Tap into the Power of Gratitude

As Thanksgiving draws near, it's a wonderful time to pause and reflect on this year's journey. 

Sometimes in the rush toward our next objectives, we might overlook the importance of celebrating our successes. This season, I encourage us all to take a step back and appreciate important milestones and positive experiences.

Image by Deborah Hudson from Pixabay

Acknowledging and being thankful for what is going well in our lives isn't just a feel-good exercise; it's a powerful catalyst for continuous growth and success. In this spirit, at Newberry Solutions, we've taken a moment to pause and reflect. Here are some things we are particularly thankful for:

Our clients. Their passion for and dedication to leadership development inspires us daily. We deeply value their trust and partnership — and their feedback, which led to us being recognized as an Inc. Power Partner this year.

Our support network. The people who have consistently supported us over the years have been the key to this company’s 15 years of success. We’re so fortunate to have them in our corner as a constant source of inspiration.

Our community. We're grateful that this year has brought us many opportunities to join with others through nonprofit organizations and other initiatives to make a real difference in the community in which we live and work.

Our platform. We have made great strides in our commitment to democratizing access to leadership development:

• Our New Lens® app has been implemented at several large enterprises with fantastic results this year, making leadership development more affordable and scalable

• Our recent Micro Summit: 4 Core Strategies for Success delivered insights from four phenomenal business and HR leaders.

• We’re sharing leadership strategies to an even wider audience through our articles in Forbes and Fast Company and speaking engagements for our clients and at events for D CEO, Ascend North Texas and AICPA & CIMA, among others.

Time and space. Personally, I am so thankful for the moments that have allowed me to recharge and reconnect with what truly matters. That has included hiking in Sedona and Whistler, adventures in Turks & Caicos, and celebrating several college admissions with my son.

As Thanksgiving approaches, I invite you to join me in reflecting. 

• What are you grateful for right now, personally and professionally?  

• What experiences have enriched your year, even if they were challenging ones? 

• Who do you want to express gratitude to as Thanksgiving approaches?

At Newberry Solutions, we're committed to your success through New Lens and other resources, and always in your corner cheering you on. Let's embrace this season of thanksgiving with a heart full of appreciation and commitment to make a positive impact.

12 Key Takeaways from the New Lens Micro Summit

What an amazing event we had last week! Of course, that's thanks to our wonderful speakers and to all of you, our engaged New Lens® Micro Summit: 4 Core Strategies for Success attendees. I’m still soaking in all the insights that were shared and am so grateful to each of you who joined us.

Reflecting on the summit, it's clear that each speaker brought a unique perspective, shedding light on critical areas of leadership, teamwork, networking, and resilience. I've taken a moment to recap a few of the takeaways that stood out to me. Whether you attended the summit or are catching up now, I believe these insights will resonate and offer actionable strategies for your own leadership journey. Let's dive in.

Michol Ecklund

Michol, Chief Sustainability Officer and General Counsel at Callon Petroleum, has navigated change throughout her career. So who better to speak on the topic “Focus on the Right Work: The Great Resignation Compounded Workloads”?

In her comments, Michol highlighted the emerging challenges post-pandemic where workers are increasingly unhappy, burnt out, and seeking new job opportunities, often attributed to amplified workloads from organizational restructuring. Here are some highlight from the advice she shared:

• Create space to connect in a genuine way. Remember, everyone has a life outside work. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable with your team. “By checking in with others and sharing more about your own situation, I think you ultimately build deeper relationships,” Michol said. “You build even more motivated employees and even more committed employees that want to be part of your organization.”  

• Balance your personal productivity with that of the team. You may be more productive working from home, but your team may be more productive if everyone spends more time at the office. Find an approach that considers both sets of needs.

• Get back to the basics to avoid burnout. Getting enough sleep is critical. It affects how you show up personally and professionally, your energy, and your ability to be productive.

Mark Benton

Mark, Vice President of HR Corporate Functions at McKesson, also talked about navigating the shift to hybrid work when tackling his topic, “Develop a High Performing Team: How Unprepared Leaders Impact the Workplace.” I so admire Mark's ability to surface important topics that need attention. 

One theme that stood out was the challenge of staying connected when working remotely. In this context, building trust and understanding your own strengths and weaknesses are vital for good leadership. Other highlights:

• Empathy is more important than ever in the world of hybrid work. Your team members want to know that you care about them as people, that you recognize what they are contributing and that you are willing to help them.

• Managers today have to help distributed teams stay connected. One way to do this: be very intentional about checking in with each other.

• Be more of an "ask person" than a "tell person". You can help your team members grow by asking coaching questions.

Hilda Galvan

Hilda, Partner-in-Charge at Jones Day Dallas, spoke on the topic “Build a Powerful Network: How Remote Work Affects Relationships & Productivity.” Hilda is gifted at cultivating relationships both professionally and in her community involvement, so I was thrilled that she could share her advice with us. 

She advised leaders not to favor in-office workers over remote ones and to communicate clearly. Building relationships, even when remote, is key to good leadership. A few key takeaways:

• To get people back to the office, talk about why it’s so important. For example, remind veteran team members how much they learned by being around colleagues who were senior to them. Today, they can do the same thing for younger employees. By broadening their perspective,

• Engaging with issues you care about will energize you and can help counteract any feelings of loneliness from remote work. Connecting with others who share your passion can also lead to meaningful relationships.

• Treat small pockets of time in your day as opportunities to maintain relationships. For example, call an old friend while you’re driving to a meeting across town.

Tina Bigalke

As Global Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at PepsiCo and someone with a wealth of leadership experience in business and HR, Tina was the perfect speaker to talk about the topic “Build Leadership Courage & Resilience: Strategies to Navigate Uncertainty”. 

She also gave us insight into how PepsiCo has been a training ground for so many Fortune 500 CEOs and shared PepsiCo’s holistic resilence model which has helped its staff navigate these challenging times.

Some key insights:

• Identify the capabilities and skills your organization will need for the future (not just for today) and assess your employees against those skills.

• Don’t be afraid to have honest conversations with employees about how they’re doing and their path forward in your organization. 

• Have a variety of development tools in place for employees, especially younger ones, who truly want to gain new skills.

More Micro Learning

A huge thanks to Michol, Mark, Hilda and Tina for packing so much valuable information into just a couple of hours. It was so important to us that this event fit into busy schedules and deliver a powerful payoff for just a short investment of time. That’s the same philosophy that drives Newberry Solutions’ award-winning New Lens® app. With “snack size” lessons combined with collaborative learning, New Lens makes leadership development affordable and scalable. I invite you to learn more and schedule a demo for your organization.

Don’t Miss Out on This Leadership Event

We’re counting down the hours now! Newberry Solutions’ Micro Summit: 4 Core Leadership Strategies for Success happens on Wednesday, October 25. If you haven’t registered yet, please take a moment and do so now, because I don’t want you to miss this unique opportunity.

During the Micro Summit, I’ll be talking about vital leadership strategies for today’s world with four incredible business and HR leaders:

• ​Focus on the Right Work: The Great Resignation Compounded Workloads | With Michol Ecklund, Chief Sustainability Officer and General Counsel, Callon Petroleum.

• ​Develop a High Performing Team: How Unprepared Leaders Impact the Workplace | With Mark Benton, Vice President, HR Corporate Functions, McKesson.

• ​Build a Powerful Network: How Remote Work Affects Relationships & Productivity | With Hilda Galvan, Partner-In-Charge, Jones Day Dallas.

• ​Build Leadership Courage & Resilience: Strategies to Navigate Uncertainty | With Tina Bigalke, Global Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer, PepsiCo.

I’m so excited that Michol, Mark, Hilda and Tina will be joining us. They have been successful in their own right, but each of them also does so much to give back to the community and elevate others. Having just one of them on our program would be amazing, but the fact that all four have agreed to share their expertise fills me with gratitude.

Can you take a couple of hours out of your day on Wednesday to make a powerful investment in yourself? Then register here. Know a leader you want to encourage? Share the link with them, too. I’ll see you there on the 25th!

What Does It Mean to Coach Your Team?

Over the past year, we have been delivering a coaching workshop globally to help leaders build critical thinking skills of their teams. We’re seeing a huge demand for this topic, and it’s no mystery why. A survey by the Association for Talent Development found that 90% of organizations expect managers to coach direct reports. At the same time, though, more than half said that a lack of coaching skills stood in the way of their goals.

To become a better coach to your team members, the first step is understanding what coaching really is — and isn’t. And that’s what I want to explore with you today.

Photo by Christina Morillo

Coaching ISN’T Advice or Feedback

I’ve found that many leaders think they’re coaching when they are actually advising or giving feedback. Developing your team members involves all of these activities at one time or another. But they aren’t the same thing.

Advising is defining or directing the action an employee should take to solve a particular problem or issue. Advising is the best option sometimes — for example, in a high-stakes or crisis situation under a tight deadline. But it’s also easy to overuse, since solving an issue for your team member is often the quickest way to get it off your plate.

Delivering feedback is describing past performance with a focus on acknowledging strengths and ways to improve. Meaningful feedback is crucial to keeping your team members engaged. Like coaching, delivering feedback can fall by the wayside when things get busy. But it doesn’t have to be time-consuming. Get in the habit of sharing what you noticed a team member doing as soon as possible after you observe it. Even a couple of minutes after a meeting to point out what worked well and what would have been more effective can go a long way.

Coaching involves listening, asking thought-provoking questions and acknowledging the employee’s perspective, which empowers them to problem-solve and take action. Each part of that definition is important:

• Active listening helps you understand what’s really happening with your team member and the situation.

• Asking questions helps your team member develop their own solutions. A common mistake here is asking leading questions that nudge the employee toward what you would do. Leading questions negate the benefits of coaching.

• Empowering your team member means that you are laying the groundwork for them to handle situations on their own in the future instead of coming to you for answers.

Empowerment is at the heart of why coaching is so important. Your team members will never develop to their full potential without coaching that challenges their thinking, broadens their perspective and helps them get unstuck. Learning and growth enhance performance and engagement, which is good for employees themselves and for the organization.

But coaching also benefits you. As we touched on earlier, giving employees solutions when they come to you with a question or issue might save time in the short run. But, in the long run, you’re setting yourself up for spending yet more time “putting out fires.”

This week, think about how often you are taking advantage of coaching moments with your team members and start looking for more opportunities. I also invite you to check out our New Lens® app, which we designed to arm your team members with high-impact strategies and facilitate manager coaching. Bimonthly one-on-one meetings between managers and participants are part of the program, and we make it easy by providing a discussion guide for managers to use.

Free Leadership Development Event

Since we’re talking about ways to develop your team members, I wanted to remind you about our upcoming Micro Summit: 4 Core Leadership Strategies for Success. This is a rare opportunity to get insights from four dynamic and accomplished business and HR leaders, all in just a couple of hours and for free. The Micro Summit happens 11 a.m.-1 p.m. CST on Wednesday, October 25. Please sign up while we still have open spots. You can register here and share this link with your team members and other colleagues. I’m looking forward to seeing you there!

Are You Using These 3 Types of Coaching?

Coaching is becoming a bigger and bigger part of the job for leaders. As someone who is all about helping companies and leaders achieve high performance, it’s exciting to see in Harvard Business Review that employees want more coaching, and organizations want managers to spend more time providing it. 

As a Master Certified Coach and creator of a leadership development app, I’ve seen the powerful benefits of different types of coaching. That’s why we integrated three types into our New Lens® app. Read on to learn about the different forms that coaching can take, and how each one can benefit you and your team.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Individually Working with a Certified Coach 

This is what many people picture when they hear the word coaching. If you are looking for a coach, whether for yourself or for others in your organization, research candidates carefully. Look for a coach who has formal training and certifications. The International Coach Federation advances the coaching profession by setting high professional standards, providing independent certifications and building a network of credentialed coaches. There are three levels of ICF certifications: Associate Certified Coach (ACC), Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and Master Certified Coach (MCC).

I also recommend asking a coach these types of questions before engaging them:

• What is their coaching philosophy and approach?

• What types of clients do they work best with? 

• What kind of results can you expect?

• What examples of success do they have from past clients?

To learn more about our approach, check out the executive coaching page of our website.

While one-on-one coaching delivers powerful benefits, it may not be affordable or accessible to all the employees in an organization who want or need it. New Lens addresses this by providing targeted coaching within the app that focuses on some of the most impactful tools, exercises and strategies to drive high performance. 

Peer Coaching

Even if working one-on-one with a coach isn’t within reach right now, there are other ways you or your team can experience the benefits of coaching. One of those ways is peer coaching. Through our work with client companies that have used New Lens and our other programs, I’ve seen firsthand how effective peer coaching can be.

Peer coaching can take many forms. For example, in the New Lens Program, participants meet monthly with a cohort. The experience is designed to strengthen relationships, create a safe place to share challenges, amplify the power of the content, and promote sharing of best practices. Recent research by Rob Cross shows that peer relationships have a bigger impact on inclusion, advancement, and retention than relationships with managers.

Remember that you can also create your own methods to take advantage of peer coaching — for example, setting up coaching partnerships or small groups.

Peer coaching has its own set of advantages. It’s less expensive than working with an executive coach, so more people in your organization can benefit. Peer coaching is also usually easy to implement. 

Manager Coaching

Of course, your team members also need coaching from you. This can feel difficult sometimes. I don’t have to tell you how busy leaders’ schedules are these days. On top of that, many leaders have not been trained on how to coach effectively.

However, giving your team more coaching is probably easier than you might think. A great first step is looking for coachable moments as they arise during your day. When you identify good opportunities for coaching, remember to practice active listening. Pay attention to what your direct report is really communicating and don’t just wait for your chance to talk. By listening deeply, you can identify questions that can help employees develop their own solutions.

We designed New Lens to facilitate manager coaching. Bimonthly one-on-one meetings between managers and participants are part of the program, and we make it easy by providing a discussion guide for managers to use.

A Powerful (and Free) Event to Share with Your Team

At Newberry Solutions, we’re always looking for new ways we can help you steer your team’s growth and development. That’s why I’m so excited about our upcoming Micro Summit: 4 Core Leadership Strategies for Success. This virtual event is easy to fit into busy schedules. In just a couple of hours, you’ll gain valuable, actionable strategies for success from four incredible business and HR leaders. It all happens 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. CST on Wednesday, October 25. Please join us while we still have open seats. You can register here and share this link with your team members and other colleagues.

How to Develop Your Team When Time, Budgets Are Tight

As a leader, one of your most important responsibilities is helping your team members develop to their full potential. But that raises a big question: How are you supposed to accomplish this when all of you are busy and your training budget is small? Today I want to give you some quick, affordable and easy ideas to encourage your team members’ learning and growth. Be sure to read to the end of the article, where I’ll tell you about a free leadership development event you can share with your team.

Photo by Christina Morillo

Leverage What You Already Have

It’s easy to forget about the existing learning and development opportunities at your organization, especially when your schedule is full. But this is a great place to start when you’re looking for ways to develop your team. For example, does your workplace have a cross-training program? Are there affinity groups? What about tuition reimbursement? If you’re drawing a blank, get together with other leaders so you can pool your knowledge about current resources.

Help Team Members Learn from Each Other

So what’s your #1 existing resource? Your people themselves. Take a moment to think about the strengths of each of your team members. You’ll probably be impressed by the depth and breadth of knowledge and experience on your team! Now consider how you can tap into each person’s expertise. Some options include lunch-and-learn events and peer-to-peer coaching.

Build Learning into Every Day

All too often, we think of learning as something that happens in addition to our regular jobs. But some of the most powerful learning actually happens through our work experiences.  Leadership expert Josh Bersin calls this “growth in the flow of work,” and research has shown it delivers real results. According to Camille Preston, a business psychologist and leadership expert: “The most innovative leaders and organizations are seeking ways to integrate leadership development into everything they do.” You can help your direct reports grow by helping them join a cross-functional team, present in front of senior leaders or take on a special project, just to name a few examples.

Coach and Give Feedback

I get it: You’re really busy. But you can provide more coaching and feedback without taking too much time out of your day. Get in the habit of sharing what you noticed about your team members’ behavior right after you observe it. Even a couple of minutes after a meeting to point out what worked well and what would have been more effective can go a long way. If you want to start coaching more but aren’t sure how to begin, I contributed to an article for Forbes Coaches Council that provides some “baby steps.”

Our Free Leadership Development Event

I hope the ideas in this article will help you create more development opportunities for your team members. Making learning more accessible is one of our key values at Newberry Solutions. That’s why we created our award-winning New Lens® app. And it’s why I’m so excited about our upcoming Micro Summit: 4 Core Leadership Strategies for Success. Like New Lens, this virtual event is easy to fit into busy schedules. In just a couple of hours, you’ll gain valuable, actionable strategies for success from four incredible business and HR leaders. It all happens 11 a.m.-1 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, October 25. I invite you to register here, and to share this link with your team members and other colleagues. 

Meet Our Micro Summit Speakers

I am thrilled to have four incredible business and HR leaders speak at our Micro Summit: 4 Core Leadership Strategies for Success, which is just one month away.

It is not easy to get on their calendars, let alone have all four speaking at one event! They have so much collective leadership insight to share, and we’re going to tap into it through conversations about core strategies that drive high performance. 

The design of the summit is all micro, modeled after our New Lens app, so that you can fit it into your schedule and get the most value from the event. 

In just a couple of hours, this virtual event will give you valuable, actionable strategies for success.

Let me introduce you to our incredible lineup of powerful, hand-picked senior leaders from top companies:

• Tina Bigalke is Global Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at PepsiCo. Her work focuses on increasing diverse representation, empowering courageous conversations and investing strategically in communities. Tina leads the development of programs and partnerships that drive diversity, inclusion and engagement as part of the business strategy, as well as internally and externally. This includes PepsiCo’s commitment to racial equality and gender parity. Tina is a 20-year PepsiCo veteran. Prior to her current role, Tina was Senior Vice President, Commercial Human Resources for PepsiCo Foods North America division, where she shaped strategy for customer sales, marketing and transformation. 

• Mark Benton is Vice President of HR Corporate Functions at McKesson Corp. In this role, he partners with executive leaders to identify simple, yet effective ways to implement talent strategies that accelerate employee development and drive engagement and culture within the organization. With over 28 years in the HR/Talent space, Mark has a reputation for balancing straight talk with humor and empathy. He has used this approach to partner with hundreds of leaders at all levels to link business strategy to people-focused solutions.  

• Michol Ecklund is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Callon Petroleum Company. She oversees the legal, sustainability and human resources activities of the company. Since joining Callon in 2017, Michol has supported the company’s growth through a series of corporate- and asset-acquisitions, resulting in 500% production growth and doubling of the employee base. Before joining Callon, Michol was Deputy General Counsel for Operations & Commercial Law at Marathon Oil Company. During her 15 years at Marathon Oil, she served in progressive positions within and outside the law organization including compliance, litigation, human resources, investor relations, corporate communications and tax. She began her legal career at Baker Botts LLP.

• Hilda Galvan is Partner-in-Charge at Jones Day Dallas. A nationally recognized trial lawyer, Hilda has been recognized as one of DFW's Top Defense Attorneys. She was also named 2019 Lawyer of the Year: Litigation-Patent by “The Best Lawyers in America.” Hilda has served as lead counsel in the enforcement of patent portfolios as well as defense of infringement allegations. Her cases have involved various technologies, including electronics, software wireless communication and semiconductor processes.

I’m looking forward to the insights each speaker will share. Want to join us for this event? The Micro Summit happens Wednesday, October 25, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT. Reserve your spot now. Know others at your company who might be interested? Please share the registration link with them.

Micro Summit: 4 Core Leadership Strategies for Success

Over the past 25 years, I've seen employees struggle with the same types of issues over and over as they underestimate the importance of certain leadership strategies and skills or fail to recognize unwritten rules or adapt their approaches as they move up.  And unfortunately, their managers often lack the skills to help them. After all, many were promoted for being good individual contributors.

All of this has shaped our work, from executive coaching to leadership development programs and now our New Lens® app.  As we developed New Lens, we identified eight core strategies for success at any level. We got excited when our Fortune 500 clients validated them – and even more excited when we thought about the impact we could have by making leadership development more widely available through a technology-based solution!

Today, I'm excited to invite you to join other business and HR leaders to our online micro summit, which is inspired by these core strategies. Four powerful, hand-picked senior leaders from top companies will each share their insights into one of these core strategies in the context of the world today:

• Focus on the Right Work is all about focusing on where you can have the biggest impact on the business, while working in a way that is sustainable.

• Develop a High-Performing Team can help you whether you’re a member of a team or the leader of it.

• Build a Powerful Network helps you develop lasting, authentic relationships that will support you in delivering business results and advancing your career.

• Building Leadership Courage and Resilience helps you notice your thinking traps and arms you with tools to navigate challenges, change, and uncertainty.

Just like New Lens, which is full of powerful microlearning, our micro summit will pack valuable, actionable strategies into a short timeframe. I can’t wait to see you there. Secure your spot now—and please share this invitation with other leaders and team members who would benefit too. 

When:
Wednesday, October 25, 11 a.m.—1 p.m. CDT

Newberry Solutions Turns 15

Whaaaat?! Newberry Solutions has been in business for 15 YEARS!!! This huge milestone crept up on us. These 15 lessons have made the biggest difference on this unexpected journey into entrepreneurship (yes, I had no idea I was going to start a business when I left my executive role at Deloitte), and I hope they help you as you continue to navigate your path.

Photo by Cup of Couple

To help me celebrate, please pay it forward by sharing this list with others. Giving people the tools and resources they need to be successful is what has meaning and heart for me.

1. “I’ll see it when I believe it” - Wayne Dyer. It all starts by taking a leap of faith. I started my company three months before the economy tanked in 2008. If I didn’t believe that what I wanted to achieve was possible, how could anyone else? (My commencement speech at Texas Woman’s University was inspired by this too.)

2. Keep passion and purpose at the forefront. In times of fear, self-doubt, and fatigue, reconnect to your passion and purpose to get yourself back on track. Your “why” is powerful.

3. Keep your eye on the big picture. It will keep you from sweating the small stuff and will help you keep things in perspective.

4. Focus on the “right” work: those areas where you can have the biggest impact on the business given your role and strengths. There’s only one of you – invest your precious time, energy and strengths wisely.

5. Pause. Exhale. Repeat. Never underestimate the power of breath to ground you. In a few seconds, you can bring your stress level down.

6. Small steps lead to big results. To keep from getting overwhelmed, don’t worry about solving everything; start by defining the first two steps. Learn from each step and iterate. This helped me immensely in 2008 and again when I battled cancer during the pandemic.

7. Trust that things will unfold as they should, especially when you’ve already taken proactive steps. Get out of your own way and don’t overthink it.

8. Keep generating options (aim for at least three). You always have more options than you think, even when things seem impossible.

9. Take care of yourself. Self-care is not a nice-to-have strategy. It’s your oxygen mask. You can’t be there for anyone else, let alone yourself, if you run out of gas.

10. Make it easy for people to help you. Arm them with the information and tools they need to help. And, most importantly, accept help.

11. Surround yourself with people who energize you, raise the bar and challenge you to think differently.

12. Trust your intuition or gut. Remember that it’s not just a feeling in your body; it’s wisdom developed from years of experiences, challenges, painful lessons and resilience.

13. Know when to walk away. When emotions run high, take a break. When you are fried, take time off. Keep Maslow’s hierarchy in mind.

14. Pay it forward without worrying if anything will come back to you. It always does—tenfold.

15. Use your body to change your mind. Blast that favorite song and dance it out, walk in nature, and do those power poses (Amy Cuddy).

I want to challenge you to identify one or two lessons to keep at the forefront for yourself. These lessons apply whether you are an entrepreneur, in the corporate world or not in the workforce at all.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t express my gratitude to you for being part of this 15-year journey. We wouldn’t be here without you. As always, our top priority is your success. If we can help your organization through the New Lens® app, executive coaching, leadership development programs or speaking, please reach out to us.

Newberry Solutions in Forbes

If you follow me on LinkedIn, you know that I’ve become a regular contributor to Forbes through the Forbes Coaches Council. I love being part of this because it allows Newberry Solutions to have a bigger impact by sharing our proven strategies on a broader platform. 

Today I want to share the recent advice and insights that I and other coaches have shared. If any of these articles leave you wanting to learn more, you’ll also find links to additional resources from this blog.

Shift to a Positive Mindset

In the article “15 Hacks For Pessimists To Switch To A More Positive Point Of View,” I talked about how to notice your thoughts and feelings to recognize and combat your negative self-talk.

Learn more: “How to Stop the Loop of Negative Self-Talk.”

Cope with Change

We’ve all had to become more adaptable over the past few years. In the article “14 Coaches Explore What It Looks Like To Become An ‘Agile’ Leader, “ I stressed the importance of staying centered amid change.

Learn more: “5 Sure-Fire Ways to Get Centered Fast.”

Practice Empathy

Success is about relationships, and that includes relationships with customers or clients. So the topic “16 Ways To Treat Customers Like Humans Instead Of Numbers” is an important one.

Learn more: “Are You Being Strategic About Relationships?”

Network Effectively

What’s the best way to introduce yourself at your next networking event? I explain in the article  “14 Steps To Take A Networking Pitch To The Next Level.”

Learn More: “Networking for Results.”

Avoid DEI Mistakes

“11 Potentially Brand-Damaging Mistakes Corporations Make With DEI Initiatives” is a timely topic as more organizations put a stronger emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion. As I point out in this article, commitments and allocation of resources must be aligned.

Learn more: “5 Eye-Opening Findings on Women at Work.”

Support Mental Health for All

Along with DEI, companies are also increasing attention on employee well-being. As the article  “How C-Level Leaders Can Address The Mental Health Needs Of Underserved Demographics” points out, this requires more than a one-size-fits-all approach. Different cultures in the workplace have different attitudes about seeking help with mental health.

Learn more: “What is Silencing? (And Why Your Company Must Care About It).”

Speak Up

Introverts have so much value to add to the workplace. The tips from me and other coaches in the article “How More Reserved Employees Can Make Their Voices Heard” will help you bring that value in a way that works for you.

Learn more: “Are You Keeping Your Gold Mine of Ideas to Yourself?”

Talk Face to Face

There’s a lot to navigate in this new world of hybrid work, including the best forms of communication in different situations. The article “14 Examples Where In-Person Communication Is Better Than Virtual At Work” is a guide that all leaders can use.

Learn more: “How to Deliver Tough Messages.”

Protect Your Capacity

Saying “yes” to everything has a cost. If you tend to keep your plate too full, check out the article “16 Ways Professionals Can Avoid Overcommitting Themselves At Work.”

Learn more: “4 Ways to Keep Your Busy Life from Taking Over.”

Keep this roundup as a valuable resource for you, and share it with others. If these Forbes Coaches Council articles have you curious about what coaching can do for you or your organization, I invite you to explore our products and services, including the New Lens app. New Lens can help you bring the power of coaching to more employees, even when budgets and schedules are tight. Set up a demo now.

Newberry Solutions Turns 14

If you had asked me in early 2008 whether I would have my own business later that year, I would have called you crazy. Fourteen years later, I have to say that entrepreneurship has been challenging and rewarding. This month marks a major milestone because Newberry Solutions has been in business for the same amount of time that I worked at Deloitte!

A lot has changed during this timeframe, but our focus on passion and purpose remains constant. And I’m confident those two things will carry us forward as we build the next generation of high-impact, high-performing leaders — especially women. 

Coming from an Indian family full of high expectations and overachievers, it’s been a lifelong journey to take time to notice and celebrate accomplishments. If you struggle with celebrating your own successes, it might be a good exercise for you to make a list of them and notice what you’ve learned along the way. 

Here are a few bits of advice from my personal experience.

Tap Into the Power of Your Passion

When I founded this company, I knew I loved to develop high performers and that I needed a change. The intensity of the travel and work made it hard for me to show up in my life in the way that I wanted to, especially with my 2-year-old son. So, I decided to pursue my passion in a different way.

Starting Newberry Solutions was a mixed bag of excitement and unexpected twists and turns, such as the Great Recession and Hurricane Ike (I was Houston-based at the time). Reminding myself of the purpose and passion behind my business fueled me then and continues to do so today. In fact, it helped me work through two major challenges in 2020: the pandemic and a breast cancer diagnosis. 

Find Ways to Increase Your Impact

In my first few years in business, I underestimated the power of my strengths – which is ironic since I constantly coach leaders on how to tap into theirs. Once you notice what you do well and how you consistently do it, you can leverage your strengths to create a bigger ripple effect. 

We’ve figured out what helps us develop strong leaders, and more than 75% of our clients get promoted. Now if that isn’t motivation to have a broader reach, I don’t know what is! 

That type of impact has led us down a path I never expected – developing software. In this challenging business environment, we want to provide creative solutions. Coaching is a powerful solution but not easy to scale affordably. But through technology you can scale what makes coaching work. That’s the secret sauce behind New Lens®, our online platform designed to bring the benefits of coaching to more leaders and make leadership development more affordable and accessible to all levels.  

We’re on the path to success with several Fortune 500 clients, so please reach out if you want to see if New Lens can help your company.

Be Intentional

At Newberry Solutions, we focus on what gives us positive energy and have used that to guide our evolution. What brings you joy? If you’ve lost sight of it, it may be time to recharge and reflect. 

One thing that brings me joy is to make a difference by thinking and playing big. This is reflected in the Fortune 500 and global brands we serve and the platforms like the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and Fast Company that we use to share leadership strategies and tools. 

But our success at Newberry Solutions isn’t all about us. We are all about using our skills and experience to elevate others and give back. As a member of the board and the Orchid Giving Circle at Texas Women’s Foundation, I’m so proud of the POWER Leadership Forum we hosted to develop the next generation of AAPI women and support nonprofits (engaging over 800 women and raising almost $600,000 in grants since 2021). My passion also extends to United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, the Jane Nelson Institute for Women's Leadership at Texas Woman’s University, and the George W. Bush Presidential Center Women’s Initiative Fellowship Program.

Smell the Roses

While I’ve learned from the challenges over the past 14 years, the high points —including the invitation to join the Forbes Coaches Council and multiple awards (from the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and Dallas Business Journal, among others) — continue to motivate me to reach higher because they signal that something is working.

Today, it seems even harder to predict what lies ahead. But I do know this: If we continue to move toward our vision one step at a time, we will see big results. I believe that for my business. And I believe that for you, too.