Who are you when you are BIG?

Jill Soley
Jul 21, 2017 · 4 min read
Kimberly Roush

We all have times when we feel larger than life, so energized that we can take on anything and negative comments just fly past us. We have probably all also had moments when we have felt small, insignificant, and un-empowered. As part of our mission to empower female leaders, The CLUB aims to provide tools, coaching, and a supportive network to enable professional women to thrive. Last week, The CLUB hosted professional certified coach and leadership strategist, Kimberly Roush in an effort to help members answer the question: Who are you when you are BIG?

Kimberly shared how she used to volunteer for every job that nobody else wanted because it fed her ego, but she didn’t realize this until later. She felt stressed out, exhausted, and resentful. Kimberly had a limiting belief that work was supposed to be hard. When her professional coach asked her what got her excited about her work. She realized that it was giving people a challenge and inspiring them to do it.

People who believe they have the opportunity to do what they do best every day at work are 6 times more likely to be engaged in their jobs and 3 times more likely to report having an excellent quality of life in general.

People who are aware of their strengths and build self-confidence at a young age may reap a cumulative advantage that’s continues to grow over time. Focusing on the positive enables you to create something you want to move towards. Meanwhile, people who are in a negative state of mind have a narrow peripheral view, and can’t be as creative or resourceful. These ideas come from Barbara Fredrickson’s research on positive psychology.

So, what does it mean to be BIG?

BIG isn’t about ego, title or money. It’s about who you are when you are in your most resourceful state.

  • BIG is a state of mind — where you are thriving
  • BIG comes from within — it’s your values, your characteristics, your strengths.
  • BIG feels easy and effortless
  • BIG is game changing — not just in work, but in life
  • BIG is an empowered state of presence

How Do You Find Your BIG?

  1. Identify times when you were thriving — energized, engaged
  2. Think back to what was present in those times: What was the situation? What were the conditions that made you thrive?
  3. Consider what gets in the way being BIG? For you, what causes stress behaviors, fear, doubt, negativity, and limiting beliefs?
  4. Write a BIG statement. It can be aspirational, but develop your BIG from the times you are thriving, not when you are striving. What role are you playing? Boss, peer, employee, mother, sister, daughter, friend, …? The more you can articulate your BIG statement and align your intention with your actions, the more you can live your life from that place.

If you haven’t recently been BIG in a certain area, you can set an intention for how you want to be BIG in that area and write that into your BIG statement.

Once you have your BIG statement, re-reading it can be a tool to get back into a BIG state of mind when you’re not in it.

This blog post was co-authored with Jamie Kitano.

About Kimberly Roush

Kimberly Roush holds people BIG! She is dedicated to inspiring and empowering people to tap into their most valuable talents and gifts that allow their unique magnificence to emerge. She is an executive coach, published author, keynote speaker and leadership facilitator. Through her work with senior executives and their teams, Kimberly has helped thousands discover their individual values-based authentic leadership thus paving the way for more meaningful work and greater success, both professionally and personally. She is a firm believer that professional excellence is only part of the “triple play of success” equation and that the combination of professional excellence, fun and fulfillment is what creates leaders with an abundance of inspired followers. To learn more about Kimberly or finding your BIG, go to http://www.allstarexecutivecoaching.com/ or purchase her book, Who Are You…When You Are BIG?.

About The CLUB

The Women’s CLUB of Silicon Valley is a leadership incubator for San Francisco Bay Area women who wish to accelerate their careers. We are a close-knit community We know and help each other in our individual leadership development. Collectively we grow talent through high-impact programs, networking and support. Apply to join!

The CLUB: Women Helping Women

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Jill Soley

Written by

Author of Beyond Product, VP Product @Cloverpop, Mom (most important role). jillsoley.com

The CLUB: Women Helping Women

Accelerating professional womens’ leadership journeys

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