Libby Gill's Blog, page 8

How Your Future Self Can Help Your Present Self

I’ve never been to a high school or college reunion. When you go to a different school every year, people tend to lose track of you. But I had a great virtual reunion recently with an old friend from my uni days.

As we strolled down memory lane, mindful of knee problems and early-onset osteoporosis, my friend reminded me how I’d helped her land her first job out of college and even guided her through the negotiation. Even then, I was preparing to become the coach, and the person, I am today.

It was rewarding to hear my pal’s perspective and recognize that, perhaps, the best parts of my past have managed to weave their way into my present. And it’s comforting to think that, as we grow, we can consciously shape who we want to become if we have a clear concept of our future self. That is, the person you’d like to see yourself become someday, including the traits you want to develop or strengthen.

Allow me to introduce you to your future self. It’s simpler than it sounds:

1. Make a list of five characteristics you want your future self to possess. They might include compassionate, joyful, energetic, or productive.

2. Create a visual image of your ideal future self, embodying all the characteristics you identified. Consider your age, gender, dress, and demeanor.

3. Now, imagine you – as you are today – having an in-depth conversation with your future self on a topic of your choice. You might be discussing business strategy in your corner office, or relationship and parenting dilemmas at the kitchen table.

4. Allow your future self to provide exactly the kind of guidance that your current self craves, whether it’s comfort, confidence, sympathy, wisdom or a chuckle.

5. Finally, give your future self a name (if it’s your name, that’s a-ok) so that you can call upon him or her any time you want.

Like a grown-up version of an imaginary playmate, your future self will be there when you need a sympathetic ear or a celebratory smile. Most of all, getting to know your future self will reunite you with the best parts of you.

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Published on July 23, 2020 12:44

Lessons from a Former Crisis Communicator

This week’s Twitter hack got me thinking about my past career as head of public relations and communications for three major Hollywood studios. You might not think that my entertainment background would qualify me to talk about crisis communication, but you’d be surprised how much you learn when you’re the spokesperson explaining mass layoffs, lawsuits, viewer boycotts, even death on the set of a television show.

From responding to a hack to discussing the repercussions of COVID-19 with your team, it can be very helpful to think like a crisis communicator during difficult times. See what you can glean from my lessons learned in more than 15 years in Hollywood.

Get in front of the story. This is PR 101. Don’t wait for an entire narrative to be spun before you get your voice and viewpoint out to your audience. In terms of COVID, the current upward spiral of the virus’s spread is the news, of course. But you need to be prepared to respond to the evolving situation, whether that’s to let your team know of changes in your work-from-home policies or on-site safety and hygiene regulations. One of my clients with a tourism-based destination business assigned “Safety Concierges” to circulate through their property, ensuring that protocols were being followed but also sending a message to guests that they were in safe hands.

Expect the unexpected. While you can’t anticipate every scenario, depending on your business, you should have plans in place for immediate communication in response to virus outbreaks, strikes and walkouts, cyber-security, and anything else that might negatively impact your business. If you have a product recall or a natural disaster, it’s already too late to plan. Anticipate and train others in your crisis plan.

Determine your method of response. Although the messaging will change along with the circumstances, you need to have a consistent method of communicating with your teams—especially remote teams. A designated person or persons should be in charge of internal and external communication (for small businesses, that might be the same person) and everyone should be trained in the use of your preferred communication portal. Whether you’re using Slack, or Teams, or cell phones, make sure you can reach everyone at a moment’s notice.

Be the rock for your team. Make sure your team knows that they can trust you to share information that is critical to their health and well-being. Tell the truth, repeat it frequently, allow for questions and dialogue, and be the rock your people deserve. It will go a long way toward getting you through this tough time.

Ask me about my True Hope Process Workshop Series customized to solve your organization’s most pressing issues for the next two quarters!

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Published on July 16, 2020 14:07