self Archives - Page 7 of 8 - Carpenter Smith Consulting, LLC

Do You Have an ARF?

July 27, 2015

We had one of the funniest conversations we have ever had this week. We were in a meeting with a talented and powerful leader, Sharon, talking about moving forward on some challenging initiatives. In that discussion, we talked about the fact that during challenging times it’s important to stay connected with your colleagues so that things are not misinterpreted, especially since things are moving fast. In the middle of the conversation Sharon said, “Oh yeah, I really have to do…

Manage Vacation Stress

June 29, 2015

Monday Morning Business Coach

We are always reminding our clients that stepping into your power and claiming the leader in you requires taking good care of yourself—psychologically, emotionally, intellectually, relationally, and physically. As we enter into the prime vacation months, we encourage you to think about how you can make the most of your vacation. Over the years, many of our clients have described going on vacation only to feel they needed to come back and get a vacation from their vacation. They describe…

Leading When You Want to Scream

June 22, 2015

Monday Morning Business Coach

We had a meeting this week with a wonderful woman, Janis, who is a leader in a number of spheres in her life—in her business, her family, her community, and her church. She is warm, kind, and powerful. She is often looked to for her wisdom and perspective and has a thoughtfulness that many admire. So, when she came into our meeting furious and saying she wanted to scream, she was apologetic. We assured her that she was in the…

Our Insides and Their Outsides

June 16, 2014

Monday Morning Business Coach

A number of years ago, a thoughtful and talented business owner, Andrea, was bumping into some old anxieties about the sustainability of her business and the decisions she was making. We spent a couple of meetings teasing out the data behind her anxiety. We explored what she needed to be genuinely concerned about as the industry changed and the economy floundered. We also explored the various old messages, which were rooted in her family, that were grabbing her by the…

Creating Empowering Stories

November 18, 2013

Monday Morning Business Coach

Last week, we talked about the stories we tell ourselves, What’s Your Story, and how those stories influence how we move in the world. We talked about a client of ours who didn’t believe that he could participate fully in his business because he was “a creative” and he held the belief that as “a creative” he didn’t have the capacity to understand the business aspects of his company. As allies, our role is to help our clients expose their long-held…

What’s Your Story?

November 11, 2013

Monday Morning Business Coach

Are you a winner? Lucky? The person to beat? The responsible one? The go to person? The person everyone takes for granted? Or are your stories about yourself more negative? We all have an internal story about our lives that we use to set our course of action. Most of us don’t know our full story, yet we lead with it nonetheless. For example, we worked with a client who came in saying that he just couldn’t get any…

Whatever is Happening in Your World Needs Your Attention

December 17, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

There was an advertisement on the radio recently and they opened by saying, “No matter what’s happening in the world, your world is still happening.” We don’t remember what they were trying to sell but we did think that the statement captured an important nugget of truth. Often, as we work with leaders, of all walks of life, they will say things that diminish the importance of their stress, their pace, their health, in short, their lives. …

Brand “Me”

December 10, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

It’s that time of year again, when you will likely be invited to holiday events, see friends and family in celebration of the holidays, or you may participate in a community effort to help those in need. As you connect with people, whether you haven’t seen them in a while or are just meeting them, it’s an opportunity to teach them who you are and what they can trust about knowing you. In the product world, that is…

If You Could See It, It Wouldn’t Be A Blind Spot

November 12, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

This summer an interesting commercial ran on television: There was a guy (named Mayhem) who was riding on the outside of the driver’s side of the car and became the driver’s blind spot. When the driver looked into the outside mirror to change lanes, Mayhem gave the A-Okay. So, the driver changed lanes (not seeing the car that was in her blind spot) and a huge crash ensued. During the collision, Mayhem was shouting with delight as the driver screamed…

You and Superman – BFFs

May 20, 2012

Monday Morning Business Coach

Like Superman, you have a Hero’s Story (one that illuminates your strengths, your courage, and your extraordinary feats), and like Superman you also have your own version of Kryptonite (that causes you to lose your effectiveness). Superman’s only advantage over you (besides the obvious cape thing!) is that someone took the time to tell his hero’s story. Superman’s hero story is filled with deeds that seem heroic to us, but to him, he is just using the gifts and talents that came…