Discover the Secret to Deep Inner Presence with Laura Baxter
Meet today’s guest:
Laura Baxter
the American opera singer and performance coach has studied the effects of the voice and body on non-verbal communication and leadership for over 25 years, and she brings this experience together to help her clients perform and communicate better.
In addition to her many stage performances, Laura was the singing voice of Faye Dunaway in the feature film "A Handmade’s Tale." A recipient of the prestigious Louis Sudler Award for the Arts at Emory University, Laura is coauthor of several German books, and her new book
Dealing with Divas and other Difficult Personalities: A Mindful Approach to Improving Relationships in Your Business or Organization
is releasing May 15th 2017!
Laura lives and works in Germany with her husband and two children.
Have you ever found yourself having to deal with Divas and other difficult personalities?
Although Laura Baxter wrote her book, Dealing with Divas and other Difficult Personalities, to help people in the business world, she is first to admit that moms are the ultimate leaders in our society and the family environment is often the most difficult organization we'll ever encounter.
There is no more important leadership role than that of a parent and there is no role that demands better leadership skills than parenting.
As a tribute to Mother's Day coming up on Sunday and all our wonderful mom readers and listeners, Laura and I decided to take this wonderful information she has developed and talk about it as it relates to life on the home front.
Laura's most prominent role model for both work and home was her mother. Although her mom has now passed, Laura shared that she taught her a lot about who she is as a woman.
The message from mom that stands out the most …You can have it all if you want it – career and a happy home life!
Having said that, Laura totally appreciates how challenging the life of a parent can be and shared a story about performing on the road in TelAviv. She was pregnant with her second child and her husband was at home in Germany looking after their (toddler) daughter. The other performers were complaining about how grueling their schedule was, but Laura couldn't agree. She found herself smiling and thinking her colleagues had no idea how challenging life as a mom could be. To her, this experience felt like a vacation because she didn't have all the parenting stress to deal with.
There is so much overlap between your career experience and life at home. A lot of the skills you use at work can be extremely helpful at home and what's going on at home can help you in the world of paid employment.
One of the tips Laura shared that she originally learned for the stage, but has found super useful for keeping herself centered at home, is to slow down, deep breathe and connect with your inner resources. Repeating a simple mantra such as, "I Choose Love" can help you clear your mind, calm your nerves and focus on what's at hand.
I Choose Love
Moms are often made to feel like they are doing things wrong, which means self-doubt, worry and uncertainty are never far away. This tool can help you push those feelings aside and focus on what really needs to get done. When you repeat this mantra without over thinking or reading too deeply into it, you are left feeling like you can take on the world.
Laura went on to share that there are 4 Powerful States and Love is one of them. She shared the other three and explained how we can use these states to shift out of fear and into a more inspired state.
Mom the Leader
The moment your child is born you are taking on the role of educating the child, teaching values, being a mentor and guide so that your child can be a successful person.
Leaders who are parents tend to have better leadership skills quite naturally.
The most challenging situation in being a leader and a mom is that your child may not always listen to what you are trying to get them to do. You are trying to guide them to follow your lead even when they don't want to.
Some executives struggle with this as well and try to just order employees instead of trying to figure out how to motivate them. Our goal is the same …
In both cases you want people to grow into responsible and self-motivated individuals so the answer is to look for ways to communicate this and motivate them towards appropriate action.
Often this requires creative thinking and is well worth the effort.
Dealing with Divas and other Difficult Personalities; a Mindful Approach to Improving Relationships in Your Business or Organization
The goal of Laura's book is to provide the reader with the tools that she needs to stay centered, calm and focused while she's working with her Diva and at the same time still reaching her goals. Organizational structure (think family!), personalities and self-awareness all come into play in being able to do this.
Laura shared what the DIVA acronym stands for and how we can use our own awareness to work effectively with other people – even when they are being difficult.
It really comes down to great relationship building techniques - asking the right questions, being curious, coming from a centered place and not taking things personally. It's not about being friends with everyone but about understanding yourself, the other person and your goals better, so that you can accomplish what you set out to accomplish.
The most important part of building that bridge with the other person is first finding your own center (calmness) so that you can ask questions without escalating the situation.
Listen to the podcast for all the secrets...
Resources mentioned by Laura:
Book: Love is letting go of fear
Kindle version releases May 15th, 2017 and you can get it for FR*EE on Amazon for a limited time! Sign up for Laura's gift below and have the link for the book sent right to you.
Special Gift for Vibrant Powerful Mom Community
Tips & Tricks from the Stage to Your Home; How to Stay Cool as a Mom
After the FR*EE Kindle opportunity expires, buy the book for regular price and send a 'proof of purchase' to info@voice4leadership.de and receive a link to a special webinar geared at helping you apply what you learn from the book.
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