Author Archives: Darcie Harris

How to Rewrite the Stories that Keep You Stuck

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Welcome to the Alpha Mare Academy, a collection of courses to make you the best business owner you can be.

Our “stories” are the beliefs we hold about ourselves, other people, the world around us, our relationships and the way we interact with others.

Sometimes our stories are positive and affirming, but more often than not they hold self-limiting beliefs that hold us back and cause us to play small.

Rewriting your stories will help you find the freedom to discover and embrace your full potential.

If you want to discover more about who you are, and strengthen yourself from the inside out, I hope you’ll join me for our new webinar series.  You’ll strengthen yourself from the inside out and get tools that will help you the rest of your life.

 

Are business problems wearing you out? Try these eight steps…

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“The only business without problems is a dead business.”

~ Dr. Ichak Adizes, Author, Corporate Lifecycles

I love this quote, because it simply normalizes the fact that your business will have problems.  Kind of takes the sting out of it.  Makes you feel less…inadequate.

So let’s just be honest with ourselves.  Running a business means solving problems.

Not just occasionally.  Daily.  Hourly.

And these business problems can just wear us slick.

Our time as leaders is not best spent on solving problems.  It is best spent on creating possibilities and opportunities.

So here’s another powerful quote to help move you in the right direction.

“Fast and roughly right decision-making will replace deliberations that are precise but slow.”

~ Rita Gunther McGrath, Professor, Columbia Business School

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a handy little guide to help you think problems through and make the best decisions possible, as quickly as possible?

Here are eight simple steps to consider in any situation that requires problem solving:

  1. Inhale.  Exhale.  Repeat.  Seriously, just like yoga. Because taking in a long slow deep breath and exhaling slowly two or three times instantly lowers your heart rate and your stress level.  So relax.  Breathe.
  2. Suspend your assumptions.  Yup, you have them.  You just have to be intentional about naming them.  It might even help to write them down.  “I assume______.”  We hold on to assumptions because they create a safety zone, preventing new thinking and new ideas.  But they can be fatal unless we check them out.
  3. Ask “Why” five times.  This takes you deep into the core of the problem.  You’re looking for a real solution, not a Band-Aid, so find the core of the problem and fix that.  For example:  The printer won’t work.  Why?  It says the print cartridge is damaged.  Why?  I don’t know, but this happened before.  Why?  Tech support says it’s a known issue with this model.  Why?  There’s a bug in the software.  In just four Whys you realize that you don’t just need to replace the print cartridge.  You need a different printer model.
  4. Define your desired outcome.  What are you looking for, ideally?  Wrap your decision about what really matters most.  Of the five or six strategic objectives you want, which is really the top priority?  Of all the people you are trying to keep happy, which one is the most important?
  5. Think possibilities.  Every problem holds an opportunity.  You don’t need a short term solution that leaves you in the lurch long term.  Look down the road.  What you are facing might look like a huge mountain to climb.  But on the other side of that mountain is a lush valley.  Think bigger.
  6. Apply logic.  Whether we realize it or not, most of our decisions are based on emotions.  We simply use logic to justify them.  Emotions like anxiety, dread, or fear lead to bad decisions.  Know your facts.  Be very intentional about applying logic to the problems you face.
  7. Run your options past a “devil’s advocate.”  Years ago another consultant and I had an intense heart-to-heart with our client, trying very hard to talk her out of a very risky decision.  We were the devil’s advocates.  She decided to pursue the opportunity anyway, but the objections and concerns we expressed provided valuable information that she used to mitigate her risk.  And her project was over-the-top successful!
  8. Make a decision.  Speed matters.  Procrastination is deadly.  We can gather information indefinitely, but if we delay difficult decisions to long, all that information will change anyway.  There are very few decisions that can’t be undone.  Get it over with.  Remember, there really are no “perfect” solutions.  We always have to deal with an uncertain future.  One decision leads to the next.

Above all, teach this problem-solving method to your employees.  Print it out and discuss it at your next staff meeting.

Never neglect an opportunity to train and educate those who work for you.  Don’t just teach them WHAT to think – teach them HOW to think. 

The more capable they are of solving problems and making decisions, the fewer problems that will land on your desk!

Take care, Darcie

 

Almost forgot!  Get your free Self-Growth Secrets – a new 3-part podcast series you can listen to at your convenience.  We’ll talk about stress, guilt, self-doubt and creating your personal vision.  Get it right now, just click here…

Do Women Really Need to be Empowered?

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This week I had an interesting conversation with a husband-wife team who own a business together.  Since I work only with female business owners, I wasn’t sure why Mr. Biz owner sat in on my conversation with Ms Biz owner, but I didn’t ask any questions.

I could tell that my “women only” service made him uncomfortable because he went over the top professing that his wife made her own decisions, that he’d never told her she couldn’t do something. When a man has to work that hard to convince me he’s not a chauvinist, I get a little skeptical.

I listened politely but soon became weary of his campaign to convince me that he’s a progressive kind of guy. Then he dropped the “E” word.

“My wife is an empowered woman,” he said.

I couldn’t resist. “Well you sound like a pretty empowered man to me,” I replied cheerfully.

That’s when he got red in the face and sputtered, “I don’t have to be empowered. I’m a man!”

I doubt they’ll invite me to dinner.

So why is it that women need to be empowered, but men get offended at the thought of being empowered?

Ah, they already power! To be empowered implies that we don’t have power and someone has to give it to us, as evidenced by this man’s reaction to my compliment about how empowered he is.

Perhaps women in developing countries, where it is common for women to be marginalized, need to be empowered — through legal changes, education, culture shifts, access to opportunities — but do women in the U.S. really need someone to empower us?

So ladies, how do you feel about your own power?  Do you feel comfortable embracing your own power or do you believe someone needs to empower you?

I’d love to read your comments.  And of course, if you are intrigued by what you read, feel free to share, but only if you think it adds to a good conversation.