Month: May 2023

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5 Questions That Lead to Strategic Thinking

Are you feeling a bit confused by strategic thinking? You know it’s essential for your career and your business, but how do you actually do it?

Here are five questions to should ask yourself to really sharpen your strategic thinking.

  1. What do you want?

The most important thing to work out is where you want to be. Everything—goals, strategies, steps, should all be pointing to your desired destination. Do you want to be CEO, or be running your own company?

What do you want to achieve this year, in five years, ten? What are your actual goals? What’s your vision? Having goals gives you direction of what to do each day, so get it all down on paper and think big!

  1. Where are You Starting From?

Do a survey of exactly where you are right now. What skills, resources, and assets do you have? What are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks in your current job or business?

Are you satisfied with life the way it is, or do you want something more? What connections do you have? Map out your network and what value you provide to them, and what they offer you. Write up your self-inventory.

  1. What do You Have the Power to Change?

Think about what is in your control at the present moment. What can you streamline or eliminate? What do you need to add, enhance, or modify to reach your goals? This can include anything from training, networking opportunities, to investment advice or strategic career planning.

  1. What do You Need to Move Ahead?

Take another look at your self-inventory. What skills, resources, knowledge, and connections do you need to get closer to success? If this is difficult or overwhelming, consider finding a mentor or executive coach who can help you to think differently and find your way.

  1. How Can I Reach My Goals and Still Enjoy Life?

Really going for success shouldn’t make for a joyless life, totally focused on getting ahead. Make sure you take time to have fun and do the things that give you pleasure. Think of what Future Successful You enjoys doing. What makes your future worth striving for?

Write down all the fun things you will do, whether it’s staying in 5-star hotels or being able to work for only half the year. Imagine driving your dream car. See yourself in your future executive suite.

See what elements of your future life you can start to incorporate in the present and build on those; a vision board is great for this.  Before you know it, you will be toasting your success.

 

If you feel stuck on finding your way and creating the life you desire, we can help. Reach out to learn more – you don’t have to do this alone!

 

 

 

 

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Are You Your Own Worst Enemy? How Coaching Can Help you Become Friends with Yourself to Achieve your Desires

<In honor of International Coaching Week>

Obstacles. Hurdles. Barriers. Roadblocks. These are all common sights along the road to achievement.

 

If you have ever worked towards a goal that most people would label as “unrealistic”, then you have undoubtedly faced one challenge after another. In fact, when you reach the point where you feel like giving up, that is usually when things get even tougher.

 

Believe it or not, these external obstacles are actually the easy part. They are obvious. We can examine them and devise a plan to work through them or around them. For example, if you want to start a business but lack the funding, there are a variety of tangible action steps you can take to resolve your funding issues.

 

The real barriers to success are the internal roadblocks. This is where it gets difficult. This is where you battle your own self- doubts, worries and feelings of unworthiness.

 

You may have the best work ethic in the world. You may have the strictest discipline and self-control. But if your mind is listing all of the reasons why you shouldn’t have what you truly want, you are fighting a losing battle.

 

For many of us, these negative tapes have been playing the same disempowering messages in our minds for years.

 

If you are tired of the struggles and want to move forward, then coaching can be the answer:

Coaching is:

“Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential (International Coach Federation)

A Coach:

Works in a partnership between a client(s) to provide structure, guidance and support for clients to:

  • Become more self-aware regarding their perceptions, emotions, motivations and responses/behaviors
  • Set realistic and relevant goals to work towards
  • Take actions that will lead to goal-achievement
  • Reflect on actions taken and elicit/use feedback to go toward their desired goal
  • Holds the client accountable for actions they set
  • Gives a listening ear, inspires and motivates to achieve set goals

Coaching isn’t therapy, as the coach is not there to tell you what to do; but they will listen openly and actively. You have the answers you seek – the coach is there to help you bring them forward.

Coaching is the gift that keeps on giving to yourself; it can be a great investment you make that can last a lifetime. Aren’t you worth it?

“Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them. Clients say coaching brings out their best by helping them focus, break down tasks and clarify their values.” – Fortune Magazine 

 

If you’re tired of the struggle, reach out today to learn more and get started living your best life.

 

 

 

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3 Practical Steps to Take When You Have Too Many Goals

 

A new month usually brings new goals you’d like for you, and the team, to achieve. Meeting organizational goals is the focus for every leader. However, goals can become overwhelming, especially if there are too many given.

 

It can often feel as if  you’re spinning in circles with too many goals, or those that seem conflicting. If a leader feels overwhelmed, then goals won’t get conveyed in the way they are intended or can get overlooked.  The good news is, you’re not the only one who feels that way. It’s very common, and you can help solve this problem.

 

Here are some things you can do if you’re overwhelmed with having too many goals:

 

  1. Look for overlaps. Sometimes there is a natural and logical relationship between goals. Suppose you want to get healthier and to have more leisure time to cope with workplace stressors. Making time out for active leisure, such as tennis or running, will accomplish both goals at once.

 

But, sometimes, two goals seem to be in direct opposition to each other, such as wanting to spend more time with your employees but having to attend meetings during the day. In this case, write out both goals and, next to each,  write out why you want to do each of them and want to accomplish.

 

You might find that what you want is to improve and increase your communication skills. In this case, your real goal is to plan and schedule activities that meet the needs of each goal. You might discover that you can satisfy your desire to communicate more by scheduling employee time in between meetings, send one of your staff in lieu of you in a meeting, or eat lunch with them. Get to the essence of the goal, and they’ll work themselves out.

 

  1. Make the time. We tell ourselves there are “only so many hours in a day,” and that we’re “too busy” to take on anything else right now. Your time is precisely that – yours.

Instead of saying “I don’t have time to meet with an employee,” try saying, “I’m not making time to meet” –  We find the time for the things that matter.

 

  1. Be flexible. It’s a good thing to put a timeline together and have definite dates and time-sensitive goals. But remember that life happens, and often it even gets in the way. There is an ancient Greek saying that goes: “If you want to make the gods laugh, tell them your plans.” Having milestones and plotting points along the timeline is good, but don’t hold yourself to it so rigidly that you cannot adapt to the occasional curveball. This applies to your staff, as well.

 

If it feels to you like you have too many goals, or if the ones you do have are fighting each other, then find the essence of each one. This will help you determine what’s most important right now. Then, work on one goal at a time.

 

By concentrating on which ones mean the most each day, you’ll put those goals into perspective, and you won’t feel so overwhelmed, which will affect your stress level and productivity.

 

Leaders need to steer the boat, so to speak; but, if you are taking in more water with too many goals, then you won’t know the direction to take and can get off-course. Your clarity impacts the clarity for your employees; be clear in the direction for smooth sailing.

 

 

If you’re struggling with setting or achieving goals, having a coach can help. Contact us today to learn more.

 

 

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