Change the World

Admiral McRaven's top 10 tips for students to change the world. This is excellent and applies to all of us, at home, personally and in business. Watch his speech to see for yourself.

1. Make your bed every day - making your bed everyday into a profession. The wisdom of a a simple act.

2. Everyone must paddle. You can't change the world alone.

3. Measure a person by the size of their heart not the size of their flippers.

4. Get over being a sugar cookie and continue to pursue your goals with vigour.

5. Don't be afraid of the circuses, there's no such thing as failure only feedback. 

6. Sometimes you have to slide down the rope head first. Risk doing something different.

7. Don't back down from the sharks, confront your fears.

8. You must be your very best at the darkest moments under the keel.

9. Start singing when your up to your neck in mud, one person is all it takes to give hope.

10. Don't ever ring the bell.

So having listened to Admiral McRaven what little tasks to you need to complete daily to help along the way with the big tasks? How well does your team function, do they all have a paddle? How do you measure other people? How determined are you to pursue your goals? How do you react when the going gets tough? Have you the strength and courage to do something different? When the sharks are circling how do you control your fear? Where do you find your inner strength at the darkest moments? How do you get into a positive place when the negative wants to overwhelm you? Will you ever ring that bell? 

As Winston Said, 'Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail'

In my adult career prior to Business Coaching, I have only known the experience of having a plan and in a paradoxical twist understood fully that no plan survives contact with the enemy. In today's business context that certainly relates to the customer; 'no plan survives contact with the customer'.  That said without  plan you'll be running blind, reactive and unsure where you're going. With a plan and more importantly an 'end state' or 'intent' you achieve focused drive with knowledge of what you are doing and why. Planning focuses the mind and helps maintain discipline.

Here's my top tips on why planning forms a crucial element to getting started in business and remaining on course throughout.

1. The 'higher commander's intent'. When you first experienced that entrepreneurial drive to break away from a job and become your own boss; the business owner, you had a vision. That vision was the embryonic view of the future of your business. Knowing where you wanted to go the next question how you were going to get there, and communicating that journey to your team, bank manager or customers. Articulating the vision and forming the plan gives the focus and impetus to follow a course of action towards the success. The intent or the bosses intent is a written plan which tunes all parties into activities and action with a focus on achieving the intent.
2. By virtue of having a written plan you will have a series of milestones leading to the intent, to the vision. Essentially being able to chip away every day at the milestones will really highlight the progress step by step. A record of the journey and progress.
3. Focus on purpose. The actual process of writing and articulating your business plan will ensure you remain focused on the fundamentals, the lifeblood of the business. 

• The financial targets.
• Identify and focus on the target market with clear market research.
• Remain clear on the service or product for the customers. Details on the various aspects of customer engagement, managing their expectations.
• What is the marketing strategy, just how you are going to create the customer base.
• What the competition are doing.
4.  What if? A detailed business plan will enable strategies to be formulated taking into account various outcomes based on cause and effect. Having identified various potential outcomes will offer a series of solution and planning decisions to be made on the most probable course of action and have contingency in place. This increases the likelihood of achieving certain results and what actions need to be taken. 
5. The business plan forms the narrative for the cashflow forecast (finances in general), telling the story in numbers and supporting in words, it is afterall all about the numbers. A plan will also highlight the probability of success, show potentially when the return on investment will occur and what your targets are.  

Here's the important paradox in having any plan, they change. Having gone through the planning process will give you a great resilience and active response to the plan changing. Essentially you'll have a course of action in mind, likely to have worked through the potential of change and have contingency, being prepared. Arguably having the intent, the medium and long term vision in mind will allow you, the team and those who are invested in the business plan the dexterity to apply themselves in a manner to keep the end in sight.

Starting and running a business requires vision, a purpose and belief that you can succeed. Having a written plan with the vision in mind will increase the likelihood of success. See also my previous bloggs on why planning is so important. 

Be Militant About Your Time

Just a short rant about why we don't get more disciplined when it comes to mastering our time as Business Owners. In my travels and discussions with business owners I always seem to hear 'I don't have the time', 'there's not enough hours in the day', 'I haven't had a day off in months'. Additionally its not unusual to hear stories recounted of holidays which have been plagued with calls from the business on a daily basis, or frankly I haven't been able to take a holiday in years.

What was the purpose of entering into business on your own; a lifestyle choice most likely. Wanted to be my own boss, decide when and what hours I work! I bet for many that's a far off and distant dream now! Well folks you need to get some self discipline, you need to get militant about your time. In business time is after all money!

Here's a notion....there's no such thing as time management, there is only SELF MANAGEMENT. That's right you can manage the time you have with simple self discipline. So here's a few tips to get you started on time mastery:

1. Prior preparation prevents a poor performance, plan in advance, plan tomorrow today. Be clear in what you are to achieve the next day.
2. Urgency versus important, here's the thing, if you deal with all the important issues and task you'll avoid urgent stuff cropping up!
3. It goes without saying use GOALs to gain razor like focus and drive.
4. Have a default diary, scheduled your activity.
5. Get organised.
6. Increase you productivity by identifying when your business prime time is and when you are at your most productive.
7. Delegate, delegate, delegate!
8. Remember timings are critical not flexible........how do you feel when staff are late or you are late for a client!
9. Get systems in your business.
10. Say NO, don't allow unnecessary meeting to waste time (take the chairs out of a meeting room and see what happens), avoid getting caught in trivia.

Remember ultimately be militant about having your time wasted, get self determination, be tuff on those who undervalue your time and be tough on yourself!

If you are really ready to get productive in your business then join me on Wed, Feb 26, 2014 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM GMT for a webinar on Time Mastery follow this link: 

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3826703242211939329

In this short video Brian Tracy talks of some great strategies some of which I have touched on:

Carrot, Egg or Coffee Bean

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.  She didn't know how she was going to make it and how she wanted to give up.  She was tired of fighting and struggling.  It seemed that as one problem was resolved, a new one arose.  Her mother took her to the kitchen.  She filled three pots with water.  In the first, she dropped a handful of carrots, in the second she a few eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.  In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners.  She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.  She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.  Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.  Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," the daughter replied.  The mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.  The daughter did and noted that they got soft.  Mother then asked her to take an egg and break it.

After pulling off the shell, daughter observed the hard-boiled egg.  Finally, Mother asked her to sip the coffee.  The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma.  The daughter then asked.  "What's the point, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity…the boiling water…but each reacted differently.  The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting.  However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.  The egg had been fragile.  Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior.  But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.  The ground coffee beans were unique, however.  After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.  "Which are you?" she asked her daughter.  "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?  Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"  Think of this: Which am I?  Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?  Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat?  Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a break-up, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff?  Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean?  The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain.  When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.  If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.  When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?  How do you handle adversity?

So, which are you…a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

Some people make the future; most wait for the future to make them.

And that's worth thinking about…

Get Moving, Even When Others Fall Behind

It’s often far easier to rest where you are than to push yourself to the next level.  But complacency leads to mediocrity…which almost always leads to disaster.  So, if this is true, how can you keep yourself responsive, resourceful, and recharged in this competitive business environment?

There are seven tactics that when implemented and sustained, will make a difference:

1.            Practice self-discipline versus self-indulgence.  Self-indulgence is thinking about how you feel at a given moment, then deciding what action, if any, to take and worrying about the consequences later.  Self-discipline is thinking first about the consequences, then taking appropriate action, and feeling great about your decision.

See it this way:

§  self-discipline = think consequences 

§  take action 

§  feel great 

§  self-indulgence = think feelings 

§  take action 

§  suffer consequences

2.            Remember the difference you make in people’s lives.  The real measure of your success is the difference that you’re making in the lives of others.  By positioning and promoting yourself as someone who can make a difference, you will reach more people.

3.            Avoid negative self-talk.  Resist the temptation to tell yourself all the things you’re doing wrong and all the things you need to improve on.  Remember Willie Nelson’s great tune, “Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative, and Don’t Mess with Mr. In Between.”

4.            Listen to one motivational or inspirational message each week.  Without recharging yourself, it’s impossible to charge others.  Whether this message comes from a religious affiliation or simply from motivational tapes or messages, (like Excellence magazine) it is vital to realize that by renewing yourself, only then can you renew others.

5.            Read books by and for successful people.  It is said that the average sales person reads only one book each year.  That’s why they’re average.  The importance of reading is that it not only develops your logic and understanding, but it also develops your verbal skills and gives you exposure to new ideas that you can use to build your business and your relationships.

6.            Focus on your long-term vision versus the short-term circumstances. Take the time to review your goals weekly so that you’re focused on the long-term.  Remember, if you’re focused on creating the future, you won’t spend time mourning the past.

7.            Manage yourself wisely.  Recharge and renew yourself and then put in enough effort to get where you want to be, not just enough to justify where you are now.

Have great Christmas and Awesome 2014

As always at this time of year we now begin to reflect on the past 12 months, what changes have we made, how much did we achieved or didn't achieve and where we might go next year. We'll make New Years Resolutions, 'just so we can start the year on a high! Then a couple of weeks later we'll be convinced it wasn't really important, didn't really matter and get back to REALITY!

NOT THIS CALL SIGN.........as we used to say in the Army. I have had the most Awesome 2013, with significant change and now I'm set on achieving even greater success in my life. I have a plan, focus, I know what I must achieve, better still I know how I'm going to achieve it.

Can you say the same?

Take control of your destiny, make 2014 your most prosperous year with clear focus, drive and motivation towards your dreams and aspirations. Stop self doubting, stop listening to those who support you with the condition of a BUT! Believe in yourself, know what you want to achieve, know where you want to go, what you want to do, what you want to share. Then go and do it.

Have a truly awesome Christmas and your most prosperous New Year EVER!

Critical Non-Essentials - Make difference to your Customers at Christmas

Critical Non-Essentials.  Principles

You need to know your talents – and lack of them.

You have to know your stuff if you want to succeed.   But being technically competent in the core part of your business is not the be-all-and-end-all.   There are other things even more important if you want to build a successful, profitable enterprise.  Your experience and training does not always reward you for the things that are useful in the real business world.   Sometimes it even encourages behaviour that will be detrimental to your future business.

People use the environment to make value judgments about the character and talents of the people in that environment.  For good or bad, we do use the personal appearance of others to make judgments about their character and value.  Do not expect your customers to value the same things that you and your peers value.  The way you appear to do something is often more important than what you do.

Concerning what you do:

·        Logic – what people think is powerful

·        Emotion – what people feel is far more powerful still!!

·        People don’t always value technical excellence…sometimes they just tolerate it.

Introducing the CNE’s

Customers judge your expertise in areas they do not understand by your expertise in areas which they do.

When you pay attention to detail in the very visible, non-technical part of your business, clients will tend to judge your core product or service as also having the same level of quality control.   So these little things that are quite inessential for doing your job (and which don’t impress your peers at all) nevertheless seem to play a great part in persuading customers that you and your people are good at what you do.

So CNE’s are not really non-essentials at all.   In fact they are highly critical to any business.

That said…because they seem to be so unimportant it is often hard to find the time to systemize them…it’s far easier to justify the time to develop systems so that the main areas of your business are taken care of predictably.

Super CNE’s

·        They persuade uninvolved third parties to say nice things about your business.

·        Word of mouth is a powerful, speedy and cost effective way of marketing your business.

·        People value relationships above everything else.

·        I need to understand the power of the CNE’s to effortlessly do ‘good’ in my business.

How To Create CNE’s

Step 1:   Choose an area that will convince customers that you’re good at your core business.

e.g.   an electrician who creates a system for cleaning up after himself so that the work area is absolutely spotless, i.e.

•             A detailed description of the method

•             A checklist

•             A system for reporting

•             A small clean-up box with cloths, cleaning fluids, small vacuum, rubber gloves etc

e.g.   a dentist who has immaculately clean walls, floors and carpets etc doesn’t have to worry about posting impersonal notices about how they sterilize the instruments

e.g.   a dental laboratory that presents caps with care to a dentist will have find that the dentists are far less likely to regard the quality of the cap suspiciously

e.g.   a bank that sends out a statement that’s plain, easy to read and human is far more likely to keep customers happy than one that looks like it’s from an automatic blood-scanning machine & which is full of cold, impersonal words

No matter how good you say you are. It often takes a well-designed CNE to convince people that what you say is true.

Step 2:   Make sure everyone in your work team understands the power of the CNE.

The way to  persuade people to be vigilant and tireless in their creation & maintenance of CNE’s is to educate them to the real importance of the seemingly non-essentials.

You must show your people that it’s in their best interests to impress your customers…and then that CNE’s really WOW customers.

Step 3:   Make a system to ensure that the task is always completed flawlessly.

Design simple, routine systems to do your CNE’s  the same way every time – without a lot of effort or brainpower (which would be silly).

Systems = consistency

Some effort to set them up but once perfected they’ll take little effort or thought.

The outcome is…simple systems that make a large impact on the customers and, after initial development, require relatively little effort.

e.g.   Washrooms in a supermarket that are always immaculate

•             Manual for the cleaners

•             Training for the cleaners

•             Card showing when due, cleaned

•             Notices urging customers to report unsatisfactory state

•             Periodic supervisor checks

•             Weekly check of all cards

You & your team will be rewarded each time a CNE impresses a customer…and once the team realise the importance…your standards will rise.

Six Insights Into CNE’s

Well constructed CNE’s take on a life of their own – complex tasks will happen automatically.

They work behind the scenes & s sometimes it’s hard to spot their immediate benefits.

Insight 1:   CNE’s will work with your team

Insight 2:   CNE’s will work with your suppliers. Concentrate on the little things in business & the big things will look after themselves.

Insight 3:   CNE’s are very efficient. They offer a far greater return on your investment of time & effort than most other things in your business. Work today while you have the time & energy in order to make things easier for you in the future when you don’t. Make sure that any effort you expend has an effect beyond the effort involved.

Insight 4:   CNE’s bring out the best in people.  A good CNE has a positive effect on everyone.

Insight 5:   You can create situations where other people’s CNE’s work for you.

e.g.   Paddi’s gardener goes the extra mile to keep his gardens immaculate because he’s allowed him to place a plaque advertising his business on the garden wall, i.e. it’s in his best interests to keep Paddi’s garden looking amazing.

Insight 6:   CNE’s need celebrations.

e.g. including the building cleaner in the bonus scheme & displaying her photo along with he other team members.

The Birth Of The Super CNE’s

Systemize the process of delighting your customers.

Everyone likes to spin a good ditty – so why not create one for your customers to tell about your business?

e.g.   Tea Set & Tea Ceremony vs. the X-Ray Machine.

No-one ever told a story about the excellent X-Ray machine.

Over the years the Tea Sets have returned many times the investment but the X-Ray machine has barely broken even.

e.g.  The 4 Door, V8 Cappuccino Machine.

CNE’s versus Super CNE’s

CNE’s

•             are the little household tasks that give people reasons to believe in your business, particularly the parts they don’t understand.

•             In the background somewhat.

•             Important but not exciting.

•             Stop you getting bad press.

•             Show you’re competent.

Super- CNE’s

•             Are CNE’s taken to a sensational degree so that everyone remembers and talks about them.

•             Get you good press.

•             Provide the WOW that gives people a good ditty to spin.

•             Provide the dazzle.

More About Super-CNE’s

What sets one business apart from another is often more to do with a product’s presentation than its actual quality.

Super-CNE’s get you talked about – Lead Generation.

CNE’s get you the customer - Conversion Rate.

Some CNE’s will also increase Number Of Transactions, Average ££ Sale & Margins.

Understand The Dialogue Between Customers.

A – Tells Super-CNE .

B – Yeah but is he good at his job?

A – Tells CNE stories which have convinced them that you are.

Super- CNE’s Are A PR Boon

How To Create Super-CNE’s

Step 1:   Pick something you’ll enjoy.

Step 2:   Choose something distant (but not too distant) from the core of your business.

Step 3:  Build on CNE’s that are extremely visible.

Step 4:  Pick areas of customer concerns to .

Step 5:  Take your Super-CNE’s to the extreme.

Step 6:  Make sure your Super-CNE’s appear difficult – but really aren’t.