Ladies – take note!

You are already awesome.

You don’t need anyone to show you how to feel better about yourself. You don’t need anyone to neuter other people’s opinions to shine.

Since the beginning of western civilisation there have been awesome women shining like an incredible beacon. Women have shaped the destiny of the world from positions of leadership since records of time began.

I see this daily working with my female client base. The simple fact is that the promotion of women in any organisation where money changes hands to create cashflow heavily impacts the top line substantially for the better.

Well trained women in sales teams outstrip their equally well trained male counterparts. Women possess skills to see, hear and experience what is really going on with prospective clients whilst most male sales people are still droning on about “benefits”.

I speak as someone trained in sales by exceptional men and exceptional women. Whenever I have been in a difficult conversation with a waivering prospect I have 2 very special women in my life who I always call and who always give me exactly what I need to help that prospect make the right decision. The right decision doesn’t always mean that the end up working with me. These 2 women stand in their power beautifully, effortlessly and ethically.

Assuming you remain curious about my articles you will find out more about these 2 women as I put finger to keyboard.

Women have an ability to be present for so many people in their lives. Alas the only person they often fail to be present for is themselves. Women of brilliance who find themselves disappearing when opportunity to be brilliant appears. Women who have so much to say and so much to give and find their voices quelled within their own bodies when the chance to speak arrives.

Over the last 3 decades I have been working with women who are having those kinds of experiences and who recognise that they have everything they need already inside of them. Most importantly they are women who reject the victim status and scarcity mentality that pervade many of their organisations and the coaching that they received before we connected

It was nearly 20 years ago when the Royal Bank of Scotland rang the company I was then working with and asked me to come work with one of their women. At that time they had no women on their board and were keen to promote and be seen as being “modern”. This brilliant woman was exceptional in her role. However she had developed a habit that the company was beginning to find as embarrassing as she was.

That habit was this. She would feint every time she had to represent the company publicly from a stage. Presenting from a stage has become the primary method of creating visibility and establishing the credibility that leads to C Level promotion. Speaking to a group offers the opportunity to deliver your values at a subconscious level to that group. When it happens that those with decision making powers are in that audience and their values chime with the ones you are resonating from the stage, then promotions come easily.

For my client feinting was the method by which she would get herself out of that opportunity. At a conscious level she believed it was about “being found out” as a fraud. The truth could not have been more further away.

My client had already seen 12 coaches, approved by RBS, before we met. Each coach had concentrated on working with her on the content and getting comfortable with the content of her speeches. None of his made any difference. The call that brought us together came the day after she had dropped to the floor on her way up to deliver an award during and awards dinner. There wasn’t even a speech to deliver that time.

It took us less than 30 minutes of working together to establish that every time she thought of standing up she would lift her diaphragm and hold her breathe. I realised then that her habit was to hold her breathe as a response to the extreme stress of presenting. She held her breathe to the point that her own brain had to shut her down, make her feint, in order that she would carry on breathing.

The focus of our next few months together was breathing and showing her how to breathe when she steps into extreme out of comfort zone experiences. At no point did we touch on her content. She took the time to breathe deeply before heading onstage and she shone. Then she made the amazing discovery that she loved being on the stage and loved presenting. So, she volunteered to do more. She ended up doing 3 times as many presentations as was expected of her in her role and was promoted to board room by 6 months of our work together.

Her bottom line discovery was this. She had thought it was all about how little she had to give from that stage. It turned out it was all about how much she had to give.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”

Marianne Williamson

A return to that which we love benefits each individual and each organisation at both top and bottom level. Increased visibility in charge of the messages which is delivers, both conscious and unsconscious results in better quality sales more often.

Women – You are already awesome.

I am not here to help feel better.

I am here to help you impact the world the way you love, brand yourself as a force for good and lift your organisation higher, all at the same time. All through your voice and how you show up when its right that you do.

Women – You Are Awesome.