Strategies to Supercharge Your Impact with Carrie Vanston

Are you ever challenged by your emotions when it comes to your successes and achievements? Do you find it hard to find time to pause and reflect on the wins you're achieving in this very busy, chaotic world? Well, you're not alone, and our guest, Carrie Vanston of Leadership Mindset Success, is here to help us navigate these emotional waters. In this episode, we'll delve into emotional awareness, the value of reflection, and how past successes can act as anchors during challenging times. Carrie will share invaluable communication strategies like asking open-ended questions and practicing intuitive listening to foster deeper connections and create win-win situations in leadership. We'll also discuss practical mindset techniques such as using positive affirmations, journaling, and Carrie's unique anchor technique to stay grounded. By the end of this episode, you'll have a toolkit full of actionable strategies to enhance your leadership skills and interpersonal relations, and most importantly, to intentionally embody the emotions tied to future successes. Stay with us.

Welcome to Shedding the Corporate Bitch, the podcast that transforms today's managers into tomorrow's powerhouse leaders. Your host, Bernadette Boas, executive coach and author, brings you into a world where the corporate grind meets personal growth and success in each and every episode. With more than 25 years in corporate trenches, Bernadette's own journey from being dismissed as a tyrant boss to becoming a sought-after leadership coach and speaker illustrates the very essence of transformation that she now inspires in others with her tips, strategies, and stories. So if you're ready to shed the bitches of fear and insecurity, ditch the imposter syndrome, and step into the role of the powerhouse leader you were born to be, this podcast is for you. Let's do this.

Hi, how are you? Welcome, welcome, welcome.

Hey, it's so nice to be on your show. Thank you so much for inviting me, Bernadette.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, I think it's really important for us to continue to have conversations with corporate professionals about the importance of the value and the impact that they make in their job. But before we get into all of that, I always like to ask our guests to share a little bit about themselves personally so we can get to like, know, and trust them. So can you tell us a little bit about Carrie?

Oh gosh. I worked for a long time for a forecasting company. I kind of got really interested in helping people that didn't just want to plan the future, but actually wanted to create and grow companies. And so we put together a list of best practices to find small trends. And that turned into a book called Mini Trends. That was back in 2011, won a couple of best book awards. And we started doing a lot of work around that. And I started running a— I did a conference for 3 years and brought a lot of people on that. And I realized that being innovative wasn't enough. You really needed to have a culture that really encouraged innovation. And that kind of led me to getting involved with culture. And then as I got into culture, I realized that if the leadership didn't have a positive growth mindset, it was very hard to stay sustainable. So I went through an executive coaching program and kind of came out on the other side of that, having, you know, really learning mindset skills and techniques. To really raise the energy and raise the leadership of people. But probably more importantly, it really taught me how to have a positive mindset.

It all starts with us, doesn't it?

It all starts with us. Yeah, we've been doing that since 20— I got started my coaching business, coaching, and I'm also a speaker. But yeah, and I have 2 kids. I have 16 and 19-year-old boys that I adore. Uh, one was I started A&M recently and, uh, A&M, uh, I'm a true dyed-in-the-wood Longhorn. I used to work at Texas Longhorn and it was really tough, but the one saving grace was I look a whole lot better in, uh, in maroon than I do burnt orange. Exactly.

You and me both. You and me both. You and me both. Oh, that's great. Well, and it's also always fun to You know, follow your kids and cheer them on with, you know, whatever school that, uh, that they're participating in. So that's fabulous. And at the same time, I think it's a, a great, uh, lead-in to our conversation because it is all about impact, right? What we do, um, you know, in our daily lives, work or play, um, it's all around the impact that we make. And in order to have impact, we also need to then lead into that with mindset, would you say that makes sense?

Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, what I always say is that, you know, we have a thought, which leads to an emotion, which leads to an action. If you feed neutral, negative, low-energy thoughts, then you're going to have low-energy emotions, and you're going to have low-energy results and action. While if you feed in positive, growth-oriented kind of thoughts, then, you know, you're going to have more positive emotions and you're going to have much more positive actions and results. So if you came here to this podcast today and said, "Oh, I've got a million things to do, but I probably should listen," then, you know, your emotion is going to maybe be more frustrated and, you know, impatient. And then your action is probably not going to get a whole lot out of this, right? You kind of come in as, oh, you know, you know, Bernadette and her guest always has good things to say, you know. Then your emotion is more matter of fact, and your, you know, your action, your results is you're going to get something out of this, right? But if we come in like, wow, I love what Bernadette says every time, there's like this great guest, I'm going to learn something really special today, then your emotion is more excitement, and your action is you really bring something back to the office and you really make a make a difference for that time that you spent, right? What I, what I really feel that, that, you know, my magic sauce is, and, you know, and what I feel other people, you know, I want to impart to your, your listeners, is you can intend— there's ways to intentionally raise that thought process so that you can have that intentionality of, wow, you know what, I'm curious about this, what What's the adventure here? What came out positive about this negative thing? What can I find? Maybe I learned something. You know, so change that thought in an intentional way because leaders, the best leaders are intentional. You know, they're intentional and then your emotion is in the right place and then your action is in the right place and those wins come better, those transitions work out better and you as a leader are a better leader and we're all leaders in one way or the other, whether— Absolutely.

Whether, absolutely, whether we have someone reporting to us or not, each and every one of us are leaders in our lives. But let me ask you a question to help break this down. Do you have a practice that you do to put yourself in this, the mindset that you're trying to educate others to be in?

Yeah, I sure do. Um, I, well, one thing is I exercise in the morning. I do some waist, my waist exercises and my tummy exercises. A little bit of stretching. Uh, but I do, uh, I have a couple of things I do. Uh, one, sometimes I'll journal, uh, with like what's, what, uh, my day. I put like your morning. I mean, my day, you know, I put morning so I know it's in the morning and not at night. And then I sort of like do like a paragraph about my perfect day that day. So I'm setting myself up. And then later at night, you know, I might come back and, you know, like say, well, it didn't work out exactly this way, but what are the things that happened even better?

Mm-hmm.

Uh, that's one thing I do. Another thing I do is I have a great app called Zenkapp. And Zenkapp, you can put your positive affirmations on there. It's free. 3 of them are free at least. And I put my positive affirmations like, um, I know that, uh, uh, that I'm, uh, capable of all of the things I dream of. Something, you know, like whatever the anchor is that you're, you know, affirmations is a huge mindset. Razor, you know, when something bothers you, you know, figure out something that's positive, a positive statement around that, that, you know, you're struggling with. And then, you know, have those affirmations handy for you. Matter of fact, later on when the gift time comes, I have like 12 quick and dirty mindset strategies that people can put on their desk and actually have them right there.

Absolutely.

But the ThinkUp, you can put some dots and then you just play it, plays over and over and over again. And you can just—

Are you saying ThinkUp?

ThinkUp.com. Yeah.

T-H-I-N-K?

T-H-I-N-K-U-P.com.

Okay. ThinkUp.com. So I'll make sure that we also share that in our show notes as well. Yes, affirmations, you know, is definitely one way to, you You know, get out of a blah mindset and kind of move, shift it into a more positive mindset. But let me ask you something. In the chaos of the, you know, the day of a corporate professional at any level of the organization is so haphazard. How do you get your clients? To take that time, even when you say it's like a 30-second or a 5-minute something, uh, I'm sure many of them get exasperated by just saying, I don't have any time. So what is a trick that you use with them or a tip or technique you give them to help them find that time?

Well, the best thing is to schedule it in. Uh, you know, like put it on your calendar. I'm going to take a 15-minute break, right? You know. Between this and this and just breathe a little bit, or focus on something besides what I'm doing, or get up and walk around and energize a little bit. I also think that having some kind of anchor so that when you are feeling stressed out, you have some kind of anchor that you can go back to that, okay, this is what I need to do when I'm feeling this way. And kind of go through them and try to relax yourself a little bit that way. So—

And what is an anchor exactly?

Anchor? An anchor is kind of like an affirmation in that it's something like, okay, it's time for me to take a break and rest here. And maybe 3 or 4 things that you can do, maybe to listen to some music, maybe, you know, call your loved one and see what they're doing, or take a walk, get up and stretch, you know, but something that, you know, you can, the thing is that when we're under stress, it's very hard to, to, to, to, to, to get out of stress. So it's, if we have something that we already have planned, like for example, if you're feeling insecure, if you have a list of, of things that really went well for you, then you have something to go back to so that when you're in the middle of that stress, then our minds are, you know, kind of blank. So having that, you know, something to go back to, I think helps a lot.

I, I actually have, um, walking my dog and that could be literally opening up the door, going outside and throwing the ball for her like 3 times, cuz that's all she'll do. Um, no, just kind of what you're saying to be anchoring, getting back into a state of focus and energy and positivity. Why do you find it so challenging? For cultures, for, you know, leaders to kind of have a positive mindset or at least maintain a positive mindset in the workplace?

Oh, I think we're kind of, we're kind of wired to worry about things because we were seekers and hunters originally. And so we tend to just naturally kind of go to the negative to try to protect ourselves. And so I think you have to be intentional about the more positive things that are out there. And gratitude is huge. I mean, the minute that you start being gratitude, you crowd out the negative feelings because you can only juggle so much in your brain. So if you're filling yourself with positive thoughts, then you kind of cloud out those negative things that are bothering you. So, you know, I think that's huge. Something that I think that your listeners might, you know, really relate to is, you know, we have this kind of big emotional part of our brain and then we have this intellectual part of our brain and we get really caught up in that intellectual part of our brain. But really the emotional part of the brain is really what works us, this main thing that that motivates us, and it really deals with feelings. So if you feed it intellectual thoughts, it doesn't really pick them up like feelings. So the more that you are grateful, or the more that you feel good, choose good feelings, choose positive feelings, the more the unconscious mind knows what to do, and the unconscious mind can give you what you want faster because it's dealing with the feelings. I even say with the goals, because goals is a huge mindset, you know, raises your mindset. I always say mindset matters most. But goals is, you know, if you're setting goals, goals is great. You know, you set the goals, but not only thinking about when you get them, but how you'll feel when you achieve that goal, because your subconscious mind that it works with the feelings. And so if you have, if you think, oh gosh, you know, when I get, you know, when I make this much money or when I get this promotion or when my family gets to this point or, you know, whatever it is, I'm going to feel how? Oh, I'm going to feel joyful. I'm going to feel so relieved. I'm, you know, and you actually feel it right now. And then your subconscious, you know, you know how to, you, you know where to, your subconscious mind knows where to take you because you've given it how you feel. Right. That's something that's really kind of a, uh, kind of a secret that, you know, is, is real valuable to know.

Now, did you ever at one time, I know I did, did you ever at one time struggle to embody the future emotion that you want to have? And therefore you had to work on, in your, in your words, being intentional about wanting to feel and experience that outcome that you're looking for, that joy, that happiness, that fulfillment, that success. Like literally, like you said, feeling it right now. Um, I struggled with that for a long time. I couldn't manifest it within myself. It was like, I'm not, able to create that. Did you, did you have that, uh, that issue at all? And if so, what did it take for you to get to that point where you could do it for yourself?

Uh, I think that's one of the things we really do is when we have a win, you know, it's very easy to not celebrate or when they, you know, you achieve something and it's like, oh my God, you know, that took me so long. I should have done it a long time ago. I don't have time to deal with that. I've got to jump to the next win because now I'm behind. And I think you really have to, and I have to force myself to, you know, once I learned this, you know, I have to, you know, force yourself to say, wait a minute, it's time to celebrate. And you know, it's time for me to congratulate everybody around me that helped. It's time for me to, you know, buy a new shirt to see the first wave flight. It's like time, you know, you know, I celebrate with my family too, you know, the same with, you know, like if your kids get straight A's, take them to their favorite restaurant. You know, if you're, if your team does well, you know, buy a cake, you know, you know, whatever it is. But it's really important to celebrate because again, you're passing those feelings that, hey, I love this. This is what I want more of. And then getting stuck. So I think that's one of the things to not get doc is to, and to, you know, be able to start thinking about those feelings is being intentional. Intentionally, I'm going to be thinking about how I'm going to be feeling in this situation. It's interesting. I had a discovery session last week with a guy in my, um, what in my, uh, discussion, discovery sessions, I usually talk about, you know, kind of where you want to be in a year and then, um, you know, uh, where you are now. And, and actually it was, how do you feel in a year? That's what I asked. I asked, well, how would that make you feel? Cause we went through all this stuff. And he said, well, I don't know how that would make me feel. And it was like, I had the hardest time getting him. And, you know, being a man, you know, it's not as surprising as a woman because a lot of times they just are businessman, you know, I just guarded.

I find it hard, right? Just guarded wanting to feel.

Yeah. Yeah. It was like, I said, well, would you, he said, well, I wouldn't feel anything. I would just be. I'd be, I'd be more successful. I was like, well, how would that feel? And he was like, well, I don't, and I said, well, would that kind of make you feel good? And he goes, yeah, it would make me feel good. Can you elaborate on that? And at the end I said, well, what was your takeaway? And he said, that I have a hard time expressing how I feel about this. Yeah, really?

Well, well, I know that, you know, in defense to him, maybe. I know that, you know, throughout my corporate career, once there was a success, it would, the next statement out of the boss's mouths were, okay, that was great. Now what are you going to do for me?

Exactly. Yeah.

To your point, we didn't get to pause and really take in and feel, you know, the pride, the gratitude, the, you know, the, the excitement and the, you know, the energy around that win.

Yes.

And so you're just saying to make sure that you pause, you feel it, you work, you know, you live in it for a time, uh, so you can embody it and then refeel it when you're not having a great day. Would that be right?

Yes. And I even say, you know, write it down, write it down, write down your wins and your strength around it because then you can go back to it and, you know, be more, you know, find the joy again, but also learn the lessons, you know, why, why did this work and what didn't work? And, you know, let's celebrate what did work, uh, around that. So, uh, I think that's super, super important.

And to your, to your exercise with that gentleman where he was struggling to really understand how he would feel. The first thing I, like, I'm very visual, so I'm, I'm picturing you sitting with him and you're trying to get him to kind of get to that next level, go deeper, go deeper. And so would something that our listeners could do is if they are struggling like he is to really understand what that outcome would feel like and what that energy would feel like to just like write it down, the first thing that came to their mind, which might not have been anything. Okay, but let's go a little bit deeper. Okay. So I feel good.

Okay.

But what does that look like is what you said. So what does that mean? And what does that feel like? And you just keep kind of like drilling into each one of those to where you can finally get to the, to the heart of that experience.

You know, uh, in that case, uh, Bernadette, I would say, look back, if you have someone struggling with that. You know, that's like looking at back, you know, one of the things I say is look at your past strength. And in this case, I would say, you know, look back at a time when you were really, you know, really happy and satisfied. And then say, well, you know, an example is one of my clients, she was really struggling with networking. She'd been promoted to a much higher position and she was having to go out and network. And at first she thought it'd be so fun, but then she realized that she was, you know, like, would know people and, you know, uh, you know, uh, and it was at night and she felt really uncomfortable because she was now, she was kind of a salesy person as opposed to just a person. And she was just absolutely miserable. But one of the things I told her, uh, was, well, when did you feel really comfortable and successful at networking? And she told me, well, about a year ago. I had been at a St. Patrick's Day event and there was like all these funny leprechauns on the centerpiece and I was making jokes about it and I had the whole table in stitches and I made a couple of really important contacts that night. And I said, well, you know, what strength did you have there? And it was like, well, my sense of humor. And I said, well, what's the first thing that flies out the window when we're nervous and stressed out? Our sense of humor.

It's true.

We, you know, we really kind of came up with a couple of stories that she could tell, some funny stories and a couple of jokes and stuff so that she could feel more uncomfortable— so she could feel more comfortable when she was approaching these people. So again, it's like, uh, thinking back on, you know, how, how did I— was it successful in a situation, similar situation? How did I feel afterwards, right? And how could maybe I bring that to, again, intentional, being intentional about looking at that and then maybe using that as an anchor or affirmation too, in that, you know, I know that when I feel this way, I'm going to think about that time that I made jokes about the funny leprechauns. Been free.

If it doesn't make her laugh, I don't know what would, because that's hysterical. No, I love that. And you talk about creating win-wins, and is this the type of win-win you're looking for? Or when you talk about creating a win-win as a strategy for really creating impact, what does that look like?

Well, you know what I think is that, you know, compromise is kind of what we were raised as, you know, how compromise is great, compromise, but actually compromising one or both people are losing. So as leaders, if we can create win-win, then that's a super positive thing. And one way you can do that is by really understanding the other person and what they want. Uh, and, you know, I had a CEO client that I was working with that he was having trouble because they were growing, they were quickly growing, and he was kind of losing control of, you know, the, you know, there was beginning conflicts. So he was actually having trouble with one person in particular. And, um, you know, we really worked on raising, uh, his raising to that. When he had a lot of visionary energy, but he had a lot of compromise too. So we, we worked on, you know, how to make that more of a win-win. And the first thing we did was we really worked on caring about the other person and understanding, because what, how we're really wired as human beings is we really want to be cared about and appreciated. So I asked him to go out and, you know, Well, what did you do this weekend? What kind of hobbies do you like? What kind of, you know, what, you know, really understand, get a better sense of what makes these people tick so they feel like they're cared about and they're appreciated. So that is one thing that I really encouraged him to do. The second thing was ask open-ended questions. And, you know, we probably all have heard that, you know, in corporate, you know, ask open-ended questions, but we kind of forget that. And it's super important because if you want to understand the other person, if you ask something like, do you like your job? It's like yes or no. But if you say, what do you love about your job? Um, what really turns you on about your job? What do you think? How can you think I could help you do a better job? How do you think that you could deal with this conflict? You know, whatever it is you ask the— oh, and you— and then you start understanding the person. So you've got the caring and the understanding and The third thing we really talked about too was intuitively listening. You know, there's different ways to listen. You can listen subjectively where you say, well, do you like this? And the person says, I don't know. I don't know if I like it. Oh, let me tell you all the ways. So that's kind of subjective. And then objective is, you know, do you like this? And the person says, I don't know. And you say, well, tell me what it is you don't like about it. And that's a lot better. But intuitive listening is really like listening between the lines, kind of seeing how they're reacting, the tone of voice, how their eye, you know, what they're doing with their eyes, you know, how they're doing physical, how emotional. So that would be more like, well, do you like this? And they say, well, I don't know. And then you say, I'm getting the sense that something's bothering you here. Can you tell me more? Lovely. Really listening. So, so yeah, and he really, He took all this to heart and yeah, he would, he told me about this, this guy that he was having trouble with and he said normally he would just, you know, really fussed out and he did something and he made one of the clients mad, you know, brought him in and he had real type A personality. We said, no, no, Carrie says there's always a win-win. So I brought him in and said, okay, tell me what's going on. And then, rah, rah, rah, rah. Okay, tell me what you did with the, with the software. Rah, rah, rah. And by the end of the conversation, the guy felt heard and he felt understood. And, you know, and the Jeff, they didn't have to fire him, which he didn't want to do, you know, didn't get into a big conflict, but instead the guy felt understood. He started coming to the meetings without a black cloud over his head and just started feeling like he was more part of the team. Yeah, because he was able to express himself more. So I think it goes on and on.

I love what you said, and I will actually want you to just repeat it because I think it's something that anyone that's listening really needs to take to heart as especially, um, not only themselves as an individual, but if they are a leader. And that is what you said about compromise is a lose-lose. Someone's losing in compromise. And therefore, you want to look for the win-win. Did I capture that correctly?

Yes. And you, as the leader, and like you said, we all leaders, no matter if we're leading at work, in our community, our families, that when you really bring out what the other person wants by asking open-ended questions and caring, then you can reflect that win because you know your win. And so then you can reflect that win and then when you have a win-win situation, then that puts you up. Then the next step, the magic happens, and the higher intelligence is hit, and then you become— and then the visionary energy comes in, the visionary mindset comes in. Uh, energy kind of sounds woo-woo. Mindset is a little bit less woo-woo, but you know, you tap into that higher— and actually, I've started— I stopped calling them soft skills. I now call them primary skills, you know, because they're having that ability to bring the conversation up to higher levels where people can be happier and more fulfilled. And you as a leader can have that stress off of you of, you know, having to drag, try to drag people up instead of bringing them up by finding their wins.

And I think I think it's important to call them primary versus soft because everyone puts soft skills secondary. You know, it's those hard skills always get the limelight, you know, and the focus, especially when it comes to training and development. And, uh, so if you can kind of reframe soft skills to be primary, because they are, like you said at the very beginning of this, mindset is everything. And mindset A soft skill, right?

And it's a primary skill.

Well, it's a primary skill. It's a primary skill, but fall into that bucket.

Yes, yes.

Being as a primary skill is, that's awesome. That's brilliant. Well, you mentioned at the very beginning the, uh, the worksheet, the, the gift you have. For our listeners. So why don't you share a little bit about that? And in the meantime, you can make a note, everybody, that you can get that at tiny.cc/giftfromkari. So very easy, tiny.cc/giftfromkari. But why don't you share with us a little bit about how they can leverage that?

Oh yeah, it's great. It's a, it's a, it's a list of 12 quick and dirty mindset strategies. Consider what value you bring, focus on strengths, think, practice intuitive listening, look to others for inspiration. There's just several of them with a little, uh, a little description of them. But what my clients do is they just put it in their desk drawer, they pin it to their desk, or, you know, whatever. And then when, uh, when one of those moments come up that they need a little bit of mindset boost, they can just grab it and it's just real easy and gives you lots and lots of ideas. You know, that's the thing is you want to be intentional. You want, when you find something, because when you're in the midst of emotion, emotional stress, emotional, uh, you know, uh, you're in the middle of something, it's very hard to think about intentionality at that point because you're already in it. So you have something that, you know, you're kind of prepared, an anchor, an affirmation, a sheet of paper, whatever it is. That works for you, then you're just so much ahead of the game. And, you know, we don't want to be stressed out. We want to have ways to comfort ourselves and to be able to move forward in better ways and be better examples to the people who work for us too. So I think that these kind of techniques really rub off on other people too, because they see how you're reacting and your intentionality. How you're not reacting, but you're planning, you're acting, uh, you know, pre-action.

That's what I wanted to ask you. Um, is so intentional, if, if someone listening or watching needs to kind of really visualize that, like I often do, um, what you're basically saying is, is instead of reacting based on emotion, cuz you're so in it at the moment, you know, try to find ways and try to find anchors in your terms. To then get proactive or pre-action toward, you know, that response so you don't get reacting, reactive through emotion. Is that fair?

Yes. And I would say that it's very much about clarity, being clear about what you want. Um, I really, I, you know, I tell, uh, my clients and my audiences that, you know, I even have a part of what, uh, my, my most requested one is about being really clear about why you as a leader, uh, and, you know, why are you, um, passionate about whatever it is you're trying to achieve? Why are you unique in whatever you're trying to achieve? And what impact you want to have in whatever you cheat— you, you choose. So I think that's super, super important. You know, like, I, I— my passion is I really, really want to help people because life is short and, you know, we want to be happy and successful. And kind of my uniqueness is that I have this sixth sense about what's bothering people on kind of that mindset level, that deeper level. My family teases me because like I find out more about the waitress or the waiter than they know about their best friends sometimes. And the impact I want to make is I, you know, I really want to make organizations better, and the world better. So when women and, you know, anyone, but, you know, when we are really clear about who we are and why we're doing what we're doing, it's so much easier for other people to pick up on that and be inspired by that. So with my coaching work and my speaking work, I really try to help people be really clear about this is what I'm going for, this is who I am. And I'm authentic and I have these, these skills to help others create money. I have the skills to create win-win and I can help you also do the same.

Nice. Nice. So what would one thing you would advise our listeners and viewers to do as soon as they're done here that could get them in that mindset of impact and success and positivity?

Well, I would say take a moment and think about this podcast and maybe write down 3 things that kind of really struck you. One would maybe be caring— could be caring about other people. Real quick, I'll tell you a story that really shows how important this is. I was doing a keynote in San Francisco a while back. And I had read someplace to write a little note to your maid every, with a dollar every night, not just when you left, and just say thank you on the note. So I wrote a little note saying thank you, didn't think anything about it, put a dollar, a couple of dollars down. And I was in my room when the maid came in, I was working on my presentation, and she suddenly tapped me on the shoulder and she said, I've never had anybody write me a thank you note. I've never had anybody do that. And she almost started crying. And it was like, it was like the littlest thing. I thought nothing about it. And I mean, this woman was like almost in tears because she hadn't ever really been appreciated like that. And I thought that was so, that was, that's so important for executives, for, for, for all of us, that even something tiny like a, uh, another person that I was, I had a client, he was really a grouchy guy, but he said when he first started coming in to the work, he'd worked there for years, but when he first started, they put balloons all over his office for his little cubby. He had a little cubby and they put balloons for his birthday, they had a little birthday cake. And he said he thought, he knew it was like so stupid, but at the same time, it really touched him. Oh, it really blew him away. Absolutely. So, you know, it's little things.

That's all your people want are those little things.

So anyway, that would be one thing is, you know, like, you know, maybe come up with something that you can ask your, you know, the people around you, maybe a question about what they did, you know, what do they care about might be a good thing to bring from this. And, you know, 3 things you're grateful for. I think gratefuls are, are wonderful.

Yes, I do. I believe I agree with that. I agree with that. Especially if you even have the intention to sit down and write them out, it's extremely energetic and motivating for sure. Carrie, thank you so much. This has been powerful. I so appreciate it.

Well, thank you. And I've been listening to your podcast the last couple of days to prep and I I'm just amazed by how much wisdom you have and your guests have as well. Really am honored and really delighted to be on your show. And I hope, I hope, hope this helps your audience.

It absolutely will. It absolutely will. So much so that I want everybody to go to CarrieVanston.com and learn all about her and the services that she provides. Be sure to follow her on Instagram. Kari Vanston, real easy. She makes it easy for us.

Yes.

And then of course we mentioned that free worksheet of the mindset strategy. So you can go to tiny.cc/giftfromkari. Kari, thank you. I appreciate it. What a powerhouse conversation with Kari Vanston all around emotional awareness, intuitive listening, anchoring or grounding your emotions. Uh, we talked journaling and other techniques to really elevate your leadership skills and more importantly, create a more harmonious work environment for you and your team members. Now, remember, it's small gestures that are important. Simple thank yous, simple thank you notes, the words of appreciation or recognition, and it can make a huge impact not only on your team members, but even on yourself and your leadership. So take a listen if you have to go back and make note of one or two of Kari's tips and start implementing them and really pay attention to the changes, the transformation that is occurring amongst your team members and even yourself. I think you'll find that you will be working your way toward becoming a powerhouse leader as a result of it. On a similar topic, check out our episode The Power of Gratitude to Elevate Team Performance. It complements our conversation with Cara today in regards to recognition, appreciation, gratitude, critical feedback, all things that are critical to really elevate your team dynamic and your team satisfaction with the work that they're doing and the partnering with you as a leader. All right. You can go to ballofirecoaching.com/podcast to find that episode and many more. So be sure to follow us and subscribe so you don't miss out on any of our episodes of Shedding the Corporate Bitch. Thanks for joining us for this powerful conversation with Kari Vanston. And until next time, I'm Bernadette Boas. See you in the next episode.

Thank you for tuning into today's episode of Shedding the Corporate Bitch. Every journey taken together is another step towards unleashing the powerhouse leader within you. Don't miss any of our weekly episodes. Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you love to listen. And for those who thrive on visual content, catch us on our Shedding the Bitch YouTube channel. Wanna dive deeper with Bernadette on becoming a powerhouse leader? Visit balloffirecoaching.com to learn more about how she helps professionals, HR executives, and team leaders elevate overall team performance. You've been listening to Shedding the Corporate Bitch with Bernadette Boas. Until next time, keep shedding, keep growing, and keep leading.