What Leaders and Olympians have in common. Three ways to awaken your Inner Olympian.

By Gabriela Müller Mendoza – ©2016 Powerful Change Coaching & Training International

The Rio Games are finally here! I will soon travel there to watch some of the best athletes in the world in action and see how they inspire the world with their endurance and drive. I will also work with outstanding leaders in sport management to create a positive impact. Before I go, let me share how YOU can discover your Inner Olympian and create the best results for you and your team. I truly believe we can all unleash the power of our talent, drive and passion to achieve our boldest goals!

In my 14 years experience as a communications and leadership coach working with leaders in sports and business, I’ve championed sport as a unique way of having a positive impact on society. To date, my work has taken me to 76 countries and I’ve coached both Olympians and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Did you know that 95% of Fortune 500 top executives participated in athletics/sports in high school?

So what can we learn from Olympians? It’s possible that we, as leaders and professionals in our field, can develop what it takes to be an “Olympian” in our organizations and societies. Just as the majority of business leaders can learn a great deal from elite athletes, it’s true that professional sportsmen and women have the ingredients to become great leaders in business and society.

There are outstanding parallels between high performance sportsmen/women and leadership. To me, there are 3 of these parallels that are essential:

Grit. Grit is even stronger than resilience. It is the stubborn refusal to quit. It includes the strongest commitment to finish what you start, to rise from setbacks, to dust off after a fall, to want to improve and succeed. A person with grit undertakes repeated and sometimes unpleasant practice in order to do so. Over and over. Athletes do so. Roger Federer, perhaps the best male tennis player that this sport has seen, said after a recent defeat: “This loss only fuels my desire to go back to the practice courts and come back even stronger”. Grit and a sense of high resilience is something that great leaders develop after times of trouble to get back on track and overcome challenges.

Focus on your strengths. We live in a society that often fosters support and offers help to reduce or cope with weaknesses. Though in fact, further development of our talent can actually give us a competitive advantage. Serena Williams, the most successful woman in tennis today says, “Success in sport has nothing to do with luck. Stick to your goal and work hard”. In leadership this principle applies too. There are no shortcuts to true success and great leadership.

Listen. Keep listening. Professional athletes listen to the people who support them and are open to feedback from people who share their vision and commitment (coaches, mentors, teammates, etc.). As a leader you can’t afford to stop listening. In fact, statistics indicate that the higher up you rise in an organization, the less feedback you will get. Sometimes hierarchy makes people find it riskier or uncomfortable to give feedback. So our job as leaders and professionals is to continue to listen, stay open to what is shared and take it into account. That’s essential for Olympians to play in the highest leagues. Eliminating our blind spots gives us more chances for development.

Now, as I pack my bags to venture forth in this amazing experience at the Rio Olympic Games, I leave you with a quote by Muhammad Ali: “Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them a desire, a dream, a vision.“ – What’s yours?

Ready, steady…RIO!

 

 

 

Gabriela Müller Mendoza

Executive & Organizational Communications Coach –Trainer- Speaker

Global Leadership Specialist – Diversity and Inclusion in Organizations

“Unlocking full potential and dissolving barriers to excellence”

Bern, Switzerland

www.powerful-change.com

Twitter @gabrielamueller 

 

ONE thing you can Stop doing to impact your results!

STOP Taking notes in meetings.

By Gabriela Müller Mendoza – Executive Coach & Diversity Specialist

www.powerful-change.com ©2016

My coachee, Anne*, shares with us this story. Anne is a senior advisor in a large IT leading firm. She told me how frustrated she was because her senior management overlooked her again for the promotion she’s long been working for.

Besides meeting her business goals and working extra hours, she spent months performing extra activities outside of her job role, such as meeting with junior colleagues who were looking for career advice. She coached several new trainees. She even regularly helped colleagues improve their skills. She volunteered to organize the team’s Christmas party, as well as helped out and catered for meetings. She also proudly told me how she was the first to volunteer to take notes and minutes during important meetings. In her own words “She had tried it all”. Yet, she didn’t get the result she was expecting; to be seen as a WOW-team player with outstanding performance. To her surprise, her promotion was put aside to be reviewed “in the future”.

Why is this? As an executive coach I very often hear similar stories. Let’s take a look at some facts and statistics. A study by New York University (psychologist M. Heilman) reveals that displaying altruistic behavior in a work environment benefits men, while the same behavior hurts women. The study scenario: men and women were asked to rate employees who offer, or not, to stay overtime to help a colleague. What do you think the outcome was? When both the man and woman declined to stay late, the woman was rated 12% less favorably than the man. Even more interesting is the finding that if a man decides to stay late and help, he gets rated more favorably by a good 14% over his female colleagues. Conclusion: after providing identical work-related altruism, a man’s chances to be promoted and offered important projects, raises, and bonuses are higher. Likewise, experience and research show that women get the opposite effect: by volunteering or accepting undervalued assignments such as planning parties, ordering food, and recording notes, women tend to miss out on significant career opportunities.

In light of this, let’s talk about a concrete tip that may impact your outcomes today. Stop taking notes in meetings… for two main reasons:

Presence vs. Details. When you are sitting in a meeting with your colleagues and bosses and you are the one taking notes most of the time, you simply won’t look like a contributor with presence and ideas. If taking notes is not part of your job description, this simple act visually makes you look like you’re the secretary, or a helper. Don’t get me wrong, helping others out is important, though not when you become the regular helper and doer for these sorts of tasks. It prevents you from being seen as a powerful person with real value to add. I know the intention behind taking accurate notes is centered for many women around the wish to be conscientious, thorough, wanting to keep track, follow up etc. At the same time, always taking detailed notes doesn’t really help you in the long run.

Writing is not listening. If anyone is busy taking notes, that person is paying attention mainly to information and details, not to people. Her attention is trapped in getting the notes right. That person isn’t really listening for a chance to contribute. Taking notes is one of the main reasons statistically why women don’t speak up in meetings. Persistent behavior accumulates and builds up perception and reputation.

Research shows that we women tend to do lots of work that is invisible, whether it’s taking minutes, organizing side-projects, mentoring people behind the scenes, or catering offices events. Although this work may be important it doesn’t impact the bottom line. These are things a woman gets neither credit for, nor visibility. So ask yourself if you are focusing your work on activities that a helper would do, or actions taken by a high value contributor or contender.

Now think about your next meeting. Remember, writing few important keywords can help you; though taking actual meeting notes, not really. If you wish to foster a solid presence and perception of the expert you are in the field, let your value shine, be present, and during meetings stop taking notes today.

 

Gabriela Müller Mendoza

Executive & Organizational Communications Coach –Trainer- Speaker

Global Leadership Specialist & FEMALE Talent Coach in Organizations.

Bern, Switzerland

www.powerful-change.com

Twitter @gabrielamueller

 

* Names are changed to protect identity

 

 

 

#IWD2016

CELEBRATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2016

 

I’m honored to have to the opportunity to lead the upcoming Leadership Forum.  IOC published http://en.olympic.cn/news/olympic_news/2016-03-09/2356378.html

We used #IWD2016 and several other channels on twitter (#PledgeForParity ) to resonate a powerful message to accelerate this process and gain momentum.

To all the great Women and Men who support Gender Equality and equal opportunities for all in sports and in society, this is a great celebration!

Sincerely,

Gabriela Müller Mendoza

Professional leadership Coach Speaker Trainer  

#IWD2016

Keynote – Swiss HLG Winter Conference 2016

PERSONAL BRANDING AND EFFECTIVE PRESENCE

Gabriela Müller Mendoza CEO of Powerful Change Coaching International is confirmed as keynote speaker and session leader for this world-class event in one of the most beautiful locations in Switzerland. Attendees from around the globe and main stakeholders in the Health and Pharmaceutical industries will be present. Leaders who can make a positive difference for their employees, customers and the world. The aim is more than simply networking, it’s about how bold leadership can show up, set a positive tone, inspire others and add value.

About Personal Branding.

• What do people remember about you when you leave the room after a first interaction? and over time?
• Would you like to positively influence how others perceive you in a powerful authentic way and in only few seconds?
• How can you show a solid personal presence and positively impact your outcomes while adding real value?
• What are the new rules of the game of effective networking?

If you think these are important questions, this session is for you!

Aimed at professionals in organizations, team/project leaders and professionals who wish to unleash their potential and achieve optimal results.

HLG Conference Site

More about Gabriela Müller Mendoza as speaker? contact us info – at- powerful-change.com

HOT Business TOPICS 2016

If you want to know more about the SIX HOT TOPICS and core issues to tackle for leaders, managers and organizations in 2016, then you are in the right place!

We live and work in a fast-paced interconnected world. Boundaries are being redefined through technologies, demographic changes and political shifts, with societal and economic consequences. More than ever, governments, citizens and corporations need to share information and insights, and generate innovations on how best to navigate the future.  I’ve been invited to speak to several conferences already in 2016. As speaker (for www.powerful-change.com) it is key for me to research around the core themes and topics tackling issues world-wide in 2016 – a year that many have called “the year of Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution”. I figured these Hot Topics for 2016 are important for you too if you are in business today, and wish to be in business tomorrow.

1. Employee engagement

It’s not difficult for the system to remind managers that they need to review or appraise a member of their team. The current statistics show that over 65% of employees don’t fully trust their management (Ref. Forbes 2014). There is lots of potential to be tapped into if and when managers truly lead, listen and recognize team members, and increase transparency within the company.

Employee Engagement in 2016

2 .Encouraging leadership over management

We know poor management impacts productivity in negative ways. Good leadership can help retain well-qualified and experienced individuals. If there is a right moment when managers are called to see beyond their plans and business objectives and truly motivate, inspire, challenge and lead their employees, that moment is now. A challenge? Yes. An opportunity? Yes.

3. Business case for Diversity and true Inclusion, gender parity

Companies that see beyond the old-model of profit and traditional team creation, see greater levels of inclusion within their organizations as a key lever to drive innovation. We see this as one of the greatest opportunities in 2016: the magic lies within the right mix of Diversity and Inclusion. Developing an inclusive culture is an essential condition for an engaged, high performing workforce. Statistically in many regions, real Gender Parity has shown only a 3% rise in the past 10 years; though this fundamental topic is gaining an important momentum in several industries and sectors today. The business cases for gender equality is clear – read the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report of this year. So, what kind of culture is your organization fostering when it comes to diversity and inclusion?

The business case for Diversity and Inclusion is proven and in 2016 great companies will consolidate outcomes.

 

4. Working Agile – embracing change and adapting effectively

Organizations that are receptive to new, flexible ways of working and, where applicable, provide individuals with the option to work from home, are seeing positive results. Companies in different sectors realize that they are more productive if they allow their staff to work remotely – technological advances and reduced overheads make this more possible than ever. However, leaders need to be mindful of the culture that working remotely can create from two aspects: A) Individuals over compensate and work over time because they can stay connected while traveling/resting/ being at home, and B) Stay mindful of the fact that human contact / face-to-face communication is also key to success too. Interested in this topic for 2016? Watch this TED talk.

5. Transparency and Governance

Business leaders, board members and executives are feeling increasing pressure to increase communication, transparency and exercise good open governance in companies. They are held more directly accountable to the stakeholders that they govern or report to.  The open transparency of social media, interconnectivity, shareholder activism groups and lawsuits make this an era of compliance in an attempt to combat fraud and distrust. Governance is scrutinized more and more and we find ourselves working in companies that are becoming accustomed to a “fishbowl” effect.

6. Integration of Millennials in teams and management

Not all millennials are all young 20-somethings fresh out of college. By 2016 the earliest of this generation will be around 30-33, they will hold roles in middle management, expertise leadership, or will be executives. Since talent management will continue to be a top priority for 2016, attracting a generation of innovators and fresh perspectives is key to success. These young, socially-motivated generation of millennials don’t necessarily see or build walls between government, non-profits and business; as a matter of fact they ask why there need to be any walls at all. This generation is speaking up, taking a stand, stretching, looking at the rest of the world, asking relevant new questions and expecting/generating new business models. Is your organization ready for them in 2016?

How ready you think you and your company are to embrace these SIX core topics in 2016?

Gabriela Müller Mendoza  -Global Leadership Diversity Specialist – “Unlocking full potential and dissolving barriers to excellence”

Executive & Organizational Communications Coach –Trainer- Speaker

 Kramgasse 58 CH. 3011 Bern, Switzerland

www.powerful-change.com

Twitter @gabrielamueller 

 

3 WAYS TO KICK BOURNOUT AWAY

Three ways to kick Burnout Away

One of the most feared symbols nowadays. Yes, low-battery on our smart-phones. According to a growing body of global research, more people suffer nowadays from “nomophobia” – the fear of being without mobile phone contact (Wikipedia)

If we checked our OWN personal batteries with such enthusiasm and frequency, BURNOUT wouldn’t be the number 1 problem that professionals and organizations face today when it comes to their staff.

Let me ask you a question: How full or empty is your personal battery right now? And at what percentage would you choose to “recharge” your personal battery? 20 – 5% or less?

A study released in April this year, revealed the effects of burnout in mid to high level managers of Fortune 500 companies: 72% of respondents were stressed, 67% considered switching careers, 85% said their job intruded on their personal life, and 42% lost sleep over work.

Employee burnout is one of the top three threats to any individual’s career and health. Burnout decreases quality of care and service in business and customer satisfaction sinks. It also increases the chance for errors and mistakes on the job, risks, staff turnover, as well as employee divorce, drug and alcohol addictions and suicide rates.

Nr. 1 challenge for professionals today

So what can we do about it? Whilst organizations bear lots of the responsibility of the source of this modern disease, I’d like to mention three ways that WE can kick Burnout away:

1. Don’t prioritize what’s on your schedule; instead schedule your priorities (as Mr. Steve Covey once said). Really, it’s about defining priorities at work and life before you allocate time for anything on your calendar. So instead of shuffling things around in your schedule, hoping to get stuff done, ask yourself this question: “What are the things that I will have to do today to be productive and successful?” then go ahead and allocate time slots. This also means accepting that some things will be dropped or put off.
2. Return to your roots. You probably have people and places that were already in your life, before your

   

   Fullfilling activities that re-energize you

   big goal and busy life. The familiar and comfortable people and surroundings that help fill your cup of energy. This doesn’t only include people, and can be favorite books, poetry, sport, songs, movies, places. Going back to these roots can be tremendously positive. Of course, doing it with regularity (and not only once) can prove effective with long lasting effects.

3. Honor your boundaries. Knowing what your boundaries are and being able to say “No“ are by far some of the most powerful skills to have to get a hold of your time, energy and a long term cure to burnout. Fear, guilt and self-doubt are big potential pitfalls in this point. We might fear the other person’s response if we set and enforce our boundaries. We might wonder if we even deserve to have boundaries in the first place. The truth is that boundaries aren’t just a sign of  healthy professional or personal relationships; they’re a sign of self-respect. So give yourself the permission to set boundaries and work to preserve them.

   That’s why in any flight, air-attendants give the security announcement as follows: “In case of change in the cabin pressure, oxygen masks will drop. MAKE SURE YOU PLACE THE MASK ON YOURSELF FIRST, BEFORE OFFERING ASSISTANCE TO OTHERS”. The same applies in life and at work. Recharging our personal batteries is key!

Gabriela Mueller Mendoza Coach Diversity Inclusion Gravitas Leadership

Recharge Personal Battery
Powerful Change Coaching http://www.powerful-change.com

WIN Conference Rome 2015 – Forum Speaker Workshop Leader Gabriela Mueller

Forum and Workshop Leaders at Win Conference 2015 in RomeWIN Conference ROme 2015

Powerful Change Coaching International

Gabriela Müller Mendoza (Founder of Powerful Change Coaching International) will contribute to WIN Women’s International Networking Annual Event by being a Forum Speaker and a Workshop Leader. This in one of the largest and most important event for Women and female leadership globally. This year it will be hosted at the amazing city of Rome, Italy.

Sept 30, Oct 1,2,3,  2015.Inspire the World with insight, grace and action in Rome!

See you at WIN Conference in Rome!

Reserve your place!

Gabriela Müller Mendoza Forum Speaker & Workshop leader at WIN Conference ROME

Iceland is doing something right & smart!

A recently experience I lived in Iceland is still fresh in my mind and heart. On an Icelandic summer day there

Gabriela Mueller Mendoza Powerful Change Inspirally Iceland

was excitement in the air. Global leaders came together in one of the most marvelous places in the Nordic area, the Harpa Music Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland. Change agents and trail-makers from many corners of the world came together to explore and leap into action at the Global Summit to Close the Gender Gap – Inspirally 2015 http://inspiral.ly/WE2015  The summit’s spirit called for presence and support of global leaders, thinkers and activists such as Pat Mitchell, Geena Davis, Mrs. C. Lagarde from IMF, Dr. Michal Kimmel, Tiffany Dufu, UN representatives, Johanna Sigurdardottir, and government of Iceland represented by Prime Minister Sigmundur G. Sveinsson Iceland’s foreign Affairs Minister plus about 400 participants who came from 15 countries; it was inspiring to be there, alomg with my business partner and dear friend Natasha Lozano.

Global Summit Closing Gender Gap @Iceland                       Inspirally 2015 Written by Powerful Change Coaching

The engine and master mind of this effort is the amazing Halla Tómasdóttir an extraordinary organizational development professional who builds bridges among people and minds to achieve extraordinary results. Halla’s also a friend, a TED Speaker, mother, daring entrepreneur – a co-founder of Audur Capital (a financial services and private equity company), key founder of Reykjavik University. She’s a smart woman who strikes the balance between likeability and competence like few can. Halla and her incredible team brought us all together; we all came from areas like government, economy, education, media, policy-makers under one roof to trigger change in the world and figure out how we can all help close the global gender gap.

Iceland has set the tone in many ways on global gender equality. It has set the bar at the highest point where we can see equality today in the world, it’s  nr. 1 in the Gender Gap Index by WEF 2014.

So what is Iceland’s doing well today?

• Icelanders work towards equal influence of women and men in decision-making and policy-making in the society
• The strive at gender mainstreaming in all spheres of the society
• They work against pay gap and discrimination and other forms of gender based discrimination
• They put policies and structures in place to enable both women and men to reconcile their work and family life
• They invest in increasing education and awareness-raising on gender equality already from early stages of childhood
• They invest in gender studies and research, and work against gender-based violence and harassment
• They work on changing traditional gender images and working against negative stereotypes regarding the roles of women and men.

• They recognize huge progress and also that there’s still work to be done.
• Wouldn’t it great to import/extract some of these successful best practices from Iceland and adapt accordingly to regions/countries to achieve this purpose? I certainly believe it’s worth the try! Watch out for the next Inspirally Summit on April 15^th – 16^th 2016!

Finally, on the longest day of the year, when the sun literally did not go down, one image stuck to my mind: the picture of men, women and children in the streets of downtown Reykjavik happily celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the Women’s right to vote in their country. Icelanders get that Equality is not only the “right thing” to do, it’s the SMART thing for all.

3 Brilliant Things that may surprise you about Muslim Women!

Who is the person under a Hijab*? (or a niqab or burka- some of the traditional Muslim women’s clothes). Who is really the woman underneath that piece of clothing? Often times their attire may prevent others from seeing beyond who these women may really be. Many of these women are scientists, engineers, doctors, Olympians, warm mothers, bread winners, politicians; entrepreneurs, some of the most amazing people I’ve had the chance to meet.

In the past 7 years; in several of my Empowerment Programs for Women world-wide, I’ve had the honor and the opportunity to work face to face and shoulder to shoulder with Muslim Women. I’ve coached them and trained dozens of them mainly in communication, presentation skills, leadership and mediation; in places that go from Dubai to India, from Germany to Lebanon, from Egypt to Qatar to Angola. Many of them work in Universities, NGOs, corporations, professional networks or are high performing athletes. They get involved not only because they’ve got the academic background needed, they also do it because they want women like themselves to fully participate in their communities, regions, organizations and gain impact with their collective voices. All of them have broken stereotypes and paradigms that – even as a world traveler – I would not have been to leave behind.

I will not generalize; I will only speak about the amazing Muslim Women who I‘ve had the honor to work with. They are so many, they can no longer be called exceptions. They are role models in their communities and countries.

Here are THREE things I’ve learnt from these amazing women and that may surprise you:

1. They are vivid examples of resilience, tenacity, and persistency. They can withstand pressure. They are professionals with capacity to work with challenging situations and people; courage to take a stand, able to handle failures and recover from knockbacks.
2. They don’t shy away from holding authority positions, they exercise leadership, they are influential change-makers. Many of them are able to challenge the status quo as well as to be diplomatic. Authoritative and responsible, with capacity to inspire respect from colleagues – both male and female.
3. They foster strong interpersonal skills, empathy. Many of them have proven to be great connectors, communicators, able to engage others, often using humour and enthusiasm.

Yet, Muslim women in many parts of the world confront the limitations of discrimination and inequality. In fact, 20 of the 25 lowest-ranking countries on the World Economic Forum’s 2014 Gender Gap Index (which ranks women’s participation in society) are Muslim-majority countries. Although these women’s lives are influenced by a complex interaction of religious, cultural, social, economic, political and other factors, Islam has special influence.Regardless of that, the fact is no one would like to be judged or tagged just by a piece of clothing, or by narrow minds. With a little bit more empathy and awareness, we can simply recognize we don’t know what kind of amazing stories, minds and human quality may be before eyes; stay open and you may be surprised! HERE are some of the unforgettable IMAGES I’ve collected in my years of Empowerment and coaching work with these fantastic Muslim women around the World. To all these women: THANKS!

12 Things Successful People Do!

12 THINGS THAT SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE ACTUALLY DO   ————      Check out FLICKR Album 2015

12 Things Successful People Do – Gabriela Mueller Mendoza Powerful Change Coaching

 Think about the most successful persons in your own professional field. What are the things they normally do on daily basis that propel their success?  I’ve had the opportunity to work with thousands of professionals and dozens of organizations for over 13 years on five continents, and made careful observations and collected research in leadership and success. These are the 12 common factors among people who have made a real difference in their area and are considered to be successful.

Beyond money and social status I invite you to expand the concept of “successful people” to those have a drive, the will/ capacity to do something outstanding in their field; who work towards making their boldest and biggest dreams come true and they lead fulfilling lives. Successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do. In a nutshell, these are those 12 things *Successful People do:

1. Successful people set goals and develop plans (accuracy in planning skills may vary, though they have either a daily /weekly plan).
2. Successful people share information and are “connectors” in their network.
3. They give genuine compliments to others (rather than criticize).
4. Successful people don’t talk about people, they rather talk about ideas.
5. Successful people accept responsibility for their failures, plus they forgive others instead of blaming others.
6. They embrace change and adapt. They don’t let fear of change run the show.
7. Successful people give credit to other people (share it) for their victories (instead of taking all credit for achievements).
8. They tend to read every day and keep journals (instead of watching long hours of TV). Similarly most of them keep fit and exercise regularly.
9. They express /exude joy and fulfillment in their own authentic personal way (not necessarily in an extroverted manner) though in general they contribute to conversations with a positive attitude. They do not drain the energy of others.
10. They want others to succeed, instead of (secretly) hoping others will fail.
11. They assert themselves in order to achieve what’s really important to them, while fostering healthy relationships.
12. They continuously learn and explore new perspectives and paths in their field.

As you see some of these top 12 characteristics are very specific and practical, some take more time to observe and identify. Here is a question for you: Which out of those 12 actions and points are part of your day?

* Note: of course not ALL successful people do all 12 things everyday; this is not written on stone. There are though stong commonalities. I encourage you to observe the BEST in your own field and identify these elements as well.

 

Gabriela Müller Mendoza

Executive & Organizational Communications Coach –Trainer- Speaker

Global Leadership Specialist for Multi-cultural Communication & Empowerment in Organizations

“Unlocking full potential and dissolving barriers to excellence”.

www.powerful-change.com