Welcome to CultivatED Marketer …

In this 19th episode of CultivatED Marketer, hosts Brent Bowen and Matt Tidwell, PhD, chat with Darcy Eikenberg at the IABC World Conference 2022. Darcy Eikenberg helps high performance leaders and teams manage through constant change with more clarity, confidence, and control. Throughout this discussion, we talk about how to control your situations and your mindset throughout your career.

Before their chat with Darcy Eikenberg, Brent and Matt Provide Event Updates

• The recap IABC World Conference, including Brent congratulating Matt on receiving the IABC Chairman’s Award
  
• What is a dine around? They talk about how it’s some of the best professional networking
  
• They talk Brent’s podcast session and how it’s led to some nonprofit and press opportunities. Check out Brent’s Walkin’ & Rollin Superhero Sidekicks fundraising activity.
  
• Locally, both KCIABC and Social Media Club of Kansas City have some new events:
  
  • First, they recap the Aug. 5 Social Media Club of Kansas City with Sporting KC and KC Current media personality Aly Trost
    
  • KCIABC … Master’s Dinner about Recruitment and Retention (8/30)
    
  • Social Media Club – Rebranding for Purpose (Big Brothers, Big Sisters on 9/23)
    
  
  

Brent and Matt talk with Darcy Eikenberg, author and leadership career coach.

• Brent and Matt sit down in New York and introduce Darcy Eikenberg. They mention her presentation at the IABC Conference, and discuss themes from her presentation.
  
• Darcy reflects on the effect of inviting people to think about something they are proud of. She says this can be a powerful way to remind yourself of all the good things that are happening that we tend to brush off.
  
• Matt resonates with Darcy and reflects on what it means to be in the moment. He relates it to how an athlete mentioned needing to stay focused in a game, and says to “be where your feet are.”
  
• Darcy says important questions to continue asking yourself when feeling overwhelmed is: Where do I need to be? Am I engaged? What’s most important right now?
  

 

How to Control Your Own Situations and Control Your Outcome

• Brent proposes a scenario to explore the notion of what we can control while being present. He asks Darcy what advice she would give to high performing students now in the workforce.
  
• Darcy provides her opinion on university student structures and the difference in the workplace. She gives advice for students coming out of college looking for positions in their industry.
  
• Brent reflects on his discussion with Matt about nonprofit opportunities. Discusses how these community organizations are seeking leadership and membership opportunities.
  
• Darcy advises not to discount those opportunities no matter your background, there is always something to contribute to your community.
  
• Matt asks Darcy about controlling what we can control. While it resonates to many of us, why is it so hard to accomplish?
  
• Darcy says it is hard because the brain craves control. Control means safety. She says neuroscience is always evolving, and we have more power than we realize if we choose to use it. If we asked ourselves, “What can I control? Can I change anything?”, it could relieve a lot of stress knowing we cannot change the outcome of a situation.
  
• Brent reflects on his own presentation at the Social Media Club when he saw everyone in the audience on their phone, when in reality they were sharing the presentation on the Internet.
  

 

Identifying Your Capacity

• Matt mentions the to-don’t list Darcy discussed in her presentation. He asks how early professionals want to be seen as a high achiever, but how can we do that when there are only so many hours in the day.
  
• Darcy says there is noting wrong with grabbing every opportunity that speaks to you early in your career. She says making yourself uncomfortable is okay because it leads to growth. She states the red flag is when your best skills are not improving because you are stretched thin on other tasks.
  
• Darcy reflects on capacity. Humans create capacity based on what engages us. When you feel stretched thin on your best skills, reflect on what steps got in the way of your growth.
  

 

Navigating Company Culture

• Brent expands on Darcy’s comment and asks about the fight or flight feelings young professionals get when things get tough in the workplace. He also reflects on control aspects of different cultures between hybrid work forces, changing dynamics, geo-political issues, etc.
  
• Darcy says culture is the explicit or implicit agreement on how things are executed in the environment. She says that individuals get to choose how we can control the culture in the workplace. Professionals can work to change the company culture, but if it does not reflect then it may not be the right fit. 
  
• Darcy compares micro- and macro-cultures in a company. She relates the feeling of wanting to leave when the environment gets uncomfortable to how the brain deals with stress. She says people can demonstrate the culture they want to see in their company, and if they get uncomfortable to think of what we can do differently to change the environment.
  

 

Save Your Career Without Leaving Your Job

• Matt asks Darcy about the journey of writing her new book, Red Cape Rescue: Save Your Career Without Leaving Your Job.
  
• Darcy reflects on her time during the pandemic when she emailed an insider community she belongs to asking what advice people needed to navigate through this time. To her surprise, most of the people in the group responded saying they needed encouragement. Darcy created an audio series with lessons on how to adapt to work with COVID-19. This helped teach others how to reset and take control for themselves.
  
• There are three parts to Red Cape Rescue: Save Your Career Without Leaving Your Job: Reset how you think, revise what you say, and rescue what you do. The book is a tool to rethink leaving your job when times get tough.
  
• Darcy wraps up the episode by sharing where to find more information about her book and where to find more about her free tools and strategies.
  

 

More From IABC World Conference 2022

Watch for more interviews that Brent and Matt conducted from IABC World Conference 2022 with Brad Whitworth.