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

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.