Coaching to Success

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Decision Making

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.

  1. 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!
  2. 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!
  3. 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…”
  4. 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.
  5. 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.

 

The 9 Hit list of common time-management mistakes … Prt 2 of 2!

Part 2 of 2: A fortnight ago we started off by discussing the first 5 parts of mistakes so commonly made in managing the tasks we have in the time to achieve them. How we manage the task is what is imperative. Time continues regardless and there are always 60 minutes in an hour, 24hrs in a day and 168hrs in in week no matter how you look at it.

See how many you’re guilty of! Here’s to the start of insuring you spend your time wisely and, in turn, create wealth for your business or time for the family or friends…

  1. PROCRASTINATION

This is the mother of all distractions from taking us away from important tasks. There are a myriad of reasons why we put things off and find other, often menial in comparison. Maybe you’re dreading the task or find it’s too big. I will often create an action plan to break the task into smaller, manageable components, work for half hour on each and then spend a last element joining the pieces together. Another is to set a time break when you will start/finish regardless of where you are. Repeat this until it is complete!

  1. MULTITASKING

So you can multi-task eh? Here’s some data for you, as a result of not concentrating on one task or another, or speaking on the phone while emailing a reply to someone, you can actually take up to 40% MORE TIME to complete a task as you are not focused on it. Also, the person on the other end of the call realises you are not giving them your full attention and we won’t even go in to mistkaes yuove made in yur emails (or article in this case)! Become aware of the traits of Multitasking to insure you don’t fall into the trap.

  1. FAILING TO COPE WITH DISTRACTIONS

I used to be forever reading emails as they pinged through or picking up the phone as yet another FB message found its way there. Now it’s different! I’ve turned off all email alerts and my phone goes on silent, as if I was in a meeting, when I have something important to accomplish. Manage your distractions as well as interruptions

  1. NOT TAKING BREAKS!

We are not robots and can’t produce the best quality work over an 8hr+ stint. This is treasured downtime which enable our brains to gain a chance to breath. We feed our bodily engines with food so feed your brain with frequent breaks. Create time in your diary to go for a walk, do some exercise anything to stop your brain focusing on what you are currently doing and when you return, you’ll be surprised as to how things become so much clearer.

Coaching to success specialise in time-management to help their clients become much more productive in work while freeing up time for family and friends. If you wish to know more, simply take 10 minutes out to contact Neil on 07761 187238 or email neil@coachingtosuccess.co.uk and discover who we can help you make those changes.

Top 8 tips on delivering truly powerful presentations

I was recently fortunate enough to watch Chris Packham displaying his photography while presenting his passion for saving wildlife around the world.

His fervour was evident through his deliverance which then got me thinking about how, as businesses people, we frequently have to do presentations. Although I now have no worry of standing up in front of an audience, I remember the days of sweating palms, nerves managing to evaporate moisture from my throat and constantly fumbling for loose change in my pockets!!

So here are Coaching to Success’ top 8 tips on how to deliver that all important presentation.

  1. Establish Credibility

Forget the long intro, keep it short and relevant. Share past involvements that lead to this presentation.

  1. Write the dialogue

Preparation to a presentation is the key! Write the whole dialogue, rehearse then rehearse again. Another tip (having learned through being a mason) is to recite it out loud, not just in your head.

  1. Deep breathing

This helps slow the racing heart down. Pace the speech to insure you don’t deliver too quickly. Try to mimic conversation speed.

  1. Jackanory time!

I may be showing my age here. Jackanory was all about storytelling and they say stats are interesting, facts convincing but stories are engaging so tell one that encourages the audience to join in with the journey!

  1. Tonality & Emphasis

When wishing to get a point across, elevate your volume and use gestures whilst altering your tone. When wishing to get facts and figures across, slow down, lower the volume so the audience needs to really listen

  1. Visual aids

Don’t play around with something you need to draw their attention to later. Keep the attention on yourself and remember (through rehearsing) when the next slide is to be shown without having to look at it.

  1. Don’t pace up and down

It’s off-putting to see someone pacing around a stage. A trick I learned was to stand on one side when delivering and to stroll to the other when asking! The audience subconsciously recognise when they are to listen or to participate. By strolling you are seen to be comfortable.

  1. Q&A Time

Always allow time for feedback. Also, members of the audience may have other questions raised as a result of what you delivered. The better you answer these with re-affirmed interest, the greater it reflects point 1. Prepare for questions that attempt to derail you. Be confident in your reply without getting personal. Plan answers for questions you feel may fit this criteria. No questions asked? Eek! No problems, have a few up your sleeve to help them. “You may still be wondering about…”, “one thing I’m often asked is..”

This is but an overview of areas to be considered but is a great foundation for getting the message across positively and confidently. You can’t be expected to know all the answers all of the time but when it comes to your presentation, this is one area you can shine in and remember, the audience are here for themselves primarily!

If you have any questions or would like to discuss how Coaching to Success can help you with that all important presentation, take the first step by contacting Neil either be email, neil.nutburn@coachingtosuccess.co.uk or call 07761 187238 where you are assured a warm welcome.

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:

  1. Vision – Being clear and remain focused on final objective.
  2. Motivation – Stirring things up and develop this.
  3. Rapport – Relate. Get engaged.
  4. Role Models – Who inspires you?
  5. SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic & time-bound.
  6. Proactive – Set the agenda, don’t wait for others to set it!
  7. Reward – Introduce a ‘healthy’ culture of rewards.
  8. Procrastination – It may be more interesting but if not relevant, don’t let it distract you!
  9. Respect – Show this when others bring forward either concerns or ideas.
  10. Empower – Don’t always take control. Relinquish some responsibilities.
  11. Positivity – Even when under pressure, seek to give positive as opposed to suppressive negative feedback.
  12. 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:

  1. Responsibility – Takes while nourishing the team’s interest in results through participation.
  2. Succinct – Relay information without attaching emotion.
  3. Values driven – Acknowledge other’s values while striving towards the ultimate objective
  4. Proactive – Including understanding negative issues raised. Seek reasons and not simply dismiss out of hand
  5. 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!

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…

  1. Delegate responsibility with authority but remember, ultimately, it is YOUR
  2. 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!
  3. Know the required outcome and be clear in this when passing a task on. Don’t assume they know, inform.
  4. 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.
  5. Support! Be there to answer questions, monitor (but not micro-manage) and ask for progress updates.
  6. Define authority and accountability. What is their level of approach? Do they need to ask what needs to be done next? Set the parameters.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.