Via: Bolt Insurance
Author: Ethan Theo
Abe WalkingBear Sanchez is an International Speaker / Trainer / Consultant on the subject of cash flow / sales enhancement and business knowledge organization and use. Founder and President of www.armg-usa.com, WalkingBear has authored hundreds of business articles, has worked with numerous companies in a wide range of industries since 1982 and has spoken at many venues including the Shakespeare Globe Theater in London.
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Welcome to the We Economy
To succeed in today’s economic environment, check your ego at the door and embrace a new way of doing business that is about more than what you can control and manipulate. That’s your ego talking.
The Ego Economy is dead.
Welcome to the We Economy.
This rising tide of the We Economy can lift all of our companies on thrilling waves of positive profits or capsize and drown us in red ink. We choose.
How do you navigate the change and positively succeed at work?
Here are three positive business conversation transformations to have today that say “good bye” to the Ego Economy and “hello” to the We Economy so you will positively profit.
“I did it” becomes “We did it.”
In the Ego Economy, you could afford to get by on what you alone could do. The We Economy requires the creation of partner relationships with your employees, customers/clients, vendors/suppliers and more to generate a profit built on what “We” can do.
How?
Ask your employees, “How would you build a better business?” They are on the front-line of interaction daily. Listen deeply and tap their wisdom. Act to implement.
Ask your customers/clients, “What can we do better?” They bring you their hard-earned money in exchange for your services and products. Listen deeply for themes and respond immediately.
Ask your vendors/suppliers, “What are some best practices you see out there?” Take notes about the one that makes sense for your business and ask your employees what they think and how they would implement it.
In the We Economy, we succeed as we create partner relationships with everyone who touches the business. We do it, not I.
“I already know that” becomes “Please show me how.”
In the Ego Economy, you stayed on top of the change-of-information trickle with little effort. “I already know that” was a reflection of the predictable growth of knowledge.
In today’s We Economy, the info flow is more like a fire hose than a trickle. You as a business owner or leader simply can’t drink from it alone. “Please show me how” replaces “I already know that” to generate more profits. Be teachable.
Your business is your tuition ticket to matriculate in Biz U. You hire people smarter than you in certain areas and learn from them. You cultivate an “always on the learn” environment in which results are shared, graded, and evaluated for next time and do-over’s.
Keep saying, “Please show me how” until it rolls with delight because you’re about to learn something that makes your company more profitable.
“I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps” becomes “We wear loafers.”
In the Ego Economy, we all wore boots and bragged about pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. As self-made men and women, we created it all.
In the We Economy, we wear loafers. In a boot-wearing market, loafers are innovative—more comfortable, easier to pull on and off, with no socks. In the We Economy, you’re comfortable in responding to the changing demands of your partners and learning as you go. You’re pulled onto and off of teams according to project needs, not siloed departments. And who needs socks?
Relating with all who interact with your business and creating new learning generates creative innovation which takes your company to greater profits and higher margins. In an economy of boot-wearing, ego-driven, know-it-all’s, innovators who are loafer-sporting, team-focused, and learning-as-you-do-it have more to say about success than anyone.
Avoid talking about “I” because the Ego Economy is dead.
Instead, start a positive work conversation about “us.”
Welcome to the “We” Economy.
(Wear your loafers.)
About the Author:
Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 Amazon best-selling author of Work Positive in a Negative World (Entrepreneur Press), coach, and speaker who helps professionals discover success in the silver lining of their business and achieve their dreams. Discover more at www.ListentoLife.org/speaking.
You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.
In a financially-strapped economy like this one, a common response to suggestions to grow business is negative.
“I can’t afford to advertise.”
“I have to cut marketing expenses.”
We focus on what we can’t do.
Will that grow your business?
What would it cost you to follow Zig Ziglar’s advice to positively grow your business?
Here are 3 no-cost ways to positively grow your business by helping others get what they want:
Greet with a Welcoming Smile
Ever watched one person yawn and within seconds everyone else in the group is yawning or stifling one?
Shawn Achor in his fantastic book, The Happiness Advantage, says that happens because our brains have mirror neurons that fire back what we receive. A yawn prompts a yawn…
…and a smile elicits a smile.
A smile at the door of your business begins the creation of a positive experience for your guests. That smile means they will likely smile back and so starts a delightful conversation that climaxes in a purchase today that leads to a relationship tomorrow that increases her lifetime value to your business in real dollars.
What that customer really wants is someone who opens the door to helping her find what she wants for her family, her friend’s child about to graduate, her car’s need of an oil change, etc.
Your greeting smile is invariably returned and invites, “Come in and let’s find what you want.”
Give a Listening Ear
Jeb Blount in his marvelous book, People Buy You, asks, “Do you take a genuine interest in others?”
In his outstanding book, Lead from the Heart, Mark C. Crowley states, “We must be willing to look at and really see the humanity in every person who works for us.”
Connecting with others as human beings is transformational, creating employees, customers, and vendors for life rather than merely “one and done.”
The surest, best way to connect is to give a listening ear. Ask a question and listen with interest. Feedback what you hear. Listen some more. Then ask another question. Keep listening.
Yes, it costs time, energy, and attention. See beyond the immediate investment and gaze long-term into the relationship that will pay dividends for years.
Grow Politely Considerate
Numerous surveys reveal social civility is at an all-time low. Road rage incidents are rising. It’s an election year and negative advertising increases our collective economic uncertainty.
Yes, we have an oversupply of jerks.
Avoid being one more.
Thank that customer for being your guest today regardless of whether she buys or not.
Give her a coupon of appreciation to use on her next visit just for stopping by.
Ask for her contact information so you can let her know when the next sale starts.
Get her birth date and send her a “Happy Birthday” email.
Give her your Facebook fan page address and encourage her to download the unadvertised specials and share with her friends.
Be on her side. She’s struggling to make ends meet, too.
The Golden Rule works. Work the Golden Rule.
Then with a welcoming smile, a listening ear, and polite consideration, watch as your business positively grows as you implement these 3 no-cost ways.
About the Author:
Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 Amazon best-selling author of Work Positive in a Negative World (Entrepreneur Press), coach, and speaker who helps professionals discover success in the silver lining of their business and achieve their dreams. Discover more at www.ListentoLife.org/speaking.
If you’re self-employed you’ll be well aware of the different and sometimes confusing financial rules which apply to you compared to your otherwise employed friends. Like with most things, your pension will also be different, since you’re self-employed and pay lower rates of national insurance. Conventionally, each person is entitled to a basic state pension, and this includes those who are self-employed. On top of this, if you earn a certain amount you’ll also be entitled to the additional state pension. A lot of people choose to “contract out” their state pension for a private pension. If you’re self-employed you won’t automatically get an additional state pension so you need to start up a private pension as soon as possible, to ensure financial safety in the future.
Different types of pensions for the Self Employed:
There are two different types of personal pension plans available to the self-employed. Below is a guide to both, with a brief overview of what a pension plan is in the first place.
Personal pension plan – a personal pension plan is a basic investment policy for retirement, whereby you end up with a lump sum and an income throughout your retirement. You can get a personal pension plan at any high street bank, investment firm and some retailers, like big supermarket chains.
The pension holder contributes a certain amount of money into the pension which is then invested and should yield returns in order to build up a fund. The amount of pension payable during retirement then is dependent upon how much has been contributed into the scheme, and how well the investment has performed, as well as the “annuity rate”.
25% of the pension can be paid as a tax-free lump sum.
Stakeholder Pension Schemes – a stakeholder scheme is a type of personal pension plan i.e. it is designed to supply you with a lump sum and income in your later years. Stakeholder pensions have a set of minimum rules set out by the government. These include:
– Minimum contribution of £20
– No penalties on transferring the fund to another pension or on increasing, decreasing, stopping or restarting contributions.
– Charges capped at 1.5% of the fund each year for the first ten years and 1% a year thereafter.
Self Invested Personal Pension – A self invested personal pension or SIPP is another type of pension plan which allows the pension holder a lot more control over the investments made with the pension. The same kind of tax, contribution and eligibility rules apply, but with an SIPP an individual can choose where the money is invested.
The plan holder can have direct control over the investment strategy or can hire a stock broker or fund manager to look after the investment. The SIPP is set up as a trust, which means the plan holder can borrow money from the fund to invest as long as the trustees agree it is in the scheme’s interest.
Getting the Advice you Need:
The self-employed are one of the most neglected groups of people when it comes to getting sound financial advice. Between 1998 and 2004 the percentage of self-employed people with a pension plan dropped from 64% to 49% according to the Office for National Statistics, with more than half of self employed women lacking any kind of private pension. This is why a national pension helpline has been set up by The Pensions Advisory Service to offer advice specific to those who are self-employed. If you’re self-employed and thinking about your financial future then it’d be a good idea to speak to a professional financial advisor to get the help you need.
Human beings have a difficult time with the idea of limitations. We don’t want to be told there are things we cannot do, which is why we hold stubbornly to the idea that “if we really put our minds to it,” there’s nothing we can’t accomplish.
Over my years as a psychologist and coach, I have witnessed, firsthand, the frustration, disappointment, depression, and stress of those who cling to this belief. And honestly, there’s nothing more difficult than watching someone trying and failing, over and over again, to fulfill a dream or desire they have no real aptitude for.
The fact is, certain people are better at certain things than others. By embracing these “limitations” and focusing on our gifts, we actually free ourselves up to be happier and more successful.
I didn’t always feel this way. In fact, when I was still an idealistic senior in college I wrote a paper that embraced the viewpoint of Dr. Fritz Perls, the father of Gestalt Therapy, who
described diagnoses as labels that put people into pigeonholes and prevent us from having a genuine experience with others. Dr. Perls embraced the idea that our freedom lay in having no preconceived notions about different “types” of people (or, in the context of my training, their psychological differences).
In this paper, I argued for an approach to human interaction without preconceived labels or categories of any kind. This, I maintained, was the only way to have true, honest, and genuine encounters with our fellow human beings.
My professor for the class helped me to understand that what I advocated in my thesis was impossible. He patiently and kindly pointed out that labels and categories were the basis of
human learning and that, without them, every moment of every day would be unique and overwhelming. We would be like newborns, encountering everything for the first time, with no
history and no context within which to understand anything beyond the immediate sensation it created. Not a desirable way to live!
I point this out because I am often challenged by people who take umbrage with the categories that form the core of Perceptual Style Theory, which I helped to develop. These are people who resent the “limitations” of the six innate Perceptual Styles, who believe these labels can only be treated mechanically, rather than as a means to experience the unique human being beneath them.
Labels, whether they are Perceptual Styles or diagnoses, have always been, for me, a tool that provides important insights about the inner experience of another person, providing a place to start in helping clients discover themselves. Rather than limiting our freedom, they can provide the focus that helps us to discover who we are – a roadmap that can guide us in developing our gifts and talents and prevent us from wandering aimlessly in life.
Research shows that those who become specialists are happier, more successful, and have more meaningful lives than those who remain generalists. And yet, so many people spend the majority of their time and energy trying to get better at the things they have no real aptitude for, rather than polishing their own natural skills and abilities.
When used properly, as keys rather than as locks, labels give us a starting point to discover and explore the behaviors that can set free our most amazing gifts and talents – those lying dormant within us, just waiting to be discovered and developed.
So don’t try to do it all, and don’t be a Jack-(or Jill)-of-all-trades – embrace your limitations and fully explore your natural gifts and talents. Find those things you do really well and do more of them, more often. You will be pleasantly surprised to find that it will allow you to focus on what is truly meaningful and important in your life.
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 is co-creator of Perceptual Style Theory, a revolutionary psychological assessment system that teaches people how to unleash their deepest potentials for success. He’s a partner at Vega Behavioral Consulting, Ltd., a consulting firm that specializes in helping people discover their true skills and talents. 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.YourTalentAdvantage.com