Learning something new to keep old traditions alive.

Learning something new is very good for your brain because it stimulates neurons which help you be more open to change.

My mother baked the most beautiful Xmas puddings every year. After my siblings and I got married she also made puddings for all our families.

In all honestly I know I took it for granted. When she passed in February 2018 not only did I miss her terribly but we had discussions about the missing puddings.

This year I took her secret recipe from her papers and as I read the requirements I tried to believe that I could deliver a pudding.

As a Coach and motivational speaker I have spoken about the importance of having a growth mindset taking time out to believe in yourself as new learning gives you skills to be adaptable to changes and challenges in your life.

So I went for it and the Xmas puddings turned out great, see the attached pictures.

Believe in yourself and you can do anything.

How are you managing Imposter Syndrome?

How do you deal with Imposter Syndrome.

Feelings of not being good enough and self doubt in your job despite external evidence of success.

Pauline R Clance and Dr Suzanne A Imes defined and coined the phrase Imposter Syndrome.

People convince themselves they are phonies amongst their colleagues who they view as the real deal. As a result they work longer and harder to measure up in their own eyes.

This over work can result in burnout, issues with mental health and relationships with colleagues in work and people at home.

Even when the boss provides excellent feedback for the work done you can struggle to believe it.

To manage your Imposter Syndrome you need to work on and become more tuned into the validation, positive messages /feedback given to you so your inner confidence grows.

Even Einstein didn't think his work was good enough.

When a person takes the time to give you a compliment on your work don’t brush it off, take a moment stay silent, take the compliment and don’t disagree by being too humble.

Attached is some feedback I received that helped me on my journey to manage my Imposter Syndrome.

70%of the world’s population deal with Imposter Syndrome at some time only people like snake oil salesmen don’t have this level of self doubt.

In reality you probably won’t get rid of your syndrome but you can manage it by surrounding yourself with positive people and a work community that can help you with honest feedback.

bjkennomotivation.com

A Personal Brand is not just to fool people.

I worked hard for many years being promoted in every company I have worked for as I strove for the future I thought I wanted.

Things changed when I was blessed with children, the responsibilities became greater and I had to learn to transition for a different future I now needed to provide for, which spawn personally an even greater personal need to fast track promotion.

Many managers can relate to the following statement

“I spent a lot of time in the trenches dealing with day to day customer executive complaints while driving the corporate strategy from behind to bring everyone with me and I also drove market share as I lead change and operational change from the front bringing people with me”.

I like many managers was very humble about my skills and talents and even more so about my personal achievements but I celebrated team achievements and awards.

What I began to realise is that everyone has a Personal Brand, and its not about trying to fool people.

Your personal brand is about how you communicate……

This is who I am.

This is what I can do.

This is what I stand for.

There are many managers who use their personal brand to fool people, to believe they will deliver when they personally can’t and they won’t, some are very good talkers and can get into positions of power and consistently get on in their careers on the backs of others and do nothing to bring people with them to improve their careers.

Many good managers are too humble about the value they contribute, the problems they solve, the difference they make to an organisation on a daily basis.

As a result executive management in the organisation miss what is actually contributed and begin to believe that manager is easily replaceable.

Managers should actively promote their Personal brand in the organisation and regularly highlight their achievements.

You personal brand is not to fool people but to highlight who you really are and what you can contribute.

Share your gifts and cultivate the genius in others.

Share your gifts and cultivate the genius in others.

So you have been promoted to a management role and you are about to step into a whole new world.

Chances are

1.You did a fantastic interview,

2.You blew them away with your answers,

3.You were already a role model in your day job and management thought you would be a good fit for the promotion.

What next.

1.Take control of your thoughts.

2. Identify imposter syndrome and deal with it.

3. Realise you won’t have all the answers

4. Realise you will have to let go the need to get all the credit in the future.

5.Try to identify your leadership style

You are now in control of a team to manage and to motivate and results to deliver with challenging deadlines.

One of the main responsibilities you have is to prepare a plan to ensure your team and direct reports can go on to bigger and better things with your guidance, motivation and time.

Ask yourself what areas of the new job do you feel you lack confidence and organise to have training and mentoring to help you close the gap and feel comfortable.

In time you will find yourself

1. Celebrating team successes

2. Providing assistance to team members

3. Providing clear communication through listening and mutual respect.

4. You find your team trust you as you provide leadership true to your core values.

As a result you realise you are cultivating the genius in others for the overall benefit of the organisation.

Find your Leadership Voice

As a leader you have to develop your leadership voice.

You succeed with a promotion and you are eager to please, yet unsure how to communicate at meetings with people at the table  who are around longer than you .

You don't really want to say what you think as it may be viewed as a negative voice and the inference is you start off as not being a team player.

You may be inspired by the person you replaced following your promotion but you should be aware you can not mimic how they lead or communicate.

Your leadership voice, should not be one that fits all, it has to be a range of voices that reaches the emotion of the listeners that in turn will influence, persuade, and if you are lucky inspire.

This requires communication techniques that involve clarity, empowerment and humour.

Most leaders when promoted do not receive training in the skill of communication.

Your leadership is not just your tone of voice, it's a reflection of your core values which shine through as you present yourself as a leader.

Find your leadership voice with assistance through bjkennomotivation.com

#leadership #business #communication #leadershipdevelopment #success #inspiration #motivation

When was the last time your CEO showed vulnerability.

When was the last time your CEO and or senior managers showed a vulnerability.

I had a chat with a pal recently and asked that question and he replied, they do not show vulnerability because they will feel exposed and shown as a weak leader.

Research shows that vulnerability is a characteristic of an effective leader.

Vulnerability can be good for business, it shows leaders have courage, they are authentic.

Staff and employees are more likely to buy into the company culture they will be more loyal to the company and there will be more respect for all the teams within the company.

It’s good to know that people view a leader who is vulnerable as trustworthy, a person of humility, as one who has courage and can be trusted.

CEO’s who display these characteristics enhance positive behaviour and performance amongst the workers.

A culture of trust and learning in a company provides an opportunity to become more resilient in tough times.

bjkennomotivation.com

International Men’s day

Delighted with my invitation back to Ulster bank today, International Men’s day to speak to the Ulster Bank Women’s Network and wider staff on male mental health and resilience and overcoming stress while working from home.

Many thanks for the positive recommendation as outlined in the attachment of this blog.

Stay safe and ask a pal today how are they feeling?

Where is your head today

Where is your head at today?

I will continue reshare my recent post regarding the upcoming  International Men's day November 19th to raise awareness.

What is your organisation doing that day to bring about awareness?

We are plagued by our thoughts, our inner voices and inner opinions swirling about in our minds all full of emotions.

Our thoughts constantly interrupt themselves as they battle within on the way to someplace in the future as we  worry about how to get there while in some cases haunted by a past we want to forget.

As adults we tell kids you can't always  have your own way, yet if we slow down we recognise its exactly that's the way we are living our lives and what we individually  expect.

Please take a moment today to try and be aware that  the present moment is all that matters, if you know or suspect  someone struggling reach out to them.

A quote I heard on radio recently "I'd take a 1000 calls to help someone than to get one call on Monday to hear we have lost a friend or colleague  to suicide.

Be kind do something in your workplace on November 19 to raise awareness of International men's day.

No one is bulletproof. #mentalhealth #suicideprevention #awareness #leadership #support

bjkennomotivation.com

19th November International men’s day.

19th November 2020
International Men's day.

What is your organisation doing to celebrate and highlight and to support men during this day.

International men's day seeks to address different issues surrounding men's  mental health and to raise awareness for male suicide.

The male suicide rate in Ireland is x3 times the female rate with a 19% increase in suicide in 2019 against 2018. Suicide rates increased for both men and women in 2019 as a whole for Ireland.

Limited information for 2020 shows Q1 had 72 suicides in Ireland.

In the age bracket 15-34 through the  segment  of external causes of death/accident/suicide these were ranked 1st with  41 deaths.

The Samarathans advise economic recession, unemployment, a decline in male mental health as an urgent need for specific suicide prevention focus targeting middle aged men.

All of this and now on top covid19 stress and outcomes to deal with.

Please highlight this day as its my view in 2019 International Men's day went almost unnoticed.

In the workplace please try

-Awareness raising campaign
-Support groups
-Psychological support
-Technology support.

#mentalhealth #suicideprevention #mentalhealthawareness #equality

Stay safe.

bjkennomotivation.com

If you want to be a professional footballer you should read this blog.

If you are lucky enough to have the belief that you have the abilities, the drive and the ambition to reach all the goals you set yourself in this life.

That belief got me to a football trial in the UK and a contract I turned down to come home for true love.

In football how many times have you seen a team give away a goal in the first minute or last minute of a crucial game. Why?

To play successfully as a professional footballer requires you have had superb technical and physical skills.

These skills ultimately get you noticed and signed by a successful team, but they are not enough.

Being coached as a footballer on the strategy of the team, the mission, and the overall game plan, the responsibilities of your position should result in the team achieving results and climbing to the top of the table.

But is not as easy as that for a team of individuals.

Because, regardless of your career and specifically in football as a talented physical highly skilled technical individual you can still make an error in minute 1 of a game and give away a goal.

Because its not only the physical but also the human spirit that needs to be engaged.

If the everyday work and activities are consistent with the individuals values, those values that specifically provide a sense of meaning and purpose.

If the club, the team, and the actual football career really matters to them then they will typically feel more positive, have more energy, focus better and demonstrate greater grit and perseverance overall and either score a goal early in a game or make a saving tackle.

Unfortunately the high demands and fast pace of life does not leave much time to pay attention to these values and therefor most footballers don't recognise that having your meaning and purpose identified are potential sources of energy.

If they do slow down and identify their values and clarify their purpose in life they will find paying attention to these dramatically will influence their effectiveness in the team and their own overall satisfaction.

Clarifying your purpose and priorities and consciously allocating time and energy to areas of one's life such as, work, family, health, giving back to others followed by one living their newly identified core values in their daily lives will help one find a time in life when they are effortlessly inspired and fulfilled and will most likely be playing the best football of their career.

They will be in the ”sweet spot” and will clearly know what really matters to them, and what they will want to be remembered for. (and itvwou’t be for giving away a goal in 1st minute of a game)

*Brian is an accomplished speaker and ultra marathon runner who has practiced what he has written in this blog to reach success.

If you are a professional footballer or on your way to being a footballer and you would like help reaching your goals contact me through bjkennomotivation. com