Your 360 Degree Road To Success

Dear readers, I have been quite busy over the past year but the good news is that I am back. I hope you enjoy reading some of the ideas we have regarding the development of a 360 degree road to success. As always we welcome your feedback and comments.

Leading by Example or Walking the Talk are key ingredients needed to build a strong, trusting relationships within any organization. Just like the roads and buildings you create as part of a unique infrastructure to support and sustain life, relationships are a key ingredient in the foundation of a successful business..

We all want to be good leaders, and it not is not always obvious how to make the changes needed to strengthen the road you are on. What got you to where your business is today might not transport you to where you want the business to go in the future. Sometimes the very behavior that needs to change is what resulted in your decision to place people into the role they have today or even resulted in the reason you are in the role you have as a business owner. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Maybe taking a 360 degree look all around you might give you some ideas on what to do to become someone to follow. Once you decide to take that step and are really willing to change then the question to ask yourself is 'What do I need to change and how do I go about really walking the talk?'

Step One: Feedback
Getting honest, open feedback, from people around you can be acquired in several ways. One of the ways is an anonymous assessments that is designed to give you feedback from four important perspectives:

 

• How you see yourself
• How the person to whom you report to see's you
• How your peers and your direct reports or even clients perceive you
• Each group responds anonymous through a web based assessment tool that is  easy to administer.

Alternatively you can ask for verbal feedback from the same group if you feel you have developed a strong relationship. One note of caution about this method: unless you have a really good working relationship with people, and until you have demonstrated your willingness to accept this kind of feedback in a positive light, you may find people are hesitant or even dishonest. Only honest answers are going to help you become aware of how well you walk the talk.

Whichever method you use to build your awareness, always be open-minded and truly willing to listen. Accept the feedback at face value. Remember, it  is their perception and for good or for bad perception determines reality in their eyes. You may not see the same thing from your perspective but thank everyone for providing you with feedback because it takes courage for them as well as you to be open about this type of process.

Step Two: Set a Goal

Once you are aware, and you decide to do something about it, this step will enable you to clarify in your own mind what you intend to do about the situation. Ensure that the goal you set is measurable, and has a clear, expected results. The goals you set should clearly define in terms of what behavior will be different. How you and others observe this change creates the measurable aspect of the goal. You may become aware of the need to have better relationships with some of your coworkers, so in this case the goal you create might look something like this:

           

My goal is to improve my relationship with people I work with by the end of the second quarter of 2013.

Next define in a list  the expected results that you would like to achieve this is step three.

Step Three: Defining the Benefits for You

It is essential to identify the benefits of achieving the goal because each of us do things for a reason and if the benefit is not present or strong enough the likely hood of you completing the process may not happen. Make a list of the key benefits for you.  

Step Four: The Action Plan

Goals have enormous value and are the antecedents to getting results. Goals fire up the engine but without developing and working on action steps, the engine remains at idle. The action steps put the engine into gear so that you can move forward and get results. Goals clarify what you want to achieve, and an action plan tells you, step by step, how you are going to achieve it. Let's use the goal we came up with in Step Two to see what this could look like:

Goal Intent: To improve my relationship with people I work with by the end of the second quarter of 2013.

Possible actions steps;

 

• Check my work load before agreeing to a deadline.
• Schedule time in my week to manage the projects we have committed to complete.
• Always check what commitments I have for the week, and in particular a few days in advance, and let people know if I will have problems meeting deadlines.
• Learn to say no if other time commitments don't allow my involvement
• When things don't go as planned, stop before reacting. Spend time thinking through what needs to be done to correct the situation.
• Ask people for a one-on–one meeting to privately address issues.

In summary leading by example seems so simple, and yet it is something many leaders struggle with constantly. The most important thing to remember is that unless we ask others to tell us how we are doing, our perception and their reality may be two entirely different things. The lack of awareness and the unwillingness to change is what holds people back. As leaders on the road to success each of us has a responsibility to help the people we work with to grow and develop. This requires a level of honesty and openness in our relationships. If we are not giving and willing to receive constructive feedback and constantly work to better ourselves, we are working against the success of the business. As the old adage says: 'If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. So take a leap of faith and have the courage to grow and develop yourself by taking the first step. Ask for feedback and then plan to do something about the perceptions people have about you. Do you have the audacity to be the master of your 360 degree road to success? We look forward to your feedback and welcome your questions.

Are you ready to begin with the end in mind?

I meet so many business owners who want to make a change in their business but do not know where to start. So I say maybe you need to stop thinking about what you want now and start thinking about what you want five years in the future and work back.

We all get bogged down in the day-to-day constraints and as a result do the same thing over and over. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Imagine you were five years in the future – you have gone through some tough times and now all that hard work has paid off.

• What does your business look like? Take the time to describe your ideal business.
• If you were to sell or transfer your business what would it be worth?
• Why would anyone be interested in taking the business over?
• What do you need to get the business ready for sale?

Studies show that 7 out of 10 business owners do not have a plan for the future.
Here is my challenge to you. Think of your own list of questions and then work backwards in time. The process might just help you to move forward.

Expect the best.

Are you ready to take our Want to, Need to and Can do Quiz?

* Want to do - Every leader has aspirations for their organization. So what is it you want?
* Need to do – Since we are not able to do all that we want to do, you need to look for ways to resolve the conflicts between the want and can.
* And let’s face it, in this crazy world where we work and play, what we can do is a factor.

Can we find a way to harness our wants, needs and abilities to leverage results? More and more, organizations are discovering that they need to proactively move to the future, because the environment is changing more rapidly and leaders need more time to react. Proactive leaders estimate how their environment will change in the future and consequently change the direction of their organization. Basically you start acting and behaving like a designer.

Therefore, now is the time to understand what you want to do, what you need to do and what the organization can do.

What a great way to drive your success towards the future.

KFC Challenge

Are you ready to take our KFC challenge?

* Know what you want.
* Find out what you are getting.
* Change what you do until you get what you want.

Would it surprise you to learn that most business owners have never taken the time to consider what KFC means to them? As a result many of them are not getting the things they want personally or professionally.

These three questions can be applied to any problem that you are looking to address. For example: Many companies want loyal and productive employees. But what they are actually getting is a mixture of results and inconsistencies.

So what would you need to change in order to get what you want? Maybe it is your leadership style? Studies have shown that Leadership has a direct impact on the success of a business.

So go out and get what you want! Take the KFC challenge.

Cash/KASH

Coaching is like having a spring board to propel your business to new levels. Are you looking for ways to generate more Cash? Did you know that you already have the KASH you need.

Knowledge
Attitude
Skills
Habits

In French –Connaissances, Attitude, Savoir-faire, Habitude

Knowledge
Did you know that the sum of your knowledge, your education, and your experience is what enables you to do what you do? How skilled are you at making use of this ability?

Attitude
Attitude is your way of thinking and your approach of thinking. For example when you are faced with a challenge, do you say to yourself “I can do this’ or do you say "I am unable to do this”. Your attitude can hold back or spring board you beyond the limits of most people. How skilled are you at controlling your attitude?

Skills
We all have a variety of skills to meet the objectives of the business but leadership enables you to connect and deal effectively with people. How would you rate your Leadership skills?

Habits
We need to have effective habits that enable us to focus our time and energy and on the high payoff activities that get the greatest results.

Now may be a great time to top up your cash account!

Now is your chance to change your history

I was reading the book Disciplined Dreaming by Josh Linker recently and it was another great reminder of how important it is to continually challenge your business model. If you are not tinkering with your business at least once a week, sooner or later one of your competitors will start to tinker with you.
Lets face it, your competitors are probably not actively plotting to take market share or business from you but if you are not actively expanding your creative vision you could wake up one morning and fine someone else has implemented your dream.

Complacency is not an option. Every day a new business opens and an old one closes. So you need to take control and be the one with the audacity to decide what the future will be and not wait until circumstances force you to a corner. You have to be disciplined enough to spend time working on your business while working in your business.

‘Today is tomorrow’s yesterday’ - take a moment to let this really sink in. You are in fact living your past today. Now is your chance to influence and change your history today. Think about it.

In a recent news story on business management, it was suggested that you “Think like a designer”. Good designers look at the world with a different viewpoint and awareness. They have unique views that enable them to come up with new products and innovations. They tend to think about people, not just customers. For every one new product they come up with, they have four more on the drawing board waiting to be launched. As an example I have never seen a survey asking if I needed an iPod or needed the ability to text messages. Please let me know if you have. These things did not just happen but just appear on the market overnight and became indispensable. They came about through a plan carefully developed, implemented and adjusted as required. Designers move beyond asking what customers want and think they need. They create something that they feel people will yearn for. You could say that is a risky but essential way of doing business.

How do you begin such a process? One way might be to work with a business coach who can help you to explore multiple ideas. Help you to tap into your creative side in order to establish potential future trends in your particular area of business. You could also hire innovative and inventive people that have the ability to look at things upside down instead of right-side-up. Another way might be to get out in the world, scrutinize and observe what people do. We have to move beyond the traditional thinking constraints we all have. We have to see through what people tell us they need (or think they need) and start to really observe what they are actually doing and how it is accomplished. You might be quite surprised to learn how the need and actual the end-result is accomplished differ and how large the gap is between what they say, what they are actually doing and how they are doing it. Many of us are too focused on the present but the designers who live in the mystery of the future can foresee the future needs. They live by credo ‘Yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery, today is a gift, which is why today is called the present".

To all business owners reading this article my challenge to you will be to take advantage of this great gift that is the present we all have and start crafting what people will need tomorrow by stepping out of your current beliefs to start thinking like a designer.

Call to action;
The question you need to answer after reading this article is,
• What will you start doing differently tomorrow? And how do you propose to keep score?
• Are you capable of being a disruptive force of change? In order to bring out the best you can be and the best your employees can be.
• Can you or your employees do one thing differently that would drive the business results to a new level over the next 6 to 12 months? Remember it takes 60 to 90 days for the change to be internalized your quit line will need to be longer than most of the people your know.

In one business we worked with, the owner was doing twice as much as the employees. She was working 60 to 70 hours a week and had no time to take any vacation. Today she works more on her business and less in the business as a result of developing improved leadership skills that have enabled her to tap into her employees’ underused potential - a seemingly impossible task only a few years ago. She is now able to take a three week vacation twice a year and everyone contributes to the overall business objectives. Each person is working not only on delivering services; they are now acting in the best interest of the business and the customers. Interdependencies have been developed and along with the owner, they have become an integral part of the business.

For this type of change to happen one must be open-minded enough to allow employees the opportunity to bring ideas to the monthly team meetings that contribute towards overall short tern and long term strategy. The employees who work with the customers, in turn, listen to the customers and what they are looking for and want. Prior to the change turnover was high and very little communication to take place. Remember that what can differentiate you business from another are those breathless moments in time that all customers and you as a customer yearn for. What to learn we are just a phone call away. Expect the best from tac-coaching.com

‘Today is tomorrow’s yesterday’

In a recent news story on business management, it was suggested that you should “Think like a designer”.

Good designers look at the world with a different perception and have unique views that enable them to come up with new products and innovations. They tend to think about people, not just customers. Think about it.
I have never seen a survey asking, if I needed an iPod or the ability to text messages. Please let me know if you have?
These things did not just happen they came about through a plan and strategy.

Designers move beyond asking what customers want and think they need and then they create something that they feel people will yearn for. You could say that’s a risky way of doing business or is it?

So how do you begin such a process? One way might be to look outside the box you have created and start to hire innovative and creative people that have the ability to look at things upside down instead of right-side-up. Another way might be to get out in the world and watch what people do. We have to move beyond the traditional, thinking constraints we all have. We have to move beyond what people tell us they need and start to observe what they are doing. You might be quite surprised to learn, how they differ and how large the gap is between what they say and the actual do. Many of us are too focused on the present but the designers live in the in the mystery of the future. "Yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery, today is a gift, which is why today is called the present".

So my challenge to you will be to take advantage of this great gift that is the present we all have and start to design what people will need tomorrow by stepping out of your current beliefs, to think like a designer.

I look forward to your feedback
Expect the best