Change

Jul 04 2016

Do you associate with these business struggles…

I am no different than any other company in areas of a coaching/mentoring that I offer to that of other businesses when it comes to struggling. However, I recognise what they are and do something about it and would like to share some with you.

So in this feature we cover recognisable areas whether you head an organisation or work within one and come up with methods by which to address them.

On the Verge – All too often we work, work, work all hours possible. Warning! We are NOT robots and you will burn out. Do not be a martyr to the cause, look to see what can seriously be delegated. Learn to let go.

Using your head – Oh I have been there. I know best and it will take too long to explain to others as it’s all in my head. As well as this, tasks get done when you remember them (poor time management). Look to create your own protocols and procedures for consistency in what you do. If you have a team, insure they too follow the procedures which helps keep track of any element through its life cycle.

Fear of failure – Things seem alright, why rock the boat? Why take unnecessary chances for fear of potential failure as opposed to moving with your desire for success. This is a mind-set area not based on fact. Work with a positive ‘I chose to make the best of an un known rather than fearing it’. Try it a few times and see what positive affirmations can give you and your business.

Marketing ROI – What IS your Return On Investment? Be honest with yourself. Don’t know! Well I would strongly recommend assessing the time and money outlaid on marketing. Too many organisations rely on you simply throwing money at them without really giving what you expect. Look, monitor, re-evaluate.

Research – Do you really know the market you are aiming at? If your target market seems unclear, rather than attempting to sell to all, look at the Psychographics (personality, values, opinions, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles) of the Demographics (quantifiable characteristics of a given population) of your target market.

Constantly doing the same task – Look to see how repetitive tasks can be formalised with little input to create the overall masterpiece. This can be anything from quoting to copying and pasting messages. Look to formalise it. Use Mail Merge for creating a standard letter or quote with information extracted from a spread sheet. Copying and pasting cannot only be time consuming but is inherently open to mistakes (as I have found out to my cost historically!). Think Time Management.

Go it alone – Politically this is a bit of a hot subject at the moment, however, in business, I look to Aristotle’s wise words, “The sum of the total is greater than the sum of its parts”. Look to share your knowledge base and gain knowledge from others. Networking or Mind dump groups are great to accomplish this.

Stationary Skill-Set – To be blunt, it is a vicious market out there. If you stand still, not only will you miss the train but others will catch it! Never stop learning or looking forward to new ways. For those of you old enough to remember, look at Encyclopaedia Britannica or Kodak for examples of companies who thought the modern digital era would not affect them. Keep up with or ahead of the game. Look at every aspect from software enhanced presentations to innovative ways of pushing forward using time saving elements that will have a positive effect on everyone within the organisation.

Although some may appear obvious, we can easily get caught in the day-to-day running of the business. Step back occasionally, view what is going on. Treat yourself to regular reviews and learn to develop ways to get around what sometimes appear insurmountable problems that when broken down, can be manageable chunks.

Coaching to Success specialise in addressing ‘clarity’, you could say we demystify the foggy screen of your business’ windscreen. Should you or members of your team be looking to gain some direction in the organisation, first contact Neil either by mail at neil.nutburn@coachingtosuccess.co.uk or direct via phone 07761 187238. Our business is Your success, let us help you move on to turn Struggles into challenges and challenges into positive rewards.

Jun 21 2016

Let’s look at challenging beliefs that hold you back…

Sometimes our belief in being able to perform a certain task or achieve an objective can be influenced either negatively or positively. For those with a self-belief, the chances of obtaining that outcome is greatly increased, however, situations throughout our lives can have a massive bearing on us.

As an adolescent, I was told I would have to do an office job, that I would be unable to take up sport seriously, that I would be unable to do manual work! Why? Because I have type1 diabetes.

As I progressed towards the end of my teens, I began to question this ‘sound advice’ from those more knowledgeable (apparently) and took up martial arts by means of doing some exercise … and this is where I found that good advice was unfounded!

I trained hard. Minimum 3 times a week. Sessions lasting in excess of 2.5hrs and when I achieved Black Belt, trained harder still to maintain that level and I still train now (but maybe not to the same degree!).

So what has this got to do with this feature? My beliefs were being moulded by THEIR beliefs in MY capabilities. So I challenged and created my OWN beliefs and that was that having Diabetes would not stop me from being active!

Find out how negative and positive external influences have on you by carrying out some interesting exercises.

FIRST – Create 2 lists. The first being all the positive beliefs you have about yourself. The second with any negative.

SECOND – Look at every item in each category. Spend some time assessing and writing down the positive and negative things that have happened to create these beliefs.

THIRD – Take the top three ‘Negative’ beliefs and ask yourself

Where did this belief originate?
What effect is this belief having on me?
What will the long term consequence be to remain holding onto it?
Who provided me this belief?
Is this person always right? Do you respect them?
How would life be if you were to let go of it?

FORTH – Re-write the negative belief as a positive affirmation. (eg: “I am too old to change my job” to “The knowledge and expertise I will bring to a new employer can only be gained from the wealth of knowledge learned”

FIFTH – Focus your attention on 3-5 people who appear a positive influence on you and another 3-5 negative ones. Ask yourself these questions about each in their outlook:

What do they say and how do they relay it?
What actions portray them as positive?

SIXTH – What ‘Empowering’ beliefs do people hold? Make a list.

SEVENTH – What ‘Dis-empowering’ beliefs do people hold? Make a list.

EIGHTH – Create 6 sentences all beginning “I can’t..”

NINTH – Against each, ask yourself “What’s stopping me?”

TENTH – Against each, compile a list of things you can do to turn this into positive actions.

All too often our progress is hindered by our own negative beliefs. Those that know me will be familiar with my phrase “Evidence based” meaning that just because we believe in something, it doesn’t mean it’s a fact. Look at the evidence.

THINK positive. BE positive.

At Coaching to Success, we truly believe (and it’s evidence based) that our clients are capable of more than they think they can achieve so if you’re looking to move forward and break some of those beliefs that hold you back, contact Neil either by mail at neil.nutburn@coachingtosuccess.co.uk or direct via phone 07761 187238. Our business is Your success, let us help you move on re-affirmed positive beliefs.

May 09 2016

Decision making made easier…

I was with a client the other day when they commented on the difficulty of making well-considered decisions. Now he is more than capable of making decisions but the fact that, much as most of us in today’s hectic lifestyle, making clear decisions can sometimes be difficult due to the constant demands and distractions we are all regularly subjected to.

I then began to think about how fast-paced the world has become and how decisions, right or wrong, are made more on a whim, based on little structure or evidence due to our time constraints.

I often see people spending a fair amount of time re-visiting tasks as interruptions have distracted them. This in turn brings up other topics such as Procrastination and Time-management but we’ll leave those for another day.

At the moment, we are looking at decision making! How do we gain clarity over making judged and worthy decisions? I use a tool called the ‘Cartesian Quadrant’ and the eventual outcome is as a result of 4 well-considered factors to create a satisfactory result.

To begin, grab a clear sheet of A4 paper. Allowing enough room to write along the top and down one side, draw a large box and then lines central top to bottom and central left to right to create a 2×2 matrix.

Top left box is No.1, Top right is No.2, Bottom left No.3 and finally bottom right is No.4

Now for the titles and these will depend on what the decision you’re attempting to come to. However, the principle remains the same, just the wording differs.

To explain, let’s look at a couple of situations. One may be to do with a result from your own personal action, therefore the result will be “What will happen if I do make the change” (#I), whereas another may be to do with a work promotion, therefore “What will be the outcome if we do proceed with this promotion”. Now to make this more apparent…

Along the top, using the above ideas, on the left write “If I DO make the change” on the right, “If I DON’T make the change”. Along the side, level with the top box write “What WILL happen” and underneath, “What WON’T happen”

So each box now raises these questions

No.1 “What WILL happen If I DO make the change”

No.2 “What WON’T happen If I DO make the change”

No.3 “What WILL happen If I DON’T make the change”

No.4 “What WON’T happen If I DON’T make the change”

Simply write your thoughts in each category. Should you be interrupted, you’ll be able to return and focus on each element until you have satisfied all options. As a guide, approach each one with a different outlook. Ie, how will it affect you personally? How will your thoughts be effected from a work, client or friend’s perspective?

Clarity is the key and until you have assessed each area, judgement may be slightly biased. If this is what you wanted, you at least can view what the argument could be and already be armed with your reply!

Coaching to success is all about the ‘Clarity’ and in the melee of rapid business highways where it sometimes appears we don’t have time to scratch our proverbial and this is where we help first help find the time and then to focus on actins to achieve what wouldn’t be perceived as possible before. We have such belief in this, we will credit any person or organisation for the coaching should they not deem it to be a worthwhile return on investment.

If you’re open to take on the challenge, contact Neil either by mail at neil.nutburn@coachingtosuccess.co.uk or direct via phone 07761 187238. Our business is Your success, let us help you gain that clarity to succeed in the next level

Apr 27 2016

5 steps towards making that decision…

In the past, as I progressed through the ranks of corporate management there were important decisions to be made of which I really didn’t know where or how to start but, in the end, I got there.

You know what it’s like, you make correct decisions, woohoo, everything pops up with that wonderful fragrance of roses. However, when it goes wrong, all you can smell is that stuff you put around the base of them!

So surely it’s imperative that we offer some mindful consideration that isn’t blinded entirely by emotional outcome? Knowing others undergo these same pressures, I felt I’d share my learnings and the several steps I developed to aid that final decision:

The Gathering – (Nothing to do with Sean Connery/Christopher Lambert in Highlander for those fans out there!) Is all about the information. What do you need? Write these down so they’re not scrambling for positioning or confusing your thought process. Look within yourself as well as factual or logical sources. Are you comfortable with the potential outcome and have you the skill-set to manage it.
What else? – As you gather your data and information, be sure not to become blinded by a singular path to find the answer. By this, I mean that we often will find alternative ways of doing the thing we seek. Listen to other suggestions openly and add them as possibilities to your list.
Get the scales out! – All areas of decision can be measured and these values weighed. Try creating a pros and cons list such that you rate each item by a score of up to 10.Write a split list of pros on one side and cons the other. Try not to be biased but look at each item independently. Weight it according to your chosen criteria. Now bring the emotional elements on how it will affect you with the practical, logical or financial ones. Tot up all the scores to see which comes out strongest.
Bite the bullet, make the decision – How often do we jump the gun and make a rash decision that doesn’t work out as hoped? From this, we may assume other decisions will end similarly. However, using the above, your decisions will be calculated rather than random!
Take action – Create a timeline, a plan with dates and order. This is your measure to insure that your decision is correct. As part of this sequence, set in review dates or times to asses and make sure that your decision is still the correct one. If it’s a purchase, allow time before making it, checking there are no other unconsidered areas. Creating a deadline adds a healthy element of pressure (but don’t allow it to seep into stress!)

These are an informal way of introducing ways to help decision making. Coaching to Success utilise these and other tools to help you with the process. Good luck and here’s to positive outcomes through processed decision making.

Along with other areas of making positive change, we invite you contact Neil Nutburn on 07761 187238 or email to info@coachingtosuccess.co.uk to arrange a free, no obligation consultation to discuss areas we can help you prosper. Coaching to Success work to a simple philosophy in as much as that, if you don’t feel the benefits match your return on investment, the coaching session will be credited in full… That’s how strong ‘we’ believe in what ‘you’ are capable of doing!

Feb 01 2016

The ‘Key’ strengths of Successful Management … Prt 2of2

The last article covered areas in management concerning pleasing everyone and making time for management. Looking at setting standards, being open-minded, communication, problem solving and the art of listening.

As promised, here are the next six areas to consider when mastering the role of Manager.

Previously we looked at two areas that help towards ill-feelings that managers receive, below are another three to be considered.

Maintaining the old mind-set – You have moved on from the role you undertook but you still attempt to do the same old job!
Avoid difficult issues – Confrontation between team members; Putting off doing the reports; Making ‘that’ phone call; Meeting someone you dislike … this list can go on. Trying to ignore it isn’t the answer!
Self-belief – In the past, I thought my rapid ascension was due to luck. Was I really management material? Could I handle this next role? Well, those who appointed me believed in my abilities so look pragmatically as to why you’ve been chosen!

To continue from lessons I have personally learned as a result of seeking further academic qualifications, from experience as well as the good book of ‘How Not Too’ according to bosses I have worked with (and in one occasion, exceeded!), here are another set of clues to take on board.

Courteous & Direct – Refrain from saying one thing but thinking something else! Drop the Jeckyll & Hyde! People like you to be frank and direct about areas such as performance. Do this with humility but also remember the power of ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’
Humour – For those that know me personally, humour and raising the feel good factor is something I’ll always aspire to achieve. Don’t make a joke of the person or situation, but witty comments relating to the issue will help reduce fearful thoughts and put people at ease.
Respect – All too often I’ve heard manager’s refer to their team as Half-wits, or other derogative remarks (I’m sure you will know of similar expressions). These are not only discriminatory but disrespectful. This in turn leads to distrust and further lack of respect. Here’s the catch, if you think that, you will receive that! To improve performance change your own thought process to thinking ‘positively’ towards staff and their abilities. Acknowledge people’s contributions. Offer assistance rather than reprimand for those who are unsure of what’s expected or lack in skillset.
Praise in Public, Reprimand in Private – We all know variations on this saying but how does it relate to you? I have seen people in authority too frequently belittle people in front of others but to what end does it serve? All too often it’s easier to criticise and take things that go well for granted. Consider the way you currently manage both negative and positive situations and start to adopt this philosophy.
Vulnerability – Showing that you may make mistakes or that you are wrong isn’t a weakness but makes you human and thus, more approachable.
Self-belief – Confidence can affect us all! If you put yourself or abilities down, it’s going to be tricky picking yourself up. Whether it be developing a small business or stepping into new Executive roles. A great saying is “Fake it ‘til you make it” or “Act as if” would be a milder interpretation. This isn’t to say be false but encourages a self-perpetuating growth in your confidence to overcome any hurdle.

Other areas to also consider include focusing on the big picture, being authentic and accessible all while being an independent thinker who looks for solutions rather than focusing on problems.

Coaching to success specialise in Management (Procedure) & Leadership (People) and whether it be yourself looking to get that edge over internal or external competition or simply looking for better ways to help manage the business, contact us by calling Neil Nutburn on 07761 187238 or send an email to info@coachingtosuccess.co.uk to arrange a free, no obligation consultation.

Our business is about your success and your future successes are in your hands so give us a call so we can help you turn the ideas into reality.