We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marie Mott. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marie below.

Marie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Last fall, I had the excellent opportunity to apply to the Spring Harvard Emerging Leaders Class. Several Harvard alums kept encouraging me because of my community work. I felt I wasn’t worthy of such a prestigious program for some time. Going from Chattanooga to Harvard seemed like an impossible jump. I finally caved and applied the same week I did TEDx Chattanooga. A week and a half later, I received an email and was accepted. Throughout my journey, I have been reminded that no risk will bring you no reward. If what you are considering intimidates you, you are most likely looking at a next-level opportunity. Trust that doors meant for you will present themselves when ready, then walk through them.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

Inspirational Speaking and sharing my thoughts with the community came from being a community activist. I built a tribe by having tough conversations about what was happening in the community and keeping people informed. Most motivational speakers leave you feeling good until you face the following problem. My goal is to inspire you to bring forth your best ideas and apply them. Fear of failure, status quo, and resistance to change will all be stumbling blocks on the pathway to success. My job is to help you reframe a problem as an opportunity, refine the test to the implementation stage, and encourage continuous improvement.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

1) Communicate often but briefly. In Scrum Meetings, daily standups are a great way to assess team health, make connections, identify problems and hold the team accountable. Questions to ask:

How do you feel today?

What did you do since yesterday?

What will you do today?

Is anything blocking your progress?

2) Lean into strengths. Identifying the strengths of your team members is highly effective in knowing how to empower your people and engage them. Who on your team is good at executing? Influences others? Building relationships? Developing a strategy?

3) Reframe failure. Making mistakes, starting over, and adapting to change are all a part of the path toward success. Create an environment where everyone can be open to pivoting. It’s ok to fail, just don’t get stuck there.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Start with Why – Simon Sinek

Change – John Kotter

Contagious: Why Things Catch On – Jonah Berger

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/4two3marie/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/4two3marie
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-mott/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/4two3marie
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIkTdvdkXU9YIcDRQRZrPA

Image Credits
@no.89photography @our_ampersand_photo