you you're curious, you kind of have used your voice.
13:51
Cassandra: That's something I think many of us have struggled with.
13:55
Cassandra: So, what what strategies can help us get recognized in the workplace?
14:02
Caroline: I think being curious rather than defensive is a really is is my foundation piece completely.
14:08
Caroline: I think sometimes we get so invested in our need to be right that we actually forget that the end goal over here somewhere, I don't need to be right in this battle.
14:21
Caroline: I've got this goal that I'm that I'm going for.
14:23
Caroline: So if you can attack, if you can approach challenges with curiosity, if you can be the person that asks the insightful question in a meeting rather than just going with the flow, yeah, those are all really, those are key visibility strategies that get people noticed.
14:43
Caroline: And that's got to be the first aim, hasn't it?
14:45
Caroline: You need to be noticed for the work beyond your job description and what you bring to the party.
14:52
Caroline: So I think those are two really key foundation pieces.
14:57
Cassandra: Okay.
14:58
Caroline: I think the other piece is stop waiting, stop waiting to feel ready.
15:03
Caroline: Another woman that I've coached recently, she told me this story when she was moving from, in effect, a team leader to a middle management position.
15:13
Caroline: Her and her male colleague were up for the same promotion.
15:17
Caroline: The feedback that she she didn't get the job, and the feedback, the only thing that separated the two people was that he asked for it and she hadn't asked for it.
15:31
Caroline: Oh, so he asked.
15:33
Caroline: He got the job because he'd asked for it.
15:36
Caroline: He'd highlighted the direction that he wanted to travel.
15:40
Caroline: So I think the third piece would be clarity.
15:43
Caroline: Be clear about what you want, reasonably so, and express that to the people that can make the difference.
15:52
Caroline: And you don't have to be loud, you don't have to be brush, you don't have to be tending, you're simply signaling what is important for you, right?
16:03
Cassandra: And I and and and something else I saw in one of your toolboxes was mentorship or sponsorship or somebody to help you through the maze.
16:20
Cassandra: I'm gonna call it it a maze.
16:22
Cassandra: Yeah, you know, you don't want to be defensive, you know, when you go in and and we can't do anything alone.
16:29
Cassandra: So I think it's always good too to have people in your corner, your advisors or somebody that has your best interest at heart, because we can go in.
16:39
Cassandra: I can't, I've I've been defensive, and I had to like okay, that the the okay, she's an angry black woman, you know.
16:50
Caroline: And isn't that interesting?
16:51
Caroline: The label, it could be an instant label, Cassandra.
16:54
Caroline: That's correct, that's right.
16:56
Caroline: So need to defend themselves, yeah.
17:00
Cassandra: We got to temper ourselves, you know.
17:02
Cassandra: But yet if you have someone you can talk through it with, it's very helpful.
17:06
Cassandra: It's very helpful.
17:08
Caroline: So I think I think there are three types of people that you need within if you're if you're ambitious and you want to get on, and I think that these three types of people are even more important in our hybrid world than they were before.
17:22
Caroline: You need to actively seek them out, you need allies, people who have no vested interest in you whatsoever.
17:31
Caroline: They like you, they trust you, and they respect you, and you do them as well.
17:36
Caroline: You need to find those people so you can have those honest playback conversations and chat throughs of what you're what you're thinking without there being any ulterior motive.
17:47
Caroline: Right.
17:48
Caroline: You need mentors, somebody at a more senior level that can help you navigate the complexity of the workplace.
17:57
Caroline: And a lot of organizations create formal mentoring programs.
18:01
Caroline: That's brilliant.
18:03
Caroline: That's true.
18:03
Caroline: But you may not be one of the lucky few that are on that mentoring program.
18:08
Caroline: That shouldn't stop you.
18:10
Caroline: Every single senior person that I've ever asked for help for, without exception, has said I'd be delighted to help you.
18:21
Caroline: And I think when you see a senior person that you respect and you treat them respectfully, they will want to pay it back.
18:31
Caroline: So don't be afraid to ask.
18:33
Caroline: And then, of course, you need sponsors, you need people who will advocate you in rooms that advocate for you in rooms that you're not in.
18:41
Caroline: Um, and those people might be your boss or your boss's boss.
18:45
Caroline: So it's working out what is it that they need from you and how can you convince them that you're the right person.
18:53
Cassandra: Exactly.
18:54
Cassandra: And that's why, too, Caroline, I believe relationships are critical.
18:58
Cassandra: Absolutely environment, because you you have to build them, you know.
19:03
Cassandra: And and I I recall being in my my corporate world, how you know, when you go out, they want to go out go out to dinner, and then they want to go out and meet about six or seven.
19:14
Cassandra: I'm like, six or seven.
19:15
Cassandra: Oh my gosh, we're gonna be there two, three hours.
19:18
Cassandra: I need to go home and go to bed, you know, and I and I found myself having to do that in order to build relationships.
19:27
Cassandra: There were certain things that I had to sacrifice because I knew that I wanted to move forward, but I knew too that I wanted them to get to know me and vice versa, out of the work environment, you know.
19:41
Cassandra: So I think that's that's important in order for you to have the allies and the mentors and the sponsorships and be included, inclusive in those mentoring programs that they have.
19:52
Caroline: Absolutely.
19:52
Caroline: Let's let's be clear, it's got harder since hybrid working.
19:57
Caroline: For it, give you an example.
19:59
Caroline: If you had a meeting, yeah, face to face in a room, the first five minutes of that meeting was generally chit-chats, right?
20:07
Caroline: Just getting to know people, warming up the room, grabbing you drinks, saying hello, all of that kind of stuff.
20:13
Caroline: So you're starting to see the people that you click with.
20:17
Caroline: You have that same meeting on Zoom or Teams now, and it's straight into the agenda.
20:23
Caroline: You all come in and it's like, right, item one, item two, thank you very much.
20:29
Caroline: Goodbye.
20:29
Caroline: There isn't the room for the coffee cool, the the coffee cue chats or the cool water cooler moment moments.
20:37
Caroline: We're not just passing people on the stairs anymore in the same way.
20:41
Caroline: So you you have to take responsibility for actively seeking out those relationships now in a way that that I didn't need to, but I can see that we need to do it now.
20:53
Cassandra: Exactly.
20:53
Cassandra: Great point, great point.
20:55
Cassandra: You know, I'm I'm you know, with let me add this is interesting.
20:59
Cassandra: You in your I'm calling these your toolboxes.
21:03
Cassandra: Yeah, you said something that said nobody decided to hold women back, and that's exactly the problem.
21:12
Cassandra: Yeah, let us impact that a little bit.
21:19
Caroline: I think that culture in organization, you know, we like to think that it's all conscious decisions, it's not.
21:31
Caroline: Culture is not the plaque that you have on the wall that the senior executor said.
21:35
Caroline: Culture emerges over time.
21:38
Caroline: And I think that a lot of the challenges, the problems that people and then women have in the workplace is because these this culture has emerged.
21:50
Caroline: You know, it's things like busyness has become a badge of honor.
21:53
Caroline: How on earth does not having any space in your diary whatsoever help you be more productive?
22:01
Caroline: To give one example.
22:04
Caroline: The other example is hybrid working and working working from home.
22:09
Caroline: Yeah, we've lost all of those informal moments where you caught the tail end of a conversation and you suddenly made a connection that that thing was really, really important.
22:23
Caroline: Or you hear somebody chatting and you think, I've got a good feeling about that person.
22:30
Caroline: You know, I want to go and have a chat.
22:32
Caroline: So those relationships across the business are no longer there anymore.
22:37
Caroline: Nobody decided that we were going to expel all of those moments, it just happened over COVID.
22:46
Caroline: It just happened, and nobody has challenged it to make it any better since then.
22:52
Caroline: I haven't seen it in any organization.
22:55
Cassandra: Yeah.
22:55
Caroline: And the one thing that that was maintained was face-to-face learning.
23:01
Caroline: So people were in a room together.
23:04
Caroline: Yes.
23:05
Caroline: That's going out now.
23:07
Caroline: That's true.
23:08
Caroline: That's right.
23:08
Caroline: So those exploratory conversations rather than functional, factual.
23:17
Caroline: This is what we need to do.
23:18
Caroline: That exploration and loose ideas and collaboration that may or may not lead to something, but invariably they spark something off that is invaluable.
23:32
Cassandra: And it's so true.
23:33
Cassandra: So so true.
23:35
Cassandra: So we have to talk a little bit about how can we build community now that you know, based on those hybrid uh situations that we didn't force, it just happened to be.
23:48
Cassandra: Now, I'm curious.
23:51
Cassandra: Now, this is a curiosity question for you.
23:54
Cassandra: That's my favorite.
23:56
Cassandra: I know.
23:56
Cassandra: Okay, with today's economy, layoffs and the unemployment rate, approximately 7.11 million, but globally it's 186 million unemployed.
24:12
Cassandra: You talk about the promotion strategies that get you recognized.
24:18
Cassandra: Any thoughts about what about the unemployed and how do they get recognized?
24:25
Cassandra: Um is the strategy the same or or what's different?
24:28
Cassandra: How how could they get recognized?
24:30
Cassandra: They're unemployed, and you know what that's like.
24:34
Caroline: I think I think it is very similar.
24:38
Caroline: Okay.
24:38
Caroline: I think the key difference is if you've been made unemployed, it massively knocks your confidence.
24:46
Caroline: Okay.
24:56
Caroline: Rebuild your confidence because with the right mindsets, you can, as you well know, Cassandra, you can overcome anything, but you've got to believe in yourself first.
25:06
Caroline: So there was a series in my podcast last year that was about redundancy strategies, and we've got a redundancy workbook on our resources page as well, which is all the key steps to helping you get to a point where you're in a great state to start applying for jobs.
25:24
Cassandra: Okay.
25:25
Caroline: So some of the things that I would do is first off, I'd identify my strengths.
25:31
Caroline: Okay.
25:32
Caroline: I'd really focus in on what am I really good at?
25:37
Caroline: What is it that I love doing?
25:40
Caroline: A genius.
25:41
Caroline: Just that conscious process of focusing on something positive about yourself starts to make those little those little steps.
25:50
Caroline: So focus on strengths to help you rebuild your confidence.
25:56
Caroline: I would get feedback from my friends and family.
25:59
Caroline: Okay.
25:59
Caroline: These are what I see as my strengths.
26:01
Caroline: What what are three words that you would use to describe me?
26:05
Caroline: Again, give them with love, which it will be because they're your friends and family.
26:11
Caroline: That's another strategy, little step for building your confidence.
26:16
Caroline: Right.
26:17
Caroline: And the other thing that I would do is I would volunteer.
26:21
Caroline: I would find some way of using my strengths and volunteer in my local community because giving back is another way of really building your confidence.
26:32
Caroline: And it gives you tangible examples of your strengths in action that you can use on any application or any job interview.
26:43
Cassandra: Right.
26:43
Cassandra: That's good.
26:44
Cassandra: So rebuilding your confidence because there are a lot of listeners that are unemployed, or there are listeners that aren't really feeling great about what they're doing now.
26:57
Cassandra: And and you you talked about, you know, finding from your loved ones, people that have your best interests.
27:05
Cassandra: Tell how would you define, identify some of the things about me that you've observed?
27:11
Cassandra: You know, kind of what what are my strengths?
27:13
Cassandra: You know, and start on strengths because a lot of people can what I'm just saying on my clients, they can tell you their weaknesses right off the bat.
27:23
Caroline: Absolutely.
27:27
Cassandra: Oh, my list is really long.
27:29
Cassandra: It really is.
27:30
Cassandra: But what about the strengths?
27:32
Cassandra: And that's when we talk about inspire your genius because we all have them.
27:35
Cassandra: So I like I like what you said.
27:39
Cassandra: You also talked about your unshakable, your podcast.
27:43
Cassandra: There was a series.
27:44
Cassandra: What's do you remember the name of that?
27:46
Cassandra: That maybe they can look at it.
27:47
Cassandra: You don't remember.
27:48
Cassandra: If not, you can share it with me and I can put it in the show notes.
27:53
Caroline: Yeah, I'll absolutely do that.
27:54
Caroline: And that I'll give you give you the link to the redundancy reset workbook that I've developed as well.
27:59
Cassandra: Would you like five steps?
28:01
Cassandra: Yeah, that would be great.
28:03
Cassandra: That'll be great because I know that will help a lot of my listeners with that.
28:07
Cassandra: I like you have a 2MM moves, which is called micro moves.
28:15
Cassandra: Tell us about that because it, you know, and I before we came on, I was kind of I was talking to you about how your philosophy complements an eight-step program that I have, which is Rise Beyond Limits.
28:33
Cassandra: My my that's my signature program, the Rise Journey.
28:37
Cassandra: And it has a lot to do with your awareness becoming powerful when it leads to manageable next steps.
28:43
Cassandra: Talk a little bit about that too.
28:46
Cassandra: And I love the MMs, the micro moves when you talk about yourself in small ways and what you're what you represent.
28:54
Cassandra: So, what are some MMs?
28:57
Caroline: Yeah.
28:57
Caroline: So where it comes from is that I think I've I've attended and I've delivered workshops for a really long time.
29:09
Caroline: And those any learning that I've had, whether it be in a workshop setting or in a book, some of the frustration that I've had is that we share complex models and theories.
29:22
Caroline: And I kind of feel, sorry for those out there that do this, but I kind of feel that unconsciously that's to make us feel better, that's to make us feel clever.
29:33
Caroline: It's not designed to help somebody on the receiving end do something differently as a result of it.
29:40
Caroline: And I think that in doing that, we make things so complex and overwhelming that people become rigid, they feel that they can't move.
29:49
Caroline: So for me, the two millimeter differences are if we can change our habits, if we can make first little steps over time, consistently, those can lead to a significant transformation.
30:07
Caroline: And imagine it in an organization, if everybody is doing small little moves for improvements, how quickly would the organization become more efficient if they listened and allowed people to make these effective changes?
30:22
Caroline: Um I think what we just talked about, Cassandra, is a classic example of that with the redundancy.
30:28
Caroline: Work on your confidence first by looking at your strengths.
30:32
Caroline: That's something that everybody can do.
30:35
Caroline: It's actually quite a nice thing to do.
30:37
Caroline: And armed with that, you then take the next little risky step, which is ask your friends and family what they think of you.
30:46
Caroline: Right.
30:47
Caroline: And then the next risky step is you go out there and you actually do something with it, for example, volunteer.
30:54
Caroline: So you're building that confidence and resilience, resourcefulness to just keep making progress all the time by making lots of little changes.
31:07
Cassandra: So thinking about my listeners and and the self-imposed barriers that we can put on ourselves.
31:19
Cassandra: For example, there are listeners that have this dream or always wanted to do something different, but yet they can't.
31:30
Cassandra: And I'm gonna use myself for a minute.
31:32
Cassandra: Like when I when it was when I wanted to write a book, I've been wanting to write a book forever.
31:36
Cassandra: And it took me forever to write a book.
31:39
Cassandra: And so what would have been my MM moves, my micro moves to have enabled me to write it maybe sooner for those listeners that want to do something like that?
31:52
Cassandra: What could they have done to MMs?
31:55
Caroline: I would have blocked out a week.
31:59
Caroline: Okay, and in that week, I'd have blocked out whatever time, whatever time I could afford, whether it be five minutes, 15 minutes, or 30 minutes, every single day.
32:11
Caroline: Because we can all allocate 15 minutes a day to something if it's really important to us.
32:18
Caroline: Okay, okay, right.
32:21
Caroline: Yeah.
32:21
Caroline: So I'd have blocked out, blocked that out.
32:23
Caroline: That would have been the first step.
32:26
Cassandra: That's good.
32:28
Caroline: The second step is you turn up with a blank page and you just start scribbling.
32:34
Caroline: Okay.
32:35
Caroline: What's your book about?
32:37
Caroline: What's the purpose of it?
32:38
Caroline: What are some of the key themes that you want in it?
32:41
Caroline: That would be the first step before you even start trying to structure it.
32:45
Caroline: Because as soon as you get the thoughts out from your head onto paper, it's now something.
32:52
Caroline: You're not just thinking about it anymore, right?
32:55
Caroline: You've started.
32:56
Cassandra: Yes, that's it.
32:57
Cassandra: That's true.
32:58
Cassandra: A practical step.
33:00
Cassandra: Yeah, yeah.
33:02
Cassandra: It's kind of like you said, just bite a little bit of the elephant at a time.
33:07
Cassandra: Don't try to do it all because you get so overwhelmed.
33:10
Cassandra: Yeah.
33:10
Cassandra: Uh yeah, I love that strategy.
33:13
Cassandra: I I want to a couple things before we close out.
33:18
Cassandra: I'm getting scared now.
33:22
Cassandra: I'm thinking about the large disparity between men and women.
33:32
Cassandra: And there may be some men listening that say, you know what, I'm not gonna finish this.
33:37
Cassandra: I'm not, it's not about bashing men, it's not about that.
33:41
Cassandra: It's just the acknowledgement that there are disparities.
33:44
Cassandra: Like, for example, 31% of entry-level women have a sponsor, yeah, but for men, it's 45%.
33:54
Cassandra: Men get promoted on potential.
33:58
Cassandra: This just blew me away.
34:00
Cassandra: And women get promoted on proof.
34:04
Caroline: Like women are you've been listening, Cassandra.
34:11
Cassandra: Women are 48% more likely to volunteer for tests that don't count towards promotion.
34:19
Cassandra: Is that because of how we were brought up about women?
34:27
Cassandra: Don't don't don't don't voice your opinion, don't be so direct.
34:33
Cassandra: Don't make a song and dance about it.
34:36
Caroline: Yeah.
34:37
Caroline: I think for me, that one about men are more likely to be promoted on potential.
34:43
Caroline: Yeah, women have to prove themselves first.
34:46
Caroline: I think that ought to be a slogan for every senior leader and every senior HR person with a big red line through it.
34:57
Caroline: And they should be thinking about their actions that are reinforcing that unconscious bias.
35:04
Caroline: Because it's like I said much earlier on, right?
35:07
Caroline: It's not that organizations have been designed like this, right?
35:13
Caroline: It's just the unspoken rules and unconscious bias at work, but it has such a significant impact that blocks the potential of the organization, regardless of women.
35:25
Caroline: If you're not having the women coming through with different approaches, different ways of thinking, all you're getting is echo chambers, and that's not about growth.
35:36
Caroline: And I think in today's world, you know, the speed of change is exponential.
35:42
Caroline: Look at how quickly AI has impacted us, and it's only going to get more.
35:48
Caroline: If we continue to have echo chambers, I can tell you what, there are going to be a lot of those big businesses that are just no longer in two years' time.
35:58
Caroline: You need different thinking in order to ride the wave and to grow beyond it.
36:06
Cassandra: Exactly.
36:06
Cassandra: And that takes me back to awareness, like what the data, the stats that I've read that from from you, reading your information and researching.
36:15
Cassandra: If people don't know, what are they gonna do about it?
36:18
Cassandra: Exactly.
36:19
Cassandra: I mean, and that's where that awareness and that training, and I don't want to say diversity DI, I mean, you know, I don't that you know, but it's just how awareness helps move you, just being aware of that.
36:34
Cassandra: That is just amazing for for an executive that I know personally that's CEO and all of that.
36:40
Cassandra: If he's like, let me think about that.
36:43
Cassandra: Is it do I judge that by that potential and women by that proof?
36:47
Cassandra: You know, so it's just something like an aha moment to think about, you know.
36:52
Cassandra: Now let's talk about I want to talk about AI.
36:55
Cassandra: Yeah, because that's very important.
36:57
Cassandra: What the stats like they are, what development looks like in a changing world of work, including continuous improvement, perfectionism, resilience, hybrid work with AI, what we lose and what we are gaining, what new ways to navigate communities.
37:18
Cassandra: So, how can we create space in this environment for people to enjoy each other?
37:26
Caroline: And what yeah, what what a huge question and such an important one.
37:34
Caroline: And I think, you know, I said we haven't questioned the impact that COVID had on us and made changes.
37:41
Caroline: We're not questioning with AI how that is changing us and what we need to do.
37:47
Caroline: We're not telling people this is what I want you to focus on, this is how I can see your skills developing.
37:54
Caroline: People are so important.
37:59
Caroline: Community is absolutely vital for everybody, and those people that are successful coming through this are those people that consciously take responsibility for improving their own relationships and helping others to connect.
38:20
Caroline: I think as leaders within organizations, we have such a huge responsibility to help those in our teams to navigate it and open up the conversation.
38:35
Caroline: We need we need to drive that.
38:38
Caroline: If the organization isn't doing it, we need to do it for our people because that is the way that's going to make them strong.
38:50
Cassandra: Build in recovery time, like be human.
38:53
Caroline: Yeah.
38:54
Caroline: Absolutely.
38:55
Caroline: I mean, a simple thing that I would do if I if I was a leader within an organization now, if I had a weekly meeting with my team and it was a half-hour meeting, I would shrink that meeting, the business of that meeting, to 20 minutes.
39:11
Caroline: If that means that I need to send people stuff in advance, I send people stuff in advance, and I would make sure that we've got time to talk about how you're doing, what's cooking for you at the moment, what's not.
39:25
Caroline: And then at the end, I would have a bit that says, let's talk about the future.
39:30
Caroline: Let's just start exploring what do these changes mean to us.
39:34
Caroline: And I think that's quite exposing and can be really uncomfortable for a leader.
39:40
Caroline: But I tell you what, if you want your team to follow you, if you want to build their trust, you've got to be vulnerable and be prepared to not have the answers and explore with them.
39:51
Cassandra: That is so well said.
39:54
Cassandra: Exactly.
39:55
Caroline: Yeah, that was well said, and I think those are those are the things that we shy away from because we we're not in control, we don't know what's going to happen, we can't script that, but it's those moments that are utterly invaluable to people around you.
40:17
Cassandra: It really is.
40:18
Cassandra: And even though, you know, I uh uh both of us and the listeners may be in organizations that you have to make the first move.
40:29
Cassandra: Don't expect this person or that person to do it.
40:33
Cassandra: You are aware, you have the knowledge, you know what it is that we're gonna do, and and plus when you get on the human side of people, they're even more productive.
40:42
Cassandra: The ideas just flourish, you know.
40:45
Cassandra: So it's kind of like I I think it's a shared message, I think that we both have.
40:54
Cassandra: You don't have to overhaul your entire life to begin changing its direction.
41:01
Cassandra: Absolutely, yeah.
41:03
Cassandra: Just a little at a time.
41:05
Cassandra: Yeah, yeah, just a little at a time.
41:08
Cassandra: Well, we're gonna have to wrap up, but I read something and I wanted to know.
41:17
Cassandra: Could you share something that my listeners can use on a Monday morning, 15 minutes a day to reset your confidence, clarity, and bounce back?
41:31
Cassandra: What can I do?
41:33
Caroline: Is my favorite subject?
41:35
Caroline: I think some I I think sometimes on the Sunday night, do you do you have the Sunda dreads?
41:43
Caroline: I think some people have the Sunda dreads thinking thinking about going back to work and thinking about what their to do, what their to-do list is.
41:51
Caroline: For me, what are the three things this week that are most important that are going to move the dial for you?
42:00
Caroline: Not the three most urgent things, the three most important things that are gonna give you some joy.
42:06
Caroline: Write those down on a piece of paper and stick them somewhere obvious so they're in your line of sight all the time.
42:13
Caroline: Um, I think is the first thing.
42:16
Caroline: I think the second thing is really be conscious of managing your state.
42:22
Caroline: At work, we can often think about work.
42:26
Caroline: What you know, what words come to mind when you think about work?
42:29
Caroline: I automatically think of hard, hard work.
42:32
Cassandra: Okay.
42:33
Caroline: You know, people expect you to work hard, but also the work can be hard at times.
42:37
Caroline: And I think you can start to feel your shoulders drooping, you know, if you're sitting down all day, so I've just I've just sat up right.
42:47
Caroline: If you're sitting down all day and your shoulders are drooping and you're typing away, your blood isn't circulating, it's not getting to your head properly, so you can't do your best thinking.
42:57
Caroline: No, consciously think about moving, taking deep breaths, thinking happy thoughts.
43:04
Caroline: And I know in one way that might sound trite, but you are responsible for managing your state, and it leaks to everybody around you as well.
43:13
Caroline: Do you want to be the drain or do you want to be the beacon of hope?
43:16
Caroline: Personally, I'd like to be the beacon of hope.
43:19
Cassandra: Yeah.
43:20
Caroline: So I think really think about managing your state and notice the impact that it has around you.
43:26
Cassandra: That's good.
43:27
Cassandra: Okay.
43:29
Cassandra: Joy was one managing your state, your well-being, uh, and moving.
43:40
Cassandra: Think about moving.
43:43
Caroline: Think about moving, yeah.
43:44
Caroline: Don't stick by your desk, make sure that you're moving regularly, even if it's just getting up and shaking, shaking yourself down so that your body's all connected, uh, because that'll help you do your best thinking.
43:55
Caroline: And then there were the three things that are going to move you, move you forward this week, and make sure you do something on those three things, because the biggest signal for people's motivation at work is that they're doing something of purpose.
44:11
Caroline: If you've got a to-do list of 50 items and it's all urgent, and you've just got to get through it, you're going to be completely drained at the end of the week.
44:19
Caroline: If you've had a little bit of time each week to do something on those three things that are going to move you forward, that's lifting you.
44:27
Caroline: That's a wonderful thing.
44:28
Caroline: And if you haven't got it in your line of sight, you're just not going to do it because there will always be something more urgent to deal with.
44:35
Cassandra: Wow.
44:36
Cassandra: Wow.
44:37
Cassandra: Inspire your genius.
44:39
Cassandra: I love it.
44:41
Caroline: I love it.
44:42
Cassandra: You have provided so many practical steps.
44:48
Cassandra: And I would, my listeners, I always say that you can listen to this podcast over and over and over.
44:58
Cassandra: And I also challenge or champion them, my listeners, to send this to somebody that you know it would be in their best interests.
45:11
Cassandra: You know, even the tidbits about when you're unemployed, what are some things you need to do to kind of get yourself moving?
45:19
Cassandra: Even the the three steps, the 15 minutes a day to reset your confidence, clarity, and to bounce back.
45:26
Cassandra: There were just so many things.
45:29
Cassandra: We didn't get to talk about the pointer, what that that meant, but we did talk about, you know, working with AI and and just all these things we talked about that created more of your awareness, I think, is a great opportunity to just not only think about it, but to change it.
45:47
Cassandra: Yeah.
45:48
Cassandra: So Caroline, thank you so much.
45:51
Caroline: That's my it's been my absolute pleasure, Cassandra.
45:53
Caroline: I hope that people find it useful.
45:55
Caroline: And if anyone's struggling with anything at work, go on to our website.
46:00
Caroline: It's inspireyourgenious.com forward slash resources, and there's loads of free resources there to help you.
46:07
Caroline: Thank you.
46:09
Cassandra: Thank you.
46:10
Cassandra: And listeners, like I always say, bye for now.
46:14
Cassandra: Think about the strengths you have.
46:18
Cassandra: Think about, and I don't always say this, inspire your genius.
46:21
Cassandra: I just got this part, but you are good in a number of things, more better than worse.
46:28
Cassandra: So let's start focusing on what you're good at, not what you're not good at.
46:32
Cassandra: Who cares right now?
46:33
Cassandra: Just focus on that.
46:35
Cassandra: And may God continue to bless you.
46:38
Cassandra: And bye for now.
46:40
Cassandra: Bye bye, Caroline.