You’ve probably heard the phrase, “You can do anything you want to if you just put your mind to it!” at least once in your life.
That statement is altogether misleading and unfairly forces many of us to believe that we should follow through no matter how unhappy the tasks or position makes us. The trouble is human beings are, by creation, gifted differently. Nobody excels at everything.
For most of us, this is obvious and easy to accept in some areas, and more difficult to face in others. For example, it’s easier for most of us to recognize that no matter how much we practice, we’ll never play golf like Tiger Woods than it is to acknowledge that we’ll never learn how to be the life of the party like Cousin Joe.
Having a successful life, one full of meaning and fulfillment requires not only knowing your gifts and talents, but also knowing your limitations. In other words knowing what you cannot do is just as important as knowing what you can. Identifying those things that you aren’t good at – you know the things that make you feel unhappy and leave you feeling unfulfilled is the first step to finding life success and fulfillment. Because when you waste your natural abilities you often feel stuck doing something you hate – weed those skills out.
I invite you to go one step further – learn to celebrate your limitations!
This allows you to focus your time and effort on pursuits, behaviors, careers and life directions that are supported by your natural gifts and talents. It also opens you up to experiencing the appreciation and joy that come from discovering the gifts and talents that others bring to your life. When we are doing what we love, we are often performing at our best. This leads to a kind of fulfillment that allows us to live life passionately and happily.
Next time you’re invited out with friends, instead of trying to be like Cousin Joe, consider what it is that you uniquely bring to the party – what you are most comfortable doing – and do more of that! Most of us have undeveloped talents that lie hidden inside us until they’re recognized and acted upon. Each of our talents is an opportunity waiting to happen. Celebrate the fact that you don’t have to take on the stress of being like Joe (he’s got it handled) and you are free to be you and enjoy yourself!
About the Author:
Gary Jordan, Ph.D., has over 27 years of experience in clinical psychology, behavioral assessment, individual development, and coaching. He earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology – Berkeley. He’s the co-founder of Vega Behavioral Consulting, Ltd., a consulting firm that specializes in helping people discover their true skills and talents. www.vrft.com
Month: November 2009
For years I’ve coached my clients on the principle that our business mirrors our clarity of purpose and sense of self-worth. You’ve likely already noticed that any cracks in your self-worth show up in your business…big time!
Clues are, if you doubt yourself, undercharge, say yes to discounts, churn in indecision, don’t demand excellence from your clients, let others walk on your boundaries or accept slow business growth.
If any of these sound familiar, not to worry. While situations like these are, no doubt, keeping you from breaking through to 6 or 7 figures, they’re actually quite simple and fast to take care of.
No matter what your income goal is, now is the time to start thinking, believing and acting as the high-income business owner you dream of becoming.
Here is my PERSONAL list of 5 things millionaire entrepreneurs focus on. You can use these tips right now to propel your business forward — faster — with greater grace, ease and authenticity.
#1 How to Create Profitable Relationships, Not Just Try to Get a Referral
Referrals are great but if that’s all you’re after then your success won’t be sustainable. Profitable relationships are ones that bring in new business month after month.
#2 How to Leverage Opportunities Into Multiple Streams of Income
Put yourself in the shoes of your clients. What are five different solutions you can offer to problems they are struggling with right now? Your clients already love you and will happily pay you for additional services. It’s up to you to offer them what they want and need, which can easily result in a multiple streams business for you.
#3 Create Bold, Outrageous Income Goals
This may sound counter-intuitive but it’s a lot harder to make less money than it is to make more. The reason is this: small goals keep you stuck where you’re comfortable. Creating a much bigger income goal instantly triggers new ideas so you can create new opportunities and leap into a new level of exciting possibilities.
#4 Look at What You Can DO Instead of Doubting
No one is immune from the occasional grab-you-by-the-belly fear that comes when you’re doing something big or new. But millionaire entrepreneurs don’t waste time churning in self-doubt. Instead, they get into action. When I feel self-doubt, I know it’s because I’m up to something that is so right, it’s scary. Understanding this allows me to move forward instead of getting stuck.
#5 Ask Powerful Questions Instead of Engaging in Negative Self-Talk
My favorite question to ask yourself is, “How would a million-dollar business owner handle this situation?” This question is powerful because it instantly puts you in the “as if” mindset of a million-dollar business owner.
Believe First, Then Take Action…
If achieving real financial and spiritual success is your goal, then I promise that by following these millionaire entrepreneurial principles, you’ll quickly find yourself achieving 6- or even 7-figure success far faster than you ever thought possible.
About the Author:
Kendall SummerHawk, the Million Dollar Marketing Coach, is an expert at helping women entrepreneurs at all levels design a business they love and charge what they’re worth and get it. Kendall delivers simple ways entrepreneurs can design and price their services to quickly move away from ‘dollars-for-hours work’ and create more money, time, and freedom in their businesses. For free articles, free resources and to sign up for a free subscription to Kendall’s Money, Marketing and Soul weekly articles, visit www.kendallsummerhawk.com.
Are you looking to hire a sales coach to improve your career, leadership, life, business and sales results?
Well, I’m going to tell you right now that there are many sales coaches in the field and it is hard to know where to start or what to look for when hiring a coach. There are highly qualified sales coaches like myself and then there are others who just jumped on the sales coaching bandwagon so they can profit from you even though they have not proven themselves to be worthy of getting you as a client.
Knowing this, how can you find the best sales coach for you and your organization? Simply ask the 10 questions below….
Here Are My Top 7 Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Sales Coach
1. What is your personal track record of success in sales?
I was ranked #1 sales performer in the U.S. for 4 years at two global Fortune 500 Companies. I generated over $135 Million in Sales Revenue. I know what it takes to become a top sales professional.
This is not true for many sales coaches as they do not have the credentials of being a #1 performer in a large organization multiple times. And, many sales coaches do not have extensive experience building, developing and managing sales forces.
But what if those are your goals? See the concern? If they have not walked the walk, and proven they know what it takes to achieve great sales results, how can you expect them to know what it takes to achieve extraordinary results?
2. Will you customize your sales coaching programs around my particular needs and goals?
Many sales coaching programs simply place all individuals and businesses into the exact same sales coaching process. They do not take into consideration the immediate challenges at hand, nor do they focus on customizing the program around the strengths of the individual or organization, while identifying and addressing weaknesses.
Before you hire a sales coach, ask how they customize their sales coaching program. If they don’t have some good examples to share, run fast, or face receiving cookie-cutter coaching which will greatly impede your results.
3. What is your general sales philosophy?
Many of the old persuasive selling techniques really are a thing of the past. They don’t work. Yet, many sales coaches are still teaching people just like you to persuade, push, be very aggressive, and to forcefully change the mind of others. This will make both you and the prospective client feel uncomfortable and will automatically lead to lost sales.
If you want to increase your sales potential then you need a sales coach who understands how to create a genuine, natural, customized sales philosophy for each individual they coach. If they don’t, watch out.
4. What professional coach training do you have?
You may find a sales coach who has a respectful sales background like me. But, in many cases they’ll have very little, if any professional coaching training. There is a big difference between calling oneself a coach, and having 100’s of hours of face-to-face coaching training. If they do not have this training, you may not receive all the support you need around motivation, focus, changing your mind set, accountability, and being able to support you towards success in your entire life. If you hire a sales coach who does not have professional training, do not expect the same results. You will not be supported holistically around all the intangibles that help people reach extraordinary results.
5. How did you become a sales coach – and why?
Find out if the sales coach made the conscious choice to become a coach for the right reasons, or if they burned out of corporate America or fell into the position as a back up because they lost a job. You want a coach who loves coaching, sales and changing lives. Look for a coach with whom you connect with. Look for a sales coach who truly cares about your success and loves the work he or she does. If you do not sense a great deal of passion in their voice when they describe how they became a sales coach, talk to another coach.
6. Can you show me new and innovative ways to increase sales?
If the sales coach is not aware of how to use social media, blogs, website marketing, SEO, AdWords, effective article writing and publication, LinkedIn and other similar tools to grow their own business, how can they help you to grow yours?
Technology is always changing and there are ways to use it to increase your sales results. Find a sales coach who is using these tools on a daily basis to grow their sales coaching business. Find a sales coach who can show you how to generate leads, contact new prospects and network effectively in the modern era of sales. If they don’t use these tools, keep on looking.
7. Do you have a coach?
I’m a sales coach and I still work with a coach. I get a tremendous amount out of it and I am convinced of the value of coaching. How can you be a coach, but say you don’t need a coach yourself?
As soon as you stop learning, growing, improving and developing, what kind of an example are you showing for your own clients? Find a sales coach who has a coach, believes in coaching, uses coaching to continue to become a better coach, a better entrepreneur, and a better person. Find someone who inspires you to do more and doesn’t just coach you, but leads by example. If they don’t have a coach, just ask them why. This is an important question to ask and I’m guessing you will decide to move on pretty fast after they say they don’t need a coach or don’t have one.
About the Author:
Sales Coaching & Business Coaching Expert, Jeremy J. Ulmer, has helped hundreds of sales professionals, sales leaders, businesses and entrepreneurs overcome sales challenges and achieve breakthrough results. If you are ready to dramatically increase your sales results then request your Free Tips and your Free Coaching Consultation at: http://www.CoachWithJeremy.com
There comes a point in the life of a successful female entrepreneur where she is ready to take the plunge. Her sales are up, her workload has increased, and she needs help. Enter the team. Hiring the right team is a process that strikes fear in the hearts of some business owners and excitement in the hearts of others. Since success and accomplishment have led to the need for a great starting lineup, why not make the hiring process a success, too?
A new study from Jane Out of the Box, an authority on women entrepreneurs, recently revealed there are five distinct types of women in business. Each of these five types has unique approach to running a business—and as a consequence, each of them has a unique combination of characteristics and factors. This article profiles two of the Jane “types” and the different ways they may handle hiring a team and all its intricacies.
Go Jane Go is passionate about her work, and has no problem marketing and selling herself, so she has plenty of clients—but she’s struggling to keep up with demand. She may be a classic overachiever, taking on volunteer opportunities as well, because she’s eager to make an impact on the world and may really struggle saying “no”. Because she wants to “say yes” to so many people, she may even be in denial about how many hours she actually works during the course of a week. As a result, she may be running herself ragged or sometimes feel guilty about the list of goals not yet achieved.
Until now, Go Jane Go has always thought she could do everything herself. And why not? She is successful, she knows what she’s doing, and she’s smart. But she’s overwhelmed, and the simple fact that she’s even considering hiring a team means she must really be ready. Throughout the hiring process, Go Jane Go will be torn between hiring people she simply likes and hiring people she knows will get the job done.
Pros and cons:
* Pro: Business is all about relationships for Go Jane Go. So when she’s putting a team together, she’ll be making a commitment to the people she hires – she’ll care about their success and they’ll be drawn to her as a result.
* Con: Go Jane Go, in her desire to create a wonderful working and growing environment for everyone, may hire people based on their “potential” rather than their true skills today. She may overlook some weaknesses or developmental areas and as a result, may find herself needing to do more training than anticipated. Because she may avoid what she perceives as confrontation, Go Jane Go might begin “cleaning up after” her own team, thereby putting more work (and frustration) on her plate.
* Pro: Go Jane Go knows ALL the intricate details of how her business runs, and she knows exactly how she wants things done in the way that best meets her business’ needs. Further, she’s intuitive in working with others.
* Con: Because she’s intuitive, has high standards, and is accustomed to doing everything herself, Go Jane Go may have a very difficult time delegating. Because she runs her business intuitively, she may also not realize that she has an underlying system she follows to do the work. As a result, she may not have documented steps for each team member to follow and may again find herself doing more training or explaining than she expected.
Accidental Jane is a successful, confident business owner who never actually set out to start a business. Instead, she may have decided to start a business due to frustration with her job or a layoff and decided to use her business and personal contacts to strike out on her own. Or, she may have started making something that served her own unmet needs and found other customers with the same need, giving birth to a business. Accidental Jane enjoys what she does and is creating a satisfactory level of income.
Some Accidental Janes got out of the corporate world because they were fed up with the politics. Others simply want to be in control of their own destiny. Because many Accidental Janes were so good at what they did when they worked full-time, it’s just a matter of time before the demand for their services grows to the point that they need to hire some help.
Pros and cons:
* Pro: Tired of political games in big corporations, Accidental Jane is determined not to create an overly structured, constraining work environment. She wants people to feel empowered.
* Con: Hiring a team can seem daunting to Accidental Jane if she feels like she escaped from the corporate world. She may feel reluctant to commit to employees because she doesn’t want to feel shackled to an office or a particular schedule – for this reason she might prolong hiring someone as long as possible.
* Pro: She’s so good at what she does, clients are clamoring for Accidental Jane’s service or product.
* Con: If she waits too long to hire someone, based on concerns of having to return to a very structured work life, Accidental Jane will miss out on the joys of working with part-time contractors who can make valuable contributions to her business. She may find herself needing to rush the hiring process by waiting too long to begin.
All in all, hiring a team can, and should, be an exciting time in the life of a business. For women entrepreneurs who are just plain tired and feel like they need the help, putting in place an excellent group of helpers can be just what the doctor ordered.
About the Author:
Michele DeKinder-Smith is the founder of Jane out of the Box, an online resource dedicated to the women entrepreneur community. Discover more incredibly useful information for running a small business by taking the FREE Jane Types Assessment at Jane out of the Box. Offering networking and marketing opportunities, key resources and mentorship from successful women in business, Jane Out of the Box is online at www.janeoutofthebox.com
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Life Success in 3 Steps
We all recognize that the growth that takes place between birth and ages 18 to 21 are pretty dramatic. But physical, emotional and intellectual development continues throughout your life even if the changes are less noticeable.
One of the most exciting areas of adult development – and one that is the key to true success in life is in the area of skills and roles. In other words, what do you want to spend your time doing, both at work and at play?
Just like a 10-month-old baby learning to crawl, stand, and finally walk, success in life comes from the ability to master the skills necessary to accomplish your goals.
Successful adult development is a multi-step process:
1) Assessing your range of behavioral skills to decide how well a role or job fits your perceptual style
2) Making a conscious effort to drop those tasks and roles that don’t make use of your gifts and talents
3) Making a conscious effort to do more of the ones that do
What’s especially important in this process is distinguishing between those skills that fit you naturally versus those where you had to work hard to acquire that drag on your emotional, psychological and physical well-being.
Most of us keep doing what we’ve always been doing. It’s human nature, after all. We all know how hard it can be to “break” a habit. So, having a clear plan for the specific behaviors and skills you want to develop is important. That way you give yourself something positive to replace the old, no-longer-wanted behaviors.
Pick a goal you have and ask yourself:
* Will this bring me closer to my definition of success?
* What skills does it require?
* What’s my plan for learning the required skills I may not have fully developed yet?
You have abilities for which you have innate potential that are just waiting to be used. They may require some hard work, but you will find that efforts spent on developing your talents are productive, meaningful and rewarding.
In order to master the skills necessary to accomplish your goals it’s important to consciously choose to do more of what you do best. Each of us is born with a unique set of natural skills. The challenge we all face is recognizing and developing those skills to their fullest potential. Give some serious thought to what you do well and what you truly love to do. Then look for opportunities to do those things more often.
About the Author:
Lynda-Ross Vega: A partner at Vega Behavioral Consulting, Ltd., Lynda-Ross specializes in helping entrepreneurs and coaches build dynamite teams and systems that WORK. She is co-author of Vega Role Facilities Theory, a revolutionary psychological assessment system that teaches people how to unleash their deepest potentials for success. For free information on how to succeed as an entrepreneur or coach, create a thriving business and build your bottom line doing more of what you love, visit www.VRFT.com