The Currency of Trust Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council Radio Program “What’s working at work” with Lynda Foster Aired on:  COVIDVA radio which can be found at COVIDVIRGINIA.com Full transcript John: Good afternoon. I’m John Phillips, your host, along with your co-host, Mary Miller. Thank you for joining us for the Business Lunch Show. Each day for the noon hour, we seek to talk with the leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs in the Roanoke and Blacksburg regions to learn

As you look at this list of emotions, which one are you feeling? Noticing which emotions you feel at what times and how they change is key to a practice of mindfulness which simply means your capacity to remain present. Being present allows you to focus on the task or person at hand and provide your best self in any situation. Being aware of your emotions and how they might be affecting your thinking and your actions leads to a higher level of emotional intelligence which is

It’s not the what, it could be the when. In my ebook, Time Mastery: 7 Simple Steps to Richer Outcome , in our Leading a Winning Team coursework, we provide an assessment that allows leaders to determine what I have termed as their time metabolism. Simply stated, your time metabolism is a measurement of your physical and mental energy throughout your day. To master your time, as a leader, you can optimize your strengths by measuring when your energy is highest throughout the

Try these 6 questions to start making shift happen – move from drama to empowerment What are you focused on? What is your biggest concern? What will right look like? What are you focused on that is NOT within your control? What change can you make that IS within your control? What do you need to do differently? Below are reference materials for a deeper dive into learning how to shift from drama into empowerment. By having a basic understanding of the differences between the

What do you say at work when it’s hard to find the right words. There is no shortage of information out there on how we should do things – the theories people and experts have on how bosses, leaders, and employees should treat each other.  But what do you actually say when you’re confronted by someone at work? Lynda McNutt Foster, CEO and Executive Coach of Cortex Leadership Consulting joined Kianna Price, Morning Anchor on WFXR News for Living Local to tell us what to say at

Quick, easy, stress management techniques for the busy professional.  Stress can have some serious physical effects. 75-90% of doctor visits can be directly linked to stress. Your body reacts to stress and anxiety with short bursts of cortisol (commonly known as the “stress hormone”). Like a weak yet potent poison, negative stress creates a slow drip of the stress hormone through your body which increases your risk for things like hypertension and problems with your heart. He

DISC

by:  Lynda McNutt Foster, CEO, Cortex Leadership Consulting. A note from a recent conference attendee: “Lynda, I wanted to send you a note to let you know how much I enjoyed and have used the DISC training you and your team provided.    I learned a great deal about myself.  I learned how I communicate and might be perceived by others, and even have tried some of the communication practices with my daughter.  What you taught really works. After the workshop, I began seeing a f

We’ve all attended bad meetings.  Meetings that take too long and that have one person monopolizing the conversation the whole time.  I posted this guide recently on LinkedIn that some people could utilize in a meeting to decide whether or not they should speak up and when. Some people loved it and others seemed angry.  I remember the moment Courtland James , one of our executive coaches at Cortex, gave it to me to review.  I said to him, “Wow, this could really help some of

Are you looking for a quick way to identify what type of DISC behavioral style someone is at work?  See if you can match the person’s actions with the lists below. Driver’s main characteristic is dominance.  They operate at a faster pace, are task-oriented, and can get upset if something does not seem efficient. Influencer’s main characteristic is just that.  They operate at a faster pace and are people oriented.  They tend to not like conflict and would rather avoid it an

Who shares in your vision?   How reflective of your organization’s current culture is your vision?  Are your frontline team members, that have the most amount of contact with your citizens, clients, or customers, engaged and enthusiastic about your vision? With 67% of people reporting to Gallup they are disengaged at work, and competition for time and people’s attention at an all-time high, starting with why they want to work for your organization could be a good place to b

I am, and perhaps you are too when you look up the definition of what prejudice is. Prejudice:   Any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable. I have a prejudice against people who don’t want to learn.  My mind has trouble understanding how someone can solve problems, permanently, if they don’t take the time to learn enough about what be causing that problem in the first place. I’m prejudice when it comes to hard work.  This serves me well sometimes an

Tough, thoughtful, questions produce the best answers.  Are you asking yourself and your team enough of them?  As a leader, what are the best questions to ask and when?  In Peter Senge’s timeless work, The Fifth Discipline:  The Art & Practice of a Learning Organization, leaders learn which disciplines they need to develop to be prepared to ask the right questions, at the right times, to the appropriate people. The foundation of his work is based on creating a learning organ

You know the story.  Green guy named Grinch hates Christmas and steals all the presents from the Whos in Whoville.  Afterward, he sits comfortably perched above their town on the hill, waiting for them to be completely miserable because of his theft and ransacking of their homes, but instead he hears something unexpected.  They sing.  They sing loudly and beautifully with joy in the hearts and the feeling of true blessing in their souls.  Turns out he couldn’t steal the true

A Beginner's Mind by: Lynda McNutt Foster, CEO and Founder My first job, outside of my family’s art business, was when I was 16 and working at Bojangles. I remember trying to solve a problem with customer flow.   I asked my supervisor when I was working on the line dishing out chicken, beans, and dirty rice, why we did it in the order we were doing it in.  I thought maybe it could be more efficient if we changed things slightly as it might make the line go faster when we were

Lynda McNutt Foster is a certified practitioner of TED* The Empowerment Dynamic and can make shifts happen with your team, no matter what type of drama your team is experiencing. TED* (*The Empowerment Dynamic) is a positive alternative to the Drama Triangle, which was first described by Stephen Karpman, MD. The Dreaded Drama Triangle (DDT)™ is comprised of three roles: Victim (the primary role), Persecutor (which the Victim blames for their suffering); and the Rescuer (who s