| “Never wish that life were easier, wish that you were better.” – Jim Rohn
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Posts Tagged ‘business coach’
Wish your life were easier?
Monday, October 31st, 2011The power of goals
Monday, October 24th, 2011| “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea”
– Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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What does your coffee say about you?
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011Last week, I had a speaking engagement at a historic building in downtown Indianapolis.
It is a beautiful building with a lot of space for meetings. However, it’s about 1 mile from the center of downtown and as a result, it doesn’t get much foot traffic.
Regardless, the group I was speaking for took a chance and chose this venue for their largest annual event.
After eating a light lunch, I decided to get a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, it was freezing cold. And no, it wasn’t supposed to be an iced cappuccino.
What’s the big deal? It’s just a cup of coffee right?
Wrong.
In today’s hypercompetitive environment, you have one chance to exceed your customer’s expectations. One chance.
If you blow it, your customer is one Google search away from replacing you with another option.
For your business it might be the way in which you answer the phone, the look and feel of a proposal or how quickly you respond to a question.
Whatever it is, remember that your prospect/customer notices every little detail.
How hot is your coffee?
Life’s Tough
Monday, October 17th, 2011| “Life’s ups and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals – Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want” – Marsha Sinetar
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Setting Goals & Completing Them
Monday, October 10th, 2011| “The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment.” - Earl Nightingdale
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Looking Forward – Light Bulb Moment #1
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011I coach leaders from sunup to sundown Monday through Friday and have been doing it for more than 8 years.
For some reason, this year has been filled with tons of “Light bulb” moments for me. In these moments, I have had some profound breakthroughs that I know to be absolute truths. I am confident that if you internalize these lessons, you will see great results.
It’s almost as if as soon as I hit the 8 year mark Obi Wan Kenobi sent me a text saying, “CJ, the force is strong within you…”
I’ll share some from time to time in this space.
I’ll start with one that hit me especially hard this week. I’ve noticed that some leaders want to focus on what went wrong during the past week, month, year, etc. Conversely, I have others who will briefly learn from their experiences and then go forward.
Guess which leader has more success?
I’ll admit that it’s tempting to replay past events over and over as if this obsession will change the past.
It won’t.
There is zero value in dwelling on your mistakes.
Leave the past in the past.
CJ
Blind Spot
Monday, April 25th, 2011Have you ever changed lanes in traffic and been startled by a loud horn from someone that you just cutoff?
Unless you ride the bus to work, this has probably happened to you on multiple occasions.
The problem we all have as drivers is that there is a small area that you can’t see in your rear view mirror called your “blind spot”.
What most people don’t realize is that they also have blind spots in their personal and professional lives.
These are areas where we have (and often have had for a long time) deficiencies we don’t realize.
For example, in my first few years in business I would attend many networking events. Rarely did I meet anyone interesting and often left the event wondering why I had wasted my time.
One evening a good friend and client of mine (Larry) walked up to me and said, “Why don’t you just go home?” When I asked why he suggested I leave, Larry told me that, “Everyone can tell you don’t want to be here. You stand in a corner with this awful look on your face like you are better than everyone else. Do you think people want to talk to someone like that?”
Initially, my feelings were hurt. However, now I was aware that the reason I wasn’t getting good results from networking was because I was a jerk.
I changed my behavior and built my business attending these events.
Where’s your blind spot?
CJ McClanahan is the Founder of reachmore, which teaches small business owners how to build a business that runs without them. For more resources on business leadership, please visit reachmore’s seminars.
Pay Attention
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011
I often joke that business owners all have ADD and that I should serve Ritalin shakes at my workshops.
It seems as though every day we are introduced to a new method for absorbing information and data. There is an “App” for everything and these technological innovations satisfy our need for immediate gratification.
So, the question becomes, are we paying attention to the right things?
Does all of this information make us better leaders, business owners, friends, parents and siblings?
I am not sure.
However, I do know that the brain can only handle so much and perform effectively.
What are you focused on today? Does it bring value to your business?
If it doesn’t, why do it?
CJ McClanahan is the Founder of reachmore, which teaches small business owners how to build a business that runs without them. For more resources on business leadership, please visit reachmore’s seminars
Multi-Tasking
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010Last night while leaving the gym I walked past a row of treadmills with a handful of runners.
One of these individuals caught my attention.
It was a woman who was walking on the treadmill at about the same pace that I was walking to the locker room. In addition, she was holding a phone up to her ear and having a loud conversation.
I was tempted to interrupt and let her know that a gentle walk on a treadmill while talking on the phone in no way constitutes exercise. In fact, I think you can burn more calories chewing gum.
We all feel the need to try and do 15 things at once. In fact, most people (at times including me) feel guilty when we are focusing on just 1 task at a time.
Here’s a newsflash – some activities are meant to be done by themselves, without interruptions.
Here’s a handful:
1. Talking on the phone with someone that is important to you.
2. Working on an important project – at home or at work – that requires intellectual concentration.
3. Having a conversation with someone else.
4. Sitting in a meeting.
In case you think I’m nuts ask yourself the following question – “Do you enjoy being on the phone and hearing someone typing on their computer?”
CJ McClanahan is the Founder of reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives. Email CJ at cjm@goreachmore.com for the latest on reachmore’s revolutionary executive coaching program, Summit.