Making Progress: Retracements | Top LinkedIn Voice

Retracement: is commonly used by financial stock traders to mean a minor pullback, NOT a complete reversal. It is a temporary reversal in the prevailing trend, but not the larger trend.

I refer to it as REFLECTION. It is like taking stock, appreciating the achievements, which actually prove the wider trend.

In 2024, there have been plenty of retracements, reflections, with repeated tangible evidence of the work we have been doing. It is the ability to stop and see, appreciate (which often times we ignore) the things that have gone right and lean more into them. These could be:

• serving our existing clients better: oftentimes we chasing new customers and forget existing ones who got us here
• remembering to say thank you to those who gave us a chance when we had no clue what we were doing
• support those we serve now in other ways that may not be of financial benefit e.g. recommend a business you think might be of use to them
• assess your business, income streams with a view to doubling down on the ones that have served you, maximising the opportunities within
• connect with others to do the above: not all those in your industry are your competition, some could do with your guidance

The benefits far outweigh the challenges associated there in.

Top LinkedIn Voice: Helen Hicks

I am proud to celebrate and announce the recognition of the hard work and dedication of Helen Hicks as LinkedIn Top Stress Management Voice. It is an honour to be working with Helen and all the insights I have gleaned have been truly transformational. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

We do have a course together: Workplace Stress Management Strategies: https://www.udemy.com/course/workplace-stress-management-strategies/?referralCode=BB685786050CC69C6E0F

and had a webinar a couple of weeks ago, which yo can listen to here if you missed it: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/helen-hicks-7051b618/recent-activity/events/

We have another event coming up on the 30th of May 2024, 3pm BST, 10 am EST, 19:30 IST: Coping with the Anxiety of Leadership, kindly sign up here:(1) Coping with the Anxiety of Leadership | LinkedIn

Look forward to seeing you there.

Community and digging deeper (Retracement):

I have been spending more time with small business owners, attending events, speaking with owners and understanding some of their challenges.

The need for community, not charity, but genuine interactions between business owners, clients, customers, suppliers, regulators, promoters etc has never been greater in my view. I will write more about this in coming editions, in the KudeeSmart Small Business Community and on my profile in the coming weeks.

Some wonderful person enrolled on one of my courses asked for some studies backing up the importance of community and I sent these (I believe you'll benefit from this also):

Being part of a wider group of people with similar interests, challenges and concerns, especially with the aim of understanding, tackling or addressing the same gives a feeling of belonging.

Sometimes, we feel we are all alone battling certain challenges. Being within a wider group (could be a small group of friends, an interest group, neighbours, community facing day to day life) can provide a senses of:

• Validation: that we are not imagining the challenges
• Safety & belonging: that we are not alone in facing these, there others too
• Hope: that among us all we will find some solutions or conclusions that will be of benefit to us all
• Direction: that a worthy group with support in mind will help provide guidance or direction
• Strength: when on some days we don't feel up to it, but are encouraged by the presence, success stories and support of others

Leading in such circumstances is a tough, but worthwhile role. It is one that creates a pathway for many, especially around some of the challenges we face today.

The studies I recommended are as below:

- Happiness and sense of community belonging in the world value survey - ScienceDirect : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266662272300014X

- Community & Belonging — Conscious Change Study: https://www.consciouschangestudy.org/community-belonging#:~:text=Belonging%20promotes%20wellbeing%20by%20reducing%20stress%20and%20generating,that%20help%20reinforce%20community%20bonds%20%28Mercy%20Corps%2C%202010%29. .

Excerpts include: Early SOC work found that when people feel safe, they desire greater neighbor interactivity (McMillan & Chavis, 1986). Studies show that SOC is driven by high behavioral rootedness and high social bonding (McMillan & Chavis, 1986). Further, the strength of interpersonal relationships within community contribute to satisfaction, commitment, and loyalty to community, as well as more problem-focused behavior and community contributions in response to a perceived threat (McMillan & Chavis, 1986). SOC also is associated with an individual’s capacity to function competently within the community (McMillan & Chavis, 1986).

- Sense of Belonging, Meaningful Daily Life Participation, and Well-Being: Integrated Investigation - PMC (nih.gov): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10002207/

- The mental health benefits of community helping during crisis: Coordinated helping, community identification and sense of unity during the COVID‐19 pandemic - Bowe - 2022 - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology - Wiley Online Library: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/casp.2520

- Participation in rural community groups and links with psychological well-being and resilience: a cross-sectional community-based study | BMC Psychology | Full Text (biomedcentral.com): https://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40359-016-0121-8

Hope you find these useful.

LinkedIn Activities:

• Webinar: Helen Hicks and myself: We have another event coming up on the 30th of May 2024, 3pm BST, 10 am EST, 19:30 IST: Coping with the Anxiety of Leadership, kindly sign up here:(1) Coping with the Anxiety of Leadership | LinkedIn
• Poll: Do we seem to lack the imagination to tackle current challenges or are these challenges just insurmountable? https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7199368485431296001
• Poll: Do you think people in positions of responsibility are impervious (not affected by) to all the rigours of being in those roles?: https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/babajideoyewole_leadership-stressmanagement-copingskills-activity-7200364408072486912-bgxg?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
• Strategic Partnership meetings: Some of the work I have been doing with Guavapay's Simon Concannon Adellet Sarkis and the Republic of Estonia eResidency Programme's Raimo Matvere ülane Vilumets and many other people, too plenty to name and our soon to be announced work aimed at supporting small businesses:https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/babajideoyewole_smallbusiness-smallbusinessowner-solopreneur-activity-7198570765221253120-9pHi?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_deskto

Courses:

• Workplace Stress Management Strategies (with Helen Hicks): https://www.udemy.com/course/workplace-stress-management-strategies/?referralCode=BB685786050CC69C6E0F
• Leadership - Leading a Community: https://www.udemy.com/course/leadership-leading-a-community/?referralCode=C355E4664E81FFFE1CAA
• Intentional Leadership: https://www.udemy.com/course/intentional-leadership/?referralCode=6373D9D8DDC96F4B254E
• Fundamentals of Financial Services: https://www.udemy.com/course/fundamentals-of-financial-services/?referralCode=CB91086FCB79CD381F0D
• Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations: (Free for the next 5 days): https://www.udemy.com/course/strategic-partnerships-and-collaborations/?couponCode=STRATEGICPARTNER49
• Visualization for Decision Makers (Free for the next 2 days): https://www.udemy.com/course/visualization-techniques-for-decision-makers-and-leaders/?couponCode=VISUALTECH6

Lastly, as I have mentioned several times, been doing some work with Guavapay, who provide Business Banking, Point of Sales, Global Payment Acquisition services, Cross Border Payment services etc. If you are a small business, start up, solopreneur, freelancer based in the UK, EU and Canada (many more countries coming soon) and looking for a real face to face bank, that will serve as a growth partner consider them here: https://myguava.com/public/web_lead_form.html?source=si_beaconfinancial.

Thanks for reading this far and please feel free to connect or share your thoughts.

Best regards,

Baba