Doom Busters – New Zealanders Wake UP!

With so many reports still focused on the doom and gloom of our economy it is about time that we added some high octane optimism and enthusiasm back into our everyday activities!

We all have the power to choose whether we think positively or negatively so what are we doing about it? Are you viewing your glass half empty or half full?

I remind myself daily that I am living in “God’s Own” and that it’s my attitude and my actions that dictate how well I do in 2010 both in business and in my personal life.

I believe it’s time that New Zealanders started dreaming again, getting inspired about all that is possible, being grateful for all that we have. We need to find our true calling, our core desires, our passions, and take time out to focus on what we really want.

With business activities continuously being related back to the numbers it is now more than ever critically important to keep in touch with and be grateful for our most valuable, most precious assets, our staff. If they are not our most precious asset why did we employ them?

It’s our people that grow our businesses. Great staff is the key to success in these times.

For me cost cutting is not the only way to increase profit. Investing in our staff and in turn positively affecting morale will show our customers exactly the kind of attitude that is needed to navigate these economic times.

Staff should be related to value not cost. When we build confidence in our staff, this leads to a feeling of greater security within their job which will lead to increased productivity in our business.

Right now, confidence is what is needed to extinguish the doom and gloom and get on the bandwagon to recovery. Are you leading the way?

Showing confidence in your team means showing confidence in your own abilities. Managing through tough times means evaluating what is important from what’s not and budget cutting is not necessarily always the answer to this.

Team building exercises, developmental workshops or even a Mid-winter Christmas function will support staff and make them feel secure within the current circumstances.

These are relatively inexpensive ways of showing positivity in the midst of a global economic uncertainty.

As business owners let’s choose to “pull out heads out of the sand” and get enthusiastic about our future. Then and only then are we ready to lead our team

The development of staff is a key factor for any business success. Grow your people and you will grow your business. Our people are our biggest asset and need to remain in the forefront of our minds. Engaging people is the key to our success.

Here is an article from a long time friend and business colleague from Australia, Martin Gruntstein. Martin outstanding results with over 500 Australasian companies across over 100 industries has made him Australia’s most in-demand speaker on customer service. He is contactable by phone on (0414)933249 or through his website www.martingrunstein.com.au.

THE RULES OF THE GAME OF BUSINESS

by Martin Grunstein

If you can’t handle that concept, don’t work in a “sales” position. And almost all jobs involve a “sales” position from being a flight attendant to being a retailer to being a doctor. If you are medically trained and you don’t like these rules, become a pathologist; if you are offended by these rules become a data entry person so you only deal with computers and  when you get frustrated with them, you don’t have to be nice to them.

Some of the people in my audiences tell me they were brought up according to the golden rule of “do unto others as you will have others do unto you” and I tell them that applies to their personal relationships outside the business environment. That’s how you should treat your friends, your family and the people you want to have in your life. But it is a little different in the business environment.

If money changes hands, the rules change. The buyer can crush the seller’s ego (within reason) but the seller can not crush the buyer.

The waitress at the cafe may not choose to allow HER children to be rowdy and  play with the sugar and cutlery when they go to a café but it is not her responsibility to lecture the customers with the rowdy kids on parenting, it is her job to serve them with a smile and help make their time at the café as enjoyable as possible.

Just as it is inappropriate for the flight attendant to “teach passengers some manners”!

People who are successful follow and understand the code. You are your own architect of your future.

1.    Thou shall make a decision and a commitment

2.    Thou shall conceive and execute a plan

3.    Thou shall take full responsibility

4.    Thou shall embrace patience and temperance

5.    Thou shall act with courage

6.    Thou shall cultivate passion

7.    Thou shall exercise discipline

8.    Thou shall remain single-minded

9.    Thou shall demand integrity

10.  Thou shall let go of past failures

11.  Thou shall pay the price

12.  Thou shall at all times persevere

Extracted from The Great Ones (A business Fable)

(http://thegreatonesonline.com)

Evolving your communication requires taking full responsibility for the outcome of each conversation; not only for what you are saying but also for the message the other person is hearing. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a term used often within business management and leadership as it describes the ability or skill to identify, assess, manage and control the emotions of one’s self and others. Since we all listen and process information differently, it is crucial to learn and become sensitive to others’ style of communication. This allows you to align their style with your own and become increasingly effective at communicating your point, listening and achieving the desired result faster.

Here are some important questions to ask yourself to determine how effectively you communicate with those around you:

1. Am I taking full responsibility or the message being heard by the other person?
2. Did I respect the other person’s point of view? Did I have a reaction to what they were saying that prevented me from listening to the full message?
3. Did the other person feel heard and understood? Did I acknowledge them?
4. If I was asking someone to take specific action, did I make my request clear?
5. Am I speaking in a way the other person can understand?
6. Am I checking to see if the conversation worked or was successful?
7. Was I communicating openly, without prejudices, expectations and judgement?  Was I focusing on being right or having my point of view accepted?
8. Did I leave the conversation with some value?  Did I allow the other person a chance to contribute?
9. Did I give the person the gift of my attention and listening?
10. If the outcome of the conversation did not meet my expectations, did I learn what I could improve upon
    to better communicate with the particular person?

Source:

“Top Ten Questions To Ask Yourself About Your Communication.” www.resourcenation.com.  Accessed on 25 May 2010.

Received this from a good friend in the form of a birthday card. Great message:

“May the road

rise to meet you

may the wind

always be at your back

may the sun

shine warm upon your face

may the rains

fall softly upon your fields….”

Found this and thought it really summed up how to have a really good day on this wonderful planet:

The Optimist’s Creed

• Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
• Talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
• Make all your friends feel there is something special in them.
• Look at the sunny side of everything.
• Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best.
• Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
• Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
• Give everyone a smile.
• Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others.
• Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.

by:  Christian D. Larsen

An economic recession or down turn presents business owners with problems in which to find innovative, and business strengthening solutions. They challenge you to rewrite and rethink how you do business, and in all likelihood, if you succeed, you’ll have a more efficient, resilient business model for the next time around! It’s important to pay attention to the sources of pain and frustration within your local economy. What problems are arising as a result of economic and legislative change? Cutting-back staff and hunkering down may help you survive in the short-term, but it will not position you to be a leader in the future!  That’s why you need a mindset that says: “I’m not just going to survive – I’m going to thrive.”

If you’re struggling to identify clear goals and innovative practices that will allow your business to stand out from the rest, or if you’re simply looking for executive support or procedure to pursue a new product or service offering- Snapbusiness delivers management support during these crucial planning stages.

Confidence is a asset that can be honed and strengthened every day. During our day we will often be challenged by fear, worry, uncertainty etc. This has the affect of taking our confidence away, affecting productivity, communications and revenue. So what are we doing to replenish lost confidence and how does our level of confidence affect our Business?

If our lives are to be filled with happiness and abundance we need to be self assured, happy and confident with our choices. People that make good choices, choices that support who they are and what they believe in, tend to be clear and confident and therefore have a mindset that supports them to take the appropriate action to ensures their choices have positive outcomes.

Clarity is Power and is a breeding ground for confidence. If we are walking around in the fog we become unsure of where we are going and what is ahead. This in-turn takes our confidence away.

If we are not feeling confident, we need to STOP and ask ourselves Why? Why am I feeling the way I am? Listen to the answers that are coming your way and write them down. Is it because you have lost the passion, is it because you are worried about finances, is it because you are tired or bored or lonely or disillusioned ? Whatever it is ‘Name it to Claim it’!

Once you take ownership of these feelings you can start to improve on them. And as we let our true inner passions and dreams out, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

We were born to be the best that we can be. It’s not just in some of us, it is in all of us. We are all truly unique and our business success comes from our uniqueness. Being prepared to shout out our uniqueness to the market place is really important in this economic environment. Our deepest fear may not be that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear maybe that we are powerful beyond measure. Playing small does not serve your business or the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. Buddy up with other people and talk about your business challenges. As you get clearer about what you want and where you are going your confidence will develop.

Which one do you choose?

Odds on you originally started your own business because you had a passion to do it better than everyone else. The last thing on your mind was the need for a Business Coach or a Business Consultant.

What is the difference anyway?

A Business Coach will work with you and guide to show you why and how you should do certain things in a certain way in order to get a certain outcome. Very much like the coach of the local rugby team or netball team may do.

A Business Consultant, on the other hand, tends to offer expertise in certain areas of the business and will come into the business to apply this expertise, produce the product or outcome for you and move on.

An example of this would be….A business Coach will work with you and give you the tools to develop you own business plan or marketing strategies, whereas the Business Consultant will develop the plan for you after gathering the required information from you.

Which one do you need? Don’t worry, more often than not it is a combination of both and you need to look for the following qualities:

• A passion to help you build your business into more than just a job.
• A focus on increasing you bottom-line profit.
• A member of a professional body such as the IABC (Institute of Accredited Business Consultants)
• Ability to adapt to your requirements not you to theirs.

Choose right and you get the best of both worlds.

Hi All

In the process of getting the blog fully operational and it is hoped that this will be the case by the end of this week

Martin S