By Viviana Jiminez, Consolidated Edison Company of New York
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the words “Negotiating Advances”? Many people think this refers to salary increases or promotions at work. What you might not realize is that you first have to be able to define your personal goals and drivers. This is what Valia Glytsis, executive leadership coach, made conference attendees realize during the WICE Fall conference.
Valia’s presentation was engaging and eye-opening. By asking a series of questions she was able to encourage the audience to undercover their misconceptions about what their drivers, goals and interests really are. Valia asked the audience to answer three questions:
- What is one of your goals in life?
- What will you get from this goal?
- By when do you want to start working on this goal?
Valia explained that what you might perceive as you goal may not actually be the true goal. Instead, it might really be your strategy to get to the real goal. The real goal is to achieve the second question; “what will you get from this goal?” Examples of this might be financial security, a feeling of satisfaction, or health and fitness.
In order to guide the audience in developing a leadership perspective, Valia shared different steps to discover your “why”? These steps are the:
- Butterfly: embracing your strengths gained through the power of struggle
- Onion: understanding the intricacies of your needs
- Managing strengths: focusing on what you are good at to further develop abilities
- Strategic Intuition: taking your blinders off to see the different opportunities that are available
- Energy Leadership: learning to manage and direct your energy
One conference attendee noted that Valia’s “presentation made me redefine my life purpose.”
Valia concluded her presentation with a very profound and inspiring quote to reassure the audience that decisions should not be made based on fear but, rather, based on value. “It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is not longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.” – Alan Cohen.
Download Valia’s handout.
