Kimberley McAdams

Some very exciting things coming down the pipeline! We (Jeff Couillard, Laura Atherton and I) are growing our Women's Entrepreneur Mastermind Community. A passion project we beta-launched during COVID to support female entrepreneurs to rise during uncertainty. We've tested, had great success and now offering it beyond our internal network. The official launch is coming in September. Please join our email list below to receive up to date information and offers. Join now as we are entering all new contacts into an opportunity to win two of Donald Miller's books 'Story Brand' and 'Marketing Made Simple' https://kingsumo.com//women-entrepreneurs-mastermind-story

There's no direct roadmap to becoming an effective leader, but what I can tell you is that actionable data in combination with thoughtful feedback delivery is what we all need to become more effective. If you want to get the feedback that is necessary to improve your leadership, there are a few steps you can take. Read more here: https://hbr.org//how-leaders-can-get-honest-productive-fee

Continuing into this week's focus of feedback, I want to share an entirely different perspective and out of the box approach to feedback from Kim Scott, co-founder of Candor, Inc, "It sounds so simple to say that bosses need to tell employees when they're screwing up. But it very rarely happens." Kim Scott Picture a basic graph divided into four quadrants. If the vertical axis is caring personally and the horizontal axis is challenging directly, you want your feedback to fall... in the upper right-hand quadrant. That’s where radical candor lies. The vertical axis is what I call the ‘give a damn’ axis. Caring personally makes it much easier to do the next thing you have to do as a good boss, which is being willing to piss people off. That’s right, the horizontal axis is what Scott calls the willing to piss people off axis. Challenging others is difficult for many people; saying anything short of positive feels impolite. But once you become a boss, it’s your job to do be equally clear about what’s going wrong, and what’s going right." What are your thoughts on this approach to feedback? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below! See the full video here: https://firstround.com//radical-candor-the-surprising-sec/

The world's most successful businesses are run by entrepreneurs who harbor the right habits to ensure their longevity and staying power in the marketplace. The truth is that so much of our behavior comes from the habits that we employ on a daily basis, effectively determining our potential to excel in any line of work. This week, my intention is to share some light on the topic of feel good habits. Here are 28 to get you started!

This week, I want to speak about the importance of feedback. Let's start by talking about feedback loops. Encouraging consistent, authentic communication establishes positive feedback loops, which are essential to the success of any reciprocal relationship. ... Positive feedback loops are a fundamental concept in psychology, and the science behind them is simple: Give people feedback about their actions in a timely manner without fear of reprisal, and it gives them a healthy opportunity to work toward better behaviors. Take a moment to reflect on your own organization and how you implement positive feedback loops throughout. It's important to create a safe space when doing so and always take the time to deliver any feedback in-person.

Many people spend a lot of time thinking about the past or the future a thinking process called ruminating. If you consistently make it a habit, it becomes a loop and prevents you from living in the moment. Ruminators repetitively go over events, asking big questions: Why did that happen? What does it mean? says Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, the chair of the department of psychology at Yale University and the author of Women Who Think Too Much: How to Break Free of Overthinking and Reclaim Your Life. But they never find any answers, she adds. The more you ruminate about past or upcoming events, the more your imagination starts creating negative outcomes. It’s called catastrophizing believing that something is far worse than it actually is.

You've likely heard this over and over again when it comes to business: "it's not always what you know, but who you know." Building a strong relationship isn't always easy. Here are some practical, actionable tips to build great business relationships: https://www.theladders.com//11-steps-to-build-great-busine

Many of us have one person in our family or outside network that we look up to more than others. For me, it was my grandfather. As I grew up, I learned that he accomplished many, many things over the years of his storied and interesting life. Even when I was a five-year-old little girl, he looked me straight in the eye when we spoke, and created the space to be heard. All I remember was how I felt when I was with him. It was like there was no one else in the room. My grandfat...her passed away when I was 12 years old, long before I knew that coaching and leadership were my calling. Even though he’s gone, I still speak with him in my heart to this day, especially in moments when I need guidance. Looking back and knowing what I know now about influence, it was his presence that made others feel so connected to him. He walked his talk. He used values as everyday language, and his actions and behaviours were aligned with the values he spoke of. These are traits of great leaders. They use values as daily decision-making tools, and they give their undivided attention when they are talking to their team. They are clear about what matters most, and make time for the people who do.

While February is a time to remember the importance of love and compassion toward others, it’s also a time to include yourself as well. We’ve been taught that self-love is selfish and self-sacrifice is a virtue. If you’re like people who kick themselves around for their slip-ups and shortcomings, you probably have a deep belief that negative treatment can help you perform better and advance your career. Or you might worry that giving yourself too much kind leeway might turn you into a total slacker. Modern psychology says nothing could be farther from the truth. It’s the other way around.

As leaders, it is so important to take care of ourselves. The airplane mask analogy about putting on our own mask before helping others exists for a reason! Throughout my career, I've had the opportunity to work with leaders at all levels, and I can tell you that the leaders and teams that truly thrive take time to focus on feel good habits on a daily basis. How we feel has a direct correlation with what and how we accomplish our work. It has a direct correlation with our re...lationships. And, it has a direct correlation at how present we can be for all the other, outside of work aspects that are important to us to thrive. This article is a short read, and quite profound. When we feel good, everything shifts.

There's one question us as business leaders must answer: What do I truly want? While seemingly simple, the answer to this question can have many more layers, or be much more difficult. We need to be specific about what we want so we can figure out how to get there. Perhaps it's how to find our next great hire. or maybe how to grow the business 20 percent by year-end? ... Hyper-focusing your mind on the answer to that question will set you on a course to consciously and subconsciously make things happen.

How often do you sit down to pause, reflect and write things down? When it comes to attracting what you want, I find taking the time to sit down and put pen to paper to be extremely helpful. Writing helps you to identify the little things that are important to you, that we otherwise might not be able to articulate and put in words, with clarity and brevity, what we wish to manifest. Writing is also the process that helps us focus on our goals and remember what is truly important to us. So whether you are sitting down to write down your big picture your goals, your goals for the next quarter, or even the next week, I challenge you to take the time to start manifesting what you truly desire this week.