VIDEOS
Do you have a coworker who is hyper defensive? Step 1: Don't React. The aim is to shut you down...
Season 2's Episode 15 is out-- in the 10 minute segment, I answer a question about how to give feedback to a defensive co-worker, and for starters: don't react. It’s easy to feel defensive after experiencing defensive behavior because that’s the point, and the first time you receive a defensive response, the aim from the other person is to shut what you said down, and shut you down so you won’t do that again. That neutralizes whatever threat the other person may feel.
And …
Got a boss that interrupts you in your meetings??? Here are some tips... #business #smallbusiness
Check out Episode 16 that answers the question, "How do I get my boss to stop interrupting me in MY MEETINGS???"
There are different ways you can address interruptions in the moment-- here's one of them, and check out my show Ask Christa! where I review the listener question, answer using practical tips, then offer additional resources (always in the show notes)!
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Ask Christa! Business Questions, Straight Answers, Real Impact
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Ask Christa! How to I Stop My Boss from Interrupting Me in My Meetings???
Summary
In this episode of Ask Christa, Christa Dhimo addresses the challenge of being interrupted by a manager during your team meetings—in front of your team. She explores the concept of an interrupting culture, the reasons behind interruptions, including excitement, poor listening skills, and power dynamics. Christa provides practical strategies for managing such behavior, including setting ground rules for meetings and using a feedback model called BIC (Behavior, Impact, Change) to ad…
Tips to Manage Defensive Co-Workers (fear of giving feedback?) #business #coworking #leadership
We've all experienced the nightmare of working with a defensive teammate who can't handle ANY feedback-- or even help-- because they are so hyper sensitive. Here are some quick tips to manage defensive co-workers...
Check out the full 10-minute episode (S2E15) and additional resources available-- just released!
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Ask Christa! Business Questions, Straight Answers, Real Impact
© 2025 Christa Dhimo in partnership with Impono LLC and…
The "Why Bother?" Culture creeps up on all of us (even the person who asked the question) #business
Episode 14 focuses on how to introduce a new idea to a team that resists new things or change. We see a lot of this in a “why bother?” culture...
In fact, the person who submitted this question is probably one or two years away from their own learned helpless—their own, “why bother” moment.
Of course, in the workplace, very few will actually say, “why bother”—instead, they’ll say things like, “Yeah, we tried that years ago and it didn’t work,” or “give it a few years, you’ll …
Tips to Manage Defensive Co-Workers (fear of giving feedback?) #business #coworking #leadership
We've all experienced the nightmare of working with a defensive teammate who can't handle ANY feedback-- or even help-- because they are so hyper sensitive. Here are some quick tips to manage defensive co-workers...
Check out the full 10-minute episode (S2E15) and additional resources available-- just released!
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Ask Christa! Business Questions, Straight Answers, Real Impact
© 2025 Christa Dhimo in partnership with Impono LLC and…
There are key #negotiation skills we should all learn about in #business ...
Age-old negotiation skills include understanding the difference between the surface-level needs, or the asks in front of you, versus the underlying concerns—the REAL wants behind the negotiation.
The quicker you understand the underlying concerns, the smoother the negotiations tend to be (and the more brass-tacks, time-useful the process will be)
But you know what makes it much, much better? Easier?
Making sure we consider ourselves, too. What are OUR underlying con…
Ask Christa! How Do I Give Feedback to a Defensive Team Mate???
Summary
In this episode, Christa Dhimo addresses the challenges of giving feedback to defensive coworkers. She explores the reasons behind defensive behavior (including low self-esteem and past criticism), the importance of understanding it, and offers strategies for effectively providing feedback. Christa emphasizes the need for self-care, resetting conversations, and seeking support when dealing with defensiveness in the workplace. She also provides resources for further understanding a…
The "Nope!" Culture is a DRAG (and is often what's behind "old thinking") #business #innovation
Episode 14 is out and focuses on how to introduce a new idea to a rigid team, a "that's not how we do things around here" team. Often, that's not because of a new idea, but because they, too, once had new ideas and slowly learned—perhaps even subconsciously—that leadership isn’t the type to easily warm up to new ideas. (culture culture culture)
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Ask Christa! Business Questions, Straight Answers, Real Impact
© 2025 Christa Dhim…
Considering others is useful at work, but what if we consider ourselves first? #business #work
When dealing with workplace issues, a lot of people start by considering others: how they'll respond, how they'll react, whether they can hear or listen to feedback. This is a useful tactic, and one that enables people to connect effectively and influence more broadly.
But a better tactic is how you prepare, and that MUST include how you consider yourself BEFORE you approach someone...
Season 2's preview is live-- check out Episode 13!
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Rigid Team? What do to be heard when your team is afraid of new ideas? #business #innovation
Episode 14's question is, "My team is so rigid-- they don't listen to anything new or different. What do I need to do to pitch a new idea?"
Depending on your trust and relationship with the team, you might be able to ask directly, “What do I need to do to have a new idea listened to before you all dismiss it? I’ve pitched four new ideas in the last six months—some of them I offered because I thought it would make work easier. Should I not say anything at all?”
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Ask Christa! How Do I Introduce a New Idea to a RIGID TEAM???
Summary
In this episode of Ask Christa!, Christa Dhimo addresses a listener's question about introducing new ideas in a resistant team environment. She explores the underlying reasons for resistance, particularly focusing on learned helplessness, and offers strategies for effectively pitching new ideas. Christa emphasizes the importance of learning about team members' past experiences, understanding team dynamics, and creating dedicated spaces for discussing new concepts. She al…
Ignore those who say HOW you #work doesn't matter-- learn from a #fail to #improveskills!!
If someone says HOW you do something doesn’t matter as much as WHAT you do, or did… don’t believe them. That's old thinking, and it's not true.
They may not want the encyclopedic version of how you did your job and achieved the goal, but HOW you work is really important, and successes and failures—often especially the failures—inform whether HOW we’re working should remain the same, or… change.
Check out Episode 12!!!
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Ask Chris…
Stress isn't always bad, but when it's bad it's BAD... #stressrelief #business #leadership
Stress isn’t always BAD. It can be one of the biggest and most uplifting motivators we know—inspiring us, generating happiness, giving us things to look forward to; it’s not always bad.
But bad stress… stress at work… when the world often feels stressful… too much of that is… bad.
Check out Episode 11 "Ugh! I Yelled At Work!!!"
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Ask Christa! Business Questions, Straight Answers, Real Impact
© 2025 Christa Dhimo in partne…
How we can feel stronger at work? Season 2 preview! #business #smallbusiness #workplaceculture
How should we approach introducing a new idea when we work within a rigid team? How should be best frame an issue so a team member with an unchecked temper doesn’t become defensive-- AGAIN? How do we stick up for ourselves when our boss interrupts us in front of our team?
These are the kinds of questions I'm getting as I setup Season 2, and they are REAL and they are COMPLEX and they are COMMON.
The first place to start: how we can know ourselves better in a work situa…
Ask Christa! What if You Consider Yourself First (in Business)? Season 1 Wrap & Season 2 Preview
Summary
In this episode, Christa Dhimo wraps up the first season of her podcast by emphasizing the importance of self-awareness in navigating business challenges and workplace issues. She discusses how understanding our own needs and concerns can enhance our ability to influence, negotiate effectively, and handle conflict management more productively. The conversation reviews the basics of negotiation and conflict management skills while reinforcing that it starts with each of us individ…
It's time to REFRAME what failure at work means in a #business
Success and failure aren't opposing, binary outcomes: they are part of a spectrum. Focus on achievement-- there will be many times we fail and succeed while we strive for meeting or exceeding our work goals. If we get weighed down by the failures, we miss out on what it takes to make things better.
And, there are far too many shapes and sizes of success and failure, especially as they mean different things in different contexts and cultures.
Check out Episode 12!
Fear of a #fail limits the best things about #humanity: curiousity, critical thinking, innovation...
The fear of failure often shuts down a lot—or perhaps all of—the best part of being human: How to be curious. How to try something new. How to extend ourselves and be more innovative, stretch out more, grow. How to solve problems in a more efficient way.
In addition, the failure that can teach us soooo much usually hurts us way more on the inside than on the outside. It can crush our confidence, feel harmful, even "soul crushing."
But learning through failures make…
Workplace Stress Can Lead to Yelling-- Get #stressrelief quickly!!
When I think of what happens when people are consistently and continually living in a high stress zone—and we see leaders do that when they lose control of their temper, they lose perspective, they lose a feeling of stability—of being themselves… it takes just one click to send them to the red zone.
Just. One. Click.
Check out Episode 11 where a listener asks, "I yelled at work... I'm ashamed... what do I do?"
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Ask Christa!…
If you're afraid to #fail, you may not find #joy or #growth opps at work #business #growthmindset
We want to achieve SUCCESS!!! So we focus on the end goal and get it done by any means possible, restricting our better sides, stressing out, feeling bad… even though the end result is… GOOD?
Yup. Yup. that’s what we do. And we’ve been doing this as a society for… forever, but there will be plenty of successes and failures as you work toward a goal—what becomes very apparent is that with every success and failure along the way while working toward a goal, you have a chance to learn H…
Ask Christa! What if Failure Didn't Exist in the Business World?
Summary
In this episode of Ask Christa, Christa Dhimo explores the concept of failure in the workplace, emphasizing that it is crucial to focus on learning and achieving goals rather than being weighed down by the fear of failure, and the importance of reframing our understanding of failure and success. She discusses how perceptions of success and failure can impact performance, and how by changing our perspective on failure, we can foster a more positive workplace environment that encour…
SMART Goals Ain't Bad! (But Bad Goals Are The WORST!) #goals #business #performance
There are various frameworks and cheatsheets in the business world, but few have stood the test of time (and the test of massively dysfunctional companies!) like SMART Goals. I'm a bit of a contrarian by nature-- not a nay-sayer, but more a healthy skeptic: I'm not interested in any fads or popular insights unless they are solid, preferably backed by some measure of evidence, and EASY / ADOPTABLE. I'm not up for doing work for the sake of work, and I definitely DO NOT want to …
No #strategy ? That means No Direction (and you're not crazy...) #business #smallbusiness #goals
Companies CAN survive on the momentum of an idea or one goal and without a strategy, for a little while, but soon they will run out of runway. They simply don’t have a roadmap that provides the path forward, including what remains tight for structure or loose for flexibility, and how the whole organization made up of several different employees and functions will work together to meet or exceed organizational goals.
That’s not a sustainable model, so don’t be alarmed, but also know …
My Experience w/Work Stress-- Inexperienced Investors! #stressrelief #leadership #work #business #
I remember dealing with a super stressed out leadership team, and we were all trying to manage a super stressed out investor team—the single and only investor in the company (bad idea).
There were stressed out people all around, all the time. And it just kept escalating and escalating and escalating.It was an impossible environment. And, a belittling environment, too.
Seasoned leaders were always stressed out, and it affected our productivity.
Check out Episode 11 whe…