After my attendance in the Global Peter Drucker Forum 2014 event in Vienna, I reflected on what I can do to keep the spirit and the outcomes of the conference alive in my business moving forward. Many professionals struggle in doing so as it requires self-discipline and commitment to turn the event into something more than just a great event in itself.

One thing that has proven really helpful is to think of conference attendance as a game. In the game, I am learning new things, challenging myself and making bold decisions.

The moves in the conference attendance game could be introducing yourself to people you normally would not approach, sharing insights with strangers and following up with attendees and non-attendees via social media. There are many things to follow-up with, including sharing ideas, book recommendations and new contacts.

As a livestream attendee, you can still play the game, although the possibilities for engagement and new opportunities will appear more distant. Attending a conference live will always provide a more intimate experience with plenty of opportunities to challenge yourself. If the livestream event is supported by a live forum you may use that to enhance your learning, challenge yourself and make bold decisions to keep the momentum from the event.

The point is that the game does not end after the conference. Social media and forums allow it to continue. It can even help you define the new board for your next conference game.

By following others, you can continue to be inspired by people from the event. When posting your thoughts and learning points, you will also be in a position to inspire others who are attracted to the same areas of interest as you. By doing this, and leveraging the contacts and opportunities from the conference, you can build your own following as an advancing leader. This occurs as an obvious, yet often overlooked and under-utilized opportunity to nurture long term relationships that support your ambitions as a leader.

As an advancing leader, you have the opportunity to use the conference game approach to make an impact on matters of importance to you:

1. Stay connected to the conference community of speakers, participants and followers via social media and communities offered.
2. Share ideas, search for collaboration and integrate new learning in your daily life.
3. Look for opportunities to co-create with people in the community and make note to yourself of any ripple effects.

In order to embrace the notion of a game for any conference attendance in the future, you should ask yourself some key questions to make the most out of your game:

• When is your next conference coming up? Can you build on any of the ideas from the last event?
• What would you do differently next time? Which opportunity did you miss this time that you would like to seize next time?
• What can you do in the mean time to prepare and improve your own experience for a great conference outcome?

On a personal note, I am levelling up my game for my next conference and have already joined communities to prepare for a great outcome. After attending the recent Global Peter Drucker Forum, I have decided to nurture my new contacts in both the event forum as well as social media in general. As soon as the conference admission board sends out the invitation, I will submit my contribution to an article expanding on the learning points from the conference and including my ideas for next year’s conference. I expect nothing less than the unexpected from the contributors and attendees.

Let me know which reflections and comments you have on the conference attendance game approach below. Game on!

The post How Well Are You Playing The Conference Attendance Game? appeared first on Katy Caroan.

The Hall of Sciences in Vienna has been an important meeting place to share knowledge since the 17th century. Over the last few days, the impressive, early baroque building has served as the venue for the 6th Global Peter Drucker Forum, bringing more than 30 intriguing speakers to inspire 400 onsite attendees and thousands of livestream participants from all over the world on the topic of the “The Great Transformation.”

The organizer has made it easy for the participants to network onsite as well as online. The coffee break and lunch area is organized around small tables without chairs, the participants mingle seamlessly through the room, and the large name badges make introductions easy. The speakers, many of whom are authors as well, are located in the same area, passionately sharing samples of their books and discussing with attendees.

The online conversation does not stop among the onsite attendees. Beyond focusing on the in-person experience, a significant number of the participants use Twitter to share observations and reflections important to them.

The conference Twitter hashtag #GPDF14 was established in the period leading up the event. During the event, the hashtag serves as the glue between the speakers, as well as the onsite and online participants, allowing everyone to tune into the conversation. It is easy to ping other people on Twitter, livestreamers or not, when something of special interest shows up:

As a tweeting attendee, you may use Twitter to suggest a spontaneous meet-up in the next break with other attendees to discuss a certain topic. Why not approach your favorite speakers and ask them which book they recommend given where you are in the business? If you can’t make it in person, use Twitter or LinkedIn if they have an open profile. You will be surprised to see how easy it is to connect with your key inspirational sources and start building relationships.

All in all, it is possible for attendees as well as online followers not only to maximize their own conference experience, but also to facilitate the learning for other people not following the conference. Non-attendees may get prompted to engage and learn, using Twitter as a wonderful university for new opportunities. Everybody wins: the organizer, the speakers, the attendees and the non-attendees.

On a personal note, these are the 7 key results of my #GPDF14 experience:

1. In-depth understanding of complex topics which are vital to the development of new offerings
2. Personal relationships initiated with 3 speakers of special interest
3. Clarity on which conference authors I want to prioritize over the next months
4. Unexpected learning on macro level topics which helps me put my own stories into perspective
5. A handful of long term nurture leads, emerging out of coffee breaks
6. Dramatic reduction of requests for business cards. We are finding each other on Twitter instead.
7. Facilitation of key learning points and inspiration to several business partners not attending the conference via Twitter

What is your game plan to get the most out of your next conference attendance? Or do you find yourself inspired to search for the conferences you can’t join in-person and follow the conversation via Twitter instead? I would love to get your comments and learn more about your experiences of what makes a conference valuable to you in the digital age.

The post The Ultimate, Blended Conference Experience In The Digital Age appeared first on Katy Caroan.

When looking back at the conferences you attended over the last few years, how many of them resulted in long lasting business relationships, led to exciting business opportunities or initiated a totally new direction in your business? While some of us have the intention of obtaining these results prior to an event, I find that many fail to turn the initial excitement and ambition into something that could last. We struggle to leverage the investment made in time and money.

There is nothing wrong in attending a conference for inspiration and entertainment in the moment only. However, I believe there is a way to set yourself up for longer lasting results through your preparations as an attendee.

Imagine if you could initiate new connections before you enter the conference. It would allow you to better prioritize the sessions and meetings and increase the possibility of spontaneous meet-ups within your area of interest.

Here is how I prepare and build connections before attending an event:

Get Connected

• Visit the conference website to learn who will present as speakers and other stakeholders.
• Subscribe to the organizer’s Twitter list of all speakers. If no such list exists, create your own and inspire your Twitter followers to listen into the buzz.
• Monitor the conference Twitter handle and relevant hashtags to learn as much as possible about the speakers and topics in advance.
• Read the speakers’ blog articles or books that interest you before the event.
• Respond quickly to anyone following back or reaching out on other social media platforms such as LinkedIn.
• If the conference offers a livestream option, make sure to sign up and join the community or forum well in advance to see who else will join.

Stay Connected

• Follow the event-related conversation on Twitter, blogs and forums daily.
• Post occasional content with a clear indication of your purpose for reaching out.
• Retweet, share and use the content on your favorite social media platforms to inspire your surroundings. The closer it is to the event, the higher the intensity.

Engage, Learn & Target

• Look a second time at the conference agenda. Can you learn in a different way? Make sure to make educated choices about parallel conference tracks.
• Do some research on your favourite conference topics: The more you know in advance, the easier you can prioritize your time at the conference.
• Are some speakers or attendees of special interest to you? Make sure to connect and let them know that you are looking forward to engaging prior to the event! Why not intrigue them with a question or an idea, and check if there is an interest to meet during the event?

The future is here, and this is a new and changing aspect of how conferences can be so much more than just an inspiring couple of days and a few cold business cards.

Modern conference organizers are making it easy for us as the attendees by providing all the information we need to prepare ourselves for long lasting relationships. But many people are not engaging fully or are using the available tools in an immature way. It’s not enough to simply connect, you need to reach out via social media and invite people to engage in the conversation you want.

Previously, we could prepare ourselves for a conference by finding out key information about the conference topics and the speakers. Now we have the opportunity to participate in a two-way engagement: We can become part of the conversation even before the event starts by listening via social media and engaging more fully in selected parts. In other words, we can set ourselves up for successful long-term business relationships.

One great example of an organizer who has made it easy for me and the other participants is The Global Peter Drucker Forum 2014 in Vienna, November 13-14 (#GPDF14). I have followed my normal event preparations, and I find myself connected to some of the contributing speakers already. I can’t wait to see what the event will bring longer term.

If you are interested in topics around the #GPDF14 event “The Great Transformation”, make sure to follow the buzz before, during and after the event via the links below!

The conference organizer:
https://twitter.com/druckereurope

Twitter list of speakers:
https://twitter.com/GDruckerForum/lists/gpdf14

Link to sign up for livestream:
http://www.druckerforum.org/2014/special-pages/registration-live-stream/

The post Warm Connections Boost Conference Experience And Impact appeared first on Katy Caroan.

Virtual Leader Conference 2014: “Empowering the Advancing Leader in You”

The notion of playing a business game might either intrigue you or make you hesitate. Why do we claim that you will succeed as a leader when playing games? We are approaching the end of the learning game component of the Virtual Leader Conference 2014 (#vlc14) and I want to give you a glimpse of what is going on in this real life business game so you can make an informed decision on how you feel about playing business games yourself.

The #vlc14 game is aiming at enhancing the learning experience for the conference participants through a variety of gamification elements and game design techniques. The game is structured by exercises and challenges based on our conference sessions and contributions from our speakers on a LifeVille game card where each player generates points.

All players are distributed into teams to co-create solutions. The players may access the game cards of other players and provide feedback. When sharing occurs, both the giver and the receiver will get extra points. Players may engage in full transparency or privately to share their findings. The challenges are launched gradually during the game and spontaneous play may occur. All players will appear on a Leader Board with their current score, and the team’s performance will also be visible.

Simply following instructions is not really a game as it doesn’t have the aspects of fun and spontaneity that a true game does. According to LifeVille Game Creator Carina Kindkvist, a key success factor when creating a real life business game is to reduce the number of instructions to an absolute minimum. Instead, we are looking to motivate the players to explore, experiment and have fun doing so by sharing their experiences with the other players.

There are benefits as well as challenges in creating business games:

Benefits of playing business games:

Some of the benefits of playing games are obvious: It is fun going on discovery! Great real life games create opportunities for unexpected results as the players are combining their own learning with feedback and inspiration from other players.

There seem to be certain characteristics that are common to those who are engaged and playing well. They are motivated by visible results and feedback, and they are open to demonstrating vulnerability when playing.

One of the #vlc14 top players so far, John Rasiej, shares his experience:

“I am half way through the #vlc14 game and have experienced that it’s a way of creating another motivation to get more engaged and perhaps even listen more closely to the content since you will have more reasons to share what you have heard.  It’s also been gratifying to get added validation seeing people’s comments that they have gotten a lot of useful ideas from my webinar.”

Challenges of playing business games:

Some of the challenges of playing games are found in our attitudes about what is acceptable behavior among professionals. It can be uncomfortable and different than how professionals normally learn or solve problems, it might even be perceived as childish.

Specifically, it is challenging to professionals who are looking for “perfection” as the game pushes them to share with strangers and take imperfect action. One of the #vlc14 players who were reluctant from the start, Marie-Claire Hermans, shares her experience:

“’I don’t have time to play games!’ That was my first thought while reading the announcement that all leaders and participants of the Virtual Leader Conference were invited to play a game. Games are serious. You have to win them. They create pressure. We didn’t play games at home because they were a ‘waste of time.’ So my perception of ‘playing games’ is not one of being ‘playful.’ Nevertheless, playfulness is a characteristic I own despite my reluctance to play games.

I needed to unlock my mind to enter this game. It was a challenge. But… I love challenges so I did enter. Hesitating. Not feeling like it at all. A waste of my precious time as a busy professional. I started playing while sighing, exploring what “they” wanted from me. Then I answered one question. Wow, what was that?! Fireworks! Hm, that’s nice. Let me answer a next question. Fireworks again! Yesterday I was answering questions just to see the magic of the fireworks pop on my screen.

I am enjoying playing after all. I am counting my hearts. I am engaging. Of course, being used to always winning in competition when I was young, that old fire arose inside of me too. But then something occurred to me. We are all winning this game. Because we are learning, picking up the content and rephrasing it. And I have to say that, as an eternal student, I always love to learn. It’s fun to see all these leaders and adult participants play the game, interact, give hearts and connect.”

According to Game Creator Carina Kindkvist, not all players will engage fully in voluntary games. Compared to e-learning though, the engagement level is significantly higher and in fact exceeding 50%. Are you curious to check it out for yourself? There is still time to join our game until September 21!

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If you like this topic, you will love the last days of our #vlc14 Virtual Leader Conference game running September 15-21, 2014 where other speakers and attending Advancing Leaders are playing to inspire, learn and implement success strategies in pursuit of their next big thing as a leader. You are welcome to join us in the game on demand and free of charge via http://vlc14.katycaroan.com

The post Why Leaders Succeed When Playing Games: Lessons And Confessions From An Online Conference Using Gamification appeared first on Katy Caroan.

But it was not until 2010 that I understood that my most inspirational leaders were playing games. Instead of pushing through in order to learn more, they were able to motivate themselves and others to learn in a fun and contagious waythat resembledgames, something we played joyfully and mastered naturally during our childhood.They were in fact,consciously or unconsciously, using gamification to advance in their leadership.

What is gamification? Gamification is defined as the use of game elements and game design techniques in non-game contexts. It is used, among other things, to engage participants in solving problems, enhancing learning experiences, getting entertained, measuring success and establishing loyalty.

When it comes to enhancing learning experiences, it allows you to create meaningful goals, fine tune your skills, receive feedback, inspire others and share with communities of your choice. It is all about playing to win, and here is how you can implement gamification in your own advancement:

1. Set a stretch goal

You do not have to know exactly how you are going to accomplish this goal. It could be getting a new client, conducting your first webinar or getting a new speaking engagement. Be aware of the risk that your initial goal could soon get more ambitious!

2. Mobilize your environments

Who do you have to involve? Who can help you? Where can you engage with the people who can help? You will be positively surprised to see that most people want to help if they understand what you need and why.

3. Share the progress you are making in public

Engaging with others is key to making your goal a reality. This is when things start to happen in your game. You inspire others while at the same time getting inspired by other players yourself. The other players offer invaluable support and keep you accountable during the game.

As a student to the CoachVille Coaching Curriculum, Master Certified Coach Dave Buck introduced me to the world of gamification. His education was set up as games, and as a student, I assumed the role of a Player. Over time, I mastered new skills and got better results in a fun way! Since then, I have learned more about the various motivational factors that help us get results from gamification via Professor Kevin Werbach and his fabulous Coursera Gamification Course online.

When looking back at my own experience of playing games to enhance my learning, there are 3 key insights that have been instrumental in helping me understand the CONCEPT OF PLAY better:

• Instead of pushing through and getting things done, I WANT TO move forward and explore options on my own and by involving others.

• By sharing my game progress and findings with others, I find myself in a position to INSPIRE OTHERS to act and play themselves.

• My game often becomes bigger than my initial goals as the game unfolds and I discover new and unexpected opportunities. PLAYING BIG becomes the default.

In fact, gamification is gradually becoming business as usual, and I recently decided to convert the upcoming, free of charge Virtual Leader Conference into a GAME, hosted by gamification expert and business partner, Carina Kindkvist. So, if you are curious about enhancing your learning and stretching yourself as an Advancing Leader, this is your chance to come join us September 15-21 and check it out for yourself…. Game on!

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Virtual Leader Conference 2014: “Empowering the Advancing Leader in You”

If you like this topic, you will love our #vlc14 Virtual Leader Conference game coming up September 15-21, 2014 where other speakers and attending Advancing Leaders are playing to inspire, learn and implement success strategies in pursuit of their next big thing as a leader. You are welcome to join us in the game on demand and free of charge via http://vlc14.katycaroan.com

The post Learning Is A Game Advancing Leaders Cannot Lose appeared first on Katy Caroan.

These leaders communicate their professional calling and challenge you, leaving you with important thoughts and ideas.

How do they make the less advancing professionals feel? Do they get inspired and intrigued, or do they get provoked by thecuriosity, ambition and willingness to move beyond the comfort zone? Are other professionals in fact projecting their own shortcomings and fears when trying to talk the never-settling leaders out of their unrealistic pursuit of their BIG WHY?

When I meet people who are stuck professionally wanting to explore their options, we often discover a number of limiting beliefs that are causing them to “settle.”

One common belief is that it is too late to pursue what you have not yet accomplished professionally:

• “I invested years and tons of money in my education. I would be stupid to throw it away.”
• “I am too old to redirect my career.”
• “I cannot jeopardize the lifestyle I have created for myself and my family.”

Never-settling leaders confidently share that they are going to pursue their own mission, and step into the bigger shoes of their future selves.

Another common belief is that we have to fit the expectations of others:

• “Why would you do that instead of retiring with a nice pension?”
• “Why would you do that as you could just live off of your significant other’s income?
• “Why would you do that when you already have a good job?”

Never-settling leaders act confidently and are grounded in their conviction to pursue what they need and want to accomplish for themselves.

Let me introduce you to some of the advancing leaders in my network who moved beyond these limiting beliefs:

Per Frykman is a passionate pioneer and author within the area of individual reputation management, influencing trends and developing tools to unleash the true potential of professionals.  After decades of continuous development, he is transparent about his expectations for himself despite the fact that most other leaders his age have considered retirement for some time:

“I want to challenge you to take your professional reputation to a new dimension and stand out as unique. My ambition for you as an entrepreneur or consultant is to help you promote the things that are crucial today to attract new, exciting and profitable customers. For you as a leader I want to bring out your unique qualities, the things that already work for you – to be inspirational when attracting customers, investors and new talents. I want to bring everyone to the next level by making them understand the exceptional power of their professional reputation.What really keeps me going is the possibility to be on the edge with interesting people and exciting ideas to find ways for everyone to utilize their full potential.” – Per Frykman

Sarah Schwab is a passionate content creation coach, helping entrepreneurs to build content using creativity and self-expression to transform their business and life:

“My husband makes good money and we have a family. I feel pressure to be the typical ‘doctor’s wife’ or ‘stay-at-home mom,’ or maybe just to get a ‘normal job.’ But I can’t do it. It would be easier if I could, but I can’t. Starting a business has been an ambition of mine as far back as I can remember, and I feel most like myself when I am working in alignment with my passion. I also love my family, and it is important to me to keep both things in my life and try to balance them. I don’t know if such balance is possible, but I have to try.” – Sarah Schwab

Alyssa Jade McDonald-Bärtl left an advancing corporate career to embrace the role as a passionate chocolate maker and social entrepreneur, and she became the change she wanted to see in the world:

“It’s about mission, and realizing that the standards only exist if you accept them. Therefore, if you see a change that you want to happen, then it becomes your mission to achieve it, and you don’t settle until that occurs. It’s not about perfection, because that’s not attainable. It’s about showing up and doing your best, and from that, change will occur and changes will show up. But you have to show up.” Lyss from Blyss

The common denominators for these three Advancing Leaders are a clear calling and a passionate drive for what they have not done yet in their professional lives. Are you slightly provoked because you are wired differently? Or do their stories resonate with you and inspire you to envision yourself as an Advancing Leader, pursuing a purpose and experiencing even more meaning in what you do for a living?

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Virtual Leader Conference 2014: “Empowering the Advancing Leader in You”

If you like this topic, you will love the Virtual Leader Conference coming up September 15-21, 2014 where Per, Sarah, Alyssa and 20 other Advancing Leaders and experts are sharing their passion and success strategies in pursuit of their next big thing to empower other Advancing Leaders. You are welcome to join us on demand and free of charge via http://vlc14.katycaroan.com

The post The Inner Drive: Why Advancing Leaders Never Settle appeared first on Katy Caroan.

Many professionals I talk to externalize the opportunity and do not assume the role as an Advancing Leader worth following. Very few are ready to define their own BIG WHY and share it with the world. I recognize the struggle as it took me years to define my own BIG WHY and make it visible to others.

I sometimes refer to my own breakthrough by using the analogy of salmon swimming upstream to spawn. The salmon battle their way upstream through difficulties convinced that this is the right thing to do to secure their offspring. It makes total sense if you are a salmon.

I always believed that I was a salmon and did my best to contribute by going upstream to optimize the spawning experience.

After returning from a year’s sabbatical from corporate I gradually realized that I in fact was a cod fish and that my BIG WHY was grounded outside of corporate, playing by my own rules. By changing directions and going down stream, I have given myself permission to align better with my BIG WHY.

Let me introduce you to another cod who has inspired me and continues to inspire an increasing number of followers. My client was a full time regular employee as an in-house graphic designer for many years.  Her responsibility was to generate ideas and develop graphic design elements online as well as offline. By nature, she was always looking to become masterful and build new skills to expand her contribution to her employer.

While there, she took numerous initiatives and invested significant amounts of her time and energy in building skills within strategic brand management and interactive design. She realized how things were related to each other and that the true effect was found in a holistic approach. She felt a huge responsibility to transfer knowledge to management and made many attempts to influence the direction and decisions. The response was low at best and her frustration grew as she knew she could add tremendous value if permitted.

Her “cod moment” was when she realized that she was in fact assuming a passionate but ignored “Brand Manager” position, with no mandate to act according to her strong beliefs. She recognized the huge potential for others in combining the strategic, tactical and operational elements in her area of expertise.

Today she is on a mission in her own business to help corporations and entrepreneurs embrace branding challenges successfully.

She provides her services in 3 different languages, her customers are located in an increasing number of countries, and she is soon to launch her own packages online, making her content available to professionals anywhere. Her BIG WHY is contagious as she plays by her own rules and always educates her stakeholders and customers in branding matters.

Professionals who share their BIG WHY with the world often make leaps in their professional lives and attract more of their ideal customers. When educating their surroundings, their BIG WHY in business becomes contagious. By playing small and ignoring your cod moment, you are doing your ideal customers a disservice.

Have you already had your own “cod moment” to help define yourself as an Advancing Leader? Or do you feel like you are swimming against the current? Feel free to share below!

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Virtual Leader Conference 2014: “Empowering the Advancing Leader in You”

The post Lead By Aligning With Your BIG WHY appeared first on Katy Caroan.

What triggers and small actions make them confident enough to stay on mission, despite setbacks and deviation to plans? There are 4 main characteristics that helped me become braver professionally and that are predominant with the professionals I love working with the most:

1 – Brave leaders recognize that they have something unique to share and do it often

It might seem banal, but this is one of the biggest mindset issues to overcome for professionals, and any strategy applied before this is addressed will only be partly effective at best. I should know since it took me almost 2 years to nail my own niche as a business owner.

Like many others, I used to analyze my position on favorite offerings and compare myself to the best on each one of them. I always came out short. When I understood that the sweet spot between my experience, talents and ambition made me unique, it became so much easier to show vulnerability and share my messages with confidence on a frequent basis.

I meet professionals all the time who never reflect about their professional sweet spot. But the best leaders frequently revisit the topics forming their unique brilliance to nail their leader position further.

2 – Brave leaders are willing to do things that are unexpected or against the norm

Using the element of surprise seems to be another common denominator for leaders who are perceived as courageous. I recently observed this powerful effect in a situation where the Executive untraditionally assumed a masterminding mentor role during a management meeting. He awarded all participants exactly the same amount of time to present ideas and reflect upon their key priorities. The result was that everyone knew they would not be overridden by others claiming more time and that they all had the same opportunity to influence the decisions.

Another example is the leader demonstrating vulnerability when sharing a new insight in a group setting. Both actions build trust and resonance with peers and followers. What do we remember most from an introduction, a presentation or a reflection session: The person following the norm, or the peer breaking the pattern? Brave leaders break patterns all the time and stay top of mind.

3 – Brave leaders mobilize formal and informal mentors

When I ask people: “Who are your professional role models?” I often get very vague answers.  I notice that those who are actively looking for and shadowing their role models are often stretching themselves professionally more than others. The courageous ones are approaching their role models and building relationships, online as well as offline. Asking for help and mobilizing mentors takes courage as it demonstrates vulnerability. Therefore, many people refrain.

When I change perspective and ask the same people: “How would you react if someone wanted your feedback on a crazy idea or asked for help on a delicate matter?” most of them respond that they would love to help. There seems to be a substantial potential for raising the bar as a leader in mobilizing the mentoring environment.

4 – Brave leaders take imperfect action

After the mindset shift towards understanding and trusting their own unique brilliance, this is probably the most important visible behavior for leaders who want to make great results on a daily basis: Brave leaders do not need all the answers nor any guarantees for success before kicking off their journey.

On a personal note, I experienced something during my first year as a business owner that helps me stick to imperfect action on a frequent basis: I was planning to run my first webinar as part of a program launch in January 2011. The program was a game called “Boost Your Personal Brand By Linking In.” It enabled players to learn how to use LinkedIn effectively over a period of 4 weeks via gamification techniques such as leader boards, feedback and community sharing. I needed at least 8 players to make the program work.

One week before the program start date, I had only 2 people signed up for the launch webinar and none for the program itself. Only one person showed up for the webinar and I was devastated. I was minutes away from cancelling the launch itself. Despite my stomach pain, I decided to go ahead, not showing the list of attendees so I could keep up appearances and use the recording of the webinar to promote during the final 6 days. What happened? 8 people signed up for the program and we re-launched 3 more programs during 2011. Since then, using webinars is business as usual.

Taking imperfect action is a method of reducing risk when making progress. The ruling mindset is all about playing to win, not avoiding failure. Failure is substituted by learning, exploring and reflecting.

What have you been putting on hold lately because you do not have the perfect circumstances? Taking imperfect action on this is probably the perfect challenge to build your courage as an Advancing Leader.

Virtual Leader Conference 2014: “Empowering the Advancing Leader in You”

If you like this topic, you will love the Virtual Leader Conference coming up September 15-21, 2014 where more than 20 Advancing Leaders and experts are sharing their success strategies to empower other Advancing Leaders. You are welcome to join us on demand and free of charge via http://vlc14.katycaroan.com

The post How Brave Leaders Build Courage Through Daily Action appeared first on Katy Caroan.

Characteristics of Advancing Leaders

Many of us have been asked about the characteristics of a great manager. What did he or she do to make you feel motivated, recognized and valued as a team member? Transferring the question to address the qualities of a great leader in every area of life might be helpful if you are lacking motivation in your current job or assignment.

What comes to mind when reflecting on people around you who you consider to be characterized as Advancing Leaders, inspiring you to follow and take action?

When I look back at my own career in corporate, I was influenced by a number of great leaders. One of them I never met in person, I just interacted with him via telephone conferences and email. Reflecting back on what made him such a great leader to me, made me realize that there were certain qualities that inspired me to challenge myself beyond expectations and advance in my own leadership.

The characteristics below might help you as well when recalling the qualities of formal and informal Advancing Leaders in your own various environments:

Qualities of Advancing Leaders

An Advancing Leader always wants to learn more

You will recognize them constantly pursuing new skills and perspectives, striving for new insights and continuous development. They are inspiring their followers by teaching what they learn. The teaching is often spontaneous and comprehensive, adding tremendous value to their followers.

An Advancing Leader shares with others

The most inspiring leaders share other professionals’ content with credit as well as their own content in a personal way. They are frequent sharers, aiming at attracting new opportunities for others and themselves through abundance. They are successful in combining online and offline forums when sharing their content, and their followers see them as consistent across the forums.

An Advancing Leader demonstrates courage

Their confidence in managing the circumstances whilst focused on their mission goals, means they do not need all the answers nor any guarantees for success before kicking off their journey.  Taking imperfect action is their method of reducing risk when making progress. The followers are inspired even if the leader is just a few steps ahead of them.

An Advancing Leader makes a difference

Their BIG WHY in business is more visible to themselves and others than for most, and this is contagious to their surroundings. The best of them are successful at relating their short-term priorities with their long-term vision in a trustworthy way. Their followers perceive them as highly inspirational when sharing the overall purpose.

An Advancing Leader never settles

They seem to miss the limiting belief of “I was not meant to stand out in a bigger way than what I was taught or told when younger.” There is no age limit to these leaders when making a bold, new move in their career or personal lives, as they are actively looking for what is still undone. Their followers see them as unorthodox and challenging, leaving important thoughts and ideas behind to explore.

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As a coach, mentor and consultant, I always look for answers to why I am passionate about working with some professionals and organizations more than others. This has nothing to do with traditional segmentation in terms of industry, geography or demographic. It has everything to do with their behavior. It has to do with their attitudes, response and ambition to make a difference as Advancing Leaders.

In which areas are you perceived as an Advancing Leader yourself? And more importantly, what is your potential when unleashing even more of the Advancing Leader in you? Pay attention to what drives your motivation to continuously learn more, improve and share content with others. When people around you see you as a professional on a certain mission, you know you are on the Advancing Leader path.

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Virtual Leader Conference 2014: “Empowering the Advancing Leader in You”

If you like this topic, you will love the Virtual Leader Conference coming up September 15-21, 2014 where more than 20 Advancing Leaders and experts are sharing their success strategies to empower other Advancing Leaders. You are welcome to join us on demand and free of charge via http://vlc14.katycaroan.com

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