In the vast jungle, the lion, with its acute instincts and judgment, stands supreme. Similarly, as we navigate the vast expanse of Generative AI (GenAI), analytical judgment emerges as our most powerful skill.

While mastering writing prompts is essential, it’s our analytical ability to discern that stands out.

Want to guess why?

Think of it as our guiding lamp in the AI wilderness. Let’s dive in to explore the why and walk through use cases.

The Rise of Analytical Judgment: What Research Shows

A recent work trend index annual report published by Microsoft, reveals that that 82% of leaders believe their employees will need new skills to be ready for the growth of AI.

Click here to delve deeper into the report findings.

The report also uncovers that 30% of respondents view Analytical Judgement as vital for new ways of working as compared to only 20% who see AI delegation ( prompting) as important. The data signals an emerging new AI-employee alliance.

Considering this, the role of L&D becomes crucial here. And if we are able to respond with speed to help build these skills, L&D can take centre stage. Given AI’s rapid growth, it’s key to start now, rather than waiting for a perfect understanding of all roles, jobs, and skills.

What does this mean to you and all of us — professionals and leaders?

This means that for each one of us individually or in a leader’s role such as a manager, parent, or L&D professional it is a must to take the lead to enable employees to build the core skills that are most relevant to a specific point in time.

After integrating GenAI into my workflow and learning extensively from resources such as Udemy courses, LinkedIn Learning, Masterclasses on GenAI (Straits Interactive), and data security, I have gathered numerous insights on applying AI.

Based on these insights, today, I’ll discuss the skills that L&D or you as an individual or a leader can focus on to start skilling the workforce.

Surprisingly, it’s not technical programming and prompting skills. — Author

Personally, after integrating GenAI into my workflow as an L&D professional, I firmly believe in the importance of Analytical Judgment as a core skill. It is about understanding the capabilities of Generative AI tools and determining the use case that would generate the best business outcome.

We require the analytical judgement skill to make right decisions about where and how to use AI, and to validate the results from AI.

With this in mind, ‘Analytical Judgement’ should be one of the core skills in your evolving AI skills matrix.

My Journey with GenAI: 8 Months In

Allow me to delve a bit deeper into my experience with GenAI. After using these tools to perform tasks ranging from simple to complex, I discovered that understanding what AI can do was just the first step.

Pretty soon into my journey, I realized that what was more critical was my ability to evaluate the output, discern the appropriate input, and validate the output.

This process had to begin with identifying the right tools for the task and ensuring adherence to data protection rules set both at the national and organizational levels.

For instance, while diagnosing the reasons for the gap in meeting sales targets- a use case detailed further in the article, I figured that it was important to verify the solution suggested by the GenAI tool before implementation. This is where human skills, particularly analytical judgment, come into play.

I have used GenAI for a variety of tasks, including designing curriculum, learning experience journeys, data analysis, data-driven design, analyzing performance gaps, and seeking advice on how to improve.

All these experiences have reinforced my belief in the importance of analytical judgment.

I’d love to hear from you. Have you started incorporating AI into your work?

Share your experiences in the comments below.

“It’s fascinating that people are more excited about AI rescuing them from burnout than they are worried about it eliminating their jobs.” — Adam Grant, author, and organizational psychology professor.

Source of quote — Work Trend Index Annual Report

Let’s dive a little into some use cases where analytical judgment can play a role.

What is Analytical Judgement skill?

Work Trend Index annual report defines it as the “Determine when to leverage an AI capability instead of a human capability.”

Analytical judgment: Why does it matter?

Analytical judgment in the context of AI is the skill required to evaluate the strengths and limitations of AI systems and make informed decisions based on evidence and logic.

It’s a crucial core skill because it is the human’s role to decide where to use AI, when, and how and ensure that AI is used responsibly and ethically.

Use Cases: Here are a few use cases that demonstrate how analytical judgment plays a pivotal role.

Please note these examples are aimed to help give pointers to the threshold of where human skills are required. The exact application might vary based on your context.

1. Marketing: If you are a marketer, you might use AI to analyze customer data, segment your audience, personalize your messages, or optimize your campaigns.

But you also need to decide which AI tools or platforms are suitable for your goals, how to interpret and apply the insights from AI, and how to respect the privacy and preferences of your customers.

2. Education: If you are a teacher, you might use AI to create engaging learning materials, assess student performance, provide feedback, or tailor instruction.

But you also need to decide which AI applications or resources are appropriate for your subject, how to evaluate and supplement the outputs from AI, and how to foster critical thinking and creativity among your students. What tools are secure to use for your students?

3. Consultation & Coaching: If you are an L&D consultant or an expert( e.g., Sales) coach, you might use AI to analyze performance gaps and act as a coach. Recommending what areas an individual must focus on to improve. However, as an L&D expert or a coach, it’s crucial to validate if the proposed analysis is relevant and if the suggested solution will actually work. You can ask GenAI to suggest ways to validate, or you can take a coach approach to the situation.

Simulation Example: Let’s look at this example from ChatGPT simulation. Gap in meeting sales target.

Next, let’s look at some action plans. By incorporating the recommended steps below into your plan and continuously refining your AI skills matrix, you’ll initiate your readiness for the transformative impact of AI in the L&D field.

Take Action: How can you embrace AI? Just Get Started!

As it seems that AI is poised to remake work, the future will arrive in months not years.

Here are some key action points for your consideration.

1. Start Using AI: Practical interaction with AI tools will help you understand their functionalities and areas of improvement. With this experience, you will be able to identify use cases where AI will have the best return.

2. Educate Yourself: Understand the ethical implications and data security issues related to AI to use these technologies responsibly. Seek to know your organization’s AI strategy and policy. Also, your country’s policy is good to know.

3. Develop Analytical Judgment: Engage in critical thinking exercises and decision-making scenarios that help in evaluating AI’s performance and outputs.

4. Evolve with AI: As AI continues to redefine roles and functions, remain adaptable and open to learning and innovating.

5. Build AI skills matrix: Build a flexible skills matrix for your team and for your workforce. Update the skills as the landscape evolves.

Conclusion:

Judgment Roars: Being the Lion in the AI Jungle

We’ve embarked on a journey, understanding the might of analytical judgment in the AI-driven world, much like the lion’s mastery over its kingdom.

The essence is simple. It’s not just about wielding the power of AI, but mastering where, when, and how to use it. We must think, question, and lead decisively. It is not time to either sit on the sidelines or wait for the perfect moment or use it for the allure of Generative AI.

I urge each one of you to be the lion in the AI jungle. Your thoughts, your experiences, and your insights matter. Let’s continue our dialogue, share, and grow together.

Now that we’ve discussed the role of analytical judgment in AI, what are your thoughts? Do the points resonate with you?

If you seek more structured inputs and prompts for L&D you can get the free ebook guide here.

https://sofl.gumroad.com/l/aiforland

If you want to delve deeper into any of these practices, I’ve blocked out some time for free ‘coffee chat’ sessions until the end of August.

Want more insights like these delivered to your inbox each week? Join our L&D Playbook community by subscribing to the newsletter. Click here to subscribe.

You can find me on Linkedin where I share my insights on a weekly basis.

The One Skill That Makes the Lion (King of the Jungle) was originally published in Lampshade of ILLUMINATION on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It’s hard to ignore what Gartner predicts as the future impact of Generative AI(GenAI).

By 2024, 40% of enterprise applications will have embedded conversational AI, up from less than 5% in 2020. By 2027, 15% of new applications will be automatically generated by AI without a human in the loop. This is not happening at all today.

Do these numbers make you feel uneasy or bring up concerns about what the future holds? You’re not alone. I too have felt the urgency to assess the viability of our existing L&D practices.

Indeed, the accelerating pace of change might require us to transition from yearly upskilling to a monthly, or even weekly basis. It’s a daunting prospect, and the risk of falling behind and becoming dated is very real.

It’s in situations like these that the 10 powerful questions have enabled me to respond quickly to my stakeholders’ needs and adapt to any change.

The questions have guided me to act swiftly, connect deeply, adapt readily, and make decisions with Insights. I categorize them under Speed, Empathy, Elasticity, and Data, coining them as SEED questions. A recap on SEED is presented as flash cards below for quick reference.

SEED questions are powerful tools that I assess myself against monthly, and they can serve the same purpose for you.

Rapid upskilling is our reality.

But armed with the right questions, we can thrive in the face of exponential change, regardless of what is driving that change, such as AI or other catalysts.

In this article, I share the 10 powerful questions that you may want to give a try.

Before that, let me share a slice of my journey to shed some light on how the SEED questions came into play.

A Recent Example How SEED Helped Me Align to the AI Impact

When I ventured into entrepreneurship in 2022, I had thoughtfully risk-managed my business. My services were bolstered with the modern frameworks I’d developed that had shown promising result.

As entrepreneurs, we are fine tuned to difficulties and responding to changes for our progress.

However, the sudden wave of GenAI that I paid attention to only in the second quarter of 2023 surprised me. It’s nature and speed were unlike the past trends. For a minute, the prospect of becoming dated, dinosaur in this field, loomed large.

However, I’ve learned that change is the very essence of existence.

So, I tapped into my SEED practices to act swiftly, connect deeply, adapt readily, and decide with Insights.

As I found myself lagging, I asked myself what was slowing me down, preventing my progress, and began uncovering my own doubts about the impact. This nudged me to start researching and looking up data, which indeed revealed a significant and transformative impact on the L&D field. Beyond just creating content.

Embracing this change, I discovered that I could now leverage AI to solve complex problems associated with L&D space.

I chose to be flexible and share my learnings with the wider community without waiting for the perfect moment.

The reality is: given the pace at which things are evolving, aiming for perfection is like chasing a moving target. — Author

As a testament to this journey, I’ve published a guide to aid our L&D community in integrating AI just three weeks ago!

The pace of change is so rapid that I’ve already updated this guide twice in just three weeks of publication.

My takeaway was that this shift is going to need for everyone to approach it with an authentic continuous learning. Learning is crucial for survival, not just desirable.

Reflecting on my own experience, here are the SEED questions that have guided my practice and can of use to you as well.

10 Essential SEED Questions

The role of L&D continues to broaden and deepen, increasingly interacting with DE&I talent management and employee engagement. We need to transform our approach. Not in a huge, daunting overhaul. But through “Transformational Atomic Actions” — small, impactful changes.

We can do this and more importantly “Ask Questions.”

The effectiveness of a solution depends on the quality of the questions you ask.

Leading Leaders have tapped the power of questions to drive business transformation and growth. You can also use these questions as a catalyst to navigate the rapidly changing landscapes ahead.

The important and difficult job is never to find the right answers.” Peter Drucker

Questions can help you uncover obstacles, open your mind, see different perspectives.

A quick recap of SEED [ Speed, Empathy, Elasticity, Data] tools and practices are presented in the flashcards embedded below.

If you want to get a quick summary, you can click the link below.

Loyal Learner Pipeline.pptx

Consider these thought-provoking questions to address obstacles, evaluate your L&D practice, or accelerate your response to changing needs. Reflect on how they might apply to your situation.

• How might implementing the SEED approach transform your L&D function?
• How large an overhaul do you envision transformation to be?
• Think of one action you can take this week to increase the speed of your decision-making processes.

SEED Questions: If you want to deep-dive into each practice here is a few more questions to lead your exploration.

S/ Speed:

1. What decisions are you not making?

2. What aspects of execution processes have you not looked at?

For more ideas on Speed, check out this article.

“It’s in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.” — Tony Robbins

By asking these questions, you can determine if you want to go fast or slow, uncover hurdles, and streamline the execution of your solutions. This equips you to respond quickly in a rapidly changing landscape, enhancing both your performance and resilience.

E/ Empathy:

3. What do you NOT know about your customer ( learner)?

4. How are you viewing your learner?

For more ideas on Empathy, check out this article.

By taking a human-centric approach, you are able to design learning experiences that address your customer's true pain points and build trust in L&D offerings.

E/ Elasticity:

5. What aspects of your current training programs are least flexible to changes and why?

6. What enterprise technology is not included in scaling learning programs and building new learning experiences?

7. How might being stuck in your old ways be hurting your potential?

For more ideas on Elasticity, check out this article.

Elasticity refers to adding options in order to make your system grow or shrink based on the training requests. This is not about just adding more resources or bandwidth.

However, by embracing flexible methods, such as agile design and using enterprise technology, you can readily meet unplanned and unknown demands, while maintaining the capacity to cultivate curiosity and innovation.

D/ Data:

8. What valuable insights might you be overlooking in your current data analysis approach?

9. How often are you tracking the interaction of your customer ( learner) with your content?

10. Do you drive to focus on metrics that matter most? (Or only completion.)

For more ideas on Data, check out this article.

This involves evaluating your current data analysis methods and observing your customer’s engagement with your content. It helps you to identify important patterns, focus on key metrics, and make informed effective decisions.

Conclusion:

It is crucial now for L&D leaders to acknowledge and set up a system that can empower them to navigate the changes happening now and the unprecedented and unknowns to come in the future. It is crucial they take the lead in transformation and inspire their teams and learners to do the same. With this context, let’s reflect on what these questions mean for the L&D leaders.

The SEED questions offer an effortless way for leaders to:

· Respond quickly in this dynamic landscape

· Engage profoundly with our audience and stakeholders

· Have empathy for their own self and team

· Adjust easily to new scenarios and

I’d be curious to learn how you are supporting yourself, your teams, and your learners in times of uncertainty.

Still, have questions? If you want to delve deeper into any of these practices, I’ve blocked out some time for free ‘coffee chat’ sessions until the end of August.

Sonia Sant

Want more insights like these delivered to your inbox each week? Join our L&D Playbook community by subscribing to the newsletter.

Click here to subscribe.

Additional resources:

• Integrate Design Thinking into ADDIE — How To Read More about Design Thinking and Addie
• LUMA — This offers a set of Design Thinking tools and processes
• Grab a copy of the AI in L&D guide. This guide includes copy-paste prompts for you to experience skills mapping, filling in gaps, and designing and creating unique learning experiences.
• SEED recap — The SEED framework consists of Speed, Empathy, Elasticity, and Data. This provides a practical approach for L&D leaders to navigate through rapid changes. Speed encourages prompt decision-making and execution, Empathy emphasizes uncovering your customer's ( learner’s) hidden pain points and understanding their context better, Elasticity advocates incorporating flexibility in the process, mindset, and tools to adapt to changing circumstances, and Data underlines the importance of analyzing learner interaction to drive focus on critical metrics. Utilizing this framework empowers leaders to adapt, engage, and make informed decisions amidst uncertainty or change of any kind.

10 Powerful SEED Questions I Use to Thrive Amidst Change was originally published in ILLUMINATION on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Are you a leader or a manager, often grappling with talent acquisition, striving to find the right skills at the right time for your start-up, business, or your team?

Are you a training or a learning and development (L&D) professional who feels like you’re always playing catch-up to fulfil the ever-changing training demands?

You are not alone.

As per data on the EU year of skills website, 77% of EU companies report difficulties in finding workers with the necessary skills. There are several global bodies, such as the World Economic Forum, the European Commission, and the Singapore government’s SkillsFuture program, all aiming to address skill gaps at the national level.

At the organizational level, this puts the onus on the Learning and Development (L&D) function to ensure talent readiness, making our role crucial in bridging these skill gaps.

As L&D professionals, aware of the immense pressure that comes with our roles. Rapid changes in training requirements, disengaged learners, and demands for quick impactful trainings, all adds to the pressure on often thinly resourced L&D teams.

In my career, having designed 9,000 hours of learning experiences and successfully built strategies yielding high engagement rates, such as 90%, I’ve faced these relentless challenges of skill set evolution.

What if we as L&D could change our lens? What if we could anticipate skill gaps with a salesperson’s rigor and persuasion?

Today, I want to share a fresh perspective on how L&D can respond with speed to business needs. We’ll explore two key strategies for doing that — building a loyal learner pipeline and adopting a data-driven approach.

Let’s dive right in!

How I Adopted Pipeline and Data Innovation:

Yesterday, it was all about coding, today it’s data analytics, tomorrow, who knows?

In my career as an L&D professional, I noticed a compartmentalized way to address training needs. If a business wanted to change training strategies, or shift from capability to competency, we would rush to adopt off-the-shelf content or switch learning designs.

Our selection was often based on intuition and past experiences, not always achieving completion rate goals.

Realizing the need for a change, I studied strategies of other functions.

Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” — W. Edwards Deming

This led to the development of my strategies: a loyal learner pipeline and a data-driven approach.

Strategy 1: Building Success: The Key Role of a Strong Loyal Learner Pipeline

The answer lies in cultivating a strong pipeline of loyal learners.

· What is a loyal learner pipeline and why?

These are individuals who are convinced, aware, and eager to take advantage of your L&D offerings.

Much like nurturing prospects in a sales pipeline towards a purchase, an L&D professional must propel learners through various stages of engagement — from awareness and interest to conversion and loyalty. -Author

Here is a quick recap of pipeline stages: Awareness (becoming aware of the learning need), Interest (beginning to engage with learning content), Evaluation (considering the potential value of the learning), Engagement (actively participating in learning activities), and Completion (achieving the learning objectives and applying them in practice), and Advocacy/Loyalty (promoting the learning experience and returning for more).

· Why is the pipeline strategy important?

By shifting the focus to building a loyal learner pipeline, it prompts you to view the learners as customers.

For instance, when I began viewing learners as customers, I found myself asking,” Will our learners want to “buy” the learning products / programs we offer.?” And “Do they understand the value of our offering.”

This helped me to introduce activities to build our brand, promote our offerings, and most importantly to discover deeper insights about the learners’ behaviors. These questions allowed me to align our L&D initiatives with the needs and desires of our learners.

So, this approach led to higher adoption of our learning programs, leading to better utilization of our courses, and ultimately drove better business outcomes and ROI (as defined).

· Why convert them into loyal learners?

You may be asking yourself, “Why do I need to build a pipeline and convert them to be loyal learners?” One may argue, aren’t employees supposed to take ownership of their learning journey? Why, then, is there a need to foster a loyal learner pipeline?

The answer is simple. Even with the best resources, learners might resist. Many may ask, “Where is the time?”

In fact, they need to be convinced just as much as a customer. Learning happens to take a lower priority than their work, meetings, and emails.

Only if you have a loyal pipeline of learners, can you effectively assist their growth and progression. — Author

A strong pipeline is the cornerstone. But ensuring they engage and continue to benefit from our L&D offerings calls for a new, data-driven approach.

Data plays a crucial role in your transformation efforts. It will provide you with measurable insights into how your learners interact with L&D offerings. Also, it allows you to make necessary adjustments to improve these interactions.

Takeaway: In this way, a ‘loyal learner pipeline’ isn’t just a strategy for your success, it’s a path towards accomplishing better business outcomes.

Now that we understand the importance of loyal learner pipeline, let’s explore how we can measure and optimize its effectiveness. This is where data comes into play.

Strategy 2: Measuring Success: The Power of a Data-Driven Mindset

To build strong loyalty with learners, you need data to draw a real-time picture of how they interact with L&D and the L&D offerings. Adapt your learning design to improve learners’ interactions in real-time, rather than evaluating them after the program ends.

Here, learner interaction refers not to course completion but to their engagement behaviors with the offerings — like how long they watched the video or where they dropped off.

Typically, a learning function already has ample data to kickstart this process.

If you don’t have systems that provide, click-through rates or customer lifecycle value, LMS reports provide significant data about learners’ interactions with content.

For example, you could track how quickly learners enrol in a program after receiving an introductory email. Over time, this helps paint a picture of learners’ responsiveness and can inform strategies to encourage their progress.

L&D’s traditional measures such as completions, time to development hold little meaning for the business. However, additional data insights from the same LMS reports, provide more relatable information to business.

Using this, you can determine the rate at which content is consumed by the learner between the start and end of a program. Also, you can proactively inform business about upskilling needs.

“Data really powers everything that we do.” — Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn CEO

But, leveraging data effectively is not without its complexities, and L&D professionals need to navigate these carefully.

Takeaway: Embracing a data-driven mindset is essential, but it’s also critical to recognize the diverse complex situations L&D professionals face every day.

An Anecdote to Relate to the Power of Data:

I recount an experience around data. We were under some pressure — low course completion rates and continuous requests for additional content from our business team. Despite our efforts to create fresh content, we were always playing catch-up.

A deep dive into the data provided an illuminating insight. Learners were not finishing the courses and yet wanted additional courses. This led us to shift our focus.

Instead of rushing to create new content, we began to delve into why current courses weren’t being completed. Was the content irrelevant? Boring? Why were some learners always on or ahead of schedule?

Highlighting this pattern to the business teams shifted their focus as well to complete the trainings at hand.

Taking a data-driven approach not only bought us time to prepare our next steps but also changed our perspective. By using data to understand our learners’ behaviors, we moved from a reactive approach to a proactive one.

From then on, data has been an invaluable ally. It had taught us that every report tells a story, and it’s our job to understand and act on it.

Conclusion:

In the face of widening skill gap and escalating timely talent availability issues, it is crucial for L&D to adopt long-term strategies that lend agility to respond to the unknown or unplanned situations. Let’s see learners as customers and create L&D offerings tailored to them. Also, let’s use data to guide our decisions. It’s all about being proactive and adaptable.

Therefore, you can adopt a two-fold strategy that comprises,

1. Building a Loyal Learners Pipeline enables L&D to partner with employees, supporting their growth, development, and productivity.

2. Using data to make design decisions, track, and measure impact in real-time that saves cost, wastage, and imparts agility to L&D to make real-time decisions resulting in speed.

Consider this approach for your next upskilling program and let us know if you have any questions along the way.

If you want more insights, you can check out my ‘L&D Playbook’. It is packed with practical and no-nonsense insights and practices.

Narrowing the Skills-Job Gap: A Sustainable Approach for Businesses was originally published in ILLUMINATION on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Do you often wonder if emotional vulnerability is a positive or a negative?

Does it make you a weak leader? Will showing emotion make people judge you? Should I try to be more emotionally vulnerable? Won’t I get hurt?

If you have these questions, you are not alone. The fear of vulnerability is often a common fear.

As I grew up, I absorbed a belief that difficult emotions (sadness, disappointment) are signs of weakness and should be kept private. I only sometimes shared them with my mother. But in life, as my responsibilities expanded, I found ways to manage everyday life more calmly.

I am a “do it ” person. I learned my lessons from trial and error.
It was not until much later that I discovered a term for it: emotional vulnerability. I resonate with the way Nick Wignall.

Nick Wignall defines it in simple terms. It is the willingness to acknowledge your emotions, especially the painful ones.

People who are more emotionally vulnerable are more likely to be perceived as trustworthy and likable, according to a 2016 study.

Today I’d like to share some of my important lessons, showing how emotional vulnerability is a strength and not a weakness. Additionally, I will share some tools and steps to embrace emotional vulnerability.

The situations and triggers may be different for you, but perhaps they will spark your curiosity to address them and try self-compassion.

1. Shattering Perfectionism to Boost Creativity

In my early design career, I held a belief that the design methods I had learned were the best path to flawless results. That this output was perfect.

At the time, I didn’t realize that others would have their own ideas about what is best.

Over time, I realized that perfectionism limits rather than extend options. It would also reinforce the worry that it might not get done on time and, if it did, whether people would like it.

So, I adopted the concept of minimum viable products and iterative design through the study of creative thinking methods. This opened my mind to agile methods of achieving a good quality output.

These methods taught me to aim for excellence and not perfectionism. Flexibility and not rigidity.

Reflecting, I began accepting that not everyone would like everything, especially in places with a wide audience, like social media. I gave myself permission to make mistakes and show self-compassion. I still strive for the best output but being self-aware of the intent behind the effort makes the process of creation a joy.

Overcoming the limits of perfectionism led me to design with freedom and joy. The products of the work were appreciated and unexpectedly won innovation awards in the workplace, even in Brandon Hall.

Takeaway: Paying attention to the emotion of fear and supporting it released the energy that was stuck in “perfection”. I just need to observe the feelings quietly without trying to overlay them with more likeable ones. By doing this daily for small things, you build the muscle.

2. Emotional Vulnerability in Supporting Team

I was once leading a large team, 60+ team members. During a peak period of project workloads, I was thrilled to see one of my team members return from a long personal leave.

Then I observed him moving around restlessly and not settling in. Eventually, I walked up to him and struck a casual conversation. I asked how he was doing and he melted into visible distress. He said, “I have not been able to relocate my family. My mother and wife could not reduce their notice periods at work, so I couldn’t move them. ”

I asked him how I could help. I suggested that perhaps an extension of his personal leave might offer him the extra time he needed to relocate his family.

We arranged additional leave for him, and upon his return, he was settled and ready to dive back in.

Takeaway: Being emotionally aware and flexible enabled me to support my team better and enable them to do their best.

3. Building Bonds by Being Relatable

I recall an instance when I had used a new technology to create a training design. Unexpectedly, during a workshop already in progress, I was asked to share my experiences in front of a somewhat skeptical and critical audience.

Despite my confidence in the work I’d done, I found myself questioning my ability to convey the points in an easy way.

So, I stood there a few seconds, calibrating where to start and sensing a surge of apprehension rising.

At that moment, spontaneously, I said, “I am nervous with all the eyes on me,” and gave a smile. With that, my fear and doubt detached from my voice, allowing words to flow.

Someone in the crowd praised my vulnerability.

A simple statement of my feelings seemed to dissolve tension in the room. No longer was I just a speaker on a stage, but a colleague sharing their apprehensions about the change.

Takeaway: Being candid about your emotions can help dissolve tension. Others will able to relate to you.

4. Strengthening Relationships by Lowering Defences

As a working parent, I often felt guilty about taking time away from my child to attend to work.

I felt exhausted from the day’s struggles and crises, and even though I tried to disconnect, feelings of worry, anger, and fatigue persisted. Even a harmless remark about forgetting to pay a bill by a family member, sometimes triggered a deeper pain.

I was not able to communicate in a calm way what had happened. And I would become defensive, explaining that I was exhausted, and no one understood me.

One day, during such a conversation, it struck me what I was doing, and I spoke to my coach. While I usually do not discuss personal thoughts, being receptive to their advice was helpful.

Afterwards, I realized I needed to acknowledge the painful feelings inside of me and tell myself it’s okay to feel however I feel. And that it’s okay if I make a mistake or forget something.

After I’d forgive myself, it was easy for me to accept my mistake and apologize to my partner for it.

Takeaway: Taking time to acknowledge your painful emotions will help you share how you feel with others in an intimate and meaningful way.

5. How Can You Embrace Emotional Vulnerability?

From experience, I’ve deduced these three steps to embrace emotional vulnerability: realizing it, supporting it, and allowing time to process it.

• First, to realize or look at it, just see it without judging it or trying to erase or avoid it. Give it a bit of attention. For example, observe your fear. Instead of saying, “I should not be anxious or fearful”.
• Second is to support it the emotion. Supporting looks like this. You might hate being anxious, but say that it’s understandable that you feel that way given what’s going on in your life.
• Third, it time to process and then move on. Allowing time to see it and to support it lets me go forward with minimal emotions.
• Some tools from Dr. Phil to try.

Vulnerability doesn’t mean over sharing or exposing ourselves to potential harm. It requires a healthy boundary between what we choose to share and what we keep private.

It is about maintaining self-awareness.

In conclusion: Embrace emotional vulnerability, embrace growth.

Emotional vulnerability is a strength and an act of courage. It takes even more courage to talk about it with someone.

Try to practice in situations where little is at stake, practice in small pieces each day by observing them, and you will have built your muscles for larger situations. Resulting in growth in various aspects of your life.

Connection Between Leadership and Emotional Vulnerability: Is It a Strength or a Weakness? was originally published in ILLUMINATION on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 strategies to future-proof your work even with AI as competition

Prominent mathematician and AI specialist Ben Herzel has warned that 80% of human jobs can be made obsolete just with today’s levels of AI.

Can AI replace me? Are job losses inevitable?

It is not uncommon to have these questions and feelings of worry.

The rapid adoption of generative AI and tools like ChatGPT has so roiled the system that some want to put a 6-month pause on them.

Can we stop progress? Not really.

In the early 19th century, English textile workers protested against weaving machines because they threatened to replace their jobs. They even attacked a factory and destroyed the machines. But, the machines have prevailed.

So, what to do to keep progressing our profession?

What we need is a strategic system and not stress.

In my 30 years of professional life, I have used a system containing five strategies to grasp transformation and BRAVE it. In the constantly evolving AI ecosystem, this system might be useful for you as well, if you would like to risk-proof your path.

Let’s BRAVE it.

Strategy 1. B — Be curious and open-minded

Staying open-minded and cognizant of the latest trends is fundamental to successfully navigating the AI world!

Whenever a new technology or trend emerges, I take the time to understand what it is and how it’s being used. And to find out if it can impact my current tasks.

When faced with doubt and insecurity, relevant facts provide clarity and calm. This helps us to take an informed action.

Two years into my first job in the process industry, progression was slow. I faced three choices: stagnate, complain, or act.

Sensing the booming software industry, I chose to take action. I learned to program, attended courses, and mastered VB and a few other languages.Being open to joining a start-up that valued attitude and basic programming skills, I embraced transformation.

As Victor Kiam said, “Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward.”

By recognizing that adaptation is a constant in every aspect of life, I made that my practice and thrived in my new roles.

What about AI? Experimenting with ChatGPT and other AI platforms is helping me be relevant.

Now, I develop learning products that incorporate AI to promote higher-level problem-solving.

If you are feeling overwhelmed with the AI-buzz, try to gather factual information about it. Here are some things you can do:

• Gain knowledge about AI through e-learning on LinkedIn. Instead of worrying, comprehend the technology and changes.
• Examine AI’s influence on industries and jobs. Attend webinars or conferences for insights. For instance, I am attending webinars to assimilate AI’s impact on customer service and marketing.
• Focus on your own field and tap relevant tools, such as CANVA and Copy.ai.
• Experiment with ChatGPT. Use it to perform your regular work. Observe its limitations and compare its output with your own.

Making empowered decisions is probable when you have verifiable information.

Strategy 2. R — Responsibility for your growth

Investing in our professional advancement is essential for evolving on our occupational journey. Once we have access to factual data, it makes it easy to take ownership to move our life goals forward.

I seek out novel experiences for staying ahead in my work.

I have moved from mainframes to traditional computer-based training (CBT) to e-learning and designing my own frameworks by acquiring additional skills or by working on projects. Taking charge of advancing my abilities was evident to me.

As a Learning & Development (L&D) leader, I also saw it as my obligation to identify trends that affected both in my organization. And to propose solutions for the workforce to keep pace with the evolving developments. Making them aware of the upcoming direction and opening their minds to it.

In spite of AI’s potential to disrupt human jobs, it’s equally important for us to find ways to harness it for our benefit.

For example, in my role as an L&D leader coach, I’m aware that there are already several wellbeing apps that act as coaches. So, what do we do? I’ve integrated these into my practice, combining personal 1-on-1 sessions with ongoing app support. When it involves multiple people or needs a more tailored approach, I step in.

It’s possible that apps will eventually catch up, but for now, I have accepted the fact that I will have to be braver and faster than I have been.

If you wish to own your progress, look into these:

• Allocate time to pursue learning, such as online certifications.
• Create a plan that outlines how to achieve your goals and the skills you need to obtain first.
• Strive to discover your own answers and the path ahead.

Strategy 3. A — Acquire a diverse skillset

Constantly gaining and expanding your knowledge helps to broaden your range of skills and provides paths for career advancement. I do this by identifying complementary skills that can enhance my current expertise.

This makes me more versatile in my role. A varied set of skills also positions me for multiple career and business opportunities.

For me, I leverage content marketing models, which are close to L&D’s content creation, increasing the consumption of content.

“The more you learn, the more you earn.” — Warren Buffett

In addition, I also learn a skill every year. In this year, I took training on how to utilize Medium, LinkedIn, and Twitter to grow my trade.

Are you wondering how cross-skilling helps? So, I was given high-priority projects, which led to better roles and options. The same goes for getting unique projects in my entrepreneurial endeavour.

Acquire a broad range of skills by trying these steps:

• Find similar segments and industries to your current situation and adapt concepts from them.
• Consider a posting to another department or collaborating with another solopreneur.
• Seek out fresh experiences that focus on real-world projects and emerging technologies.

A good practice is to choose skills and capabilities in line with your values and interests. This helps you to see a return on your investment.

Strategy 4. V — Value creation and relationship building

“The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer.” — Peter Drucker

In an AI-driven environment, differentiating yourself with a strong value proposition is crucial if you want to thrive.

I use tools, such as GPT, to increase my productivity and spend more time on creative problem solving. In this manner, I am able to give more benefits to my customers.

Whenever I deliver workshops or present online courses, I make sure to stay accessible post-session. Customers appreciate it if you listen to their needs and address their queries.

I have created solutions for stakeholders, despite stretching resources. By providing expert advice, I become their trusted adviser.

I believe that we’re less likely to be replaced if we have a strong value proposition and build trusted relationships.

To formulate a compelling pitch, you may consider trying these:

• Validate the emotions of your clients to create a strong emotional connection and build trust.
• Continue support even after a project or initiative has ended. This fosters long-term relationships and loyalty.
• Celebrate your clients’ achievements, showing appreciation for their hard work and dedication.

Strategy 5. E — Embrace ideas and adapt from different fields

Exploring other industries and how they approach their work can provide valuable insights for your own field. Personally, I’ve found great success in adapting processes from different areas.

If you are keen to lead, give this approach a shot.

“Creativity is connecting things.” — Steve Jobs

I have adopted models from marketing to measure the effectiveness of training programs. This led to a unique data model, the first of its kind. I now train other professionals on how to use these analytics.

It is like creating a fusion food recipe.

You might try some of these actions to mix principles from diverse fields:

• Collaborate with professionals from different domains to learn from their experiences and perspectives.
• Read books or listen to podcasts on various subjects to expand your horizons and gain new insights.
• Connect with people from various backgrounds and professions to discover wisdom and potential for innovation.

Adapting viewpoints from various areas enables you to foster an environment of continuous development.

How do you manage being relevant in your field? I’d be eager to gain insight from what you share.

Conclusion

Here are the 5 components of the BRAVE system. Some of these practices may help you cope with an uncertain future caused by AI.

1. B — Be Curious and open-minded

2. R — Responsibility for your growth

3. A- Acquire a diverse skillset

4. V — Value creation and relationship building

5. E — Embrace ideas and adapt from different fields

You may also enjoy reading:

• From Love to Hate: 7 Costly Design Missteps That Can Destroy Your User Experience
• Are Improvements in AI dangerous?
• The Problem With Work-Life Balance

How to thrive in the world of AI? (We Can BRAVE It!) was originally published in Small Steps on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Are you feeling–what the heck? Despite all my planning, this happened!

Then, this is for you if you’ve been feeling–I was just about balancing my life, family, work, and myself and now technology is going to seize my job!

Would you like to get a different perspective on how to face the ever-changing situations in our lives?

I am referring to the ones like new technologies and new trends that cause disruption and pain in our lives.

Personally, I have been in this scenario a few times. When I got out of university, equipped with an engineering degree, rules were quickly shifting. Electronic hardware manufacturing was slowing down and the software industry was gathering momentum. The jobs were in the software industry.

At the time, I grappled with worry and questioned about how I’d stay relevant in the marketplace. I used to feel bogged by self-doubt and questioned my ability to find my way in the software economy.

And then one day, as they say, I pushed through the pain. I realized that life is not about fixed milestones or steady predictable paths. It is about movement and that’s how it will be.

With this insight, I decided to modify the way I was thinking and managing these curveballs. I cleared my mind and dived into learning the popular software and keep pace with the changes. I even took the risk of starting at a junior position in a startup to get work experience.

“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.”

― Suzy Kassem

So, let’s seize our power back from doubt and worry and continue to grow.

And growing is not as scary as it sounds. It requires calming and reframing our thoughts and feelings. Simple as it is, it calls for practice.

I am sharing a cheat sheet that consists of my self-derived personal mantras. These enable me to clean my inner world and fuel my growth.

I hope these might help you kindle a flame of empowerment in volatile and complex world.

The Cheat Sheet

In situations, when the surrounding environment starts transforming, here’s what I do. I first acknowledge and accept that it is occurring. I remind myself that I have the courage and capability to explore the technology / trend. I get facts about what it is, then I write down if it is going to impact me and my job. If not then I leave it, if yes, I dive into the details to learn more and decide how to adopt the new tech or trend.

1/ Acknowledge and Accept: When fear knocks at my door, I welcome it in and assure it we’ll face the unknown together. This is not a sign of weakness, but a release of the energy trapped in fear and doubt. By acknowledging fear openly, I am taking the first crucial step towards acceptance and moving forward.

2/ Allay Your Beliefs, Doubts: When doubt nags, I question if my thoughts at the moment are true? Is it true? Questioning breaks the grip on me. Instead of conjuring, I find the facts and figure out what the impact is on me and my job.

Exploring is not running away from action, it is a sign of a calm person’s action.

3/ Adapt: Once I know what’s really going on, I get moving. I’m not gonna let this shift knock me down — I’m gonna make it boost me up! I come up with a plan to learn the latest technology/trends and infuse them into my work.

4/ Cultivate a Growth Mindset: Every challenge is an opportunity to grow. I remind myself of what I have done, from the male-dominated classrooms of engineering to the similar work environment, complex projects, roles, jobs. I have continued to expand and evolve without compromising my values.

Reflecting on these achievements isn’t pride; it’s a reminder of my resilience and capabilities.

5/ Slow Down to Go Fast: It’s okay to hit the pause button and introspect. Adjusting to the new state is allowing my mind, body, and soul to sync for the journey ahead.

Slowing down is not stalling, it’s preparing for a more mindful leap.

6/ When It’s All Slow: I am content with the actions I’ve taken, and I trust the process, knowing well that growth is happening even when I can’t see it. Being patient is not being lazy or inactive.

We might still lean on our well-wishers for help, but what we know is that the real source of strenght is inside and not outside of us. This is my fellow readers and writers I refer to as self-empowering oneself.

Tip: Here is a tip that you may want to keep at hand. In the moment you feel less calm, tell yourself that you have the power within to let the light through.

All our journeys and situations are different. We can still use this method to reinforcing the power within to propel our path forward.

I’d love to hear about your unique experiences with self-empowerment. How have you tackled unexpected challenges? What’s your secret to harnessing your inner strength? Let’s share and learn together! Please share your stories, experiences, and tips in the comments below.

Conclusion

When we are stuck, we tend to rely on external resources to draw inspiration. In-fact we wish and hope hard that the outside situation modifies to what works for us. What we forget is we are giving away our power. The real source that enables us is within us.

What we require is to take a breath and change the thought and remind ourselves that we have the ability within us to move forward. Asking is it true, has helped me break the grip of the rising hot impulse to react and calmed me down.

You want to not let the thoughts of achieving a certain level of calmness stop you from getting started. The idea is not to cause discomfort or more doubt.

It doesn’t happen overnight, it requires constant practice. I am still a work in progress. Just know that that it is with you in you powering you now.

Feeling stuck with all the unexpected stuff? Try self-empowerment!

Did an incident ruin your vibe? An unexpected traffic jam triggered a “why me” thought, spiralling you into negativity!

Can one seething thought of how could they do this, cascade into a helpless burst! A day-wrecker!

It could be a gruff mom-in-law response, a sibling fight, or even your mind reminding you of how your colleague treated you badly!

Like an ant bite, they are irritating!

Phew! Stop mood ruins in their tracks! How so? The key is preventing that one incident touching you, your mind, your psyche.

How do we do that?

I use various tools to not react, and recently learned about a new one called “Don’t Touch It”. It saved my day! I share the experience!

Stop the egoic force

First off, I am familiar with the hot heavy sensation that feels heavy on one’s chest, and beckons one to react. This is what many people refer to as the egoic force that begs us to fall below our low selves.

“It’s near- irresistible says David Gergen and so little time to keep our wits about us and resist its allure!”

When I catch it’s game, it can quickly transform into a tsunami of thoughts that are hard to detect the negativity. Like, it will say to me how it is time to stop being the victim, you have the same entitlement, they are being unjust to you. So convincing!

It happens to many of us, it’s hard to resist its attraction.

Your mother-in-law throws a cheap shot at you and you have a less than a split second to not respond by throwing that nasty shot back at her. Or the person at the grocery store ignores your request, you go, no one likes me in this place!

That’s it! You are in a bad mood! And wrecking your day, your week …

Do you resonate with that?

So, what do we do in that instant, which can seem infinite!

This is where I found myself a few days ago fighting an internal storm of negative energy at the gym.

The gym lights

I initiated going to gym when I was in my 30’s. Until then I believed it’s not for folks like me but for more athletic folks. But that’s another story.

It was never my thing to play sports or work out. Besides riding a bike for fun!

When COVID hit, I fell into the habit of walking outside. The clean air, the greenery, the varying scenery was a gift I did not wish to trade for a gym.

Lately, I felt the need to increase the exercise and taking the heat into account I decided to go to gym and walking in the evenings.

Feeling good

Here I was at the workout place! Happy, that I did not have to wait my turn.

After 6 minutes on treadmill, my body and emotions were calming down.

It is a plus at my age when the metabolism slows down, with the change in my job situation, and negative thoughts catching up at times, to exercise! It breaks my thought pattern!

Irritating process triggered

Just then, I saw the lights going off! There was a smoky darkness with a tiny radiance filtering through the small windows.

Within me, a revolt was swelling, tempting me to do something!

Don’t you feel like turning the lights on? Afterall you cannot read the panel?

Maybe they are trying to save electricity!

You have the same right to use the facility.

I heard the ego voice say: “See you cannot read the panel?” It is dark? I remember gazing hard at the panel assuring myself that a tad of light won’t do any harm!

I glanced about, to see if it was just me or there were others too in the room! I switched on only the ones in my section and I could see this person stride towards me and yes they flipped the bulbs off!

The simmer of irritation was transforming into a judging hot energy force pulling me to go for an ego joy ride.

As I started to utter something, I remembered!

“Don’t touch it”

I relaxed, I told myself “Don’t touch it”! Stay away from the temptation to go on a fun ride with the heavy hot force. Says, Mickey Singer this is what everyone does!

So, I relaxed, visualized pushing it away, kept repeating don’t touch it! Until it faded away! It had worked!

I have now tried it in a lot of situations! Even when I am blaming my own self for making mistakes, I use these 3 words to dispel the clouds.

Thanks to David Gergen for writing about this method.

Immediately after I discovered it there was the chance to apply it in the incident at the gym! If I had allowed myself to go down the rabbit hole that day, I might have felt lousy about myself and been in a sour mood.

I uncovered this method recently from a blog by David who shares this as a teaching from Mickey Singer!

This tool prevents me from sinking in low feelings set off by negative thoughts!

The takeaway from this method

When something causes an upset, and you sense that heavy hot bubble rising in your chest, try this method. As David explains,

1. Relax, everywhere in your body, in particular heads, shoulder and chest

2. Lean Away from that egoic feeling

3. Say to yourself — Don’t touch it, keep repeating until the feeling has dissipated

My adoption:

• When it is tough to relax, I say this is not me or mine and see this energy as fire!
• And it becomes easy to distance it from me and recount “Do not touch it”! Until, it’s gone!

Wishing you best for your journey!

Enjoyed reading this blog! Click here to enter a chance to win your free copy of the Book — What the heck do I do about upskilling the workforce?

Have you faced surprising events that leave you feeling doubtful, with little assistance?

I am familiar with such situations. I recently took a leap into the world of self-employed.

Despite being aware of the hurdles, I was not happy with the pace of progress. This triggered my doubts.

Then, an unexpected event happened. Help arrived in the most unlikely form — a green chili plant. The foliage helped me to reconnect with my inner resilience, persevere to find solutions, and gain clarity in my journey forward.

Today, I share the three tools that the green chili plant gave me and how they enabled me to transition from hesitancy to action.

1. Seeing the resilience within

Embracing a heart full of curiosity and a hunger of adventure, I cast aside all worries and focussed on being open!

When I landed my first significant project, I felt a surge of courage and motivation through my vein. I saw it as a sign that I’d be ok in the un-fixed salary!

Then, the green chilli plant came into our life. The plant and I shared a curious bond!

I set about making it feel at home. I said to myself, “It must be missing its roots this far from home!” With my own recent experience of embarking on adventures, I could sense its unease.

Moving it around to the protect the shrub in a pot from wind, rain became a passion.

Witnessing it grow in the new home, expanding splendidly, flowers blooming, stirred up admiration for its tenacity.

One stormy day, fierce winds snapped a few of the branches.

I was blaming myself!

Determined to find a solution, it struck me. If we can mend bones with splints, then why not twigs? To my amazement, it worked!

But there was something different. It was beckoning me with its gentle sway! Urging me to merge with its steady stillness and reflect on what was happening!

I pondered the parallels between my life and the plant.

I was proposing a novel approach to learning and development, but shifting mindsets requires patience. Uncertainty around leads and long cycles made self-employment daunting, despite the freedom it offered.

I asked myself, how do I move forward?

Ah! That was revelation! Chilli was reminding me to recognize that the strength I saw in her was in me too! Nudging me to dip into my own well for the power!

I was awakening to the healing power of nature! It gently drew me from reluctance to courage!

If you catch yourself in a doubt loop, connect to greenery,

· Break negative patterns

· Seek inspiration from nature

· Take action

2. Almost always, there is a way

In a jiffy, there were a 100 peppers, bending at an angle of 45 degrees to catch the sun! Unanticipated positive outcomes are like a pleasant surprise!

I found promise in the bearing fruit and was satisfied with the slow but steady direction of my work. It all seemed set!

But then the ants came, swarming the branches with a furious hunger! I tried everything to save the shrub, shaking the stem with a frenzied desperation, but it was no use. The stems withered and died.

Hope turned to anguish!

It seemed my own hopes and dreams were dying alongside it. At that point, they also cut the project short, intensifying the apprehensions that losing the plant had brought.

For a few days, I lost myself in the sadness of it all! I was not unable to see the beauty and potential that surrounding me.

There are such moments in all of us, our childhood ends, our teenage, our job ends!

Endings often mark the start of novel ventures. Then, I remembered the red chilli that I had let ripen! A glimmer of hope flickered in me. Soon after sowing its seeds, tiny sprouts appeared.

It gave the impression that the stems and leaves were sending a message to me! It was a reminder that even in gloomy times, there was inevitably a way forward.

The fresh blooms filled me with optimism again!

If you’re in a jam, you might think about these questions:

·Is it the end?

·Is the beginning?

·Ask if the thought is true?

You are likely to find your red chilli’s too!

3. Showing the path ahead

Opening my practice gave me freedom of choice! However, the brain sends warning signals when it finds us in an unfamiliar territory. It kept telling me how will I would manage if there was a need for finances without a consistent cash flow!

By asking for guidance, or asking a question, I break this pattern.

So, one morning, I sat gazing at the sky emptying my mind of thoughts! As I sailed my eyes from the top of the saplings on my balcony to the sky, the answer was simple.

The sprouts said their growth cannot be rushed. This is from ground up and not bought a sapling from the nursery! Similarly, the ideas you are spreading are novel and will gradually get traction!

Do not question your choice!

For it is your destiny to learn the lessons before you come out the other side! Wait for your new ideas to take roots, to become flora!

Do not jump the ship in a hurry! Here it was, the insight!

My chilli restored my connection to my value of flowing with serenity! I mean prepare, execute, and be patient for outcomes.

My daily practice is to connect with greenery to become equanimous!

If you are stuck in a dilemma, doubting your choices or frustrated, try sitting with a leafy companion in your balcony or a garden and experience its calming stability.

Conclusion:

Help can come in different forms and unexpected ways! The green saplings reminded me not to give up and reconnected me to my core values.

It took me from uncertainty to clarity, gently bringing me back each time from wandering away from my objective!

Here’s what we both learned!

1. Seeing the resilience within

2. Almost always, there is a way

3. Showing the path ahead

Does marketing feel expensive, scary, and uncomfortable?

Are you tired of struggling to find the perfect balance between investing in expensive ads and allocating your budget for essential tools?

It is important to plan your pipeline, sales, execution, and promotion!

Close your eyes and think about all these activities. Chances are, you are frustrated with the long list of tasks and expenses.

The same painful sense flashes in my mind. After experimenting with a few different methods, I learned an inexpensive way to promote.

And this way is better because it gives you the control, generates referrals, uses your core content in a low-cost, high-impact way, self-reliant manner?

Here are the 5 simplified ways that I used to get 5X leads.

1. Set Up Your Technical Stack Basics

Your website is the backbone of your online presence, and it’s essential to set it up for success. I went through a steep learning curve to optimize costs and time.

As a solo/entrepreneur, you require a place to showcase your services. But what good is a storefront if nobody can find it? That’s where SEO comes in!

When I first started, I was bewildered with all the website builder and hosting options out there.

I spent hours researching and comparing different platforms to find the best fit.

With so many options available, choosing the right platform can be daunting.

So, how to decide? I asked these questions to choose.

Choosing the right website

• Do I need a website, or can I use leverage Gumroad to start with?
• Do I want a simple website with a few pages on CARRD, or will I benefit from advanced options, such as e-commerce?
• What’s my budget, and will I need to engage an external expert?

I selected Wix. It was easiest to create a website myself and I had options for contact forms, blogs etc.. I had an expert give the finishing touches.

If you’re just starting, CARRD is a good option too.

It is beneficial to take your time to explore the options, observe what some other creators are using and then make a choice.

The power of SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher on search engines. It is crucial!

SEO can also be annoying!

I am not a SEO-savvy person. I had no clue and opted for an agency to do the heavy lifting.

It felt embarrasing! Not understanding the language they used, the terms!

There were several curve balls that I faced when it came to SEO. After a steep learning curve for 3.5 months, I ditched the off-page organic process. It requires constant spending and not fit for a niche offering such as mine htat is L&D consulting and transformation.

In my limited observation, organic is crucial when you depend heavily on inbound traffic. On-page technical is important and a must do. I stuck to the on-page.

In my experience, the tipping point is:

• Do clients commonly search for your product or service on Internet?

It is possible to optimize your costs by focusing on a basic platform and the basic process to improve your website’s visibility.

2. Ads Are Not Marketing

Marketing is often equated with advertisements.

I remember the first time I hired a digital marketing agency for my promotional activities. My expectations were high, but they only talked about running ads.

I get it, it’s the easiest way to show some sort of an immediate action for the money you’re spending.

I was hesitant at first, but I decided to give it a try. The results were not promising.

Advertisements = Nil Customer

Do you really need Ads?

• My observation is that it is ok to skip them at the starting point.
• Advertising is likely to drain your budget with little return on investment

Keep pouring and here’s the kicker — the outcome is naught.

Yup, you heard me right. It may be better to avoid the quick fix. You need to explore all your options before making a move.

Advertising is a component of promotional activities. The latter precedes advertising.

Initially, when your dollars are limited and there are several other competing priorities, ads often take a back seat.

3. Create a Simple Marketing Plan

It seems to be overwhelming to navigate, let’s face it.

As an entrepreneur, you often find yourself juggling too many aspects and inadvertently neglecting promotional activities.

I know that because I easily get caught up in the multitude of tasks.

That’s why I love Imogen Roy advice to “make it simple”, who recommends two key elements, they are:

1. Have a clear message that informs what problem you solve.

2. Build a community around your message and solutions.

By focusing on just two key elements — a clear message and a community of like-minded people, I’m able to stay focused on my goals and make progress without feeling overburdened.

For example, I help L&D leaders to translate business problems into learning outcomes at speed. By drilling down to a specific problem that I resolve, I able to clearly communicate my value to my target audience.

So, what’s my takeaway? A modest promotional plan entails clarity on your message, target market, and obstacles addressed.

Wanting to be everything to everyone can result in a recipe for confusion. Focus on what you do best and build a community of people who share your vision.

4. Content Marketing

This is a powerful tool for showcasing your expertise and building your authority.

Using this tool you can combine your core skills with methods in marketing. This enables you to promote your solutions as you share the technical content. Thus, saving time and effort.

I run workshops on L&D topics. Initially, I relied heavily on paid advertisements. It was expensive.

That’s when I decided to try content marketing.

I discovered that workshops are the central piece the “Heart” of my branding. All my promotional activities, and the delivery both can flow from there.

Here is an example of my promotional strategy in action, I tried advertisements and SEO, but it was delivering just a single workshop that gave me five leads.

o I tried paid ads and off-page SEO = Zero

o Delivered a workshop = 5 leads

Through content, you can build authority and promote your goods effectively.

Here is the strategy I use. If you love it, steal it!

1. Use a masterclass or other asset as the core piece, then promote it on LinkedIn with mini-posts to generate curiosity and engagement.

Design the central asset → Share Mini-Posts on Linkedin to → Build Curiosity → Launch → Promote it to your consumers → Engage with people who are interested.

• What about the frequency? I post a tip three times a week, send messages, post insights once a week. Then, I listen for signs, and stop doing what does not work.

Tip: I measure the impact of my activities and adjust my plan regularly to better reach my target audience.

2. I do a few other things that you could find useful.

• Create campaigns around my book
• Network with people in my field
• Attend mentoring events e.g. Mentor Walks

You can see a sample here of an upcoming book event.

3. You can use a range of assets as the heart of your strategy. For example, online courses or product-related content.

Pro tip: If you offer masterclasses or training, the act of delivering them serves as a way to generate leads and referrals.

I regularly measure the success of the approach and adjust the strategy as appropriate.

5. Star Mindset

Here’s the thing, you don’t wish to stop just at content marketing, but take it a step further with this mindset.

What’s that, you ask? It’s about choosing a task that serves as a heart, and leveraging it to create arteries.

A big challenge I faced was figuring out how to make the most of my time and resources. That’s why I love the “Star Mindset” approach.

This mindset involves utilizing a core asset — like a workshop or demo — to create “arteries” of content and marketing activities. This allows me to maximize my impact without spreading myself too thin.

Apply this mindset to every task, from identifying the core asset ( heart ) to selecting events to attend or host.

For instance, imagine you design a killer masterclass — that’s the heart. From that event, you are able to write an ebook, a newsletter, a Twitter post, or even a checklist handout. Pretty cool, right? You are able to formulate a self-sustaining content management and marketing system.

And the results? A small-sized masterclass alone generated four referrals from a masterclass.

Using the lens of heart and arteries, you can create a self-sustaining content management and marketing system.

You can apply the Star mindset to any situation, be it planning a holiday, your to-do list, or meal plan for the week.

Each one of our context is unique. I’d love to hear how you manage marketing.

If you need a quick reference of points discussed, here is a checklist for download.

This checklist contains the process I use to promote without spending a fortune.

Conclusion

Everyone’s ventures are unique requiring a tailored approach of publicizing them.

There may still be some ideas or assets that you can take from here and try in your own context. The following are aspects of branding that I explored and worked through to develop a 5X marketing system

1. Set-up technical stack basics at a basic cost

2. Ads are not marketing

3. Create a simple marketing plan

4. Content marketing

5. Star mindset

Enjoyed reading this blog! Click here to enter a chance to win your free copy of the Book — What the heck do I do about upskilling the workforce?

I quit my corporate job to start my Entrepreneurial journey! No, not with a perfect plan🙂. I cannot believe that it’s been 7 months since I started!

I knew that starting on my own wasn’t going to be easy.

My family, friends, colleagues gave me fair warnings too! Some folks were straight-up about it and asked, “Why are you taking this risk?” But others were a bit more gentle, calling it courageous. And then there were those who just got where I was coming from and had my back all the way.

And despite being ready for the hurdles, some days it is a bit too much — intense, uncertain, and overwhelming. I did not get defeated and pushed through and stayed true to my goals.

Deep gratitude, difficult and fulfilling! That’s how I feel!

Here are seven lessons I take away from the seven months of starting my business from scratch!

1. Cultivate a deep connection to my purpose

After months of contemplation, I wrote about why I wanted to become an entrepreneur. That’s my mission statement. It didn’t happen overnight.

To put it simply, I want freedom of time, and I want to offer learning solutions that are practical, sustainable, and easy enough for people to adopt and solve actual problems.

In entrepreneurship, you are your own boss, setting your own goals and making tough decisions!

So, the promise of quick cash flow often tempted me to take up projects that weren’t of much value or even lucrative. Sometimes, I took them up to nurture my main purpose. On the other hand, I also won projects.

Whether I won a project or regretted a missed opportunity, a little voice in my head says, “Check if it supports and or jives with your mission!”

I’ve figured that staying anchored to the purpose,

• Keeps me calm, clear, and focused.
• Helps me choose the right projects
• Boosts my energy

If you are starting out on your own, I invite you to define and assess future opportunities by looking at them through the filter of deep purpose.

2. Reach out to my network

Starting out, while I was cherishing my solitude and freedom, networking was taking a low priority.

To combat this, I consciously began reaching out to my connections. Scheduling lunches and phone calls with friends, industry colleagues I respect and who’d willingly give insight and challenge me.

I strive to be aware of my capabilities, and I try to talk with individuals who complement them. They generously share their knowledge and I thank them for their contributions to my growth.

Through conversations with entrepreneurs and experts, I have gained wisdom on how to:

• Manage cash flow
• Secure valuable referrals
• Streamline operations for increased profitability
• Expand through partnerships

If you are going solo, contemplate the potential of your network. They can relate to your situation and will be your greatest advocates and trusted advisors.

3. Experiment

Early in my career, I had the privilege of working with a forward-thinking manager.

He always said, “Do not say no without trying. Instead of making excuses, take the risk.”

That’s how I approached every unusual project or problem.

To achieve this, I adopted these principles:

• Move beyond analysis-paralysis
• Take Early Action

The key is to shorten the time between idea and execution, to do it in iterations, and to conduct prototype tests.

This mindset has enabled me to:

• Publish a book on L&D practices
• Become an advisor to two organization boards
• Launch my consulting services
• Expand my customer base to Start-ups. This was not on my radar.

This quote by Swami Vivekananda sums it up for me!

“Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise.”

I invite you to try whatever you have been wanting to do, whether it is a new diet, or travel or a new outfit. Try it as soon as possible!

4. Continuously educate yourself

The fastest way to get where you want to in your work is continuous learning!

I must stay current with learning trends, technologies, and organizational changes in order to meet my customers’ upskilling requirements.

Also, I need to undertake more activities to minimize the need for outsourcing, save money, and maintain cash reserves.

I focus on balancing my core skills and supporting skills. To do so, I have adopted a two-prong approach to learning:

1. Core skills such as sales, marketing, design trends, I aim for

• Deep and focused learning
• For example, I study sales strategies via online courses and certifications

2. Supporting skills are related to responsibilities that I choose to delegate, I aim for:

• Wide and shallow learning approach
• Gaining just enough knowledge to delegate work effectively

I also value the importance of connecting with like-minded individuals. That’s why I attend conferences and am a member of organizations, such as the eLearning guild and CLO.

The return on investment is immense on upskilling yourself.

5. Block time for business development

Without an organization, you may face challenges, such as balancing sourcing new opportunities and giving your existing clients your best.

It requires you to structure your plans. One way I do this is to schedule activities based on your natural productivity cycles.

For example,

• Schedule business planning in the mornings on a fresh mind
• Respond to emails, post to social media etc in the afternoons

You may reflect on plans, generate new ideas at-least once a week. This is a powerful practice to progress your vision.

6. Build your A-team

Going it alone is a recipe for burnout. Outsourcing and service providers can lighten your load. A mentor or coach can help you work at your peak.

My close circle of friends and my partner offer constant encouragement, advice, and support.

I turn to contractors / freelancers on platforms like Upwork for my graphics, website design, SEO, and video editing needs. I’ve built a pool of reliable resources that I can access as needed.

I have accomplished a few tasks by outsourcing the creation of:

• Website
• Book funnel page
• Company logo
• Accountants

I focus on my skills core to my services, laser into them, then hire external help for tasks that are outside of my expertise.

If your means allow, outsource tasks to contractors or freelancers and free up time to grow your company.

7. Patience is a key element of success

These are words taken from my favorite idol, Bill Gates. While patience might seem obvious, it’s something that erodes when business plans cannot move fast.

I have made mistakes, including

• Launching solutions prematurely
• Worrying about potential outcomes and consequences
• Ruminating the impact of failed partnerships

There was a partnership that I was in a hurry to go through, but it failed. Looking back, I am so grateful the opportunity ended.

I now flow with serenity, knowing things will happen when they will. Don’t get me wrong! I don’t mean to procrastinate and be lazy. I mean prepare, execute, and be patient for outcomes.

By embracing a patient attitude, we can strive towards a positive and growth-oriented mindset.

Every one’s entrepreneurial journey is unique. Wishing you the highest good for achieving your vision!

I’d love to hear about your journey and gain insights.

Summary

It’s not perfect, it’s not easy, but it is what I am immersed in at present!

Here are the 7 lessons I shared with you.

1. Cultivate a deep connection to my purpose

2. Reach out to my network

3. Experiment

4. Continuously educate yourself

5. Block time for business development

6. Build your A-team

7. Patience is a key element of success

Enjoyed reading this blog! Click here to enter a chance to win your free copy of the Book — What the heck do I do about upskilling the workforce?