Business Coaching to Help You Grow Your Business and Achieve Your Personal Best!

Tag: Goals

It’s Not About Change…

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It’s about adapting to change.

Change is the norm. Always has been. Covid-19 has been a big change for sure and it’s effects are likely to continue for some time to come. So, the key is adapting and doing our best to adapt well for the long term. Here are a few key points for adapting to change. 

The Three P’s

Be Positive – As much as possible, keep it optimistic. Our tendency is to initially fear the sky is falling but that rarely happens. Think about worst case and be prepared as best you can but hope for the best.

“Optimism, when applied to your life, develops strength and peace within you.”

– Norman Vincent Peale

Be proactive – Sudden change will give rise to fear and put us in a reactive mode, i.e. fight or flight. Self-directed change or change we prepare for allows us to respond in a more logical manner for better results. Develop contingency plans and robust systems so when the need arises, you are ready to go.

“It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses, we must plant more roses.

– George Eliot

Be Purposeful – Set your goals, both short term and long term, based on your core values. Doing so allows you to go after them and move with purpose. That purpose gets you out of bed in the morning, it helps you dispel any doubts, and it helps you to be ready for any storm that may come.

“Occupy your thoughts with purpose and you will be so busy pursuing a meaningful future there will be no time for doubt, chaos and disappointment.

– Carlos Wallace

Do your best to be positive, proactive and purposeful and you will weather the storm.

Let me know…how are you handling the change?

Rock on!

Batten down the hatches…

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shipstorm
Batten down the hatches!

Weathering the storm is the norm right now.  Battening down the hatches is necessary to help ships keep water out and stay afloat in stormy waters.  In days long gone, the key elements “to batten” include the wooden grates over the hatches in the ships deck, the tarps thrown over the hatches, and furring strips nailed around the edges or ropes to hold the tarps in place.

Four key business elements that help batten down the hatches during troubled times include:

  1. Map out your marketing strategy – having this in place and effective implementation are critical always but especially during the storm.  Keeping your marketing active versus cost cutting approaches makes all the difference between businesses that survive and those that thrive.
  2. Diversify your customer base and service offerings – As a part of 1. above, diversity helps to keep your business off the revenue rollercoaster through tough times as well as any usual seasonal effects.
  3. Plan worst case…sound strategic planning includes what if worst case scenarios most of which won’t ever happen.  But if they did, you are more likely to have a contingency plan ready to go and even if you don’t have just the right plan, working through scenarios is good practice and helps to ensure you and your team can meet the challenge when the need arises.
  4. Set aside a rainy day fund – Every cent counts and even a small rainy day fund sets the right tone for your team from core values to daily cash flow management.

“If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.”
Benjamin Franklin

If you didn’t have these four key business elements in place before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, you might be feeling the pain.  If so, triage your business and get through as best you can.  When you get a moment and catch your breath, schedule a time for you and your team to take a look at the four key elements above so when the next storm comes, you can batten down the hatches!

Motivation

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IT'S A CHOICE!
IT’S A CHOICE!

“Motivation is simple.  You eliminate those who are not motivated.”
                                                – Lou Holtz

It’s called…
Self-motivation
Real, honest, practical, necessary
Personal accountability
Tough love

What does it mean to you?

When People Miss the Mark…

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Lift people up!
Lift people up!

When people miss the mark, screw up, under perform or just seem to not get it, it’s good to keep in mind:

They may be looking at a different target – My idea of “clean” is probably not the same as your idea of “clean.”

It may be the system – There may be things outside of their control that introduces variation in results, i.e. change in wind speed, different equipment, poor communication…

It could be the consequences – Very often the best employees get “stuck” doing what no one else will and their reward for doing their best is actually a punishment.

Solutions?

Start at home first – It’s our job as leaders to do everything we can to help them do the best job they can.  Make sure you are doing that and…

  • Get on the same page
  • Improve the system
  • Focus on and reward the right behaviors
  • Be a people builder!

Recognize Your Progress

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strivebuddhaprog·ress

noun

1.  a movement toward a goal or to a further or higher stage.

positive change…an attitude…a vision…a change of pace…one more mile…the next level…even the smallest of steps

with heart

Success starts with the one…

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Starfish1aDid a presentation yesterday afternoon…65 staff and managers…they had a long morning covering their business agenda, just finished lunch, small room,  too warm, a captive audience for the most part…

Topic was emotional intelligence and personal accountability…it was looking to be a tough afternoon…and it was…but we pressed on.  Had good interaction, a few laughs, a few light bulbs during the exercises…it was good.

There was one that did not say much…the quiet one…but I could tell he was listening…he did the exercises, wrote while others around him laughed off theirs…he wrote carefully…kept it to himself.

Near the end, volunteers around the room shared their takeaways for self-improvement, for change…they were good…lose weight, stop smoking, be kind, help others…all good things, challenging, admirable.

I risked it…asked him to share…he looked down as he spoke…the room went quiet as he courageously admitted many faults….seeing himself being distant, angry, frustrated, impatient, the yelling and screaming, so hard to be home, so much sadness…but owning his behavior, his part in their pain…his plan to be a better man…to let go his anger, be more attentative, be more patient, respectful, bring his family to a better place…all with a deep sincerity you could feel in your heart…

Silence…I looked up…tears all around the room…they hadn’t known…then the applause…for the one.

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.”
– Norman Vincent Peale

How to Be In the Top 3 Percent!

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We all want to be good, better, great…the top tier!  The question is, “How do we get there?”  Work hard, work smart and be passionate about what we do are obvious answers.  These things will help us be good and better but how do we get to great…the top 3 percent?  Sometimes, it’s the systems and tools we use, or don’t use, that make the difference.   Sometimes, it’s the little things.  The difference between top performers and average performers is often only a fraction more, a tiny bit…

Write Them Down!   It has been shown that people who write out their goals are more likely to achieve their goals and achieve them more frequently.  It’s estimated that 97% of people won’t write out their goals because they feel it won’t make a difference but 3% do.  Which group are you in?

Develop Your “Winning Edge Mentality”   The horse that wins the race by a nose wins ten times more prize money than the next horse….and it only had to win by a nose.  That little extra effort to learn something, to get a little more done before you leave the office, to make a difference in someone’s day can be all the difference between 1st place and everybody else.

Display Your Mantra!  Having the right mind set is immensely important but everyday stuff can get in the way.  Too many things to do, terrible events in the news, or maybe making a mistake can all put us in a negative state.  That negativity becomes the wrong path and a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Stay off that path by keeping your mantra, your go-to phrase for positive action; “I am a rock,” or “Run steady,” in front of you at all times.

Write these things down on a sticky note (sticky note magic!) and make several copies.  Include your goals, your mantra, and that one little extra thing to do today.  Place them on your bathroom mirror, next to your desk…everywhere.  Every time you see these sticky notes, recite your mantra, review your goals, and do that little bit extra that will put you in the right place!

Let me know what you think…how do you get to good, better, great?  Happy Holidays!

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