"What's working for you?"

I ask this question constantly. Why? Because, if I'm telling the truth, I'm lazy. I love a good short cut. The easy way out is my kind of exit. My guess is you do too. I'll prove it...

When is the last time you got in your car, drove to the library, scoured the aisles, reached on your tip-toes for a book, dusted it off, checked it out, and drove home to settle in and look something up? Exactly. Instead, you sat on your couch, opened your phone and googled it. Or even better you simply asked, "Hey Siri/Alexa, what is (insert your bizarre question here)?"

This type of behavior is never "lazy" in the work place. Quite the opposite! We call it "optimizing" or "increasing productivity" or (my personal favorite) "efficiency". This is how it shows up at work: "Wow Kim really optimized our marketing process! What used to take us 3 hours now only takes 30 minutes. Amazing!" The truth? Kim didn't want to spend 3 hours doing this process anymore. She was sick of it. So she asked, googled, phoned-a-friend, researched and through a lot of trial and error found a way to do that process in 30 minutes so she could move on to other (probably more important) things.

I found myself doing this over and over again when I started my company. There was no "library" to look things up. I needed answers from other humans going through it in real time. I started calling friends, colleagues, mentors, acquaintances and strangers asking them to let me in on their secret...How were they doing it? What was working for them?

During these coffee meetings and phone calls I would be flooded with brilliant answers and A-HA revelations. Answers to questions I had been churning over came to me effortlessly in the hours, days, even weeks after these meetings. Huge new ideas that ultimately changed the course of my business (for the better!) came directly from these meetings. The big un-google-able questions were being answered by these awesome individuals. I started sharing these A-HA moments and insights with other friends and colleagues. The reaction?

1.) Wow! That's amazing! Best thing I've heard in a while.

2.) Do you mind sharing that person's info with me? I have a follow up questions!

3.) I love this! Who are you meeting with next? Can I join?!

I quickly realized I wasn't the only one who was interested in the short cut. Other smart, powerhouse business associates wanted to hear from experts to get the burning question of "What works for you?!" answered.

If we're being honest here, chances are whatever is working for an expert...it's going to work for you too. Not always, but most of the time. (I will inevitably get one email a week with someone telling me that something didn't work. So yes, I see you and I recognize not every single thing will work. Disclaimer noted.)

Say it out loud with me: If it's good enough for ((insert expert you look up to here)), it's good enough for me. (Note: That was fun, but you need to work on your delivery it was hard to hear you.)

Good things get great when you share them. And because I'm a 'more the merrier' kind of gal, I'm inviting you to join me every Wednesday at 1pm EST. You and I are going to sit down with a world-class CEO, entrepreneurial all-star, celebrity, expert and an all around interesting human to figure out, "What works?".

"But Kim, my boss won't let me off then!" / "I have a weekly meeting during that time!" / "I'm in a different time zone!" / "Your voice is annoying!" Yes, yes I've heard this all before. Don't worry! I got you. I was known for taking notes for friends who would skip class or fall asleep during lessons. I've been a note-taking nerd from the start and I'm not going to stop now. I volunteer (Katniss style!) to take notes after every meeting so if you miss one there will be beautiful (if I do say so myself) recaps to read.

Every week I'll be delivering my favorite recommendations, insights and pieces of advice from these outstanding individuals to your inbox. But do I secretly hope you will join us live and bring your best questions and shining personality? You bet I do.

In the meantime, I have two homework assignments that will take you 30 seconds:

1.) Click Subscribe!

2.) Hit "Share" & send this to a friend so they can take the short cut with you!

((Click here to see our most recent What Works Newsletter!))

__________________________________________________________________________

What Works is a weekly series that gives you access to wildly successful individuals & their everyday tools, tips, & tricks for making your career & life easier. Learn in real time (from the best!) so you can skip straight to what works.

Easy, *Free* Resource: 5 Ways to Maximize LinkedIn in 1 Day

Watch: How I started my business on LinkedIn's Entrepreneurship Foundations. For more insights on how we built a multi-million dollar business with ZERO investors check out my Bootstrapping course.

Join In: Sit down every Wednesday at 1pm EST on LinkedIn Live with world-class CEO's, founders, experts & executives. Each week we learn from guests and each other how to answer the ultimate question, "What's working for you?"