Today is the last day of Larina Kase’s Blog Tour for The Confident Leader. I’m excited that Larina chose to stop by Small Business Boomers today. Larina did an interview for my new book The Complete Guide to Working for Yourself, and I found her to be gracious and motivational. She was a joy to interview. In this interview, Dr. Kase talks about baby boomers and leadership.
So, before today’s interview, a little bit about Larina:
Larina Kase, PsyD, MBA is a professional speaker, author, and recognized expert in peak performance, anxiety and stress management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. She has a doctorate in psychology and masters in business administration, and her unique approach is regularly seen in media such as Inc., Entrepreneur, SELF and on national TV and radio. She is the author or coauthor of 7 books including The New York Times bestseller The Confident Speaker. She has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs and executives from companies such as Verizon, Intel, Morgan Stanley, & Ernst & Young…. and me, of course.
Let’s get to the interview:
Q: Dr. Kase, how can baby boomers who are considering their next career move bring their previous experience into new leadership situations?
A: It’s interesting because a lot of the most important skills to be an exceptional leader are not the skills that most people think of as leadership per se. Instead, they are characteristics of emotional intelligence, things like empathy, listening skills, organizational awareness (understanding the big picture and vision of the organization as well as politics), confidence, and emotional regulation (keeping appropriately calm or energized no matter what the situation.
I encourage leaders to take inventory of their experience with aspects such as these. Ideally they not only write down their own views but gain feedback from others, either with 360-degree feedback or other forms of collecting data (ideally, anonymously for maximum honesty).
In taking your own inventory, first become aware of your strengths. Do this by writing down your key accomplishments and accolades in your career. Then take note of what underlying characteristic the achievement exemplified or built.
For example, “In my sales role, I achieved the highest sales in our region.” This achievement was due to natural strengths in listening to people and understanding where they’re coming from (empathy and influence). This achievement developed my self-awareness and emotional regulation by dealing with high-pressure sales situations.
Most emotional intelligence skills can be learned. We’re all stronger in some areas than others and we want to capitalize on our strengths as well as develop the areas that are important in our leadership roles.
Q: Why do we know what we need (and even want to do) but we don’t do it?
We high-achieving types are great consumers of knowledge. We always want to learn more and be our best, but most of the time we struggle with turning our knowledge into action. There are many reasons for this, including:
The timing isn’t right We don’t have the right support or other resources We aren’t committed to making the change We don’t yet have the skills to successfully take action
These reasons can be legitimate and important to consider and manage, or they can be excuses. The #1 reason that we don’t take action is fear. We doubt ourselves and get paralyzed with indecision. When fear is active, these reasons all feel very legitimate, when in reality they are not important.
The key, then, is to critically evaluate your readiness to take action when you are not feeling particularly anxious about the change. If you need to address these factors, do so, and while you have momentum, start taking action!
Q: What are the keys to making difficult decisions?
A: There are essentially two processes at our disposal for making decisions. The first is rational (based on our thoughts), and the second is emotive (based on our feelings). The second includes the feelings that you’re aware of (excited, interested, skeptical, unsure, afraid, etc.) as well as your intuition or gut feeling.
We owe it to ourselves to use both of these processes when faced with a difficult decision. First, assess your gut reaction. What feels right? Then go through a logical analysis, weighing the pros and cons. Then assess your emotional reaction again. Has it changed?
Bear in mind that much of the research on decision making shows that people are happier with their decisions when they go with their gut reaction or follow their heart. This may be because we try to rationalize our decisions based on what we think we “should” do, but it’s sometimes difficult to change our feelings based on reason.
Our feelings are most helpful in making a decision when they are positive ones. Positive feelings (happiness, liking, interest) compel us toward something while negative feelings (fear, sadness, jealousy) compel us away from something. For example, if you are nervous your feelings may tell you to avoid taking action when in reality this is not the best choice.
So, when in doubt, or if you’re stuck, go with your feelings, especially if they are positive ones.
Q: What are the top 5 mistakes that people make when confronting an important change?
A: When faced with an important decision or change most people make one of the following common mistakes:
They avoid the opportunity. They choose to settle for the status quo rather than going after an incredible change because they fear failure and humiliation. They go after the opportunity before they are ready. They plunge right in (knowing that if they don’t take action, they never will). The problem is that they haven’t adequately prepared. They haven’t lined up the resources and support that they need. They haven’t created a plan. They may be successful, but it is more due to luck than strategy. They dilute their responsibility. They go after the opportunity, but choose to be a follower rather than a leader. This way, if it doesn’t work, they aren’t to blame, but if it does, they can claim partial victory. They rely on old crutches. They go for it, but do so with their old crutches and habits which hold them back from truly pursuing the opportunity. They retreat at the first sign of failure. Unfortunately many people escape from uncomfortable situations too early—before they have a chance to get used to the anxiety and achieve their goals.
You see, avoidance is the number one killer of confidence and high-achievement. All five of the mistakes above entail some form of avoidance. The solution is to make a choice and stick to it 100%.
Q: How can Baby Boomers in businesses find out more about becoming confident leaders?
A: My new book The Confident Leader: How the Most Successful People Go from Effective to Exceptional provides a 6-step formula for taking on key challenges, making difficult decisions, and navigating outside your comfort zone.
The second half applies the formula to key business areas such as staying focused and motivated, marketing yourself, standing out, and dealing with difficult people. It includes interviews with business leaders such as Seth Godin, Tim Sanders, and Joe Vitale. Learn more and get bonus offerings for business owners at The Confident Leader.
Thanks, Larina, for including Small Business Boomers in your blog tour.
Images from Performance and Success Coaching - used with permission
译文:
拉里娜·凯瑟的“自信领导人”博客之旅就在这！
今天是卡丽娜·凯瑟的自信领导人博客之旅的最后一天。我很激动因为今天拉里娜选择小型商业增长作为结束话题。拉里娜为我的新书为自己打工完全指导 接收了采访，我发觉她很高尚也非常有动力。她令采访过程非常舒服。在采访中，凯瑟博士会讨论婴儿潮和领导能力。
那么，在讨论之前，先看看关于拉里娜的一些资料：
拉里娜·凯瑟，心理学博士，工商管理硕士，专业发言人，作家，涉及最佳性能、压力管理、领导能力、企业家能力方面公认专家。她拥有心理学博士学位，工商管理硕士学位，她的特殊方法也经常在媒体中看到，如《创业家》【1】《悦己》【2】，以及国家电台和电视台。她是7部书的作者或合著作者，其中包括纽约时报的最畅销书《自信领导人》。她帮助过数百名企业家和执行官，他们来自威里逊（Verison）【3】、因特尔【4】、摩根斯坦利【5】、安永【6】，当然也包括我。
让我们直接来看访谈:
问：凯瑟博士，请问正考虑下个事业前进的婴儿潮这代人如何将他们之前的经验带入新的领导阶层环境中？
答：这很有趣，因为许多成为例外领导人的最重要的技巧并非大部分人所认为的领导力本身的技巧。相反，它们是一些情商性格，一些东西如同情心，倾听能力，组织意识（了解组织的整个框架及其远景，深谙政治手段），自信和情绪管理（无论处境如何，始终保持适当冷静和活跃）
我鼓励领导人们为他们在这些方面的以往经历做个列表。最理想的是，他们不仅要写下自己的想法也要获取他人的回应，要么是个全方面的回应或是收集数据表格（最好采用匿名以保证最大程度的诚实性）
在列出自己的情商能力表时，首先要了解你的长处。写下你事业上最重要的成绩和荣誉，然后整理出这些成就反映出或基于的性格特征。
例如，“在销售方面，我是我们地区的销售冠军。”这项成绩来源于倾听他人、理解需求从何而来（同情心和影响力）的本能。这项成绩通过处理高压力的销售环境提升了我的自我了解意识和情绪管理能力。
大多数的情商技能都是可以习得的。我们都在某些方面更擅长些，并且我们都想要利用这些优势，开发那些对我们领导角色重要的领域。
问：为什么我们知道我们需要什么（甚至想要什么）却不去做呢？
我们这类成功认识需要很博学。我们总想要学更多，做最好的自己，但大部分时候我们努力着讲理论应用到实践中。这其中有很多原因，包括：
时机尚未成熟，我们没有恰当支持和其他办法，我们无权做出改变，我们还无力成功采取行动。
考虑并处理这些原因可能是合理且重要的，也可能仅仅是借口。我们不行动的首要原因是恐惧。我们怀疑自我，恐惧优柔寡断。当我们恐惧时，这些原因感觉非常合理，而现实中它们根本无关紧要。
问题关键，就是在你并未特别担心改变时，批判性地评估你对采取行动准备程度。如果你需要改变这些因素就去做，并且，当有动力时，就立刻开始！
问：下一些艰难决定的关键是什么？
答：我们做决定时主要可用两个方法。第一，理智（基于思考），第二，情感（基于感觉）。第二个包括你清楚的感觉（激动，乐意，怀疑，不确定，害怕等），以及你的第六感和直觉。
当面对难以决断的问题时，我们要靠自己利用这两种方法。首先，评估一下你的直觉。什么是感觉对的？然后进行逻辑分析，衡量利弊。然后再检测下你的感觉反应。有没有什么变化？
记住，关于决策的许多研究表明人们更乐于凭借直觉或遵从内心感觉做出的决定。这可能因为我们努力将决策理智化地建立在那些我们认为的“应该”，但有时根据“应该”改变我们的决定很难。
我们的感觉，当他们是积极的时候，在下决定时非常有用，积极情绪（快乐，喜欢，感兴趣）刺激我们去争取，而消极情绪（害怕，悲伤，嫉妒）促使我们逃避一些东西。例如，如果你很紧张，你的感觉可能告诉你避免行动，而实际上，这不是最好的决定。
因此，如果你怀疑或不顺时，跟着感觉走，尤其当感觉是积极的时候。
问：当面对重要变化时，人们所做的5大错误是什么？
答：当面对一项重要决定和变化时，大多数人都会犯一种以下的错误：
他们逃避机会。他们宁愿原地不动也不要寻求难以预料的改变，因为他们惧怕失败和蒙耻。他们还未准备好便去找机会。他们立刻扑上去（似乎如果不行动就永不会有此机会）问题是，他们还未充分准备好。他们还没有列出所需的资源和支持。他们还未制定好计划。他们可能会成功，不过更多是靠运气而非战略。他们稀释自己的责任。他们寻求机会，但却选择做一个跟风者而不是领导者。这样，如果决策无效，他们就不会遭指责；而如果一旦成功，他们也能称得上部分胜利。他们依赖陈旧规定。 他们寻求机会，却按照老一套规则和习惯，这阻碍了他们真正追寻机会。他们一看到苗头不对就立刻掉头。可惜的是，太多人太早就逃开了不适的环境——甚至还没机会适应担心，达到目标呢！
你看，逃避是自信和高成就的头号杀手。上述的所有五大错误表现出某些形势的逃避。解决方法是，做出决定，100%坚持下去。
问：商界中的婴儿潮这代人如何能成为自信的领导人呢？
答：我的新书《自信领导人》：大部分成功人士如何从有效变为特别提供了六-步公式可以应用于，迎接重要挑战，做艰难决定，畅游于舒适区外部。
第二部分则讲这一公式应用于重要商业部分，如保持精力集中、动力充足，推广自我，出类拔萃，应付麻烦人士。也包括和商业领袖任务的采访，包括赛斯·高汀【7】，提姆·桑德斯【8】，乔·维托【9】。商业人士可以在自信领导人 中了解更多并得到一些额外奖励。
谢谢，拉里娜，也谢谢你的博客之旅提到的小型商业增长。
图片来自 绩效训练 - 授权使用
1.《创业家》创建于1973年，为美国最为著名的小企业杂志，定位于为小企业提供解决方案。其读者大致由两部分人构成：第一部分是那些向往拥有自己的企业、向往拥有自己独特的生活方式有企业冲动的人；第二部分是小企业的管理者和拥有者，他们渴望把企业做大做强，他们对提升企业品质的信息和经验如饥似渴。《创业家》杂志被他们视为不可多得的精神食粮。
2.《悦己SELF》是由《悦己》杂志社与国际著名杂志出版商康泰纳仕集团以版权合作的形式推出的一本综合类女性生活杂志。它以“快乐由自己，美丽身心灵”作为价值主张，鼓励并帮助中国女性寻找自身的最佳状态。内容涵盖健康、职场、情感、生活、服饰、美容等女性生活的各个方面。它本着“实用到底”，“快乐到底”的原则，贴近都市白领女性的真实生活，引领白领女性解读内心的快乐诉求，以“自我愉悦”的独特视角和明快简洁的编辑手法，带给读者轻松快乐的阅读感受。
3.Verizon公司是由美国两家原地区贝尔运营公司——大西洋贝尔和Nynex合并建立BellAtlantic后，又在2000年6月30日与独立电话公司GTE合并而成的，公司正式合并后，Verizon一举成为美国最大的本地电话公司、最大的无线通信公司，全世界最大的印刷黄页和在线黄页信息提供商。Verizon在美国、欧洲、亚洲、太平洋等全球45个国家经营电信及无线业务，公司在纽约证券交易 所上市。
4.英特尔公司是全球最大的半导体芯片制造商，它成立于1968年，具有40年产品创新和市场领导的历史。1971年，英特尔推出了全球第一个微处理器。这一举措不仅改变了公司的未来，而且对整个工业产生了深远的影响。微处理器所带来的计算机和互联网革命，改变了整个世界。
5.摩根斯坦利公司（Morgan Stanley） 是一家成立于美国纽约的国际金融服务公司，提供包括证券、资产管理、企业合并重组和信用卡等多种金融服务，目前在全球28个国家的600多个城市设有代表处，雇员总数达58000多人。摩根斯坦利在全球金融界享有盛誉。它提供金融及市场执行方面的专业优质服务，构建起一个高效的金融网络，并凭借摩根的理念和雄厚资金为实现客户的金融目标而努力奋斗。
6.安永，国际四大会计师事务所之一，全美第二大会计师事务所。英文缩写为EY，全称为Ernst & Young 。至今已有一百多年的历史。安永会计师事务所的前身是1903年成立于美国克利夫兰的Ernst & Ernst(1979年后合并为Ernst & Whinney)会计公司和1894年成立于美国纽约的Arthur Young会计公司。1989年，原八大会计事物所之中的Arthur Young及Ernst & Whinney之间的兼并造就了现在的Ernst & Young
7.赛斯·高汀（出生于1960年7月10日），全美营销大师。上世纪90年代后期以来一系列商业领域专著的作者，也是一位演讲家。其第一部畅销书是关于特许营销（permission marketing）的著作。 1995年，高汀创办了 Yoyodyne ——是最早期的在线营销公司之一。1998年，他把这家公司卖给了雅虎。作为交易的一部分，高汀成为了雅虎负责特许营销的副总裁。高汀还曾担任过《快速企业》（Fast Company）杂志的专栏作家。2005年下半年，高汀开办了一个聚合推荐的网站 Squidoo。
8.提姆·桑德斯，雅虎公司首席解决方案执行官，曾著《异见：不必讨人喜欢》
9.乔·维托（Joe Vitale），Hypnotic Marketing公司总裁。由于其将思维精神和市场敏锐性成功地结合在一起，故被称为“互联网导师”。其服务过的客户有红十字会、美国公共广播公司（PBS）、儿童记忆赫尔曼医院等商业机构。著有《诱人因素：创造财富的5个简捷步骤》（The Attractor Factor）、《每分钟都有一个客户诞生》（There's A Customer Born Every Minute）以及《有效生活指导手册》（Life’s Missing Instruction Manual）等书