Making our Mission Possible

The Magical Essence that Makes you Unique

Last week I was working with some clients who are all former high achievers in the world of sport.  I found it fascinating that they took it for granted that everyone must be the same as they are. I quickly pointed out that the essence of what makes them different to most of the population is that they have ACTUALLY DONE IT - and that is what is worth a lot.

I come across many high achievers in the worlds of business, sport and academia and as a coach, my job very often is to help these people recognise, accept and then leverage the essence that makes then unique. 

There is a great story I heard about the factory owner that had a machine that broke down, meaning that his staff of 500 were hanging about waiting for it to be fixed - the factory owner was going mad with all the delays.  He called the repair man, who came from a long way away, and charged £15,000 to fix the machine. 

Everyone waited with bated breath as he arrived, scratched his head, looked for a few moments and then made two loud taps on the machine in particular areas.  He then said "right that's it fixed". The factory owner was delighted but also aghast that this guy could charge such a large fee for the work.  He exclaimed "what gives you the right to charge all that money and you were only here for a few minutes?" The man replied "It took me 20 years to get all the knowledge to know which two areas to tap, and that is what you are paying for". 

It was the same with these sports people - they had not realised that all the knowledge and experience they had gained and could now use to help others was valuable.  They left with a new outlook on what that magical essence was worth.....

Building your brand using online forums

How many online forums do you subscribe to?  And within your list, how many are you a regular contributor to?  Forums can be extremely useful as a way of building your personal brand in that particular sector. Whilst it can be time consuming to read and respond to postings, it is an easy way to start to infiltrate almost subconsciously into the minds of the users.

Here's what I have learned about online forums:
1. Make sure you change the settings options to receive the daily digest if possible, so that you don't get interrupted by loads of emails during the business day, and you can scan the summary much more quickly.
2. Always include your signature file at the end of any postings, so that people can link from the posting to your website if they are interested.
3. Provide helpful advice so that you become known as a "giver".
4. Make sure your responses are clear and concise - otherwise people are likely to not read it if its rambling.
5. Think about using forums to attract interest in your business by asking for input or ideas on something you are developing. I recently posted a message on a forum asking for best practice in recruiting facilitators, and was then flooded with CVs from applicants who took the initiative just in case we were recruiting! Whilst this was not exactly what I wanted, it was also very useful as we will be recruiting soon so I have an instant candidate list.

Now carry out a quick test:  Think about an online forum you subscribe to.  Think about any first person that comes to mind in relation to that forum. Check to see if their postings follow tips 2 - 4 above.  Then marvel at how they have built brand awareness already in your mind.... and then try it for yourself.

Walking the talk - how to be a great role model

I expect that many of you have had this frustration at some time in the recent past. People who say they will do something and then do not deliver.  This can be a blight in small businesses are well as large organisations and can lead to staff, colleagues, suppliers and customers being disillusioned when a leader's subsequent actions contradict their initial words.

So when you experience someone who "walks the talk" the positive impact is immeasurable.   I must share my experience here of inviting successful business people to be featured as role models on our website as an example.  We have over 15 profiles on the site and every person that is featured is, by the very nature of their job, a busy person with plenty of other things to consider more important than our request for information.

However, I will single out two people who for me have stood out in the way they have responded.  Firstly, Vivienne Cox, Executive Vice President at BP and someone with management responsibility for over 8000 people worldwide - and in an extremely demanding role!  I heard Vivienne speak a while ago and was impressed by what she said about her personal values and how she behaves as a leader, so I asked if she would be one of our role models. She agreed and within a few days had responded with the information. Wow! I felt important, whilst running one of the largest companies in the world, she had taken time to respond because she had said she would.  That for me was walking the talk.

Another similar example to this was Richard Reed at Innocent Drinks - another business that espouses strong principles and values.  In a similar way to Vivienne, I had heard Richard speak, was impressed and asked him to be a role model for us.  Same thing happened.  He agreed and a short while later, the answers appeared along with an apology for the delay.

What does this tell me?  It tells me that no matter, how large or small your business is - what others will remember is how you walked your talk - how you made them feel important and valued. 

This costs nothing - but make a huge impact - so try it out today for your business.

From resistance to acceptance

I have noticed recently that many of our coaching clients or attendees at our workshops have one issue in common:  they are resisting something.

It might be taking the first step towards a new project, dealing with a colleague who has a different approach to working or making some sort of change in their lives.  Because of this resistance, they might feel frustrated and angry and the issue consumes a large amount of their waking hours. 

Very often what I have helped them to do is reframe the situation and try to understand what is going on from another perspective.  Sometimes that can be extremely hard to do - especially if its resistance related to the behaviour of another person, because it means you have to step into their shoes and view the situation differently. What I have noticed is that when they realise that acceptance does not have to mean agreement - they can move on.   So think about it - what do you need to let go of today and move from resisting to accepting.  Three things can help you do this:

1.  View the situation from some other perspectives - what do other people notice is going on? what does that other person think about you? what would a fly on the wall think is really going on?

2. Accept that by taking an action it does not mean it has to be forever.   

3. Think about the positive benefits you will gain from accepting the situation.

Try it and see what happens - you will be amazed - no more stress!

Variety is the spice of life...and work

This week has been very stimulating in that it brought a variety of interesting activities.  They ranged from a keynote presentation delivered to a blue chip company at three hours notice to attending the launch of a new financial and lifestyle management concept at the quirky venue, Sketch in London and trying out their interesting concept of pod bathrooms! 

We also held our first meeting of the London Chapter of Women President's Organisation, and what an interesting group of business women we have!  This is shaping up to provide a monthly dose of inspiration and learning for all involved.

I even managed to record my second podcast on the topic of motivation. It includes my four rules for keeping motivated at work, and maybe I should have added another one- variety...because it does make for a more lively week. 

Download the podcast here "Motivating Yourself for Success in Business"  (MP3 format) 5 minutes duration

Where are the women?

I regularly meet loads of women business owners and have recently been required to trawl through my database of contacts to find businesses in certain sectors: couriers, office furniture retailers, security, market research and recruitment.

If you are a woman business owner in one of these sectors or you know of one, please let me know their details as soon as possible because I know of some interesting potentially lucrative opportunities for you.

Eliminating the Chatterbox

Recently I had a real panic at work when I had to be two places at once, and it meant finding someone else to be "me" at the last minute.  I thought carefully and then asked a business contact of mine, whom I know pretty well and she rose to the challenge amazingly well.  I asked her afterwards for feedback and she admitted that if she had been given time to think about things, she would probably have talked herself out of doing it. However, she ended up making a split second decision to help out and consequently did a fabulous job. What is it that you could be talking yourself out of trying?  The "chatterbox" in our heads that Susan Jeffers talks about in Feel the Fear and do it anyway, sometimes needs to be turned down so that we allow ourselves to achieve more than we thought was possible. So, how loud is your internal chatterbox?

Celebrating International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day! It was first celebrated in 1911 and of now it is celebrated all over the world with many events being held.

I must admit it has never really been on my calendar as a must-do celebration, and was surprised when my husband, who is originally from Russia, reminded me about it.  It was, and still is a big deal there because it was due to the Russian women striking for "bread and peace" in response to the death of over 2 million Russian soldiers in the first World War that yielded a positive result.  The women were opposed by political leaders but continued to strike until the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. So it  is a reminder of what women can, and have achieved over the years. Enjoy the day!

Some interesting women's websites

International Women's Day website

WE magazine for women

SBTV - Womens Channel

Diva-Biz

European Federation of Black Women Business Owners

Thinking Big from the Start

If you are thinking of growing a business you need to have belief, capability and contacts and this is the same for both men and women.  However, there are some reasons why women find it more difficult and I explore these in my first podcast (5 minutes duration).  Have a listen and let me know if you agree or not.

Download growth.mp3