Showing posts with label BRAVE People. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BRAVE People. Show all posts

11/20/13

Profiles In Bravery: Danise DiStasi...Teaching Leaders How To Be Relational

"ProfilesInBRAVERY" is a segment that highlights everyday people using the communication skills they have to do amazing things. The world may not know their name but their bravery and skill has changed someone's world. If you know someone who should be featured, contact me. 


Danise DiStasi
Name: Danise DiStasi

Title or position: Chief Relationship Officer

Business/Agency: DiStasi Advisors, LLC

Social media presence:
FaceBook: DiStasi Advisors, LLC
Twitter: @danised
LinkedIn: http://lnkd.in/CH3J9c

What does a Chief Relationship officer do? Why that title instead of CEO of DiStasi Advisors? What message do you want to send?

Everyone is an executive of some sort or another; executive officer, executive coach, executive strategists, etc. Yet few executives truly understand the role of Relationship Leverage Strategist. This role goes beyond networking or building relationships purely to gain notoriety or business. No matter how technology savvy we’ve become, we still long for relationships. We want to do business with people, not an on line presence. Though I prefer Chief Story Teller ;-) as the Chief Relationship Officer, I assist companies understand how they can enhance their customer relationships two ways; empowering their employees to genuinely engage with customers and develop their most loyal customers to be advocates for their business.


Describe a time when you communicated poorly and what lesson(s) you learned from it.

Unfortunately, I’ve learned the hard way in personal and professional relationships. It has been through those lessens of miscommunication that I learned to humbly go to someone, ask for forgiveness and sought to truly understand from their heart what they were communicating to me and how we can communicate better together. I think these lessons have made me a truly strong woman!

Tell us about your books Steppin Out of My Skin and The Hike.
I wrote two books; Steppin Out of My Skin and The Hike. Steppin Out of My Skin is a fictional story and was a way for me to share my heart around the racial issues in Cincinnati. It was written from a white girl's point of view to send a message that we must be intentional about building authentic relationships with those of other races. It starts with me.

The Hike is about a troubled CEO who goes on a four day hike and is transformed by the end of the journey. Each character represents some sort of personal issue; pride, fear, doubt, lust and anger. The guide who leads them on the hike takes the group through the same experience I did with our training. All of the characters experience personal transformation by the end of the hike.


Describe a time when communication was key to your success. 

In building a career in sales, I learned very early the art of building relationships based on excellent communication. And unlike most sales people, it was not based on my ability to talk but rather my ability to truly hear someone. The first time I reaped the benefits of excellent communication was when I sat in a room at Ohio State University Medical Center with Radiologists, Physicist, Managers and technologists, and listened to their wants, needs and desires. When I presented the proposal, they were all pleasantly surprised that I actually heard them. I was surprised it was such a big deal to them but quickly learned in my field, that was not normal back then. I was able to continue to build on that key to success even up to today.  

What would your peers/colleagues/employees say is your best quality? 

Trustworthiness and integrity. It is interesting that trust was one of the biggest stumbling blocks for me to build relationships with others. When I realized that and was able to break through that obstacle, it became one of the characteristics others note about me.


What quality do you need to work on? 

I am a fiery Italian and that has gotten me into trouble from an early age all the way to now.  A friend taught me how to step back, change my thought, which then can change my feeling and believe it or not…actually change my behavior. It only takes a second and it works. I am much more reflective and contemplative which I think to some people is unsettling. I truly think before I react and I am still a fiery Italian in a good, God-given passionate way!!

What is your favorite quote? 
“There is always one thing more in a person’s circumstance that we know nothing of.” Oswald Chambers


Difficult people are a part of life, how do you deal with difficult people in your life? 
I pray that God will help me understand the “one thing more in their circumstance that I know nothing of,” and to see them as He sees them. I cannot help but have a different heart. Because I know God has a purpose in our paths crossing and He will turn around what ever needs to change and mostly in me. I live by Matthew 5:23.


What new and exciting adventure do you have coming up? 

Launching my business DiStasi Advisors, LLC. I am asked to help businesses build their sales division or fix a broken one. There is such a need in the business world for people to truly understand relational selling before they can put any sales process in place. There is an art in knowing when to move from relational to transactional. I also love leadership development. Our business world lacks good leadership role models who truly have integrity and are authentic.

"ProfilesInBRAVERY" is a segment that highlights everyday people using passion, leadership and/or communication skills to do amazing things. The world may not know their name but their bravery, skill, and passion has changed someone's world. If you know someone who should be featured, contact me. 

10/23/13

Profiles in BRAVERY: Tante Robinson...Putting An End to Bullying

"ProfilesInBRAVERY" is a segment that highlights everyday people using the communication skills they have to do amazing things. The world may not know their name but their bravery and skill has changed someone's world. If you know someone who should be featured, contact me. 


Tante Robinson,
Founder Girls Of Excellence Mentoring Program
Name: Tante Robinson

Title or position: Founder, Girls of Excellence Mentoring Program

Business/Agency: Girls of Excellence Mentoring Program

Online presence:
https://www.facebook.com/girlsofexcellence  



What is a misconception people have about bullying?
A lot of people think it’s just a game and that it’s not serious. People just shrug it off. But it is serious. Children kill themselves, they get depressed. They cut themselves. Words do hurt.


10/2/13

Communication Tips From Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte was the first book on my summer reading list. Somehow I had never read it before and I was curious. I found myself equally frustrated and fascinated, a desirable combination I must say, with Miss Eyre and her cast of characters. 

Along with the angst and longing, the story is filled with lessons. Two of my favorites quotes provide great tips about communication. 

9/27/13

Profiles in BRAVERY: Christy Cotterman...Communication and Stress

"ProfilesInBRAVERY" is a segment that highlights everyday people using the communication skills they have to do amazing things. The world may not know their name but their bravery and skill has changed someone's world. If you know someone who should be featured, contact me

Name: Christy Cotterman

Title or position: Holistic Stress Management Practitioner

Business/Agency: Wholly Healing, LLC

Online presence

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhollyHealing

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CCotterman32

Website: http://whollyhealingexperience.com

What does a stress management practitioner do?
I help people get to the root of emotional, spiritual, and physical roadblocks to healing and get rid of them. 

Stress, no matter the form, wreaks havoc on the body, prevents people from staying present in the moment, and creates limited belief systems that influence life, work, and family decisions. When stress is left to spiral out of control, life can become difficult to manage and have debilitating effects on the mind and body. 

Emotional healing, stress management, and a healthy, holistic lifestyle can assist the body in reversing the damage of stress. I gently guide my clients through their own healing journey to find balance and a holistic lifestyle that reduces stress and increases happiness, hope, and peace.

What is the connection between stress and communication?

8/26/13

Profiles in BRAVERY: Carrie Evans...Standing Up Against Opposition

"ProfilesInBRAVERY" is a segment that highlights everyday people using the communication skills they have to do amazing things. The world may not know their name but their bravery and skill has changed someone's world. If you know someone who should be featured, contact me


Carrie Evans
Name:  Carrie Evans
Title or position:  Director of Baby and Me - Tobacco Free; Zumba Fitness Instructor
Business/Agency:  Union Hospital; Booker T. Washington Community Center
Contact: www.facebook.com/ZumbaFitnesswithCarrie

Describe a time you had to be BRAVE.

I think the situation that stands out to me as necessitating BRAVE communication was a City Council meeting in January 2011.  I had been the director of the Vigo County Tobacco Coalition for over 6 years.  During that time, I had worked hard on securing a Clean Indoor Air Ordinance that would make smoking inside public places illegal.  

7/14/13

The "Excuse Me" Affect: #Blog4Biz Day 14:

"Excuse me.....". We excuse ourselves for many different reason. One of those reasons is as an introduction to someone we don't know. "Excuse me" implies you are seeking forgiveness for intruding on someone's time or space uninvited. 

Today someone said those words to me, and I said those words to someone and I learned a valuable lesson in BRAVERY.

I was visiting a new church this morning. After service, a nice woman came up to me and said "Excuse me, my name is Wanda."  I introduced myself and we began the usual talk. Are you new here? What brings you here? What do you do? 
I decided to give my newly practiced elevator speech a test run. It had the effect I wanted it to. It was intriguing enough for her to show genuine interest to open the door for more conversation. That's exactly what happened. Turns out in addition to having a passion for the arts, we have businesses in the same vein and will be meeting together to build community. She doesn't have that many people to talk to about business things locally and neither do I since I am new in town. We decided it might be good for us to learn together. 

That all started with an "excuse me..."

She told me I should connect with another individual named Terry. I assumed when Wanda and I got together she'd tell me more about Terry. She gave me his descriptions and I filed it away.

As I was leaving the parking lot, I saw a man who fit the description of Terry. He was walking to his car. "Excuse me" I yelled over the din of the gravel crunching under his rolling carry on. He didn't hear me. "Excuse me, sir". He turned around. "Are you Terry?". He affirmed he was. Then I began with I am and who told me to talk to him. I had a different goal in mind for Terry. My goal was to see if he was willing to engage in conversation about business building. Turns out Terry is a full time professional in an area I have interest in. We talked for 20 minutes and he is an amazing business connection to have. 

That all started with an "excuse, me"...actually that one started with 2 because he didn't hear me the first time!

Today's challenge was to think of 5 people in my LinkedIn network that I'd like to one day turn into clients. Then come up with a strategy for meeting them or getting introduced.

I initially struggled with challenge...that is until I had time to reflect on my conversations with Wanda and Terry. I don't know what, if anything, will come from my conversations with those two today. All I know is that I have a part to play. I have the responsibility to reach out to them. Their response is not my responsibility. That is the lesson I learned today and encapsulates my strategy for the 3 contacts I chose in my LinkedIn network. 

I picked people who are in each area of business. Prospect #1 is for the coaching side of my business. I picked a person who an independent sales consultant. My approach for her is to show how I can help her turn irate customers into customers for life with my communication strategy coaching. 

Prospect #2 is for the training workshop side of my business. I picked a person who is the communications and programs manager for a educational service center. My approach for this person is show how my communication skills workshops can increase her attendance rates since communication skills can be applied to anyone in her organization and community. It could give her huge cross over appeal.

Prospect #3 is for the professional speaking side of my business. My approach to this contact is a little different. The goal for me here is actually not to get a speaking gig, my goal is get to know "a connector". A connector is one who knows many people and usually makes introductions.  I want him as a connector in the industry since he is already known.  

I chose these three prospects for different reason but my strategy for all of them is going to be the same.

I'll start with "excuse me...

Like I tell my clients, I will prepare before I initiate my conversation but the point is to reach out and be BRAVE enough to take the initiative. If it doesn't work out, I will review the situation for ways I could improve going forward. If it works out, I will move forward.

The point is "Audentis Fortuna Iuvat", Fortune Favors the BRAVE!

The Living BRAVE blog re-launches on Aug 1, 2013. During July, however, I accepted the #Blog4Biz daily business blogging challenge. The challenge is designed to help business owners focus on certain aspects of blogging that will expand their skill, boost creativity, and focus their message. Initially, I wasn't going to publicly share my posts, but as I started writing these posts, I saw the value in sharing...and some of this stuff is really good!  If you want to join the challenge, click here.

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