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Anchored Intelligence

Anchored Intelligence is the show that teaches entrepreneurs how to THINK BETTER and MORE DEEPLY about business growth, strategy and leadership. Each week we bring you actionable insight from leading academics, authors, innovators and globally recognized entrepreneurs. Our aim? Equip you with the wisdom, tools and expertise to build a world class company, culture and life. Join award-winning journalist and entrepreneur Eleanor Beaton for an astute, funny show that combines big ideas with practical action, and makes you wiser, better informed and majorly inspired one episode at a time.
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Now displaying: February, 2017
Feb 27, 2017

Positioning is ultimately a skill, that when mastered will become one of the most powerful communication tools you have. This tool can ultimately separate women of pre-eminence from everybody else.

You use positioning anytime you want to influence an outcome:

  • when asking someone for a sale,
  • when engaged in business development,
  • when sitting around the boardroom table,
  • or when asking for a job/raise/promotion.

Why is it that so many of these opportunities break down? It’s a lack of, or improper positioning.

 

Positioning is the way you frame your ask, argument or offer to make it relevant, compelling and urgent.

If you want to influence an outcome, you must make it relevant, compelling, and urgent to the person who you are addressing. The idea behind this is that people are far too preoccupied and stressed to care about what you have to say. On a day-to-day basis, the average person focuses primarily on their own problems and issues. If you want to really reach a person, you need to give someone a reason to care about what it is you have say.

Most people are tuned into “WIIFM” (What’s In It For Me) radio. Moreover, most people do not like change and will avoid making decisions until they need to. That is why if you are trying to make a change, you MUST make it relevant, compelling and urgent.

Feb 24, 2017

On Today's Episode.……

Mechanical engineer, social advocate, and writer Yassmin Abdel-Magied discusses redefining the narrative and views on young Muslim women.   Eleanor and Yassmin discuss how Yassmin has set out to do the things that she wants to do, rather than go along with the expectations deemed by society around her.

As a young Muslim women Yassmin faces unconscious bias and racism in her line of work as a mechanical engineer where she is surrounded primarily by white males. Yassmin is a force to be reckoned with and has proven time after time that it is possible to stand out and be who you want to be as well as do what you want to do in life.

 

About Yassmin

  • She is mechanical engineer by profession, amatuer boxer, and race car enthusiast
  • 2015 winner of the Queensland Young Australian Of the Year Award
  • Yassmin advocates for the empowerment of youth, women, and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
  • Yassmin founded the non-profit organization Youth Without Borders at age 16 and today at age 25 she is a passionate advocate for young Muslim women.
  • The Truth About Racism is a documentary that Yassmin filmed last year that covers the neuroscience behind racism and bias.
  • Recently started an organization called MUMTAZA which empowers women of color to reach positions of power and influence

 

Takeaways

  • Live your own story- choose what you want to do versus following what everybody else is doing
  • Consciously choose to believe your dreams are possible- First you need to consciously make the decision you’re going to do something and then figure out how you’re going to execute.
    • Don’t let doubt negate your ideas or dreams
    • Make your dreams achievable by breaking them down into smaller steps to get there

Within Yassmin’s line of work and organizations she has started, she has encountered criticism. Typically if you are a women, who is young, black, Muslim etc, you will most likely be told you are wrong and that you shouldn’t have the opinions that you have. Yassmin’s goal is to bring light to these racial issues and be an advocate for the empowerment of young diverse women.

 

Connect with Yassmin

http://www.yassminam.com/

Youth Without Borders

 

Check out My Free Video Training Series…

If you are starting a business or have just launched a business and you are in the thought leader, coach, consultant, or expert space, I want to share with you a fabulous new video training series that I’ve just launched.

In this 4 video training series you’ll learn:

  • The biggest mistakes that I see coaches, consultants and thought leader based people making when they are building their businesses.
  • Tips and strategies that you can put in place in your business right now in order to build a healthy thriving business

Head over to http://www.eleanorbeaton.com/training to learn more.

Feb 22, 2017

On this Episode of Fierce Feminine Leadership...

When it comes to creating the success that you crave, many women let themselves down by not executing on the little things day in and day out that will ultimately make a difference. 

  • The little things are what can hold you back from success in your business
  • You wake up every day with choices. Will you say “yes” to an invitation to speak at an event? Will you ask for the sale?
  • Each day you are faced with moments where you can lean in to the challenge, and take a small step.
  • You mustn’t listen to the voice inside you that says it is too hard or too much work. If you do, the big things will not happen for you.

Remember…

If you have big dreams and big goals, you MUST take the small consistent daily risks required to get yourself a seat at the big tables. It’s the emails and calls that you have to execute if you want to achieve your BIG GOALS this year. It is the COURAGE you must have in the moment to keep showing up. 

If you show up for the little things, the big things will take care of themselves.

 

Final thoughts... 

If you execute on just a few simple shifts or small changes, you can add thousands of dollars to your revenue. To be successful you must be confident in yourself and be confident in the shifts you are making.

If you want to alter your trajectory for your business an career through major changes, stop worrying so much on the big things and focus instead on the little moments throughout the day that will make a difference.

 

Calling all Coaches, Consultants and Thought Leaders…

If you are starting a business or have just launched a business and you are in the thought leader, coach, consultant, or expert space, I want to share with you a fabulous new video training series that I’ve just launched.

In this 4 video training series you’ll learn:

  • The biggest mistakes that I see coaches, consultants and thought leader based people making when they are building their businesses.
  • Tips and strategies that you can put in place in your business right now in order to build a healthy thriving business

Head over to http://www.eleanorbeaton.com/training to learn more.

Feb 20, 2017

On this Episode of Fierce Feminine Leadership……

The most powerful opportunities in your career are most likely to be coming from your connections. In a study of thousands of senior women, done by the LeanIn Organization and McKinsey & Co., they discovered that senior women actually attributed most of their career advancement to their connections. The research also showed that women have far fewer ties to influential people than men.

Rather than networking across or down as most women do, women need to cultivate powerful ties to senior, powerful, influential and well-connected people.   

Networking can be an incredible tool to help you build or advance your career if done correctly.   

 

Networking 101

Spend 10-20% of your time developing powerful relationships. Powerhouse women understand that their success is not just what they can do personally, but their success is derived from their delivery system.

Show up at networking events ready to connect with others as everyday people. Talk to them about experiences that shaped you as a person or even your vacation plans. This allows the conversation to be interesting and be about more than just work.

Triage is the name of the game. Powerhouse women research the event formats that they are going to attend and prioritize events that offer plenty of mingling. They are not just showing up to see a speaker, they are showing up to mingle and network with other people at the event.

Do your research! Find out who is going to be at the event and even do some research a head of time to find out what they do and more about their company. This will put you in a powerful and knowledgeable position.

Ask for the contact information from the ppl you want to connect with most.

Keep in touch with people. The last thing you want to do is lose that connection.

 

Final Remarks

Networking is one of the most powerful and important things you can take part in. Networking allows you to have meaningful connections and find people within organizations that can benefit you and your life. Keeping in touch with those connections is vital for your future, as you may need to call on one of your relationships for something one day.

 

Calling all Coaches, Consultants and Thought Leaders…

If you are starting a business or have just launched a business and you are in the thought leader, coach, consultant, or expert space, I want to share with you a fabulous new video training series that I’ve just launched.

In this 4 video training series you’ll learn:

  • The biggest mistakes that I see coaches, consultants and thought leader based people making when they are building their businesses.
  • Tips and strategies that you can put in place in your business right now in order to build a healthy thriving business

Head over to http://www.eleanorbeaton.com/training to learn more.

 

Feb 17, 2017

Today I’m talking to Carol Sankar, founder of the global executive leadership firm The Confidence Factor for Women in Leadership. They focus on diversity and inclusion initiatives for high level women.

 

Carol has been feature on TEDx, The Steve Harvey Show, Bounce TV, The Society for Diversity, and the Huffington Post.

 

We are going to talk about why confidence is like a beautiful piece of jewelry, and some insights Carol has gained on the differences between how men and women step into leadership to build and scale their businesses.

 

 

Building your confidence is the single most significant asset that you can cultivate if you want to smash the glass ceiling, take your seat at the table where the big deals and decisions are made, and have a voice!

 

Takeaways

  • You must wear confidence as a beautiful accessory that only you know how special you feel when you have it on.
  • You must work to develop confidence. You have to have an open and honest discussion with yourself to stop playing small, stop minimizing your accomplishments and to stop discounting yourself.
  • Carol learned that she needed to build up people’s confidence before anything else. People had too much self sabotaging behaviour to move forward in their business. Everything came down to them not believing in themselves.

 

Connect with Carol Sankar:

http://www.carolsankar.com/

 

Sign up for my Free Video Training Series…

In “3 Critical Mistakes Women Entrepreneurs Make That Prevent Them From Replacing Their Corporate Salaries” you’ll discover:

  • Why your addiction to being efficient will keep you in under-earning jail.
  • The critical mindset shift you MUST make if you want to separate yourself from the millions of women entrepreneurs who are never able to replace their corporate salary.
  • 3 internal shifts you must make to join the top 2% of women entrepreneurs.

Head over to http://www.eleanorbeaton.com/training to learn more.

 

Feb 15, 2017

I highlight some common reasons why adversity is not only your best friend, but an incredible tool for deepening your leadership.

 5 Great Reasons Why Adversity Is Your Friend

  1. It deepens your ability to empathize with people. It gives you a much broader range of experience that you can then use to connect more effectively with your staff, colleagues, stake holders and customers.
  2. It gives you great stories. You must learn how to use these stories provide examples and illuminate your meaning. The three most important types of stories to note are: “to hell and back”, “reversal”, and “hero saga” stories.
  3. It deepens your grit and your resilience. Anybody can have a dream. Anybody can have a goal. It takes a woman with true grit and resilience to see it through. You build up that grit and resilience through experiencing adversity.
  4. It helps you attract better people into your life. Game recognizes game meaning if you’ve experienced adversity, you’ll connect with others who have as well.
  5. It helps you appreciate what you have. Sometimes it takes getting down on your luck or experiencing a health wake up call to help you appreciate what you already have.

 

Final Thoughts…...

If you are a fierce woman in business, adversity is your middle name. Understand that you can lean into adversity, see it for the gift that it is and embrace it. Make friends with adversity, because as long as you are trying, adversity is absolutely going to be a part of the journey and a part of the destination.

 

Calling all Coaches, Consultants and Thought Leaders…

If you are starting a business or have just launched a business and you are in the thought leader, coach, consultant, or expert space, I want to share with you a fabulous new video training series that I’ve just launched.

In this 4 video training series you’ll learn:

  • The biggest mistakes that I see coaches, consultants and thought leader based people making when they are building their businesses.
  • Tips and strategies that you can put in place in your business right now in order to build a healthy thriving business

Head over to http://www.eleanorbeaton.com/training to learn more.

 

 

Feb 13, 2017

Today I am talking Desiree Adaway, the Principal Owner at the Adaway Group based in Nashville, North Carolina. She specializes in leading difficult conversations on race, class, and gender and building resilient, equitable and inclusive organizations. One of her prime success factors is the incredible skill she has for not caring with other people think of her.  Her purpose is to move the needle on diversity and inclusiveness inside organizations.

 

What you will learn

  • How to help create more diversity and inclusiveness inside your organization, and how to implement these changes.
  • How to test where your unconscious bias lay in your organization
  • You will hear Desiree challenge Eleanor how the assertion that Facebook algorithms are making it harder to have a good broad diverse range of conversations.

 

Takeaways

We need to change our vision of who is the definition of a leader -most organizations are still very bias towards gender, specifically white males.

Women in positions of leadership and power can help move the needle on inclusiveness by becoming mentors to other women, specifically women of color.

Some of the most common forms of unconscious bias are:

  • where we are posting our job openings
  • who are we hiring
  • how we look
  • and how we judge people by the institutions that they have attended

Recognizing your own biases is difficult. The Harvard Implicit Bias test can help. Sometimes you have to step away from a situation and ask yourself “where did that thought come from”, and learn how to handle a situation differently.

 

Connect with Desiree Adaway:

Desireeadaway.com

 

Calling all Coaches, Consultants and Thought Leaders…

If you are starting a business or have just launched a business and you are in the thought leader, coach, consultant, or expert space, I’ve got a fabulous new video training series that I’ve just launched.

In this 4 video training series you’ll learn:

  • The biggest mistakes that I see coaches, consultants and thought leader based people making when they are building their businesses.
  • Tips and strategies that you can put in place in your business right now in order to build a healthy thriving business

Head over to http://www.eleanorbeaton.com/training to learn more.

Feb 10, 2017

Sharing a Fabulous New Training Series…...

If you are starting a business or have just launched a business and you are in the thought leader, coach, consultant, or expert space, I want to share with you a fabulous new video training series that I’ve just launched.

In this 4 video training series you’ll learn:

  • The biggest mistakes that I see coaches, consultants and thought leader based people making when they are building their businesses.
  • Tips and strategies that you can put in place in your business right now in order to build a healthy thriving business

Head over to http://www.eleanorbeaton.com/training to learn more.

 

Today on Fierce Feminine Leadership……

Whether you are in a job interview or pitching for a new piece of business, chances are high that this year you are going to spend a lot of time in “critical conversations”. Today, I am going to share with 3 tips on how to handle a situation when you are in a critical conversation and someone catches you off guard with a question or comment.

 

3 Tips To Try When You Are Caught Off Guard……

Tip #1 Remember, this is not a “speak when you are spoken too” situation. You get to chose if you keep your power, or if you give it away. Yes, someone has asked you a question but that doesn’t mean you need to answer them right away, and it doesn’t mean that you need to come up with a brilliant answer. You have every right to take some time, to think it through before offering a response.

Tip #2 Watch your thoughts. Take a moment to acknowledge the thing that has surprised you with a simple comment. This allows you to engage but has still given you a little bit of breathing space in that moment. If you are in a situation where someone is expecting a quick response, simply say “thank you so much, can you give me about 30 minutes to gather my thoughts and get back to you?”.

Tip #3 PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE being caught off guard. It will make you so much more comfortable in the moment, and will actually make you less likely to be caught off guard.

 

Feb 6, 2017

A pioneering entrepreneur, Ipelang Mkhari, founder and CEO of Motseng Investment Holdings, took a 20 year journey to become the successful and recognized woman she is today.

What does it take to build your career as an entrepreneur?

Discovery. Courage. Risk Taking. Sacrifice.

 

“Create a vision and make it so absolutely attractive that people want to kill to achieve that particular vision.” – Ipelang Mkhari

 

Moving Your Business from Version 1.0 – 2.0

  • Realize that you cannot do everything.
    • Be willing to let go.
  • Surround yourself with great people, hopefully people much smarter than you. That is critical.
    • Ensure the business has a corporate structure and foundation from HR, to IT, to finance.
  • Allow others to become strong leaders in your business or organization.
    • Make the people who work with you central to your business.
  • Create a culture of performance.
    • Treat individuals as individuals, while urging them on the journey of your vision.

 

Core to leadership is understanding what it is that you care for and being confident in pursuing that.

 

“It's a continual process to understand what it means to lead. Because you're not leading robots, you're leading individuals, you're leading human beings. They are feeling, thinking people. They have aspirations and goals. And so being able to impart or at least articulate and represent that which they want to become is critical.”

 

Top Three Pieces of Insight

  • Recognize Your Confidence.
  • Recognize the Importance of Training.
  • Recognize the Need for Sacrifice.

 

“We tend to believe that the people that we see on the cover of these magazines or women we see on television have not gone through difficulties, although we continue to go through difficulties … It couldn't be further from the truth. The reality is all of those women have had to really go through huge obstacles, they had to face their own fears, and they’ve had to take on challenges that are far larger than they are and with possibly a lot of trepidation.” – Ipelang Mkhari

 

Practices to Cultivate Courage

  • Establish a spiritual connection and tap into that source.
  • Surround yourself with advisors.
  • Find people travelling a similar journey and communicate openly and regularly with them.

 

“It's good to celebrate our successes but it's more important to celebrate the difficulties that we've encountered along the way because they're the ones that we learn from.” – Ipelang Mkhari

 

Two Most Important Steps to “Go Big” with Your Business

  • Get Great Consultants.
  • Get Great Sponsors – both financially and people who understand your industry.

 

Love the show? Let us know!                   

Are you a fan of the Fierce Feminine Leadership Podcast? If the tips and interviews we share in each episode have helped you gain the confidence and inspiration to become a better, more powerful leader, head on over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave your honest review to let us know!          

Each month, one lucky podcast reviewer will be selected to receive a free coaching session with me – Eleanor Beaton!                 

What are you waiting for? Head on over to iTunes, subscribe and leave your review to enter your name into this month’s drawing!          

Feb 3, 2017

5 “Alternative Facts” For Women In Business

I am just wrapping up a 3-day retreat with the beautiful and fierce members of our Bold Women in Business Mastermind. 3 days of intensive strategic planning, masterminding, sisterhood and just a touch of Malbec. FUN. Fun enough to make me reimagine a new term I learned this week, care of Kellyanne Conway: “alternative facts.” The term is both terrifying and hilarious. And I have decided to grab the term back.

5 alternative facts I’d like to share with you.

  1. An alternative fact to Imposter Syndrome: No dear, you actually ARE qualified to do this thing that you’ve worked so hard for. Your hard work, your dedication and the depth of your desire to do it well are what qualify you. It is only your quest for perfection that disqualifies you. So get over it. #Sorrynotsorry.
  2. An alternative fact to being confused: Sorry Fierce One, I won’t take that one lying down. You are in fact VERY clear on your vision and mission and you know exactly the right next step to take. But you have trained yourself to stop trusting YOU. So for a moment, trust in me and hear that after coaching many, many wonderful women I can tell you this: the wisdom and clarity you seek are inside you. But that wise creature? She’s a Queen, OK? And she never raises her voice. So listen hard.
  3. An alternative fact to waiting to have things perfect before you make a move: Good luck with that. When you’re over it ping me. We have a WHOLE HOST of fierce, action taking women who can’t wait to meet you.
  4. An alternative fact to thinking that if you don’t do it yourself then you’re incompetent/unqualified/weak: The very best work comes from teams of people working together. Please refer to the movie Hidden Figures for further evidence.
  5. An alternative fact to the desolate feeling dogging so many that this is a troubling time for women: Pink hats. January 21, 2017.

 

Feb 1, 2017

Happy February! It is Black History Month and we are focusing even more on promoting diversity and diverse women in leadership.

Interesting Facts

  • Black women are doing an incredible job on moving barriers and rising to the top.
  • Studies show that black women are 3 times more likely to aspire to positions of power and a prestigious title than white women or other races.
  • However, white women are twice as likely to attain said position of power and prestigious title.

What is Happening in the World?

  • Currently there are 20 women at the helm of those fortune 500 companies. (about 4%).
  • Once Ursula Burns, the CEO of Xerox leaves, there will be NO black women as leaders in the fortune 500 companies.

 

What We Can Do to Help

Even though black women have networks and support, they lack sponsors! One of the things that is critical is that if you want to reach the upper echelons of your ambition and reach the top levels in your business, you are going to need sponsors. The problem we are seeing in the world of business is that black women lack sponsors.

Sponsors are powerful well connected people, who talk about you and circulate your name, they unlock their networks to help you be more successful.

“Sponsors are like steroids for your growth trajectory”

 

My Challenge To You….

I would like to be a sponsor to aspiring black women in business. I am currently an advisor for the Visiting Women Executive Exchange Program at the Yale School of Management.

This program focuses on supporting diverse, especially African American, African Canadian women, into positions of senior leadership, in both the non-profit sector, the private sector, and in government.

We are running another cohort, and are looking for up and coming ambitious black women who would like to participate in this powerhouse program at the Yale School of Management. You will have access to the networks, the skills the resources that will help you reach the top.

If you know of a woman in your network who could benefit from a program like this and benefit from studying at the Yale School of Management, I invite you to have this person reach out to me personally at eleanor@eleanorbeaton.com. Please put “Yale” in the subject line, and I will respond to you as soon as I can with more information about the program.

 

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