Talk about your plans

When you talk to someone who is NOT close to your business and try to explain your business plans, by hearing yourself talk out loud you will understand where you aren’t clear.

Talk it through and you’ll realize your blind spots.

Can you explain your plans clearly to an outsider?

You cant get to the horizon

There’s always another challenge, another mountain to climb, another higher goal…that will never change.

Celebrate where you are now.

"A lot of work – but I love it!"

A friend of mine who owns a business had an entrepreneurial rebirth recently.  He is doing things differently and making lots of progress.  

He said to me “It’s a lot of work but I am loving the adventure!”

I told him that it sounded like he was doing it right then!

Are you learning and growing and loving your adventure?

Who's side are you on?

Are you on the company’s side or the employees’ side?

Are you creating or supporting division?

A good leader/manager makes the lines disappear, and serves the best interest of all simultaneously.

If you don't want change, they don't need you

You’re a leader?  What change do you want/are you trying to bring about?

If you don’t want something different than what it’s like now, your leadership is not necessary.

So? 

A body with no mind.

You hired someone and they show up.  You never ask them to think, to solve problems, or for their ideas.  (Worse you criticize their ideas, and micromanage them, and tell them to come to you with every question.)

What happens?  Their body shows up to work, but not their mind.

Aren’t you paying for the whole person?  

Your mistake.  How do you fix it?

(In some businesses it could be the opposite – the mind shows up but not the body…physical tasks are shunned -“get someone to do that”.  Same thing – engage the whole person!) 

Annual income goal / 2000

What is your annual income goal?

Divide that by 2000 hours.  That’s what it is per hour.

Are you doing anything that is not worth that much?

Well, that’s why you aren’t making your goal.

Right?

Should you (the leader) really be doing that?

(This advice is for entrepreneurs whose businesses have grown and now they have a team.)

Just because you are good at something, does not mean you should be doing it.  In fact, too often doing what you are good at just because you are comfortable doing it, prevents you from doing higher value leveraged activities that only the leader could do/initiate that will really move the needle.

So, think about what you had planned to do today.  Is it something you have done lots of times before?

You doing it again is probably holding you back from scaling your business.

The 5:00 Exodus

Do people pack up at 4:45, and pretend to be doing something, watching the clock, and are pulling out of the parking lot at 5:01?

If your team can’t wait for the day to be over, they probably can’t wait for the job to be over either.

What did YOU (the leader) do wrong?

How are you going to fix your mistake?

How to get people to feel good about you

Smile at them.  When you smile sincerely, people smile back.  When people use the facial muscles that make a smile, it sends a message to the brain – “I am happy”.  When the brain gets the message, it releases the feel good drugs from the onboard pharmacy, and they feel good.

So, when you smile at someone, they feel good about you and they associate good feelings to you.  If they associate good feelings to you, they are more likely to engage, work hard to be valuable, follow you and be there if you need an extra favor.

Is it that simple.  Yes.

Advanced leadership technique – smile at your team members.