Belinda MJ. Brown

Why Fearing Failure Prevents Your Success

Posted on Posted by Belinda MJ. Brown Categories Executive Coaches

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”

— Winston S. Churchill

Failure is a fact of life—especially in business. Not every great idea is
destined for commercial success, and a dedicated effort doesn’t always end
with the desired result. As frustrating as it may be to fail, it is perfectly
normal. However, modern managers fear failure so much that their instinct
is to punish or reprimand their team, rather than praising the effort and
going back to the drawing board. This approach is harmful—more so than
the failure itself. In fact, there are specific downsides to creating a workplace
culture that can’t work with failure.

You Miss an Opportunity to Learn

There is always a teachable moment in any mistake or malfunction. Without laying blame or feeling upset, take the opportunity to look back at how the initiative unfolded, noting what could be done differently, what happened unexpectedly, and what policies need to be updated. If you take the time to learn from failure, the effort will always redirect you towards success. You will not only have gained a valuable experience, but you will be better prepared in the future to avoid the same mistakes.

Your Team Will Be Afraid to Try Again

A failed initiative doesn’t mean that it’s failed forever. In fact, many projects
that don’t work out the first time around can be rectified and redeemed in
another attempt. This offers you a unique opportunity to analyze what went
wrong and how it can be corrected. With this new information, why not give
it another go?

Think of a failed project like a failed experiment; you simply haven’t found
the formula that works yet. You won’t find that perfect solution unless you
keep plugging away at it. However, if you are desperately afraid of failure, it
will seem easier to completely scrap your work at the first sign of something
wrong, rather then seeing it through multiple attempts. And if you don’t
keep trying, you might miss out on a truly wonderful result.

Employees Living in Fear of Failure Cannot Work to Their Full
Potential

If you create a workplace culture that punishes mistakes, your employees
will live in fear of failure. This is one of the worst things you can do as a
manager; morale will be down and confidence will be lacking. Your
employees will never take risks, use their creativity, or be innovative
because they won’t be comfortable in their position. As a result, you
company will keep doing the same old things, with the same results. Holding
your employees back inhibits their personal growth, and that affects your
business.

Failure isn’t comfortable for anyone; however, you can embrace the
experience and use it to your advantage. If you’ve taken calculated risks on
a project, failure isn’t the end, and it certainly isn’t forever. If you empower
your employees to really commit to their work, there will be growth,
regardless of the outcome. And that is a sure sign of success.

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How to Adapt Your Leadership to Different Cultures

Posted on Posted by Belinda MJ. Brown Categories Business Success, Career Success, Leadership, Team Success

Working with clients and colleagues in another country is a wonderful
opportunity to expand your business and meet interesting, intelligent
people. However, it is vital that you understand the cultural norms and
expectations in countries that are not your own, in order to connect with
your clients in a way that is meaningful and useful to them. So how do you
adapt your work and leadership style to a different culture?

Adjust Your Mindset

Adjusting your mindset is one of the most important strategies when
conducting business in a foreign country. You cannot just walk in and
operate the way you are used to, mainly because cultures in other countries
dictate otherwise. Not everyone shares the same point of view as you do, so
in order to be effective, you must adjust your own mindset to match that of
your clients.

The best way to do this is simply to be curious. Research business practices
and expectations in the country you will be travelling to, as well as the
customs and the people. This will give you a starting point for your
adjustment and help you feel prepared. Once you are on location, notice
how people behave and interact with each other. What seems to be
important to them? What are the power dynamics?

In the United States, there is very much a culture of collaboration, where
employees at all levels interact and share ideas openly. However, other
countries view honesty and outspokenness as disrespectful, or as reserved
for the most senior members. You can see why a businessperson in the
United States might need to tone down their approach in order to fit in and
meet expectations.

Recalibrate Your Services

Because different cultures and countries have points of view unique to their
experience you also will need to rethink the services you provide and how
they may need to change in order to be more beneficial. The strategy an
executive coach offers a client in the United States may not be appropriate
in Japan or Paris, but can be reframed in order to achieve the same result.
The same idea applies to other industries. If your focus is in customer
experience, you must recognize that not everyone wants the same results,
and will not have the same experience.

Reassess the Meanings of Core Values

While the casual business participant may think that most core values are
universal, the experienced practitioner knows that this isn’t exactly the case.
The concepts of Integrity and Trust might be present in businesses
worldwide, but the definition of these terms and what they look like in
practicality may not be the same. It becomes incumbent upon you to to find
out what such terms really mean in the country you are working in. Make
sure you understand your clients’ working definitions of these concepts so
that you are speaking the same language and are coming from the same
place. Discussing this upfront will prevent miscommunications, and will make
you feel more comfortable in your environment. Culture shock is a real
experience, but having a base understanding of a country and its norms will
help you make an easier transition. It will also help you avoid offending
others or doing something that would be deemed inappropriate.

Working with new countries broadens your horizons and strengthens your
skills in many ways. However, you still must provide value to your clients, no
matter where they are. If you work only in the way that is natural to you, it
is likely that you are not serving foreign clients in a way that is valuable for
them. And if you act in unexpected, unusual ways as deemed by a country’s
culture, your clients will likely have a strong negative response. Making such
adjustments to your mindset and services, and learning about the nuances
of core values will not only help your success, but the client will also feel
respected. Whether you research independently or have upfront
conversations about expectations, you can avoid most miscommunications
or missteps and set yourself up for a healthy working relationship.

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How to Cultivate Positive Change in Your Business through Personal Branding

Posted on Posted by Belinda MJ. Brown Categories Business Success, Executive Coaches, Leadership

Shifting your personal brand can actually lead you to greater success. While change can be painful, at the same time, it’s the only way for you to continue to grow. And if you don’t grow, how can you change things?

personal brandingDian Diaz, brand strategist and self-proclaimed brand geek of The Brand Teacher joined us on the Planting Seeds of Change podcast to share insights from two decades of branding and teaching experience that will help us creative positive changes beginning with our personal brand.

Trust Comes with Consistency

Personal branding is at it’s core making sure your personal presence comes through everywhere it touches your audience. Consistency with how you show up in your brand builds trust in your audience. That’s what draws people to you. When your brand is consistent and your audience gets the same messages wherever they encounter you, they’ll trust you and then want to do business with you. Personal branding is all about building trust.

Bring Forward Your Personality

Personal branding is important because people are doing business with you personally. Yes, it’s your business, but they’re really doing business with a human being. Personal branding applies to everyone from the executive to the stay-at-home mom. If your personal brand comes across differently from the way you want to go with your career or life, it’s not going to take you there. You have to shift it around so certain attributes about you will come through. It’s about taking your authentic personality and bringing it out so it shows up online.

Get Feedback on Your Brand

Survey your audience to find out how you’re coming across. Make sure their answers align with how you want to be perceived and in a way that will lead you to your goals. If you don’t know how they’re seeing you, you can’t make those changes. Get feedback from them and then make changes to your personal brand.

Ask your friends, family, and co-workers. People who you trust will be able to give you insightful feedback. Tell them you’d like to better understand how you’re coming across to other people so you can meet your goals. This will get you started on understanding where there’s a disconnect between how you want to come across and how you actually come across.

Remember that your brand lives in the heart of your audience, Dian advised. You don’t get to decide how others feel. You can only align how you want to come across with how you actually are coming across.

Look at Feedback as a Whole

You will get feedback that surprises you. It may be just one thing one person says that stings. Try to look at feedback as a whole and not only one word someone says. That could be an outlier. You’re not going to make an overall change based on that one thing. That feedback might not even impact how you get to your goal. Instead, look at the aggregate and find themes. You can do something with that.

Accept the gift of feedback and dismiss what doesn’t impact your goals. Focus on your goal.

Be Yourself in a New Position

I’ve seen professionals that think because they’re a professional they have to behave a certain way. We connect with human beings with personalities and we want to feel those connections. If you don’t understand why you aren’t getting the results you expect, it’s simple. It’s being authentic and sharing who you are.

Sometimes we want to go in another direction, but we’re stuck using the same set of characteristics. You shouldn’t not be yourself, but you want to take what matches in your personality with the position you want to move into. If you’re moving into a leadership role, you can still be outgoing, but you might shift to highlight other aspects of you.

Start with Massive Curiosity

Approach everything with a level of curiosity, including yourself. Be inquisitive about how others see you and how well you’ve done your job. Being inquisitive to get feedback that might be a little uncomfortable will be the catalyst for great growth and positive change.

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Finding Blame is Draining You: Find Out How to Quit the Blame Game For Good

Posted on Posted by Belinda MJ. Brown Categories Career Success

The blame game is one of the biggest problems draining our energy. Reports show that 80% of us are experiencing life at level one or level two energy where most thoughts are related to victim mode or anger mode.

We always blame someone else when we’re in victim mode. We feel that the environment, our job, and relationships aren’t doing well, but we aren’t the ones to blame. In anger mode, we’re fighting against others or ourselves about our value. We just want to win all the time. The energy we expel in these modes is called catabolic energy which is defined as draining.

There are two main reasons why we get in these modes: lack of self-awareness and lack of courage to take responsibility.

Confronting the Society of Blame

Every day we encounter challenges. We have situations where we feel conflict is inevitable. When you play the blame game, you disempower yourself and create problems from challenges rather than creating opportunities. Confronting this will help you strengthen your character, learn new skills, and become a more loving and productive person.

As humans, we think we are what we think we are. In reality, we are who we are and not who we think we are.

Years ago, we agreed as a society that it would be easier to live our lives if we didn’t have to actually challenge ourselves. Looking into the mirror and realizing that we might have hurt someone isn’t an easy thing to do. We put shame on top of the emotion that we don’t want to share.

Some of us have been playing the blame game with ourselves, which is even more disempowering. We blame ourselves for things that happened in the past and never get over it. There is nothing to be ashamed of here. We all experience this, including me.

Several years ago, I decided to quit the blame game for good because it was so draining. When I decided to hire my first coach in 2005, I was ready to do something about it. Now, I want to help you realize how much more you can get out of life by quitting the blame game.

Create Awareness Around Blame

The first step to end the blame game is to create awareness. Identify if you or someone in your entourage has exhibited blame behavior. Most of the time, we’ll be able to assess this in others more than ourselves.

These phrases are common signs of the blame game. Read on to see if they sound familiar.

“I don’t have the career I want because of xyz.”

“I’m not in a relationship because…I’m not good enough or pretty enough or those guys aren’t up to my standards.”

“My children are not grateful because…”

“My company has no consideration for me or others.”

“I didn’t get my promotion because my boss doesn’t like me.”

“I have no money because I couldn’t go to college.”

Life happens and our minds create our experience of life. The more aware you are, the more in charge you’ll feel.

Have Courage to Quit

Courage is what will help you break out of blame and reach your potential.

If I’d blamed people my entire life, I would still be living in a really nasty neighborhood in France, I never would’ve gotten a degree, and I never would’ve become an executive. Yes, I was born in a low-income family with a single mom and five siblings. Yes, life was hard, but it never felt that way. I worked hard, did what I needed to do, and went to school. In high school, I was told that it might be better for me not to pursue any college. I did it anyway. At age 20, I led 80 people for a large global corporation. It led me to incredible heights. If I had blamed the circumstances of my life, I would still be like many other people I’ve known in the same place sitting on the same block.

The more aware you are, the more in charge of your life you’ll feel. From a place of ownership and responsibility, we make choices, not excuses.

Notice Blame in Your Environment

Once you’ve acknowledged your participation in the blame game, how do you get out of your own way? An important step is to notice the blame game at work around you.

Ask yourself, how much do you contribute to others playing the blame game? Who in your entourage is nurturing a blame pattern? I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the people you spend time with are blamers. If the people surrounding you are blamers, their energy will be draining. When you stay in this environment too long, you’ll feel like a victim too.

I challenge you to take note of who surrounds you. You don’t need to cut off all your relationships. Simply become aware of it and what impact it has on your energy. By observing and journaling, you’ll create more and more awareness in your life.

Soon, you will become more alert so you can choose how you want to respond to challenges. The choice will be yours. The blame game is over.

 

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Characteristics to Look For in Your Next Executive Coach

Posted on Posted by Belinda MJ. Brown Categories Career Success, Executive Coaches, Leadership, Team Success

Corporate Training and Executive Coaching For Conscious OrganizationsFinding an executive and leadership coach that is the perfect fit for both you and your business takes a fair amount of research, but is well worth the effort when you connect with someone who can unlock your potential as a leader. If you’re new to leadership coaching, the process may seem overwhelming and it can be tempting to simply start working with the first coach you find. However, there are specific qualities you should be looking for in an executive coach to ensure that they are both qualified and a good match for your needs. Here are five steps you should be taking when shopping for a coach, and what they will reveal about their methods.

Evaluate their profile

It is essential that you interview any coach that you are interested in working with, just as you would with a potential new employee. This will be most telling about their style of coaching and approach. You are looking for someone who is open-minded, an active listener, and completely focused on the process. An ideal coach will create a safe and exploratory environment for you to grow, and will have forward-thinking conversations with you to help you find the solutions that work for you. They should  also feel strongly that any success belongs to you. Red flags include coaches who promise extraordinary results or have a one-size-fits all approach.

Check for Credentials

The leadership and executive coaching market is saturated with many professionals, but not all of them have the skills or experience to give you and your business the value you deserve. When looking at a potential coach, look them up on the International Coach Federation registries or the registries of the Board of Credentialing for Coaches. These two accrediting boards register coaches based on their experience, education, and the number of hours they have worked with clients. They also require continuing education to ensure that their coaches have the most current information and are keeping up with their skills.

Look Out for Coherence

It is important to evaluate the level of coherence a potential coach has between what they promote and what they themselves practice. In particular, you should find out if they have their own executive coach. Theoretically, if they believe in the power of coaching, they should also have a coach of their own so that they can continue to expand just as their clients are. Similarly, an executive coach should belong to a supervising group to reflect with on a regular basis about their practice as a coach. If an executive coach is encouraging your growth, but is not working to grow themselves as well, there is misalignment between their mindset and actions.

Understand the Coaching Process

An executive coach worth their weight must offer a customized approach in working with you. Cookie-cutter consulting isn’t providing you any value and certainly cannot be considered coaching. Valuable coaching is about adapting to you as the client, and bringing individual solutions for your specific situation. An executive coach is there to help you build and design the strategies for what you want and need.

Investigate References and Recommendations

Finally, when researching executive coaches, it is imperative that you look for their references and recommendations. Most commonly, you may be able to find these on the coach’s LinkedIn profile or perhaps even on their website. This will be useful to you in two ways. Firstly, you will be able to see who the coach works with, and whether or not they have worked with individuals or businesses that are similar to you. Secondly, you will get a feel for how the coach works and how they help manifest success for their clients, and whether or not that will be useful to you.

 

These key indicators are important to consider when researching possible executive coaches. You may be interested in an industry-specific coach, but here at Equanimity Executive, we don’t believe that is necessary. Coaches with industry-specific experience may wind up becoming more of an advisor or consultant due their inside knowledge, but keep in mind that this advice isn’t what you are looking for. You ultimately need a coach that challenges you and gives you the opportunity to create new opportunities for yourself.  Similarly, industry-specific coaches can have biases based on their own work and that may limit your exploration and innovation. As adaptive executive coaches, Equanimity Executive focuses on your needs as they are, from a fresh and open-minded perspective.

Looking for an executive or leadership coach may seem like an overwhelming prospect, but by considering these qualities, you will find a professional with the personality and ability to relate to you and your needs.

 

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How to Recycle Negative Energy from Today’s World Events to Make a Difference

Posted on Posted by Belinda MJ. Brown Categories Business Success, Career Success, Insights

There are many dramatic and saddening events that have happened in the world as of late. We’ve been almost overwhelmed with stress and negativity related to politics and world events.

This energy is contagious. Negative things are absolutely everywhere online and offline. I’m usually optimistic and I know how to practice detached involvement, but still this negative energy has had an impact on me.

Two places that I call home, Paris and Orlando, have been targeted in terror attacks. I didn’t want to blame anyone for this and feel a sense of victimhood because that’s just who I am. I believe there is a way for people to redeem themselves and I don’t want to judge at all.

Take Responsibility for Your Emotions

At the same time, I felt powerless. This is one of the worst feelings ever. When a situation seems unfair, negative thoughts and patterns follow that end up having an impact on everything in your life.

Many of us choose anger in this situation because it seems better than feeling powerless, but this catabolic emotion is actually draining you and making you feel worse. Even if you aren’t aware of it, you will bring heavyness to your environment and the people you’re with.

What can you do to channel the energy of victimhood to something more constructive?

As a coach, I’ve been practicing this for a long time, but when overwhelming events occur, anyone can get in a place where they just want to be angry. When this happens, make sure you are in charge of how you feel and how long you’re staying there. If not, everything around you will fall into a negative spiral.

Stay in Observation Mode

Change doesn’t occur with the snap of your finger. Preparing for change begins with simply noticing what’s happening. When emotions are coming into your mind and negative thoughts are popping up, stay in observation mode as long as you can.

Watch what is happening and write down your thoughts. Write down all the emotions you’re experiencing. When situations are difficult, you won’t just feel one emotion. You’ll see anger, guilt, conflict, and more. Write it all down to get it out of your head.

When we notice these emotions, sometimes we tend to get more upset. Be comfortable with it. You are in the right place. Observe and keep going. This is an important step to recycle negative emotion by first identifying the story you’re telling.

Plant the Seeds of Change

Write down where you want to be, how you want to feel, and what the ideal solution would be. Simply take out a piece of paper or take notes on your phone. It takes a few seconds.

This step will help you lower your level of stress and reconnect with your thoughts. You’ll begin to see potential opportunities in your situation.

When I was in the situation of processing all these terrible situations in the world, I was angry, sad, and powerless. The only thing I was thinking about was talking about it in a negative way. At first, I felt a bit better, but then I realized I was sharing my negative energy with the people around me.

I decided it was time to create something out of this negative energy. I wanted to channel it to build, design, or create something powerful. Negativity takes everything out of you, but what if you could create something that served you instead of drained you?

I imagined how I want to show up and make a difference in this world. What could it be? How would it make me feel? What could be the potential outcome?

Transform Energy into Action

The intention was about channeling my sense of powerless and anger toward something that would make me feel good and empowered. So I drove to Home Depot and set up a raised garden bed in my yard in less than 45 minutes. I planted herbs and re-planted all my other plants.

I felt accomplished and positive while I was setting up my garden. My stress level lowered dramatically. My mind was filled with positive thoughts of upcoming plans and delicious recipes with fresh fruit and vegetables. As my body moved muscles I didn’t remember existed, I felt alive. Mentally, I was given so much energy and creative ideas about how to help others. I was so confident that I could do something about it.

Today is the time to plant the seeds of change and focus on what will make you happy. What will help you bring change and positive energy to your life?

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Work With A Mentor Coach

Posted on Posted by Belinda MJ. Brown Categories Testimonials

Belinda Brown was an outstanding mentor on my journey to becoming a life coach. She taught me many valuable lessons and provided me with many useful resources. I don’t believe I could have found a more helpful and informative mentor that Belinda and for that I am extremely grateful. This amazing lady will teach you everything you would ever need. Thank you, Belinda!
~Melinda McCann

 

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Communication and Thinking Skills

Posted on Posted by Belinda MJ. Brown Categories Testimonials

In all my professional years of experiences and preparation, this is one of the best training sessions I have ever attended!  With Belinda’s methodology, I learned more about myself and about others which will definitely help my communication and thinking skills.  I have recommended your training and coaching to several managers with in order to align operations.

Sincerely,

~Rafael Caamaño, Associate Director, UCF Business Incubator

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Courageous Conversations To Be a Successful Female Leader

Posted on Posted by Belinda MJ. Brown Categories Testimonials

“Belinda has assisted me to reconnect with my inner self, to remember my core values and to use those as my guiding force in my life.  She has helped me gain awareness to my weaknesses and most importantly how other people perceive my behavior.  Some of the things people think about me are not who I am at all but it was all about how I was acting – not listening (and didn’t know it), being too direct and too serious all the time. I learned active listening skills and to adjust my communication style to other people. I realized that I did not even really have to change myself – you just need to acknowledge and be aware of your own behaviors or habits. I have also learned to have some of the “courageous conversations” that are imperative to being a successful leader.  All in all, the experience of executive coaching has been a life changer for me and I have Belinda to thank for that!  I will recommend Belinda to all of my friends and leaders”

 

~Shelli Girard, Sr Engineering Manager with Seagate Technology

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Communicate With Persuasion And Influence Others

Posted on Posted by Belinda MJ. Brown Categories Testimonials

I recently attended one of Belinda’s workshops on communication for LaunchCode’s candidates at the Idea Center at Miami Dade College in Miami, FL. and I was impressed at the structure and the details of her work, including exercises and role play. The quality of the content was second to none and she provided great supporting material to complement the information, facilitate understanding and reinforce the learning process. The feedback from all the participants was positive above measure. If you want to communicate with persuasion and influence others with the power of your language, this workshop is a must. After this workshop I can never see the communication process the same way again. It will have a long-lasting impact on me.

~Erick Marenco, LaunchCode.org

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