Value | Karmic Ally Coaching

3 Steps to Simplify Life with Value Focused Action

Karmic Ally — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 13:04:39 +0000

Do your activities support your major goals? Or do they add to a list of actions that are worthwhile in themselves but don’t provide a respectable Return on Investment (ROI) for the time, money and effort that you apply?

Perhaps it’s time to simplify your Life?

On Sunday evening, I hit the publish button on Amazon. An hour later, Cure Shiny Object Syndrome: The Quickest & Easiest Way to Reduce Spending became a reality.

I finally achieved one of many goals that I had set for myself last year and then Life happened. It forced me to step back and think about what I really wanted. Not only from Karmic Ally Coaching as a business, but also what was important for me as an individual.

It has been a Wakeup Call in many ways and honestly, the Adventure continues at many levels. But writing my 6^th Kindle book was a cherished goal.

That too on a topic that I know many of us suffer from that leads to clutter, wastage of time, effort and money.

80% of the content for this book had been ready way back in June 2017 when it was put on the back burner. I revisited it last week and found I had new insights to offer and took up the project again.

The final version has now seen the light of day and has done well on publication without any great launch or Kindle Promo.

If I’ve learned anything from this particular Wakeup Call, it’s the need to simplify one’s life and stop running after every shiny new deal or object that comes our way.

It’s about priorities and accepting that this too is a moving variable.

You don’t need another Productivity Hack – you need this

The truth is you probably don’t need another productivity hack.

In fact, I’m willing to go out on a limb and say your problem is not productivity related.

If you’re like many of the high achievers that I know, you’re probably incredibly productive.

But you’ve got so many ideas to share and tasks on your plate that you quickly run out of breathing room.

See, the key isn’t to find a way to squeeze more in, or to find “more hours in the day.”

Instead, what you need to do is focus on building a strategy that will allow you to maximize the effectiveness of the things you’re already doing. It means revisiting your tasks and checking if they are really helping you reach your end goal.

Are there any hidden Shiny Objects that need to be banished?

For example, when my recent Wakeup Call happened, I had a hard look at my activities, asking for each one of them if they were helping me reach my goals, whether business or personal or were they simply ‘nice to have’.

Did I really need to sign up for another Marketing or Visibility Challenge? Or any Challenge come to think of it.

Was I chasing the right metrics to determine the ROI on my activities? Or was I caught up in vanity metrics because somewhere I had adopted a herd mentality?

My website ranking dropped from 6,308,085 to 8,304,010. It didn’t bother me because I hadn’t been blogging and have changed my blogging strategy to be 1 or 2 epic well researched post a month.

I know I went MIA on the internet and wasn’t promoting my content. There were changes in search algorithms too which I needed to study.

I realized this was a vanity metric because during the same time, I had professionals join my mailing list and also take up some of my paid offers.

In other words, I was still reaching the right audience and building my tribe which is a better metric to measure.

It also means going back a step and doing some reverse planning and strategizing to figure out your end goal and results.

To quote Stephen Covey, Begin with the end in mind.

My end goal for my website and social outposts is to connect with the right audience where I can be of service and take the conversation to a more private setting like email or conversations.

This will help me identify their Bleeding Neck (better known as the 2 am butterflies in the stomach problem) and show them how to get rid of the painful problem and make progress towards their goals.

That’s exactly what’s happening now and I have lots of new ideas on how I can be of service by zeroing in on specific pain points.

I stopped hanging out so much on Facebook and spending time in Groups because the silent assassin FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) was on the scene.

In fact, I consider the new Facebook Algorithm change a blessing. I’m seeing more of what my friends who are scattered all over the world are doing. They are seeing my updates, especially those that feature the antics of my Furry Muse Miss Coco.

My Facebook Page reach has improved and guess what, so has engagement!

I mentioned priorities earlier and there is 1 more lesson that I learned.

It’s about simplifying life and focusing on what really works for you. Dodge the Guru bullets and give yourself some credit for knowing what’s best for you. Dump the rest of the stuff that clutters your schedule.

Take focused Action now for a simple stress-free Life

This week, I invite you to reassess where you are in term of simplifying your life. Take action with this 3-step approach.

You can watch my short video or if you prefer, read on for the steps.

List your top 4 priorities in your life right now. Are your activities in alignment with these priorities? Drop the ones that aren’t and replace them with ones that are.

List 10 things that are draining your energy in your life. Address one a week for the next 10 weeks. Notice the powerful shift in your energy just by doing this.

Ask yourself with each Activity “How can I make this easier and simpler?” This in turn can lead to a new question – “Can this activity be eliminated completely?”

I’ve been doing this exercise since the beginning of the year and I’m seeing the results.

Are you game to try it? Remember to share your results with me.

PS. If Shiny Objects are playing havoc with your time and budget, get your copy of Cure Shiny Object Syndrome: The Quickest & Easiest Way to Reduce Unnecessary Spending with additional resources and start taking focused action today!

The post 3 Steps to Simplify Life with Value Focused Action first appeared on Karmic Ally Coaching.

Potential Leaders Know & Value Effective Feedback, Do You?

Karmic Ally — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 18:08:00 +0000

Feedback appears to be a highly misunderstood concept despite the fact that in any communication between 2 people, there will be times when each person is giving and receiving feedback.

Quite often managers think that they are the only ones who are supposed to give feedback to their team members. In fact, effective feedback is a 2 way communication that benefits both sides.

I shared a light moment in my blog post about the Monday Morning Basher Manager who misunderstood the Sandwich Feedback Technique (more on how to use this technique later) and terrorized his team.

The truth is, if we wish to really create change we not only need to know how well we are doing but also where we may be falling short and then create a plan to overcome our blind spot.

Giving feedback is not the exclusive domain of the manager although it may seem so at times.

A motivated team too provides feedback to the leader and other team members helping each one do better than they would have in the absence of feedback.

The ability to give and receive feedback is an indicator of leadership potential and a skill that you must develop if you want to rise up the corporate ladder.

Feedback is found in other areas of our life too.

Think back to your school days and the preparations that were done for the Annual Day function. Whether you were participating in a song, dance or play, different teachers would drop in during rehearsals and give suggestions that were open to discussion before implementation.

There would be a full dress rehearsal where again suggestions would be given and discussed and implemented if found practical.

I admit it would have been irritating at the time but the sound of thunderous applaud from the parents was well worth it.

You might have noticed that you and your peers who got the most compliments afterwards had at least one of these 2 habits.

They were open to receiving feedback and asking for advice, and/or

They gave timely, helpful and critical feedback in a constructive manner.

Transfer these 2 habits into a corporate setting and you demonstrate leadership potential

Executive Presence and Leadership potential aren’t just trending words in the corporate world.

Studies have shown that high performing professionals may fall short of climbing the rung up the corporate ladder because they lack these qualities and companies invest thousands to train employees who have caught their eye as having potential.

The 2 habits I mentioned are actually among those that indicate leadership potential and you can check if you have the habits that will raise your visibility with Karmic Ally Coaching’s Executive Presence Checklist.

During my time in audit, we used to have team meetings at the beginning of the assignment to brainstorm an effective strategy and decide how we would deliver our work to the client in the most efficient and effective manner.

After the audit assignment was completed, we’d have debriefing meetings where the entire team including the partner would go over our performance as a team and note down what we did well, where we might have slipped and how we could do better the next year.

Minutes of these meetings were recorded and distributed to the team members. A copy was filed to be taken forward for the next year’s assignment.

This precious document was created with input from all team members after dialogue and discussion.

That’s how effective feedback in a team situation works.

The Partner would learn about the challenges his team might have faced so he could discuss it with the client and negotiate additional fees for cost overruns. He’d also share insights that the manager and team would apply in future for similar assignments.

At an individual level, the feedback would continue in the form of appraisals with the team member and manager completing the engagement appraisal form, discussing it and sending it to Human Resources for future professional development needs and to record performance for the year.

More importantly, the habits of the team members were recorded in their individual performance reports and those that demonstrated openness to receiving feedback and participating in discussions were noticed for further responsibility with relevant training.

9 qualities of effective feedback

In all these situations and scenarios, there are 9 qualities that differentiate effective feedback from simple advice.

Effective feedback

Is based on an objective or is referenced to a goal
Is provided on a timely basis
Is based on observation
Focuses on behaviour, not on perceived attitudes
Focuses on behaviour which can be changed
Focuses on what the individual did well and what they could do better
It is useful, concrete, specific and provides information that can be acted upon
It is consistent in delivery and doesn’t change with the mood of the feedback giver
If it involves personal performance, it is given in private (like the performance review)

How to give effective feedback

There are different methods of delivering feedback and their effectiveness depends upon the situation and the openness of both the feedback giver and receiver in having a dialogue aimed to achieve a goal.

In this post, I’m sharing 3 techniques.

Feedback Sandwich Technique

This technique is well-known and is used in performance appraisal sessions as well as in Executive Coaching and other coaching practices.

Feedback Sandwich is a 3 stage process. The picture below sums up the technique.

On paper this is a simple process but it has 1 major disadvantage – the receiver may hear the first and last part of the feedback and completely miss the important middle part about what needs to be improved.

You can overcome this disadvantage by asking the receiver about their views on what needs to be improved to make it a dialogue.

Stop, Start Continue Technique

In this technique, you engage the receiver in the discussion by asking them

What they feel they should stop doing
What they feel they should start doing
What they wish to continue doing

The person receiving the feedback might also want to give you some feedback.

Make sure you are open to suggestions, actively listen to them and ask questions to get a better understanding of their comments and then discuss the feedback.

Effective Feedback Cycle

This technique has been found to be effective in executive coaching and one that I also use with my clients. It involves active participation by both the feedback giver and receiver.

There are 5 phases in this technique

Observation: where the feedback giver provides a summary of what he has seen or heard

Statement of Effect: where the receiver is made aware of the action or behaviour and the impact it has had

Shared Insights: discussion between the giver and receiver about the action and impact with both sides sharing their insights

Suggestions for Action: where the feedback giver provides actionable suggestions about alternative courses of action to enable the receiver to determine which ones would work for them

Questioning: The feedback giver asks open questions to move the receiver forward towards deciding on the plan of action.

The receiver is an active participant in the feedback process and has the opportunity to present his perspective during the phases of shared insights, suggestions for actions and may even ask questions to gain clarity about the action plan before agreeing to it.

It is also an opportunity for the feedback giver to learn more about themselves and their style and improve their own performance and objective of helping the other person.

Different techniques work in different situations and as the feedback giver, you need to apply your professional judgement and take into account how the receiver will respond.

Professionals who are able to give and receive feedback without making it personal or judgemental and are willing to be creative display good emotional intelligence and people skills. That’s always a brownie point if you want to be seen as a Leader.

Add to the conversation by telling me about your method of giving feedback and how you prefer to receive feedback in the comments box below!

Effective Feedback is just one of the skills and habits that are indicators of leadership potential and executive presence. You can download the entire checklist to assess how you measure up for free. Scroll down for the sign up form if you prefer staying on this page.

The post Potential Leaders Know & Value Effective Feedback, Do You? first appeared on Karmic Ally Coaching.

Networker or Netweaver? How to be different to achieve desired Success

Karmic Ally — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 06:30:00 +0000

Quite possibly the title of this post would have caught your attention. We all know about networking. We do it all the time, whether with the clients that we meet and contacts that we make at seminars/workshops/cocktail parties.

Even when we strike up a conversation at the pet shop with a stranger and find mutual interests that lead to an exchange of phone numbers or Facebook/LinkedIn connection requests.

One aim of networking is to identify and connect with people who can help us to further our goals and ambitions or even assist us when required.

The big question in our minds is very often, “how can this person help us” or even a unilateral, “what can I get out of this person”.

The agenda of the latter is clearly one-sided.

Personally, I prefer to think the other way around. I ask myself, ‘what can I do for this person” or “how can I contribute and add value to my network”.

In other words, I think of netweaving. It’s more gratifying.

Think about the times that you have been down or in trouble and a friend or acquaintance have stepped in and bailed you out or helped find a solution to your problem. Think a bit about how you have felt to receive timely help and have waited to return the favor or pay it forward.

What the other person has done has netweaved. They have established credibility and standing in your eyes. You perceive they are resourceful. Good ingredients for creating social and professional standing among one’s peers.

In addition, net weaving helps to build the foundation for a longer-term association. This doesn’t mean that you cannot do networking. I suggest you do both.

Networking and netweaving both require seeking opportunities to work together. The difference lies in the context of the connection and the balance being sought.

My most successful friends and colleagues who have survived recessions, redundancies and bad patches have been net weavers. Their credibility and credentials being established as impeccable. People take their calls even when they have nothing tangible to offer or are in the wilderness. No wonder they bounce back magnificently!

How effective Netweavers create value for their network

Next time you have a networking opportunity, try connecting with others based on what you think you or your network can do for them.

Think along the lines of how the person can be beneficial to others in your network and create an introduction at an appropriate time. Consider areas where you and your new contact can collaborate to create a win-win situation all around.

Tip: Consider how you can create an all-round win-win over lunch or a meal like I did in my post Networkers who Lunch.

There is nothing worse than having a card book, or a social profile full of names without substance.

Think about your most recent networking interactions, whether in business, work, personal life or social media.

Would you say you were networking or netweaving?

Is there any area where you can add value to your network? Do share your views in the comments box below, I’d love to read them.

PS. Do you use LinkedIn for expanding your network? Want to try out your new skill of netweaving? It all begins with knowing what you shouldn’t do. Click here to download my short guide 5 Mistakes Professionals Make on LinkedIn or on the image below and become the contact everyone wants in their circle!

This post originally titled ‘Do You Network or Netweave?’ was written in March 2012 and has been updated for relevance and new content.

Written By: Vatsala Shukla

The post Networker or Netweaver? How to be different to achieve desired Success first appeared on Karmic Ally Coaching.