Is Impatience Hurting Your Results?

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Remember the fable, the tortoise and the hare? The hare, due to his impatience and cockiness, failed to do what needed to be done to win the race. The tortoise won — slow and steady made it happen.

You, like many business executives, want to move forward faster to capture new business and other opportunities. Often overlooked are the required systems, people and practices that allow you to grow and be competitive. When you become impatient, you have a tendency to make poor decisions. Poor planning, if any, and overlooked details will negatively impact your bottom line, business relationships and reputation. Other issues that arise: You burn out. Deadlines are missed. People do not fit their jobs. Customers or potential clients are dissed. The importance of following-up and following- through on promises are marginalized.

How do you build a faster moving company?

Build a strong foundation. It won’t happen overnight. While opportunities in this fast-paced global market can happen quickly, taking them on when you don’t have the capacity to do so can actually hurt you more than help your business grow.

Set aside your impatience.

Take time to develop good relationships with your employees, management team and Board. Steadiness allows your team to utilize their experiences and create win-win strategic and tactical outcomes – it provides the opportunity for everyone to get on the same page with you. Build on what you and your team do well. Utilize a business advisor and executive coach to keep you focused on the right things, and doing them the right way.

©Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013-2015

Jeannette Seibly is a business advisor for business owners and executives of $5MM to $30MM enterprises creating million dollar results, and along the way created 3 millionaires. Contact her at JLSeibly@SeibCo.com for a free consultation of how to achieve amazing results.

Want to play more and get more done?

Several years ago I had an executive client, he just didn’t seem to be able to get things done. He was into work before anyone else and stayed late. My coaching — he could not arrive before 7 a.m. or stay after 7 p.m.! I recommended boundaries for him to work within. Not only did he get more things done, he developed a relationship with his wife and kids! He was my first millionaire!

Ask yourself:

  1. Do you want to have more free time to do the things you love to do?
  2. Be part of your family’s life?

Most people would answer, “Yes!” The challenge is, you know you have a multitude of things that need to be done and don’t believe you have time to play.

Answer: Schedule it. (I know it sounds simple and it’s not always easy!)

Process:

  1. Write down everything that needs to be done (yes, everything!), everywhere in your life.
  2. Highlight the top two items.
  3. Schedule them, take focused action and get them done.
  4. Celebrate! You deserve it.
  5. Repeat.

Yes, it is that simple! Other benefits:

  1. You won’t have time to overthink things — you will actually get them done. (Remember, there are only two!)
  2. You’ll learn how to delegate and not be so picky! (Your employees will thank you for these new opportunities.)
  3. You will learn to prioritize and focus on the important things. (Not the busy-work, which doesn’t provide the results you want.)

The key: Honor your schedule! 

This is a very simple process.

Remember, I did not say it would be easy.

The challenge: Do it for one week and let me know the results.

©Jeannette L. Seibly, 2015

Need to transform your management practices? Contact me before it’s too late! http://SeibCo.com/contact

Jeannette Seibly is an award-winning and internationally recognized business advisor. For the past 23 years, she has helped thousands of people work smarter, enjoy financial freedom, and realize their dreams now.  She has an uncanny ability to help her clients identify roadblocks, and help them focus to quickly produce unprecedented results.  Each client brings their own unique challenges, and her gift is helping each one create their success in their own unique way. Along the way, with her commitment, she helped create three millionaires.

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Build a Strong Business by Working Smarter

As a business owner or executive, you can be very busy juggling the demands of day-to-day business operations, customer needs, and family and community commitments. However, you also need to focus on building a strong business by working smarter. That will create opportunities for more fun, more money and more freedom!

Follow these 5 key practices:

1) Handle challenges as they occur. Putting them off and hoping they’ll go away rarely works. You will actually create more work the longer you wait. Remember, a mole hill will turn into a mountain if not handled in a timely and appropriate manner.

2) Listen well the first time. Most of us are poor listeners. Not listening will create more work when we don’t deliver on what clients want, internally and externally.  Although it may take more time, when you slow down and truly listen, it will make life easier and reduce your workload.

3) Hire right the first time. You and your team will need to work harder if you have the wrong person in the job. Use a strategic process and qualified assessment tools. While they may seem expensive, they are not. A bad hire can cost the company 2.5% of the annual gross wage for that person (and may not include numerous intangible costs). Unfortunately, many small businesses have had to close their doors simply because they did not know how to hire right. (http://BizSavvyHire.com)

4) Follow-up and Follow-through. After networking, take 10 minutes and send everyone you met a “thank you” email or card. If you promised material or a call, do it now! Waiting may lose you customers, both current and future.

5) Honor expectations. A couple of examples that business owners need to honor: a) Arrive 5 minutes early for all meetings — if you’re late, you’ll need to work harder to get people to trust you. b) Manage your business with good financial data — use Generally Accepted Accounting Practices. Failure to do so may result in a time-consuming IRS audit. What else can you think of?

Working smarter does not mean working harder. Follow the above 5 practices and you will grow your business and enjoy the rewards.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2015

Need to transform your management practices? Contact me before it’s too late! http://SeibCo.com/contact

Jeannette Seibly is an internationally recognized business advisor. For the past 23 years, she has helped thousands of people work smarter, enjoy financial freedom, and realize their dreams now.  She has an uncanny ability to help her clients identify roadblocks, and help them focus to quickly produce unprecedented results.  Each client brings their own unique challenges, and her gift is helping each one create their success in their own unique way. Along the way, with her commitment, she helped create three millionaires.

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Are your employees on the same page with you?

Many bosses, including you, inevitably will get upset with employees who are not doing things the way you would do them. You expect them to know what to do after reading a manual or being shown once how to do something. Rarely do you stop to see what is missing from the employees’ perspectives so that they can produce consistent work product and be on the same page with you.

3 key points to get your employees on the same page with you:

  1. Review your training, systems and procedures. What’s missing? The average national reading level is 6th grade — this can reflect a person’s ability to adequately read, write and comprehend any material and put it to good use. It’s critical to remember that people learn differently. Some people need to talk it out to ensure they understand. Some need to be shown how to do something more than once. Still others need to “try” it themselves first, and then ask for coaching to fill in the gaps.
  2. Use legally and scientifically validated job fit tools for hiring, coaching and managing. This helps you understand objectively why people fail to do work the way you would do it. Also, it creates a laser-like opportunity for you to provide guidance for skill development (this will help you and your employees).
  3. Set specific goals, and then manage the milestones to ensure the project and people are all moving forward. When people fail to deliver the required results, coach them by focusing on the task at hand. Do not try to fix the person – it will never work and leave them, and you, frustrated. Instead, you need to be very specific about your instructions and other times you’ll need to help them understand the bigger picture.

©Jeannette L. Seibly, 2010-2015It can be lonely at the top! An experienced business advisor, always accessible and at a nearby desk can make a positive and powerful difference for you, and your employees. My goal is to be your in-house advisor, your ally and sounding board as you navigate the complex world of your business! (Contact: JLSeibly@SeibCo.com OR 303-917-2993)

Transform your failures into greater success. Get my copy of “We all fail! How can we use failure to create greater success?” http://ow.ly/Kp34R

Are Superstar Clashes Getting You Down?

As a boss, it’s challenging to manage high performers. Most of these superstars know they know their stuff. Since they believe others are less knowledgeable and less capable than they are, it sometimes taxes them to listen to others. Even to their boss!

If they’re causing you sleepless nights, most likely you aren’t the only one. As their boss, it’s up to you to manage these superstars and their egos, to keep them engaged and growing with your company.

Look beneath the surface. We often believe that if a top performer does well in one area, s/he will do superbly in other areas too. This is not true. Unfortunately, if you’re not using scientifically validated assessment products to ascertain their thinking style, core behavioral traits, and occupational interests, you may lose them. Superstars hate to fail. Provide them challenges, not to be confused with busy work, which they are quick to spot and resent.

Expect good people skills. Too often as bosses, we overlook our superstars’ interpersonal skills. When we step into a dispute to resolve it for them, it creates more animosity between the superstar and co-workers (or clients). Instead, expect them to work it out themselves by a set time and report back to you the results.

Understand their strengths and weaknesses. Use a qualified 360-degree feedback assessment to focus on their effectiveness and not whether someone is likeable. This can help you uncover any of their missing leadership skills, and focus them on developing themselves for future positions and opportunities.

Remember, money is not a motivator. While your superstars may demand more and more money, higher salaries will not provide the incentives necessary for them to continue to excel. Find other ways of compensating them based upon results (e.g., perks, vacations, gift certificates, etc.).

©Jeannette Seibly, 2010-2015

It can be lonely at the top! An experienced business advisor, always accessible and at a nearby desk can make a positive and powerful difference for you, and your employees. My goal is to be your in-house advisor, your ally and sounding board as you navigate the complex world of your business! (Contact: JLSeibly@SeibCo.com OR 303-917-2993)

Transform your success into great success. Use a qualified 360-degree assessment to move you forward faster. http://SeibCo.com/contact

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Improve Your Results

It’s more important than ever to stay on-course in your business or career, particularly when things don’t seem to be happening as fast you would like. While modifications may be required, making changes without clarity is not a wise course of action. Remember the fable of the tortoise and the hare? While the hare was faster, he wasn’t able to sustain his activities. The tortoise kept going. Steady and straight. He won!

3 keys to improve your results:

Know Thyself. You can build faster and stronger results using your strengths (remember, every weakness has a strength and every strength has a weakness). Although, many people like to think they know themselves — it’s hard to see yourself from others’ perspectives. To get a true picture of yourself, use your coach, a highly qualified assessment tool and a qualified 360-feedback assessment. These tools will provide clarity on how you interact with others and your effectiveness in managing projects. (Note: Highly qualified assessments require quantifiably higher validity, accuracy and reliability than most products in the market.)

Set Compelling Goals. Many business professionals make pie-in-the-sky goals or set goals too small – neither of these will get you the results you want. Not only are your results unlikely to happen, they create unnecessary stress for you and your employees. Also, it can create needless financial expenditures and loss of energy.

Make goals realistic, do-able and quantifiable. Work with your business advisor to ensure you’re on the right track, moving forward strategically and tactically, while measuring the right key indicators.

Create Focused Action. This is the key to success. Too often we set goals and forget to set up structures to fulfill these goals. Beware, busy work does not equal focused action! Work with your executive coach to ensure you’re working smarter and taking the necessary focused steps each day. Putting everything off will not help you attract new clients or the results you desire.

©Jeannette L. Seibly, 2010-2015

I specialize in straight talk with immediate results. With proactive and extensive “people” management experience, I have been particularly successful in coaching and training business owners, their executives and managers, to achieve unprecedented results by working with and through others.  Get my copy of “We all fail! How can we use failure to create greater success?” http://ow.ly/Kp34R

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Would you allow 2 miles or 2 minutes to get in the way of achieving your results?

Unfortunately, many of us do. We are afraid to ask for help or clarification on a project, or get a reality check on an idea. We won’t ask for directions on how to get to a meeting.  We don’t plan or prepare for meetings, rationalizing we are too busy. After a networking meeting, we don’t take two minutes to connect via email or LinkedIn.  These lost opportunities cost companies millions!

A true story! When someone was late for a meeting due to lack of planning on where the restaurant was located, they simply gave up. They didn’t use technology (411 (directory assistant), GPS, or MapQuest). The restaurant was only 2 miles away!

Question: Would you work with someone who gave up so easily? What opportunities were lost? 

Answer:  We’ll never know!

Get in focused action. Stop rationalizing why you don’t want to or shouldn’t have to! These excuses take the same amount of energy and time as getting into action!  The question to ask yourself: What is the best use of my time? Now write down a brief outline of what needs to be done and take the first step.

Ask for advice. You look competent when you ask others for their opinions. It shows you wish to solve an issue, move forward to complete a stopped project, or get where you are going. The key is to take the recommendations and follow-through – these few minutes will set you apart from your competition.

Ask the right questions up front. Working smarter means asking for clarification (e.g., timeframe, budget, important information) at the beginning of a project or a plan to resolve any challenges. It takes less than two minutes to ask, and saves mega-time, money and frustration.

 A critical question to ask: What needs to happen for this project to be completed on time and within budget while achieving the necessary goals and outcomes? Yes, the response may take 20 minutes. (Hint: 20 minutes now vs. 20+ hours later)

Plan ahead for 100% success. Plan for breakdowns and pitfalls. They are a reality. When they do happen, do not allow them to stop you. That is what speed dial and social media connections are for — ask your network for input, be responsible for any confidential issues. Meet with your business advisor or coach (or retain one) to clarify what the true issue is. (Hint: If the issue persists, you haven’t gotten to the source of the problem and taken the right actions required to resolve it. Keep digging.)

Taking the two minutes or driving the two miles will make you unstoppable, and have you create unprecedented results!

©Jeannette Seibly, 2010-2015

It can be lonely at the top! An experienced business advisor, always accessible and at a nearby desk can make a positive and powerful difference for you, and your employees. My goal is to be your in-house advisor, your ally and sounding board as you navigate the complex world of your business! (Contact: JLSeibly@SeibCo.com OR 303-917-2993)

Transform your failures into greater success. Get my copy of “We all fail! How can we use failure to create greater success?” http://ow.ly/Kp34R

 

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Valuable Advice for Accelerating Leadership Success!

“The mark of a true leader is working with and through others to achieve goals.”

True leaders in this global market must understand the importance of being competitive and collaborative! Accelerating results requires leaders manage people and projects to meet intended goals with a competitive edge. Also required is an ability to learn lessons from their successes and failures, while working collaboratively with and through others to achieve required results. While it may seem time-consuming to work with others to achieve the company’s goals, being the lone ranger will limit the success of the company, project, and, your career!

How do you develop these valuable skills? It requires being involved–it goes beyond reading books, attending workshops and watching videos. It requires you participating, hiring a coach and being in focused action. Today’s effective leaders have others wanting to work with and for them to learn from their amazing experiences and results.

Set and achieve intended goals.

With your team, it’s important to develop a strategic plan with focused action steps to support it. Alignment of others that will be impacted by the plan is also critical. Develop a structure to review what is expected, the timetable and actions to be taken. Beware of busy-ness that often hinders the process from moving forward. Remember, some of your team will be uncertain about the where, what, when, why and how to do the necessary work. Your coaching, or hiring a coach, provides accountability and develops trust when handled in an effective manner.

“Communication can resolve issues; but first we must have the conversation!”

Communicate powerfully.

Don’t be afraid to have those difficult conversations when you’re stuck. Effective leaders are bold. Healthy disagreements can actually clear the air and provide quantum leaps towards the end result. As the leader, learn how to state your point so that others can hear you. Staying in the conversation when it gets tough allows you to build on others’ comments in a positive manner. These skills will make a huge difference in moving forward and having others feel valued.

Facilitate meetings that have value.

Conducting an effective meeting is critical. When leaders have poor facilitation skills, it can lead to their downfall. Learn how to manage the logistical and human sides of meetings efficiently and effectively, either one-on-one or in a group. Remember, to include off-site groups in a way they will feel part of the team.

Develop others.

First — appreciate their contributions. Second — trust your team members to do their jobs and don’t micromanage how they are doing them. Third — manage their progress and check in to ensure efforts are focused on intended results. These are keys to success.

Celebrate!

Celebrating your successes is important. So, is celebrating failures (yes, that seems strange) – however, failures are our learning lessons. Too often we only celebrate what has worked and miss out on the opportunity to learn the important lessons. As an effective leader, it’s up to you to bring forth these valuable distinctions.

©Jeannette L. Seibly, 2015

I specialize in straight talk with immediate results. With proactive and extensive “people” management experience, I have been particularly successful in coaching and training business owners, their executives and managers, to achieve unprecedented results by working with and through others.  Get my copy of “We all fail! How can we use failure to create greater success?” http://ow.ly/Kp34R

Your Biggest Investment Can Be Your Greatest Expense

As an investor, the biggest and most expensive investment is not the intellectual property, idea or product. It’s the inventor!

Most entrepreneurs/inventors will promise you anything! They have been coached to tell you the right stories and will express a great interest in learning from you. The fact is, many see the bright shiny object called business ownership and using someone else’s money as their answer. They fail to understand the money that has been invested may need to be repaid and that debt can limit future endeavors.  However, it will become your issue if you decide to invest in them and they are not ready.

How can you tell if the person you’re investing in is really the one that can make you money? Most investors buy an idea. The challenge can be the inventor comes along as a key element in the investment. As the investor, you need a way to determine whether or not the inventor has the enterprising interests or capabilities to setup and run a company. And, the willingness and ability to follow your directions!

When push comes to shove in any investor-inventor relationship (and, it will), many will push back and fail to follow-through. The problem is natural entrepreneurs, whether they have experience or not, don’t take well to being told what to do, how to do it, or be held accountable for the intended results that are not their ideas.

They generally are not coachable – they falsely believe if they can envision it, it will happen. They are often unaware of the focused actions required and how to be resourceful outside of themselves.  Their lack of hands-on experience and business knowledge can limit the successful launch of the product/idea and your profitability.

People are like icebergs. You only see about 10% of their skills, experience and education. The rest of the iceberg becomes known after you’ve invested in them.  By then, it may be too late to recoup your money.

What can you do to ensure you’re picking the right people to invest in? Know the person. Yes, it’s their idea that you are buying. They’ve probably invested their entire life savings, have second or third mortgages and received money from their parents, friends and other family members! They truly believe in their idea. However, consider this:

  • Did they use a strategic process to create it?
  • Do they have the mental engine to create a company?
  • Do they have the willingness to follow your lead and work collaboratively with you?

These are only three of the many questions that need to be asked and answered before you invest in them.

Discover the other 90% by using scientifically qualified assessments that will provide objective information about his or her learning style, core behaviors and occupational interests. It will open your eyes (and, usually theirs) about what type of entrepreneur, and future business owner, they will be.

  • Can the person create and build a company?
  • Will they work in a win-win manner beyond verbally agreeing with you and their new Board of Directors (or Advisory Board)?
  • Are the results they produce the intended ones?
  • Were they able to produce them on-time and within budget?
  • Does the leader have the mental engine to grow a financially successful business?
  • Do they even have the interest and discipline to do so?

As an investor, you will save a lot of time, energy and money knowing up front the type of inventor you are investing in – because, again, she or he can either be your biggest investment or your greatest expense.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2015

It can be lonely at the top! An experienced business advisor, always accessible and at a nearby desk can make a positive and powerful difference for you, and your employees. My goal is to be your in-house advisor, your ally and sounding board as you navigate the complex world of your business! (Contact: JLSeibly@SeibCo.com OR 303-917-2993)

Want to Achieve Faster Results?

Do you …

  • Allow people and circumstances to limit your results?
  • Fail to listen to sage advice because it doesn’t fit your point of view?
  • Accept excuses instead of creating openings for action?

These ineffective management styles will limit your ability to achieve faster results. Your skill in working with people, systems and issues to create win-win outcomes is required for success. Failure to acquire new skills will derail your career!

The world of work is changing. It requires executives, business owners and entrepreneurs to develop a new level of guidance, direction-giving and implementation approaches that work.

Listen for required change. Change for the sake of change can be time consuming and expensive. Mimicking your competition will not guarantee a positive return on investment. It pays for you and your team to listen to the marketplace, while strategically customizing solutions that work for your company and customers!

Stay in focused action. Don’t buy into the common excuse, “I’m too busy.” As the leader, it’s up to you to provide the direction and ensure what needs to be done is accomplished. Get everyone on the same page and guide a clear course of action. It doesn’t work when you change the goal to fit the actions taken. Handle the uncomfortable details and make the hard decisions now, with integrity.

Hire a coach. When you hit a wall, and you will, don’t slug it out alone. A coach helps you recognize your blind spots, and those of your team. These insights, when put into workable action, will elicit the best in others, making them (and you) easier to work with and open to listening to others’ input.Enjoy achieving faster results.

 It can be lonely at the top! An experienced business advisor, always accessible and at a nearby desk can make a positive and powerful difference for you, and your employees. My goal is to be your in-house advisor, your ally and sounding board as you navigate the complex world of your business! (Contact: JLSeibly@SeibCo.com OR 303-917-2993)

©Jeannette Seibly, 2015