Helene Lerner's Blog, page 140

A Second Helping of Life: Fabulous Women, Wonderful Cause

Yesterday, we attended an exciting event in New York called A Second Helping of Life. It brought together celebrity volunteers and prominent chefs to benefit SHARE, an organization that provides support for women with breast and ovarian cancer.

We talked with some amazing women, like actress Becky Ann Baker of HBO's Girls and author Laura Day. The energy was very positive - and the food was great, too! Take a look at our photos and check back soon for our video coverage.

Actress Becky Ann Baker

Author Laura Day

                                           
                                                                                    Gourmet fluffernutter

                                            [image error]
                                                               This Girls jacket, donated by Becky Ann Baker,
                                                                                    was being acutioned.

SHARE: A Second Helping of Life

Earlier tonight, we went to a wonderful event called A Second Helping of Life. It benefited SHARE, an organization that raises awareness about breast and ovarian cancer. We enjoyed fantastic food and met some fabulous women. Check back tomorrow for our video coverage of this wonderful benefit!

Why You Need Courage to Reach Your Goals Part 3

In my two previous blogs on this topic, I discussed the five courage activators from the book Lead from the Middle, along with the story of Melissa in her recent position at a new pharmaceutical company. She had ambitious goals to improve a product launch and faced some difficult obstacles. I illustrated how the courage activators of purpose and will helped her face her fears and advance a strategy for gaining sponsorship. In this blog, I will introduce how leading with risk will help you invest in someone else’s success, which will create opportunities for yourself and others.

This means stepping out to support your team and going out on a limb.

Step 1: Let go of control. Empower, trust and equip your partners to fly solo. You do this with the intention of making yourself the arranger rather than the composer, the conductor rather than the member of a particular section and the vocal coach and discerning ear rather than the virtuoso soloist in the spotlight.

Once Melissa aligned others with her ambitious goals and purpose, she helped them face fears and listened with empathy to their concerns about risks. She collaborated with them on a plan to mitigate those risks. She then asked some powerful questions to help her coworkers take charge of their part of the plan. She asked, “What are you willing to do to contribute to getting this product launch on the right track?” “What support do you want from me to do this?”

Step 2: Establish a foundation of trust, promote win-win partnerships and build the kinds of relationships that will encourage others to invest in your success. Trust starts with communication and is cemented with integrity and following through on promises.

Melissa took the time in her meetings to discover what kind of support would bring mutual satisfaction by asking, “When you’ve worked with colleagues you trust highly, what do they do to foster that with you?” 

Step 3: Step up to support those you count on.  By taking the time to build trust and credibility and confronting coworkers in a way that says, “I’m on your side” and “I’ve got your back,” you can reflect and appreciate how teamwork can move things forward.

Melissa let her colleagues take the lead and work out the issues that would block advancement towards the goal. She stepped in to provide coaching when needed and used words of encouragement and appreciation as her colleagues advanced forward.

Leading with risk means setting high standards and holding colleagues to them while offering empowerment, support and appreciation. In the next blog, I will discuss leading with rigor. Stay tuned…

-Andrea Zintz, Career Coach

What's Your Favorite Movie?

What's your favorite movie of all time? Leave your answer as a comment! Here's what our Facebook community said:

Trish: The Sound of Music
Alyson: Amadeus
Robin: Gone with the Wind
Karen L.: Love Story
Jane: Thelma and Louise or Harold and Maude
Angela: Dirty Dancing, followed by Magic Mike
Mounia: Meet Joe Black
Kathleen: Enchanted April
Marlene: Shall We Dance
Suzanne: Princess Bride tied with Persuasion
Karen O.:Working Girl
Toni: Almost Famous
Janet: Desk Set
Aleida: Amelie
Annette: Moonstruck
Ali: The Wizard of Oz
Michelle: Jaws
Susan: The Goodbye Girl
Dominica: Imitation of Life and Man on Fire
Lisa: The Sound of Music
Gail: Quiet Man
Margo: The Warriors

Beautiful Antique Carousels - Enjoy!

We came across this amazing festival of antique carousels at Governor's Island, NYC and we wanted to share the experience with our readers. Take a look at a montage of our favorite vintage rides.

Video Editor - Dominique Guerra

Apple Bundt Cake

It’s starting to feel like autumn! And you know what that means – it’s time for apples! Here’s a recipe that’s perfect for ringing in the new season.

Apple Bundt Cake

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Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: About 8

1 ½ cups apples, sliced
¼ teaspoon baking soda
3 ½ cups plus 3 teaspoons hot water
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cups butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup raisins
½ cups pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place apples in pot or large stock pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil for one minute then summer until apples are soft. Drain apples. Sprinkle baking soda over apples.  Sprinkle 3 tsp boiling water over baking soda and apples and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Set aside.

In another large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in eggs. 

Add apple mixture to sugar mixture and combine.  Gradually blend in flour mixture until combined.  Stir in raisins and pecans. Pour batter into greased, 9″ bundt pan.  Bake for 1 hour. Let cool in pan and turn out when completely cooled.

-Sarah Cooke

Why You Need Courage to Reach Your Goals Part 2

In my previous blog, I discussed five courage activators from the work of my colleagues, Merom and Louise Klein, along with the story of Melissa in her recent position at a new pharmaceutical company. She had ambitious goals to improve a product launch and faced some difficult obstacles. I illustrated how the first courage activator, purpose, helped Melissa focus on her lofty goal and share it so that reluctant stakeholders “got” what she was trying to achieve. In this blog, I will focus on strengthening will.

Will is about generating a “can-do” spirit and igniting a sense of urgency in others. It also involves engaging diverse personalities, cultures, and professional backgrounds and adapting to conditions that will further your purpose. Using will requires you to assure reluctant partners that you will hang in there with them.

Step 1: Generate a can-do spirit. Choose a way to get yourself going. It might be an inspiring quote, or the pep talk you got from a parent, coach, or friend. Pick whatever emboldens you when you feel fearful. You may benefit from replacing a sense of threat with a sense of adventure.

Melissa faced her fears about raising an unpopular concern by remembering a quote that inspired her: “Courage is not the absence of fear; it is pressing forward when you feel afraid.” She mustered her desire for adventure and made appointments with stakeholders.

Step 2: Engage diverse personalities and backgrounds. Visit with others who may have a different point of view and practice looking at the situation from their perspective. Examine the various ways others are motivated and think about your goal and purpose and what might get them jazzed to join your cause. Look to offer an answer to the question, “Why should I?”

Melissa met with many key influencers who were outside her department to discuss her goal and ask questions about their perspectives. As she did, she began to see different ways to frame the challenge that might motivate those in her group who had similar personalities.

Step 3:  Assure reluctant stakeholders that you will hang in there with them. Listening with empathy to those who are facing their own fears about taking on or supporting your ambitious goal will give you the foundation for helping them join you.  Fear often is a signal that there is a clear and present danger. The key is to approach that danger tactfully – not to pretend it isn’t there. When you experience fear, it’s wise to step carefully and skillfully as you stick out your neck, reach out your hand and make your voice heard. By listening to the concerns of others, you can shore up your plan as you reassure them that you will be there for the duration of the journey.

Melissa listened with empathy to those with whom she spoke and ensured that the concerns they expressed were met with careful consideration. She maintained communication and partnership with them throughout the process.

Use will to bolster your sense of urgency, encourage others to go beyond their collective comfort zones and insist on ambitious goals. Will can also help you to stretch yourself and others, take pride in accomplishments and renew each others’ energy. In the next blog, I will discuss risk. Stay tuned…

-Andrea Zintz, Career Coach

Be Present for Your Experiences

Have you ever found yourself going about your daily routine, only to suddenly realize that a month has gone by without your noticing? It’s easy to fall into the habit of just going through the motions. But it’s important to switch gears and be present for your experiences.

Mix it up. Part of the reason we inadvertently shift into cruise control is a lack of variation in our daily schedules. When every day is the same, we can drift through our tasks without really thinking about them. Try out a new café for lunch, hit the gym at a different time of day or schedule dinner with a friend.

Make breaks a must. Staying focused at work is important, but try to do it without developing tunnel vision. If you’re tackling a big project, it’s not hard to throw yourself into it without realizing how much time is going by. Suddenly, it’ll be 5:00 and you’ll wonder where the day went. That can be a good thing if it’s a particularly busy time at the office, but over the long-term, it will burn you out. Take a short break every so often to stop what you’re doing and engage in another activity, even if it’s only checking your inbox or standing up to stretch. This will help you regain an awareness of what’s going on around you.

Pay attention. Rather than allowing your day to pass by in a blur, slow down and appreciate it. Don’t drink your coffee in a few hurried gulps – instead, really enjoy it. If the woman in the next cubicle is wearing a new outfit, tell her how much you like it. Consciously noticing your surroundings and giving attention to your experiences will help you keep your mind in the present – that way you won’t feel like time is slipping through your fingers.

-Sarah Cooke

Why You Need Courage to Reach Your Goals Part 1

We all know that setting ambitious goals helps us to move ourselves forward.  Our really ambitious goals - the ones we keep to ourselves – often present us with opportunities to be courageous.

Melissa, a smart and well-qualified professional, was hired by a pharmaceutical company to lead a product launch team. Within weeks, Melissa observed flaws in the company's launch strategy. She outlined her ambitious goal: “If this drug is not administered properly to patients with a certain risk profile, it will not work and may actually make them sicker,” she concluded. “If I can see this,” she warned, “so will other careful and conservative physicians. We need a plan to mitigate these risks and educate physicians about managing patients with an at-risk profile.”

Melissa faced ridicule when she raised the issue with her peers. “We’ve already dealt with this issue,” a commercial VP said indignantly, “There is no reason to cover old ground again, second-guess our key opinion leaders and regulatory advisors and complicate our launch just to appease a new gal in the company who is grandstanding.” Other peers also jumped in to find other possible risks with Melissa’s recommendations.

However, Melissa knew her stuff. It took courage for her to trust her own judgment, rather than yielding to these pressures. It took courage to reach out and build bridges with thought-leaders in other parts of the organization that would see and support her point of view. It took courage to oversee the work of colleagues who did not report to her and push for the right choices, rather than easy, conventional or popular recommendations. And she did all of this at a time when she was still getting acclimated to the new company and did not yet have the track record or credibility to stand out and take a different position.

My colleagues, Merom Klein, PhD and Louise Yochee Klein, PsyD, have written an excellent book about their research on five courage activators and how they can be used to achieve our most ambitious goals and overcome our most daunting obstacles. It’s titled Lead from the Middle.  Their five courage activators are the very heart of career growth:

Purpose. Having the big picture perspective to support your ambitions.

Will. The willingness to face adversity with “can-do” enthusiasm and to adapt to conditions that will further your purpose.

Risk. Stepping out to support your team, going out on a limb and creating opportunities for yourself and others.

Rigor. Inventing better solutions for continuous improvement and taking action on them.

Candor. Asking the tough questions and giving straight and direct communication.
 
In this post, I will focus on the power of purpose.  This is where you start in pursuing an ambitious goal. By writing out your purpose and sharing it with others, reluctant partners “get” what you are trying to achieve when you ask penetrating questions or offer out-of-the-box ideas. You want them to buy into the big picture, the common cause and the penultimate objectives. This will inspire them to move from avoidance to sponsorship.  Melissa wrote out her purpose and connected it to the company’s value statements. In this way, she attached her purpose to something with which the company leaders were already aligned.

She visited with key stakeholders individually to communicate her purpose and to ask questions rather than preach to them. Her questions were polite but provocative.  She asked:

What are the three most important things to our physicians when they prescribe to their patients at risk?


What do you think we must emphasize about product safety when we launch this product?


What do you think is most critical to our plan to ensure this emphasis in our launch strategy?

By sharing her purpose and tying it to the company values, she connected her ambitious goal to something everyone could own. By asking questions rather than preaching, she facilitated the thinking of others and their ability to reach their own conclusions.  Many of the stakeholders started to move her way.

Don’t give up on that dream or goal. Start with Purpose. In my next posts, I will discuss Will, Risk, Rigor, and Candor. Stay tuned…

-Andrea Zintz, Career Coach

Using Too Many Devices? Get Control

Have you ever found yourself watching a movie on your iPad, typing an email on your laptop and answering a text on your phone – simultaneously? We've all been there. Here are some tips to help you use your devices in a way that doesn't divide your attention or stress you out.

Have one primary device at a time. Using two devices at once isn’t the worst thing in the world – as long as only one demands thoughtful attention. If you’re working on your computer and you get a text, it might be ok to quickly answer it. But don’t text an entire conversation while also completing a presentation for work – you won’t put enough thought into either activity.

Make conscious decisions. We often feel stressed out by technology because, rather than take control and make intentional choices about how to use it, we allow it to overwhelm us. Make rules for yourself. If family meals are important to you, don’t text during dinner. If you’re easily distracted at work, don’t respond to personal messages until you take a break. Make your devices work for you.

Try something new. We spend most of the day on our computers at work – then we often go home and check our Facebook pages or log into Netflix. It’s easy to rely on devices for many of your entertainment needs. So it’s a good idea to get out of your routine every so often. If you want to see a movie, go to the theater instead of watching one online. If you want to play a game, try cards.

-Sarah Cooke