Big Dreams Are Accomplished By Great Teams
I have to warn you up front, I was watching Larry Winget videos on YouTube prior to writing this post. Here goes.
I recently read a tweet that said something like:
"If you are working for someone you are fulfilling their dreams and not yours."
This is the classic I made it doing X, if you do X just like me you will succeed too expert advice that is being oversold.
What a load of crap. If you are working for someone and are not accomplishing any of your goals or moving forward towards them in some way "it your own damn […]
Do or Die Trying: A Strategy That Needs Help
Is that your business strategy? Set a course and go… until you do or die?
That can certainly be exciting… for a while. In some rare cases it can even be essential.
But it is usually not the best path. At least not one to Manifast your dream business!
As Yoda said:
"Do or do not, there is no try."
So in case you had doubt, dying has no value.
Strategy
I define business strategy as something like:
"A forward looking vision (destination) and plan (path) that takes into consideration what you think is going to happen in the future to give you an advantage in […]
“Start with Why”: So Why Manifast?
One of the books I am reading right now is “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek.
This is not the first book I’ve read on the importance of knowing your purpose or having a mission.
The book talks about “why” as opposed to “what” and “how”. The businesses that create the most loyalty and avoid being commodities do this right.
“Inspire” rather than “Manipulate”. When people are aligned with your “why” they will pay a premium or suffer inconvenience to stay with you. The rest need to manipulate their customers into buying.
Lots of great stuff here but rather than talk theory… […]
The 3 Sacred Rules of Leadership Trust (If they are so Easy…)
You can't build a great business unless you can get everyone behind the mission, sharing the core values and building a strong culture.
Part and parcel of that is strong leadership. There is no one leadership style that guarantees success or failure but there are some basic rules of leadership that guarantee a lack of trust and inspiration if broken.
Basic Leadership
Praise in public, criticize in private.
Praise should be in the order of 10x the amount of criticism. Praise has to be genuine and assumes that you and your team are competent.
If you have a clear mission, clear core values and a […]
A Dog and Pony – Re-framing Abundance and Receptivity
I was thinking about manifestation, receptivity and abundance a lot the other day; especially from a personal and business success perspective.
Part of it was my own learning and observation, part of it was triggered by comments during our Wednesday coaching call… but it was my own dog who really put it all together for me.
A Dog and Pony
Our dog Kaylee was visiting a friend's house. They happen to have kids. Kids tend to leave lots of toys laying around.
She entered the house not knowing what to expect. She had never been there before.
As she ran around exploring and checking […]
Expending Energy in all the Right Places
Recently, I have been revisiting where my time is actually going. Everyone should do this periodically.
It is especially important for entrepreneurs, business owners and self-employed people.
Reflecting
I did a detailed review of where I actually spent my time over the last 12 months with additional focus on where it was trending.
Not surprising that the trend was drifting from where I wanted to be.
Common wisdom is that you should do the work that adds the most value to the organization.
This time around I also considered what I should be doing at a deeper level.
What work gives me energy? What drains it?
I took […]
Your Culture Doesn’t Grow in a Petri Dish
Your brand is how people outside your company perceive your company, products and services.
You don't control your brand. After all, you don't control people or what they think.
It used to be that you could buy a brand image if you had enough money to spend on advertising.
This is becoming more difficult if not impossible; especially for the smaller players.
You can influence your brand.
Image courtesy of moomsabuy | FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Your Culture
Your company culture is determined by your values, behavior and consistency on how you […]
Value > Payment > Cost: It’s the Law
There is a basic economic reality to business. Every great and successful business follows it.
Your business must follow it as well; or eventually perish.
It is the Law.
In "The Go-Giver" by Bob Burg and John David Mann, state the "The Law of Value" as:
"Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment."
Value
Like beauty, value is in the eye of the beholder.
Value is perceived.
It can include the raw cost of producing something… materials and labor. If that part is appreciated.
But unless someone wants what you are selling (think […]
Know, Like and “Trust?”
In "The Go Giver", Bob Burg and John David Mann wrote:
"All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business
to, those people they know, like and trust."
The words equal, know and like could have a lengthy discussion in and of themselves when it comes to the nuances of meaning, business, people and sales.
But I want to zero in on trust.
I recently had a coaching call with the amazing Dixie Gillaspie where she reminded me that trust has a special meaning in business sales. So like most powerful lessons, I think and then write (or talk) […]
Accountability Starts at the Top
In my last post I talked about finding a business coach (or adviser or consultant).
Once you seriously commit to the process of having a coach something happens.
Have you ever heard how people will hire a maid or clearing service and then just before they arrive, they clean the house from top to bottom because “I don’t want them to think I am a slob”.
Well just the act of hiring a coach works something like that if you are serious. You immediately start thinking about the things that you want to improve and do better because “someone” will be […]