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Welcome to the 360 leadership podcast the top rated show for driven women in senior leadership with new episodes released every Wednesday. I’m your host, Lucy Gernon, a multi award winning executive coach for women leaders and the founder of 360. Leaders Club exclusive high level membership for career driven family orientated women just like you. I created the 360 leadership podcast to share practical tips, actionable step by step strategies, and inspiring stories to support you to unlock the power and belief within to accelerate your impact and potential. So you can build a life filled with success, balance and happiness. So are you ready to achieve 360 degree success? No more excuses. No more waiting. Your time is now. Hi, there. And welcome back to another episode of the 360 leadership podcast. I hope you are doing well today. I love love, love, love, love hearing from you. So if you’re enjoying this podcast, please just drop me a DM on LinkedIn or an Instagram and let me know what you think of the podcast. And if you ever have a second, I would always soul appreciate a little review on Apple or in Spotify. Or if you can share with a friend because it really really does help me push the podcast to more people. But all of that aside, I thought it would be fun this week to record an episode on a question that I was asked from one of the members of 360 leaders club and that question was, how do I networked and leave a positive impression when I am hosting a visit of the board of directors to my site. So this particular lady was on the site leadership team. She’s a senior leader. And she had the board coming to visit and some of the people who were in the entourage had been recognized by Forbes, they had won Nobel Prizes, and they were really, really influential. And she wanted to make a good impression. Now a lot of the women I work with work in STEM or finance, and you guys can be very, very technically minded. And sometimes it’s these little things on the people side that can kind of trip you up and you can get yourself in your own head and start worrying. And there really is no need. Okay, so that’s exactly why I thought I would come on the podcast and share with you what I shared with her that really, really helped. So I’m going to create it actually, to make it easier for you. I’ve actually created a five step process using the acronym smile, so that you can remember it. Okay. And that’s exactly what I’m going to take you through today. So, quick backstory, I obviously worked in the corporate world for almost 20 years, and I really understand your world. So So Well, I understand that, you know, you nearly become brainwashed by the culture you become I know, for me, I felt like it was my second home, I felt a real sense of duty to my company. And I felt like I would get caught up in the hype. And when people were talking to my visitors and I get anxious because everyone around me was anxious. But now that I’m out of it, I see things totally differently. And I just don’t get blinkered or caught up in the hype anymore. So I was able to share a different perspective with this lady who was in the 360 liters club, and I’m going to share the five steps with you today. Okay, so it’s gonna be a good one, you might want to take some notes. And if not, you can go back to the show notes, you’ll be able to see the five step process there anyway, if you just visit my website, Lucy garden.com forward slash podcast, you will see this podcast episode there and you can find it you can search for it as well. Okay. So step one in the process. So remember, the acronym is smile, s M I L E, smile. So the s in smile is to study. So before you have a board of directors or important visitors coming, it’s really important that before they come that you research their backgrounds and accomplishments, and the easiest way to do this is to go to LinkedIn, LinkedIn, I just absolutely love it. And I absolutely should probably do an episode on LinkedIn, because I do give my ladies training on LinkedIn. But would you like an episode on LinkedIn, how to use it drop into my DMs and let me know what if you go to somebody’s LinkedIn, you’re gonna see a lot about them. If they’re really high profile, like if there’s a CEO or they’re on the board, you’re probably going to find articles on them too. So just do a little bit of research. And by doing a bit of research, it actually shows that you value their experience and their expertise and you’re genuinely interested in them. And that is automatically going to help you to stand out, as opposed to what I’ve seen in the past, which is leaders nearly being starstruck, I was there myself, like I remember when I worked in MSD, Ken Frazier, and was the most charismatic CEO I’ve ever met, came to visit. And like I was literally starstruck, like starstruck is not the word I swear to god has that ever happened to you? But I don’t want you to be like that because actually you want to be able to make a good To impression and to stand out, okay, so study their background, get to know a little bit about them and have a couple of kind of key points in your head, that you can kind of share back with them that you know about them. Okay? So step two, then in the process is the M in smile is meet. So you want to meet and greet them with warmth and personality. So you just need to be yourself, see them as humans don’t see them as like these people who are, you know, so senior or so important, because that automatically psychologically puts you on puts them on a pedestal, and puts you look up to them. And when you go into the conversation with that energy, it’s felt, okay, so you want to be holding your own in those kinds of interactions, and you just want to be yourself. So greet them warmly, maintain good eye contact, and just smile genuinely at them, stop, like, strip away the titles and accolades, and just be yourself. And by doing this, it’s going to set a positive tone, and really make them feel welcome. So, again, like in my time, in corporate, I, you know, I would have always been quite genuine. But I’ve obviously matured a lot since my days when I would have been dealing with these kinds of people. But if you, you want to just be yourself, you want to just be warm, you don’t want to be stiff, you don’t want to be watching your words, because people connect with people. And, you know, some of you are probably these leaders who are going around, right. And I have had clients who have been on boards and you know, other people too, they just, they just want to connect and you know, they’re often going around different sites, and they’re tired and, you know, they’re putting on this facade, and by you just being normal and just natural and just yourself, you’re going to instantly make them feel a lot more at ease and make them feel welcome. Okay, so the first step again, in the smile, acronym is smile study. And the second one is meet them with warmth. The eye, then smile is to instigate so instigate a powerful question. Now, this is where your research in what you’ve done in step one comes into play, because you can then craft a thoughtful, insightful question that is related to their interests or their accomplishments. And this will really help you stand out because it will show that you have prepared on it will just create a really meaningful conversation starter. So again, going back to one of the ladies who’s in 360 liters club, I gave her a couple of questions that you could specifically ask. Okay, so, one question actually, that one of my coaches taught me who was a positive psychologist, it’s a fabulous question to use is what’s happening? That’s exciting for you right now. Nobody ever asked this. And if you ask somebody, like, everyone always asked, like, how are you? Such a broad question, you’re gonna get back? I’m doing well, or I’m doing good, or I’m fine. How are you? And that’s the conversation over right. So you greet them? How are you yada, yada? And when the time is right to say, Listen, I’ve been doing some research on your background. I you know, I’m really really impressed with X y&z I’d love to know, like, what’s happening, that’s really exciting for you right now. Now, by doing this, you’re going to do a couple of things. And watch, when you ask this question, you’re going to see a twinkle in their eye, you’re going to see a change in the body language. And you’re gonna see them light up. Because nobody ever asks this, and it will get them excited. And then subconsciously, what’s happening is that they’re going to associate you with a positive motion. So please ask them that question. What’s happening that’s exciting for you right now are worded in your own language, if that doesn’t feel right for you, okay? Now, if you want to be really bold, and the conversation is going well, and you’re getting to know them, and they’re telling you a story about what’s exciting, especially if they’re, you know, they’re going to take a new risk in the business or if something is changing, and you feel like it’s right, you could ask them something like, What fears cropped up for you, during this process? And how did you overcome them? Again, that’s just just showing real strong leadership and real certainty in who you are, that you’re willing to ask somebody a vulnerable question. And, you know, I love sharing what fears cropped up for me because I want to teach, I want to teach I want to be able to make your life easier, and learn the easier way as opposed to take in you know, the
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long route. So I’m pretty sure a lot of a lot of senior leaders that I know would be the same. So ask them you know, you said this, what fears cropped up for you and how did you overcome that and ask them with genuine curiosity. Okay. Step four, then is, is the owl in smile is listen actively. So listening actively when they respond to your questions. So instead of, you know, you want to maintain genuine eye contact, make sure your body language is pointing towards them, you’re not looking away, you’re showing genuine interest in the response and be interested and if you’re really interested the follow up questions will just come. And a little tip I would give you when it comes to active listening. And if you’re multitasking, come back to me. What I’ve been taught in as a coach active listening, okay, and I won’t get into all of that today, but there’s a there’s a skill to doing this spot. one sure way to help somebody understand that you’re listening to them is by reflecting back their exact language. So you might say something like, wow, that sounds really exciting that you’re doing the reorg. Or, you know, you and Peter are working together on the reorg, you know, mentioned the person’s name or whatever, they said, say the exact language, and they’re gonna pay attention because most people, we paraphrase, we interpret what somebody says, and we actually change their words totally. And words have our significant each one of us. So make sure, when you’re repeating back, you’re using their exact language and you’re not adding in your own interpretations, okay? Because it can come across as like, Oh my God, would they actually even listen to me? That’s not what I said, Have you been there before? I know I definitely have. And then step five, and the acronym in smile is E, which is end. So end on a positive note. So as your time with the visitors conclude, just express your gratitude for their time and for their insights. And what I would really recommend is, while you’re in that energy of them, being there, connect with them on LinkedIn, connect with them that day, while they remember, you don’t say, Oh, God, I must connect with them on LinkedIn, or maybe fear will pop up and you’ll say, Who am I to connect with them on LinkedIn, just connect with them on LinkedIn, because they’ll remember you, okay. And that’s another maybe opportunity to start conversation privately after they leave, if you know, if you want to really get on the radar. And if it’s appropriate, like if you’ve been getting on really well, with them, you could suggest taking a fun selfie to create like a memorable, lighthearted ending. So oftentimes, you know, it depends on the person and the personality, right, you’ll be able to test the you know, you might get the group and you’ll say, Listen, that’s been absolutely fantastic. Would you mind if we just got a bit of a fun selfie? I mean, we all need a bit more crack, we all need a bit more fun. So if the opportunity arises, I would definitely invite you to do that, too. So that is the five step process. I’m going to go through very quickly again, just in summary. So step one is smile soul study, so study their background. Step two is meet and greet them with warmth, and personality, just be yourself. Step three is to instigate a powerful question. Okay, I’ve given you the questions already. Step four, is to listen actively and again, reflect back their exact language, maintaining eye contact, and really listening to them. And step five is to end it on a positive note, connect with them on LinkedIn, you know, express their gratitude, your gratitude for their time and everything. And if the moment arises, take a phone selfie. And I would love to see your phone selfie. If you do actually ever do that, please send it to me because I would I always love seeing those group shots. It makes everyone feel good, doesn’t it? So that’s it for this week’s episode of the podcast. I hope you found this valuable. Now if you have a female leader or colleague who you think oh my god, she I know she’s hosting visitors all the time. Please send this on to her because you will be giving her a gift. And you’ll be helping me to grow this podcast, which is always so so important to me. So thank you for being here, my dear listener, if you haven’t already, please rate and review the show, just go into Apple podcasts or in Spotify, wherever you’re listening and just hit those five stars. I would be forever grateful for your support, because it helps me I suppose, keep going to produce this free content for you when I get some energy back. So that’s it. Until next time, be safe, be well, and I’ll talk to you again next week.
