How to Use your Leadership Influence with Grit and Gratitude (Podcast with Regina Barr)

How to Use your Leadership Influence with Grit and Gratitude (Podcast with Regina Barr)

As a young salesperson, I learned a critical leadership development lesson from one of my mentors. He used to say, “Plans on paper are great. But they’re just plans. We need to get a handle on concrete results!”

So, what concrete results still determine the firm foundation for business success today?

• Increased revenue, regardless of the economy.
• Improved margins despite competitive pressure to commoditize.
• Increased market share despite globalization.

I’m sure you can see even more items to add to this list!

Here’s my question…What’s stopping you from getting these results?

I believe a focus on coaching gratitude is the answer! Yes, cultivating a grateful mindset in your Next-Gen salespeople is a transformative leadership strategy.

That’s why I was delighted when Regina Barr invited me to be a guest on her Women at the Top podcast interview series.

You can listen to the podcast here.

Regina Barr is an award-winning business owner with over two decades of leadership development experience. Since starting her business in 2003, Regina has had one goal: to develop people and inspire success. Regina inspires her clients and audience by providing

Regina Barr

them with hands-on knowledge combined with practical wisdom and relevant stories gained through successfully navigating the corporate corridors for over twenty years

Unleash the Power of Gratitude for Improved Success

During our podcast session, Regina asked me about my “Word-of-the-Year Strategy,” which she also embraces. This year, I chose gratitude as the word I want to focus on for 12 months.  Why gratitude?

Cultivating a grateful mindset is a transformative leadership strategy in a world often plagued by criticism, condemnation, and complaints.

This era is marked by exponential progress and rapid change. With the help of the media, it fuels fear. It often clouds our judgment and stifles resilience. However, even amid chaos and disruption, gratitude is a beacon of hope—a potent tool for building grit and strengthening our minds against fear-induced criticism, complaining, and condemnation.

Rather than dwelling on challenges, or assigning blame, using your leadership influence to embrace gratitude opens doors to growth, resilience, and success. You can read more about the transformative power of gratitude in my new series on this topic.

Regina invited me to write a guest article on her blog about one of my favorite topics – gratitude!

I invite you to read this guest article where I spotlight simple gratitude exercises that nurture grit and rewire your brain for success.

I call it a Gratitude Revolution! Commit to developing a grateful mindset in your emerging leaders. It’s the key to unlocking their full potential and charting a course towards success.

Publication: Regina Barr

By: Guest Blogger, Danita Bye

Date: March 01, 2023

You can read the article here.

If you can’t Criticize, Condemn, or Complain, what can you do instead?

The answer? Be grateful!

To practice a grateful mindset, I intentionally took a moment to reflect on two items, regardless of whether I thought it went brilliantly, or it was a complete failure.

• • I wrote down three things that went well during the sales call. I took time to be intentionally grateful for my current skills, selling acumen, and mindsets.
  • Then, I wrote down three things I could do better next time. I didn’t write down what I did wrong. I focused on continuous improvement. That forced me to be grateful for the progress I had made in my selling acumen.

That year, I finished #3 in the Region.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but in doing these GRATITUDE exercises, I was developing GRIT and wiring my brain for success.

When I mention these GRATITUDE practices to leaders, I often hear them confess, “Well, I know those are Best Practices, but I don’t do them.”

What’s stopping us from doing what’s good for us?

I believe two strong cultural factors cause us to stall out.

First, the Blame-Game Culture. It seems like the American way of doing things is to blame others when something in our lives goes wrong.  Studies show that at least 60% tend to play this game.

As a participant in the Blame-Game Culture, you undermine your God-given brilliance.

Let’s go back to my Xerox example. If the sales call went horribly, I had options:

• I can blame the economy for my lack of performance.
• I can blame the client for not being willing to spend money on a reputable product.
• I can take personal responsibility and ask, “What might I do to make a difference? Or, what might I do to improve my questioning and listening skills? Or, my selling acumen?

You have a choice every single day. In choosing GRATITUDE exercises, you develop GRIT and wire your brain for success.

The second cultural factor is this. Financial experts call this time in world history an Era of Exponential Progress. It happens about every 500 years. Things change at lightning speed. For some, that’s exciting. For others, it’s fear-inducing.

Problem: Fear makes it impossible to think. You lose your resilience, your grit. You’re more prone to Criticize, Condemn, or Complain.

What’s the antidote?

Gratitude.

Want to build GRIT and wire your brain for success? Choose gratitude above grumbling and fear. That’s the key to success!

Danita

DANITA BYE, M.A. is a leadership and sales development expert.  She’s a Forbes Coaches Council author, Harvard Business School MBA sales coach, and a TEDx speaker on Millennial Leadership. Learn more at DanitaBye.com