Are You In The Know?

Coming out of the dark ages, we lived in the Agrarian Age where wealth was created from the land and, therefore, a few landholders had the power and wealth of the nation.  Battles were fought over land and the differing resources that the geography possessed, giving title deeds to the victor.

The Industrial Revolution changed this order. The era of capitalism was born with the creation of factories engaging workers through Adam Smith’s division of labour principles and the production of mass market goods, provided ever more cheaply through ever greater size of operations and the economies of scale employed.  This era started in the seventeenth century and culminated with massive industrial complexes such as Henry Ford’s car plants in Detroit.   

In the Industrial Age, the ability to attain capital, own and run factories by organising workers and machinery led to wealth for the individual.  There was a fundamental shift in financial power from the land to capital.   On a global scale this became the age where America industrial might showed itself and then latterly German engineering prowess and Japanese production efficiency rose to the fore.  Within all this there was the creation of industrial magnates, tycoons and a new rich.  It was also the birth of the middle classes.

In the latter half of the twentieth century we witnessed the birth of the Information Age which has allowed rapid global communications and networking to shape modern society.  Communications around the globe are now instantaneous through a multitude of channels with access to information on any subject only one click of a button away.

The providers of these channels and sources have prospered on an unprecedented scale benefitting from a global marketplace with seemingly no financial boundaries or constraints.

The Knowledge Age is now upon us and it has profound effects for business.  Once you have access to all the information you may need on any subject, instantaneously available at no cost, then what next?  Where’s the competitive advantage?

It lies, now, not in the information itself but how you know how to assimilate it, using one’s experiences, intellect and understanding to create added value to customers – and on a constant basis.  The Knowledge Era upon us is where ideas are paramount.  In this era, knowing how to use the relevant information in a digestible, implementable form and take it to market quickly is the key to success.  It has never been truer that it’s not what you know it’s what you do with what you know.   A good depth of knowledge, enables asking the right questions, to get the right decisions, to take the right actions and then – get the desired results.

In summary in the Knowledge Age a business owner needs to apply constant learning to their own development and seek out the best advice and ideas from knowledge rich sources of business.   In a competitive market those that choose to know more about their ever-changing marketplace and take Action will win.  

Compete on Value not Price

Discounts versus Profits

Do you have (or have you ever had) one of those salespeople who thinks that giving a discount is the easiest, quickest way to make a sale?  Of course, they may be right, but what about the profit (your profit) they’re giving away?

If your product has a profit margin of 30% and your salespeople give a 10% discount to make the sale, you’re losing a massive, one-third (33.333%) of the available profit!

During a seminar for the buyers of a large retail group with branches all over the country, an attendee shared the following tactic: “My job is easy.  I just let the salesperson make a full sales presentation.  I ask questions and listen to their explanations.  When they’re finished, I simply say, ‘I’d like to place an order with you, but your prices are too high...’ and I then simply sit there and enjoy myself, because the once-confident salesperson suddenly doesn’t know what to do or say next.  With much less conviction and enthusiasm, they may repeat the benefits and features of their products, but most of them get in to see me by giving me a lower price in the first place.  Whatever new price is offered, I usually respond by saying, ‘You’ll have to do better than that!’  And more often than not, they do…in fact, do better than that!  I get lower prices by just sitting there, enjoying the game!”  The buyer isn’t stupid.  But you don’t have to lose.

If you are selling, or have others selling for you, you must protect your price and your margins.  Teach your people not to hesitate or stutter when a buyer insists on a lower price.  Start negotiating!  Start using tactics to hold firm on your prices.  Sell value…perceived and real

Here’s Why:

Do you think it’s possible to work 50% less and earn the same income from selling?  You bet it is!  Here’s how:

Suppose your company sells pumps, with selling price of £10,000 per unit.  Assume that your net cost per pump is £7,000.  That means that the net profit on each pump would be £3,000.  If ten pumps are sold at the full price, the net profit for your company will be £30,000.  Compare this with again selling ten pumps, but this time at a discount of ten percent.  The total selling price for ten pumps is then £90,000.  The net cost for ten pumps remains at £70,000.  The net profit has decreased to only £20,000 compared to the original transaction £30,000 where no discount was given.

If your company continued to sell at ten percent discount, then you’d have to sell 15 pumps to achieve a net profit of £30,000.  Here’s how it looks:

Sales             Discount          Gross Sales                 Net cost                        Profit

10                    0%                 £100,000                         £70,000                       £30,000

10                  10%                    £90,000                         £70,000                       £20,000

15                  10%                  £135,000                       £105,000                       £30,000

What are the lessons to be learned from this example?

A ten percent discount means your company must sell 50% more units (15 instead of 10) to earn the same profit pounds.

A ten percent discount means someone has to work 50% harder to earn the company the same.

By not giving discounts, in essence the company can “work” 50% less and earn the same income.

In spite of this, you might still think, “But, if I don’t give discounts, I’ll lose sales!  It’s an industry norm to give them...everyone does.  If I don’t give discounts, they’ll go to the competition!”

And you may be right, of course.  You may lose a few deals if you don’t give discounts…but the good news is you can afford to…and still make the same or more profit.

The Power of Curiosity

Being Curious

Curiosity killed the cat, they say…but only after it had used up its nine lives.  Being inquisitive and interested in people, things, and events is an admirable characteristic, both because it increases your own learning and also because it’s infectious.  If you display curiosity, those around you will be more curious than they would otherwise have been.

This will not only empower you you'll gain greater understanding, stronger relationships and learning from your friends, employees, peers or fellow networkers. 

An open, enquiring mind is a pre-requisite for continuous learning and development.  The alternative, a closed mind, is a recipe for stagnation and for the rate of change to exceed the rate of learning.

If you’re not already the sort of person who displays curiosity, it’s possible for you to learn to become so.  How easy or difficult this will be depends on your starting point.  If you feel curious, interested, and inquisitive…but don’t exhibit those behaviours, it’s comparatively easy to adopt behaviours that will demonstrate your curiosity.  You could, for example, embrace a commitment to talk to people about what interests them, ask lots of questions, and demonstrate how interested you are in them.  By feeling interested you’re already halfway there and these behaviours should be quite easy to adopt.

If you don’t feel interested, it’s quite possible to feign interest.  Most people will discover that if they pretend to be interested then they start to feel interested (fake it till you make it).  Your outward, exhibited behaviour will affect your inner feelings…rather than the other way round.

Curiosity provides the springboard for learning and development.  Curious, inquisitive people tend to:

• ask lots of questions

• think out loud

• play devil’s advocate

• dig and delve to find out more

• formulate and reformulate “theories”

• have lots of ideas

• challenge conventional thinking

This is an admirable list.  The downside is that people who are curious will often flit, butterfly-like, from one interest to another and not sustain their enthusiasm for any one thing.  As a result they fail to see things through to a conclusion.  They are good starters, but poor finishers.  If this describes you, even just sometimes, you can correct this tendency by working to maintain your interest, continually checking to ensure that your people are completing the things they've started.

Consistent curiosity is vital…the lifeblood of continuous improvement.  All learning and development emanates from an insatiable curiosity.

And that’s worth thinking about…

Here Are 10 Things You Can Do to Foster a Culture of Innovation and Creativity…

1.       Live in the possibility.  Know that every problem has many possible solutions. Stand in the belief that you and your team can find a better way to do anything you put your minds to.  Practice CANI—Constant and Never-Ending Improvement.

2.       Always question what you do and why you do it.  All too often tasks and projects creep into our processes that aren't necessarily in keeping with our mission and purpose.  Make sure everything you do is in alignment and produces the results intended.

3.       Challenge long-held beliefs. Just because something's always been done a certain way doesn't mean that it's still the best way.  As Anthony D'Angelo said, 'Just because something is tradition doesn't make it right.'

4.       Don't accept the first solution right away.  There are many possible solutions to every problem.  Most people go with the first plausible one that comes up and they miss the value of thinking longer and finding more effective and elegant answers.

5.       Read. You can't learn less.  The more you know about something, the more you find that you DON'T know.  By adding to your knowledge base, you find more and more associations.  And making associations is where seemingly magical things happen.

6.       Have fun. Coming up with ideas on how to do things faster, easier, with fewer resources really is fun.  And things that are fun to do get done more often.  Schedule regular brainstorming sessions and practice green-light thinking.  Order pizza for lunch and focus on a problem or process and generate as many ideas as you can.

7.       Get around people in different industries.  By stepping out of your familiar territory, you open the door to new and different viewpoints you can use to your advantage.

8.       Challenge your team to look deeper.  When Henry Ford asked his engineers to design the V-8 engine, they said it couldn't be done.  He said it WILL be done—and eventually, they did it.

9.       Make sure you have adequate 'moodling' time—time to do nothing.  When we're constantly engaged in DOING things, we don't provide the fertile ground for ideas to take root.

10.   Charge your subconscious. Give your mind something to work on while you sleep.  Select a problem you want solved, a process you would like improved or a new product you would like to create before going to bed and then forget about it.  Tell yourself you want at least three elegant ideas by the next day and then expect to receive them. Trust that it works.

And that's worth thinking about…

UPGRADE COLD LEADS TO REFERRAL STATUS

The primary reason people do business with you is they feel a high level of trust.  They trust you as a person, they trust your company, your product/service, and your price/value package.  This is why referred leads will consistently convert to clients 80%-to-100% of the time, while yellow page, or non-referred leads convert, at best, 20% of the time.  There’s a significant transferal of trust because of the mutual association with the referring person.  The idea here is to cause cold-calls to become warmer.

Creating a culture of referrals in your company. 

The underlying purpose would clearly be to accelerate the trust level your prospective clients/customers feel toward you and your company.  Here’s an idea you might use to achieve that.  Unfortunately, few companies ask new prospects "how did you hear about us?"  In doing so, it would help to track the return on investment of their marketing/advertising budget.  Even though most companies haven’t embraced this concept, I’d suggest you adjust your approach a degree or two further, and focus on gathering a variety of information that will enable you to connect the prospect to an existing, satisfied client.  Consider creating a script/process to gather additional information, such as:

·       where do they work, and have you done any work with other people at that firm

·       what do they do, and what other lawyers/teachers/insurance people, etc. have you worked with

·       where do they live and who else in that neighborhood, city, region, geography, or country have you done business with

Always be thinking about creating networks of inclusion.  Find a way to connect yourself to your prospect through a mutual association.  You’ll find trust levels soaring and sales closing faster and at a greater rate.

The Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow developed the Hierarchy of Needs model in 1940-50s USA, and the Hierarchy of

Needs theory remains valid today for understanding human motivation, management training, and personal development. Indeed, Maslow's ideas surrounding the Hierarchy of Needs concerning the responsibility of employers to provide a workplace environment that encourages and enables employees to fulfil their own unique potential (self-actualization) are today more relevant than ever. Abraham Maslow's book Motivation and Personality, published in 1954 (second edition 1970) introduced the Hierarchy of Needs, and Maslow extended his ideas in other work, notably his later book Toward A Psychology Of Being, a significant and relevant commentary, which has been revised in recent times by Richard Lowry, who is in his own right a leading academic in the field of motivational psychology.
Abraham Maslow was born in New York in 1908 and died in 1970, although various publications appear in Maslow's name in later years. Maslow's PhD in psychology in 1934 at the University of Wisconsin formed the basis of his motivational research, initially studying rhesus monkeys. Maslow later moved to New York's Brooklyn College.
The Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs five-stage model below (structure and terminology - not the precise pyramid diagram itself) is clearly and directly attributable to Maslow; later versions of the theory with added motivational stages are not so clearly attributable to Maslow. These extended models have instead been inferred by others from Maslow's work. Specifically Maslow refers to the needs Cognitive, Aesthetic and Transcendence (subsequently shown as distinct needs levels in some interpretations of his theory) as additional aspects of motivation, but not as distinct levels in the Hierarchy of Needs.
Where Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is shown with more than five levels these models have been extended through interpretation of Maslow's work by other people. These augmented models and diagrams are shown as the adapted seven and eight-stage Hierarchy of Needs pyramid diagrams and models below.
There have been very many interpretations of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in the form of pyramid diagrams. The diagrams on this page are my own interpretations and are not offered as Maslow's original work. Interestingly in Maslow's book Motivation and Personality, which first introduced the Hierarchy of Needs, there is not a pyramid to be seen.
Free Hierarchy of Needs diagrams in pdf and doc formats similar to the image below are available from this page.

click to enlarge

(N.B. The word Actualization/Actualisation can be spelt either way. Z is preferred in American English. S is preferred in UK English. Both forms are used in this page to enable keyword searching for either spelling via search engines.)

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Each of us is motivated by needs. Our most basic needs are inborn, having evolved over tens of thousands of years. Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs helps to explain how these needs motivate us all.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs states that we must satisfy each need in turn, starting with the first, which deals with the most obvious needs for survival itself.
Only when the lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied are we concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal development.
Conversely, if the things that satisfy our lower order needs are swept away, we are no longer concerned about the maintenance of our higher order needs.
Maslow's original Hierarchy of Needs model was developed between 1943-1954, and first widely published in Motivation and Personality in 1954. At this time the Hierarchy of Needs model comprised five needs. This original version remains for most people the definitive Hierarchy of Needs.

http://www.businessballs.com/maslow.htm

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence Theory (EQ - Emotional Quotient)

Emotional Intelligence - EQ - is a relatively recent behavioural model, rising to prominence with Daniel Goleman's 1995 Book called 'Emotional Intelligence'. The early Emotional Intelligence theory was originally developed during the 1970s and 80s by the work and writings of psychologists Howard Gardner (Harvard), Peter Salovey (Yale) and John 'Jack' Mayer (New Hampshire). Emotional Intelligence is increasingly relevant to organizational development and developing people, because the EQ principles provide a new way to understand and assess people's behaviours, management styles, attitudes, interpersonal skills, and potential. Emotional Intelligence is an important consideration in human resources planning, job profiling, recruitment interviewing and selection, management development, customer relations and customer service, and more.

The EQ concept argues that IQ, or conventional intelligence, is too narrow; that there are wider areas of Emotional Intelligence that dictate and enable how successful we are. Success requires more than IQ (Intelligence Quotient), which has tended to be the traditional measure of intelligence, ignoring essential behavioural and character elements. We've all met people who are academically brilliant and yet are socially and inter-personally inept. And we know that despite possessing a high IQ rating, success does not automatically follow.

Different approaches and theoretical models have been developed for Emotional Intelligence. This summary article focuses chiefly on the Goleman interpretation. The work of Mayer, Salovey and David Caruso (Yale) is also very significant in the field of Emotional Intelligence, and will in due course be summarised here too.

Emotional Intelligence - Two Aspects

This is the essential premise of EQ: to be successful requires the effective awareness, control and management of one's own emotions, and those of other people. EQ embraces two aspects of intelligence:

• Understanding yourself, your goals, intentions, responses, behaviour and all.
• Understanding others, and their feelings.

Emotional Intelligence - The Five Domains

Goleman identified the five 'domains' of EQ as:
Knowing your emotions.

1. Managing your own emotions.
2. Motivating yourself.
3. Recognising and understanding other people's emotions.
4. Managing relationships, i.e., managing the emotions of others.

Emotional Intelligence embraces and draws from numerous other branches of behavioural, emotional and communications theories, such as NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), Transactional Analysis, and empathy. By developing our Emotional Intelligence in these areas and the five EQ domains we can become more productive and successful at what we do, and help others to be more productive and successful too. The process and outcomes of Emotional Intelligence development also contain many elements known to reduce stress for individuals and organizations, by decreasing conflict, improving relationships and understanding, and increasing stability, continuity and harmony.

http://www.businessballs.com/eq.htm

What do you want to achieve? Goal Setting.

Why Set Goals?

Goal setting is used by top-level athletes, successful business-people and achievers in all fields. Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. It focuses your acquisition of knowledge, and helps you to organize your time and your resources so that you can make the very most of your life.

By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure and take pride in the achievement of those goals, and you'll see forward progress in what might previously have seemed a long pointless grind. You will also raise your self confidence, as you recognize your own ability and competence in achieving the goals that you've set.

Many people feel as if they're adrift in the world. They work hard, but they don't seem to get anywhere worthwhile. A key reason that they feel this way is that they haven't spent enough time thinking about what they want from life, and haven't set themselves formal goals. After all, would you set out on a major journey with no real idea of your destination? Probably not!

Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into reality. The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know where you have to concentrate your efforts. You'll also quickly spot the distractions that can, so easily, lead you astray.

Starting to Set Personal Goals

You set your goals on a number of levels:

• First you create your "big picture" of what you want to do with your life (or over, say, the next 10 years), and identify the large-scale goals that you want to achieve.
• Then, you break these down into the smaller and smaller targets that you must hit to reach your lifetime goals.
• Finally, once you have your plan, you start working on it to achieve these goals.

This is why we start the process of goal setting by looking at your lifetime goals. Then, we work down to the things that you can do in, say, the next five years, then next year, next month, next week, and today, to start moving towards them.

Setting Lifetime Goals

The first step in setting personal goals is to consider what you want to achieve in your lifetime (or at least, by a significant and distant age in the future). Setting lifetime goals gives you the overall perspective that shapes all other aspects of your decision making.

To give a broad, balanced coverage of all important areas in your life, try to set goals in some of the following categories (or in other categories of your own, where these are important to you):

• Career - What level do you want to reach in your career, or what do you want to achieve?
• Financial - How much do you want to earn, by what stage? How is this related to your career goals?
• Education - Is there any knowledge you want to acquire in particular? What information and skills will you need to have in order to achieve other goals?
• Family - Do you want to be a parent? If so, how are you going to be a good parent? How do you want to be seen by a partner or by members of your extended family?
• Artistic - Do you want to achieve any artistic goals?
• Attitude - Is any part of your mindset holding you back? Is there any part of the way that you behave that upsets you? (If so, set a goal to improve your behavior or find a solution to the problem.)
• Physical - Are there any athletic goals that you want to achieve, or do you want good health deep into old age? What steps are you going to take to achieve this?
• Pleasure - How do you want to enjoy yourself? (You should ensure that some of your life is for you!)
• Public Service - Do you want to make the world a better place? If so, how?

Spend some time brainstorming these things, and then select one or more goals in each category that best reflect what you want to do. Then consider trimming again so that you have a small number of really significant goals that you can focus on.

As you do this, make sure that the goals that you have set are ones that you genuinely want to achieve, not ones that your parents, family, or employers might want. (If you have a partner, you probably want to consider what he or she wants - however, make sure that you also remain true to yourself!)

Setting Smaller Goals

Once you have set your lifetime goals, set a five-year plan of smaller goals that you need to complete if you are to reach your lifetime plan.

Then create a one-year plan, six-month plan, and a one-month plan of progressively smaller goals that you should reach to achieve your lifetime goals. Each of these should be based on the previous plan.

Then create a daily To Do List of things that you should do today to work towards your lifetime goals. 

At an early stage, your smaller goals might be to read books and gather information on the achievement of your higher level goals. This will help you to improve the quality and realism of your goal setting.

Finally review your plans, and make sure that they fit the way in which you want to live your life.

Staying on Course

Once you've decided on your first set of goals, keep the process going by reviewing and updating your To-Do List on a daily basis.

Periodically review the longer term plans, and modify them to reflect your changing priorities and experience. (A good way of doing this is to schedule regular, repeating reviews using a computer-based diary.)

SMART Goals

A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants (some of which we've included in parenthesis), SMART usually stands for:

• S - Specific (or Significant).
• M - Measurable (or Meaningful).
• A - Attainable (or Action-Oriented).
• R - Relevant (or Rewarding).
• T - Time-bound (or Trackable).

http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html

Values Based Leadership

Values Based Leadership requires leaders to be courageous. There can be difficult decisions to be made, well entrenched beliefs to be challenged and leadership behaviours to be changed when following a values-based approach. This does not always promise an easy route for leaders and taking these decisions requires courage. The military is an example of an organisation where values form an intrinsic element of leadership and leadership delivery.

Clausewitz is one of the foremost military influences on the art of war and today remains a highly acclaimed scholar within the military community.  He still features at the centre of many military debates on strategy and warfare and is a vehicle to develop commanders and leaders of tomorrow.  It is therefore extremely significant that he harbours such concerns on theory; Clausewitz cautions against adherence to fixed theories as every case needs to be considered afresh to the situation.  Reiterated from the introduction; he states that theory is the servant of practice; leaders need to be flexible enough not to rely on fixed theory (Howard 2002).

The quote, simple and noteworthy highlights one of the fallibility’s of change, the moral component, the need for empowerment, a shared vision and unity.  Without thorough understanding change will always experience friction, as Kotter (1996) highlights transformation will require to empower the employee. The concept of Values Based Leadership is intrinsically linked to the internalisation of the a set of values. Essentially internalising the values will empower the individual and create a greater comprehension of how to behave and accepted behaviour.  It can therefore be assumed that Values Based Leadership although underpinned by transactional and transformational leadership (Bass Bass & Riggio 2006, Bass 1998) relies ultimately on the leader and the follower having a greater understanding and application of the values.

There are a number of other factors need to be in place to bring Values Based Leadership to life. To test these factors we need to ask three important questions of leaders.

Firstly, are they willing to learn? Leading Values Based organisations is a dynamic process and one that requires people to constantly be learning and evolving their thinking.

Secondly, do they want to lead? Often people find themselves in a leadership position by default without really considering whether they want the responsibility. At the core of Values Based Leadership are leaders who relish the challenge and the responsibility of leadership.

Finally, are they able to deal with the change and ambiguity that exists in organisations in the 21st Century? And do they have the skills and knowledge to lead in an ever changing environment without being overwhelmed by the complexities of leadership?

Values Based Leadership gives leaders and organisations the flexibility to lead through ambiguity and change. When these factors are in place we believe that the three dimensions of Values Based Leadership come together in a powerful way to lead organsations.

 Leading Self - Leading Others - Leading the Organisation

The interconnection of these three dimensions is the critical factor. By understanding the inter-relationship between the dimensions and having all three covered, you can gain the dynamics and power of Values Based Leadership. So, having a strong set of personal values but not living the organisation's values will create a divide within yourself, and others will see this. Having a strong and successful team and leading that team well, but not understanding the purpose of your organisation will develop a rift between what you and your team are actively doing and what the organisation thinks it is doing. However, when all three dimensions collaborate this leads to…

Sustainability – a sustainable and dynamic organisational culture that has the agility to change and create long term repeatable success

The emotional connection and engagement of both employees and customers with the organisation

Organisational agility – the ability of the whole organisation to be responsive and adapt to the changing environment within which it operates

Authentic Leadership – Values Based Leadership wins the trust, respect and confidence of the people in the organisation

 http://www.valuesbasedleadership.co.uk/news/reviews/VBLModel/

10 Tips to Establish Rapport

Establishing rapport - having people like us and remember us fondly - is an invaluable skill. Whether you are in a business, a friendship, a relationship, selling, or just want to be more well-liked - rapport building skills can help you reach your goals. I use some of these skills to develop rapid rapport with my business, counseling and coaching clients. Remember that the key to all rapport building is sincerity and bringing a true love of others to your new relationships. With that in mind, lets get started:
1. Listen - Listening is the 'King' of all rapport building skills. EVERYONE loves to be listened to! Think about it. How do you feel when someone ignores you or talks over you? Do you feel connected to these people? NO! Who are the people you are closest too? I highly suspect that they are the people who listen to you intently and are concerned about your issues and wellbeing, right? Listening says, "I'm listening because you, and therefore, what you have to say, are important." People's greatest desire is to be truly listened to. Help them accomplish this most important goal, and they will like and admire you for it. Practice "conversational generosity" - don't speak more than 30% of the time (10-20% is optimal).


2. Link Interests - Opposites DON'T Attract!!! People like each because of their similarities. So, whenever possible, notice similar interests and be sure to talk about and expand on them. This may take some searching and questioning to discover their interests - that's okay - people will be glad that you are so interested in them that you ask several questions about them. Even if you don't have any similar activities, have them discuss an area you find interesting or want to explore. For example, my old boss Mark loves golf. I have never played, but have a sincere interest in learning the game, so I asked him to explain some things about the game to me. He was thrilled that I was interested and complimented that I wanted him to be my teacher and valued his advice. Think of ways you can use this tool.


3. Ask For Advice - An old quote by Thoreau states, "The greatest compliment ever paid me was when someone asked me what I thought, and attended to the answer." Asking for advice is perhaps the most sincere compliment you can pay to a person. You also have to humble yourself ever so slightly to ask for advice, and this vulnerability will create a sense of openness and trust between you. People are always happy to give advice and will associate that sense of happiness to you quickly. Aren't your friends the ones whom you go to for advice? How can this person give you advice and not be your friend? See how strong this link is? People also admire someone who can ask for and accept advice. So few people can do this well, that it has become an admirable trait. Try it and see.


4. Compliments & Praise - No, this is NOT "kissing up" or being phony - this never works! What we are looking to do is notice praise-worthy things people discuss and mention them to the person. Notice the difference in the next two responses. Your new friend tells you they just won an award for helping children and you say either "that's great!" or "Wow, that's quite an accomplishment! You must have made a tremendous contribution to the lives of those children, you should be very proud." Which response would you rather hear? Are they both true? Yes! Will one response have more impact and create a stronger connection? Definitely, yes! Noticing and commenting on the good people do and their special qualities is a great way to live, it is classy, and a great way to connect with others.


5. Demonstrate Liking & Appreciation - Most people instinctively like people who like them (and vice-versa). Many people like each other, but rarely tell each other. I make it a point to tell my friends that I like them and appreciate them - they already know this, but it's still great to hear. With people I've just met, if I like them, I say things like "It's been great getting to know you; I love to meet warm, open people."" I really liked the way you talked about (BLANK).""Thank you for making me feel so welcome in your home. I had a great time today - let's pick another time to get together soon." These are just a few examples. Can you come up with better ones? Sincere appreciation like this supports friendship and cements relationships.


6. Adopt Their Values/Beliefs - As you are listening to the other person speak, notice their values/beliefs, and discuss areas where your values/beliefs sincerely overlap with theirs. Remember when I said it is best to speak 30% or less of the time? Take at least half of this time and use it to agree with, support, or expand on whatever the other person was talking about. You will never make a friend by disagreeing with them. Let points you don't agree with slip by, and chime in when you hear something you agree with. By doing this you will make a friend, and at the same time, subtly promote the areas you believe in and starve the areas you don't.


7. Enthusiasm - Communication is the transfer of energy/emotion. Everyone seems to love someone with enthusiasm because we all admire it and wish we had more! Enthusiastic people seem to brighten up a room with their positive energy, and we want that to rub off on us, we want to be a part of it. When someone is enthusiastic about our thoughts and ideas we immediately feel understood, appreciated and just plain great! No one will ever be offended by you getting excited about their ideas!


8. Matching and Mirroring - Matching & mirroring simply means that we match the approximate characteristics of the other person to help create alignment with them. Therefore, if they cross their legs do the same shortly after. If they tend to talk more slowly, slow your rhythm down so it is closer to theirs. If they use certain lingo, you can use it later in the conversation. If they are reserved, you be more reserved. And so on. Remember, we like people who are like us. This is a natural process that most people do unconsciously anyways - now you can know to do it consciously. It is a very powerful tool because vocal tone/speed and body language account for 93% of communication. This tool will make people very comfortable around you and is a very subtle technique.


9. Smile & Warmth - The first contact with another person is your face! Make sure that you present as warm, friendly and happy. A smile and a sincere desire for friendship will resonate in your voice and be demonstrated in your every action. First impressions are powerful; present the way you want to be remembered - SMILE! Smiling shows that you are happy to see the other person and like them. Smiling and warmth make others feel good around you - this is a lost skill - use it and you will shine.


10. Attending Skills - This simply means that you attend to the needs of the people you are with. It follows the lines of simple good manners, i.e., holding the door for someone, offering them a drink or a chair, buying them lunch, shaking their hand right away when you see them, etc. Almost any small courtesy or act of kindness falls in this category. These simple acts say without words that the other person is like, respected and appreciated. (And an action is worth what? That's right! A thousand words!)

And just to rap it all up:



http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Cline

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFWJSGgGC

GrowthCLUB - Does Your Business Have a Plan?

DOES YOUR BUSINESS HAVE A PLAN?

Only 2% of business owners have a 

written plan ... and even fewer stick to it ...

Imagine where your business could be in 90 days’ time if you ...

• Had strategies to build your profits immediately Could get more done in less time.
• Had renewed energy, vision and focus.
• Increased your confidence, leadership & decision making skills.
• Had a step by step plan for all areas of your business.

How much could you grow your business? How much more profit could you be making? How much more free time could you have? How much better would your team perform?

After attending GrowthCLUB, you’ll have complete focus on your goals and how to achieve them.  You’ll get back in touch with why you are in business and be able to review your progress to date.  It’s the ideal chance to get re-motivated, share fresh ideas with a group of business owners who are determined to move their businesses forward too. You’ll have a step by step plan for the next 90 days and an outline plan for the rest of the year. You’ll know exactly where your business will be and the strategies to get there.

What can you expect from a high action day working ON your business.....Heres what the vibe was at the previous first and second quarter planning days for 2014...

2014 First Quarter:

2014 Second Quarter:



So if your seriously want to get some focus in your Business then you really need to make the investment and come along for this dynamic Business Building day. Click on the eventbrite for more details on costings for the day and register.

Joining ActionCOACH for this practical and dynamic business-building day is the fast track to your next quarter to success ….

Plan your next quarter at the level of detail you need.

Work with a highly professional and focused coach and map out a winning plan for the next year.  Plus, with practical and expert training, you and your team will get back to your    business with clear direction and new tools to achieve your goals faster.

Get more done in less time  ….

By the end of this high energy day, you’ll have a clear picture of where your business will be at the end of the third quarter of 2014, and a step-by-step GrowthCLUB plan to get you there.  Your plan will encompass sales, marketing, finance, time efficiencies, customer service, systemisation and team building.  You’ll be able to focus on your goals and share your  challenges with other like-minded business owners.

Work ON your business, not IN it …

You will systematically work through business basics,   using your own business as a model, guided every step of the way.  This is a very interactive workshop; you will learn by ‘doing’ ensuring you come away with a model specific to your business to take you where you want to be. 

Head into the next 90 days with momentum …

We guarantee you will leave the day with renewed energy, a sharper focus and bubbling   enthusiasm.  It won’t be long before you see the direct benefits that this will have on your business.  You’ll walk away with:

· Energy, vision and clarity about the direction you’re driving your business in

· Strategies to build your profits right away

· A detailed plan for the third quarter of 2014 you can implement as soon as you get back to your business

· An outline plan to enter into the remaining of FY 2014/15.

· Ideas from growth-minded business owners

· The skills and tools to get more done in less time so you stay ahead of the competition

· Proven tactics to recession proof your business

Why Set Goals

Why Set Goals?

Goal setting is used by top-level athletes, successful business-people and achievers in all fields. Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. It focuses your acquisition of knowledge, and helps you to organize your time and your resources so that you can make the very most of your life.

By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure and take pride in the achievement of those goals, and you'll see forward progress in what might previously have seemed a long pointless grind. You will also raise your self confidence, as you recognize your own ability and competence in achieving the goals that you've set.

Many people feel as if they're adrift in the world. They work hard, but they don't seem to get anywhere worthwhile. A key reason that they feel this way is that they haven't spent enough time thinking about what they want from life, and haven't set themselves formal goals. After all, would you set out on a major journey with no real idea of your destination? Probably not!

Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into reality. The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know where you have to concentrate your efforts. You'll also quickly spot the distractions that can, so easily, lead you astray.

Starting to Set Personal Goals

You set your goals on a number of levels:

• First you create your "big picture" of what you want to do with your life (or over, say, the next 10 years), and identify the large-scale goals that you want to achieve.
• Then, you break these down into the smaller and smaller targets that you must hit to reach your lifetime goals.
• Finally, once you have your plan, you start working on it to achieve these goals.

This is why we start the process of goal setting by looking at your lifetime goals. Then, we work down to the things that you can do in, say, the next five years, then next year, next month, next week, and today, to start moving towards them.

Setting Lifetime Goals

The first step in setting personal goals is to consider what you want to achieve in your lifetime (or at least, by a significant and distant age in the future). Setting lifetime goals gives you the overall perspective that shapes all other aspects of your decision making.

To give a broad, balanced coverage of all important areas in your life, try to set goals in some of the following categories (or in other categories of your own, where these are important to you):

• Career - What level do you want to reach in your career, or what do you want to achieve?
• Financial - How much do you want to earn, by what stage? How is this related to your career goals?
• Education - Is there any knowledge you want to acquire in particular? What information and skills will you need to have in order to achieve other goals?
• Family - Do you want to be a parent? If so, how are you going to be a good parent? How do you want to be seen by a partner or by members of your extended family?
• Artistic - Do you want to achieve any artistic goals?
• Attitude - Is any part of your mindset holding you back? Is there any part of the way that you behave that upsets you? (If so, set a goal to improve your behavior or find a solution to the problem.)
• Physical - Are there any athletic goals that you want to achieve, or do you want good health deep into old age? What steps are you going to take to achieve this?
• Pleasure - How do you want to enjoy yourself? (You should ensure that some of your life is for you!)
• Public Service - Do you want to make the world a better place? If so, how?

Spend some time brainstorming these things, and then select one or more goals in each category that best reflect what you want to do. Then consider trimming again so that you have a small number of really significant goals that you can focus on.

As you do this, make sure that the goals that you have set are ones that you genuinely want to achieve, not ones that your parents, family, or employers might want. (If you have a partner, you probably want to consider what he or she wants - however, make sure that you also remain true to yourself!)

Setting Smaller Goals

Once you have set your lifetime goals, set a five-year plan of smaller goals that you need to complete if you are to reach your lifetime plan.

Then create a one-year plan, six-month plan, and a one-month plan of progressively smaller goals that you should reach to achieve your lifetime goals. Each of these should be based on the previous plan.

Then create a daily To Do List of things that you should do today to work towards your lifetime goals. 

At an early stage, your smaller goals might be to read books and gather information on the achievement of your higher level goals. This will help you to improve the quality and realism of your goal setting.

Finally review your plans, and make sure that they fit the way in which you want to live your life.

Staying on Course

Once you've decided on your first set of goals, keep the process going by reviewing and updating your To-Do List on a daily basis.

Periodically review the longer term plans, and modify them to reflect your changing priorities and experience. (A good way of doing this is to schedule regular, repeating reviews using a computer-based diary.)

SMART Goals

A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants (some of which we've included in parenthesis), SMART usually stands for:

• S - Specific (or Significant).
• M - Measurable (or Meaningful).
• A - Attainable (or Action-Oriented).
• R - Relevant (or Rewarding).
• T - Time-bound (or Trackable).

http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html