Category Archives: Communication

400 Friends and No One to Call: Breaking through Isolation and Building Community

Relationships, Change, Communication, Creating Community, , ,

Feeling alone and isolated during the coronavirus pandemic and stay at home orders? While social media enables us to make connections with more people than ever before, social isolation is a growing epidemic in the United States. During the pandemic, these feelings of isolation can be exasperated, with feelings of fear and overwhelm taking over. As it turns out, we can have hundreds of “friends” on social media without having any meaningful connections whatsoever.

In episode 84 of Fresh Tracks, author Val Walker shares a two-step process to breaking through isolation, even in this time of self-isolation and the covid-19 pandemic. In environments where we find ourselves struggling to fit-in and hoping to find “our people”, Val provides tips for creating community and lasting connections that add depth, purpose and caring to your life, even while staying safe at home.

Show Notes:
3:45 – Val’s painful discovery of isolation and the shame behind it
8:50 – The difference between isolation and loneliness
11:30 – The one thing we all have in common right now
15:25 – Recognizing it’s time to create Fresh Tracks in your relationships
21:15 – Suggestions on how to begin reaching out
27:05 – The value in creating your tribe rather than finding it
30:50 – Using your five callings to create community

400 Friends and No One to Call: Breaking through Isolation and Building CommunityVal Walker is the author of 400 Friends and No One to Call: Breaking through Isolation and Building Community, which is a book about breaking out of isolation and building friendships, community, and a sense of belonging. Reaching isolated and disadvantaged communities for twenty-four years, she has organized and led support groups, outreach initiatives, and training programs for people living with serious illness, disability, grief, and trauma.

Val’s is a contributing blogger for Psychology Today and her articles and interviews have appeared in publications such as TIME, AARP, Whole Living, Marie Claire, Good Housekeeping, Coping with Cancer, Boston Globe Magazine, Chicago Tribune, McClean’s (Canada).
Learn more at www.ValWalkerAuthor.com

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Harnessing the Natural Laws of Relationships with Jason Lauritsen

Relationships, Communication, Creating Community, Leadership, Sales, , , ,

In episode 77 of Fresh Tracks I speak with Jason Lauritsen about Social Gravity and the Natural Laws of Relationships. We start by discussing the role intentionality plays in relationships and how that is different than manipulation. There is great power in setting an intention when building new relationships and Jason shares with us how to set intentions and give us examples of good intentions vs bad intentions.

Jason shares his number one way to build strong relationships as well as the number one mistake people make when meeting others that sabotages their ability to connect in an authentic way. The truth is that relationships develop one person at a time and taking the time to choose your relationships one by one, rather than accelerating it in a mass setting, is a key to achieving your goals in business and in life. Finally Jason discusses the concept of social capital, which is the value that we have access to in our lives because of the relationships we have with others.

Show Notes:

5:35 – The role intentionality plays in relationships
12:30 – Your peer group and the role in plays in your growth
16:50 – What to do if you don’t have a natural connection with people in key roles professionally
20:45 – 2 Tips for building strong relationships when you are shy
26:10 – What is social capital and how do you build it?
27:45 – Common mistakes to avoid when building intentional relationships
32:00 – How to extend social media relationships into the real world
36:00 – The impact of social gravity

About Jason Lauritsen
Harnessing the Natural Laws of Relationships with Jason LauritsenJason Lauritsen a keynote speaker, author and advisor. He is an employee engagement and workplace culture expert who will challenge you to think differently.
A former corporate Human Resources executive, Jason has dedicated his career to helping leaders build organizations that are good for both people and profits.
Most recently, he led the research team for Quantum Workplace’s Best Places to Work program where he has studied the employee experience at thousands of companies to understand what the best workplaces in the world do differently than the rest.
Jason is the co-author of the book, Social Gravity: Harnessing the Natural Laws of Relationships. Connect with Jason at www.JasonLauritsen.com.

Letting go of Indecision with the Decision Catalyst

Communication, Change, Creating YOUR Life, Employee to Entrepreneur, , ,

In episode 62 I speak with Linda Henman, The Decision Catalyst and founder of Henman Performance Group on how to make smart decisions. Linda shares some common reasons why we struggle when making decisions (particularly the big ones!), and provides insight into what we can do to make the decision-making process easier. Linda also provides solid advice on how each of us can learn to make strong decisions over and over again. In this week’s show you’ll discover specific action steps you can do on your own to become a more confident decision-maker!

Are some of us naturally better at making decisions than others? How would your life change if each time you made a decision you didn’t look back? Linda explores this topic and more as we learn about ourselves and how we make decisions. Do you make decisions from your rational self or your emotional self? Which is better and why? In this week’s show we look at this as well as discuss the role experience and judgement play in decision making.

Show Notes:
3:45 – The REAL reason we don’t make good decisions and how to let go of it for good
7:35 – Tips for recognizing why you are avoiding making a decision
10:45 – The power in making a decision and not looking back
13:40 – How to reduce fear when making a decision
16:00 – Is it important to take the emotion out of the decision making?
19:00 – Why it’s important to recognize when you’ve made good decisions
23:30 – Is a tough baby a sign of future good decision maker?
30:00 – The role self-awareness plays in decision making

Letting go of Indecision with the Decision CatalystAbout Linda Henman
Dr. Linda Henman works with Fortune 500 Companies and small businesses that want to think strategically, grow dramatically, promote intelligently, and compete successfully today and tomorrow. Some of her clients include Emerson Electric, Boeing, Avon and Tyson Foods.

Linda holds a Ph.D. in organizational systems and two Master of Arts degrees in interpersonal communication and organization development and a Bachelor of Science degree in communication. Whether coaching executives or members of the board, Linda offers clients coaching and consulting solutions that are pragmatic in their approach and sound in their foundation—all designed to create exceptional organizations.

She is the author of Challenge the Ordinary, Landing in the Executive Chair, and The Magnetic Boss among other works.

www.henmanperformancegroup.com

The Role of Communicating Strategically in Cutting Fresh Tracks

Communication, ,

In this episode of Fresh Tracks I speak with best-selling author and speaker Dianna Booher about the important and yet often neglected act of communicating strategically. As leaders in our life, business and community, speaking strategically plays an instrumental role in our outcomes, how others perceive us, and our ability to manifest what we desire. Dianna shares best practices for answering important questions when you are caught off guard and teaches us a structure you can always follow to be concise and cover what you need to cover without advance preparation! Dianna also teaches us a 6-step process to becoming a strategic communicator – it’s something all of us can master.

What happens when you walk into a room? Do you command a presence or are you mostly ignored? Dianna shares expert advice on what it means to have a personal presence and helps us evaluate where to spend our time improving our presence. Finally, in this week’s show you’ll learn the number one complaint of senior executives and how to overcome it!

Show Notes:

1:52 – What makes strategic communication different than regular communication?
5:50 – How you can become a strategic speaker
10:10 – Six areas you must succeed in to be a successful entrepreneur
12:00 – The must-know strategic communication structure every Fresh Tracker needs to follow to answer strategically when caught off guard.
15:50 – Learn the number one complaint of senior executives and how avoid the trap
21:00 – What is personal presence? The four categories of personal presence and how they affect your success
24:50 – How to recognize if your personal presence is hurting you rather than helping you

About Diana Booher:

The Role of Communicating Strategically in Cutting Fresh TracksDianna Booher is the bestselling author of 47 books, published in 60 foreign-language editions, with nearly 4 million copies sold. Her personal development topics include leadership communication, executive presence, writing, and life balance.

National media such as Good Morning America, USAToday, The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, Bloomberg, Forbes.com, FOX, CNN, NPR, Success, FastCompany.com, and Entrepreneur have interviewed her for opinions on critical workplace communication issues.

Keynotes, consulting, and training clients include IBM, Exxon Mobil, JP Morgan Chase, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, BP, Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, PepsiCo, Novartis, Honeywell, Merrill Lynch, Department of the Navy, and NASA, just to name a few.

She has been inducted into the Speakers Hall of Fame by the National Speakers Association. Success Magazine has named her to its list of “21 Top Speakers for the 21st Century.” She also appears at #54 on the Cacotopia “Top 200 Most Influential Authors in the World” list (2017).

www.CommunicateLikeALeaderBook.com or www.BooherResearch.com.