Press Pause: Co-CEO Offers 3 Life Lessons For The New Year and Forever

Tania Luna, Co-CEO of LifeLabs Learning, suggests you pause regularly.

At 34, Tania Luna has already held 30 jobs. Now co-CEO at LifeLabs Learning, the author, who also co-founded Surprise Enterprises, attributes her resilience to a complicated life viewed with gratitude and surprise.

“At 34, Tania Luna has already held 30 jobs. Now co-CEO at @LifeLabsLearn, the author attributes her resilience to a complicated life. #Success”

Luna thought the Manhattan homeless shelter she and her family lived in during the early 90s was a hotel. They had arrived in New York when she was six years old from Ukraine seeking asylum after the devastating Chernobyl accident in 1986. She had already spent nine months in the hospital following the nuclear accident that devastated her hometown.

In her 2013 TED NewYork talk that has earned 1.8 million views, and been translated into 43 languages, Luna tells the story of how a penny she found on the floor of the homeless shelter made her feel richer than she ever has.

“In her 2013 @TED New York talk, Luna tells the story of how a penny she found on the floor of the homeless shelter made her feel richer than she ever has. #WomensStories”

In high school she worked for a video market research company after school hours and she interviewed teenagers in order to understand their views on brands and shopping habits.

She recalls a rigorous debate on toilet paper—whether people wanted it to roll over or under. After high school, Luna was working full time as she attended Hunter College. Luna graduated in 2008 and went immediately to work there as an adjunct.

“I thought I would be a linguist, but I was interested in curriculum design,” she says, as she taught a full load of six classes her first year. She taught at Hunter until 2014, creating side businesses and holding other jobs in addition to her teaching.

Her first start up was Surprise Industries, which she co-founded in 2008, as a venture that organized surprises for people.

“Her first start up was Surprise Industries, which she co-founded in 2008, as a #venture that organized surprises for people. #FemaleEntrepreneur”

““I was thinking about how sad it is that for some of life’s most useful skills, no one ever teaches us. So we unlock skills to connect people,” Luna says. ”

“I got intrigued by the psychology of surprise for individuals, couples and team building at companies,” Luna says. “It is also about how to design surprise.”

In 2014, Luna joined LifeLabs Learning as co-CEO and Employee# 1. According to the website, “We research the skills that make the biggest impact in the shortest time and share them with managers, executives, and teams at amazing companies.”

Luna says the company is a Life School for adults who need to keep learning and has grown from working with 10 companies in 2014 to 700 companies worldwide.

“I was thinking about how sad it is that for some of life’s most useful skills, no one ever teaches us. So we unlock skills to connect people and collaborate effectively,” Luna says.

The original vision of LifeLabs Learning co-CEO and co-founder LeeAnn Renninger was designing workshops for individuals. Quickly they learned that working within an organization could transform a workplace and “offer life skills to practice being a better human would help the organization and create learning environments,” Luna says.

Acknowledging that she comes from a family “prone to anxiety and depression,” Luna says she dealt with depression as a teenager and learned to actively change her outlook.

“Being positive for me was not a natural quality. But most of the things we do as people, if you do the habit often enough , it becomes who you are.” Luna adds, “Attitude is something you can change absolutely.” In her work with organizations, Luna says training managers can change the organization’s leadership and culture. They train leaders of all ages, but especially those who are new to leadership.

“What’s most exciting to our team is people really want to be there,” Luna says. What makes a good leader? Luna is very specific.

The best leaders can focus on understanding the behavioral units that separate average from great leaders. She explains that is “what do you do that is visible, measurable and concrete. These are behavioral units connected to specific actions.”

Number one lifeskill for the best leaders is to improve their question skills. “People who are most effective at leading, ask the most questions. They ask 10 questions in a 15-minute interview, and a variety of questions,” Luna says.

Being a good leader is not about passing information top down. “I’m trying to help you grow; it’s an opportunity for you to develop the problem solving skills,” Luna says. “There is also a feeling that this person cares about me and is curious.”

Luna says when people complain about their managers or leaders in an organization, they say they micro-manage and that is “soul-sucking, life-draining and soul-crushing.”

But when you interact with a leader who asks authentic questions, you have “an opportunity to collaborate and create. It is humanizing.”

A second attribute of a great leader is “they notice blur words,” Luna says, “or words that mean different things to different people. They can be words like ‘nice’ and ‘interesting.’” She adds, “Blur words have bias and result in miscommunication.”

Luna says eliminating blur words works well not only at work, but in your personal life. “I’m coming up on my 10-year anniversary with my husband. We moved in together on our second date. We went straight to specifics. It was unconventional and it cut through the noise. Getting de-blurred is one of the keys to a really happy relationship,” Luna says.

The third greatest lesson for a leader, Luna says, is to “develop a pause habit.”

Luna advises, “The biggest problem most of us get into is a lot of times we know the right thing to do but we don’t ask ourselves why am I doing this? The great leaders pause. So before you delegate or get defensive, it’s good to develop a pausing habit.”

So what does Luna advise in order to make 2020 a productive and successful leadership year?

From January to March, “focus on questions.” In April, May and June, “eliminate blur words.” Then in July through December, “move from micro pauses to macro pauses in order to reflect, see what you have learned.”

Luna adds, “If you look at how muscles build, we need to pause in order to get stronger and better.”

“Number one skill for the best leaders? Improve your question skills. “People who are most effective at leading, ask the most questions.” #LeadershipTools”

In other words, for a better 2020, press pause often.

“In other words, for a better #2020, press pause often. #TakeABreath”