Hello
It’s Harriet here, and a huge warm welcome to my new LinkedIn newsletter!
I hope you have had a great summer and have set your targets high, ready to achieve great success in September.
You, my incredible connections and followers, continue to share sensational ideas, insights, and supportive inputs with me every day – I am loving interacting with you all, and I am loving living life!
Many of you have also asked me about a central hub of the content I share daily on social media, and I’m super-excited to let you know that my new website will be live very, very soon!
I plan to share a newsletter each month, to recap on the most popular posts I share on LinkedIn, and to bring you some additional inputs and resources prompted by the wonderful feedback.
Keep reading to find out more about:
- My 3 hobbies and 6 energisers
- My favourite travel memories
- Imposter syndrome
- The art of negotiation
As my life has transitioned this year from an intensive programme of travel and a leadership role in Singapore, I am focusing my time on 3 key areas:
1) Keeping in shape
My weekly diet of daily yoga, tandem cycling, tennis, and beautiful countryside hikes has me in better shape than I have ever been as I am very active, exercising for between 1 & 4 hours every day!
2) Being creative
I am reading so so much and writing! I have 3 books in progress – one fiction, one on leadership and the latest on my life so far – none are publishable as yet but I’m improving my skills and the underlying crafting of words! Feedback from my social media work is also honing content and phraseology.
3) Making money
Since April I have been focused on giving back, volunteering with the NHS in Oxfordshire, delivering care packages, and packing PPE. My business coaching and mentoring work continues apace, and there’s a number of new board & Exec Chair roles that look interesting!
Thank you to everyone who shared their 3 hobbies with me on this post last week.
I’m often asked how I maintain such high energy levels, and this was a popular post this month. Here’s my tips for boosting and concentrating my energy and personal power, in case you missed them.
1) Bunsen Burner Concentration
Every meeting, session, interaction needs 100% of me – I focus best if I do brilliant prep and set clear success measures. I can then concentrate all my energy like a Bunsen burner heating everything together and make every moment count for all involved.
2) Always learning
I feel so much better and more energised learning something new each day, whether it’s a new skill, refreshing an old practise, improving a habit or starting something anew. I need to be learning and growing to feel alive.
3) Water Water Everywhere
Drinking water throughout the day helps keep me keep my brain hydrated, stay alert, and mentally active.
4) Inhaling the Future, Exhaling the Past
When you are conscious of your own breathing, deeply inhaling and exhaling it allows you to pause, re-centre and refill your lungs. However tired I am feeling, refilling my lungs is important in my constant energising process.
5) Kinetic Energy Production
I need 30 mins yoga/stretching every day and at least an hour of aerobic exercise to really get the body prepared to support my mind in the day. In my new 2020 lifestyle, I am getting much more than this, especially with long cycle rides on the tandem and lots of tennis!
6) Minny the Muncher
Eating as many fruits, vegetables, and nuts during the day to boost energy without bloating and fullness is endless for me, it makes me happy and productive to munch and crunch
My Favourite Travel Memories
When I returned to the UK in February I was not expecting to spend several months in lockdown! I miss so many things, from visiting art galleries, the theatre, but mostly I miss travelling. I have been privileged to live and work all over the world, and my weekend travel posts are proving popular as we all reminisce about past trips.
Imposter Syndrome
Following feedback on posts about growth mindset, I became aware of a spectre I knew little about, imposter syndrome.
Here’s two great Forbes articles I came across while researching some advice to share. They are worth a read:
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/2020/01/29/4-ways-to-overcome-imposter-syndrome/#49c05fb01f1b
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/taraswart/2019/08/08/why-you-need-to-understand-the-neuroscience-of-imposter-syndrome/#7fbecdc780e7
Although I have not fully experienced imposter syndrome myself, I have had times throughout my career when I needed a pick-me-up before I don a witch’s hat ?
More seriously, here’s the three things I do to help me get back the Bunsen burner concentration I need.
1) What is the one thing etched in your heart, stenciled in your brain, that makes you special, different and sensational? Keep this at the front of your note pad, your screen saver and metaphorically inked down your arm to always refer to. Mine is that I can energise myself and most around me to achieve extraordinary feats!
2) Have one rah rah video of substance, talk, quote, or pick you up inspirer who lifts you or makes you smile. One I use often is Brene Brown’s “The Man in the Arena”.
3) Make sure you have great mentors (wise and trusted advisers) who know you and can help advise, support, and coach. Mentoring is a topic that comes up regularly in my comments and it’s something relevant to all of us, in all stages of our career. Here’s a super sketchnote to illustrate the important art of mentoring.
The Art of Negotiation
Another important art is that of negotiation.
I was honoured to be featured in @Archanna Gaarg’s new publication, ‘Power Talk’ both on the front cover and with an article on the all-important topic of the power of negotiation.
I shared a great Harvard Business Review article by Jonathan Hughes and Danny Ertel, ‘What’s Your Negotiation Strategy’, where the authors share some key questions a negotiator needs to prepare before the initiation of any talks:
1. WHAT business outcomes do we seek through this negotiation? What does success look like (visualise and verbalise this!)
2. WHO cares about those outcomes? Am I negotiating with the right people?
3. WHO can do something to bring about those outcomes? Should they be on this call or is there a round two?
4. HOW can we engage, directly or indirectly, with parties that share some of our interest in achieving those outcomes and supercharge the call itself?
Take a look at the full Power Talk article to read my own top 10 negotiation tips!
https://issuu.com/powertalkwitharchanna/docs/power_talk_aug-sept_2020
To close my first newsletter, I’d like to share a quote from the incredible Michael Porter, who led my Harvard Business School CEO programme in 2006/7. It’s so timely.
“So companies have to be very schizophrenic. On one hand, they have to maintain continuity of strategy. But they also have to be good at continuously improving.”
Please, keep sending your insights, ideas, and great commentary. If there are any topics you would like me to cover please feedback below or send me a message.
I hope you are loving living life as much as I am!
Thank you so much, Harriet
