What got you here, won't get you there. YOU 2.0 version upgrade!

by Gabriela Mueller Mendoza. Coach Trainer Speaker & Catalyst October 2017 @gabrielamueller

Having come back from Oslo, capital of Norway, top country in happiness and innovation I’m recharged with ideas and the impulse to change and thrive. This requires an Upgrade in thinking and mindset, practices and new perspectives. It’s clear, i this rapid changing world, what got got us where we are, is not to get us where we want to go. So here are FOUR ways to get upgraded - to your new “YOU 2.0” version.

In Oslo, I invested 3 days with over 600 smart amazing women in leadership in different fields and we learned, shared knowledge, stories and we triggered actions to make a thriving world a reality. Regardless of how talented, ambitious and successful we may be, most of us face a career roadblock at some point. A point in which after gaining expertise or experience we get too confident and too conformable, we may even stop advancing and learning. This process can cause us miss blind spots as professionals about ourselves. In fact, the higher anyone is on the corporate ladder, they tend to display more behavioral challenges. Since no one reaches out to them to deliver feedback they tend to hold bigger blind spots than in earlier stages. Are you getting enough courageous and sincere feedback from people around you? Here are few ideas to get your upgrade, your own version 2.0 of yourself as leader and help your teams as well:

1. Are you hiking mountains or resting at the Plateau? part of the inspiration I got from Norway was their beautiful mountains and extensive plateaus. To use a relevant analogy: People and companies that settle into a comfortable “plateau” are vulnerable, and may become obsolete. Knowledge calcifies. People begin to believe that steadiness, status quo is the only logical way to do business. When need/opportunity to change comes, they mostly see obstacles. Where would you like to go? What got you to that plateau won’t necessarily get you there where you want to go. When you are on a stable flat Plateau, static, you are a “sitting duck”, your competition finds you easy to copy/clone you or outperform you. So, in order to reach significant quantum leaps in skills, knowledge and capability, we need to be able to move to the next phase of learning and innovation—the next upgrade—instead of allowing yourself to “plateau”. For this to happen leaders must create a culture of fast and continuous learning. Where failure is information, not a disaster. Where mistakes, playfulness and true new thinking are all welcome. Take Action: pack up, decide which mountain is your next level, leave the cozy plateau and start hiking.

2. Seek feedback in non-traditional ways/sources. We often seek for confirmation about something we already believe to be true. Though in order to get genuine feedback, get to sources and people who aren’t necessarily close to you, or report to you, or even know your performance in detail. Ask them powerful open ended-questions. Be curious. Do not judge opinions or get defensive. This can only work if you stay open to hear pieces of information that others are not giving you. We are looking for: blind spots – aspects that are unknown to us, known to others. It is easier to see our problems in others than to see it in ourselves. Take Action now. Here some ideas to do this:

• Watch out and look for Indirect feedback – that is the list of things that people make as casual remarks about you and try to see the meaning behind them. You will find they are giving cues to your personality flaws.
• In a meeting, ignore the sound and see people’s body movements as you speak. Does it change, do people adapt in your presence. Why?
• Listen to your own self-applauding remarks – the things you remark as your strengths might be your biggest weaknesses. This is a big one, because it requires you to take your “ego” away from the equation and invites you to be brutally honest with yourself.
• The power of Feed-forward. Feedback asks about what you did. Feed-forward asks about what you can do to improve in the future. Rather than asking people just about your mistakes, ask them how can you correct them and try to act on that advice. Courageous questions that can help this process are simple though not easy. I’m a strong believer that every leader / person must ask themselves the following three questions, so Take Action: 1) What must I keep doing? 2) What must I stop doing? and 3) What must I start doing? Simple questions that we don’t ask ourselves often enough and must hold ourselves accountable to answer. Even better is when you ask your people, your team/peers/ family these questions. Then courageously listen to their answers. Really listen, those are golden nuggets for your 2.0 version. My customer’s feed-forward is highly valuable. Personally, I have found this point to be my power-engine to become a better mum at home. Asking these 3 questions to my 2 teenagers can be a daring process, yet one that pays off for all.

3. Change the assumptions. In order to see and discover different perspectives change the place where you are standing. On this picture of Norway, you’ll see a person sitting at the top of a high rock formation.

Though if this is the “only” perspective we hold to be true of this valley, it’s incomplete. The same valley looks different from the water, from the air and the next mountain. So, I encourage you and your teams to challenge the assumptions behind today’s ways of doing business. Show how varying those assumptions might affect the outcome. Take Action: ask yourself “what do I know to be absolutely true and effective about the way I lead or do business today?” Then once you find those assumptions, challenge them, change them one by one, flip them, invert them. Play with this process. You’ll discover new paths and ways.

4. Mi casa es tu casa. Invite and involve outsiders in your creation process. To use an another analogy if you were a cook in the kitchen I’d invite you to mix ingredients from different recipes/cuisines types and create something new.

The same way, as leaders, I invite you to “pepper” the teams with people from the outside. Take Action: get customers, external partners, and people with diverse views involved in generating growth ideas, this step can yield immense benefits. Think across industries. If it’s not practical to include people from outside your company, consider including employees from other functions. Some companies that are seeing this as good practice, really thrive. Determine what sort of other disciplines/industries can help you reach a higher impact, and better results outside your traditional known network? Think of your personal and professional network, is it rich in diversity of thinking and backgrounds or does it fit only one type of individuals? To get to your 2.0 version, be daring, explore, and connect.

In a nutshell, the consequences of upgrading your inner system and skills to the 2.0 version are:

• You will have more impact and reach than you have today

• Your uniqueness and story are not something competitors can copy/paste/clone. It is unique.

• Your fluid adaptability will make you more relevant/ requested by your ideal clients/stakeholders in whatever your market is.

• Your approach can be a magnet that attracts top talent, class A customers, and fun engaging projects. Why? Smart original people who are creative and courageous want to work for leaders/companies that try new things and have a robust outlook for growth.

• You will shape your own destiny as leader and as company

Option one: we can seek and upgrade to a new 2.0 version as leader, as change agent OR

Option two: face extinction. I choose the first option. What about you?

Important notice: after the recent devastating earthquakes and rescue efforts in Mexico City, my company and partners have been able to send concrete help and support to where is needed. This will be an ongoing effort throughout 2018.

I thank people who have supported this idea and if you are inspired by it, please get in touch. Our focus will be to re-build schools and provide education to hundreds of children who lost their chance to get educated. We can change that. Here is the link to the organization I’ve supported for he past 8 years www.ayuda.org.mx

Gabriela Müller Mendoza

Executive Communications Coach –Trainer- Speaker - DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION Specialist

“Unlocking full potential and dissolving barriers to excellence” - Based in Switzerland, active worldwide. www.gabrielamueller.com Follow me Twitter @gabrielamueller Instagram CoachGabrielaMueller