Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Coaching Tip #1055 "See Yourself Through Triumphant Eyes"
As you look back on 2014 see your accomplishments - both large and small - and give yourself credit for the happiness, joy and successes you've sponsored through your choices. See yourself through triumphant eyes and recognize this past year of your life as the victory it is. Allow confidence and gratitude to grow and flourish in your heart and mind as you take stock of your accomplishments. Lastly, let your good feelings and pleasant memories sink in to the core of your being so that they may sustain and inspire you throughout 2015. A very Happy New Year to you all!
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Happy Holidays
May your heart be full and your Spirit joyous this Holiday Season.
Wishing you the very best life has to offer in the New Year!
Thank you for being in my life and allowing me to share mine with you.
All my best,
Marcus
Wishing you the very best life has to offer in the New Year!
Thank you for being in my life and allowing me to share mine with you.
All my best,
Marcus
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Business Times Column #89
Do You Hire Potential Superstars For Your Business?
Article date: Dec 17 2014
Marcus Straub
The quality and character of the individuals essential to
the operations of a company directly affect the efficiency and
effectiveness of the business — not to mention the pleasure of those who
own and operate it. Simply put, the higher the caliber of those you
choose to hire, the more happiness and success you’ll derive from your
company.
As an executive business coach and consultant, every
business I work with has at some point experienced issues with its team
members. A reality for every business is the potential for people on
staff to continually inhibit the smooth operation of the company and
harm the work environment.
These team members typically don’t handle themselves or
their positions well. They’re not easy to communicate with, exhibit
negative attitudes and consistently have complaints and personal issues.
They also could lack the necessary skills and attributes; are likely to
be resistant to learning and change; and, due to one or more of these
factors, exert a drag on the overall morale and success of the entire
organization.
Owners and managers must frequently spend a great amount
of time and other resources working with these team members to improve
performance and attitude. Alternatively, they might find it easier to
avoid them altogether because they don’t know how to effectively handle
the situation. In the end, these people must be let go and the position
refilled with “hopefully” a higher-performing individual.
There’s a better choice. By hiring potential superstars —
individuals with a positive attitude who are solution-oriented, with a
willingness to learn, a desirable skill set and strong character —
you’ll position your company to operate far more effectively and achieve
new levels of happiness and success.
In hiring potential superstars, the first step is to
“stack your bench.” Think of your company in terms of a sports team.
Should a member of your team need to be replaced due to
underperformance, a bad attitude or lack of commitment, you must replace
them. Unless you have qualified, motivated and effective “players” to
bring in, you’ll be hesitant to make a change.
Many business owners and managers fail to let go of
ineffective team members because they don’t have qualified candidates
ready to replace them. By compiling a list of solid individuals to
choose from, you’ll be better positioned to make the necessary changes
that will enhance your team, and therefore, the performance of your
business.
As with any successful team, it’s vital you don’t just
“fill” a position with the first available person. Instead, strive to
hire the very best person you can by considering candidates who embody
the values, mission, goals and objectives of your business. By doing so,
you’ll make a strong choice for your company, your team, the clients
and customers you serve and yourself.
I work with companies to hire potential superstars through
the proven process of Job Benchmarking. When this is correctly employed
with the assistance of key accountabilities, high-quality candidate
assessments, comparison reports and a final interview before hiring, the
success rate rises dramatically.
I recommend that final interviews be conducted in person.
The vast majority of communication comes to us through body language and
tonality, with spoken words accounting for a mere 6 percent of the
actual message. Knowing this and preparing to interview with the
assistance of a qualified coach and consultant can help you understand
what an interviewee is telling you not only with their words, but also
in their tone and body language.
Quality professional assistance can also position you to
ask questions that provide clues into a person’s level of commitment and
involvement. There’s typically a significant difference between a
person who spends a great deal of idle time on the computer or watching
television and one who seeks out opportunities to learn, read and stay
physically active. The more engaged a person is in their personal life,
the more likely they are to be an engaged team member.
There are no guarantees you’ll hire the best person for
the job and the company every time. But when you do your due diligence
through sophisticated hiring practices with the guidance of a competent
coach or consultant, you’ll position yourself to make the best choice
possible in identifying potential superstars for your team.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Coaching Tip #1054 "Savor Your Abundance"
A full
belly, shelter, heat, hot and cold clean running water, transportation, peace,
and a some money at your disposal... These basics are but a few of the reasons
to be grateful and happy each day. The vast majority of human beings on this
planet do not have consistent access to most of these life sustaining things
which are often taken for granted. Savor, share and use these gifts in your
life to increase your happiness, success and contentment.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Coaching Tip #1053 "Reality is..."
Life will have its periods of smooth sailing and also its rough patches that sometimes seem to go on for far too long. Some days you will feel strong, clear headed and ready for whatever comes your way and other days this won't be the case. At times, being happy is effortless while at other times it can be elusive. It seems to me that there is an ebb and flow to life, almost like the movement of ocean tides. Life will come to us each and every day without bias and prejudice toward us. It's just life, and it is up to each of us to chart the best course we can whether it's smooth sailing or not. Reality is what we make of it.
Friday, December 5, 2014
Business Times Column #88
Grease Wheels of Success With Praise and Recognition
Article date: Dec 3 2014
Marcus Straub
Business owners solidly focused on moving their companies
to ever higher levels of profitability constantly look for ways to
improve their business models. To achieve this requires a discerning
awareness of what is — and isn’t — working in daily operations. There’s a
potential pitfall here, however.
If, as a business owner, you’re so focused on what’s wrong
in your business model you fail to see all that’s actually being
achieved and accomplished and how far the business has progressed over
time, you’ll squash the morale of your team members with a lack of
praise and abundance of criticism. Over time, team members will come to
feel less and less excited about being a part of what you’re trying to
do with the business. This, in turn, will limit the upside potential of
the business, and therefore, the prosperity you’re working so hard to
create.
On the other hand, you’ll reap the greatest rewards when
you offer constructive praise and recognition to your valued team
members while also working to continually enhance how the company
operates. Why? Because when people feel good — even great — about the
positive steps they’re making and the work they’re doing, they’re
encouraged to stay the course and do even better. Just consider how
great it feels when you receive an award, are honored or are the
recipient of praise and recognition.
The majority of humans thrive on praise and recognition.
To understand this more clearly, consider two very different situations.
When a person is praised for a job well done, they
typically light up and get excited. This is widely apparent in their
body language. When this happens repeatedly, they grow more
self-confident over time, take on challenges with greater initiative and
passion and become more adept at whatever they’re doing. In other
words, they’re motivated in a positive way to learn, grow and become
more — to perform at a higher level.
Conversely, when a person truly gives their best and is
met with criticism in the form of what they did wrong and what they
should have done better, without praise or recognition for what they did
well, they’re left feeling defeated and inadequate. If you’ve ever been
a part of a situation like this, you know how devastating this
experience can be. Again, defeat is written all over their face. Over
time, this leads to a negative self-perception, diminished
self-confidence, resentment and lack of drive or determination.
A person’s behavioral style and motivators will determine
how and in what way they most want to be praised and recognized. Some
prefer open and public displays, while others would rather the praise
come in a more subdued and quiet fashion. Some team members are
motivated by days off, others an opportunity to learn and still others
by bonuses or raises. High-quality assessments coupled with sound
coaching make it easy to understand, manage and motivate each person on
your team.
It’s imperative to understand this desire for praise and
recognition starts early in childhood and doesn’t change simply because
we grow older. The desire to feel good about ourselves and the efforts
we put forth doesn’t leave us as we move into the world of work. As a
business owner, it’s wise to get a firm hold on this understanding and
change your perspective so you and your managers offer the praise and
recognition for which your team members yearn — and need — to be their
best.
When team members in any business are supported in
constructive ways, both in a job well-done and in those areas that are
in the process of improvement, they’ll perform at higher levels simply
because they feel valued and supported in their development. When you
give others what they want, they’re more likely to give you what you
want and everyone is happier.
Once I teach business owners how to lead from a position
of composure and with a balanced perspective, they work with their teams
in new, dynamic and powerful ways. This in turn, helps them to build
the empowered teams that produce the very prosperity they’re looking to
achieve.
In your unending pursuit of success and a finely tuned
business, don’t forget to “grease the wheels” that make your success
possible with well-deserved praise and recognition.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Business Times Column #87
Do You Find Problems or Gifts In Your Business?
Article date: Nov 19 2014
Marcus Straub
In every business there are situations that can be
perceived as problems, challenges, opportunities and even gifts. The
choices you make in your perception of situations as they present
themselves affect how you handle them, and therefore, the outcomes you
create.
If I were to put four boxes on a table, each beautifully
wrapped, and explained that the first box contained a problem, the
second a challenge, the third an opportunity and the fourth a gift,
which would you choose to open first? Most people — 82 percent, in fact —
would choose to open the box with the gift first. These same people
would also open the box with the problem last.
Why? The reason is simple: Most people would rather
embrace a gift and avoid a problem. We don’t want problems because
they’re perceived as unpleasant interruptions to our happiness and
success. Even if you, the business owner, choose the problem first, your
team members most likely won’t. Gifts, on the other hand, are exciting
and typically bring something into our life that’s pleasant and fun.
Problems are not usually perceived as being enjoyable.
It’s our avoidance of, and negative attitude about,
“problems” that must be overcome if we are to create greater happiness
and success on a consistent basis. The key to this lies in changing your
perception of reality.
As the business owner and leader of your company, it’s
imperative you choose to perceive every circumstance that faces your
organization in the most positive and constructive way you can. A
powerful first step is to be profoundly grateful for the fact you have a
business. From there, choose to be grateful for the very situation you
face, what it will teach you and for the fact you’re alive and capable
of effectively working through it. A grateful mindset works wonders in
gaining an optimistic perspective of whatever we face.
The next step is to put down the “problem” concept in your
own mind. Instead, adopt a new perspective in which what you have in
front of you is viewed merely as another situation to be effectively
handled. This simple, yet powerful, choice reduces your tendency to
react with avoidance, procrastination, disappointment, frustration and
even anger. With this new perspective, you’ll be able to address each
situation in a more timely manner, with greater effectiveness and less
suffering.
Another powerful attribute to cultivate is a
solution-based mindset. This will allow you to embrace situations as
they arise and immediately begin working toward effective solutions.
Remember, when we perceive something as a “problem,” we avoid it. This
doesn’t create the necessary solution, but
rather prolongs discomfort and delays the inevitable. Until a solution
is created, the situation persists. There’s a solution to every
situation you’ll ever face in life and business as long as you’re
willing to look for one and implement it.
With your strong and consistent example of gratitude and
solution-based mindset, in time team members will follow your lead.
They, too, will take on a more positive perspective of the situations
they face and go after solutions more and more on their own and with
greater confidence. Your business will endure fewer and fewer
interruptions, the environment will become more positive, your team will
grow stronger and more happiness and success will be available to all.
The businesses owners with which I work are continually
astounded by the power of this approach. Once it has been learned and
applied on a consistent basis, the overall operations of the company
change for the better. When you and your team put down problems and pick
up your gifts, you’ll experience an abundance of energy and increased
motivation due to a strong desire to create solutions with the gifts
you’ve been given. This, in turn, leads to higher production, more
efficiency, greater satisfaction for everyone and increased personal and
professional results.
As you become more grateful and continue to grow a more
powerful mindset about the reality of doing business, you’ll come to
perceive fewer problems. Over time, with practice and as you become
stronger, you can move from situations to be effectively dealt with
toward challenges to be faced, then onto opportunities to be embraced.
Ultimately, everything you face will be seen as a gift to be received.
I wish you a grateful spirit, an abundant mindset, a
joyful heart and all the happiness and success you desire. Happy
Thanksgiving to you.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Coaching Tip #1052 "Rewarding Relationships"
Relationships
are perhaps the most challenging aspect in our pursuit of happiness and
success. People come from different backgrounds with differing perspectives and
varied aspirations. However, it is our similarities and not the differences
between us that begs our attention if we are to weather the inevitable storms
to experience the rewarding relationships we seek. Open, constructive
communication, the desire to collaborate and our support of one another paves
the way toward the happiness and success we need in our relationships.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Coaching Tip #1051 "Empower Yourself"
You
are far more powerful than you have ever imagined yourself to be in the
creation of your reality. As you exercise your power of choice to feel good and
be at peace in the face of influences and forces that might otherwise sabotage your
happiness and success, you are empowering yourself. You get to choose and it is
your choices, above all other things, which will determine your level of
happiness and how consistently you experience it. Choose wisely.
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