Business Keys To Success: The Power of Focus

As a young boy growing up in Chappaqua, New York I learned about the power of focus. Unfortunately, I was learning how to use the power of focus this bright fall day but I didn’t have the wisdom to use it properly.

I was always intrigued by my Dad’s magnifying glass. My Dad wasn’t home this day and I decided to have some fun. For those of you from upstate New York you know that with the fall comes a great deal of leaf raking. I was supposed to rake the leaves. I detested leaf raking. Why?

Focus—Know What You Want To Accomplish

As soon as you cleared up the area you raked there were leaves all over it the next day. I had read in one of my science books in intermediate school that if you held a magnifying glass over a piece of paper or something that would burn that it would focus the power of the sun’s rays to be strong enough to start a fire and burn the object.

My focus was on getting rid of the leaves. And, in a stroke of brilliance I decided to see if I could use my magnifying glass to burn the leaves after I had raked them into a pile. Raking was bad enough. But then having to cart them out into the woods was more than I wanted to handle.

Focus—Know The Consequences

I took the magnifying glass and placed it over a leaf on the pile and let the sun’s rays do their work. But for some reason nothing was happening. Then I remembered that I had to hold the magnifying glass still in order for the sun’s rays to focus.

Once I did that the magic began. One leaf started to burn and as it was burning I grabbed the part that was not burned and stuck it next to a new leaf. After a few minutes I had a fire going.

Then it dawned on me that once the pile burned down that I would be burning the lawn beneath it. That was not good. As I was contemplating that problem the wind which I had not even thought about gave my fire new energy and started spreading it across the yard.

Frantically, I tried to control the leaves by stomping on them and after about 10 minutes the fire was out. Fortunately, the ground and lawn were wet and did not burn.

I sat down and breathed a huge sigh of relief. I had averted disaster. I looked up at the sun and then at the magnifying glass. Yes, the power of focus is an awesome power.

Focus-It Works

In my personal business coaching practice I have to bring the power of focus as do my clients to create pathways to accelerate the process of their successful performance.

Whether you are a self-employed business owner, entrepreneur, solo professional or corporate executive the power of focus is necessary for exceptional performance. No amount of online training, corporate training, business training, business courses or business skills training will work without utilizing the power of focus.

To use the power of focus wisely, unlike my childhood experience, keep the following in mind:

1. Know your priorities. Make sure you are putting your focus on the right thing.
2. Be committed to achieving your goal. Focus without continuous commitment is like holding the magnifying glass for a few seconds over a leaf and expecting it to burn.
3. Pay attention to the details. As in the leaf story where I didn’t pay attention to the details, you must look ahead and see where your focus is taking you.
4. Follow up. Always assess the results of your focus and where it is taking you. Success in business and life is about resetting your focus.

Utilize the power of focus. As you do you can adjust your focus to take you to the business and life you desire?

Business Keys To Success: Leadership Is Empowerment

Over the years my best leaders whether it be in business, sports or volunteer organizations are the ones who practice empowerment. Leaders come in all shapes and sizes.

And, even with all the online training, corporate training, business courses and business skills training developing great leadership that leads to the empowerment of others is not that easy to find.

What Is Empowerment?

In my personal business coaching practice and in my businesses I have learned that there are several ways to look at empowerment. The definition of empowerment has a couple of different angles. The one that I like best and which I have found works best for my personal business coaching clients who are self-employed business owners, entrepreneurs, solo professionals and corporate executives is this:

Empowerment is: “To equip or supply with an ability; enable. More specifically, empowerment is the giving of an ability, enablement or permission.

Empowerment And Leadership

A leader is great not because of his or her power, but because of his or her ability to empower others. Success without anybody to take over once you move on is not success, but failure.

Empowering others allows you to build a team for future small business success and growth. In the corporate world empowerment has the same benefits.

Loyalty to the leader reaches its highest peak when the follower has personally grown through the mentorship of the leader. Why? You may have won people’s minds but with empowerment you will also win their hearts.

Empowerment Makes You A People Person

Since leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less it is important to amplify your leadership skills by being a people person. The last time I checked, leadership and its effectiveness is all about building relationships.

When you lead and empower others it builds a bond of loyalty. It also enables you to more easily introduce and implement positive change.

To have the greatest influence as a leader practice the art of empowerment.

Business Keys To Success: When To Make Decisions

Decisions-Take The Time

Very often we make decisions without even thinking about the context in which we are making them.  This can lead to some bad consequences.  Are things going well?  Are they going badly?  Are you under a lot of stress?  Remember there is good stress and bad stress.  And bad stress is called “distress.”

When making decisions, especially the major ones we need to step back and understand where we are at.

Decisions When Things Aren’t Going Well

For the self-employed business owner, entrepreneur, solo professional, corporate executive or corporate manager decisions are made very often when things aren’t going well on a particular day.  As a personal business coach I have observed how many times my clients and even myself have made major decisions on a day when things aren’t going well.

Small business success and growth are about the business owner’s ability to make good decisions.  And to be successful whether you are starting your own business or running a small business requires that you make many good decisions.

What happens is that the decisions are made more to look for relief in the emotional valley instead of waiting for the clarity that comes from being on the mountaintop.  Why does this happen?  Because it takes a lot of effort to get to the mountaintop and when we are in the valley we won’t put in the energy necessary for good decisions .

And as John Maxwell says, “…when you’re experiencing the darkness of the valley, it’s always tempting to make changes that you hope will relieve the discomfort.”

Decisions from the Mountaintop

Maxwell goes on to say the time to make decisions is when you are at the top of the proverbial mountain.  Here’s why:

You can see your situation more clearly

You are moving to something, not just from something.

You leave those around you in a better position.

You decide using positive data, not negative

You are more likely to move from peak to peak instead of valley to valley.

Decisions-When to Make Them

When you’re in the valley, the most important thing you can do is persevere.  If you keep fighting, as Maxwell says in his book, The Difference Maker, “you will get a second wind.”  It is said that only when runners are exhausted enough to reach that place do they find out what they can truly accomplish.

If you keep persevering while you are in the valley, not only will you likely make it to higher ground where you can make better decisions, but you will also have developed character which will serve you well throughout life.

Therefore, use the clarity of mountaintop moments to make major decisions.

For More Information Visit Site: www.businesskeystosuccess.com

The Law Of The Team

At this time in my life, virtually everything I do is a team effort.  In my personal business coaching, public speaking and career coaching I have a team to support me.  But, when I was younger, I used to try to do everything myself.  Or, as my businesses grew, I would try to know everything in detail about all aspects of the business even though I had turned over many aspects to my team members.

The truth is that this approach held back my growth as a self-employed business owner and the growth of my business. Smallbusiness growth and small business success are about developing a good team.  Any business that grows has a team or teams supporting that growth.

Team Means Letting Go

For most self-employed business owners, entrepreneurs or solo professionals there is a huge focus on control.  Yet as their businesses grow they still bring the mentality “I’m going to have to do it if it is to be done right.”  They hire people and build a team but they are disempowering them at the same time.

How?  They don’t trust them.  The number one cause of team dysfunction is lack of trust.  The little secret of growth is this.  You have to let go in order to grow.  To let go successfully, you must have systems and processes in place where all team members can be held accountable.

Team Means Amplification

In my personal business coaching practice, my team makes me better than I am.  When I recognize a situation with a client that needs to move forward very often I bring in an expert.  A good example is in the area of human resources.  As a small business grows it must have an employee handbook, performance reviews and policies and procedures.

When that is needed I bring in an expert in human resources to assist with the process.  She is part of my team.  And, at the same time, she amplifies the value I bring to my business coaching clients.

How does she do that?  She makes me better than I am.  As part of my team she multiplies my value to others.  And most importantly, she enables me to focus on what I do best, business coaching where I am focusing on creating and designing the pathways my clients want to have the future they desire.

Your Team Is Your Financial Nest Egg

for the future is just like developing a financial nest egg.  It may start slowly, but what you pout in brings a high return—similar to the way compound interest works with finances.

How does my team help me build that nest egg?  I have an organization that does my SEO work which helps my websites rank higher which in turn brings me business.  My accountant keeps track of and keeps me on track financially.

My team and the team you can develop will do many things.  Your team can give you more time.  Your team can represent you in things such as the example I gave in human resources.  Your team can provide a sense of community.  And most importantly your team can help you fulfill the desires you have for the future you want to create.

Develop your team and watch the law of the team work for you.

Who’s In Charge The Case For A Job Description

A job description can be the tipping point to having a successful smallbusiness.  Too often,the self-employed business owner becomes immersed in performing the business and really doesn’t know what his employees are doing and how they are doing it.

This is a recipe for disaster or a near disaster as one of my personal business coaching clients discovered.  He had a small company of four employees and was ready to add a fifth.  When I first started collaborating with him I asked him for a job description for each employee as well as himself.

As with most business owners he balked at having to create them.  His response was, “We’re doing great.  Everyone knows what they are doing.”  I replied that “Yes, everyone knows what they are doing.  But do you know what they are doing and are they doing it right?”

Job Description—What Are You Doing?

For those of you who have taken online training, business training or business courses you understand the importance of a job description.  A job description not only defines a job but how the job is being done.  A job description brings accountability to measure performance.

This last part, measuring performance is critical.  Without accurate measurements, most businesses will ultimately drift into failure.  Running a small business is part art or feel and part logic, the thinking.

When my client said his people knew what they were doing he was correct in one sense.  They did know what they were doing.  The first question was whether or not what they were doing was positioning the company to grow.  Were they doing things the right way?

It turned out much to his surprise and disgust, they certainly did know what they were doing.  The problem was that much of it was related to making their positions as easy as possible and they were actually detracting from the performance of the company.

Job Description—Know What You And Your Employees Are Doing

Without a job description it is hard to have any meaningful accountability.  Why?  The job becomes whatever and however the employee chooses to define it.  And, that definition can change to suit the circumstances.

The scattered self-employed business owner is focused on everything at once which means that much gets overlooked.  And, when it comes to trusting employees without a job description you are writing the formula for failure.  Failure and ignorance go hand in hand.

 Job Description To The Rescue

After discovering a multitude of problems because each employee had no job description this self-employed business owner embraced the process.  Within two weeks each employee and himself had a job description.  Yes, there was some resentment with some of the employees and ultimately two of them were let go.

But, the result was everyone knew their responsibilities, a chain of command was established freeing up the self-employed business owner's time.  Each job description brought accountability and improved performance.  Also, a definitive work flow was established.  Things calmed down.

And, where this business had been stuck for two years it was able to grow significantly with a solid foundation in place.  The key as this owner found out is not to hire the best people.  The key is to have the best process.  When you have the best process you will increase the odds of having people do their best.

And, the center of the best process is to have a written job description for each employee.  It created standards.  Without a job description in place for each team member it is not possible to have a vibrant and long-term team.