Archive for March, 2016

Mar 22 2016

PEOPLEPRENEURS

Peoplepreneurs

 

Regardless of your career, your career interests, your day-to-day pursuits, your life circumstances . . . regardless of how rich or poor you are, how much or little you are loved, or love, how educated or intuitive or salesy you are . . . regardless of whether you are a small business owner or manager or a government or corporate muckity-muck, and whether you’re a doctor, nurse, lawyer, accountant, grave-digger, tire-changer, astronaut, roofer, artist, teacher, or hamburger flipper:

You need to think like an entrepreneur.

 

CREATIVITY

You don’t need to BE an entrepreneur. In fact, most who think they are, probably are not.

Thinking like an entrepreneur translates to taking more reasonable risks.

It means recognizing the expertise you lack, accepting that, and then surrounding yourself with those who can bring those missing links to the table.

It means staying focused on making your ideas work, not on making money. As you get closer to making your ideas work, the money will simply come to you; it will appear seemingly out of nowhere. If you pursue money, your ideas will fail. This conclusion comes from a gazillion tons of experience. Need examples? Try me. Call the number below. No strings attached. I’m happy to share what I’ve learned the hard way.

cash in hand

Thinking like an entrepreneur is taking steps on your own behalf instead of waiting for opportunities to come to you.

Thinking like an entrepreneur requires endless testing of your ideas.

It holds out the expectation that you will fall all over yourself to delight (not just service) your every customer, and that you will constantly solicit the customer feedback you need to adjust, adapt, and adjust        again.

Does it matter if your “customer” is a patient or patient family, a client, someone paying you for a service or   a product, rich or poor, with three eyes or one, old or young? Of course not.

ignite passion

Entrepreneurs, true entrepreneurs, are passionate about everything they do, every day of the week. But they  are also realistic enough to recognize when their passion outstrips the ability to make their ideas work, they will not go down with the ship!

Is this walking a thin line? Not if it’s a reasonable and realistic line to start with (in other words, you’re not  “betting the farm” to get where you want to go). When something doesn’t work, you take away what you learned and start out in a new direction making the most of that experience.

Does that remind you of life? Well, how about that? So, how far away from thinking like an entrepreneur has your brain strayed?

Is it time to be a peoplepreneur?

 

# # #

hal@businessworks.US

STRATEGY/ CONTENT/ CONNECTION

Higher impact. Lower costs.

——————-

Business Development/ National-Awards/ Record Client Sales

Entrepreneurship & Expansion Coaching    931.854.0474

Go for your goals, thanks for your visit, God Bless You!

OPEN  MINDS  OPEN  DOORS

Make Today A Great Day For Someone!

 

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Mar 14 2016

DEAR BOSS

DEAR BOSS:

 

What can the matter be?

 

oh-dear-what-can-the-matter-be-

Gallup Research says odds are that your

employees may be costing you a

lot more than you think.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

How so?

 

Fewer than a third of employees , says Gallup, are “Actively Engaged” with their work! (Does that furrow your brow?)

And more than half are “Disengaged” from their work! One out of five is, in fact, Actively Disengaged! (Does that make you snort?)

If you think it’s not true, maybe it’s because some of your people are just good actors! (Does that make you applaud as the cash falls from your pockets?)

upsidedown coin shake

But guess what? YOU are the boss. YOU are responsible. You can delegate authority, but you canNOT delegate responsibility.

Bosses who try to “pass the buck” inevitably fail. Bosses, however, who accept full responsibility and who lead by leading instead of by telling, who make genuine ongoing efforts to create a bond with their employees are the ones who help ensure and foster active employee commitment and –in the process– help ensure and foster black ink on their organizations bottom line!

So where do you start?

 

CHOICE

 

You start with the decision to start. This is a typically easy and quick step. You either want to be a better leader or you don’t.

Assuming your screen-tapping fingers are still capable of the task, START with a WRITTEN-ON-PAPER-WITH-A-PEN goal of where you’d like to end up, and if your goal statement is ever to work, it MUST be:

Specific       Realistic      Flexible     Due-Dated

 

If you stick to working through this in any meaningful way and steer clear of attempting shortcuts, this is a typically hard and slow process. But don’t be discouraged, the harder you work at this, the better your odds for success.

Next, review your goal statement at least daily. Sometimes hourly is necessary. Change it as you open new doors, uncover new problems, discover new directions, meet new people, discover new techniques. Remember, a key criteria is flexibility . . . a sudden storm can quickly disrupt a leisurely canoe trip and force a change in direction. Unexpected removal of a roadblock can shorten and speed up a long drive. When you get this far, check out: HOW to make your goals work.

 

BUT

 

Believe it or not, don’t share your goals with anyone else who doesn’t also have written goals, or who isn’t working with you on a shared goal. Why? Many people are either consciously or unconsciously invested in seeing others around them who strive to succeed, become failures. Doubt this at your own peril.

dog eats homework

Assuming you’ve kept your homework out of the dog’s mouth and actually done what you’ve accepted as necessary, and are getting into the swing of real handwritten-on-paper goals that are flexible, realistic, specific and due-dated, and that you are constantly upgrading them, and carrying them with you all the time and reviewing them as often as you check your wristwatch or smartphone messages, you need to start teaching your people to do the same thing for themselves.

Start them out with a deeeeep breath!

THAT process is a good beginning. But it can only start if YOU start!

 

# # #

hal@businessworks.US

STRATEGY/ CONTENT/ CONNECTION

Higher impact. Lower costs.

——————-

Business Development/ National-Awards/ Record Client Sales

Entrepreneurship & Expansion Coaching    931.854.0474

Go for your goals, thanks for your visit, God Bless You!

OPEN  MINDS  OPEN  DOORS

Make Today A Great Day For Someone!

 

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Mar 05 2016

tempus fugit (time flies)!

“For though we slepe or wake, or

 

rome, or ryde, Ay fleeth the tyme.”

[c 1390 Chaucer Clerk’s Tale]time flies

“Time flyeth away without delay.”

[1639 J. Clarke Parœmiologia Anglo-Latina]

What? You thought today’s generation was the only victim of flying time?

Sure, technology overload has plunked us all into the fast lane, but time –if we are to give the ancient quotes above any credibility– has no reputation for being a gracious host.

If you’re shopping for a “time flies” clock,  click here. (Hey, you get  it all in these blogposts!) If you’re interested in what this has to do with your life and business right this very minute, click here.

     Okay, now that we’ve gotten rid of all the English Lit bookworm Chaucer freaks, all the clock-shoppers, and all the sleepless-in- entrepreneursville-work-all-day-and-party-all-night-immediate-gratification nut cases out there, let’s set up some semblance of a time safety-zone and discuss what’s going on with you and Old Man Time.

racing the clock

     First of all, I am of the school of thought that time can fly. But, aaah, it can also drag it’s butt through slow-motion replays, and the only thing that really matters is  H-O-W  we spend our time (i.e. What is the process of how you live and work? What is it that you do that consumes a typical hour or day? Or is nothing “typical”?

     Are you crossing enough paths? Every crossed path is a potential connection for productivity and happiness, if you choose for it to be. Making that happen takes focused attention.

     How hard is it for you to keep your attention focused? Even with those who claim ADD as a convenient diagnosis to avoid concentration, what works and what doesn’t? Surely there are varying degrees for all of us as to what can and does hold our attention. Average attention spans for citizens of industrialized nations continue to spiral downward.

     Regardless of rocketing technology and other causes, shorter attention spans mean that sales, marketing, educational, religious, political, financial, and entertainment-based presentations need to get to the point quicker.

     When someone asks for the time, and you answer by telling the person how to make a clock . . . remember that you do this at your own peril!

     People seeking to purchase are simply not as interested in product and service features, or company history, as you are. It may be long-standing tradition in your company or organization to tell people the story of how Grandpa Beefjerky launched the business “on a shoestring” and with just two horses in 1868. But nobody cares.

We live in a benefit-hungry world,

with no time to spare.

running over clocks

     Prospective customers, clients, and patients need to hear the answer to “What’s in it for me?” immediately. If that message is good enough to “ring a bell” they’ll likely be some attention span left to want to know more, and may possibly even get around to Grandpa Beefjerkey’s story.

     Most people are resentful of others using their time even when they think they have plenty of it. Listen to any doctor’s waiting room full of retired seniors.

Like gaining more employee compliance with workplace changes that are not imposed,  patience may be a virtue, but only when the choice to exercise it is yours.

     What are you doing right this minute to make the most of your next one? How do you keep yourself sharp? What can you do now –or in the morning–that will help you make more of your time, that will help you make more of a difference?

What do you need (really!) to get started? Then, hey . . . get started!

# # #

hal@businessworks.US

STRATEGY/ CONTENT/ CONNECTION

Higher impact. Lower costs.

——————-

Business Development/ National-Awards/ Record Client Sales

Entrepreneurship & Expansion Coaching    931.854.0474

Go for your goals, thanks for your visit, God Bless You!

OPEN  MINDS  OPEN  DOORS

Make Today A Great Day For Someone!

No responses yet

Mar 01 2016

The 5 Best Leadership Tools

YOUR MEMORY CAN KILL YOU!

memory

No, huh? Memory can kill? Of course it can!  STOP reading for a minute and recall your biggest life upset… go ahead, but just for a minute. That’s all you need to get the idea.

The more we dwell on past events and behaviors and thoughts, the deeper we dig into the world of neurosis, and the sicker emotionally and physically that we make ourselves.

Memories serve a couple of valuable purposes when they are used productively in the present moment.

  • Recalling something pleasant can actually soothe the neurological system.
  • Recalling a mistake can help us make a corrective adjustment to a current course of behavior or activity and help ensure greater odds for success going forward.

But when we get ourselves lost in our memory banks, even in the process of engaging positive past experiences, it’s as easy to slip out of the reality of the present moment as it is to take off a glove. The difference is that removing a glove has some conscious awareness attached. Focusing on a memory can easily suck us into a tunnel of no return.

You think this is not about you? Think again. All of us have an inherent instinct to recall past events, thoughts, actions, experiences a few times a day. Some of us are actually paid to do this and build careers around it: archaeologists, CPA s, historians, history teachers, researchers, scientists, therapists, and detectives all come to mind.

And doesn’t everyone fantasize about something that was once great and, conversely, about something that was once terrible?

So what do we do with all this awareness and how does it relate to entrepreneurial leadership?

What we need to do –to be maximally productive at work and in life– is to consciously use past memories as tools for enhancing present moments and for planning future events. And then STOP! When a memory goes beyond present-moment consciousness, it can cause accidents and illness. It’s just like worrying about the future! Both cause stress, actually: DIStress!

Okay, so now that we have that sitting on the table, what do we do to make our memories work for us instead of against us? And how can we help those we are responsible to for servicing with “leadership”?

  • Work harder at staying focused and more tuned in to the present moment as much as possible.
  • Keep our sights set on what is happening right now in front of us.

And your 5 best “Make Memories Work FOR You” Tools

1) Breathing Deeply (it need not be conspicuous!)

2) Exercising regularly (it need not be strenuous!)

3) Eating foods and food portions with genuine (vs. advertised) nutritional value

4) Sleeping enough to wake up feeling rested and alert

5) Anchoring your soul in a faith-based harbor!

 

Is that so hard? Well, if we choose for it to be hard, it certainly will be. But since all behavior is a choice, we can instead choose for it to be easy. Think like an entrepreneur about your SELF as well as about your ideas. Be innovative. Challenge. Rise to the occasion. These aren’t just guidelines for building businesses and professional practices. They’re guidelines for life!

Because without a solid foundation of being focused on the here-and-now present moment as much as possible, we will –like an abandoned enterprise– quickly become then-and-there.

# # #

hal@businessworks.US

STRATEGY/ CONTENT/ CONNECTION

Higher impact. Lower costs.

——————-

Business Development/ National-Awards/ Record Client Sales

Entrepreneurship & Expansion Coaching    931.854.0474

Go for your goals, thanks for your visit, God Bless You!

OPEN  MINDS  OPEN  DOORS

Make Today A Great Day For Someone!

 

No responses yet




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