Top 10 Lessons I Learned in ‘09 While Starting My Own Business…

December 30, 2009

Patience, Patience, Patience. Keep in mind that the ultimate vision that I am building towards will be my life journey and not an overnight transformation.

Just Be Me. 99.9% of the time, someone is already offering the same product or service that we are now selling. What differentiates me from my competitors is my authentic signature brand.

It’s A Family Affair. The risks, costs and rewards that are incurred in my business venture involve my entire family so I have learned to involve them in any strategy and decision making processes.

Know When To Hold ‘Em, Know When To Fold ‘Em. Evaluate my revenue model regularly and be sure to constantly adapt so that I am spending my time and resources on my most profitable activities.

Adopt A Platform Building Mentality. Construction begins in 2010.

Take Time To Get Inspired. I uncover my greatest ideas and solutions when I am swimming or running, not when I am staring at my laptop and forcing the process.

To The Market We Go! Determine what forms of marketing I can and will do myself and hire someone to manage that which I don’t enjoy. Love it or hate it, either way, we all must embrace social media but be cautious not to lose ourselves in it.

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained. #1 way to build my business is through public and private speaking opportunities. Get out of the office and behind the podiums as much as possible.

Prioritize Your Priorities. It sounds so obvious, but now that I am blessed to have a husband and a four month old baby-I am amazed at the challenge of focusing on what needs to get done and what would be  ‘nice’ to get done for my business,  for our family and for myself-each day.

Educate, Entertain, Inspire. By doing these three things for current and future clients, I am slowly but most definitely growing the business of my dreams.

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2 Comments | Building Your Brand, Business Planning, Creating Your Vision, Developing Your Platform | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
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Whose In Your Driver Seat Today?

October 20, 2009

drivers seatSix clients and colleagues have posed this rhetorical question to me, but really to themselves, in the last few weeks so I thought I would share with you and find out if you are also in the same predicament.  What they are trying to determine is WHO is driving their behavior, decision making, and overall professional trajectory TODAY?

Typically, my clients have been hell bent on following a self crafted path that they set out for themselves years ago when things were more, shall we say, predictable.  For some of us, we surpassed our goals years ago and have spent the last few years just hanging out, or surviving, or at the same plateau. For others, we are coming to the realization that what we thought we wanted for ourselves (own our own company, retire by 40, make manager by the time you begin having children) is no longer either realistic or may no longer be the life path that we want to pursue. Some of us realized along the way towards becoming and achieving, that that particular path and aspiration was actually not the path for us and we needed to abort and shift gears towards a better fit.

Either way, it is time to REFLECT and EXPLORE.

Of course, the questions I always begin with: What do you want your legacy to be? Where do you want to end up? What do you need to do to ‘right your sails’ so that you are working towards those ends?  What is of the greatest priorities? What do you need to have in your life versus what would be nice to have in your life?

Answer these questions and the HOW and the WHAT of your life should reveal itself pretty naturally.

So, I ask you: Whose in your driver seat today?

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The Johari Window

July 8, 2009

Johari Window In 1955, Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham designed the ‘Johari Window’, a cognitive   psychological tool, which continues to inform our understanding of how people communicate inter-personally and how relationships are formed today.   This tool is particularly valuable in developing the leadership personalities of managers and executives all over the world.  The ‘Johari Window’ divides personal awareness into four arenas which we move between as we interact with others.  The four windows are:

1) ‘Open window’/Public arena: Things that I know about myself and that you know about me.

2) ‘Blind window’/Blind arena: Things that you know about me, but that I am not aware of.

3) ‘Hidden window’/Private arena: Things that I know about myself and that you do not know.

4) ‘Unknown window’/Subconscious/Unconscious Arena: Things neither I know about myself, nor you know about me.

The Center for Leadership Studies utilizes the ‘Johari Window’ when they want to highlight leadership personality, which includes self-perception and the perception of others versus their leadership style, which only looks at the perception of their behavior by others.  The two processes that affect the shape of the Johari Window’ are feedback and disclosure.

Feedback refers to the extent to which others in an organization are willing to share with their leader their feelings and perceptions.  Of equal importance in this dynamic is the leader’s willingness and openness to perceive the verbal and non-verbal feedback that exists within their relational dynamic. Without an openness to accept this feedback from one’s subordinates/associates, managers will develop blind areas that will erode their effectiveness over time.    The greater likelihood that feedback is exchanged within an organization, the greater the public arena of a leader will overshadow their private arena leading to a less potent blind arena.

The second process that affects the shape of the ‘Johari Window’ is disclosure, or the extent to which leaders are willing to reveal themself to others in their organization.  A leader’s behavior provides the greatest insight into their values versus what they say about themselvs.  In the interest of the time and energy of organizations,  leaders should always take into consideration disclosing only what is relevant to the operation of an organization and compartmentalizing that which is irrelevant.   This way, the leader’s public arena will only open up into the private arena when it is in the best interest of the overall organization.

In organizations where there is ongoing feedback and disclosure between leaders and their subordinates/associates, the public arena of the leaders extends itself into the blind and private arenas. Also, there is a greater likelihood that what was previously unknown to the leader or the others will be exposed in the public arena.

In considering your own leadership personality, how much feedback and disclosure are you perceiving and receiving within your organization? Do you think that by increasing your openness to this input you would improve your effectiveness?  What is getting in your way of this happening more often?

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The Evolution of the Entrepreneur

June 7, 2009

business-evolution

Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and Built to Last, was interviewed by Inc. Magazine( April 09) and cited 5 key evolutions that have raised the idea of entrepreneurship as a systematic and replicable process.  Those evolutions are:

1) A rise in capital mechanisms; i.e. now there are various means of obtaining venture funds.

2) A rise in educational mechanisms; i.e. the idea that entrepreneurship is now a learnable process.

3) A shift in the image of an entrepreneur from a bad word to a hero.

4) A shift in viewing entrepreneurship as the creation of a better product to a better process.

5) Three/possibly four stages of an entrepreneur:  First, a great idea; second, a successful business; thirdly, a great company and now fourth, a great movement.

Mr. Collins references Wendy Kopp of Teach for America as an example of the modern day, representing the proposed fourth stage of an, entrepreneur.  Ms. Kopp, ” is out to utterly transform education…taking an entrepreneurial, let’s-do-something approach to tackling a massive social problem.”  Mr. Collins then explains that the leading entrepreneurs of the past three decades: Steve Jobs, Ken Iverson, Herb Kelleher, Anita Roddick, Yvon Chouinard, Howard Schultz, and Jeff Bezos all also set out with purposes larger than what they were doing.

The thoughtleader is emphatic to point out that a movement will not simply be able to stand on it’s own. It must evolve on the shoulders of a sound, stragetic business that is held together by a very effective set of processes and values.  Secondly, despite the fundamental economic differences between the private sector and non-profits, Mr. Collins believes that the social sector may have more to teach us in the coming years.  The reason being that in private business, leadership is often mistaken for concentrated power.  In the non-profit world, the ability to truly lead and get things done is a learned and earned skill that cannot simply be commanded.

I found this article incredibly inspiring and enlightening.  Oftentimes the original ideals and inspirations behind some of our greatest and most profitable companies were founded on a simply, yet lofty personal legacy goal of their creator.  This dialogue underscores the responsibility to create a legacy that will not only improve our world today, but the world of our children and their children.  What do you think? Do you agree that the next stage of an entrepreneur will be the development of a great movement?

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Conquering Your Dream Killers

May 21, 2009

My challenge to you during this ‘down turn’ is to finally allow yourself the opportunity to simultaneously seize your career dream.  By hatching your own creative ideas and being fueled by the knowledge that you are in the driver’s seat of your own legacy creation, I guarantee that you will be on the winning end of reaching your dreams.  Your ‘X’ factor (your passion, innate motivation and personal interest) will set you apart from your competition as you eventually bring a unique solution or product to an over saturated market of ‘in the box’ thinkers. 

If I were to ask you what is holding you back from pursuing your ideal career path today, what would you tell me?  The majority of my clients tell me that their top three ‘dream killers’ are not taking the time to specify their ultimate career aspiration, a lack of confidence and structure and not being accountable to anyone other than themselves to pursue their dream.  Do any of these roadblocks resonate with you? Let’s break each one down and help you get out of your own way and get onto your chosen path. 

Specify Your Legacy Aspiration. 

First, in order to understand what it is you would ideally like to be doing in your business life, you must take the time to clarify what you most want to participate in creating for those in the present and in the future.  The answers to these lofty questions will undoubtedly uncover the areas in which you are uniquely gifted and in turn that you will be fully committed to further developing and actualizing into your legacy.  This is an opportune time to seek out the services of a coach, complete a self-assessment survey as well as holding informational interviews with those who are already working within your areas of interest. 

Slay your ‘inner naysayer’ with an action plan and confidence.

 The second most common roadblock that you might experience is your ‘inner naysayer’.  Being your own worst enemy is never more relevant than in this situation.  You must continually ward off all of the excuses and reasons why you ‘can’t’ pursue your dream and must stay stuck in your current situation. I would be naïve and irresponsible to suggest that this is a time for everyone to up and quit their current jobs.  The process of shifting your career trajectory towards a more ideal direction is one that is going to take time. After you have accomplished the first step as described above, the next step is to flesh out for yourself how you are going to go about making your intended transition.  It is imperative that you keep in mind that this is not going to be an overnight makeover. It will require careful planning and assessment and most importantly, patience with yourself and the inevitable setbacks.  Keep your eye on your end goal every day and the glory that you will relish in once you reach that end.

Make yourself accountable to someone other than yourself.

The final most common ‘dream killer’ is not being accountable to anyone other than you to actually pursue your career dream.  Even if my clients have been able to navigate their ways through the previous two roadblocks, this final piece of the pie is commonly insurmountable to achieve alone.  In order to ensure that you are responsible for taking progressive measures to reach your goals, you are going to need to hire a coach or identify a buddy whom you can check in with on a weekly basis and report your progress. Self-sabotage is no light contender and it is always around and ready to de-rail you from your intended focus and aspirations.  The best way to set up your buddy system is to find a person in your life that is also trying to reach a large goal, establish your ground rules and schedule a weekly telephone arrangement.  The key to a successful buddy system is not to be judgmental but to be as supportive as possible towards one another.  We all are hard enough on ourselves already and the focus of the sessions should be spent on celebrating the week’s victories and planning for the upcoming week’s intentions.

What do you think of my suggestions for conquering the three most common dream killers? 

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