7 Steps to Lasting Leadership

I want to talk to you about leadership – leadership that leaves a legacy.  Over the years, I have had the opportunity to serve under many leaders.  There have been great leaders whose followers thrive and grow under their leadership, and then there have been leaders whose followers were stifled, frustrated and never reached their fullest potential.

Just like the great companies they lead, great leaders share common characteristics that form leadership that is built to last.  If you are a leader or an aspiring leader, I encourage you to follow these 7 Steps to Lasting Leadership:

Step 1    L = Linger

Lasting leaders take time to linger with their followers.  They slow down long enough to learn more about people personally.  Lasting leaders have a connection with their followers on a personal level.  They know about their families, what is important to them.  It is a compliment when you notice and acknowledge something personal about someone.  It shows you care and are interested in them.

Step 2   A = Apprentice

Lasting leaders always have an apprentice in the wings, knowing one of the most effective ways to retain what you have learned is to teach it to someone else.  Having an apprentice also helps a leader with accountability by keeping them humble and in-check, knowing their actions are being mirrored by someone else. 

Step 3   S = Servant

Lasting leaders have the heart of a servant.  They are at the disposal of their people.  They are willing to get in the trenches and perform menial tasks to accomplish a common goal.  They focus on their followers and not on themselves.  Questions a lasting leader would ask:  1) Do my actions best serve those that I lead?  2) Am I willing to listen and get feedback?  3) Am I noticing performance (and not waiting until their annual review to acknowledge it)?  4) Am I praising progress or catching my followers doing something right?   

Step 4   T = Transparency

Lasting leaders are transparent.  They have no hidden agenda.  They know that although they are responsible for casting a vision (or setting a goal to be accomplished), they cannot do it on their own.  Transparent leaders build trust and earn the respect of their followers.  They practice a “we’re in this together” attitude.

Step 5   I = Improvement

Lasting leaders are always improving themselves.  Tony Robbins calls it CANI – constant and never-ending improvement.  Lasting leaders never feel as though they have arrived.  They are always evolving and are aware of what is going on in the world – inside and outside of their industry.

Step 6   N = Nurture

Lasting leaders are nurturers.  They encourage, cultivate, develop, and support their followers.  Their followers know they will “watch their back” and will always have their best interests at heart.   Lasting leaders seek to discover the best in people and then help cultivate that into existence. 

Step 7   G = Giving

Lasting leaders are always giving back to their followers, family and community.  Lasting leaders have a habit of giving back – in both time and resources – keeping the focus on others and not on themselves.

Being a leader should never be taken lightly, nor the power or influence that comes with it.  A great leader once said, “Don’t think less of yourself, think of yourself less.”  To me, that pretty much sums it up.

 

 

Wow! What a Ride!

It is hard to believe another year is nearly behind us.  I don’t about all of you, but for me it has been quite a ride.  Out of challenging times often comes the most growth and that certainly rang true for me this year.   

Although I loved my work, the passion I once had just wasn’t there.  I starting to feel trapped and ineffective – frustrated with myself and with my clients.  So what was up? 

I had been doing the same thing, using the same business model, since starting my business 3 years earlier.  That seemed like a logical place to start.  So, I started digging.

This led me to examine how I did business, who I was doing business with and what I wanted from my business moving forward.  I examined the clients I had worked with – why I “clicked” with some and not with others.  I looked at my services – what should stay and what should go and which brought the most results for my clients. 

I became keenly aware of situations or tasks that energized me.  Those things that came so naturally for me that I never considered they might not be natural for someone else.  In the end, I had a great deal more clarity and a pretty darn good idea of what my gifts and strengths were and why some of my services were a struggle while others thrived.  

I learned that having the courage to strip away “business as usual” can bring a sense of freedom and even relief.  I concluded that the majority of my previous frustrations came from trying to be somebody or something I was not.  I began to embrace those qualities that were uniquely mine and lo and behold, I started to come alive again. 

Once I stepped out with confidence and accepted that being myself was enough (even more than enough), everything changed.  Not only did I start attracting ideal clients, but new and exciting opportunities as well. 

So take a leap of faith and have the courage to look at your business with fresh eyes.  Embrace those unique qualities that only you possess and share them with the world.  You will shine as you have never shined before and your business will thrive.  Who knows, you may even change the world while you’re at it.

Rock on.

Quick & Easy Tool to Keep You In The Loop (and on top of things)

 

A word to the wise…never stop researching your market!

We are living in marvelous times.  Every day, every hour, even every minute you can easily keep our finger on the pulse of your industry.  How?  Google.

Google has added some new features that are just amazing.  Check it out:

1.      Go to Google.com

2.      Type in the keyword or phrase you want to search and hit return.

3.      When you have the results on your screen, in the left hand corner just above the search results you will see Web + Show options…   Click on “Show options.”

4.      From there you will see all of the search options available on the left sidebar.

These are the search categories:

All results:  This allows you to see what is on the web by category.  If you just want to know what videos are on the web, click the video link.  Looking for books on the subject?  Click on the books link.  And so on and so on.

Any time:  Another terrific feature is the time range option.  You can see the most recent postings or even specify a specific date range.

Standard view:  This is a fun section.  “Related searches” is just that.  This option will allow you to see what other phrases people are using to search for the same information.  “Wonder wheel” gives you a snapshot of other phrases surrounding your search phrase.  “Timeline” shows the search trends for your search phrase and shows past postings starting with the first posting on the internet.

Standard results:  These are a few more options to find images or shopping sites connected with your search phrase.  The “more text” option simply gives you more text for each site listed versus the standard two or three sentence description.

As you can see, utilizing the options for Google search can give you a wealth of information.  Take some time to become familiar with Google and all of the options available. 

In addition to these great tools, you may want to open a Google account.  It is free to join and gives you yet another level of tools to utilize.  For example, have you ever found a site that you found particularly helpful but forgot to save it to your favorites?  Your Google account comes with a Web History tool that will help you find the site, not to mention search the full text of pages you visited.

This just scratches the surface.  There are many, many more options and tools available including website analysis, gmail, and an excellent keyword search tool, to name a few.

The most successful businesses are those that stay on top of what is going on in their industry – what is being said and who is doing what.  Google has done the work for you and it is all at your fingertips with just the click of a mouse.  

Unload Your Marketing Baggage

We often hear the word “baggage” to describe those negative things we take with us from one relationship to another.  If we have a history of failed relationships in the past, counselors and therapists typically ask us to look at all of our previous relationships and determine what underlying themes are consistent to help us understand the issues we need to work through in order to maintain healthy relationships.

The same is true when it comes to marketing.  The biggest challenge most of my clients face when it comes to marketing is the “Marketing Baggage” they carry with them into business.

If you don’t have a healthy outlook on marketing, it can make you feel vulnerable, stupid, ridiculous, inadequate, and the list goes on.  Marketing can bring out some of your most personal and deep-seated fears.  This is especially true if you are marketing for our own businesses. 

Some of the most common fears and negative thoughts my clients have around marketing are:

·         Marketing leads to rejection.

·         What is the point?  It never works anyway.

·         People won’t be interested in my services, so why bother?

·         Marketing turns people off.

·         Only “people persons” are good marketers.

·         Marketing bothers people.

·         I’m too embarrassed to network.

·         I can’t speak in front of people! 

·         I suck at writing.

·         If I ask for referrals, I will look desperate.

Do any of these statements sound familiar?  To be blunt, marketing scares the crap out of people!  Why?  Because if feels so personal.

The fears you have around marketing are just symptoms of something deeper.  If you want to overcome your Marketing Baggage, you need to step back and try to uncover the root of your fear. 

As your marketing therapist, I suggest you follow this simple exercise next time you find yourself avoiding marketing or gravitating towards those things that you enjoy, but not necessarily those marketing tasks that need to be done:

1.      Write down the original negative thought you had about marketing.  Start with my list and see if any of those resonate with you, or write down one of your own.

2.      Identify the particular fear connected with that.  Is it rejection?  Embarrassment?

3.      Indentify the feelings attached to that fear.

4.      Identify the way you respond physically (do you slouch, hang your head down, talk softly, etc.).

5.      Do you remember a time or times in your life when you felt this way?  When this emotion was particularly strong?  Write those down.

Are you with me so far?  If you have gone this far you are already much further along than most.

Now comes the best part – the next step in this process is to look at these fears for what they really are – lies!  Most of the fears we have around marketing are lies we have told ourselves for years.  They have nothing to do with where we are today or how others perceive us.  Here are the final three steps:

6.      Ask yourself – is the initial negative statement true?  Yes or no.  At this point, you may actually say, yes.  That’s okay.

7.      Ask it again – is it really, really true?  Just about everyone will say, “Well, honestly if I think about it, no.”

8.      Turn the original statement around.  For example, if your statement is, “People won’t be interested in my services,” turn that around to, “People love my services and have been waiting for me to help them.”

Notice anything different?  Do you feel stronger?  More confident?  Do you see a different truth than what you have been telling yourself?

I love this process and use it all of the time.  You don’t have to limit yourself to just marketing issues either.  This is great for all kinds of negative baggage we carry in our lives.

Marketing can actually be fun, exciting and a wonderful part of your everyday business life.  However, just like our personal relationships, if we do not identify the root of our marketing baggage, our businesses will suffer.

Is Marketing Baggage holding you back?  Unload it today and find the success you deserve.

Tick Tock…Manufacturing Time

 

There are two things we all talk about – time and the weather.

 

The difference is, we can’t control the weather but we can control our time.

 

We never seem happy with our business lives.  We complain when we are too slow.  We complain when we are too busy.  Too much time on our hands and we’re bored.  Too little time and we’re swamped.    At the heart our business lives, good or bad, is time. 

 

You may think I am going to talk to you today about getting organized or setting priorities.  Maybe the 80/20 rule, answering e-mails no more than twice a day, going over your “to-do” list the night before, or any number of things I have been taught (and spent a great deal of money to learn) that basically are just plain common sense.  Nope – that is not what this is about. Today I am going to talk to you about outsourcing.

 

If my calculations are correct, I would venture to guess most of you just grimaced.  “What – me outsource?  Yeah, right.  Guess again.  People are losing their jobs every day and you want me to outsource?”  I can hear your resistance already. 

 

Unfortunately, when most people hear the term “outsourcing” they think of friends and relatives losing their jobs to a business in a foreign company.  Images of a warehouse of people with headsets come to mind.    

 

Although that is one way outsourcing is being used, that is not what I am talking about today.  Outsourcing is not just for corporate America.  Outsourcing is changing the face of small business.

 

First, it may be helpful for you to know the definition of outsourcing (according to Webster’s New World Dictionary 4^th ed.).  “To transfer (certain manufacturing operations, administrative activities, etc.) to outside contractors, so as to reduce one’s operating costs.”

 

Chances are, whether you realize it or not, you have already experienced outsourcing.  If you hired someone to create your website – you were outsourcing.  If you hired a service to handle your payroll – you were outsourcing.  If you hired someone to handle public relations – you were outsourcing. 

 

Simply put, outsourcing is hiring an outside contractor (not any employee) to perform a function for your organization. 

 

Just like everything else, the Internet has changed the face of business.  This has never been truer than in the area of outsourcing.  According to statistics published by the US Small Business Administration, 56% of US small businesses with 100 employees or less has fewer than five employees.

 

Owning a business that falls into that category, I can assure you I am often over-stretched for time.  Although my business is growing and all my hard work is paying off, I am also keenly aware that I need to make a choice. 

 

I can choose to stay at the same level – meaning I can take on only as much work as I can personally manage (without getting sick, forfeiting my family life or putting a bed in my office) or I can choose to grow – meaning I need to outsource.

 

Just like any other business decision, outsourcing will require time and effort.  You need to have a clear understanding of what tasks can be outsourced (typically those that can function independently), weigh the costs and be prepared to “shop” for the right person or organization.

 

There are a number of great articles and books to help you determine whether outsourcing is the best choice for your business.  New businesses are popping up every day, many offering services to support companies looking to concentrate on growth while managing their expenses.

 

Regardless of whether you are a business owner or not, there is only so much YOU to go around. If you are feeling overwhelmed, over worked and missing opportunities for growth, maybe it’s time for you to consider outsourcing.  Who says you can’t manufacture time?  

Inspired Service

What word describes how you serve your clients or customers? 

In preparing for a recent interview for a state-wide woman’s organization , I reviewed the questions I was told would be asked – why did I start my business, what services do I provide, etc. – the usual stuff.  However, one question stopped me dead in my tracks.   Which of your personal qualities do you think are most valuable to your business?

Interestingly enough I had never been asked that question before, although as I thought about it, helping my clients identify the personal qualities they bring to their business and incorporating that into their marketing efforts is a foundational piece of our work together.

As I pondered my answer, this question kept coming up repeatedly – what word would describe how I serve my clients?

Although I dreamed of having my own business for several years, fears, doubt, low self-confidence, lack of money and a number of things kept me from pursuing what I knew in my heart I was placed on this earth to do – start a business. 

It was not until the defining moment came when I had to make the decision – do I continue on this path or not – it was then I knew I had no choice.  It was time.

Is starting your own business for everyone?  No.  Has it been easy?  That would be a no also.  To be honest with you, it has been the hardest thing I have ever done.  Am I rich?  Monetarily, no.  But if you are talking about richness of life, I am the wealthiest woman on earth.

Inspired.

That is the word that describes how I serve my clients.  I feed off them, like a child listening to their favorite story.  They inspire me.  Their gifts, talents and skills.  Their dreams, visions and desires to make a difference in this world.  Through our work together, I am inspired to serve them and in turn hope to inspire them.  Together we create something phenomenal.

Let me ask you again – what word describes how you serve your clients or customers? 

We have one shot at this thing called life.  Every day we have the opportunity to make a difference in some else’s life.  My husband is a greeter at our church.  He smiles, he jokes and he hugs – a lot.  The pastor recently told him, “The hugs you give out may be the only hugs these people get all week.”

Who says you can’t make a difference?  Only you.  Bloom where you are planted as the saying goes.  Every life you come in contact with is a life you can influence.

Ten years down the road, how will your clients and customers remember you?

Stopped Dead In Your Tracks

 

The price we pay for fear

Have you ever been stopped dead in your tracks?  You see or hear something that grabs your attention to such a degree that it immediately makes you stop what you are doing.  Fear can do that.  Fear can grab us from behind or can hit us head-on.  It can stop us dead in our tracks. 

Does fear have you in a chokehold?  Are you fighting, wrestling, running, gasping for air, struggling to get free?

Fear is a powerful force that drives us as human beings.  Sometimes fear can protect us and keep us from harm.  But most of all, fear keeps us from moving ahead. 

I see a lot of fear in my business.  Fear of the economy.  Fear of loss.  Fear of not being liked.  Fear of rejection.  Fear of lack.  Fear can come in many different forms. 

I hate fear.  I hate what it does to a business.  I hate what it does to a soul.  It keeps us frozen and in a state of indecision.  Fear comes with a high price.

Marketing can bring out some of our most deep-seated fears.  In my experience, a great deal of fear in marketing comes out of a desire to be liked and admired.  Marketing often has a way of making us feel stupid, vulnerable and judged.  Even the most basic of marketing principles can stir fear in the strongest professionals.  Let’s use these basic marketing activities as an example – writing, speaking and networking.  Did you feel a twinge of fear when you read one of those? 

Does fear have a grip on you?  Is you marketing or other areas of your life suffering because of it?  If so, I suggest you follow this simple, but powerful formula from Byron Katie called “The Work.”   You will see fear for what it really is – a liar.  You do not have to limit this to your marketing fears.  This formula works wonders in any area of your life where fear may be holding you back.  I suggest you write out the answers to these questions:

Doing The Work

First, choose a thought or belief that is opposing your intention to be a successful marketer of your services. This might be:

“I don’t have the time to market myself.”

Now ask yourself this first question:

1.  Is this thought true?

Answer with yes or no. Then answer the second question if you answered Yes.

2.  Can you absolutely know it’s true?

      Answer with yes or no. Then answer the third question.

3.  How do you react when you believe that thought?

List all of the things that you do (or not do), mentally and physically, other thoughts and feelings you have when you think the thought you are working on. Then answer the fourth question:

4.  Who would you be without that thought?

If that thought was impossible for you to think, how would things be different?

5.  Now turn the thought around to its opposite.

A turnaround to this thought would be: “I do have time to marketing myself.”

Then ask if the turnaround is as true as or more true than the original thought.

That is all there is to it. Now you are looking at your original thought in a completely new way. You will find you are less attached or identified with this thought and have new options. You have loosened its grip.  You have the choice of what thought would serve you better to achieve your goal.

If fear is stopping you dead in your tracks, remember this:

FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real

Take the time now to identify the truth about your fears and move ahead with confidence.

We Are Blessed Indeed

Tomorrow, July 4^th, is a day set aside to celebrate the birth of our amazing nation, the United States of America.  A day filled with picnics, family and friends, parades and often a fireworks display at dusk.  In spite of our economic, political and social challenges, we still live in the greatest nation on earth.  Americans are resilient by nature.  We don’t give up, we don’t give in – we just keep moving forward with optimism.

On this the 233^rd anniversary of our independence, stop the bickering, complaining and grumbling.  Our nation remains a beacon in a world full of darkness.  A symbol of hope and prosperity.  She is still calling out to the world – our land of opportunity – welcoming nearly 400,000 new arrivals every year.  Appreciate the freedom we so easily take for granted and for those who fought and are fighting so gallantly to preserve it.

“Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.” – Albert Einstein

Eavesdrop On Your Prospects

Can you imagine being able to eavesdrop on your prospects?  Wouldn’t you love to hear their conversations and have the ability to gain insight into their problems, challenges and what they are frustrated about?  Armed with that information, just think how much easier it would be to determine how your services could help solve those problems or what services you could offer that would fill a void.

Below you will find three ways you can eavesdrop on your prospects and gain insight and understanding into their worlds: 

Internet Forums

An internet forum (or message board) is an online discussion site.  There are forums on just about every subject you could possibly imagine. 

It is easy to connect with industry forums.  You simply go to your favorite search engine and type in whatever industry you are in, followed by the word “forums.”  Don’t be afraid to try a few different scenarios and see what pops up.  For example, if I was interested in the automobile industry, I might search for “automobile forums” or more specifically, “corvette forums.”

And don’t forget about Amazon.  They’ve got all kinds of discussions taking place on their site.  Logon to Amazon and click on the Discusson Boards tab at the top of the page.

Blogs

Blogs are a little different from forums.  Blogs are also a type of website, but are usually maintained by an individual who periodically posts regular entries or comments about a particular subject.  Anyone who comes to the site has the opportunity to comment on the entry. 

You can search for blogs in your industry the same way you would search for forums.  You would just replace the word “forums” with “blogs.”  If I was searching for blogs on marketing, I would type in “marketing blogs” or if I wanted to be more specific, “consultant marketing blogs.”

Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or MySpace all have opportunities to listen in to what is being said in your industry.  There are even social networking sites that are industry specific, but it is more difficult to find them.  Instead of following the search process outlined previously, just search for “social networking sites.”  There you will be able to find lists of sites that you can dig through.

Each of these sites is set up a little differently, so you will have to spend some time on each one to learn how to best utilize the tools available.

Forums, Blogs and Social Networking sites are an excellent way to eavesdrop on your prospects and hear the conversations going on in your industry.  You can learn what your prospects like, don’t like, what’s bothering them, what they are having issues with and the number one problem they need help with.  It is all there.  All you have to do is listen and take notes.

Perks and Parking

 

I recently visited a manufacturing plant to drop off something to a friend who worked in the office.  It was raining pretty heavily so I naturally looked for a parking spot closest to the door. 

 

As I started to pull into a convenient vacant space, I immediately noticed a sign.  Without thinking I assumed it was a “Visitor Parking Only” sign.  When I looked up and shut off my car, there it was – “This spot reserved for Employee of the Month.”  Ooops, I thought.  Some poor sucker who is down to their last few days of having a prime parking spot will be pulling in at any moment to give me “the look.”  I wasn’t thrilled about having to move, but I thought it was a nice gesture for the employees.  

As I started to look for another spot, it soon became apparent that the “prime spot” was not so prime after all.  Next to the Employee of the Month parking spot (and the spots even closer to the door I might add) were spaces designated for other employees.  The signs read, “Reserved for ___________.”  Recognizing the names I realized they were spaces for the Big Shots of the company.  I must admit, I didn’t have quite the same response as I did for Employee of the Month.

Now don’t get me wrong, I believe that it is important for employers to give perks along the way, but this whole parking thing got me steamed.  Why is it that the customer is so often an afterthought for so many businesses?  What if I had been a very important new customer?  Would I have been in a better or worse frame of mind having walked half the distance of the parking lot to get past the employee designed spaces – in the pouring rain no less?

It also reminded me of another local business.  The owner always parks his big huge truck right in front of the door (not even in a designated space).  Not only do you have to walk around it to get into the door, but it is apparent that it shouldn’t be parked there at all.

Now I know that I will ruffle some feathers – especially for those of you who are employees.  I was an employee for a very long time and believe me when it came to parking (or other perks) I thought I not only earned it but deserved it. 

I remember years ago when I was transferred to a different location and received a prime spot, I was shunned.  I’m not kidding.  I actually had someone ask me, “So what did YOU do to get a spot closer to the door than mine?”

So yes, I get it.  But now that I am an employer and am paid to enlighten people on the importance of their customers, I see things differently.  I hope you will take this for what it is – advice.  Just as a side note, I strongly believe the more unhappy an employee is the more they live and die by the perks.  At least that has been my personal experience.  But that is another newsletter altogether.

So let this lesson in parking etiquette be a reminder to you – when you are making decisions within your business or organization ALWAYS ask yourself, how will this affect those I am trying to serve?  You may have the greatest business or service in the world, with the greatest intentions, but you could be turning your customer off before they even make it to the door.