Mindset Mastery Monthly - July: Effective Communication

Welcome back to the 2nd edition of Mindset Mastery Monthly, your go-to newsletter for insights and strategies on leadership, career development, and work-life balance.

If you’re new here, check out the first issue to learn about leadership and career development challenges, I'm tackling and the concept behind each section. To our returning readers, thank you for your feedback and engagement. Your input helps optimize the content.

As we establish this relationship, I would like to challenge you to use this newsletter as an opportunity to pause, reflect, and act. Skim through it, find what resonates, and then come back later to dive deeper: read the articles, explore my blog, listen to the podcast, and do the exercises. Share what you learn about managing your mind.

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Results of last Month’s Question of the Month

Last month's question was: What leadership challenge are you currently struggling with the most?

Based on the responses, we have an even split between "Managing Conflict", "Developing and communicating vision" and "Being a friend vs. being a demanding manager," each chosen by one respondent. ??

Do these challenges resonate with you? Make your voice heard by casting your vote in this month's question below. I'd love to have more feedback!

Deep Dive - Effective Communication

Effective communication is fundamental to leadership, and it starts with listening. Good listening means understanding and being open to reconsidering our response, rather than simply preparing a reply or sticking to our original opinion. Here are some key ideas to enhance your communication skills:

Effective Listening

• Listening as a Trampoline: A good listener is like a trampoline, capturing, reflecting, and bouncing back the conversation, encouraging deeper insights and engagement. More on this in the HBR article "What Great Listeners Actually Do".
• Three Levels of Listening: True listening involves more than just hearing words. It requires active engagement and understanding at three levels: internal listening, focused listening, and global listening (including listening to what wasn't said). Check out Co-Active's blog for more.

Focus on Your Counterpart

• Cultural Sensitivities: Effective communication considers the cultural context and sensitivities of your audience. Erin Meyer’s research on culture maps, particularly on high-context and low-context cultures, provides valuable insights.
• Understanding Interests and Needs: Analyze the positions, interests, and needs of your counterpart to find common ground and foster productive dialogue. Use the P.I.N Model used in Conflict Resolution to identify shared interests and needs.

Contextual Adaptation

• Adapting to the Context: Tailor communication to the context, whether it’s a formal meeting, informal chat, or public communication campaign. Practice your elevator pitch to communicate key ideas concisely. For more on this topic, visit my blog.

Mindful Communication

• Staying Factual and Calm: Approach sensitive issues or feedback calmly and factually. Give yourself time to cool down if needed before addressing them.
• Non-Violent Communication (NVC): Developed by Marshall Rosenberg, NVC is a tool for addressing sensitive issues without aggression, focusing on empathy, clarity, and mutual respect. It follows a simple formula:

Over to You: Question of the Month

"What is your biggest challenge in communication?"

• Struggling to get to the point
• Fear of reaction
• Avoiding sensitive topics
• Listening without interrupting

Initial results from a quick LinkedIn poll this week indicate 'Avoiding sensitive topics' (60%), 'Fear of reaction' (20%), and 'Listening without interrupting' (20%) as key issues. The listening and NVC approaches, as explained above, can help address these challenges.

Thanks to those who have already voted. If you haven't answered yet, VOTE ON THIS LINK.

It's anonymous, no need to register, and no email address is collected. It will help shape future content and will literally take 1 minute, perhaps 2 minutes if you like to reflect a bit on it!

I’ll share the results next week and aim to address your challenges in future newsletters or blog posts.

Leadership Insight Featuring Donna Williams

This month, I am thrilled to feature Donna Williams, a well-being entrepreneur, sports scientist, and mentor for women. With a long career as a humanitarian, Donna founded Emergencyoga over a decade ago to provide free yoga resources for people working in tough places and now offers an entire buffet of well-being experiences.

Donna has graciously shared her insights on my five recurring questions on values, work-life balance, and more, as well as the rapid-fire burst section where leaders answer in just one word.

Teaser Quote: "When hiring and promoting, beyond technical skills, I'd be looking for self-aware humans with curiosity and humility" – Donna Williams

Rapid-Fire tip - One must-read book: "Chocolate by Joanne Harris or any other of her books, as they remind you that there is all kind of magic in the world" - Donna Williams

Check out the podcast for deeper insights into leadership skills, values, work-life balance, and Donna's answers to 7 rapid-fire questions: Leadership Insights Episode 2 with Donna Williams

Note: I'm still exploring the technology to do podcasts properly. This is an agile process, so bear with me as I figure this out. I'm aiming to soon launch a podcast on Spotify and other channels. Until then, you can listen to the episodes at the link above.

Mind and Body Connection: Communication with Self

Effective communication isn't just about how we interact with others; it's also about how we communicate with ourselves. Our self-talk, beliefs, and intentions play crucial roles in shaping our mindset and overall well-being. Only if we take care of ourselves, we can be effective leaders.

Here are three practical suggestions to enhance your inner dialogue and incorporate mindfulness into your daily routine:

• Self-Talk and Limiting Beliefs: Pay attention to your self-talk. It can reveal your limiting or constructive beliefs. Reframe limiting beliefs into more constructive ones.
• Intentions: Shift your focus by setting daily or weekly intentions. For example, set an intention to stay calm and be kind. For more on intentions vs. expectations, refer to this blog post.
• Mindfulness and Meditation: Quiet mental chatter with as little as 2-5 minutes of meditation to get started. Try a mindfulness walk during lunch, use an app like Headspace for daily exercises, or explore meditation videos on YouTube.

Snapshot: A Glimpse into My Month

As the topic of this month is effective communication, let's consider a different form of communication: public demonstration. On June 14th, I unexpectedly encountered the Feminist Strike in Geneva. Although the march had ended, people gathered in a park for public announcements.

Various issues were on the agenda, including working conditions, LGBTQ+ rights, and the challenges women face in conflict situations. The atmosphere was peaceful and festive, though I imagine the march itself may have been more vocal and intense.

Inspired by this, I invite you to reflect: What causes are you so passionate about that they would get you out on the streets? And how can you most effectively advocate for action?

NEW - Sharing is Caring

Inspired by the feminine vibe this month and a mindset of collective intelligence, I’m excited to introduce this new section. Instead of reinventing the wheel, I will present other inspiring leaders, coaches, or researchers that I am following or recommend to follow. Additionally, I'll highlight individuals who are offering meaningful insights and services in the area of work-life balance and well-being.

As Donna Williams from Emergencyoga put it: “What if we recommend each other? When we truly believe that, competition falls away, we live from a place of abundance, ease, and grace.”

In this spirit, let’s start with two recommendations:

• Donna Williams, Emergencyoga: Provides yoga and meditation classes, yoga retreats, and Ayurvedic nutrition. Follow her on Instagram or sign up for her newsletter.
• Sandrine Lavine, Kyrielle Coaching: Focuses on coaching and mentoring female high-potential and atypical leaders. Check out her YouTube channel.

Please let me know if you have inspiring voices in the areas of leadership, career development, and well-being that could be featured in this section.

Wrapping Up for Today

You made it through all this content - congrats! Do come back and explore the sections that resonate most with you.

Stay tuned for next month's theme, where we'll explore the benefits of disconnecting and resting as we head into the summer break. I am also excited to bring another inspiring leader to the Leadership Insight podcast.

Hopefully, you’ll take a proper break and recharge your energies. Until then, keep mastering your mindset and leading authentically with your heart and mind.

Remember to subscribe to this newsletter to get curated leadership, career development, and work-life balance insights straight into your mailbox once a month, so you'll never miss out on any hot topics. And visit www.mindset-mastery.ch for more resources and inspiration, including topics ranging from integrating sports principles into leadership to balancing parenting and career.

Mindset Mastery Monthly: Enrich Your Leadership and Life!