Business Keys To Success: Enlarging Others

Enlarging others is an important key to success. As a young employee and ultimately business owner I was striving for success and somehow it was always painful. It turned out that I had the wrong attitude. Instead of enlarging others I was always trying to beat them in an effort to win.

I had played team and individual sports in high school and college and understood the value of team. When I started working after college, initially for large companies and eventually on my own, all that sports training had no impact.

Step 1: Enlarging Yourself

I just kept getting it wrong. In sports I always valued my teammates. Somehow at work I looked at my co-workers as competitors. They were competition for me to overcome in order to rise in the company.

With this totally self-centered attitude I was miserable. Finally I realized that as long as I was trying to beat others or hold them down, that a part of me was down there with them.

At the time, I was working for a large metropolitan newspaper, The Denver Post. I realized that if I was to rise in the company that I had to believe in my teammates, not try to keep them down. This turned out to be a critical step in enlarging myself.

Some people enlarge themselves through more online training, corporate training, business training or business courses. These are all good but there is one thing that is critical to being an enlarger. Learning without application is nothing. And the first person that the learning has to be applied to is you.

So the first step to enlarging others is that I had to enlarge myself.

Enlarging Adds Value To The Team

As I enlarged myself and became more focused on the team and what we supposed to accomplish some great things started to happen.

I was able to have truly meaningful connections with my team members. Instead of viewing them as adversaries or impediments to progress I saw them as human beings trying to do their best. I offered encouragement. I started to receive encouragement in return.

Along with the encouragement I began to know what they liked, disliked and was able to connect with them even better. As I became an enlarger an amazing thing happened. I got promoted. Six months before I thought I was at a dead end.

Enlarging Makes You More Valuable

As I went through this transformation from a team member that detracted from the team to an enlarger I started a process where I became more valuable. I wasn’t doing this just for me personally, but also because it helped others.

Not only was I connecting better which allowed me to communicate and integrate at an improved level, I was making myself better which was making me more valuable.

In my personal business coaching practice I look for opportunities to enlarge not only my clients but how my clients can become enlargers in their companies. I firmly believe that a great deal of small business success in based on the business owner’s ability to be an enlarger.

As a self-employedbusiness owner, entrepreneur, solo professional, corporate executive or individual how are others seeing you? Do they see you as an enlarger? Do you make them better than they are alone through your inspiration and contribution? Do you know what your teammates value?

There are many more pluses to being an enlarger. I learned an important lesson that has stayed with me to this day. Be an enlarger of others. When you are enlarging others the odds are in your favor that they will promote and enlarge you.

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: Lead By Giving Others Energy

Mark Twain once said, “If you want energy go out and give it to someone else.”  Over the years I have been fortunate to lead not only businesses but several volunteer organizations.  The ones where we had the greatest success is where all of us were creating energy.

Yet, many self-employed business owners, entrepreneurs, solo professionals, corporate managers and corporate executives are unknowingly sabotaging themselves by not bringing or giving energy in their business or workplace.

Leadership is defined many ways.  One of my favorites that I use in my personal business coaching practice is this:  “Leadership is creating in others today, a future willingness to follow you into something new for the sake of something great.”  Something new can run the spectrum from incremental refinements to wholesale change.

Energy Creates Interest

Without energy you can become less interesting to follow.  Energy can come from your steadfastness of purpose and your commitment to succeed.  It can come from bringing enthusiasm to what you do.  There are many ways to bring energy through your words and actions.

To have long-term success, whether you are a self-employed business owner running a small business or a corporate executive with hundreds or thousands of employees, you must bring energy.  Small business success, or corporate success for that matter depend on many things.  But there is one characteristic of any enterprise that is heading toward going out of business.  It has lost its positive energy and momentum.

Positive Energy Is Key

 Psychologist Henry H. Goddard conducted a study on energy levels in children using and instrument he called the “ergograph.”  His findings were fascinating.  He discovered that when tired children were given a word of praise or commendation, the ergograph showed an immediate upward surge of energy in the children.

When the children were criticized or discouraged, the ergograph showed that their physical energy took a sudden nosedive.  You may have already discovered this intuitively.

When someone praises you, doesn’t your energy go up?  And when you are criticized, doesn’t that comment drag you down?  Words have great power.

What Kind Of Environment Is Your Energy Creating?

Your words and actions create your environment.  Are your words and actions leading to small business growth?  Think of what things would be like and what you could create if your were affirming people not only when you first meet them but on an ongoing basis.  Not only would you be encouraging them but you would also become an energy carrier.

Being an energy carrier is a good thing for leadership.  Whenever you walk into a room, the people would light up!  You would help to create the kind of environment everyone loves.  Just your presence alone would brighten people’s days.

Bring energy to yourself and others.  It will improve your leadership, your business and your life.  As Mark Twain pointed out if we want energy we have to go out and give it to others.  Create a positive environment of affirmation.  Lead with energy.

Business Keys To Success-Building A Team

Building a team is one of the quickest paths to business success.  Whether you are running a small business, starting your own business or in a corporate environment the value of having a good team is critical to any success.

Yet, very often in my business coaching practice, whether it be with self-employed business owners, entrepreneurs, solo professionals or corporate executives I have observed that their ability to move forward is dependent on the team and type of team they have put in place.

A Good Team Starts With Trust

Interestingly, almost any one can put a team together.  Whether you are running a small business, starting your own business or employed in the corporate environment having or being part of a good team is a positive game changer.

But to put a team together where the members trust each other is critical to moving forward.  If you can’t trust your team or teammates to get something done then everything bogs down.

A team in a way is like a convoy in time of war.  It only moves as fast as it’s slowest link.  Having trust allows us to get the heart of challenges quickly, resolve them and move on.

A Good Team Will Disagree 

Once there is trust then there can be disagreement.  When everyone is in agreement and supporting the mission then the tactics to accomplish the mission can be discussed openly.  Also, the overall strategy in which the tactics are employed can be discussed and altered.

It is important for the team leader to allow this disagreement.  When team members feel that they have truly been heard, then when the decision is made they are much more likely to support it.  Disagreement is a means of giving your team ownership in the process.

 A Good Team Will Have Commitment and Accountability 

As team members take ownership they will have a greater commitment and a desire to be held accountable for results.  Without commitment and accountability it is hard to have the good morale and positive momentum that teams need to move forward.

Team members who are truly committed also are willing to be held accountable.  They want credit for helping the team achieve its goal.

A Good Team Will Pay Attention To Results

You may say that this would go without saying.  Unfortunately if you don’t have trust, the ability to openly disagree, commitment and accountability then most teams don’t want to look at the results.  And the reason is obvious.  The results are not good.

Paying attention to results ties everyone on the team together.  But without trust, the ability to voice opinions, commitment and accountability there is no sense of unity and no desire to focus on results.

Build your team to position yourself for the success you desire.  When you move from “I” to “Let’s” you are building a team and opening up the possibility for great things to happen.