Sign up for Karen’s Notes

RECEIVE THESE BY EMAIL EVERY FRIDAY

Karen’s thoughts on leadership, creativity, and rest for accountants - along with a sketch!

Get weekly notes

ORDER YOUR COPY OF THE BOOK NOW

Order book

Follow me

ON THE GRAM

Jul 22

Open
When someone asks you, “Why?” about anything, it raises a little defensiveness. Or even a lot. You tell someone, “I’m thinking of moving to Spain” and they say, “Oh really? Why?” Your brain jumps to your defence. “Well because this! And that! And our current house is really nice, but it’s so near the city, and we go back and forth to Spain so often…” You feel like you need to prove something. The question infers the person asking doesn’t understand, or perhaps doesn’t agree. This may not be the case at all. They may be genuinely curious. But even when they are, a ‘why’ question will still stir up a need to prove yourself. “We’re getting rid of our offices.” “Oh really, why?” Now think about how it would feel if instead of “why”, you were asked a “what” question. “I’m thinking of moving to Spain.” “Oh really? What do you love about Spain?” We’re getting rid of our offices.” “Oh, what will you switch to?” In every case, the ‘what’ question is exploratory. Open. It accepts the proposed change, and wants to know the situation – the facts which led to the decision. When you answer a factual question, there’s no judgement. You’re simply explaining what happened. Spain is where you’ve gone on holiday every year for the last ten years, and you find yourself going there more. Remote or hybrid working is better for you and the team, because you’ve hired people who live further from the original offices. In most situations, you can switch from a ‘why’ question to a ‘what’ question very easily – and it will open up the conversation more! I’d love to hear what happens (see what I did there) when you try it! Oh – this is primarily for ‘why’ questions from adults. When a small child asks why, it’s usually because they truly don’t understand. And maybe that’s…why. If you say “the train isn’t coming today,” and the child asks, “But why?”…it’s because they really don’t know. They don’t have all the facts, and they don’t get it. Probably disappointed, too. So you answer them, because you’ve read the board or checked up on the situation and now you all know why. What’s something you are excited about this week? #creativeheadspace #accountants #questions

Jul 18

Open
I’m not actually bummed about the grey weather we’re having. Here’s why. I went for a walk in the MORNING today, which felt like i’m winning at life. 🏆 Lately I’ve been fitting in my daily walk at 9 or 10pm after a long day of meetings. I’m super grateful for the way it’s still light so late at night, but a walk-at-end-of-day doesn’t have the same motivational kick as the walk-at-the-start. 🌑 So that one little thing I did puts me at champion status, and affects my entire mindset for the day. 💪 There are a lot of contributing factors to this morning’s walk, but the top one was that it was grey, cool, and windy...which is far more motivational to me than bright sunshine. 🌬 I know, it’s weird. The rest of britain is like UGH WHAT A SHIT SUMMER and i’m here going um...i really, really love the rain. And clouds. And cool breezes. And grey skies. ☔ I’ll join in the conversation and be like yea, yea, it really does suck...but that’s just to start conversation and show British solidarity. Deep down I don’t think it does suck. 👀 I do like sunshine, but after spending 25 years of my life in Arizona, I don’t love or crave the heat. ☀ Anything over about 20 degrees and i start getting a bit antsy...and my limit is “23 with a breeze”. 😎 If it’s higher than that I’ll literally hide inside, not rush out to sit in a beer garden or at the beach. I really don’t enjoy heat at all. So thanks grey skies and wind, you helped a lot today. 💪 Just me? Everyone else dreaming of 30+ degrees and sunshine?? It’s okay if you are...i just...don’t get it. 🤣 #justkeepgoing #walkoftheday #goodmorning #wegotthis #onestepatatime #motivation