Patience - and why it's important

I have a ritual I do every morning that jump starts my day - been practicing this for 16 years.  I write in a Gratitude Journal and read sections from Deepak Chopra's book "Creating Affluence".  I also have three positive messages/affirmation calendars in various areas of my bedroom and office.  The message today was all around Patience.  It kept showing up everywhere - the word in quotes, articles, etc.  So for me, that meant I needed to spend some special time practicing patience in all that I did today as I believe there are universal whispers to pay attention to and this was one of them. So, it helped to breathe when I got impatient or when I was allowing a bunch of thoughts to come present in my mind.  I so believe that when you are ready to receive something that is going to enhance your life, you have to wait until it's ready to happen and be OK with the wait.

So, my advice to you is when a feeling or a word shows up over and over again and you notice it, pay heed and acknowledge it and practice what's being told to you.  Who knows some new idea or success could appear.

It's All About Them Until They Ask About You

How do you engage someone at a networking event or set up a meeting with someone who could potentially be a referral source or better yet, a client?  I have been really noticing (without judging) how people engage me in conversation with we meet and I find many think they have to tell you everything about themselves and their company.

In a networking scenario, I never ask "what do you do?"  I think it is so cliche', instead I ask the person what they like about the group, what was their reason for attending the event, how long have they lived in Florida, etc.  Eventually the job/company comes into the conversation but it's much more embedded in normal dialog which creates some trust and casualness to our conversation. Not everyone is interested in conversation unless they are with people they know or they simply aren't conversationalists and I am OK with this and move on.

When I meet with someone over lunch or coffee my first questions are - "how much time to you have?" and "what would benefit you from our meeting today?" If I set up the meeting, I'll start asking questions about them, their business including what they like about the company and what are their challenges?  Halfway through our meeting and I have enough information, I'll ask them if they have any questions for me and they typically will ask about what I do, etc..  If they don't...time to move on and end the meeting, graciously.  If I feel there is an alignment between us, I'll think of referrals or introductions and tell them what good referrals would be for me and we figure out what our next step is going to be.

Lesson here:  We don't listen enough to others - there is a gift in this skill and people appreciate being heard.

Using Experts in Mortgage Banking Arena to Teach Others How to Be a Great Lender

I attended the quarterly meeting of the Florida Quality Council today here in South Florida.  I used to be very active with this group, president for two terms in the late 90's and have kept my relationships with some members.  As the speakers were presenting today on fraud and updates on what's going on with the government and regulating the industry more and more, I thought of the tremendous brain power that was in the room - many experts in quality lending.  There were title, appraisal, fraud investigators, lenders, consultants on credit risk and quality control in attendance.  Many of these people know the value of quality lending and could teach lenders and consumers the importance of good lending and what to look out for to prevent mortgage fraud.  Having been in the industry for 16 years in the property valuation side of the business and being actively involved with this group and the MBA's sub-committtee on mortgage fraud, I bring value in helping create a group of experts to go out and present and engage the industry in understanding the new regulations and awareness of how mortgage fraud is still being committed.  Now I need to think about how this can evolve........

Discovering My Purpose

A light bulb went on today for me.  Since I became a coach in 2004, I have been telling people that my purpose was to guide and inspire business owners and leaders to change.  That's OK but it really didn't set me apart from many other coaches who do the same thing.  My coach training taught me to really Be with my clients where they are now which has given me fundamentally, the foundation for who I am as a coach. I know my place is working with business leaders and their employees as most people who work spend a good deal of their time in their jobs.  Why not love what you do and not have the need to switch it on and off when you leave at the end of the day.

What I am clear about now is that my true purpose is to help business leaders discover and reveal their core values and really get clear on what their purpose is (in simple terms) and drive these values and this purpose throughout their organization.  Doing this will create success, happiness, engaged employees who love what they do and who will thrive in the environment that has been created. Companies who have done this well:  Southwest Airlines, Whole Foods, Microsoft, Starbucks to name a few.  I know there are company leaders out there that want to make a change in their cultures and their lives, to embrace who they are, be more authentic for the good of all and who want to know their higher purpose which will bring them riches in all areas of their life.

Reasons Professionals Quit Their Jobs

I recently read in a business journal (survey taken of professionals in the U.S.) that business people leave their jobs for the following reasons (which are ranked accordingly):

• Lack of communication and involvement by top management
• Lack of promotion despite successful work results
• Overworked
• Lack of a company "vision"
• Lack of belief in colleague's competence
• Lack of administrative support
• Rude colleagues
• Boss takes credit for their work 

Many of these traits show up regularly in many companies, unfortunately. For me, these are areas for great coaching to create more transparency, collaboration, clarity and success.  The question is - what will it take for a leader of a company with these traits to step up and embrace doing things differently?

Being Present When Driving

Do you ever drive somewhere and when you arrive at your destination you don't remember any of the details of how you got there because you were so caught up in your own private thoughts?  I know I am guilty of that although I am getting better at staying present so I can enjoy what I am passing.  It happened this morning in fact.  I was driving back from Palm Beach on A1A, one of my favorite roads because the ocean is on my left and beautiful mansions are on the right.  I really absorbed all that was going on and so enjoyed the journey and the experience.  Workers were out doing their gardening; the ocean was smooth as glass with some boats out on the horizon; I passed some really cool mail boxes; a museum in Delray Beach - Sandoval House (sp?) a nature museum which I have passed many, many time and never knew existed.  Bicyclists sharing the road; people eating at two restaurants in Delray Beach - Bostons and Luna Rosa and the new, in the middle of the roadway crosswalk stop signs for pedestrians who you must stop for in Palm Beach County or you can be fine $119.  Great ice cream store in Manapalan, across from the Ritz Carlton - "Ice Cream Club" and new construction of somemore beautiful mansions.

Not only will you benefit from being aware of what's around you, discovering a new inspiration that could show up from something you passed and but most importantly you are driving - leave the thinking for later when you arrive at where you are going.

Creating Your Company's Vision

Do you know where your business is going at this point? Have you visualized what your business will look like in one year?  Without a vision and a plan, you are going to not only be frustrated and stressed but also be lacking in direction.  If your business is sputtering along without momentum, now is the time to spend some time by yourself creating this vision.

You don't need to make it a cumbersome process, simply put aside about 90-minutes to start thinking about and writing down what you envision in your success.  Studies show that for one hour spent in planning saves three hours of execution. So where do you start?

• Do a simple visioning exercise
• Close your eyes and breath (at least three deep breaths to get you centered)
• Visualize yourself one year from now and what your business looks like if you had a magic wand to wave and it was all that you wanted it to be.  What is the difference then to what is going on now?
• Write down your thoughts and answers to the above question.  Here are a few more questions to ponder and discover what the answers are one year from now:
• Who are my clients and what do I provide them?
• What is my Gross Revenue, what are my expenses, what is my income?
• How am I marketing myself and my business?
• Networking and Referrals
• Deepening relationships with existing clients/customers
• Social Media like LinkedIn; Facebook; Twitter, etc.
• Newsletter/eZine Newsletter or Blogging
• Speaking in front of groups
• Web site (keeping it current and fresh)
• Marketing materials and tradeshows
• Advertising 
• Ask yourself, How am I visible to my clients?
• Business Operations
• Do I use a Contact Management System for tracking new clients and existing clients?
• Do I have the proper insurance or legal documents I need?
• Do I have the equipment I need to run my business efficiently?
• Do I have my financial matters managed?
• Personal and Professional Growth
• How am I staying abreast of what is the latest and greatest in my business market?
• How am I involved in the service of others, getting involved with non-profits? (this is very important for balance as well as potential for business referrals)
• Setting Goals and Committing to My Success
• Review what you have written down and pick one item from each area that will be priorities over the next six months.  Write down three steps for each item you can take in the next three months to move you to your vision.  Make this easy for yourself - realistic small steps that will move you forward, don't bite off more than you can chew. At the end of the three months, review what you have accomplished and adjust or tweak what isn't working.  Do the same at six months.  At the end of the six months, repeat the same process with other items on your list.  Review at nine months and then at the one year mark.  Ask yourself, what is different for me now than it was a year ago?
• Hire a coach to help you with this process or at the very least, find a business associate or friend who will hold you accountable and to bounce ideas off of.  The value of this - you aren't doing this process by yourself if you aren't self-motivated.  If you incorporate this exercise into your life and take the 90-minutes each quarter to review what's going on, success will be at your door and after all, isn't that what you want?

Motivating Inside of an Organization

Daniel Pink's second book is called "Drive" - The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us".  A great read and some good exercises in the back that coaches could use as a tool to change business culture.  In one section, he talks about motivating people which is so very important for many reasons.  Having completed a team coaching module through ORSC (Organizational Relationship Systems Coaching), I have learned how to work with teams to create a new focus, new direction and a new way of communicating with everyone without judgment and making people wrong.

A new way of creating motivation is allowing and encouraging employees (set up a time and day each month) to work on their own great ideas or projects that are company related. This would be separate from the daily duties that everyone have to complete. Point for discussion about this idea - what is the value in doing this?  Another idea is to set up a program for employees to award their peers (without permission) to hand out a small bonus or an award token to a fellow employee who has done an exceptional job.  What's nice about this is it's not driven by management; it's given in real time and it carries a different meaning than if it came from management, which can be motivating. There are many creative ways people can come up and one place to start is asking for input from the employees themselves, brainstorming and be open to some of the ideas.  Zappos (www.zappos.com) is a company that has set the bar on being really creative on changing business culture to be more fun, motivating and an inspiring place to work. Click on their web site and scroll down to the bottom of the page and check out the "About" section.  The business culture is changing and quite frankly I feel it's a breath of fresh air.

Thought Provoking Awareness - What Do You Think of You?

I have some of my clients and the girls I mentor through Women of Tomorrow complete the following exercise  What would be a benefit for doing this exercise?  When you start thinking of the answers and writing down your thoughts, a new idea or a new level of consciousness may show up on who you are.  These are all great areas for coaching.  You complete the following sentences:

 - I am incredibly _____________________________________________________________

 - I am lousy at  ________________________________________________________________

 - I am ____________________ intelligent

 - I have a gift or natural ability of ________________________________________________

 - I am extremely good at _______________________________________________________

 - I am a_________________athlete

 - Most people who really know me think I am ________________________________________

 - I will never learn to ___________________________________________________________

 - I am just average at  _________________________________________________________

 - My life is __________________________________________________________________

 - My future is going to be _______________________________________________________

 - I would rather be ____________________________________________________________

 - I am far too ________________________________________________________________

 - My health is _________________________________________________________________

 - I am _________________________ to look at

 - I am ________________________ prosperous

After writing out your answers, what you are discovering about yourself that you haven't thought about ever or in a long time?  You can also pick one area to possibly work on to improve something that isn't currently working for you.  All food for thought.