Are you in a role in a company where you are very consistently,
perhaps weekly or daily needing to meet with higher ups?
Well, in this video, I'm going to share with you the steps on how to
communicate with higher ups, be in meetings with them without fear,
and just having the confidence and presenting your work and sharing
your ideas as well, and advocating for your ideas in a way where you
have that confidence in that executive presence.
I'm going to share with you four focus points that when you implement
these in your organization, that you will have the clarity and the
confidence to speak in front of higher ups as well.
So these focus points, again, there are four of them and I'm going to
use the acronym FAST, F A S T those.
So those are the four focal points.
Just to give you an acronym, that's easy to remember.
So F A S T are are, those are the four focal points, and we're going
to begin with the first one that starts with F.
So the first one is to focus on impact, right?
Impact is not the impact you want to have in the organization, but it
is the impact that they already want to be working towards.
In other words, there's an alignment towards the greater vision of the
company or the organization.
There's an alignment with where they are going and definitely where
they see themselves going.
This is what they've been dedicated towards.
Your higher ups, the higher ups in your organization have already
dedicated their career, their life's work towards moving in a
particular direction.
So this is where you're focusing on the impact that you have towards
that direction.
What is that piece of it for you?
And the biggest mistake that I see career professionals making is that
instead of focusing on impact, they focus on impressing.
So this is the first acronym F, F in F A S T is to focus on impact,
not on impressing.
So you see what the problem is that when you focus on trying to
impress them then necessarily in order to impress an individual, I
have to put myself in a higher position so that I can be impressive.
And therefore I need to be somehow seeing myself higher up and
therefore, necessarily they have to be somewhere below in order to be
impressive.
And this can cause one of two things, right?
It could be for example, that if you were to see yourself higher than,
than if you're the kind of person who values, humility, who hesitates
to brag or hesitates to sell yourself, then this will cause a lot of
cognitive dissonance to impress.
And that's why, oftentimes if you are included in this, sometimes most
people feel hesitant to, when they try to impress somebody, it just
doesn't come up.
They just can't do it.
They just can't sell it.
And that's because there's cognitive dissonance.
And the other thing could happen is that let's say you do move forward
and you try to wear that persona or put on that persona.
And you do try to be impressive.
Chances are trying to be impressive, could come across in ways that
you don't intend.
It could come across too brash, or it could come across too bragging.
It could come across too overly confident, right?
So that's why I say, instead of focusing on trying to impress
somebody, that's not what they're looking for, right?
You, when you impress, there's an inequality there because in order to
be impressive, I need to be higher than, better than and so on.
But what if there could be equanimity?
What if there could be equanimity between you as a valued member of
the team and the higher ups, as well as an equally valued member of
the team?
So that's why when you focus on impact, you are establishing
equanimity between you and them, right?
And each other instead of trying and focusing on trying to impress,
because when you are impressing, there is an imbalance there.
And sometimes that imbalance that's what's causing the fears and
anxieties, because it does not resonate with who you are as an
authentic person, right?
So that's the first step.
And that is to focus on impact.
Focal point number two, right.
F A S T.
So A is articulate your principles, articulate your principles, right?
When it comes to speaking with higher ups, most of the time, what I
see happening as an executive coach is that a lot of individuals give
their higher ups, the play by play of what they did.
In other words, they're sharing their methodology, right?
In terms of here are my processes.
These are the steps that I took to have the success that I did.
Here's what I'm recommending.
And they'd just literally account the play by play of what's going to
happen or how we, of the method that they followed.
And higher ups are not interested in methodologies or processes.
They want to understand what's the thinking behind it.
What's your thought behind it.
And those are your principles.
And when it comes to extrapolating your principles, there is a concept
where you are thinking based on principles, principles first.
And so in this concept, this is where you understand that you own your
principles.
Let's face it.
You've had success in your career so far, all of the things that
you've been able to achieve in your career so, so far, they didn't
happen by accident.
All of the achievements, just look on your resume.
All of those achievements did not get there by accident.
They got there because you've been following principles.
You've been applying principles all throughout your career path and
they have been tested in true.
So if you articulate that, then this is what's going to differentiate
you from all of those individuals who share their methods or their
processes that are less interesting for higher ups.
Because when you share your methodologies, it's still not possible for
them to see and connect the dots on how are you helping to achieve
their ultimate outcomes?
How are you moving forward the goals, the real objectives, how is this
aligned with the impact that they're looking for in the organization
that they want to make, right?
So when you share your principles, this is how you can connect the
dots for them.
So if you're somebody who is kind of like, I get this, I get this.
Yeah.
I can see how that's important.
Yes.
I'm seeing that in the, in my organization, if you're the kind of
person who was kind of like seeing that right now, but you want a
little bit more, or a little bit more support in terms of how do I
understand what my principles are?
How do I extract them?
How do I articulate them?
Then I invite you to work with me, every single week, this is what I
coach on, I teach on inside of my coaching program to extrapolate your
own principles, articulate them in very clear and concise ways so that
they can understand your thought process behind it.
And they can see the value that you bring.
So if you're serious about achieving this outcome in your path, and
ultimately you desire to take your career path into the inner circle
and to become an executive level yourself, then I invite you to book a
call with me below this video.
Under the description the first link in the description is a link that
will book a call with me.
And either myself or someone from my team will come onto the call.
And it's just to explore whether or not this is the right fit for you.
And if we can help you with what you're looking for.
And so if we do find it's the right fit, then I'll be happy to work
with you every step of the way to support you into greater levels of
communication, clarity, and confidence, and to achieve that executive
presence and take your career to the next level.
So I hope to see you on the other side, if you are serious about
this outcome then I'll see you on the other side.
Focal point number three.
So far, we have F A S T, right?
We did F we did A.
F was to focus on your impact.
A was to articulate your principles and S is to speak on their values.
Their values notice that their values, because let's face it, your
higher ups, those executives that you're in meetings with all the
time, they have a very unique system of values.
This is what they've been dedicating their career towards how they
dedicated their career.
All of their achievements are in complete alignment with what they
value most, but what they, what is most important to them.
So this is where if you want to speak in front of higher ups, command
the room, gain their attention, and have them to understand, and to
really see the value you have to bring in your knowledge, your
experiences in your expertise.
That's why it's so important to speak in accordance to what they
value.
And most of the time, once again, the biggest mistake.
Another mistake that I see a lot of career professionals make is that
when they're speaking in front of higher ups, one thing that they go
for is for agreement agreement, which means I want them to buy in.
I want them to agree.
I want them to see things from my perspective.
I want them to just respect my opinion and my recommendation moving
forward.
And so they're striving for agreement, but when you strive for
agreement, agreement does not necessarily mean that they are aligned
with what they value most because let's face it, every human yourself
included.
Every human is only committed to one thing.
And that is the fulfillment of their values, their own values, right?
And when the values are aligned, then they will see it as positive.
They will be open to it, but when the values are misaligned or when
there's a challenge of values, this is where another person can see it
as a challenge.
And unsupport right, and therefore not be open to it.
So if you will find a way to communicate in accordance to what they
value most, but first of all is understand what is the highest on
their values.
Then this is where they will be open to what you have to say.
This is where that you can get their attention, that they will be
open, and that there could be a collaboration and equanimity could be
restored, right?
Equality between you and the teams, right?
So that is the third focal point is to speak in accordance to their
values.
So if you are resonating with this, if you really resonated with it
then give me a thumbs up as well.
I want to know that you're listening and remember to subscribe to my
channel, ring the bell below as well, so that you can receive a
notification every time I release a new video, and now we're going to
focus point number four, F A S T.
The final focus point is T which is transcend towards equanimity.
I've used this earlier.
So what do I mean by an equanimity equanimity?
I've used that word earlier.
Equanimity is a calm state, right?
This, this is where your mind is calm.
This is where you have that composure.
This is where you have that, that confidence as well, a state of
stability within your mind.
That is what equanimity means.
So you're transcending towards that.
This requires self-governance.
This requires being aware of what's important to you, and what's
important to your higher ups as well, but this can be established, a
state of equanimity transcending towards that can definitely be
established once you are working towards an equitable, fair exchange
in the relationship.
So a fair exchange is sustainable because now you're not trying to
give away your knowledge, give away your time for nothing in return,
but you're also not expecting them to do the same.
So a sustainable fair exchange in a medium with higher ups means that
there is an equitable exchange between inputs and outputs, because
when you're working towards something, which is the real objective of
the organization, you have to put input into it, your energy, your
focus, your work, your, you have inputs.
The higher ups also have inputs into it.
Their inputs look different from yours, but every team member input
something in their time, their resources, their intelligence and their
expertise, but everybody inputs something towards a common mission, a
common vision.
So a sustainable fair exchange in relationship means that your inputs
and therefore the outputs, which is the payoff that you're working
towards, that they are equal.
There's a perception of equality in that, in that input versus output
for each individual.
So when you work towards that fair exchange of inputs and outputs,
this is a relationship that is sustainable.
And in that space of sustainable relationship with you and your higher
ups, this is how you can restore the equality equanimity within you
and equality without you, and as well to have the state of mind of
calmness and composure, right?
So in summary, we have the four focal points to meet with higher ups,
speak with higher-ups without fear.
And the acronym that I use for this is fast F A S T.
F was to focus on impact, not on impressing.
A is to articulate your principles and not your on your methodology.
S is to speak on their values, right?
Not focusing on agreement and T is to transmit, transcend towards
equanimity, which is a calm mind composed state, where you have a
sustainable relationship.
So by the way, if this resonates with you, once again, give me a
thumbs up and comment below as well, because I want to know that what
you learned from this, what was your key takeaway?
So after you have taken notes from this video, then just go onto the
next video, because you want to maintain the momentum, learning
momentum, right?
Expansion of your mind, that momentum moving forward.
One video may not be enough.
So I want to invite you to another video that I created recently.
It's going to start playing right after this.
And this is how do you speak up in front of higher ups?
How do you speak up and be unafraid to speak in front of them?
And that video will be playing, coming up next.
I'll see you there.