, ,

Remote Working and Gen Z’s Threshold Moment

Gen Z male working remotely
Gen Z blend their on and off-line worlds seamlessly – a huge advantage in the remote-working context

Depending on when you are reading this, the outbreak of COVID-19, also known as the Coronavirus, may have already been brought under control. Or, it may still be on the rise, disrupting global supply chains, rocking economic sectors from health to hospitality and shutting schools, universities and places of leisure worldwide.

And just like the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 were for Millennials (born between 1981-96), this pandemic is likely to be the Threshold Moment – the moment when everything changed – for members of Generation Z (born after 1996).

And you know what? They’re much more ready than we may have realised.

Say what you will about Gen Z – they’re anxious, they’re socially awkward, they’re clueless about history and cultural norms of even a few decades ago, they have zero understanding of professional norms.

Such commentary typically comes from their bosses and managers as they enter the workforce. But Gen Z are also completely at ease in conducting their lives from the mobile dashboard. Seamlessly moving from platform to platform to execute and keep a multitude of tasks in play.

Given the global turn to remote working in the interests of safety and limiting the spread of the Coronavirus – another Threshold Point (this time for all of us) – Gen Z’s ease in adapting their personal spaces into ultra-targeted and efficient command centres, will be important to learn from.

Of course, in a multi-generational workplace, every cohort has things to teach and offer to the others in terms of guidance, leadership and experience. But for those of us who have a Gen Z colleague, it may already be time for them to take the lead, showing us how to preserve efficiency, productivity and focus while working remotely, far away from the emptied offices.

Because Generation Z’s Threshold Moment, is likely to become the new normal.

/by
, ,

Generation Z Consumers – How Do They Prefer To Shop?

Generation Z consumer
Gen Z’s shopping tastes are distinct from Millennials’

If you’re a 21st-century business, the buying preferences of Millennials (also known as Gen Y, born between 1981-1996, according to the Pew Research Center) are most likely known to you.

Millennials, by this point, are well-known for preferring to invest in experiences over traditional purchases. They initiated the sharing economy, as a result of being debt-burdened by expensive university degrees, while delaying home-buying, marriage and parenthood that were the traditional adult milestones of earlier generations.

But how much do you know about the shopping habits of Generation Z (also known as Gen Z, iGen or Homelanders, born after 1997)… whose 2020 purchasing power has been estimated at over 140 billion dollars?

The fact is, Gen Z, are not parting with their cash in the same ways as Gen Y, and their distinct characteristics and preferences, and these deserve and demand to be acknowledged in turn.

For one thing, as identified by cloud-based CRM company Salesforce, Gen Z are less willing to pay extra for higher customer service. It’s important, but not so important to the Zs as it is to the Millennials.

For another, Gen Z are MORE demanding than Millennials when it comes to true innovation. Gen Y definitely supports products that are unique, disruptive and break the mould – but Gen Z has an even higher standard of what that looks like. Again, unsurprising – these are the guys who grew up with YouTube and Netflix and can’t remember a time before smart devices and the internet, whereas older members of Gen Y can still remember pre-cellular phones and analogue video players.

Also… cynical Gen Z individuals don’t trust brands easily. They can smell hype and manipulation a mile away. Just because your company SAYS it does something or has a worthy mission, doesn’t mean they’ll believe you that quickly. Earning their trust as customers means the value you say you offer had better be demonstrable in practice. Because Gen Z are more cynical pragmatists than idealistic optimists, like their Millennial predecessors.

Having said that, Gen Z take Millennials’ social concern to a whole new level. To win Gen Z loyalty as customers, a brand will rise and fall on its integrity, its willingness to support diversity and in approaching its potential generation Z clients as individuals, and not, as Millennials prefer, as a creative tribe.

More consuming differences include Gen Z’s frugal, budget-conscious mindset, their opting for in-store over online purchases (so they can be sure they’re buying a value-for-money product) and their preference for influencers who are ‘real’ people, not necessarily celebrities.

A final thought on Gen Z consumers: getting to the point. When it comes to selling to these digital natives, it’s even more important than it is for Millennial customers. Gen Z’s attention span is 8 seconds (versus Millennials’ 12 seconds), so elaborate, glossy ad campaigns are less likely to engage them.

To re-cap: understanding how Gen Z want you to interact with them – whether you are a service or product provider, or their educator, mentor or employer – will be key if you want to engage effectively with this enterprising and independent generation.

Learn more about my mentoring services here and here.

/by
, ,

The Millennial Code: Gen Y’s Quest for Purpose

“Put your smartphone down, when I’m speaking to you!”

Did you assume the hypothetical person with the phone was… a young person? Perhaps even… a Millennial?

Also known as a member of Gen Y, born (roughly 1981-95), stereotyped as self-absorbed young professionals, preferring to edit Instagram photos than pick up the phone to clients?

(That really IS a stereotype, by the way.)

To answer the question… the person absorbed in using their smartphone could have been of any age.

From a Millennial to a Gen Zer (the generation born roughly 1996 to 2000), to Gen Xers, Boomers and members of the Silent Generation, too.

Almost EVERY generation by this point, whether in or out of the office, has discovered the benefits of, and formed a certain level of dependency on, their smart device of choice.

Why? Chiefly because of the convenience such devices provide, but even more because of the connection, and the empowering feeling of having a say in shaping that connection.

Which brings me to the point of this post… Purpose. More specifically: Millennials’ demand for and near-religious devotion to it, whether in or out of the workplace.

So great is their need to find purpose in their work, accuse their critics, that Gen Y will walk away from perfectly well-paid, stable jobs, leaving expensive vacancies for HR to re-fill after spending only a relatively short period of time with a company.

Yet… if we are honest… EVERY generation of workers appreciates meaningful employment, and for their efforts to have a purpose beyond profit. Why? Because this is a very human need, no matter how old or young we may be.

It’s just that… unlike Gen Y, older generations were born in more authoritarian and less-technologically-empowered times. Eras where you earned your dues over time, and a J.O.B. was perfectly acceptable – even if all it did was pay the rent and put food on the table, and wasn’t going to win you a Pulitzer prize or reinvent the toothbrush.

Millennials, on the other hand, were brought up with a very different picture of the world and their role in it.

Gen Y were taught by parents and teachers that they would change the world, and were groomed to expect to be agents of innovation. So, given their relative youth and ambition, not to mention, their ease in creatively collaborating with peers, finding ‘purpose’ in their work is a ‘luxury’ they believe they can afford, while staying in a job without ‘purpose’ appears a far greater threat to their future longterm.

This can certainly be a headache for HR departments, tasked with filling job positions that might have been retained by recruits of older generations, not to mention, spending time and money retraining replacements.

But it’s just as much an important warning sign to a company itself, that perhaps it’s not as aligned with its original vision as it needs to be.

Or perhaps that it needs a different ‘Why’ in Simon Sinek’s words, beyond merely turning a profit.

After all, Millennials are not just potential employees, but customers and consumers, too. Their perspectives on what is important, their values and their unique approach to work and life, can neither be ignored nor dismissed.

Meanwhile, retention headache or not, we can all stand to benefit from their desire to make time, creativity, education and effort count towards a meaningful initiative.

Because finding purpose, just like the ease and connectivity offered by smartphones, is something that ultimately appeals to every generation.

To learn more about my corporate training services and to book a free consultation, please visit: www.leonidasalexandrou.com/services/evolution/

/by
, ,

The Millennial Code: Ensuring Flexibility Works for Everyone

Why is it that sometimes, the thing that we want most, actually backfires on us, and can even make us miserable?

At this point, it is well-documented that Millennial or Gen Y employees truly value flexibility in the workplace and are unafraid to ask for it…

And yet… if they are given such flexibility, the additional pressure to manage their time while continuing to manage their social and personal lives, often proves overwhelming to them, leading to the stress and burn-out that this generation is experiencing at epidemic levels….

Let me give these thoughts a bit of context.

I’ve been a corporate trainer and a mentor for almost two decades. Over this time, I’ve seen the values and working preferences of several generations, up close and personal.

And what I have observed of Gen Y or Millennial workers (i.e. those born between 1981 to roughly 1995), they greatly value being able to structure their work around their other life interests. The famous ‘work-life balance’ that managers complain about and which their Gen Y colleagues continue to demand.

Now, this makes complete sense when you consider Millennials came of age during the rise of the internet, apps and smartphones, designed to harness online power to organise and carry out everyday life tasks in a matter of clicks.

But…

Unlike the generations before them, specifically their Boomer and Gen X bosses and managers… Millennials have had less practice in deliberately limiting themselves, their options – and in particular, their time.

They have had incredibly structured lives growing up – structured by parents and teachers willing to provide them with the scheduling and support they needed, so that they could focus on their studies, their interests, their potential, their aspirations.

Flash forward to their working life today… and whenever work-related flexibility is granted to Millennials, their professional tasks and deadlines end up competing with the parallel opportunity for them to explore and participate in lifestyle options older generations were not distracted by… simply because they didn’t exist!

Think about it… when you can identify, follow and participate in so many online forums, arrange dates, book workout classes, sign up for language classes and organise meet-ups for innovative collaborations… it’s far harder to set yourself the kind of limits that return your focus to meeting work-related goals.

What happens next is that Millennials try to do both – i.e. carry out professional tasks while SIMULTANEOUSLY managing their personal and leisure time, leading to overwhelm, stress and, often, dramatic burnout.

So, how should managers of Millennials respond?

Should they simply take flexible working hours off the table for their Gen Y employees? Or should they cave in, despite the time management challenges, hoping in this way, to retain a job-hopping generation of workers?

As it happens, the answer is… neither.

Flexibility of work is a GOOD thing. And more and more, I believe we will only see more need for it and it’s unwise to eliminate it as an option.

Rather, to get the best from their Gen Y team, managers need to keep flexibility on the table IN ADDITION to making it very clear about what they will STILL be required to carry out (and by WHEN) in terms of work.

Managers need to zero in on the deadlines and the deliverables, and let Gen Y know they will support them in setting an appropriate timeline, preferably with key milestones, to help them handle the challenges of distraction and overwhelm.

In other words, managers today have to wear two hats: one as the authority who keeps Gen Y on task… the other as the coach who ‘supports’ and guides them in implementing healthy time management.

I elaborate on how managers can support their Gen Y team in this way, in an online course I am currently developing, called Millennial Advantage. More about this course in future posts!

For now, let me end by saying that: if you, as a manager, are willing to go the extra mile for your Millennial teammates by facilitating and helping them manage their desired flexibility… they will reward you with a truly innovative ability to think outside the box, act as ambassadors of your organisation among their peers, and use their comfort with tech-based work to better serve your clients.

To learn more about my corporate training services and to book a free consultation, please visit: www.leonidasalexandrou.com/services/evolution/

/by
, ,

Three Soft Skills That Human Resources Seek in New Hires

You’ve got the job. You’ve arrived at your new workplace. You’ve toured the coffees and teas in the kitchen. You’ve shaken hands with your colleagues.

Fast forward a few months, or perhaps even a year or so… and there are question marks in your head.

Question marks concerning YOUR performance.

You’re doing what the job description asked for in the original posting. You’ve got the relevant academic background. You’re at your desk on time and deliver on your deadlines…

And yet, you get the distinct feeling that you’re still… not quite living up to expectations…

Which also means you’re probably not getting the kind of professional attention to be entrusted with greater responsibility, promotion and professional advancement.

Sound familiar?

Actually, it’s only TOO familiar, given the stories I hear from the young professionals I mentor. And yet they can’t seem to figure out what they’re doing wrong.

My feedback for them is that it’s often what they’re not doing that might be holding them back.

Of course, there are many employability traits and soft skills that can make you shine in your career, and I explore them in other articles on this blog.

But in this post, I’d like to mention the three traits that most often come up, whenever I talk candidly with Human Resource officers about skills gaps in their hires.

  1. Resilience

This translates to the ability to remain focused and productive in times of adversity, to keep going in the face of obstacles and challenges and to display adaptability during unfamiliar or unforeseen circumstances.

Which is a fancy way of saying: being tough-minded.

Now, I’m not implying today’s young professionals don’t have the CAPACITY for resilience. Many DO in fact, express tough-mindedness and adaptability in times of challenge in the workplace.

But unfortunately, as hungry to find meaning, grow and develop at their jobs as Millennial hires may be… and as quick to learn and implement new technologies as Gen Z recruits are… both generational cohorts can struggle when they are professionally tested and placed under pressure, and when their managers and coworkers are unavailable to provide guidance or support.

Yet resilience is precisely the skill they would need to express at such times, and precisely the attribute that would draw a manager’s or HR officer’s appreciation and attention.

  • 2. Problem Solving

You would think problem-solving is in our nature. A basic part of the blueprint of being creative, thinking beings… and it is!

After all, the ability to provide innovative solutions to problems is one of the reasons Millennials are so entrepreneurial… at least when it comes to brainstorming and collaborating among themselves.

But place them in a traditional workplace, with top-down power structures… and it seems that natural, innovative problem-solving impulse often shuts down.

Which means there has to be a compromise.

Millennials and Gen Z employees need to remember that traditional organisational structures are not going to fade away overnight, and that they need to find the self-motivation to express their innate problem-solving powers irrespective of their environment.

On the other hand – and as I tell senior management and HR officers at every EVOLUTION corporate training I deliver… they have to be willing to LISTEN to the solutions that their younger team members propose, while empowering them to act on their most promising suggestions!

Either way, the greater the problem-solving capacity that a young professional demonstrates in the workplace, the greater their chances of being selected for career advancement.

  • 3. Self Motivation

And then there’s self-motivation. Human Resources, management and senior executives all seem to be united on this front: new hires need more of it! It’s also referred to as ‘taking initiative’.

Again… there are a number of things to say about this.

It’s definitely NOT that my Millennial and Gen Z mentees are lacking in passion, or ideas for how to change the world, or to up-level their own high performance.

And yet… their willingness to take initiative and be self-motivated in the workplace often gets road-blocked.

Why?

Part of the reason comes from not having the same support and mentoring system that was familiar and available while they were still at school, thanks to the undivided attention and guidance they were used to receiving from parents, teachers and friends.

And part of it is the fact that their suggestions and ideas are often not taken seriously in more conservative job sectors and traditionally-minded industries.

Once again, young professionals would still give themselves a massive career advantage by developing, expressing and continuously raising the bar on personal self-motivation at EVERY stage of their career, and developing the resilience (see above) to keep going and giving their best – even at times when the support and guidance they crave is not forthcoming.

To take a fitness analogy… if you don’t keep flexing your self-motivation muscle, you can’t rely on its strength when times get chaotic and more is expected from you than you had anticipated.

But on the other hand, if senior management has no intention of allowing Millennial and Gen Z hires to act on their initiative and self-motivation, and never creates opportunities (and rewards) for their young talent to exercise their self-motivation, they will either continue to see roadblocks on this front… or, eventually, their employees will take their obstructed self-motivation to a different workplace.

In our professional, as well as our personal life, it always pays to grow our resilience, problem-solving and self-motivation abilities… But such traits express themselves best when all stakeholders commit to empowering their expression!

To work with me one-on-one to take your professional and personal performance to new levels, please check out the LIMITLESS track of my services at: https://www.leonidasalexandrou.com/services/limitless/

/by
,

How To Achieve Greater Self-Confidence in 30 Days

Those photos, those videos… That Instagram image, that Facebook post, that LinkedIn update, that YouTube vlog…

You can’t seem to do anything these days, without bumping into someone’s triumphant sharing (some might say, OVER-sharing) of their personal and professional success.

They may credit many different factors in their recipe towards accomplishment.

But hands-down, the number one reason people express their potential, develop in their careers and honour their own unique blueprint is self-confidence.

Which seems unfair, because some people seem blessed with a seemingly never-ending supply of it, while others feel lucky if they can experience that magical state once in a very rare while.

Which is why, when I work one-on-one with my young professional mentees, developing their self-confidence is one of the primary areas we target together – and the results are impressive.

From better sleep, to better relationships, to improved health… all the way to enhanced appreciation and promotion by their employers.

Everyone can develop self-confidence, including, if you’re reading this with doubts, YOU. Here are nine keys to boost your self-confidence in just 30 days.

  1. Target excellence

The famous Jim Rohn used to say that ‘Good’ was the enemy of ‘Great’. And he was right.

If you target mediocrity, or staying average, then you’ll never experience the satisfaction and deep self-belief and self-appreciation that comes with targeting excellence.

Of course, the journey towards achieving the highest standard in anything is not for everyone. But if you’re reading this blog, it’s because you know, in your heart, you’re not going to be satisfied with merely ‘good enough’, or sticking only to ‘what works’.

The heart of an innovator and a high-performer is to challenge themselves to go beyond the benchmark for ‘good’ that’s taken for granted by those around them.

Have a look at who has the courage, imagination and commitment to target excellence in your life. Keep them close to you, and find honourable ways to distance yourself from those who are complacent. Do this for 30 days, and make it a habit.

  1. Reclaim your appearance

We shouldn’t judge on appearance. But the reality is… first impressions count a lot in our fast-paced, competitive societies.

Now, I’m not advising you to go and splurge on designer clothes if you’re on a limited budget, but I AM advising you to spend better care in how you look.

Looking and feeling better includes sorting out your diet (no more unhealthy ‘snacks’ and junk meals), daily exercise (you don’t need a gym membership – there are unlimited free workout ideas on the internet) and, yes, saving up for quality items of attire wherever your budget allows.

One pair of high-quality shoes, a smart, well-tailored suit, a clean and professional hair-cut goes a long, long way – professionally and personally.

And it will sky-rocket your confidence on every occasion.

  1. Make friends with discomfort

The dreaded comfort zone. So familiar, so appealing, so… well… comfortable.

But if you want to grow your confidence over the next month, you have to find creative reasons to go (or should I say grow) beyond it.

Here are some suggestions:

Set a date to have that difficult conversation with your manager, where you bring up the topic of why you’re not getting the support you need in the office, or why you may have been passed over for promotion or a raise.

Commit to taking part in some event that will require you to work hard – perhaps a charity sporting event – or perform some action before others that you have so far resisted doing – such as public speaking.

Of course, you don’t need to do this on your own. In contrast to coaches, a dedicated mentor will actually take you by the hand and go on the journey with you.

Either way, make moves to get beyond your comfort zone over the next 30 days. Your confidence will thank you for it.

  1. Expect good things

The hardest thing about hard things is oftentimes our own mind-set. And high performers, sooner or later, discover mind-set is the alpha and omega of making personal progress and cultivating unshakeable self-confidence.

Sometimes this is easier said than done. Most of us will go through hard times at some point or other in life. And at such times, it’s hard not to make caution and pessimism our default setting.

But that’s part of the challenge of the next 30 days, if you know you suffer from negative thinking and you’re honest enough to admit that it erodes your confidence, your ability to feel ready to handle the challenges, the unexpected difficulties or crises.

You don’t have to do it alone. Part of getting to a growth mind-set, where you see difficulties as opportunities and actively search to see things in a positive light… is finding the people who will support and add to that mind-set.

Expecting good things requires you to check-in with your thoughts and mental patterns, find positive ways of interrupting the negative self-talk and maintaining access to the people who will help keep you in the plus and not the minus side of the landscape.

You will see that cultivating a positive attitude where you deliberately expect good things to come to you, over the next 30 days (and, okay, beyond!) will grow your self-confidence radically.

  1. Chase gratitude

What’s even better than getting ready for good things to come to you? It’s actively going towards reasons to feel grateful.

That’s right – over the next 30 days, I want you to chase gratitude.

Not just passively, reluctantly, grudgingly try to make yourself feel grateful (particularly hard to do if you’re experiencing challenges in daily life)….

But actively setting yourself that target of running after opportunities to feel grateful… as if you’re pursuing a particularly interesting or attractive person.

Trust me, as paradoxical as it may feel… the more gratitude you can allow yourself to experience, the more things you will find to be grateful about. And the benefits, other than self-confidence and good health… will be a new feeling of optimism.

And if you can get to optimism, you can dial down fear, reservation, insecurity, and, over 30 days, discover a new level of self-confidence!

  1. Write down your goals

This is a big one for me and is a critical part of the work I do with my mentees, in helping them design a sequence of steps towards achieving breakthroughs they desire. And, yes, growing their self-confidence.

Writing down their goals. When we work together, every mentee has to do that.

Because something magical happens when you write down something that your heart, mind and spirit truly desire…

You immediately either see the truth or the illusion behind the target you’ve just set down.

And if it’s an illusion – i.e. a goal that you’ve told yourself you want, but which is not actually aligned with your heart’s desire… then hanging on to it will erode your confidence (because you’ll lack the ‘heart’ to achieve it, and this, in turn, will undermine your ability to feel confident).

Meanwhile, if what you’ve written down truly represents what you wish to accomplish, then your spirit will respond with love to seeing your commitment printed, in your own writing – a kind of contract you have just made with yourself.

And from that love… will grow the passion and motivation and, yes, confidence, to achieve it.

Write down the goals that are precious to you and read them every day over the next month, and see how it jump-starts your self-confidence.

  1. Cultivate influence – be a connector

Influence has always been important to personal and professional progress, which is why Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends and Influence People remains a foundational text on the art of growing your reach and impact on others.

Influence is also one of the characteristics of super achievers, as identified by high-performance gurus such as Brendon Burchard.

But what exactly is influence?

The way I define it is as: influence is being seen as an authority with integrity in a particular subject or area, who is also a talented and generous connector.

As long as you are visible (and cultivating visibility) before people in the areas of life that you consider to be aligned with your personal goals…

And those people see you as someone with both integrity AND authority (i.e. a higher level of ability) in that area…

AND you are generous in introducing people in that network to each other, or bringing more people into that network…

(…in other words, showing that you are willing to serve and benefit that network…)

Then your influence will grow, and with it, your sense of confidence.

Try putting people together, or selflessly introducing friends you know to each other, for their benefit, over the next 30 days, and their gratitude and respect will boomerang back to you… in the form of self-confidence.

  1. Celebrate others

This is a huge one.

Like it or not, we all have human moments, where other people seem to us to be having a good and happy life… whereas perhaps, for us, at that particular moment, life is actually being very tough.

Perhaps we’ve just broken up with a partner or going through a bitter divorce.

Perhaps a parent or loved one is suffering with ill-health or a terminal illness.

Perhaps… no matter what we seem to do… we are encountering setback after setback in our professional life, with no hope or clues as to how to turn that situation around.

At such moments, it’s especially hard to feel genuinely happy or pleased at someone else’s personal or professional success, accomplishment or good fortune…

ESPECIALLY if in areas where we ourselves are feeling a tremendous lack.

But I promise you… a person who cannot genuinely celebrate others’ successes, will always feel insecure about their own self-worth and with feeling equally deserving of the universe’s blessings.

Conversely, by sincerely praising and feeling happy when others in your life succeed, and by actively celebrating their success… you will not only attract to yourself the people, events and opportunities that you yourself desire, but you will also powerfully rendezvous with your own sense of confidence.

Because people who are happy for others, have far less room in their minds and hearts for self-doubt and low self-esteem – the opposite side of the coin, from self-confidence.

So, celebrate others over the next 30 days, and light up the self-confidence in your own heart. Good things are on the way to you as well.

  1. Embrace generosity

Finally, following on from celebrating others’ successes… I want you to practise generosity over the next month.

I’m sure you’re already a generous person.

Perhaps you are an active volunteer for good causes, or give of your time and money to serve others, or offer a listening ear to those in trouble or who need support.

Whatever you already do in terms of generosity… over the next 30 days, do more.

Don’t worry about how much more. Or what form your generosity takes. It doesn’t really matter. What’s important is to find new excuses to act with love for someone without expecting anything in return.

Bonus points if you get no credit for such generosity, or you don’t even know the person that you’re being generous to.

The universe pays attention, and in the meantime, you get to feel good about yourself.

Actually… you get to feel great about yourself.

Because generosity is a happiness that goes down to your bones, and reminds you that you are precious human being, with your own unique blueprint of talents and gifts.

Giving to others – whether in the form of time, resources, support or simply in keeping people in your thoughts while wishing them well – connects you to what is highest inside you.

Among which is, I promise you, is the profound confidence to go after your dreams.

To work with me one-on-one to take your professional and personal performance to new levels, please check out the LIMITLESS track of services at my website, www.leonidasalexandrou.com

/by
,

3 Tweaks in My Daily Routine That Helped Me Achieve Progress in My Career

I’ve personally declared 2019 the year of Back to Basics.

Now, it’s not that I don’t value sophisticated strategies and the powerful impact of complex and creative sequences of self-development.

But there is nothing like building a foundation on simple yet un-shakeable habits if you want to maximise your potential over a lifetime.

Here are the three tweaks that allowed me to grow in my own career as a self-development and high-performance mentor in 2018.

  1. Making the most of the morning

We’ve all heard of morning rituals.

High performance giants like Tony Robbins and Brendon Burchard swear by them.

Turns out… they work.

Meditation, a daily cup of green tea, hitting the gym, journalling… whatever your morning rituals might look like, they help you start the day with the correct mindset.

My own morning ritual was cemented a long time ago when I was a young athlete, training with Cyprus’ national handball team.

It’s basically rising with the sun and exercising, rain or shine, no matter the season.

This was temporarily disrupted when I relocated to work in a country where the opportunity to design my own schedule was very limited.

In 2018 I moved back home, and have since got ‘Back to Basics’.

In other words… getting up at 5am to hit the gym by 6am.

I’ll be honest, some days it’s hard. Some days it’s cold, or I’ve slept poorly, or I just flat-out feel low in energy.

I go anyway. And I never regret it as, one hour later, when I’ve showered, dressed, had breakfast and grabbed my car keys to make my first 8.30am meeting, my body and mind are already glowing with feel-good endorphins, and I know that, no matter what, I’m ready to give my best.

Whatever your own way of making the most of the morning, design a routine – a ritual, and then practise it daily, first thing.

Because when you win the morning, you truly win the day.

  1. Committing to a self-education mind-set

I talk a lot about the important of consistent self-education on this blog.

That’s because, I don’t just follow the employability trends simply because continuous up-levelling and upskilling is being demanded of today’s professionals…

But actually because, simply… continuous self-education is massively effective.

Now, admittedly, there is a professional expectation on me, as a corporate trainer as well as a high-performance mentor, to keep adding to my industry-related knowledge.

I do so to grow my authority, keep my pulse on the training market’s evolution, and to ensure I have the most up-to-date tools and resources with which to serve the people I work with.

But this is not just about reading LinkedIn articles, watching an interview or presentation on YouTube or listening to a guru’s weekly podcast.

It’s about adopting a self-education mind-set. For life.

While I am, by nature, a curious person, and have always tried to stay up-to-speed with the trends and needs and opportunities available for self-development…

… but in 2018, I chose four innovators and influencers – Tony Robbins, Brendon Burchard, Simon Sinek and Peter Diamandis – and consumed their podcasts and videos consistently.

Additionally, my associate and I faithfully worked our way down a long list of business, self-development and innovation books that they recommended… which didn’t just empower us with their insights, but gave me the focus and inspiration to design a range of new training material.

Consciously adopting a self-education mindset, is a mental shift that expands your personal and career horizons massively (and exponentially!)

  1. Favouring family time

Last but not DEFINITELY not least, I actively planned to spend time with my family.

In other words, I scheduled it.

Now, I’m not yet married, but I do hope to find the right girl and be a dad myself some day. In the meantime, spending time with my little nephew Maximos, kept me grounded throughout 2018’s crazy ride.

I might have been working through the night to be ready for intense, two or three-day training workshops, where I’d be on my feet unbrokenly for eight or more hours, working, motivating, challenging and empowering mentees and corporate teams…

But whatever my commitments, I would always deliberately make time to hang out and be silly with my sister’s little man each week, buying him books or educational gifts, listening to his curious impressions about the world, helping him figure things out by reasoning and supporting him as he continued to grow.

I also made it a conscious choice to spend time with my own parents, taking the opportunity to check in with their needs and concerns and sharing weekly meals with them.

This active choice to make time for family, allowed me the personal resources to connect deeper with my 2018 mentees, empathise with wherever they found themselves in their lives and appreciate the love and nurture that exist beyond the metrics of professional performance.

Which, ironically, made and, I believe, continues to make me better at what I do in my career.

So, I challenge you: go find the tweaks that will make all the difference to YOUR career, and then take action to commit and practise them, every day, as sacred habits.

You’ll be amazed at what doing so will allow you to achieve in 2019…

To work with me one-on-one to take your professional and personal performance to new levels, please check out the LIMITLESS track of services at my website, www.leonidasalexandrou.com

/by
,

How to Achieve Career Success Without Sacrificing Your Personal Life

Let’s say, you can’t really complain.

Let’s imagine the usual list of things that are supposed to make you feel professionally accomplished and fulfilled is a column of ticks. Done that. Got that. Seen that. Etcetera…

Maybe you’re respected by your colleagues. Maybe you’re the go-to person for your manager whenever there’s an exciting (or challenging!) assignment to allocate. Maybe you’re earning a great salary. And maybe, the boss has begun personally asking you for your input on key matters regarding the future of the organisation…

You’re living the professional dream, in the heart of the promised land, right?

Surely, there’s no excuse for that… uncomfortable, (stressed-out), anxious, (restless) feeling that you’ve been struggling with… despite the external signs of your career success?

It’s okay: we can be honest with each other.

Because the truth is… while you’ve been making great progress along the road to career highs, your personal life has been in freefall.

You’re too burned out.

You’ve forgotten what it’s like to hang out with a buddy or girlfriend and laugh about things that have nothing to do with your work.

You haven’t giggled with your kids for weeks.

You can’t remember the last time you and your partner went out on a date.

And that gym or Zumba membership card…? It’s still in that perfectly organised sports bag you strategically placed by the front door.

In short, you HAVE no life, outside of your work. And while professional success has been rewarding… it really would be nice to take a break and smell the roses, once in a while.

I agree. So here are four steps with which to ensure you achieve success without bidding farewell to your personal life.

1. Define YOUR unique vision

You know what happens when you’re riding a career high, sometimes? You get sloppy with your career priorities.

You start saying ‘yes’ to things you have no business doing, just because you can, or because you’re known for doing, or because you feel obligated to the person making the request.

Don’t do this. Get really clear about what YOU want, and what YOUR goals are for your career, and stick to them.

Otherwise, you’ll be trapped in what I call ‘request creep’… which is where OTHER people’s needs, creep onto your priority list.

Keep that up and, soon enough, you’re working your way through everybody else’s priorities, except your own – including your own need for a personal life and downtime away from work.

2. Decide what success means to YOU – and stick to it

This is another common problem with successful young professionals. If you’re not clear about what you consider to be a successful life – you’ll soon find yourself chasing other people’s definitions. Which is fine for them (if THEY happen to have career clarity, that is) but may be TOTALLY unsuitable for you.

It’s important – actually, it’s absolutely ESSENTIAL – that you have a picture of professional accomplishment that is based on your strengths, gifts and unique talents – and not anyone else’s.

Which is why it can be SO important to figure out the keywords, unique milestones and an appropriate timeline to the career success journey you were put on earth to experience.

And if you feel you don’t have the detachment to do this for yourself, get a mentor you trust to guide you through this process. Because when you’re going through the woods, it’s a good idea to make sure you have a compass and a reliable map.

3. Establish your boundaries – and stick to them

Healthy boundaries. Some of us have them from birth, and others of us have to acquire them. If you’re one of these people who, out of misplaced loyalty or courtesy are always the go-to person whenever there’s emergency, or extra work, or a problem no one else seems to know how (or want) to tackle… if yours is the shoulder people ‘cry’ on, or you’re known for providing a patient, listening ear to whoever needs to rant or complain about their issues…

Don’t feel bad. You’re not alone, and it’s probably because you’re a good-hearted, sincere, conscientious and generous person.

Now, I’m not saying stop expressing such traits. Because for one thing, these characteristics are positive, and for another thing, I may as well tell you to change your height or eye colour.

But understand that it’s not your job to intervene in or undertake responsibilities that are other people’s to carry out.

And you’re not ultimately doing them a kindness by accepting to do so. Also, just as you have identified limits to other people’s ability to support or help you, it is only right that you enjoy the same freedom.

4. Identify your priorities (to safeguard that most precious resource – time)

After your own and your loved ones’ health and wellbeing, there is no other more precious resource than your time. YOUR time. And the best way to guard your time is identifying your priorities in life.

So, take the time to write down the THREE most important professional milestones that you wish to achieve in the next 12 months. That’s three. Not two, not four, not 12. For now, keep it to three.

Then write down what it would feel like to have hit those milestones. And finally, what it would feel like to fail in achieving those milestones.

Get clear on what the three most important career goals for you are, raise the level of necessity in terms of achieving them and turn away anything that interferes with the focus on such achievement.

If you can do this (and you’d be surprised how other people’s ‘emergencies’ turn out not to be emergencies…) you’ll discover how much better it will be to organise your time so you stop being the victim of career success.

Best of all, devoting your time to only what you consider to be priorities, means you’ll align the personal with the professional to a deeper and more satisfying degree.

To work with me one-on-one to take your professional and personal performance to new levels, please check out the LIMITLESS track of services at my website, www.leonidasalexandrou.com

/by
,

Five Steps to Achieving More Clarity in Your Career

Let’s take a trip through my imagination.

Picture Michalis, an easy-going 23-year-old new business graduate, who smiles easily, has plenty of friends, goes to the gym three times a week and has a social schedule that’s booked months in advance.

He’s just been hired to join the sales team at a major company. His family is thrilled! Things are looking good for Michalis, right?

Now, let’s take Nathalie, a driven 35-year-old who is fighting to keep her modest health-food store from shutting down, while figuring out with her husband, Giorgos, how they can afford to send their seven-year-old daughter, Sophie, to a private elementary school.

Things look rough for Nathalie, right?

Except, what I didn’t tell you… is that while things look superficially positive for Michalis and stressful for Nathalie, the reverse is actually true.

This is because, deep down in his heart, Michalis is restless and unhappy.

He feels no real connection to what he’s doing, and, given the chance, would be happy to leave his present employment. Why? Because has no real clarity about his career, or what he should do to achieve his highest professional success.

Whereas, despite all her challenging material problems and responsibilities as a mother and wife, Nathalie is inwardly strong and motivated professionally.

And while she’s going through tough financial times, her heart is not divided. She knows she’s doing what she wanted to do, ever since she was a little girl – which was to own a business that made a positive impact on people’s health, and educated and supported them in leading better lifestyles.

In other words, she has clarity regarding her career, and this keeps her moving forward and maintains her focus and determination, without letting the external pressures bring her down.

So, if, like Michalis, you’re struggling with clarity about your career, here are five steps to help you work through feelings of confusion, procrastination, low confidence and stress regarding achieving your professional potential:

1. Shut out the distractions (and get quiet!)

Remember Michalis’ packed social schedule?

It isn’t just because he has lots of friends, due to his extrovert and fun-loving nature… it’s also because – whether he’s conscious of it or not – Michalis himself KEEPS it that way. He does this as a means of distracting himself from looking within and exploring what really bothers him.

Are you like this? Do you pour yourself into too many extracurricular past-times which, if I looked into your heart, don’t really matter with you that much, but which are a convenient way of spending time with your own thoughts?

And by the way – distractions don’t just include going from one social engagement to the next – distractions can be anything: over-eating, wasting time on attention-killers like social media and games – taking on responsibilities that are not appropriate for you to undertake…

Find your distractions, and eliminate them. And then, substitute them with quiet time for yourself – whether that’s a walk in the park, or some meditation in the morning, or a 15-minute reflection period as a pre-sleep ritual… spend time looking inward with courage and focus. You’ll be surprised how many answers to important questions you’ll discover in this way…

2. Record your goals – before, during, after

Michalis prides himself of being a spontaneous kind of character. He hated school, finding it boring and stifling, and isn’t very interested in journaling or making to-do lists.

To be honest, his manager finds this rather frustrating, and has told Michalis on more than one occasion that he needs to be more deliberate and actually write down his targets and goals.

Funnily enough, even though Michalis doesn’t do so badly as a sales team member, if he did as his manager wants him to do and write down targets and goals, he would perform better in the workplace, earning satisfaction and pride in his abilities. This would grant him the professional clarity that – even if he left like this particular job – he has the skills that could also translate into a different career, if he so desired.

Meanwhile, if he also wrote down his life goals, away from the workplace, he could then reorient himself towards a professional path more suitable to his highest personal aspirations.

3. Seek wise counsel or guidance

This is an important one. It would be really valuable for Michalis, for instance, if he actually discussed his feelings of dissatisfaction and confusion with someone who had more life and work experience than him, while also having the integrity and genuine interest in Michalis to guide him.

It will come as no surprise that, in our younger years, we don’t always have the insight and humility to realise that there is much about ourselves and life that we don’t know, and that it is valuable to seek the guidance of someone wise, dedicated and experienced.

And while new graduates and young professionals who are Millennials (i.e. born between 1981-1996) DO seek out feedback in terms of their work performance… because they love to collaborate with peers so much, they can be tempted to seek guidance from friends or associates who share their age. Even though, these peers themselves, will have similar life experience and self-awareness gaps and so not be ultimately best-equipped to offer the appropriate guidance…

So, if you are seeking clarity over your career… find yourself a mentor who has the experience, authority, preparation and commitment to you, to help you see your life from a different, big picture perspective…. While simultaneously having the skill to break down the journey towards your career goals for you into achievable phases and goals.

4. Identify blocks and skill gaps

This is fundamental. And identifying external and internal obstacles (such as deeper limiting beliefs), facing specific fears and discovering, accepting and setting out to address gaps in your skillset are a real key to achieving clarity on your career.

Because once you know how much ground you have left to cover when it comes to your desired professional path, you can create a self-development plan with a timeline and specific milestones towards it.

Clarity comes, layer by layer, as you take stock of where you are and what seems to be hindering your progress.

And of course, as you take the time to do this, you often discover that an obstacle or block can be re-framed to be seen as an advantage or resource, or at the very least neutral to your progress. You also often discover that the true obstacle is completely different than what you believed.

So, do some digging and be brave. Look without fear and face the truth about what’s authentically holding you back when it comes to work. Doing so will only enhance your clarity about where you are at, and where you want to go, career-wise.

5. Test by taking (smart) action

And finally, once you have a sense of where your true motivations, aspirations and obstacles lie… having shut out distractions, taken scheduled time-outs for contemplation and reflection… and having sought the guidance of someone experienced, authoritative and committed to your success… take some action in the direction of what you’d prefer, career-wise.

By the way… these don’t need to be wild, earth-shaking actions.

For example, you don’t have to suddenly hand in your notice at work. What I mean is to experiment with new mind-sets, and explore new skills, aptitudes and interests to learn more about your highest professional aspirations and whether you are getting closer to them, step by step, bit by bit.

Think of yourself like a new product getting to market… and test, tweak, reform and repeat incremental changes to your working life.

Remember Nathalie from our introduction? She – despite all her challenges – puts all the steps mentioned above into practice.

She starts the morning with some quiet meditation, keeps separate notebooks of personal and professional goals in which she writes every day, and she regularly meets with an older entrepreneur who advises her on her professional targets, helps her identify areas of weakness in her business and supports Nathalie as she tests out tweaks and changes in her customer service.

If you are seeking clarity in your career, get these five steps working for you, and watch your confusion dissolve, bit by bit, day by day.

To work with me one-on-one to take your professional and personal performance to new levels, please check out the LIMITLESS track of services at my website, www.leonidasalexandrou.com

/by
,

The Number One Reason I Decided to Empower Young Professionals

Most stories of success are stories of overcoming struggle.

There’s the discovery of a worthwhile goal and setting off on a quest at the beginning. And there’s the triumph at the end, when the hero or heroine wins the battle and earns their rightful reward…

But, to be honest, those bits are best left to the movies.

I’m more interested in the struggle, and what it means to handle it in the right way and with the correct mind-set. Because no one comes to a mentor because they’re enjoying success.

Quite the contrary, most of my mentees find me because they’re facing blocks, obstacles, pressures and inner and outer challenges that seem impossible to overcome.

They’re dealing with confusion about their life path, the stress of meeting their loved ones’, employers’ and even culture’s expectations and lack of clarity over their careers.

They’re doing their best to move past all the factors that say a life in which their highest potential is realised… is just a waste of time.

And their STRUGGLE and the need to move beyond it, is really why I decided to empower young professionals as mentor and trainer.

Because I personally know how profoundly lonely and ‘foolish’ it feels to dare to challenge the way things have always been done, the goals that people have traditionally set for themselves.

Hand on my heart: I’ve been there.

There were many points in life when I could have chosen a more secure, mainstream life career path, with its accompanying perks in income, lifestyle and prestige.

But time and again, I knew that if I was going to align with my own potential – the hidden blueprint that powers my life – I was going to have to walk away from doing what other people thought was a good idea for me, and to very deliberately close doors that might have been completely appropriate for someone else to walk through.

A particularly hard wake-up call came in 2013, when a national financial crisis rocked my home country, Cyprus, and forced all of us to reconsider how secure –money and life-wise – we all actually were.

While most of the dust has cleared, five years later, that disillusionment that we, as a society experienced in terms of the structures that should have kept us safe from such crises, means it is impossible for me, personally, to live life on automatic.

Instead, it became even clearer to me in 2013 that true security, in both good times and in bad, requires having the clarity to know who you are – your gifts and your vision.

It lies in the resilience and commitment to focus on your life goals and the confidence and self-belief to push through your comfort zone, limiting beliefs and external obstacles, to materialise them.

Thanks to technology, the internet, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution… there has never before been SUCH an opportunity to live life on our own terms. And my Millennial and Generation Z teens, new graduates and young professionals recognise this opportunity.

But just because they see that opportunity, doesn’t mean they feel empowered to take advantage of it.

That’s where I come in…

Together, we shut the doors that lead to distractions, re-write the script playing inside their minds that they aren’t good enough, smart enough or wealthy enough to go after their career and life dreams.

And build the mental toughness that powers them through times where no one but them understands and appreciates their vision.

I love this process, truly feel so blessed to be doing what I do. I even love the struggle… because the joy and tremendous privilege of standing shoulder to shoulder, connecting heart to heart, with my mentees, would be nothing without.

Helping others to make a friend and ally of struggle, is the number one reason I have dedicated my life to empowering my mentees.

To work with me one-on-one to take your professional and personal performance to new levels, please check out the LIMITLESS track of services at my website, www.leonidasalexandrou.com

/by