The cavnessHR podcast – A talk with Maja Karlsson, her company Silver Rain Coaching & Consulting based in Kelowna, BC Canada, and coming at her work from a place of huge curiosity, Maja weaves in concepts of wellness, leadership and emotional intelligence into all the things she does. Her “why” stems from a belief that if we all pay more attention to what is happening inside and consciously chose how we want to be in our work and lives, we will all begin to thrive in new and exciting ways!

The PDF version of the show notes is at the link below:

Attachment

The cavnessHR Podcast can be found at the following places or you can just type in cavnessHR on the respective app.

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cavnesshr-podcast/id1289104534
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-cavnesshr-podcast/e/51584359?autoplay=true
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-119338849/the-cavnesshr-podcast-21
YouTube: https://youtu.be/U-ws2VvpXMM
Anchor: https://anchor.fm/cavnesshr?at=1371260
Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Drhgkcnzlddbwwxztl36fmovaza?t=The_cavnessHR_Podcast-The_cavnessHR_podcast
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5gvkI9P7ZYDTJMYRjYMPho

Social Media links for Maja Karlsson below!!

Website: www.majatkarlsson.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/silverraincoaching/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/majakarlsson1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CoachMajaK

Free Resources and Discounts Below!!!

Free e-book link: https://majatkarlsson.lpages.co/5dayssimple-clear/

Individuals who reach out and tell Maja they listened to her on the cavnessHR podcast, will receive 25% off of an individual coaching package.

Maja will have a different discount for organizations that reach out to her.

Maja’s book recommendations are below!!!

“Bury My Heart at Conference Room B: The Unbeatable Impact of Truly Committed Managers” by Stan Slap

“Grit” by Angela Duckworth

Links to purchase Maja’s book recommendations are below!!!

http://amzn.to/2B34UYo
http://amzn.to/2kFE4L9
http://amzn.to/2zjH5t3
http://amzn.to/2yNJIjb

Jason: 0:01 Hello, and welcome to the cavnessHR Podcast. I'm your host, Jason Cavness. Our guest today is Maja Karlsson. Maja, are you ready to be great today?

Maja: 0:09 I am, absolutely.

Jason: 0:13 Maya Karlsson is a certified leadership coach, organization development professional and registered dietitian with a passion for making workplace environments thrive. Her 15 years of leadership experience equipped her with the knowledge, skills and insight to deliver real change when and where it is needed. Through her company, Silver Rain Coaching Consulting, based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada and coming in to work from a place of huge curiosity. Maja leads in concepts of wellness, leadership and emotional intelligence to all the things she does. Her belief that if we all pay more attention to what is happening inside and consciously choose how we want to be in our work and in our lives. We'll all begin to thrive in new and exciting ways. Through leadership coaching and workshop facilitation, Maja works closely with organizational leaders to make lasting changes that support clients, employees and organizations as a whole. She is adept at developing new and innovative programs and has had particular success in providing leadership training and development opportunities to middle and upper-level managers. Working both with individuals and with organizations. Maja seeks to bring a message that if we understand ourselves better, it is possible to name our own agendas and have the strength, commitment, clarity and confidence to finally claim our lives. Maja, thank you for being on our podcast. So, what are you working on right now, Maja?

Maja: 1:37 Thanks for having me here today. So, a couple things I'm working on right now are related to personal leadership in the places that we live – in our workplaces and in our personal lives. So, I have a three-month course that I'm just launching in November (and then we're going to relaunch in January) called “Mindful Living, Happy Life” and that's really about getting to know yourself so that you can be super successful wherever you are. Then, with a colleague, we're launching a course in the early part of the year, in a couple of organizations, called “Your Refreshed Work Life” where it's for established leaders and organizations where they've been there, they've been doing great work. But they’re maybe feeling a bit tired. Or the team just really needs some outside energy and that course is going to be a monthly course where people are meeting together as a group and then experiencing individual leadership coaching at the same time, over the years. So, those are a couple of things that I'm really excited to be launching.

Jason: 2:42 So, when you go to organizations, of course everyone says, “we're ready for change, we want to take this training on.” But, oftentimes, the reality is not the same. How do you approach that?

Maja: 2:52 Yeah, that's a great question. One of the things that I really believe is that if people can live their personal values in a way that is authentic for them in their workplaces. Then it's a lot easier for them to be able to remain motivated to make changes and to actually really focus on their own personal development as well as the development of their teams and the others around them. So, one of the things that I really talk about with the people who I'm working with around creating, some co-creating, a program for an organization is to truly, really try and understand what's the current culture. Is that culture one that's actually really motivating and supportive for leaders to be successful in being as great as they can be? If not, where are the gaps? Where are the challenges? What are the things that we need to work on, first, before maybe we even develop a leadership program that is going to be successful? Because sometimes it's really about actually taking a big step back and seeing what's actually happening in the organization.

Jason: 4:01 Now, you have customers both in Canada and the United States, and all over the world?

Maja: 4:05 Absolutely, yeah. So, I'm international. I do work both online (like this kind of thing) where I work with individuals or groups online, some of the work is over the phone and then I'm able to travel. So, local as well as within Canada and elsewhere. So, wherever the work needs my skill, I’m able to go.

Jason: 4:29 Do you find there’s any difference in how you approach things in in-person training versus online? Do you notice a difference in anything, or do you approach it differently?

Maja: 4:39 Yeah, there is a difference, I think. Because when you're in person, you're able to really bounce off what's happening in the room. So, if there's a group of 15 people in front of me and we're working on something. It's probably a little bit more dynamic in terms of being able to bring small groups together and do that kind of work that requires people to be face-to-face. But the interesting thing is that what I find that if I'm able to create a community between myself and the people I'm working with – and when I say that, [I mean] if we're able to build a place of safety and trust – then, actually, online works just as well. I find that people are engaged and, if they understand the technology (like we're using this zoom technology which is one that I often use), if people feel comfortable using the technology – and that's something that I really work to make sure people are – then I find that people are as dynamic and as interested. So, it's different, but I think that it's just as successful. We just have to be really thoughtful about how we design things if we're designing them online versus in person.

Jason: 5:51 Have you ever had a to disqualify a potential client based on just what you felt or what you heard? Where you’d be like, “okay, I'm not the right fit for you,” or, “no matter what – I might give you a thousand sessions – it's not going to work for you, I don't want to take your money from you.” Has that ever happened?

Maja: 6:03 Yeah, those are great questions. So, I've been fortunate enough that when I'm working with groups, it seems like the right companies have come to me when I've worked with groups. However, individual coaching has been one of those places that I have said to organizations if there's been a match between me and one of their leaders (for example, for leadership or executive coaching) and it just feels like after we meet, it doesn't seem like it's going to be super successful. Either because the person hasn't got the motivation themselves to want to do the work, or because it seems like what I'm bringing isn't matching with what they're looking for. I definitely, at that point, would say, either bring in one of my colleagues; I'm on my own but I have a number of different connections that I bring in to a lot of the work that I do. So, if it doesn't work for me, oftentimes, it's one of my colleagues. But there have definitely been a few times where I've just said, “I'm not sure you're ready for this yet and when you are, I'd be keen to come back.”

Jason: 7:15 Now, do you focus on a certain type of organization? Like a certain industry, a certain size? Or do you take them all just depending on the situation?

Maja: 7:23 Great question. So, most of the organizations that I work with – I have a healthcare background and so having that healthcare background has been helpful when working in other healthcare organizations or social service organizations – so, oftentimes, those are the organizations that seem to be drawn to me, but I’m not limited to that. So, I've worked in the oil and gas industry and I've worked in other technology companies; the company size that's perfect for me is probably around between 50 and 300 people or so, only because, oftentimes, bigger than that, the organizations actually have their own leadership development or organization development teams. But the smaller companies often will maybe only have one person, or maybe they'll have only a couple, and they may get to a place where they're looking for something external that's a little bit different from what they're able to do. So, that's my perfect size.

Jason: 8:21 Maja, how do you market Silver Rain? Do you have marketing plan, or do you pretty much rely on word-of-mouth and referrals?

Maja: 8:28 So, I do a couple of things. I do word-of-mouth, for sure; I have a number of colleagues that I work with where we are all working on meeting with the contacts that we have and connecting. I do a lot of local marketing with organizations that are closer to me and then I use social media as well. So, I post, I do a lot of blogging; so, a lot of my blogging is related to personal leadership so it might really speak to a leader in an organization but not necessarily to the organization as a whole. But it's really focused on getting clear on what's important and figuring out how you're going to show yourself to the world. So, I'm on LinkedIn and I do a little bit of stuff on Twitter, but mostly LinkedIn is my connection point. I do a lot of reaching out to people that way and that's how I mostly get my non-local clients.

Jason: 9:24 Maja, when you get a new client, how long does it take you take to figure out, “okay, they're going to get it quicker or they're going to get it later.” How long does it take you to figure that out?

Maja: 9:33 Oh, that's a really interesting question. I'd say that that it completely varies on the organization. So, an example of a recent situation I had with a new client was [that] we went in to talk a little bit about what they were looking for and they were so ready for the work – it was almost immediate. We had the conversation and within only a few weeks we had work that was beginning to happen and, each time that we meet, there seems to be more engagement and more interest in trying more, doing more, and reaching broader parts of their organization. I have another recent contact, where I was doing a talk with the local Chamber of Commerce, and one of the leaders in an organization came to me (she was one of the HR managers) and she said, “I think that what you're doing could really fit for organizations.” So, that was fantastic, but what's happened is we've reached a point where now it's sort of silence. So, of course, my next step is to reach out again to find out did I misunderstand about what they were looking for. But it almost seems like there was some keenness on the front end but now that we're actually getting down to, “okay, what might this look like for your organization,” it's taking some time. So, it seems to be really individual based on the organization and kind of where they're at.

Jason: 11:00 Okay. So, next question. Has this ever happened to you – you’re with an organization and you tell the leadership this what you're observing, you’ve noticed this, and they’re like, “well, I don't think you're right because that does not sound like our employee.” So, has that ever happened? How do you approach that?

Maja: 11:13 Yeah, I definitely have had that experience where I've heard what the leadership is telling me, I've had some follow-up conversations with stakeholders and been able to say, “this doesn't make sense, there seems to be a disconnect here.” When the leadership tells me that, what I'm hearing from them is that they're having a disconnect between what their staff or their teams are saying and what they're hearing. So, then it's my job not to say to the leaders, “well, you're wrong, this is what I know,” it's more to say, “well, this is what I've been hearing and what is it that I'm missing?” I get really curious when there's a disconnect between what I'm hearing and what the leadership is saying. Because it may well be that I've misinterpreted, but it also could be that me getting curious helps to open up the conversation. That's more what I've found.

Jason: 12:12 Yes. Maja, next, talk about a time you were successful, what you learned from the success, and what we can learn from the success you had in the past.

Maja: 12:19 Yeah, so that’s an interesting question. So, I'll just share one recent success. So, it was in an organization and I went in to talk about leadership coaching and leadership development. What the organization shared with me and my colleague was, “well, actually, what we're really looking for right now is the development of a mentorship program. We'd like to have a formal mentorship program in our organization, we don't have one at this point and do you think you could develop something like that?” It was something that neither one of us had direct experience with – developing a mentorship program – but we just said, “okay, you know what, this is maybe our way of showing how we can support this organization to move forward and who knows what could happen in the future.” We were really open. So, we went away and created a mentorship development program and presented it back and subsequently have rolled it out in the organization and we're hearing really great things about it. Super successful to not say “no” to something that I wasn't sure that was in my toolbox. I wasn't sure that I could bring what I really needed to be successful there, and instead of saying “no,” what I said was yeah, this is something I know is going to help this organization, I'm going to figure out how to do this super well. Together with my colleague, we've rolled out something that I think is going to be an amazing thing for this organization. Since then, we've now been able to have further conversations about new opportunities. So, that's a super success that I think the learning that I bring to your listeners is, when somebody says, “do you think you can do something,” and your first reaction is, “I don't know if I can,” instead of saying “no,” get curious. How can you, how might you, be able to do it. Because if somebody is interested in something, it might be that it'll be a perfect fit for you and if it's not, then you can find another alternative.

Jason: 14:22 That's great advice. Next, talk about a time that you failed, what you learned from this failure, and how we can learn from this.

Maja: 14:29 So, recently again, I had a seminar, a workshop, planned – it was called The Positivity Slam – and a different colleague I was working with on it, really excited to run this workshop because positivity and positive psychology is a sort of a basic foundation that I do a lot of work from. We had so much interest, lots and lots of people who were interested, and almost nobody could attend. It was the most frustrating of things because I kept getting emails and phone calls and text messages saying, “really keen, can't make it that weekend.” So we ended up, in the end, having to postpone it. So, it's not a complete failure, but I would call it a failure because we weren't able to proceed. What I learned from it, though, was two things. One, I found myself, initially, getting caught up in when every time somebody said to me, “oh, no, I can't make it,” I felt this sort of sense of deflation. I don't know if that's even a word but I just felt like it hit me hard and I reached a point where I realized, “no, you know what, they're showing interest.” That engagement to me is super positive and I actually need to take it that way. Just because they can't make it this weekend, that'll be fine, we'll rebook and we're going to make this an amazing success because the workshop is going to be phenomenal. But the learning was really about not taking things personally and knowing when you have to stop so that, then, you can regroup and start again with success. So, it's almost like a failing-forward philosophy and that's the process that I like to go through.

Jason: 16:16 One thing can you never prevent, you just don't know how many people come and you might have 100 people RSVP and then 10 come, and then 20 RSVP and then 100 people come. So, what’re you going to say when they RSVP and they can’t attend? You’re not going to do that, of course. It’s very tricky planning events. So, Maja, you already talked about this a little bit but, expand some more on how you add value and help to solve problems.

Maja: 16:41 So, I think that where I add value is the breadth of my background. Because I started with a healthcare background as a clinical person – I was a dietician for ten years – wellness is a big part of what I do. The value that I bring to individuals and to the organizations is to really start where they're at, be super curious about what they're wanting and where they want to go or build that organization around what they really are feeling is important. I think that the other value that I bring is that I do everything from facilitation and I don't feel like it's too spread thin but I’m able to facilitate successfully, to able to work individually, one-on-one, with people in organizations around the coaching piece. So, I think those are the things – starting from curiosity and being able to work in a really varied environment – is the value-add that I bring.

Jason: 17:58 Maja, can you talk about someone who has helped you in the past and how they helped you?

Maja: 18:02 Oh, absolutely. So, I had a manager in the past, when I worked as a leader in an organization. Who was able to really see me for who I was, but also see me for where I wanted to be. She helped me to create a team and create a job that was so authentic to me that it allowed me to be the most successful person in a very complex work environment. The thing I learned from her and that was that there's no reason why we can't all do that. There's no reason why every leader in every organization can't support the people around them to be their very best. One of the things that she taught me was, you don't have to be in an important position to be an influential leader in an organization; you can lead from wherever you are, whether you're a frontline person and maybe you're dealing with clients directly, all the way up to the CEO. Every single person in that organization has, not only the responsibility to lead up and lead down. But also they have the ability to do it as long as they're given the right nurturing.

Jason: 19:32 Yes. I was in the army and that's one thing in the army you really do. You have the leader based on actual position. But who’s the actual, real leader of this place? It might be the lowest ranking.

Maja: 19:45 Absolutely. I think that's the thing about it – the military is a perfect example of that whole concept that it doesn't matter where you are, you can lead from anywhere, regardless of your rank.

Jason: 19:58 Yes. Maja, I understand you have something for our listeners today.

Free Resources and Discounts Below!!!

Maja: 20:01 Yeah. So, I have two things. The first thing is I have an e-book – it's called Five Steps to Simple and Clear. It helps people to work through five areas of their lives, both in their work but also in their personal life, that might be getting in the way of feeling like they actually are able to manage really well. That's one thing. Then the other piece is that anybody who reaches out to me and tells me that they have seen me on your podcast in any way will be able to get 25% off of an individual coaching package. So, that's for individuals but we'll figure that out, too, if it's an organization that reaches out to me.

Jason: 20:51 Thank you, Maja, that's very valuable. Next, can you tell us the social media platforms you’re on so our listeners can reach out to you?

Maja: 20:58 Absolutely. So, I'm on LinkedIn – it's Maja Karlsson – and my name is spelled weird, but there aren't very many of us there. I'm also on Twitter – it's @CoachMajaK on Twitter. And Facebook is Silver Rain Coaching. So, those are the social media platforms that I'm on.

Jason: 21:21 Thank you. Maja, we've come to the close of the talk. Can you give some advice or wisdom to our listeners?

Maja: 21:28 Yeah. So, my advice to everybody who's listening is get as curious as you can, notice what's happening in you and around you, through a curiosity lens, and your life will never be the same if you can get curious and notice what's happening.

Jason: 21:49 Thank you. Maja, thank you for being our guest on our podcast, we really appreciate it. I know you’re a busy person, you have a lot of stuff going on. To our listeners, thank you for your time as well and remember to be great every day.

The cavnessHR Podcast can be found at the following places or you can just type in cavnessHR on the respective app.
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cavnesshr-podcast/id1289104534
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-cavnesshr-podcast/e/51584359?autoplay=true
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-119338849/the-cavnesshr-podcast-21
YouTube: https://youtu.be/U-ws2VvpXMM
Anchor: https://anchor.fm/cavnesshr?at=1371260
Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Drhgkcnzlddbwwxztl36fmovaza?t=The_cavnessHR_Podcast-The_cavnessHR_podcast
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5gvkI9P7ZYDTJMYRjYMPho

Social Media links for Maja Karlsson below!!

Website: www.majatkarlsson.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/silverraincoaching/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/majakarlsson1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CoachMajaK

Free Resources and Discounts Below!!!
Free e-book link: https://majatkarlsson.lpages.co/5dayssimple-clear/
Individuals who reach out and tell Maja they listened to her on the cavnessHR podcast, will receive 25% off of an individual coaching package.

Maja will have a different discount for organizations that reach out to her.

Maja’s book recommendations are below!!!
“Bury My Heart at Conference Room B: The Unbeatable Impact of Truly Committed Managers” by Stan Slap

“Grit” by Angela Duckworth

Links to purchase Maja’s book recommendations are below!!!

http://amzn.to/2B34UYo
http://amzn.to/2kFE4L9
http://amzn.to/2zjH5t3
http://amzn.to/2yNJIjb