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Dawn Marie Lamonica
EXECUTIVE COACH | SPEAKER | RETREATS
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Prime Leadership & Performance Reviews
Issue 03. January 2024
Hello my friends
I promise this one will be shorter! I take on ALL feedback and cannot thank you enough for the time you have spent providing your thoughts - keep it coming!
It is review time and I will shortly be releasing a Free PDF guide on how to approach (or cope) with the season (both before and after these harder conversations).
If you find these newsletters useful I would be SO grateful if you sent the new PRIME NEWSLETTER page to colleagues, peers or work-mates. It is a working a progress!
Sidenote - I cannot tell you how much the tech was NOT fun to learn on this latest endeavor – I damn near put 15 years on my age - but I refuse to give up (tech continues to be my nemesis….just call my Sisyphus!)
COMMUNITY
We are stronger in numbers.
My aim here is to consistently inspire community, connections, sharing wisdom and being BOLD.
I hope to catalyze new ways of thinking and provide actionable tips so that you can have a greater impact at work whilst STILL protecting and improving your health. (None of us are spring chickens, but GOSH I do love our Peacock Feathers).
It isn’t only about providing insights that will have you negotiating better and earning more (although this peacock DOES love money - NOTHING wrong with that - money gives us more options).
It’s ALSO about providing a platform where you begin to have:
➞ more connections with the RIGHT women (women who want change)
➞ more time
➞ better health
➞ more self-awareness (why you do the things you do and what could be holding you back)
HELPFUL TECH TOOLS
Learning AI is intimidating (BELIEVE ME I GET IT)– but this beast is here to stay and you can fight it, you can fear it, or you can leverage the tool to advance your career and your options for advancement. (Plus it will save you time).
Here are three free tutorials that I think you can handle! You GOT THIS!
Tip – break it up – 10-15 minutes max a day and build from there.
➞ A Crash Course on Chat GPT for Beginners by Adrian Twarog
➞ 10 ChatGPT Life Hacks by Hayls World (she is annoying with her happy-go-lucky-ness – but give her a shot – she is VERY clever).
➞ Introduction to Prompt Engineering for Generative AI by Ronnie Sheer
MINDSET
Two reminders:
➺Do NOT waste your time and energy on things that are OUTSIDE OF YOUR CONTROL.
I struggle with this (massively) myself. This is a tenant from stoicism (see my last newsletter for one of the BEST books I have ever read on the topic).
My point - before you get sucked into an energy vacuum (powered by a nuclear plant) – just STOP and ASK yourself – is this issue really within my control? Or does it sit outside of it? Assess. Then move the F on and focus on the items you CAN control.
➺ Stack micro-habits that you can do EVERY day to promote your health and clear the noise and stress you accumulate (sometimes unknowingly).
The noise – the content you consume via incessant screen time and the words you hear being around toxic, sad or miserable people. This quite literally fogs your brain. It is also why you have a hard time falling asleep. (This is a fascinating article by Harvard on screen time and your brain).
The stress - from work, your commute, city life, constant demands - wrecks medieval havoc on your nervous system, your cortisol levels and yes, your belly fat (don’t worry I have it too).
Micro-habit examples (think = tiny changes, consistently)
➞ Less alcohol
➞ 10–15-minute walk
➞ Box method breathing before meeting with your passive aggressive work colleague that deserves a slap
➞ Soft yellow lighting 30 minutes before bed and listen to the Headspace app – Wind Downs with Nature - as you fall asleep or just get onto Spotify and listen to rain or water. This will help with the nonsense your brainwaves are doing at night.
➞ If you need that chocolate chip cookie (I FEEL YOU) - eat it before 4pm when your metabolism all but stops.
SPEAKING OF SISYPHUS, PERFORMANCE REVIEWS
Give yourself some GRACE and know when to stop pushing the boulder so you can catch your breath.
Let me repeat. CATCH YOUR BREATH.
Many of you are managers of teams or just on the cusp of becoming managers.
You may be managing in environments where there is:
➞ Low Morale
➞ High Staff turnover
➞ Frustrated investors, Colleagues, Executive Committees
The Christmas sparkle has faded and people may feel down about their review or pay.
FIRST STEP:
Do NOT underestimate the vital importance of moving your body every day to combat the stress and tension in the office. And I MEAN MOVE. Take the stairs 4 flights 2x a day. MOVE the tension OUT of your body.
THEN:
- Be authentic – connect with the people you are managing and BE YOURSELF. Find a common ground
- Actively listen
- Show you give a damn
Now here is the tricky thing – I want you to do the SAME EXACT THING for YOURSELF.
[GASP - Pause for dramatic effect]
Let you be YOU, unapologetically.
LISTEN to your gut instinct – your intuition.
SHOW YOURSELF that you care.....about you – that you deserve 10 minutes where you are NOT giving to ANYONE ELSE – 10 minutes without the kids or your husband or your boss asking anything from you where you can just be still and quiet for a moment.
If you are coming more from the standpoint of ‘receiver of review’ and your review went down like an episode of Game of Thrones, Season 1 – then check out some of my latest Linkedin posts and stay tuned for the Freebie - as I will announce it on LINKEDIN.
4 SCIENCE BACKED WAYS TO EARN TRUST FROM YOUR TEAM
1. Own it – When you make a mistake – own the dang mistake. Lead by example and be the first to admit mistakes within your team. This cultivates transparency and honesty in those you manage and then when they screw up (which they will, they are human too) – you will have a higher chance of learning about it and getting ahead of it before it snowballs into an avalanche.
2. Listen ACTIVELY – ask one or two questions BEFORE giving your opinion. This sets the example that listening is MORE important than speaking. It signals that other people’s opinions are valued. This is VITAL in an industry (e.g. Finance) where people talk over each other constantly and interrupt each other.
3. Stay OPEN: Create an environment where new ideas, unconventional thought, unpopular opinions, fresh perspectives – can be discussed. Spark Innovation. What do you think Chat GPT was a few years ago? An unconventional idea. Sparks of creativity will often be the runway for momentum.
4. Be Vulnerable – say when you do NOT know something or if you haven’t slept properly in 3 days because your kid is sick. Encourage members of your team to say the same. Vulnerability is a MASSIVE strength (just listen or read any of the research by Brene Brown – my hero). Vulnerability is NOT a weakness.
BOOKS TO READ
Drive by Daniel Pink – this is one of the smartest books I've read on what motivates us. Pink backs up his assertions with a TON of scientific research. He argues that high performance and satisfaction at work, and at home—is tied to a deeply human need to:
➞ direct our own lives,
➞ learn and create new things, and
➞do better by ourselves and our world
I won't give you another book - but I will give you a cheat sheet of 400 books on money and investments read by quite a clever investment banker with almost 800K followers on YouTube.
Hot tip - skip ahead to minute 2:20 if you don't want to hear the basics.
QUESTIONS FOR YOU
What are you learning this week?
What are you CREATING?
If you don’t have time to read DRIVE because you barely have time to pee – then use Blinkist or Headway and get that book into your head in 15 minutes. (But remember that reading is better for you and that noise-brain issue I mentioned above!)
Closing Note
Go and support another woman today.
Tell her she is doing a flipping amazing job, compliment her outfit, tell a strong woman she is brilliant. I did this with a complete stranger on LINKEDIN the other day because her content was so damn good (she is a speaker) and she replied immediately saying how much it made her day because she was getting absolutely pummeled at work.
You are the FRONT LINE OF DEFENSE - you are PRIME.
You are standing at the battle line (and I promise you, I KNOW it is a battle).
Remember to lift up each other’s armor.
I hope this newsletter has brightened your day.
Keep the spark going – keep that flame on…. Even when it darkens and the wind is relentless.
