It’s time for you to recognize that this whole time you’ve been drifting…or waiting, the wheel is right in front of you and your foot is near the gas pedal: you’re still sitting in the drivers seat of your life!

I’ve been running into a lot of people recently who seem to be coasting or waiting for something big or important to happen to them.  I think it’s a natural response sometimes to uncertainty and an environment full of challenges.

“I’ll just pull over and wait until…the storm passes, the sky clears, the road is less foggy, you say”

But I’m afraid things aren’t going to clear up soon enough.

Flashback to a metaphor the business community responded to over twenty years ago from management consultant Peter Vail: the idea of normal looking like paddling your canoe on calm waters is a myth; we are really in an age of permanent whitewater.  Therefore, instead of waiting for the rapids to subside, we must instead adjust ourselves and our skills to this new reality.

How do you become a force to be reckoned with in this new environment?

The formula is still the same…and we learned it in high school physics.

F=ma or Force = mass x acceleration.

A human force in this world is someone of substance (mass) who is going somewhere (acceleration)

Which means you have two basic variables to work on, right now, even if things aren’t very clear:  Yourself and your destination (or goal)

You can work on yourself – being someone – by improving your knowledge, your skills, your abilities.  Equip yourself better or sharpen the tools you have.

Some of you need to build a you that is less defined by your company or your job and more by who you are in this world…your values, abilities, mission, etc.

And then you can work on your destination.  Do you even have a goal you are moving toward?

What would get you excited and pumped when you got out of bed every morning?  Now that’s acceleration…

Bottom Line: To lead a life of significance, to be a force in this world, you need to BE a person of substance who is headed toward a compelling goal.  Work on both variables and you’ll feel the difference and move forward in spite of the certainty or challenge in the world around you.

Power Questions:

1.  How can I invest in me in order to “BE the man” / “BE the woman”?

2.  What goal is big enough or destination is exciting enough to compel me forward?

3.  What skill do I need to learn in order to be more effective in the new work environment?

It is time.

Winter (in the northern hemisphere) has been long enough.  Yes, it’s still a little cold, dark and wet.  But you know that change is afoot.

Are you awake enough to seize the moment while everyone else is still groggy from winter?

It’s time to trade in the hibernation and slow grow of winter for the coming out of spring.

What do you need to get going on?  And what can you do this week to prime the pump, so to speak?

Bottom Line: Make a short transition to spring thinking and acting while everyone else is still coming out of winter.  You’ll be ahead.

Power Questions:
1. What in my work am I excited to move forward?
2. What signs of spring am I already noticing that remind me it is coming?
3.  What huge steps can I take to really accelerate what has meaning my life?

And some of you are not maximizers.  You don’t know it, but you often leave an awful lot of your life and work underutilized.

Regardless of where you fall naturally, now is a great time to consider areas where you take advantage of how much resource you already have.

Instead of working to build something from scratch, cold calling your way into the sales winners circle or looking for something new to bring energy to your work….consider mining the following potential gold mines laying right at your feet.

1 – Technology you already own or use. What software, hardware, gadgets, etc. do you already own that you are either letting sit, or are hardly using?  What things have you invested in that you are only utilizing at a 10% rate?  Get your technology to do more of your work…that’s why it was designed.

2 – Relationships you already have established. Is it easier to get more business, help or ideas from a stranger or from a friend?  So, how could you invest more in those relationships you already have?

3 – Organizations where you are already known or a member. You pay your dues and occasionally go to the meetings…would you like to make your membership pay off?  How could you participate in a different way or start to use the services they already advertise.  Hint: revisit those organizations sites to see what features they are selling to potential members—then use them.

4 – Places where you will be already traveling. Take a look at the travel on your calendar for the next year and ask: What else could I be doing while I’m in Denver, Singapore, Tampa, etc.  What other colleagues, customers, competitors or potential clients could you be calling on?

5 – Things you’ve already created. What processes, products or projects have been started or even finished, but are not yet in use?  Scour your business for work that has already been done, that just needs to be scheduled or implemented.

6 – People you have already hired. This sounds a little odd, but I’m suggesting you remember the potential you were thinking of when you first hired that person…have you since forgotten some of the things you were hoping they would bring to or do for your business?  Have a simple, specific conversation with your people:  How could we make better use of your talents and skills?

7 – Stuff you’ve already learned. You’re smart.  There is so much  you already know about what choices to make and how to be successful.  You’ve probably even been learning from what you read and from your years of experience.  So the simple question is: what do you already know that you are not taking advantage of?  Fill in the blank: I know it would be good for my business if I _____________.  Now…do it.

Bottom Line: Make better use of the things you already have and you’ll give yourself an edge for which you’ve already paid.

(This post was previously published in the March 2011 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ )

But how do you find a way to kick it in, given that you have the usual winter blahs: it’s cold, it’s dark and how long is this season / recession / coldness etc. going to drag on?

Here’s a possible antidote, appropriate for a month containing Valentine’s Day:

Fall deeper in love with what you’re doing.

Have you ever noticed that people who are deeply in love with someone or something have a special quality?

They are often more enthusiastic, more optimistic, more passionate, more fun to be.   They’re seem to be able to shrug off the little things while they totally engage with things that are important.

People who are in love with what they do are able to talk about it excitedly without end, they are able to devote a crazy amount of time with it and they are able to accomplish incredible things…sometimes it seems on pure passion alone.

Sounds good doesn’t it?

So, taking a page from Cupid this month, act like the lovers do and treat your business like something you want to be around for a long time:

Obsess (think) about it. Reflect on your workplace, your people, your mission—why you enjoy it, why it’s important, how it matters and even what it means to you as a professional.

Spend more time with it. Take a little extra time and devote it to working in your business.  Your time and attention might make a big difference in your bottom line.

Tell everyone about it. People in love usually can’t stop talking about it.  What better way to make sure your word-of-mouth marketing is in full gear.  Don’t keep what you do a secret.

Appreciate it with gifts (investment). Show your business how much it means by showering it with investment.  Upgrade some equipment or technology or software or your space…anything to show your employees and the marketplace that you’re in this for the long-haul.

Make life easier for it. Is there something you could be doing to make work less struggle for your employees?  If 2011 was going to be your year to help the organization work smarter, not harder, what would you do?

Remind it how much you care. You can never tell your partners, your employees, your customers and clients too much, how important the work and your mission is to you and the world.  It’s always great to hear that what we’re doing matters and especially that it matters to YOU, as the leader, a great deal.

Bottom Line: If you can act toward your business with the passion, energy and intention of someone who is deeply in love, you and your business will benefit from the increased excitement and motivation.

(This post was previously published in the February 2011 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ )

I’m asking because it really is a decision.  And one that matters if you want to look back with accomplishment at the end of the year.

Some professionals will spend most of their time and attention scattered this coming year-investing in too many things with too little payoff, chasing too many tasks that don’t deserve to be completed and generally dabbling and playing on too many devices, with too many programs, involving too many people, resulting in too little outcome.

Whew!

An antidote I propose to you at the beginning of this year is a simple two step process:

Big Step #1: Drop Some Weight

Make a list of all the obligations, commitments, projects and tasks that require your attention AND aren’t that important to the life you want to live or the work you need to do.

Drop as many of these as you can from your life.  If they are unnecessary and unproductive…they are dragging you down.  At the very least, they are distracting you.

The fewer of these you keep, then the more time you have for…

Big Step #2: Pursue Meaning

Make another (probably shorter) list–this time with of the people, projects, commitments and purposes that have the most meaning for you in your life and work now.  Maybe you also are thinking about some things that are important to your future.

If this list is a long one, prioritize it.  Figure out which of these things are more important than the others.

Now, do your planning for the year.  Only this time, you’re thinking, strategizing and scheduling so that those things that have the most meaning will get the most attention, the most investment, the most…focus.

If you can stick to a plan formed this way, at the end of this year, you just might feel the exhilaration that comes from accomplishment and significance, instead of the weariness that comes from trying to do so many things that matter so little.

And that is a pathway to struggle less so you can BE more.

(This post was previously published in the January 2011 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ )

These gifts are often at the heart of most holiday stories, yet they hold power and promise for your workplace, every bit as much as they do for your life.  And best of all, they won’t require another dip into your budget.

They are the gifts of peace, hope and love.  (Now don’t check out here…I’m talking about the difference that may make the difference between you having a poor business year and having a great one).

Give the gift of peace

Most people want to be free from worry.  In spite of that, many of us choose to be fearful ahead of time, and about things that will never happen.  As the leader, you are in a position to nip worry in the bud.  Bring clarity to any area of your workplace where your knowledge, belief or clarity can help people worry less.

You might also have what I would call “pot-stirrers” in your midst—they create drama wherever they can.  But as much as your people like to watch drama on TV, they really wish there was less where they work.  YOU, can bring peace by clearing up confusion, simplifying situations and by speaking truth as their leader.  You will eliminate the seeds of chaos (even in small matters) and make more peace possible.

What do you need to address in your business that would give more peace to your clients and employees who are prone to worry?

Give the gift of hope

Questions abound these days about “the future.”  And your people and marketplace are likely no different.  How hopeful can we be about our future?  What’s the chance we’ll be around, better, profitable, growing, etc.  next year?

Here is your opportunity, because as a leader you can breathe vision into that conversation.  You don’t have to be able to predict the economy exactly.  You DO have to be able to tell people a story about how you do have a plan to make big things happen in the future.  You do have to tell a story about how you offer something that people need, that someone will pay you for, that makes what you are doing significant in the marketplace.

How can you paint a picture or tell a story about your organization’s future that will affirm, remind or inform your customers and associates that looking forward, there is much to hopeful about?

Give the gift of love

It’s the power currency in the marketplace because it doesn’t require any money and a little bit can go a long way to increasing the value of your business.

If you appreciate what your employees do for you, take the time to tell them.  If you appreciate that your customers have chosen to do business with you, let them know.  If you really do have people with skills and talents who have worked hard and taken risks and helped you serve others…TELL THEM.

Do you already tell them?  Figure out a way to celebrate it all over again…because it’s a most extraordinary gift you can give again and again and again.  And it is the gift that keeps on giving back to the receiver as well.

Who do you need to appreciate in your work?

Bottom Line: We can all appreciate token business gifts we share over the holidays.  But why not give your employees and customers what’s really on their list…peace,hope and love?

(This post was previously published in the April 2011 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ )

A lot of companies are in pause mode—waiting for clarity about the economy, future prospects, expenses, etc.  And that can lead to drowsiness within the business itself.

This is a no-brainer, you say: stay ahead by staying awake.  But it’s not always easy.

Carol S. was a VP of sales who thought she was paying attention, since she knew her division results inside and out.  She found it really hard to explain why next quarter there was a mass exodus of her best salespeople.  She was asleep to staff morale.

Although business was good for Phil B. as project manager and he was paying attention to client satisfaction, he woke up one day to discover that his competitors were not only getting some bigger projects…they were getting government support to make them happen.  He was asleep to emerging opportunities in his marketplace.

Roger L’s wife was surprised when one morning he awoke and declared he was “bored” with the business he had created and run for 18 years.  She asked him why the sudden change of heart.  Roger was beginning to realize that he had stopped paying attention to his dreams and how they were evolving.

Are you Awake and Paying Attention to…

1.      Your dreams and goals for the future . They aren’t here yet, and need to be remembered in order to be realized.

2.       The metrics that indicate the health of your business. You can have those at your fingertips real-time these days.  Do you know them and use them in your planning and feedback to others?

3.       Your people, your clients, your partners. Have you noticed that people’s moods, assumptions, conclusions and satisfaction change over time?  “Check in” to find out how today is different from last month.

4.       Your marketplace. Customers needs and wants DO change  Are you in touch enough to know where they are now AND where they are headed?  Will customers use a service or product like yours in 2020?

5.       Your growth. Some businesses pay close attention to how well they are doing today.  But…are you bigger or better than you were two years ago?  Do you have a yardstick to measure how much you’ve grown?

6.      The speed of change. Ask yourself, how quickly are the things we are buying or creating becoming obsolete?

Obviously this list is just a start.  In what areas of your business might you be asleep at the wheel?

I challenge you to wake up and breathe life into the work you’ve chosen to love.

(This post was previously published in the November 2011 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ )

Then you’ll need to be able to make a critical distinction between the two faces of your business: your internal operations and your work in the marketplace.  Because, depending upon your industry, you might need to be conservative and “back to basics” when it comes to working on your business, but remain aggressive and innovative when it comes to serving your customers.

You see, many leaders can only hold one view, and then apply it to everything they do–as in “We’re going to hunker down and see if we can weather this storm.”  While it might be the time to be prudent and conservative in many areas of your business, now might be the best time to really be innovative and try some new things when it comes to growing and expanding with your clients and markets.

But it’s easy to get stuck in all or none thinking.  It can be hard to cut back in some ways and spend more aggressively in others.

So here are three ideas for helping you maintain a “let’s not dig ourselves into a hole” mentality AND a “let’s take advantage of this pause in the market to take the lead in our industry.”

1.      Find a business or organization or leader who is clearly in high growth mode (even, especially in today’s economy), and spend more time paying attention to and hanging around them.  You need constant reminder that, contrary to prevailing wisdom, not everyone is waiting for the economy to turn around…some are doing the turning!  They can be your inspiration.

2.      Increase your goals – basing them on wider possibilities for your future instead of on your worst economic predictions.  Increase them based up your best ideas of what you could start and how you could develop, in spite of economic conditions.  For sure, if you don’t  have big, compelling goals, you’re very unlikely to reach them.

3.      Encourage and support your people in taking risks, reaching out and developing work for the future—even as they are taking more prudent steps when it comes to spending in basic areas.  In other words, it still makes sense to spend money in order to make money.  And sometimes the most strategic steps from a growth standpoint would look foolish if viewed under the conservative spending magnifying glass.

Bottom line: Don’t be the leader who leads her own business to stagnation because you neglected to be the chief visionary and take bold steps toward the future.

(This post was previously published in the October 2010 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ )

If you’re a leader in your work, your industry, even your home…the ability to inspire confidence when all else around you is not going well….is a hallmark of true leadership.

Observing some leaders, you might get the idea that playing the “ain’t it awful” game increases your effectiveness or your popularity.  But nothing could be further from the truth.

Simply put, people follow leaders who are willing to both tell the unvarnished truth and can paint a picture of hope for the future.

And…if you ask confident leaders, they’ll reveal to you that inspiring confidence in others is also a way they build their own sense of confidence.  In other words, it’s self-reinforcing.

So, here are five ways to inspire confidence and gain the advantage that comes with it:

1 — Keep reminding your people why the work you do is important, needed and wanted in this world.

Anxiety grows when people become disconnected to why they are doing their work.  Re-ground them and remove this waste of productivity.

2 – Focus your business on improvement—making the client/customer experience even better

When you’re busy investing in making things better, it’s hard to hold the idea that things are also getting worse.

3 — If you have to make hard choices, explain how the results, although painful, will make you stronger

Often business leaders forget to explain the why.  But if you can make the case, do so.  And your people can then buy into your choices.

4 – Continue to point out the knowledge, skills and abilities your people posses.

Even when circumstances are getting worse, or not getting better, it’s helpful and inspiring to remember that what we have as individuals is still useful and valuable.  Remind them of how much you have going for you, and to offer the marketplace.

5 – Choose a few things to GROW or invest in, even if you are making cuts or more conservative choices elsewhere.

Figure out where a few dollars or a little more time can be invested strategically that will have the greatest impact.  Send the signal that your business is growing and progressing, even if it is pruning, or operating in some difficult times.

A final bonus: remind yourself why you’re doing this work and why it’s important to you.  If you can’t remember, ask your spouse or partner or friends what you used to say.

If you see inspiring confidence as one of your primary roles as a business leader, your people and your organization will have in you, a leader that might actually see them through the fog

(This post was previously published in the August 2010 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ ).

In most other western countries of the world, the idea of taking vacations and holidays is ingrained as part of the culture.  Going “on holiday” is seen as beneficial and normal behavior.  Not so in the United States.

Therefore, if you have that work ethic that finds you bragging about how little vacation you took last year…this list is for you.  Here are 10 reasons you should take a break this year.

(1) You really could use the rest

You’ve forgotten that you have to replenish and rejuvenate if you want to continue at this pace.  And occasionally knocking off work early is NOT the answer.  You need a little time to rejuvenate your mind, body and spirit…right?

(2) In these tougher times, you need new perspective on the same old stuff you’ve been doing

It’s hard to see things different if you’re not willing to change your vantage point.  And simply, you have to get away, -put some distance between yourself and your business, in order to see things differently.  It’s the first step toward new ideas to improve your business.

(3) You keep saying the family is a priority

I’ve coached all kinds of leaders who have family at the top of their priority list, but who can’t seem to devote any extended time to enjoying those relationships.  You often have to take your family away so they can be the center of your attention, and you, theirs.

(4) Your employees need a good role model to follow

Don’t you need your staff firing on all cylinders, able to respond well to what arises, and feeling good about the balance between their work time and their personal / family time?  Show them how time off is not only a good idea, it’s essential to the kind of productivity you’re asking for.

(5) Visiting places on the internet is NOT the same as being there in person

Don’t confuse reading about the Bahamas with the experience of being there.  Also, don’t take too much comfort with the idea that you could go there anytime you want.  Being there is a whole lot better.

(6) Your business needs to learn to run smoothly when you’re not there

If your people can’t handle a week or more of you being gone, your work is cut out for you.  Free yourself up to not only take a vacation, but to lead your business and your industry by letting go of all those work activities that really should or could be done by your capable employees.  They will appreciate the faith you have in their abilities.  And you’ll appreciate your new partners in the business.

(If you are a solopreneur, automate what needs to run daily, and get used to the idea of not being 110% available 52 weeks of every year…for your health’s sake).

(7) As a leader, you’re also in the memory-making business

What kind of memories do you want to be making for yourself or for your family?  When you’re talking with your child ten years from now, how do you hope to complete this question: “Remember the time when we____________?”   Most people have fond memories that involve travel, rest, enjoyment…vacation.

I challenge you to create some memorable experiences, and get yourself refreshed to make the rest of 2010 stellar.

(This post was previously published in the July 2010 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ )