Change

Mar 02 2015

How do you handle rejection in business?

We all know rejection can be hard to handle and in services such as mine, where the open minded can see the benefits that a good coach can bring but some can’t, therefore, rejection is an element of moving forward for me and especially where people don’t really understand the benefits on offer.

You can’t avoid rejection whether it be in relationships, life or work but the positive is that it helps with development and self-education as you identify areas for adaptation and change.

More often than not though, it is the feeling that affects our emotions and emotions aren’t logical, so let’s put some rationality into the equation.

Don’t take it personally – ‘Personally’ is an emotional state and often rejection makes us feel as if it is ourselves that is under attack. Self-doubt creeps in, ‘How could I have presented it better?’, ‘What went wrong?’, ‘Why didn’t they like me?’

Now look at it differently – what was it about the proposal/idea that was rejected?

Frequently it’s not about the person but the offering that is being rejected yet we apply rejection to our thoughts and they in turn connect to emotions! It’s often a simple case that what is being proposed doesn’t meet the criteria so take yourself out of the equation and then re-assess the situation.

Focus on control – Those with Internal Focus believe they have control over what happens in their lives. Those with External Focus believe it’s others, chance or even fate that have control. So decide whether you will allow others to influence the way you feel or take control of it yourself.

This may sound a tad harsh but maybe it needs to be said to ourselves!

Learn – Look at this logically and learn from the rejection. Whether it was simply a case of the presentation could have been better or not matching the recipient’s needs etc., gather ‘facts’.

If you can establish what the reason was (removing emotion!) for the rejection, you will be able to improve thereafter. Carry out a self-analysis of areas you believe contributed to the rejection.

Better still, don’t make assumptions, ask! Make it clear you have accepted the rejection but in wishing to learn from this experience ask what didn’t work for them. You may be surprised to find out how freely the recipient will be in giving you this information (if you’re willing to ask).

I have been dumbfounded on occasions with reasons that I simply wouldn’t have even considered. I have certainly been educated in not to assume!

In business, rejection is part of day to day activities. Your resilience to deal with it, learn from it and take action on your new found knowledge is the key.

As that old expression goes, you can please some of the people some of the time… so it’s not all about you as a person but more likely a mismatch between what or how you are making the offering and not an assault on you or your emotions!

Coaching to Success helps you find yourself, give support and offers clarity to what you are aiming to achieve with the means of getting there. For further information, simply call Neil on 07761 187238 or email neil@coachingtosuccess.co.uk for an informal conversation to see how we can help increase your Locus of control or other matters concerning business development.

Feb 16 2015

How does ‘Procrastination’ effect your business’ success?

I’ve got to put my hands up and admit that I am a procrastinator, but I recognise this fact and have actions to insure those tasks I keep putting off don’t get shelved until the last minute!

So how many of these statements apply to you?

I usually have to rush to complete tasks on time.
I avoid important tasks on my to-do list and fill my time doing low-priority work.
When I need to do something that may be a little tasking, I put it off until I feel more inspired.
I frequently find myself doing things I had intended doings days ago
I sit down to start an important project only to immediately go off to grab a cuppa.
When deadlines approach, I often waste time by doing other things.

If, like myself, you find that some of these apply, then I’m afraid to tell you that you too have that disease known as procrastinationitist (OK, I may have made that up!).

No problems, Dr. Nutburn is here to help you…

Prescription A (Work out the WHY):

Is it simply that the job is unpleasant or boring? If so, attack it head on and get it out of the way quickly because it will just loiter there distracting you from other tasks.

A common thought process for procrastinators is that it has to be perfect! Unless you have the resources or knowledge base, it’s not worth starting is it? Sorry to say but ‘good enough’ is often just that. Your work is likely to be at a much higher standard than some so be aware of this ‘why’ and just go for it.

Is it too over-whelming or outside your comfort zone? Are your skill-sets in doubt? Accept this and go for it… you’ll surprise yourself as I often do!

Prescription B (Recognising):

Put off the low important tasks and set a time to do these later (this is prioritising!). Look at the statements made earlier and know which apply to you.

Be aware of continually re-scheduling tasks. This is okay occasionally but check you aren’t doing it regularly for the same tasks!

Prescription C (Look at strategies):

From a psychological point of view, procrastination is a habit. Habits take at least 21 days to form and we all have different ways of taken new ones on board.

Take what you can from these following tips. Try them for 3-4 weeks to insure you have a better chance of creating them:

Prioritise – Put jobs in order and do them in that order.
Peer pressure – ask someone to check on how you’re doing against set objectives
To-Do lists – Create orders so that those ‘unpleasant’ tasks don’t ‘accidently’ get missed!
Consequence vs Actions – what are the disagreeable consequences of NOT achieving the objective?
Rewards – Set yourself rewards for accomplishing a task. I enjoy making a decent percolated coffee as a simple reward so this doesn’t have to be big.
Time constraints – set a time boundary to start and complete tasks.
Jigsaw – Large projects can be broken down into segments. Focus on the important parts (borders) then bits that work together (colours/shapes) and then the rest (infill).
Try! – We sometimes assume a task will be worse than what it is. Start by simply giving it a try

So start understanding ‘Why’ you are procrastinating, ‘Recognise’ your triggers and ‘Strategies’ how to overcome them.

If you are struggling to find time to complete tasks, getting frustrated with putting things off or feeling overwhelmed by what needs to be achieved, Coaching to Success understand what you are going through so call for a free assessment by contacting Neil Nutburn on 07761 187238 or email neil@coachingtosuccess.co.uk. We’re here to help.

Jan 05 2015

5 tips to make the New Resolutions stick!!

2015 is upon us with resolutions to lose weight, give something up or re-organise your career or work/life balance.

We inevitably start off with the best intentions that rarely come to fruition! Statistics report that only 8-10% of goals are achieved. There are a myriad of reasons for this including:

Setting ‘Negative’ goals – I want to ‘Give’ up…, I want to ‘Lose’ …lb, I need to ‘Stop’…
Multitasking – With a hope you’ll reach your goal sooner.
Underestimating timescale – Accurately assessing time to complete without building in an element for procrastination!
Goals set by others or setting other’s goals – Goals need to be your own for them to work!
Unrealistic objectives – It’s great to aspire being the CEO of a multi-national company if you’re already on the board but don’t expect to take over in the next year if you’ve just joined!
Review – All too often we’re caught up in doing the activities while drifting off course without noticing as a result of not carrying out frequent reviews.

How can we change those stats to work in our favour? Coaching to Success bring you 5 top tips which aren’t rocket science but will help you reach the moon should that be your destination.

MOTIVATION – What motivates us? Normally something that is important to our beliefs. Are you looking to pacify someone else or creating your own goal so they’ll reach theirs? Establish what will make it happen for YOU. Prioritise what is important to you. Focus on the outcome as hard work will be required otherwise you would have done this some time ago!
Be S.M.A.R.T. – Most of us know this acronym and this is the key to success.Specific is the clarity or path to reach the final goal. Be clear in what the outcome is to be. Measurable is data, the timeline, quantities that are needed to get you there. Eg, If you want to increase your database by 100 over 6mths. That’s 17/mth or 1/day. You can then make 3 calls per day to assure 1 will sign up. Not such a big goal when broken down! Attainable is making sure it’s within reach. 1000 new contacts may not necessarily be achievable incorporating other aspects of work! Relevant is simply that. What’s the reason for reaching that number of contacts? Just to increase your likes on FB/LinkedIn isn’t relevant on its own! Time Focused is all about setting timelines. These should include intermittent goals so you can celebrate early successes as well as the ultimate end goal!
Don’t just SAY it, WRITE it! – There’s a psychological link between the physical action of doing the old fashioned thing of ‘writing’ (not typing!) your goal down and action. Use positive affirmations such as ‘Will’ over ‘Would like’. ie “I will increase database by 17 new contacts per month”, as opposed to “I would like to see database increase…”
Plan it –A main factor often missed is considering the steps required to arrive there. You may get as far as writing a goal down but you need to create a plan of ‘what/when’ each step is to be carried out.
Keep it Alive – We have to live with it and nurture it. A journey where actions need to be taken along the way and for long-term goals. It may get hard at times, these are the moments of upmost importance to stick with the plan. If you start to lose sight, it may just be down to re-aligning your own commitment to accomplishing it.

Coaching to Success help their clients to reach goals throughout the whole year so New Year isn’t any different other than this is a time we often focus on making those all important changes.

Here’s wishing you an exceptional start to 2015, a prosperous one too. For those who want to truly excel in the upcoming year(s), please contact Neil on 07761 187238 or email your enquiry to neil@coachingtosuccess.co.uk

HAPPY NEW YEAR to one and all.

Oct 27 2014

12 areas to focus on to adopt Great Leadership!

I was reading News the other day and it amazed me as to how many ‘Leaders’ in the world of Politics, Sport and Business varied so much in their approach. This in turn set me thinking about this article so, to start your own understanding and development, first appreciate your own ‘thinking’ of what a good leader by jotting down a list of up to 10 words or mini-statements as to what stands out as the definition of a good leader.

You can be a cracking manager without necessarily having leadership qualities, however, it’s imperative that you have excellent management traits to become an outstanding leader.

The processes are the stepping stones to get to the objective. Without these, a leader is someone who leads aimlessly so here’s a dozen ways that Coaching to Success focus on in areas for improvement:

Vision – Being clear and remain focused on final objective.
Motivation – Stirring things up and develop this.
Rapport – Relate. Get engaged.
Role Models – Who inspires you?
SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic & time-bound.
Proactive – Set the agenda, don’t wait for others to set it!
Reward – Introduce a ‘healthy’ culture of rewards.
Procrastination – It may be more interesting but if not relevant, don’t let it distract you!
Respect – Show this when others bring forward either concerns or ideas.
Empower – Don’t always take control. Relinquish some responsibilities.
Positivity – Even when under pressure, seek to give positive as opposed to suppressive negative feedback.
Delegate – Understand others can do it too!

Convinced you excel in each area? Go on, I dare you to put out a 360 feedback to all those around. An anonymous tick box asking them to score each out of 10 (that’s a possible 120 maximum). Compare your own score to theirs. If you score less than 90, may I suggest you consider ways to improve your approach when it comes to Leadership!

Rather than being robotic in our methods, here are 5 ways to define a good leader:

Responsibility – Takes while nourishing the team’s interest in results through participation.
Succinct – Relay information without attaching emotion.
Values driven – Acknowledge other’s values while striving towards the ultimate objective
Proactive – Including understanding negative issues raised. Seek reasons and not simply dismiss out of hand
Encourage – Portray yourself as someone who seeks new ideas and involvement. You’ll be surprised as to how others can see things that you may well have missed!

Don’t expect miracles overnight. Remain patient throughout as it takes some time for new methods to be implemented and accepted, besides, there will be old habits needing to be realigned. It’s not a simple journey otherwise the road would have already been taken!

There’s also other barriers such as beliefs pertaining to being too busy to delegate or to be a leader! Remember, leadership helps you become the baton holder and you lead your orchestra to harmonious music, hmm, maybe not the best analogy but you can see where I’m coming from.

Coaching to success have helped numerous individuals and organisations improve performance by ‘Leading’ their teams and the first step is to simply give us a call on 07761 187238 or email neil@coachingtosuccess.co.uk to discuss how brilliant Leadership results in exceptional returns. If you’re looking to Grow quicker than your rivals, we’re affiliated to the Growth Accelerator scheme, so some businesses can obtain government funding too!

Oct 13 2014

8 Starting points to effective delegation

No matter how hard you work, there’s still the same number of hours in a day with a limited number of tasks achievable. With this limitation, your success is further impeded as there are only so many people that can help you!

Well here’s a bit of shocking news, you can continue to shine while reducing your work load allowing you to concentrate on what YOU do BEST! Yep, there are others around you that can take some of your work load off. So throw away the mantle of egotistical self-importance and learn to trust in others.

OK, maybe that was a bit harsh but all too often we believe that others can’t do a particular job as well as we can. Sorry to tell you this but they can, and in some cases, even better! (Hands up from me as I too was once guilty of this!)

Why do we struggle to delegate?

It takes up-front effort to organise and monitor (initially!)
You know what to do inside out so it will be quicker
You believe no-one else can do it

Look at your role. What are you doing that others could actually do to free you. Yes, there may be an expense but if you are able to earn more while someone else handles elements that take up your time unnecessarily, then it’s a false economy to do it yourself and even more so if you’re attempting to grow your business.

So what can we do about it? Well, to begin, look at the following…

Delegate responsibility with authority but remember, ultimately, it is YOUR
Begin with the end in mind (Stephen R. Covey). The end is what is important, not necessarily the route taken. Allow the other person some slack to do it their way thus building trust!
Know the required outcome and be clear in this when passing a task on. Don’t assume they know, inform.
Refrain from belittling due to what hasn’t happened. Yes, this needs addressing but ride the successes. Consider accomplishment rewards or benefits, publically praise their work or express future opportunities.
Support! Be there to answer questions, monitor (but not micro-manage) and ask for progress updates.
Define authority and accountability. What is their level of approach? Do they need to ask what needs to be done next? Set the parameters.
Show due diligence. Agree progress updates. Discuss expected deadlines or timelines. Take time to read submitted reports or have discussions. Where necessary, make relevant adjustments.
Yes, you could probably do it quicker and more efficiently. With a little time up front, you will soon hand over relevant tasks allowing you the time to concentrate on what you do best.

The head of an orchestra can’t necessarily play every instrument but they know how to get the whole group to create a beautiful symphony due to their skill in management. This is no different for you.