How To Build Employee Motivation

It's really important when it comes to nurturing and growing staff, companies don't cut corners and imagine employees will put a plan of action together for their own self growth, but take responsibility and invest in their people.

One of the roles of a business coach is to make changes to the way your business operates from a person point of view. An important aspect of the coaching process is to incite employee motivation.

Indeed, it can prove a costly mistake to focus simply on a clear vision and strategies for business success without considering how your also grow the people within your business. Successful businesses take steps to ensure that they have a strong business strategy but many times they get stuck in a rut and equally their employees get stuck in the same rut with them, too.

A qualified business coach can teach you and your employees how to develop new strategies that are not only going to improve productivity but also going to make everyone feel as though they are working as team player, for the same side. (read more)

Why?

When training new coaches, I suggest they take 'why' questions out of their repertoire, at least for a while, and only to put them back in when they know how to use them more sparingly, with greater effect. This is also true for most of us, in that we ask 'why' far too much because:

1. It's one of those easy, over used questions we ask when we can't think of a better question.

2. 'Why' questions usually emanate from childhood - can you remember asking an adult 'why, why, why, why...' before finally they replied tersely 'just because'? As an adult, we should use a broader range of questioning techniques, such as 'what/how/when' that invite a broader answer.

3. Asking a 'why' question can often prompt a justification type answer from the other person. There are times in life when having to justify ourselves is relevant, however in normal, relaxed conversation 'why' can put someone on the defensive, having to justify, when that was needed.

'Why', whilst being a small word, is very strong, and as such should be treated with respect and only used when truly needed. One such time, when 'why' can be a brilliant catalyst for understanding, growth and change, is in business planning. (more)

Business Coaching: Helping Business Out of Recession

The effects of economic recession have been intense on businesses around the world, making it tough for businesses of all sizes to succeed and in many cases even keep their head above water.

Still, there are many businesses that have managed to come out of the recession untouched. However, these are the businesses that have found new and innovative methods of fighting the recession.

One of these innovative resources is hiring a business coach to help them learn new coping skills and find creative solutions to their business problems.

During a recession businesses need to do a reality check and find opportunities to make their business run more effectively and efficiently in all areas.

A qualified business coach can helps a client recognize that it’s not just the managers in a company who need to change the way they approach the business, but employees at all levels need to modify their way of thinking so that everyone benefits from the coaching process (more)

Hello World, Welcome Universe

I'm a big believer in karma, what I refer to as 'the law of the universe'. You must have heard the phrases, 'what goes around comes around', 'what you give is what you get', and from The Bible, 'as you sow, so you shall reep'.

For me, it's just the way it is. Never 'a trade' - the universe is smarter and more subtle than that.

Some of the best business advice I was given years ago was that 'we'll never be as successful by ourselves as we could have been working with other people'. When I heard that, my questions changed. From then on I asked who could I work with and contribute to?

Once I got clear, I got in touch, and the rest as they say, is history. In a very short time my whole business life took the first of many giant leaps forward.

An idea that follows this, and that I share when training (I did an event for coaches this weekend in London), is that once we find our 'flow', so the universe will offer extra opportunities and adventures along the way. Whether they were there all along and we simply didn't notice before, or they are indeed new opportunities now, is unimportant. The point is; they are there.

Ask yourself the following questions - they're designed to help:

1. To what degree would you say you're working within your 'flow' now?
2. What could you do to get or increase that alignment this week?
3. Who do you imagine is in a similar flow, and how can you contribute to their experience?

...and if you're wondering if this can work in business, THIS IS BUSINESS!

Wishing you a fabulous week.

Mind Feed

I remember reading what American real estate mentor Russ Whitney meant by the term 'mind feed' a few years ago.

Basically, as we feed our body with the most balanced and nutritional diet we can, as that (along with other components such as keeping fit, etc) will have an effect on the quality of life and energy we then enjoy. So, with mind feed it's the same premise: how and with what we feed our mind will have a direct impact to the quality of life, and success, we experience.

As a trainer, I mention books, educational and motivational DVDs and movies, quality conversation, debate, travel - the list is endless.

Workshops are a great way to feed the mind, as on the one hand they stimulate with the content, and also stretch because we can often be at a workshop with other people we didn't previously know. Since we humans are sociably creatures, this is one of the main, added bonus factors of why workshops work so well.

Today I'm attending Triumphant Event's 'Unleash Your Power of Influence' with speakers including YoSushi founder Simon Woodroffe, and Coco De Mer founder, Sam Rodick.

Will give you an overview of the day's events later.

In he meantime, have a great day, and be aware of how you need to fed your mind today!

Who's Story Is It Anyway?

Do you remember your first date?

Did the other person talk about themselves all the time - how great they are, how they feel, what they think, what tricks they'd taught their pet, where they live, what an amazing holiday they went on last summer, them, them, them, yawn, yawn, yawn and so on? And you thought, 'Stop! Enough!!'

How was the 2nd date? There wasn't one?! What a surprise...

Following on from the last few blog posts, I want you to consider how you communicate when networking or selling your service/product? Do you, even inadvertently, end up talking about yourself and your services to the point when you leave you can't even remember what the other person said/did or why they were there?

It's easy to do. When nervous or in a new environment one safety mechanism is to switch into story telling mode - our story; what I call our 'yada, 'yada, yada'.

Feeling special is a basic human need. So how special do you think listening to you, you, you all night makes someone else feel? And to be more specific, is the 'yada, yada, yada' approach more, or less likely to result in a new quality contact, lead or sale?

A better approach to have when networking is the 'I want to find out about you, you, you'.

During this week's blog posts I'll be looking at how you can develop this more successful approach and implement it in your real life networking situations.

Wishing you a great week ahead.

Tactics for Surviving the Recession and Thriving In Business

No matter how much we may wish it were otherwise, the reality is that the economy is still only bumping along, barely out of recession.

This means that not only you, but your employees also, may well be worried and concerned about what the short to medium term future holds.

As a business coach, I’m finding that people and their companies are increasingly employing me to help them build a strategy, which very much involves planning for ‘life after recession’, and making sure their company emerges intact and able to flourish.

What follows are a few tactics and tips business coaching can bring and that can give your business the boost it needs. Click here to read the full article.

6 Top Tips For Better Networking

One of the most effective ways to build any business is to network. Whether you're a new business start-up, an entrepreneur, work in sales within a large organisation, or want to move on to 'the next level' within whatever company your in, to nurture, take time with, and grow your network will pay dividends every time.

As a BNI member, and having attended everything from Chambers of Commerce, Business Link, and many more business networking gatherings through the years, I can say that so much of my business as well as other oftentimes unexpected opportunities have come my way via nurturing good relationships.

Here are my 6 top tips for better networking. See how well they work with you. Some may be better suited than others for your situation. Once you've given them a run, let me know how they worked for you.

1. Be ready to engage with regular AND new contacts. Get yourself in your networking 'zone' before you arrive. It's better to be saying 'I'm really looking forward to this', rather than 'I'm just not in the mood this week'. Only be there if you genuinely want to be.
2. Have an objective; what do you want to leave the event having achieved or saying to yourself?
3. Keep body language open and engaged, e.g. open groups of 2's and 3's, arms unfolded, agreeing, interested gestures will encourage others to come join you. Closed huddles with someone you feel safe with will discourage others to interact.
4. Give a 'flavoured' answer. When someone asks how you are, never reply with a simple 'fine/okay/good/bad/so so' etc. These replies are at best conversation closers - they give very little for the other person to hook on to. A more flavourful answer would be 'fabulous/amazing/oh my gosh/oh yes, and so much more' (with body language to match). Because your feeling is amplified and isn't the usual 'okay' or 'could be better' it'll cause the other person's body language to match, and they'll want to find out what you meant by that.
5. Have easily accessible business cards. No business cards...still at the printers...don't believe in them? Then don't be there!  This is networking, so be professional and have easily accessible business cards to give away freely.
6. Wear your name tag! A name tag is to make it easier for you to be approached by others - believe it or not the other person might be even more nervous about saying 'hello' than you! Wear you name tag with pride.

Knowing If Your Glass Is Half Full, Or Half Empty

Talking as I do with many people in businesses large and small it's always interesting to notice the correlation between the state of their business and their state of mind, or to be more exact, their point of view.

Whilst external reality, what's happening in the greater world (business, economy, social issues) is for the most part a fact, how we choose to deal with that reality is completely up to us. This is where having a 'glass half full', or 'glass half empty' attitude can make such a difference on the results you enjoy.

Writer Stephen Covey, in his book '7 Habits of Highly Effective People', refers to these areas as our 'circle of influence' and 'circle of concern' - one we have ownership of and can change, the other for the most part, we can't. People with a glass half empty point of view are probably spending the majority of their time in the 'circle of concern' and consequently expending their energy on things they probably can't change.

Redressing the balance to spend the majority of your time in your 'circle of influence' will put you in a far more 'can do' frame of mind. Former statements such as 'can't change this' become questions like 'what else can I do about this?' A more empowering place to be, I'm sure you'll agree.

Sneak Preview of New eProgramme

I'm very excited as the artwork for my new eProgramme 'Make Life Work - The Art of Epic Thinking' is now complete, and I wanted you to be the first to see it!!

The programme is just going through final proofing and will be launched in the next few days.

It'll be my most in depth programme to date, and runs to more than 160 pages containing the latest cutting edge concepts in Performance Coaching, Time Line and NLP designed to Make Life Work in the best way you want it to.

In short, it's a blueprint for success.

There will be two options to choose:

1. The eProgramme as a 'study-at-home' resource.
2. The eProgramme plus a personal 90 minute coaching session - telephone or face-to-face (in London) to really hit the ground running.

More info in the next day or two, and of course links to my site when the programme is ready for you to download.

Wishing you a brilliant day!

'Yes We Can, but...' (Part 2)

In America, it's the morning after the night before. All the people, including the President are waking up to a new political reality, one that will affect all of them and the wider world beyond.

With a new political landscape comes a fresh opportunity, to work together.

Thinking back to President Obama's campaign for the Oval Office, one message rang out as the banking crisis and economic gloom beckoned; the need for consensus and dialogue throughout politics..

Whilst that really didn't happen, what comes now with the House of Representatives becoming majority Republican, is a new mandate from the people; for both parties to communicate.

For all President Obama's obvious ability as a speaker able to inspire a nation, he has also earned the mantle of appearing aloof and indecisive with his contemporaries.

Let's hope now he, his government and the Republicans can learn to communicate for the greater good.

As an optimist, I believe they can and will.

'Yes We Can, But...'

For such a savvy President, who only two years ago utilized the power of modern communication via social media, demonstrating a refreshing ability to tap into the collective mood of a nation and explain complex issues simply, Barack Obama has stuffed up big time!

Even his greatest election phrase, 'yes we can', has now become a moment of ridicule, when quoting his recent comment, 'yes we can, but...'

This is very sad. The President promised a clean slate with the passed, a recent history many Americans and those in the wider world wanted to leave behind. Now, it seems many Americans are considering parting with this new direction, even though only two years into this new term, a one term lame duck Presidency seems more than a possibility.

As an NLP & Coach Trainer, I work in the area of communication - often called in to a company to figure out what is really going on.

And the reality is quite common to many companies & leaders in this present age; whilst there have never been so many opportunities to engage with and motivate using media of all kinds, knowing what to say, and crucially how to say it well seems to have been left by the wayside.

Clean language, saying it the way you want it, is essential - in business and in politics. Check out my article 'Clean Language' to get a better idea by clicking here.

Finally, if any of you know the President, he would thank you for buying him a copy of one of my most successful online courses, 'Communication Skills Upgrade - Saying It The Way You Want It'.

Available for only £24.97 (that's around $40US), reading it really could have turned around his campaign quicker than saying 'tea party'!

If you want to get the course now click here.

By-the-way, a simple technique President Obama could have used to avoid the corruption of his 'yes we can' phrase would have been if he'd have said, 'yes we can, and...'. One word would have made ALL the difference.

How Well Do You Listen?

As a coach & business trainer one of the most important skills to develop is level three listening skills. As a business owner and networker, you also need to have brilliant listening skills, including level three listening, simply because you will hear, and be heard more - and with those skills you will be able to identify and provide an even better quality of business.

• Level 1 listening is where you simply have a conversation, listening to the other person only enough for you to then continue saying what you want to say, or sell what you want to sell. In level one listening, you attach your own meaning to what they are saying.

• Level 2 listening requires you to actually listen to the other person and respond to their worries, points of view and outlook on the world. With level two listening, you ask for clarification - what they mean by what they've just said.

• Level 3 is where you are not only ‘plugged in’ to what they are saying, but also listening for clues as to what they are not saying. Levels 1 & 2 give you the opportunity to address what is brought to the table in a conversation, and level 3 enables you to understand what may not have been said.

Quick steps to develop level 3 listening

1. ALWAYS begin conversation in level 1, and move through level 2 and towards level 3. Never go straight for level 3 – you’ll freak the person you're speaking to out!
2. A level 1 question is the usual ‘how you doing’ introductory type question.
3. Level 2 are the clarifying questions to understand the other person better e.g: ‘Tell me what you mean by confidence/motivation/feeling flat/need encouraging’ (with level 1 listening you’d simply attach your own meaning, which might not be what they meant).
4. Level 3 is where you feed back what they’ve said, paraphrasing, and looking for agreement…or disagreement. You’re also noticing body language and tonality and checking congruency, e.g:

• ‘I’m noticing a little movement here…’
• ‘I’m sensing there’s shifting sand, am I right?’
• So, if there was a fly in the ointment right now, what would it be?’

Developing level 3 listening skills will help you understand and know more about the people you network and do business with, and most importantly, those same people will know that you really listen to them – and that will separate you from everyone else they meet.