299 Clarity and Having The Courage to Do What You Aspire To

The constant pressure to do the best and be the best is something many of us grew up knowing. Thinking we had to have straight A’s in school, trying to be the best in our extracurriculars, and even taking up tasks that should have been given to someone who’s skills would suit the task better, whether it’s because of our own internal voices or external pressures we need to learn to seek clarity and focus on the skills that make us invaluable to our team and family.

In this episode Sarah Elkins and Mandi Graziano discuss how past failures, current clarity, and future aspirations drive us and shape us into who we are today.

296 Storytelling Can Improve Your Career - It's Not Just Interviews

This is the 4th episode in a series on storytelling for professionals.

In episode 292, Sarah shared stories about her love language – which is cooking for people. She explained that when we share stories of the activities that bring us great joy in service to others, we offer a glimpse of our character and values to our audience, whether that’s at work, in an interview, with family and friends, or when we’re sharing content in any form of media or on any platform. Her stories of nurturing and nourishing people in her home demonstrated part of what makes her a good addition to any team – her positive energy and ability & ambition to create an environment where people feel safe and encouraged to bring their best.

Episode 294 was a story about a team she worked with at a job years ago. It was a work story that demonstrated her openness to learning, how she manages frustration and different ways of approaching projects and relationships, and her meeting facilitation skills.

And last week’s episode 295 was a personal story about planning a family reunion for 40 guests. It demonstrated her meeting & event planning skills, team building/leadership, and made it very clear what matters to her.

In this episode you'll hear about stories Sarah shared in job interviews, why she shared those particular stories, and the end result (spoiler alert: she didn't get the job).

The idea and goals for this series is for professionals to truly understand the value of sharing personal experiences and work stories in different environments, and to uncover your stories to begin collecting them so you're ready when an opportunity presents itself.

By preparing stories to answer the most common, (kind of stupid), questions, you have the opportunity to share so much about yourself, way beyond what’s on your resume and cover letter.

In any professional setting, whether around the proverbial water cooler, at a networking event, when presenting to your team or organization, side conversations during meetings, knowing how to share meaningful stories is a practical skill.

Collect your stories, practice them, and categorize them so you are likely to share the right one at the right time, with the right audience, demonstrating your skills, values, character, and vision.

Thanks for listening to Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will.

Curious about how Sarah's workshops and keynotes will help you and your audience or team be better ambassadors for your organization and their careers?

Visit her website, elkinsconsulting.com, to schedule a discovery call.

295 Personal Stories and How They Matter

The relevance of stories in career and life is something that is undeniable, whether it be a professional story about a time you were vital to your team at work, or a more personal story that demonstrates skills that are so second nature to you that you don’t even think about them any more, learning when and how to share every story and how they put your talents and values on display is a skill that can take you above and beyond.

In this episode Sarah Elkins shares a personal story that exemplifies her skills, talents, and values, throughout the story listen for cues, and take note of how she tells the story in a way that compliments everyone and the situation they were in, and not just herself.

294 Communication For Potentially Conflicting Approaches

Frustration and irritation is common in every relationship, more often than not it stems from not understanding others or hearing out what others have to say. It is up to us and those we work with to find a peaceful and healthy resolution.

In this episode Sarah Elkins ruminates on the early points in her career and how she saw her talents even before knowing about Strengths Finder, but most importantly how she was able to help her company and colleagues.

293 Self Reflection: Assessments

Fear of the self is something that has existed for hundreds of years, it’s been something remarked upon by Plato and Socrates, and it is a very common human experience. However if we approach our talents and sense of self with curiosity we can foster a healthy, loving relationship with yourself, your career, and your future.

In this episode Sarah Elkins reflects on the assessments she was hired for and found that some of the audience didn’t “buy into” her assessments, only for said audience members to discover things about themselves.

292 Food Stories

Love languages come in many different forms; gift giving, words of affirmation, and for today’s episode specifically, the act of cooking and giving a good meal to those you hold close. It is vital to the health and continuation of relationships that we discover these languages and think about how these actions impact how others view us.

In this episode Sarah Elkins ruminates on the concept of love languages and how important they are to understand and how they influence how we are perceived by others and ourselves.