How To Become Unfireable – Part Five: Focus.

Everyone makes this mistake. Everyone. So don't feel bad.   We get caught up with all of our work.

Our regular tasks and duties. Old projects. Favors for your friends.

And then a new project comes along. You panic — how are you going to fit this in?

A client of mine once wrote me: “Rich — I don’t know what to do! Every time my phone rings, or when I open my email, or when I go to a meeting, my workload grows exponentially. I am currently huddled in my office with a list of to-do’s that will choke a horse!”

He then emailed me a week later (after our session): “OMG — it’s like night and day. I now have a solid list of actionable tasks which are prioritized and with stated deadlines. I’ve tossed or re-scheduled all of the lower-tier tasks — I feel amazing! Thank you RICH!” 

A smart executive regularly reviews their workload and eliminates, retires, and puts on hold those tasks, activities and projects deemed low tier.

Here's the rub — most people don't do this. They try to do everything and they don't do it very well. They hoard (I love that word) — hoard their projects like Scrooge McDuck and are afraid to let any of them get away.

You need to look at your workload like a lifeboat. It only fits 10 people. If another person wants to come aboard, someone has to go. You don't pick the most healthy, important, and vital person — you pick someone who is sickly and causing the most strife.

Frequently assess which ones are:

• Exposure - how many people will this affect? How will you benefit when it's done?
• Impact - how many people really use this? Is it just your pipe-dream or something you like to do?
• Importance - how critical is it to the inner workings or success of the company?

Candidly, when your boss is taking a look at their team, they view the IMPORTANT deliverables first. They account for all the high-exposure projects — the mover and shaker initiatives first.

So start throwing some projects overboard. Today.

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. If you're having problems with timing at work, let's talk. This is one of the main areas I tackle first with all of my clients. If you’re not a client . . . grab your spot now before all the spots for October are taken. Time is getting short.

How To Become Unfireable – Part Four: Use Your Peripherals Pal!

Most executives tend to keep to themselves. They go to meetings. They interact with their clients. They even give a presentation or two. They feel their work will deliver success, money and notoriety.

Guess what? It's not enough - they're not even close!

Start standing out from the crowd. Be noticed. Have your work seen by the right people at the right time. Use your PERIPHERALS and start seeing the hidden opportunities out there.

YOU NEED TO MARKET YOURSELF.

How? Here are some tips:

#1. Broadcast your ideas. Stop messing with all the tactical stuff — think what is going to happen with your company, marketplace, or product in 6, 12 and 26 months in the future. Brainstorm with others about what you’re thinking. Put a presentation together and present it to people who matter. Get those creative juices flowing!

#2. Stick you head above the cubicle. Look around — what’s happening in your office, in your neighborhood, your marketplace, the world? If you worked for bookstores, record shops, newspapers . . . you should have seen this coming YEARS ago. But most people stick their heads in the sand. Start using your peripherals — who’s moving up, who’s going out of business, who’s getting fired, who’s making the big bucks?

#3. Go where the important people go. This is a big one — mingle with the big boys and girls. If you are an executive, have lunch with them — see how they think, tell them your ideas, mingle! If you own your own business — stop trying to go through intermediaries to get your next client or customer. Go where they go and mingle with them! If you are targeting high-income earners — hit charities, country clubs, salons, gyms — anywhere they might be.

Stick your head into the clouds - start thinking and acting that way!

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW.

P.S. If you want to learn HOW to develop a clearer vision of your upward career path, let's talk. Current clients already know this (and they have it built into their action plans). If you’re not a client . . . grab your spot now before all the spots for October are taken.

How To Become Unfireable – Part Three: It's About Time.

“Life is all about timing... the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable become available, the unattainable... attainable." - Stacey Charter Unless you've been living under a rock lately, the business world has been turned upside down and all the rules of the marketplace have changed.

How do you stay alive and kicking? TIMING helps.

I've spoken in front of thousands of executives and the number one question I hear is:

"How do I get everything done? It seems I have no more time."

TIMING'S THREE KILLER MEASURES

1. Length - How long do you spend doing work?
2. Breadth - How much do you do?
3. Depth - How deep you dig into what you do?

LENGTH

Come in early or stay late, it's that simple. Do both and your killing yourself and your life. Do neither and your heading for the unemployment line. Trust me.

I'm an early bird. I got up at 4:30, hit work by 6-6:30, and got in 2.5 hours of extra focus before everyone trundled in by 9-9:30. I left at 5:00 sharp (unless there was an emergency) and did some final catch-up work on the train (30 minutes).

Result: I added an extra 15 hours of work in every week. BAM!

BREADTH

What are your key responsibilities and projects? Which ones aren't? It's that simple — streamline your project load and determine which ones will move you up and which ones are holding you back. You need to be tough on yourself.

Most people whine and moan about their workload because it's too big. Sit down and analyze all of your projects and responsibilities. Then cut the bottom 20%. Odds are they are dragging you down, filling your mind (and your calendar), and will never amount to anything.

DEPTH

How deep do you go within each project or task? How much do you do compared to what you delegate?

"By the time I instruct someone how to do it, I could've done it myself." I hear this all the time. This is death of your job calling.

Use people and technology to help you delegate simpler tasks. High performing executives are good at it — low-performing ones aren't.

Stop being a perfectionist. Every deliverable doesn't need to be perfect. You don't need to deliver perfection every time — it just needs to be DONE. Most of my clients see a 20-30% increase in time and efficiency once they realize this fact.

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. If you're having problems with timing at work, let's talk. This is one of the main areas I tackle first with all of my clients. If you’re not a client . . . grab your spot now before all the spots for October are taken.

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs

How To Become ‘Unfireable’ – Part Two: Hustle.

I was listening to Zig Ziglar the other day in my Automobile University and his latest podcast touched a nerve: "In good times, there are people who do well and people who do badly. In bad times, there are people who do well and people who do badly. Step back and look at this . . . it's not the economy, it's YOU. The people who have the attitude and the drive do well."

I have another word for it: HUSTLE

HUSTLE is made up of these four qualities:

1. Drive - Develop the mental and physical force to move mountains
2. Enthusiasm - Develop an excitement for all you do
3. Attitude - Stay positive and never let things get you down
4. Focus - Stay clear on your goals and how to get to them

It's interesting our four qualities spell the word DEAF.

You need to be deaf to those who try to derail you from HUSTLING. Those who say:

• "You can't do that."
• "I hate this place (and you should too)."
• "That's not the right way to do it."
• "We don't do it that way here."
• "You're wrong, I'm right."

If I received a dollar for every time I heard one of these phrases during my 20 years in corporate, I would be an even richer man today. These people are all over the place and it's usually their job to tear you down, hold you back, and stop you so they can take your place.

TAKEAWAYS FOR YOUR CAREER

#1. Don't listen to the DERAILERS. Stay true and HUSTLE.

#2. When you get down, figure out what area of DEAF will energize you again.

#3. Keep HUSTLING. Develop behaviors to ensure you never stop.

How do you hustle on the job?

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. If you want to learn HOW to hustle more efficiently and effectively, let's talk. Current clients already know this (and they have it built into their action plans). If you’re not a client . . . grab your spot now before all the spots for October are taken.

How To Become 'Unfireable' - Part One: Dominate A Room.

One of my clients emailed me about what happened to them at work yesterday: "Rich - Remember my boss Jim? We were attending his weekly status meeting and it was my turn to speak. I took your advice about presenting to my audience and then to elevate the discussion to the 'meta-conversation' - what we're REALLY talking about.

 

Instantly it cut through all the BS and caught my boss' attention. He asked me to stay behind after everyone had left. He was impressed how I transformed the basic 'blah-blah' of everyone's status updates and honed in on what we really need to do as a team.

End result: He offered me a new project to tackle (with a new team to hire with mucho budget dollars).

I can't thank you enough for helping me take charge at work."

TAKEAWAYS FOR YOUR CAREER

#1. Understand the Meta-Conversation. What is the REAL conversation? What are people REALLY saying? We get so caught up in the status meeting fishing net - we attend, say our stuff, and try to get out ASAP.

#2. Listen closely. Try to understand what each person is really saying, feel if there are unseen connections or new observations. Hear how your boss is speaking.

#3. Collate and Sum Up. Assess all the connections and see if you can weave a new vision for where the issues, obstacles, numbers, projections, etc. are going. Observe the past/present and define the future.

#4. Deliver Swiftly. Take charge with facts. Instead of just sitting there checking your email, find the right moment and bring it all together. Your boss is always on the lookout for people of distinction — team members who are thinking out of the box and remind them of themselves.

I hope this story inspires you.

It CAN be done.

Stop bitching about work . . . and take inspired action.

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. There was ONE session that really changed my client's career. If you’re an Inside Track member, it’s the first mastermind we covered in August. If you’re not an IT member… grab your spot now before all the spots for September are taken.

5 Mistakes You Make With Business Cards.

They bring me business and success everyday. That's why they are ALWAYS in my left pocket. But most people either don't have them (shame on you) or if they do — have terrible ones. Here are some mistakes people make with business cards:

1. You forget them.

This is the biggest mistake — your card is your brochure, your image, your information in a prospective client's hands — and you now blew it because you forgot your cards. In addition, you now feel uncomfortable because you might or might not get theirs, which is gold in any business or position. Always carry them with you . . . Everywhere. Keep them in your car, your desk, your briefcase.

2. They look awful.

When I hand out my card, I usually get the exclamation, "What a great card!" or "Who did this for you, it's incredible!". Does this happen to you? If not, you need to have your cards made by professionals. If you aren't creative, you need to hire a creative ASAP to design a logo and card for you. And then you need a qualified printer that will print a 'knock-it-out-of-the-park' card. Try 4by6.com or moo.com.

3. They don't have the RIGHT information.

The most important item is your image — the look of your card. What image are you trying to present to your clients? I am an executive and business coach — no flowers or crazy colors on my card (see mine below). Information is also critical — not too much or too little — here's my advice: a. Name of company (logo) b. Name (first & last, no middle name or initial) c. Title d. Phone Number (make it a direct line and say Direct) e. Email f. Address g. Web Site

4. You don't hand or receive them the right way.

So many people use business cards as an afterthought. I immediately ask for them within the first few minutes of meeting someone (or I offer my card). Why? It immediately gives me an opportunity to give them a compliment, it allows me to learn more about them, and it reinforces their name in my head so I can remember it. I usually receive the card and hold it with both hands and make a point of pausing for a few seconds and taking the time to really read the card. It can tell you a lot about that person and give you speaking trajectories to ask more questions — "I see you have an office in Hong Kong, do you travel there often?" "I see that your company is a subsidiary of Pixar, what is it like to work with them?" Most people just take the card and shove it into their pocket. Did you know it's an insult in some countries to shove the card in your pocket and not take the time to read it?

5. You do nothing with them once they hit your pocket.

The biggest mistake! You need to reach out to that person either later that day or the next day and thank them via email (or phone) about your meeting. Just a quick note reinforcing the tenets of your meeting will go so far in your career because most people don't do this. They take the card and forget about you. In addition, you need to immediately get that person's information in your contact system. So you can put them on your eBlast list or just in your phone/address list in case they call back - you then have their name appearing on your cell phone.

What mistakes do you make with business cards? What new ideas or techniques do you use to get your business card noticed?

How To Deliver Incredible PowerPoint Presentations.

There are so many bad ways to use PowerPoint (or Keynote if you own a Mac) when you deliver a presentation. Again, let's cut to the chase — here are my 5 Must Do's when it comes to delivering a presentation:

1. Know Your Material Feel free to glance up and see what slide you are on, but don't read the slide verbatim (the only caveat to this rule are quotations). The act of glancing at the slide allows your audience to follow your gaze to the slide, get the gist of the image/message, and then re-focus on you. These actions develop a great synergy between the presenter and the audience.
2. No Lecterns or Pedestals You need to reach out and touch your audience. Placing lecterns, tables, and stages between you and the audience separates you from them. You need to step out into the audience, get to their level, and move around. That will make your presentation much more powerful.
3. Act Naturally Animate yourself. Too many presenters try to act too cool. Move your hands, smile, raise your voice - presenting is ACTING. And the audience wants a performance. Make a powerful point.
4. Greet Attendees Prior To The Presentation Arrive really early - 1-2 hours and setup your entire presentation, LCD projector, laptop and make sure they work flawlessly. Then when the attendees arrive, mingle with them. Introduce yourself, learn their name, and learn a little about them. This is a trick I use to then incorporate their experiences into my presentation: "Take Tom from Tacoma, he's a used car salesman with a speech impediment . . ."
5. Pay Attention To Your Audience Regularly temperature check for attentiveness. If you begin seeing yawns, pick it up a bit - start calling names for examples. Get the room moving - constantly ask for questions - I ask "How am I doing so far? Have I lost anyone yet?" Your delivery should moderate to the audience - pick it up or slow it down.

As I said in my last post, my comments might sound harsh - but I am a highly discriminating audience. There are too many bad presenters (90% awful to 10% great) - so take these tips to heart and you will be one of the 10%. Good luck!

P.S. Again, feel free to agree or disagree with me (that's what the comments section is for) - I look forward to the discussion!

How To Always Make A Great First Impression.

“First impressions are often the truest. A man's look is the work of years; it is stamped on his countenance by the events of his whole life, nay, more, by the hand of nature, and it is not to be got rid of easily.” - William Hazlitt Absolutely. Every time.  

Whenever you are on an interview or meeting a client for the first time or entering a conference room with another department — first impressions COUNT.

• The way you look.
• The way you comport yourself.
• The way you smile and greet people.
• What you say.
• How you react to their response.

In about 5-10 seconds, you've already decided whether you like the person or not. Your opinion may change once you get to know them better, but your first impression will linger for a long time.

But here's something not said by most professionals: It's the successive mini-impressions that will solidify their first impression — and this is where most people screw up.

After the first 5-10 seconds, a first impression is generated. They've made a snap, emotional decision whether they like you and they begin to categorize you. Will you be a friend or enemy? Helpful or a drain? A resource or waste of time? A qualified applicant or another loser?

It's then the subsequent mini-impressions that make the difference:

• What comes out of your mouth.
• How you react to their questions or comments.
• How you take what they say and improve upon it.
• How you compliment/notice them.

Bottom line — you need to deliver maximum emotional intelligence and empathize with this person. Get your emotional antennae up, feel and listen.

The better you are in delivering a good first impression and then buttressing it up with successful mini-impressions, you'll hit a home run.

What do you do to deliver a good first impression? Have you ever started out badly and turned it around with successive mini-impressions?

Have You Shut Down?

"I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs." - Jesse Owens  Believe it or not, your career is just like running. Whether you work in corporate or own your own business, YOU are in control of where you go, what you do, who you work with, and how you do it. Disagree? Stick with me.

It all comes down to OPTIONS — how many doors do you have at your disposal to open when the time comes? When you want to make a change, when you want to make a move — are those doors there for you to open and step through?

If not — today is a great day to begin opening them.

Unfortunately, we tend to limit and close our doors frequently. What happens? We then feel closed in, no real direction, no opportunity for growth, and we get frightened. We shut down — we hide.

I've always said there are two states to your career — growing or shrinking. Which one are you? If your career or business is not growing, it's shrinking.

So how do you develop more options and doors in your life?

• Develop a plan. Not a 100-page plan, a one page plan.
• Get out and meet new people. At least 2-3 times a week.
• Start exposing yourself. To new ideas, new knowledge, new experiences.
• Get motivated. Re-fuel your motivation gas tank every day.

If you begin to see your career or business with a 'doors open' attitude, I promise you will begin to grow exponentially. Try it.

What do you do to get more options in your life? How do you open more doors?

Why Do Insurance Companies Think We're Idiots?

First off, I come from a marketing & advertising background (don't shoot me). So I can be quite critical of many marketing, advertising, and sales pitches. Lately, insurance companies have gone WAY overboard with their advertising. Some examples:

Progressive - Messy hair?

Farmers - Lint balls?

Geico - Smartphones?

State Farm - Falcons?

Okay — they might be funny — they might be memorable — but they insult my intelligence. 

Why am I freaking out with insurance companies on a Tuesday after Labor Day? I spent the weekend catching up on some programs (American Pickers) and the they were out in full force advertising after Hurricane Irene (in addition to generator commercials).

I'm not going to go into each commercial and pick out why each one was stupid or insulting. I'm just going to show you what we should see more of on TV — a sponsor who produces commercials who makes us think and possibly turn advertising into an art form:

It's visually inspiring, has a strong message, a great soundtrack and it let's the viewer come to their own conclusions about the product. Priceless.

What do you think? Do you hate the new spate of insurance commercials?

Lighten Up.

This has been and still is a hard week for the East Coast. For Connecticut, the hurricane wasn't that bad, but the aftermath slowly became more worse for wear. My power has been out since Sunday and even with a generator, it's been hard. Just taking a shower out of a small tub can be fraught with many incidental steps and procedures. Stepping on extension cords in bare feet is the worst — it hurts!

But you have to keep your sense of humor about you — a lighter side of your personality to help you get through each adversity as it comes along. It's not fun hitting the gas station every day with a trundle of gas cans to spend $60-$70 for the generator to run for 24 hours.

I use this as an example — we all hit some level and type of adversity in our lives. It's not really what happens — it's how we respond to it that matters.

Look on the bright side — instead of focusing on what you've lost — focus on what is now available to you. With cable, wi-fi, and most lights out, my family and I spent the last few days constructing a 2000 piece puzzle, cooking on the grill, reenacting colonial times with candles, and sleeping altogether in our bedroom (we brought in their mattresses — it's like camping).

Now let's turn our lens to WORK. If something goes awry, what other door(s) open up? If you focus on the positive, it will allow you to see all the potential possibilities available to you AND expose your enthusiastic nature to your superiors and clients. Don't think they don't notice — they do.

• If a project is dropped, what did you learn while doing it? Where should you go next?
• If a client leaves, how can you make their departure more elegant and inspiring? With the extra time open, how can you increase your marketing to get new and better clients?

It's how your react to problems that truly defines us as a professional.

What adversity did you encounter and what did you do to lighten up?

Are You Prepared?

Right now, the east coast is bracing for Hurricane Irene to hit. It might be bad. It might be nothing. But it's smart to prepare.

Get everything outside, inside. Batten down the hatches. Extend the leaders from your gutters. Get your generator in order. Fill your bathtub. Radios? Batteries? Prepare a 'big-out-bag' with your important information and necessities — (Go to this site to learn more).

Take the media with a grain of salt — their job is to inform — but sometimes they do their job a little bit too well. It might turn into hype and provide undue stress to you and your family. Pick a trusted information source and stick with it.

Now I'm not the National Weather Service. I'm a coach. So how does this information track to your career or business?

1. Mentally Prepare. This is not the time to lose your mind. If the economy is tough and people are losing their jobs/clients all around you — start to develop contingency plans. The better prepared you are mentally, the better you will react if something bad does happen.
2. Don't Worry — Think — Take Action. Don't get stuck in analysis/paralysis. Once you have a clear direction or strategy in case something does happen, take the appropriate action(s) to ensure you are ready.
3. Don't Get Stressed — Listen to trusted sources of information. Don't play into the myriad of cable channels pushing out the pablum of fear. Click into those outlets who deliver NEWS — and then you develop your OWN opinion.
4. Prepare Your Bug-Out-Bag. Is your resume in order? When was the last time you updated your contact list of colleagues and friends? When did you last connect with your customers? Who are your favorite companies to work for? Who would be a perfect client for you? Start taking action now.
5. Weather The Storm. Keep your cool while things are spinning all around you. Stay flexible and nimble and most of all — keep performing. Don't freeze and hunker down — it's critical you maintain and elevate your performance.

What else can you do to prepare for career/business bad times?

Do You Work With A Jerk?

More and more, I speak with clients and colleagues who encounter people who are very angry:

• They're not nice or pleasant.
• They don't treat people very well.
• The only person they care about is themselves.
• And most of all, if you work with them, they will make your life unbearable with their behaviors.

Do you work with people like that? Are you one of these people?

Sometimes it's a personality defect. Sometimes it's a lack of self-esteem. Sometimes it's because they're just plain angry at the world and you're in their way.

I'm here to tell you to stop working with those people. Today. Figure out a way to lessen or sever your connection with them. Why?

LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO WORK WITH JERKS.

• They will hold you back.
• They will make you worry about things you shouldn't worry about.
• They will make you question your abilities.
• Your self-esteem will take a major hit.

Get rid of them. Wipe them out of your life. Eliminate any and all effect they have to your job, business and career. I'm not going to tell you how — just do it.

AGAIN — LIFE IS TOO SHORT. Do it today.

Do you work with a jerk? How did you eliminate them from your life?

Why Aren't You Working On The Big Stuff?

Your life is filled with small stuff. And sometimes, as Richard Carlson said, "Don't sweat the small stuff". Unfortunately, we get caught up handling the small stuff almost all the time.

And it takes us away from working on that one big thing which will define us. That one project to get us exposure, a promotion, and solidify our position in the organization.

Or the big thing which will allow us to exponentially grow our business to great heights. To give it the perfect acceleration to grow beyond our dreams.

But we still spend most (if not all) of our time messing around with the small stuff. Why?

• It's easy. One and done — small things are simple to accomplish.
• We can do lots of them. We feel we are really making progress when we do them in succession.
• Organization. We can clean off our desk  of all the annoying papers, post-it notes, reminders in Outlook, etc. We are making progress!

Now don't get me wrong, they are important. But they shouldn't take up ALL of your waking hours to complete. You need to allocate a certain fraction of your day to work on the one or two BIG things which will ultimately define your work.

A great example is social media (read this). Lately, we've been indoctrinated to get out there and touch social media 'all the time'. Being hyper-active with social media tends to satisfy the 'small things' part of our workday (and I've been guilty of this lately). You also need to allocate time for your big thing.

So what's the ONE BIG THING you're working on this week?

Are You Frustrated? Good!

Work breeds frustration. It's a fact. You get frustrated when people or things knock you off balance, where you're out of control. It could be a late project, or a recalcitrant associate, or a vendor who never gets back to you.

Let's be honest — if everything worked perfectly, all the time, you would be quite bored at your job.

Did you know airplanes are off-course 95% of the time? The pilot or auto-pilot course-corrects to keep it headed in the right direction — it doesn't check once in awhile - it's an ongoing process.

Work needs course-corrections frequently. And the number and severity of the course-corrections are directly related to how much frustration you feel.

Now if everything starts to fail and you lose complete control, one of two things happen:

1. You get angry. You direct your frustration in an emotional manner towards the supposed perpetrator of the issue. You yell, you get mad, and you probably say things that are not found in the professional handbook.
2. You shut down. You lose energy and you become unmotivated. You move on to other projects and tasks and you probably procrastinate on this issue.

What would happen if you turned your frustration the other way? Instead of getting angry or shutting down, you use this situation to MOTIVATE yourself into action?

Turn your normal reactions to frustration into positive reactions.  

Next time, take a look at the more successful people at work or in your life. See how they handle frustration. The ones who are moving up quickly and are happy are the ones who figure out how to bypass their frustration and get motivated to solve the problem. They never let people and things get them down.

Let's go back to that pilot. If they got frustrated whenever their plane ventured off-course and god forbid, procrastinated on doing anything. What would happen?

Now put your career in that same situation. Is frustration, anger, or procrastination going to solve your problem and move you forward?

What techniques do you use to move you from frustration to motivation?

Many thanks to Zach Klein from Flickr for the image of Streeter Seidell.

Why You Hate Making Decisions.

Finding it harder and harder to make decisions lately? Decisions or the lack of them are responsible for the breaking or making of many a career.

With the craziness of the economy mixed with the bi-polar swings of board decisions, one finds it harder and harder to make a 'comfortable' decision.

So you procrastinate. You succumb to inertia and hope for the best. You deflect, you misdirect. But the decisions still hangs there . . . and it's starting to smell bad.

Some decisions are hard. Some are easy. Some are complex. And some are frustratingly simple.

But they all have an end-game . . . each decision hangs all on you. It's your responsibility and your head if things go south.

But here's the simple truth — in most cases — not making a decision is almost as bad (and sometimes worse) than making a decision.

So here's my 'easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy' technique to make decisions:

1. Take out a clean sheet of paper and pen.
2. List the decision. Keep it simple. Like: "Cut Costs or Reduce Staff".
3. Write down one major reason FOR each side of the decision.
   • FOR: Cut Costs - get more frugal and focused on delivery.
   • FOR: Reduce Staff - cut out cyphers/troublemakers. Simplify projects.
4. Write down one major reason AGAINST each side of the decision.
   • AGAINST: Cut Costs - more complaining, excuses abound.
   • AGAINST: Reduce Staff - everyone is scared; they shut down.
5. Score using Effort & Impact - how much effort will it take and what is the impact? Keep it simple use 1-3 stars as a scoring system.
6. The secret - during this process, you will begin to gravitate to a decision and also (hopefully) have the facts to back it up.

Granted, some of your decisions will be more complex and involve a lot more introspection, but I maintain one should always endeavor to keep most decisions simple and straightforward. Simplify!

What do you do to make tough decisions (when you can't ask anyone for input) easier?

Why Leaders Can't Coach.

"All coaching is, is taking a player where he can't take himself." - Bill McCartney When executives coach, they commonly make the mistake of downplaying their role as the boss. Confusion occurs with the associate and coaching fails.

To be clear, a boss is the one who holds people accountable for results. A coach helps people increase their skills to achieve the results.

When executives coach, they usually downplay their team's accountability for results because as a coach, they want to develop their skills. They use coaching to get them to do what they want. That's wrong.

Coaching is not a substitute for performance management. You have to do both and develop clarity with each endeavor. Ensure each team member understands their performance expectations AND coach them to accomplish those performance expectations. It's a dual role — don't mix them up.

Communicate your expectations and ensure you get full commitment.

1. Make sure they understand their goals. Get them to break down each goal and to identify the Who, What, Where, When and Why. This process will allow the How to appear. Steer them when they go off-course and ensure they will deliver EXACTLY what you expect.

2. Get them to mentally commit to their goals. Ownership is key — if they see these goals as yours and not theirs, all will fail. Impart clear accountability — if goals fail, it's their head, If the goals succeed, they get the accolades. It's that simple. If they are stuck or don't know how to do this, I show them how I do it.

3. Give them space to take initiative to reach their goals. Now be a good boss, step back, and give them space. This is a critical time where bosses tend to crowd their team members — give them adequate real estate to reach their goal.

Coach to keep them focused, on track, and to increase their performance.

1. Put yourself in their place and understand their challenges. Each team member has their own strengths and weaknesses. It's your job to understand what they are and where the possible road hazards might occur along the process. Once this is done, you will know approximately where each tipping point will occur and be available to coach them through it.

2. Work with the associate so they can plan all their steps. Get each associate to come up with a process comfortable to them to easily track their progress. The process of planning together allows you to step out of your 'boss' role and to help guide their progress as a coach. Remember it's their plan, not yours.

3. Actively coach them through the process. Develop regular meetings to discuss issues, concerns and opportunities along the way. If they are getting frustrated, help them solve each obstacle by asking questions. Do not attempt to help — this will only move the responsibility from the associate to you. Provide regular tracking to measure where they are and how much farther they have to go. Finally, help break bad behavior patterns along the way — this will help them accelerate and grow during the process.

How do you coach your team?

Why Your Meetings Suck.

We all have meetings.

• Client meetings.
• Status meetings.
• Project meetings.
• Brainstorming meetings.
• Get-to-know-you meetings.

Let's face it — many of the meetings we attend — well — suck. Why does this happen?

We have an agenda. Everyone is present. No one is distracted. Why is it when we're surveyed, meetings rank at the bottom of any business experience?

Because most people don't know how to run them. So here are 5 simple tips to make your meetings run efficiently:

1. Most meetings have this structure: Empathy & Action.

Empathy - It's the first section of the meeting where one develops an understanding of the topic at hand or one gets to know the person they're speaking with. Building trust or a bond with two or more people to help one another get the job done.

How: Make sure you allot time to clearly present why you're meeting, what's going to happen and what you expect the next steps will be. With one-on-one meetings, you don't need to be so formal, but empathy and trust are paramount — make sure they happen during the first part of the meeting.

Action - Most meetings forget this one. They tend to blather on and never come to what the meeting is really about — taking action in one form or another. Many meetings are sometimes 99% talk and then at the last minute when everyone is getting up, an action step is mentioned — and it turns into a successive meeting to be scheduled in a few days. Oh joy.

How: Ensure you schedule enough time at the end to focus on who is doing what and delivering when. I know it's hard to do it (asking people to do things) — but it's really the hidden reason why you're having the meeting in the first place — to explain what you are doing and getting their mental (and physical) buy-in.

2. Show up early. Stay late. Be early and welcome all the attendees, get them excited about the topic and ally all their fears about another boring meeting. Stay late to answer any follow-up questions and deepen your relationships with any new attendees. Thank everyone profusely for their attendance.

3. Keep it SHORT. Move it along. I've held five minute status meetings with my team where we all stand around a whiteboard. Get them in, says what needs to be said, and get them out. Your meeting does not need to conform to Outlook — it doesn't need to be a full hour — end early.

4. Stick to an AGENDA. Don't let the meeting get off course. It's okay if you meander a little bit to take care of a simple issue, but get back on course and keep the group focused. If you're meeting one-on-one, have a simple mental agenda and let the person you're meeting with know what you'd like to get out of the meeting: "Before we start, I'd like us to leave here with a clear understanding of how we can help one another build our respective businesses."

5. Sometimes you don't need to meet. Don't meet because you 'have' to or 'that's the way it's always been done'. A simple conversation, phone call or email might suffice. The fewer meetings you host or attend not only open up your schedule, but also when you do host one, it's an event. Don't over-use meetings — they're not that great to begin with.

What else do you do to make your meetings bearable?

Control Your Time By Designing Your Schedule.

I thought my schedule was packed when I worked in corporate! Filling in my days with status meetings, presentations, sales calls, and updates all mixed together to produce a week chock full of weaving, diving, and running. Now that I've been running my company for the past ten years, I've found it even harder to keep my schedule clear and organized to ensure I get everything done AND allow myself the time to work on my business.

Do you feel this way? 

Well, I developed a cool way to look at each day in my schedule and ensure I not only get my client sessions scheduled, but I also leave time for basic tasks and strategic projects.

Take a look at my typical schedule (click on image to expand):

The key is CONSISTENCY and FLEXIBILITY. I try to remain consistent from week to week to ensure I can work in my business and on my business.

But I also need to be realistic. Emergencies crop up. Clients move or cancel appointments. New prospects creep into my calendar. Speaking engagements usually fall right in the middle of my schedule (but those are planned well in advance). So I also have to be flexible and have the ability to move things around when needed.

Here's the surprise — I don't have to do it as much as you'd expect. Week after week, I can pretty well stick to my schedule and ensure I am growing my business while keeping the engine running smoothly.

Let me break down some of the elements:

4:30 AM to 10 PM - Yep, that's my day. I know - 4:30 AM is a bear. But I find it's my key time to get things done - where I am energized and focused. My best brainstorming occurs at this time. So I do my best thinking in the shower (a sort of 21st century meditation) and then I'm off to write my blog and prepare for my clients.

7:00 AM to 5 PM - Blocking out all of my clients. I was taught this many years ago by my mentor coach, Ken Abrams. If you fit all of your clients into pre-specified groupings, it's easier to manage your schedule without all of the 30 and 60 minute gaps.

Email - I check my email at 9 AM, Lunchtime, and at 7 PM. It doesn't rule my life. If there is a client emergency, call me. Candidly, I read my email every few hours, that's fine to catch up on what's important.

Lunch, Dinner with Family, Reading - This is my time - these hours are to allow me to decompress and spend special time with my family and also to grow my knowledge-base.

Thursday - This is my Networking/Connecting day. I am out and about meeting people, learning about new businesses, and going to meetings. I also meet with two groups - my sales force (about 35 people) who are actively out promoting my product to key prospects. The second group is a high-potential business owner team where we exchange leads and discuss many business issues and problems. I also fit in meetings with my agent, pr guy, marketing team, accountant, attorney and any other colleagues who make my business HUM.

Friday - This is my 'clean-up day'. I spend the time with any errant clients and also do any marketing/prospecting, presentation building and my financial planning. I spend most of my day connected at the hip with my assistant ensuring I clean up any mess from the previous four days and preparing me for the next week.

I hope my schedule gives you a few ideas on how to better structure your schedule.

What do you do to make your professional (and personal) life more bearable?

Who Moved Your Acorn?

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." — Ralph Waldo Emerson What's your acorn? 

Okay, okay - I know. We all work hard. And long. And most of the time, it's boring.

But when we got out of school, we all had a dream. A dream of being someone important, making great strides, doing great things. Making a difference.

Unfortunately, life intervened. Work snuck it's ugly head in. Then family. Friends. Hobbies. Activities. TV. You get my drift.

Today, I have one question to ask you: What's YOUR acorn? What's your dream?

How do you want to make a difference in the world? Who do you want to help? My charge today is simple — how can you integrate your acorn into your daily activities?

Don't think big picture — start small — take baby steps. What can you do today to ultimately make a difference in the world? Something that will change one person's life . . . ten lives . . . a hundred lives . . . millions?

If you think I'm crazy, one person already did — check this out.

If he can do it . . . so can you.

What's your acorn? I'd love to hear.