Practical Solutions

Leadership Crystal Ball

2012-01-09T14:50:00.000-08:00

Which ball do you drop for what priorities?

The Crystal Ball has long been recognized as a symbol of the mysterious unknown and the future. “If I only had a crystal ball…” What would you wish for?

Welcome to 2012. Now is the time to follow through with your New Year’s resolutions as you consider them as goals to complete. How did you spend the New Year’s? Are you ready to say your New Year’s resolutions and this time follow through with them? This year try something a little different than you have in the past.

Of the many lessons corporate executives and leaders learn is perhaps the most is that change happens. The next most important lesson may very well be that to keep managing change is to ride it rather than resist it, understand it and make it work for you.

Having a crystal ball at your disposal may not help you predict what is going to happen for you in the next 12 months. As you create your goals, the possible ways of reaching those goals one step at a time, preferably on a monthly basis, you will notice the significance of your skills and those of your employees will help make these goals happen.

Being successful in 2012 is not about your skills abilities per se. It is not about your actions or activities either. Being successful does not even depend on having a great plan. The most important secret to your success in 2012 is making sure that you never stop!

Get Clear on Winning

Your employees have 2 questions permanently etched on their minds: Where are we going as an organization and how will we get there. Your most important task as a leader is to answer those questions by painting a rich and vivid picture of what winning looks like for your organization.

Get very clear on your vision and set the unique specific goals you expect to complete by December 31, 2012. What do you want to achieve and how will you get there?

What’s Working

Continue focusing on what’s working. This will help you move forward. Do not focus on what isn’t working. By doing so, this will take time and effort away from what you need to concentrate on that will yield your best results.

Be proactive in taking action on your goals with follow through. You may find that the growth of your organization can surpass your competition beyond average growth.

Don’t Limit New Ideas

Look for new product and service ideas and other ways to improve your systems and processes. Sometimes the best ideas come from unlikely sources.

If your biggest challenge is to become more creative and innovative, look carefully at how each of your employees are using their maximum potential. Assess from them how much more creative and innovative they actually can be.

Timing

Business forecasts and their assessments can take anywhere from a few days to more than a week. Change management takes a lot of time and depends on the size of the organization. The number of changes can be completed on a gradual basis.

Open Communication Channels

Every business owner and leader knows that communication is important. Structure your communication to the extent that it is conducive for all within your organization to understand. Keep employees informed to any changes that take place. Get input from employees can help you get things to change. You may even get and use some ideas from your employees. Remember to give them the credit for using their ideas.

How you re-engineer your crystal ball can help you re-structure what you predict you want on your wish list. Since no leader has a crystal ball, to make savvy leadership decisions, you have to rely on the most current data about your competitive markets and know your own company inside out. Some of the best plans are dreamed up overnight. In fact, these might take some time to come to fruition.

Imagine business as a game in which you are juggling six balls in the air. Can you keep all 6 balls in the air at the same time? If you drop one of them, will it bounce back to where you want or expect it to be? This is the reason I suggest working on a maximum of 3 goals at a time to work on. It is an easy number to handle.

Sometimes, things that are not planned just happen. As long as you keep the positive action going, you will have significance results.

What’s in store for your organization in 2012? As you gaze into your crystal ball, do you see a year of promise and opportunity? You might also see new challenges that require different ways of viewing and thinking that can lead to how view your organization now and beyond 2012.

New Year’s Resolutions for Leaders in 2012

2011-12-07T08:50:00.000-08:00

With the New Year just days away, many expect the same-old-same-old just like the last few years. Business leaders are a bit more optimistic than that. Some leaders are looking to reinvent themselves and their organizations. This is due to the economic climate as these leaders want to sustain and maintain their presence as they grow their organization and move forward with creative and innovative products and services.
As you think about your resolutions for the New Year, reflect on what you can do to enhance your role as a leader and the contributions of those who “follow” you. What lessons did you learn in 2011 that can help you in 2012? Think of these resolutions as you to accomplish.

Start the New Year by reassessing your plans and goals. Here are some things you can do to help you get started in the New Year.

Let’s start with a few things to think about first.

Ask yourself “What did I Accomplishment?” What did you feel good about? Did you do a good job in your position? What can you improve on?

What Did I Learn in 2011? The past year has been a valuable source of information about how to succeed this next year. Ask yourself: What worked and what did not work? What would have worked better?

1. Put Time on Your Calendar

Set purposeful stretch goals to help you improve your performance. Learn something new or fine-tune an existing skill. These should help push you to the next level of your success. Set 3 goals at a time. When you complete 3 goals, add 3 new goals, stretching each time you add more to your accomplishments.

2. Create a More Conducive Climate

Evaluate your own personal contributions to the organization. Improving at least one thing even if it is a relationship with people you do not see eye-to-eye with can smooth things with regard to performance may go a long way.

Listen better to others ideas, thoughts, opinions and feedback that can improve your leadership and/or the organization.

3. Working Smarter in the New Year

This is often times better than working harder. Find three ways you make yourself irreplaceable in the company. What unique ways do you have about you that no one else in the organization has, besides being the leader that you can improve on?

4. Succession Planning

Too many leaders have not written out a succession plan just in case a situation occurs that may incapacitate them for some time period. Write yours out where you do not have to name names, unless you feel comfortable in doing so of who would move into what positions.

5. Open-Door Policy

It is up to you whether you have an open door policy or not. If you tell your employees that you have one, then make it real without anyone getting revenge on anyone else. Having a real open-door policy allows others to talk with you and you’re allowing them to do so.

Finally, how can you make sure you achieve your top ten goals for the year? Keep them visible and review them each day. Set up a system of weekly and monthly goals to create progress towards completing them. Focus on your initiatives and bringing new perspectives to existing priorities can give you greater opportunities.

So, what are your 2012 New Year’s Resolution Goals? Think carefully and write them down so they stay on your mind. It is up to you to write some detail of what you want from your goals as well as how you expect to achieve them.

Happy New Year & Best Wishes for 2012.

Keys to Ignite Your Leadership

2011-11-10T13:11:00.000-08:00

Igniting the power within your organization starts with your leadership. Every great leader is focused on a vision, engages others with this vision and communicates it clearly. How charismatic and inspiring you are helps your leadership move your employees and organization forward to your vision and expectations.

The following keys help ignite your leadership to the next level of your success. You may already have these and may need to take advantage of an additional 5-10 percent more of igniting your employees within your leadership.

Creating Your Vision

After writing your vision, you need to walk your talk. Leaders and managers say they want change and continuous improvement but their actions do not match their words. Start to match and do what you say. In order to get your employees more engaged with their work, get to know them and interact with a few of them on a daily basis. Ask them their opinion of their work and what they feel would help improve what they do. Be open about this, and do not get angry by what they may say.

Confidence

Leaders must be confident in themselves. This includes being confident when you give speeches or presentations, make competent decisions and not constantly second guess what you think, and be able to interact well with the confidence and competence to know what you are talking about as well as understand others.

Employee Engagement is Key to Business Results

When employees are engaged in their jobs, they drive innovation, perform at consistently high levels, and many remain loyal to their companies, these same engaged employees are able to make decisions using their critical thinking skills. The result is that employees take personal ownership of their responsibilities and teams work together to produce bottom-line results.

Studies identify engaged employees as more productive and outperform disengaged employees. Educate and empower frontline managers as they need to know what engagement looks like and be able to model it themselves.

Facing Daily Challenges

Everything that happens in an organization is the direct or indirect result of that organization's culture, philosophy and core beliefs. Whether you are faced with minor or major or unexpected situations, the best way to handle them is not to react immediately to them. If you do, the decision you make too hastily may backfire on you. Instead, take a few minutes and either turn the situation into an opportunity or proceed using a proactive approach. Break down each challenge into small pieces and work through each step. Use your critical thinking skills to feel comfortable with the result you have.

Passion

Passion is a competitive advantage that all organizations can leverage. Stimulate others with your vision. This helps you and your employees. Employees need to know the “big picture” – and how their tasks fit in the greater scheme of things. Passionate people have discovered work that excites them. Passionate people are always learning, reinventing themselves, and exploring new things. Risk is an important part of living passionately.

Keep your passion pointed in a precise and positive direction. Activate your imagination everyday: Sometimes it can be easy to become uninspired when we get stuck in the often less-than-glamorous daily routines of living out our vision. Do something every day to keep your creative juices flowing so they don’t get stagnant and you don’t get stale.

People Skills

Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, as a leader one of your responsibilities is that of interacting with other company leaders inside and outside of your organization. During networking events, ask questions of the other person(s) and retain as much about them as you can. This helps in your follow up with them or the next interaction you have with them to ask about the specifics of what you spoke about previously.

Remember: Employees want to be motivated, performance driven, appreciated, recognized and to feel important for what they do.

Make Opportunities Happen

Some People Make Things Happen, Some Watch Things Happen, while Others Sit around and Wonder What Happened.

Everyone heard about the person who is “in the right place at the right time.” Be aware of the opportunities around you. Take advantage of them but first think carefully of how you and your organization will benefit most from them.

If you recognize that you are feeling burned out and no longer find excitement or joy in leading your business, the best thing you can do for yourself is to step away from it.

For many, the name of the game is to stay ahead of their competition, and they do so. Others do not take the action to jump ahead of the crowd, so they get left behind. Active management of employee engagement is a critical aspect of sustaining a competitive advantage. With the help of your employees prepare for the next level – don’t wait for it. Each one of us has the choice and the responsibility to take leadership into our own hands. I hope that these keys will help you wake up and ignite the leadership spirit within you!

High Voltage Energized Leaders

2011-10-12T09:53:00.000-07:00

You know motivating energy when you see it. When people see you getting closer to achieving a tough goal, this unleashes collective energy that drives performance to a whole new level.

Leadership is how you interact with everyone, as you are visible to everyone. Energized leaders develop a personal effective style of leadership that positively influences and changes not only yourself, but those with whom you work and interact, as well as your organization as a whole.

You have probably witnessed first-hand how low personal energy can prevent you and your team from being as productive as you would like to be. Even highly motivated and hard working executives are not immune from the negatively affects of low person energy levels. These can leave you feeling mentally and physically tired as you struggle to keep up with your work. Studies have shown that 1 out of every 2 executives (2009) report that their low energy levels prevent them from being effective and productive as they need to be in their work. There are an alarming number of executives who struggle to keep on top of their work each day.

There is a critical distinction between someone who has a high-energy personality and someone who is a leader whose style in influencing others sparks ingenuity and infuses energy. Which one are you?

You know motivating energy when you see it. Energized leaders generate inspiring company-wide performance, where employees help each other tap into creative innovation because they want to. While you can find driven people everywhere, high-octane environments are fertile grounds for teams to create extraordinary results. Research shows the key to outstanding performance is ENERGY (the ability to reach and achieve your full potential).

In keeping pace with organizational changes and sky-rocketing workloads, you need to:

• Stay fresh and focused in stressful work situations.

• Concentrate and stay focused on your work more easily.

• Use your higher personal energy levels more productively.

• Give yourself an energy boost whenever you feel yourself getting rundown. (no energy drinks).

• Completely unwind and release your tension and stress at the end of each day.

• Create energizing, productive and positive relations at work and at home.

• Avert burnout and stay on top of your work.

• Be resilient and creative under stressful conditions so that you can respond quickly and easily to unanticipated crises as they arise.

“High energy creates the context for possibility”, says Thomas Ebeling, pharmaceuticals CEO at Novartis. “If you intend to unleash the energy of your people, you must start with great purpose and then set ambitious targets… as a leader, you put time and energy into optimizing the blend of people – not just based on expertise, but based on what sparks their best work.”

Without energy, the wheels of your leadership and organization come to a screeching halt. Your employees will become less productive as well. Employees who are enthusiastic and know their contributions are valued are more likely to be self-motivated and propose innovative ideas.

Successful organizations have energetic employees. Nothing energizes them more than public praise and recognition for their accomplishments. Try giving incentives to employees for the ideas and work they do.

Start a New Trend – Random Celebrations

As leader, it is your responsibility to keep your employees motivated and to keep productivity high. Both of these are enormous challenges. Keep the champagne on ice and non-alcoholic champagne too and celebrate with your employees from time-to-time.

As you celebrate the wins, recognize your employees who made contributions to the win itself. Whether you give a certificate, a gift card, or a meal to your employees, make sure everyone is recognized for something they did.

Know where and how to direct energy in your organization. To get the extraordinary results you want, get your people to see their areas and expertise in new ways. Pay close attention to what really matters. While sparking your people to ratchet up their day-to-day decisions and actions, you still need to monitor where they are in the work they are doing.

Unleash energy that drives a whole new level of performance. Incorporate an individual’s values with their desires to make a difference. Include the idea that each person works better by using their personality preferences (their actual strengths) and the results are being more effective and productive in getting work completed. Unleashing energy is not about creating something new--it's about unblocking this enormous natural energy that already exists.

Remember: You cannot inspire and energize people with memos, mission statements, data and analysis, charts, goals and objectives, measurements, systems, or processes. Try something new.

Leaders with Confidence

2011-09-08T20:22:00.000-07:00

Self-confidence is one of the most admired attitudes in a person. Employers want self-confident employees because they usually get the work done even in tight situations. Self-Confident people are open to new ideas and are willing to discuss them even if the new idea is opposed to their own. They are willing to acknowledge their mistakes and then move on to finish the job.

Have you ever wondered that 2 people can read the same books, get the same leadership training and end up with 2 different results? If the training is the same, then the difference has to be with the person. Most of the time that difference is confidence. Confidence is what allows us to take action.

“Self-confidence is rocket fuel for leaders. Used carefully and ignited under the proper conditions, it propels you and those around you to remarkable heights.” (Leadership Caffeine: Is Your Self-Confidence In Danger of Burning Out of Control? August 30, 2009 by Art Petty)

It is all very well know what you need to do as a leader but if you lack confidence, for whatever reason, it may be hard to deliver. Self-confidence- You won't get to the top without it. While confidence in the economy is down, confidence in leadership, their teams, their ability to execute on their vision, organizations have the right people and skills to move themselves forward. As a leader, you need to cultivate your team’s confidence. Your team should have confidence in what they do as well as confidence in your leadership skills.

Much of a leader’s confidence is from experience. Self-confidence is the fundamental basis from which leadership grows. Confidence is the cornerstone of leadership. Do not confuse confidence with self esteem. The latter relates to how you see yourself fundamentally and how you value yourself. Self esteem is more about how you want others to react to you to raise your self worth - you want people to like you.

Not only does confidence allow you to make the tough decisions that people expect from a strong leader but it's reassuring to your employees. It allows you to lead meetings with authority, to accept candor and open communication, and the greater they perceive your force of will, the more faith they will have in your company and its mission. As a leader, consider how well you deliver a company speech. If you deliver it with confidence it inspires your team as intended, but the same speech delivered with doubt becomes a point of mockery.

How confident are you when speaking to your employees and delivering a presentation that sets the company direction for the future? Are they rallying behind you or can they see through your lack of certainty? This is the difference between a confident leader and one who goes through the motions while lacking core convictions.

You can see confidence in leaders who know what they want. They are decisive. They don't mull long over an issue, but they don't rush to snap judgments either. To most people, a leader always seems like he or she knows what to do, regardless of whether a choice is right or wrong.

Passion is the other characteristic of confidence. Passion comes when you find something you love—the job that inspires you to live. Passion will have all your conversations relating back to your love. It will keep you awake, as you mull the perfect solution. With this passion comes confidence, and when people feel this passion in you—and they will—they'll follow you to the goal.

Confidence or “executive presence” involves the ability to enter a room and instantly take charge, through your strong presence, while forging quick, personal connections with the other members of the team. Leaders with confidence or “executive presence” will always command respect and attention when they speak; and their determination and conviction inspires and motivates those around them.

Confidence is the expectation of success. When you expect success, you are willing to put in the effort to achieve it. It's confidence that attracts investment--not just money but time, energy loyalty and commitment. Ultimately what makes a difference in performance is whether people put in the effort--and often the extra effort--to sustain success. When people have confidence they are willing to invest and it is the investment that leads to action that creates high performance. So confidence is a critical missing link. The reason I love sports so much is that you can see it clearly in games. The winner is often behind… they sometimes fumble… they sometimes lose the ball… they sometimes miss a shot and they keep going. They persist, they learn from their mistakes, they learn from their experience, and that is what confidence makes possible.

When you think of the word confident, what comes to mind? One who is confident is a person who can move ahead in a direction that is new with little hesitation. It may take time to make that initial move, but confidence must be present in order for movement to occur. Without confidence, change and action are invisible. Now take this vision to leadership and visualize this: Organizations and people will stay stagnant or in their “rut” unless acted upon by an outside force, also known as a leader. The leader who acts upon an organization requires confidence in his/her ideas or ability in order to take the first steps to make this action. I think you can now see the importance of confidence.

Confidence in leadership is essential. Leaders effect change and they cannot make the changes needed without some level of confidence in their abilities. Be confident and take action based on your confidence level. Have the willingness to take action that gets the results you want. Now go out there: Be decisive, be passionate, and lead away!

Work with Your Enthusiasm

2011-04-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

"Nothing great has been achieved without enthusiasm."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Two people with virtually the same amount of skill and talent can differ vastly in the amount of success they achieve. If you have noticed that employee enthusiasm takes a nose dive shortly after new hires start work with your company, you are not alone. In fact, there is a disturbing and significant decline in employees’ overall job satisfaction after they have been with their employer for six months or more, according to research conducted by Sirota Consulting.

A person can succeed at anything for which there is enthusiasm.
-Charles M. Schwab

What would your company be like if your employees showed up with passion and boundless enthusiasm each day?

Enthusiasm is one of your most important assets. Enthusiasm is one of the key ingredients to making your business work. Before you lay out a business plan, make sure you are going where your passion leads you, as you will need this enthusiasm to keep you going through the rough times. Visualize your goals and where you want to be in two or three years. Also use positive affirmations to help keep your attitude up.

Employees cannot be expected to be enthusiastic about an organization that is not enthusiastic about them.

Not all jobs are exciting or glamorous; in fact, most involve rather mundane tasks being performed again and again

Passionate employees are more effective. They’re more fun to work with. They get more done on a daily basis. They work with greater accuracy and they inspire excellence in others. Passionate employees directly affect the bottom line and influence the company culture in a positive way. So how do we tap into the passion our employees possess?

What's the difference between enthusiasm and gasoline? Maybe, there's not much difference between the two. They both provide the power to drive us forward. (Enthusiasm: The Key to Productivity and Innovation By Don Doman)

Enthusiasm in the workplace, properly ignited, can propel your business into success. Motivated employees work harder. They'll even come with ideas to improve the product or service. Motivated and enthusiastic employees are the best kind of employees to have.

Here are ways you can fire up unmotivated and under enthusiastic workers:

THE TIME IS NOWWhen you see someone doing a good job, the time to tell them about it is right then. Don't wait for tomorrow or next week. Who knows? You might forget about it. If you tell someone they are doing a good job, they won't forget about it.

LET YOUR FEELINGS SHOWDon't be an old stone face. Everyone has feelings. Show yours. If your workers are doing a great job, then shouldn't you be excited? Shouldn't you be proud? Let those emotions show on your face. Share your enthusiastic feelings. Your feelings will boost moral and encourage the same feeling among your workers.

GIVE A PAT ON THE BACKNothing builds enthusiasm like trust. When you give someone a task to accomplish it shows that you believe in them. If you believe in them, can they believe any less? You don't even have to make encouraging statements. The task alone speaks volumes.

“Courage is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” -Winston Churchill

You have the opportunity to choose enthusiasm every moment of the day. Rekindle your Enthusiasm and Ignite your spark for reaching your potential and success.

Twelve Keys to Successful Leadership

2011-03-02T08:08:00.000-08:00

The effectiveness of the leadership within your organization determines to a great extent the degree to which that leadership will succeed. What makes for strong leadership? We all know it when we see it; the trick is to articulate what the key ingredients are. Here are 12 key elements that I believe form the common denominator among successful leaders in any industry. From the lessons on leadership, we know leaders can be developed. These 12 key components to leadership that are demonstrated by effective leaders provide guidelines for developing an environment that fosters the principles and practices critical to organizational success.

1. Your Self-Esteem: As with effective management, the first key is to strengthen your self-esteem. The more value you see within yourself, the greater will be your ability to influence other people.

2. Attitude is the key to organizational performance: A leader needs to have a positive attitude even when things are not going his/her way.

3. Begin with yourself: Successful leadership begins with the individual. Successful leaders share a set of traits or principles, including a high degree of integrity, authenticity, courage, and curiosity. Effective leaders are congruent. They know what they stand for and they have the courage to convey it and the consistency to live it. Their followers can trust them, as they know who they are and what they stand for.

4. Goal Setting; the Path to Your Focus: By setting goals on a routine basis you decide what you want to achieve, and then move step-by-step towards achieving these goals.

5. Commitment: The key to completing goals and subsequently achieving our life’s focus is commitment. Success often starts with the mere existence of the commitment to change and improve. By committing ourselves to accomplishing the goals that we have determined, we take that first step to the achievement of excellence. Commitment is what transforms promises and hopes into reality. This also puts the leader in the position of having integrity – doing what you say you will do.

6. Communication: When you communicate your vision, your mission, and your goals, be clear and concise for all to understand what you want to accomplish. Think before you speak: As a leader, tailor your messages enough for your audience to see a clear picture of the message you are presenting.

7. Listen Well: Listening to what others have to say and their understanding of what you have said. Listen for more than what’s being said; pay attention to what’s not being said and try to spot unspoken expectations that are not clearly communicated verbally or in writing. It’s about picking up on what people are thinking, how they are acting and what they are not necessarily verbalizing. When ideas are fresh and positive, profits and productivity soars. Communicating and listening complement each other for good leaders.

8. Progression of Achievement: Excellence is best achieved in small steps that encompass a greater whole. A productive and reinforcing method of goal setting involves the breaking of any large task (or our overall focus) into manageable segments, with the easiest parts to be accomplished first. By actually achieving success after success, we begin to establish a repetitive pattern of achievement that leads to even greater accomplishment. Success, like failure, tends to be a trend. Continued successes encourage continued successes. Enough successes eventually comprise ultimate excellence.

9. Leaders must walk the talk. Leaders not only make the rules, they follow those rules. This is harder than you think. Take sales, for example. Most business leaders are good salespeople, and good salespeople often break the rules. But you earn your team’s heightened respect when you make a deliberate effort to creatively accomplish your goals without violating or corrupting policies you put into place.

10. Leaders take responsibility for poor performance. In being a leader, you take on the responsibility of accountability. Leaders also understand that most underperforming employees are the product of a poor hiring decision or poor training. Most managers retain underperforming employees too long because they set unrealistic expectations and lack objective ways to evaluate performance. Good leaders understand that retaining an employee under these circumstances works against the employee’s interest as well as the company’s.

11. Motivation: This involves influencing your people to make more long-term efforts in accomplishing goals. It is not the idea of simply giving orders or making suggestions, but the ability to make someone truly want to achieve the desired goals. It starts with motivating yourself and ends with leading the team all going in the same direction.

12. Having a Vision: Leaders know where their organization is headed, and they constantly communicate that vision to their team. If the vision is strong enough, a good leader can delegate its implementation without having to micromanage the details. With this, having the tenacity to stay the course until the established objective is achieved is part of the key of leadership excellence as well.

Taking this one step farther, navigating with this vision is also important to effective leadership and those at the helm who try to lead without a vision are seriously crippled. Organizational members need to know where the organization is going. Without direction, they flounder. To have direction, motivation, and congruence, employees must see the big picture. Employees need a vivid sense of the future that compels them to action. When they are committed to the vision and align it with their personal objectives, a synergy is created that lifts, fuels, and propels them forward.

Successful leaders are willing to take risks with visibility and vulnerability. They demonstrate and build courage through this willingness. Leaders learn to take complete responsibility for their decisions and actions, while sharing credit. Masterful leaders learn, live by, and communicate these principles. They create confidence, respect, and loyalty by operating with integrity and authenticity.

Good leadership is not just the result of hard work. It also stems from having a clear vision of where you want the organization to go. It results from having a solid knowledge of bringing out the best in the people you are leading.

Quiet Enthusiasm

2010-10-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

The idea of Quiet Enthusiasm from Ralph Marston demonstrates that introverts do have enthusiasm, but it is on the quest side.

Sometimes enthusiasm shouts loudly and is very obvious. Yet many times enthusiasm works quietly, diligently and effectively behind the scenes to make great things happen.

Both kinds of enthusiasm are valid and powerful. Both kinds of enthusiasm can change life for the better.

Noisy, flashy enthusiasm commands great attention and makes many promises. Quiet enthusiasm follows through and fulfills those promises.

You don't have to be loud and boisterous to be enthusiastic. You can be just as enthusiastic and committed by being fully and yet quietly engaged in getting the work done.

Outer actions may be a sure sign of enthusiasm, yet they are not where enthusiasm comes from. Enthusiasm originates in the authentic passion that lives deep within you.

Explore, understand and feel that passion. And express enthusiasm in your own very special way.

- Ralph Marston

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you for the leadership skills you may be seeking, please contact us at 602-405-2540 or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com

Soft-Spoken Corporate Leaders

2010-08-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

Being honored for his leadership style, David Baker gave a speech in his usual way, soft-spoken, that won him the advanced leadership award of the year. Most people at the dinner thought that David spoke soft because of a leadership secret he found that worked and worked well in his 35 years being the CEO of WXT company. What most people did not realize was that David always spoke softly all of his life. David, an introvert is a tough leader and gets results by the way he leads.

The quiet revolution is moving forward and gaining steam as I write this. According to research, there are between 40-70% of CEOs and other executives who consider themselves as being introverted. With this in mind, even though they are introverted, these

We often read books and articles expounding on leadership traits or skills that a leader should possess. Do not let the cover fool you. There are many people who do not seek the spotlight, even though they are corporate leaders. They do not need the trappings of leadership- they just lead.

Leaders lead not through their loud speeches, but rather by doing what needs to be done, and by example. The gruff, non-nonsense company leader may be just as much a leader as the soft-spoken one. Optimize who you are. Some leaders who are soft-spoken, introverted, and quiet; while others are extroverted and like to be in the limelight all the time. Allow yourself to be who you are even with demonstrating your active listening skills, and look carefully into what your leadership style is. Think about the idea that you can expand your horizons by demonstrating more of who you are through your leadership style and work on how you want that to be.

Kenneth Chase, a 57 year old vice-president never wanted to be president or CEO of the organization he has worked at since graduating from Penn State University. As a self-confident leader is usually soft-spoken, Kenneth’s dynamic leadership brought forth his great insights and vision for his company that demonstrated his creativity as it began as an artist, and then switched his major to business. He did not plan on being a corporate leader, but he has made the position comfortable enough that he has been there for over 20 years.

Many people may look at themselves and say, “I am soft-spoken, quiet and opinionated”. These are some of the same people who notice that almost all charismatic people are soft-spoken.

There are some people who are naturally soft-spoken and it may be part of their emotional make-up. Sometimes it is taught in families as to not raise your voice even when you get angry. Others are introverted so they do not speak up or are slow to respond because introverts have to think first before saying or taking any action.

Some believe that soft-spoken people are creative and mask a hidden agenda. Others believe being soft-spoken is a sign of weakness. When people use their actual strengths, they can be powerful in their own way. Many people do not understand that.

Talking softly actually makes others listen to you more. Some might say that people who talk over others are self-absorbed and have a skewed self-esteem issue that they rarely listen to what others say. They are too busy listening to the sound of their own voice.

Having a brilliant mind which gives her unique ideas, even though she prefers to make policy based on what she observes, Megan Anderson is one of those creative types who likes management by walking around. She likes to talk to employees and get their opinions, suggestions, and feedback because when changes need to take place, Megan wants the buy-in from her workforce as to the changes she wants to implement as it affects them as well.

Megan is soft-spoken and remains quiet when she is in a large group, such as networking events. She prefers not to have attention put on her because she gets flustered and blushes. She prefers one-to-ones instead.

With the quiet revolution taking place within leadership, and more and more quiet leaders demonstrating that they are getting results beyond their expectations. Soft-spoken leaders are not shouting their secret leadership skills, strategies and techniques from the rooftops; they still keep a low profile and look forward to stellar years due to their leadership and how they do what they do.

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you for the leadership skills you may be seeking, please contact us at 602-405-2540 or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com

MBWA (Management By Waking Around)

2010-08-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

Why do some leaders quickly implement change and inspire their team(s) to exceed all targets- while others try everything possible and their team(s) barely meet expectations?

For many employees, one of the most popular questions they are asked every morning is “How are you?” By the way, this question is stated not by a co-worker, but by their boss. Many ineffective managers and leaders have distinguishing factors such as not asking good questions or offering little or no help, support or even encouragement or suggestions to their employees to be more productive. Many leaders do not avail themselves to the potentially useful techniques that help them manage better either because they do not know them or do not believe in them.

Management By Walking Around or MBWA for short, was pioneered by the two men who started HP-Hewlett-Packard (Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard) in the 1940’s. The “HP Way” of MBWA was based on the concept that employees are capable of being part of the problem solving process and that a team approach to creating new business ideas and innovating ways to solve problems was far superior to the “top down” approach of management coming up with all the answers and dictating them to their employees.

The idea behind MBWA, according to author Tom Peters who popularized the term, is simple: “Managers can be a lot more effective when they wander around the work site. Companies that perform the best are the ones whose managers actively go out into the trenches and listen and engage with their employees.

Managers can best engage employees by asking how their day is going, what barriers they face, what problems they see, how the organization could do better, and how management can help them do a better job. Some may remember the notion of management by walking around as an old idea that is coming back in many companies.

Some organizations who have used “management by walking around” focused on leading that resulted in productivity improvements of at least 30%. Effective managers have their fingers on the pulse of their projects, their teams, and the organizations. Some of the ways “Management By Walking Around” improves leadership includes:

· Motivates employees to achieve individual and team goals
· Focuses the team’s attention on business priorities
· Increases the ability to drive cultural change
· Builds company spirit
· Reinforces company values

Management By Walking Around builds trust and relationships, motivates the staff by management allowing employees to take an active role in the company they work for, and creates a healthy organization.

Management By Walking Around recognizes and appreciates the employees who help make you successful. Managers who practice this style, take note of the following:

1. Speak with People One-on-One as this builds trust.

2. Get to Know People more on a personal basis as this shows your interest in them. Tell them something about yourself.

3. Be Prepared to hear some things you would rather not hear. Some things may not be going so well. Accept these things as information that may be useful to you without being critical of the employee who presents the information.

4. Always Ask people for their ideas on how their work could be improved. Listen carefully to their ideas.

5. When You Notice something out of line, make a mental note and go back later to address the problem.

6. Practice MBWA with everyone as often as you can. Be humble. Let them show you how to input the data.

7. Try to Catch Employees in the act of doing something right. Notice the things that are right and express your appreciation. This builds loyalty.

These are simple and powerful tools for you to use daily. Today, many business owners and leaders walk the floor only when a crisis occurs. They think their presence will calm their employees. The trouble is, that is not effective if you have been hiding in your office before you notice a problem has hit. MBWA only works (and does work) if you do it regularly and you really want to know what is going on in your organization. So Instead of staying in your office all day, every day, visit your employees on a regular basis, and discover how to improve your leadership with your employees and your company.

“Ninety percent of leadership is the ability to communicate something people want.”
- Dianne Feinstein

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you for the leadership skills you may be seeking, please contact us at 602-405-2540 or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com

Resilient People

2010-07-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

How do you react to unexpected difficulties? In today’s workplace everyone feels pressured to get more done, of higher quality, with fewer people, in less time, and with less of a budget. It is more challenging when life throws you a curve especially in difficult times when it is important to be resilient as much as possible.

Healthy, resilient people have stress-resistant personalities. Resilience is the process of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences. Resilient people bounce back from setbacks quicker than others, and can thrive under extreme, on-going pressure without acting in dysfunctional or harmful ways.

Resilience comprises 2 different elements: (1) The ability to keep it together when you are subject to great demands and pressures; and (2) The ability to overcome difficulties, to learn from mistakes and to develop creatively, by turning difficult circumstances into opportunities.

Resiliency is what sets some people apart from others. The traits of resilient people are plenty for people to understand. Here are several characteristics. See if they fit for you!

· Resilient people are connected to what is most important to them in their lives (meaning, direction and purpose in what they do).

· Put things in perspective.

· They understand that emotions are great sources of energy and motivation but are often poor guides for action. They know how to motivate themselves to take action.

· They are focused with having a clear vision of what they want to achieve.

· Resilient people are positive. They are optimistic in their thinking as negative thinking is just a “bad habit”. (Challenge yourself to reframe situations in more positive terms).

· They are flexible especially when responding to change.

· Resilient people are organized as they develop structured approaches to managing change.

· Always exploring their options. If one door closes, they look for another door or window of opportunity. They even create them when needed.

· Resilient people have excellent problem-solving skills. The can brainstorm and negotiate with the best. They think critically.

· Maintain a higher level of quality and productivity in their work.

· Resilient people have the ability to re-frame their experiences to see the positive side of things. They always look for the silver lining. They ask questions like, “What can I learn from this experience?”

· Achieve more of their objectives.

· They look for adversity as a challenge rather than as a threat. They realize that no matter how the present situation turns out, they will learn and grow from it.

· Resilient people respect themselves and others. They have a spirit of cooperation and look for win-win solutions rather than try to win over people or ignore their own wants and needs.

· They know how to let go of things they have no control over. They know the only thing in their control is “Me, Myself, and I”.

· Resilient people use positive self-talk. They spend time thinking what they want versus what they do not have. They understand and use the power of positive affirmations.

· Resilient people let go of the past and learn from past experiences and plan for the future.

· They know how and when to ask for help. They do not try to do everything themselves. They do not expect others to do everything for them. They understand the benefits of tapping into the strengths of others.

· Resilient people enjoy living in the NOW. They do not put important things off for another day.

· Actively seek solutions. Active coping rather than being passive and waiting for things to happen.

Think about how resiliency impacts you and your organization!

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you for the leadership skills you may be seeking, please contact us at 602-405-2540, or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com

Leaders Understanding Their Own Awareness

2010-07-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

One who knows others is wise.
One who knows oneself is enlightened.
Lao-Tzu

Although it is probably one of the least discussed leadership competencies, self-awareness is one of the most valuable. Many of us operate on the belief that we must appear as though we know everything all the time or else people will question our abilities, diminishing the effectiveness of leaders.

Self-awareness is the cornerstone of leadership. When you are self-aware, you are mindful of the impacts that your emotions, your behavior, your communication patterns have on those around you. Strong leaders take time to reflect on their strengths and development needs.

Self-awareness is the first step to better leadership. If you do not know what you do not know, you cannot improve on your weaknesses. If you are unaware of your strengths, you will not reach your potential. A lack of knowledge about who you are and how you operate can lead you to overemphasize your strengths, to the point where they become a weakness. Once you know yourself- your strengths, weaknesses, behavior tendencies and motivators- you can begin to lead yourself to success.

Recognition of your own strengths and limitations means that you are more likely to empower others, giving them the opportunity to develop and support broad improvement goals. On the interpersonal level, self-awareness of your strengths and weaknesses can net you the trust of others and increase your credibility – both of which will increase your leadership effectiveness.

On an organizational level, the benefits are greater. When you acknowledge what you have yet to learn, you are modeling that in your organization then it is okay to admit you do not have all the answers, make mistakes and most importantly, to ask for help. These are all characteristics of an organization that is constantly learning and presents itself as a springboard to innovation and agility – two hallmarks of high performing organizations.

So How Self-Aware Are You?

According to research on management styles, you are more likely to be unaware of your behavior and how it impacts others if you normally tend to operate at the extremes.

Developing your leadership potential begins with self-reflection. Leadership development helps leaders understand their own style. Knowing your own strengths and limitations helps you understand your own emotions and the impact of your behavior on others in diverse situations.

Leadership guru, Warren Bennis states, “Know thyself means separating who you are and who you want to be from what the world thinks you are and wants you to be.”

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you for the leadership skills you may be seeking, please contact us at 602-405-2540, or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com

Who Are Your Star Performers

2010-06-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

Brent was a successful senior executive working for a large manufacturing company. He was the person that you wanted to have when things did not go well. Everybody loved him for his enthusiasm, never-ending motivation and his vision of taking the organization to the next level. About one year after this bright star was brought in and produced so well he started getting frustrated due to the fact that his boss was not spending any time to groom him and was not receiving any recognition or bonuses for the work he was doing. When he accepted an offer at another firm nobody could believe it. His boss did not understand his reasons, his team was disappointed, and his peers simply didn’t get it. Brent never told anyone what he was going through. But everyone knew he was a top performer who everyone expected to run the company one day soon.

It is a difficult event for an organization when a star employee leaves, ripping a hole in the organization. Most managers are aware of the 80-20 rule that states that “80 percent of the work is done by 20 percent of the people.” Whether this is fact or fiction, few managers would disagree that the bulk of the work is done by a few key staff.

Ask a manager where they spend the bulk of their time, and most will say that it is spent with underperformers in an attempt to raise the overall level of the team. Most people don’t spend a lot of time trying to identify their best producers.

I came across an article recently from World at Work that reported an alarming 47% of high performing employees are actively looking for another job. In many cases stars are only identified long after they have left.

Star Performers Are:

· Known within the team, but may not be known to management

· Not clock watchers starting to pack their bag at 4:58.

· Usually approached when something important needs to be done

· Stars don't think of networking as something to do with other people. For stars, it's a constant. Nothing is a complete waste of time because you can always meet someone, talk to someone, or help someone. That last piece is important – stars know that networking is as much giving as taking. And there is an inherent humility in this way of life; stars know they can't get what they want by acting alone.

· Stars exceed expectations. Just doing your job is not enough. Stars do their own job well and then perform well in areas that exceed the job description. Generally star initiative includes helping people, taking risks and seeing a project through to the end – all in arenas that go beyond their job duties

Star performers are usually not the ones flapping around and spending time each day telling others how busy they are. They may be easy to spot in areas such as sales, because it is a numbers game.

Not only are star performers a dumping ground for additional work and some say they are often a victim of their own success.

What Drives Star Performers Away?

• Lack of recognition or feedback with respect to performance
• Internal promotions that are not based on performance
• Others taking credit for their work

It does not matter what profession you are in, the following is a formula to use to identify your star performers.

1. Look at the people in your organization, and then inventory their skills.
2. Compare those skills to what’s hot in the open job market.
3. Compile a list of people that have extremely valuable skills.

High performers are usually people who need a different form of motivation in order to stay passionate about their jobs. Stars thrive on executing results. Seldom do they sit down and reflect on the things that “just happen.”

Most of us can divide the people in our organizations into three categories: Star performers, moderate performers and substandard performers. Suppose you have 100 employees. In a typical work force, that would probably mean 15 star performers, 83 moderate performers and two substandard performers. . A study of computer programmers at Bell Laboratories showed that the star performers outperformed moderate performers by a margin of 8-1.

Retain Your Star Performers

· Work with star performers to set realistic performance targets.

· Give them more of your time than underperformers. Meet with them on a weekly basis for an informal catch-up. They are the backbone of your company, so why spend all your time with staff that are not producing the results?

· They want to be in the limelight. They want to make decisions. They want to shine. Be sure to create an environment where they can do just that.

One of the best ways to get what you want is to be an extraordinary performer at work. The interesting thing about star performance at work is that it actually demands that you be the person you want to be anyway. Being a good person, seeking self-knowledge, and taking responsibility for where you're going are probably key pieces of your core belief system. So you truly do not need to stray from your idea of a good life in order to be wildly successful in your career.

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you for the leadership skills you may be seeking, please contact us at 602-405-2540, or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com

Leadership Action to Move Forward

2010-06-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

Leadership is not something you “do”…it is a quality of who you “are”

What are you willing to take action on, whether you feel like it or not, in order to help you drop the old way and empower the new way? One of the prime differences between leaders and followers is that leaders go out and make something happen, while followers wait for something to happen. In fact, there are three kinds of people in business. See which you most resemble:

1. Those who make things happen.
2. Those who wait for something to happen.
3. Those who wonder, “What happened?”

While leaders have numerous qualities, the following helps you start to move forward as a leader.

Leaders Focus on Strengths

Besides assessing and identifying your own strengths, as a leader you need to focus on the strengths of your employees and of the organization. Leaders know that by focusing on and developing strengths, they gain momentum and can become exceptional in an area(s). Leaders focus on strengths because they know it takes more time and energy to go from miserable to mediocre than it does to go from good to great and great people make an organization great and great people and organizations make things happen!

Leaders Set the Tone and Climate for their Workplace Each Day

Effective leaders are the ones who make the work environment a place in which employees: (a) want to show up for work and (b) want to follow the leaders.

Leading by example is the best way many employees view of their top company execs are doing and especially of how they feel about the company they lead. Many employees like to wait and see how their leaders handle various types of situations before believing they are doing well for the company. Other employees go along with the flow and perceive their leaders at the moment of what they say and how they present to employees their vision, expectations, etc.

Be Forward Looking

The whole point of leadership is figuring out where to go from where you are now. For leaders to be able to look ahead in the present context means that they need to be able and willing to stay informed continuously about developments.

Leaders are charged with taking organizations forward, and rely on information systems to see what’s coming ahead.

Forward looking leaders need to know when to take a few steps back to see what is in front of them and how to solve the challenge(s) they face. Some leaders know that it is hard to see the bigger picture when you're inside the frame. That's why they regularly step back to see themselves, their team, or their organization through the eyes of others.

Optimism

There are some who are naturally pessimistic, while others are naturally optimistic. Successful leaders are part of the second group. They know that they cannot control every eventuality but they can control how they respond. They focus on solutions, not problems. Optimistic leadership help you not just look for the positives, but gives you energy that inspires others.

Sometimes leaders need to look at things from an open perspective. “The mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work unless it’s open.” -Unknown Author

Be Decisive

A leader who does not make decisions, who waffles, gets his management team into a position of standing still — ‘If s/he’s not going to make a decision, I’m not going to make a decision because I don’t want to go out on a limb.’

When you start getting that groupthink of, ‘Inaction is what he or she wants,’ then you develop a company that is focused on inaction. Then you have your customer facing managers who need something to happen and confused about what corporate is doing. Then the frustration starts to build, customers start to feel it, and your business starts to go sideways.

Leaders Plan for Success

In planning for success, leaders encourage their employees to take risks, and look for breakthroughs by empowering employees to complete tasks/projects/assignments by using their thinking skills. Asking questions to get people to think more critically helps them solve challenges and helps them improve their self-confidence.

It is now time to take action.

"We have good corporals and good sergeants and some good lieutenants and captains, and those are far more important than good generals." - Gen William T. Sherman

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you, please contact us at 602-405-2540, or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com

Looking Down from the Balcony to Lead on the Dance Floor

2010-06-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

So much has changed in the past few years. The best ways of running a sustainable business has also changed. Successfully managing change will be your competitive advantage. Every bookstore or library shelf has an abundant number of leadership from the theoretical to the practical and everything in between. Find a book on leadership shifting gears slightly about how to lead from a different perspective. This will help you immensely especially if you are thinking about moving your organization to be more efficient and effective, but not know where or how to start.

While not everyone is cut out to be a leader, not everyone can or wants to be a follower all the time, also. It is often the mix of the smartest, most effective and efficient way to build and sustain your business, team and productivity. Orchestrating your leadership and how your employees go about completing their day work, may need some

Leaders need to identify if a change they are introducing requires primarily technical expertise, or represents a deeper, adaptive challenge. The key to success is to correctly identify which type of challenge leaders are facing and then proceed to orchestrate the change based on whether the type of change they are facing is a technical or an adaptive challenge.

Ron Heifetz, professor at Harvard University and author of Leadership Without Easy Answers (1998), makes the point that leaders periodically need to get off the dance floor and get up on the balcony. By doing so, you can see the patterns and the flow of your employees working better than when they are right in front of you.

Heifetz believes that leaders need to regularly “get up in the balcony” and get a different perspective of everything that is going on. You also can see who is dancing well and who is struggling.

In their book, “Leadership on the Line”, authors Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky offer a practical solution of “getting off the dance floor (daily operations) and up in the balcony.

When growing or leading your business, it is important to regularly make the time to consider where you want to be and what is changing around you rather than always being bogged down in (with) the details. Applying the “getting off the dance floor” metaphor, spending less time dancing and more time looking down from the balcony at the dancers to assess whether there is better way to do things. On the Dance Floor, you can find yourself in action, consumed in the day to day running of your business. On the “Balcony”, you can take a step back from the details and take a clearer, more strategic view of what is going on in your business. Spending regular time in the Balcony is important for you to see what you need to do in order to grow or lead your business.

Return to the dance if you want to affect what is happening. Staying on the balcony for short periods of time to give you a different perspective is great.

Position your people to be able to provide feedback, opinions and suggestions without fear of intimidation or being ignored. Provide regular opportunities to hear what they are thinking, feeling, and how they respond to current trends and issues affecting their work.

Many leaders modify their behaviors according to their responses from their employees. A masterful leader understands that their leadership is a work in progress and that their ability to manage and lead depends on many factors and situations. Continuous monitoring and confirming with observations and feelings of others is a good barometer for leaders.

Leaders that develop and practice emotional intelligence seek feedback when it comes to behaviors and attitudes may find they actually get it if they are responsive to improvement(s).

The notion that leadership means “I know where we are going just follow me”; or “I’ll bring in the best experts and then follow me” is clearly inappropriate to adaptive contexts and puts enormous pressure on people in authority to fake it and provide quick technical fixes that tend to avoid the more significant questions.

Taking a balcony perspective is difficult especially when you have been leading from down below. When you break away, step back and you will see the big picture. Sometimes it is complicated by several factors.

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you, please contact us at 602-405-2540, or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com.

Characteristics of Inspiring Leaders

2010-06-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

A survey of more than one and a half thousand managers, people were asked what they would most like to see in their leaders. the most popular answer, mentioned by 55% , was "Inspiration". When asked if they would describe their current leader as "inspiring", only 11% said yes.

An inspired and motivated workforce is essential for any business that stays ahead of their competition. Ann Clarke Judd, the chief executive officer of the American red Cross National Testing Laboratory in Charlotte, N.C., "Inspiring leaders under the consequences of their decisions, are trustworthy, presevere, and plan carefully."

An Inspiring Leader is an authentic individual who demonstrates the following characteristics.

1. Is open to change and is always looking for better and easier ways of doing things.

2. Their decisions are based on the greater good of all and not solely on one individual.

3. Is flexible, responsive, and adaptable.

4. Are "Big Picture" vision thinkers.

5. Not threatened or intimidated by others.

6. Accepts 100% responsiblity for their leadership style and not only admits but apologizes when they are wrong.

7. Knows who they are and acknowledges their strengths and weaknesses. they surround themselves with people that complement their weaknesses and capitalize on their own stengths.

8. Is solution focused.

9. Always gives credit to those who the work or idea belongs to.

10. Builds people up, empowers them as the leader provides direction, guidance and encourages others to believe in themselves.

11. Create an open forum for ideas to flow freely from everyone and encourage others to express their ideas.

12. Involves people in decision making on every important issue. (Seeking the opinions of others communicates that leaders respect and appreciate them).

13. Listens well and gives others the courtesy of their full attention.

14. Delivers extraordinary results.

15. Articulates compelling course of action. (Inspiring leaders craft and deliver specific,, consistent and memorable vision).

16. Reinforces an Optimistic Outlook. Speaks in positive, optimistic language. (Extraordinary leaders throughout history have been more optimistic than the average person).

The inspirational leader feels passionately about the vision and mission of the organization. They share their passion with others.

The ability to inspire people to reach great heights of performance and success is a skill that leaders need. Passion, purpose, listening and meaning help make a leader inspirational. The ability to communicate that passion, purpose and meaning to others helps establish the inspirational culture of your organization. These points will tell you how to enable inspiration and motivation in the people you lead.

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you, please contact us at 602-405-2540, or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com.

How Extraordinary Are You?

2010-05-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

Everyone is unique in their own way, but few of us actually die as extraordinary people.
No matter what field you’re in, you can create extraordinary results. Your life may seem ordinary compared to people who are famous for changing the world. And many extraordinary successful people want it like this. Others want the limelight to go with their extraordinary successes.

When you think of extraordinary success, what comes to mind? Since extraordinary success is unique for everyone, you need to first define what success is for yourself, and then ask yourself how extraordinary is your success and do not compare yourself with anyone else.

Many have unique traits but either do not use them or do not get the chance to use them to your advantage. For many, being mediocre is not for them. They feel that they have to contribute or make a name for themselves by doing things different and better than following the crowd. From ordinary to extraordinary is taking the first step. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Don’t be too timid or squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.”

Imagine all the things you could make happen if you were able to overcome any barriers you have and tap into the strength and skills that are already within you! Ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things if they:

· Believe in what they do
· Think outside the box
· Take action

Skyrocket Your Self-Confidence

Ordinary won’t take you to the next level of your success. Put yourself in the top 3% now and see your success and confidence sky rocket. Building self-confidence is an inside job. To build a real solid foundation in your self-confidence you want to experience yourself in a way that is new or different from past experiences. Skyrocket Your Self-Confidence by:

• Staying Positive

• Staying in Control

• Believing in Yourself and Reaching Your Potential

What are you doing to make yourself extraordinary in what you do?

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you, please contact us at 602-405-2540, or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com.

Untapped High Potential Leaders

2010-05-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

At this point, who is not aware of the talent wars of finding the best employees or the next best high potential leaders? Companies need to look carefully at many of their own employees as they may be missing opportunities within their own ranks. The talent wars change with the needs of each organization. But one thing is sure, there is a need shortage of leaders stepping up to the plate and showing what they can do before becoming a leader in that organization.

Many high potential leaders go unnoticed, so very few ever reach their leadership potential. They live in the shadows of others. Mostly, they help others reach their potential. Unlocking the vast untapped potential for leadership right in your own backyard can be a positive thing as long as you recognize it in your employees.

Leonardo Da Vinci said there were three classes of people: Those who see; those who see when shown; those who do not see; and A leader needs to be a fourth type: One who sees the potential in others that they may not even see in themselves.

Do you know what your potential is? The word potential implies untapped capability. Within the untapped potential you have dwells the power to solve problems, the power to be creative and innovate, improve productivity, please more customers, and improve results however you measure them.

While it is difficult to measure, a leader must see her job as that of assessing the potential in others. For without an acknowledgement of potential, it may never be extracted. And all the ignored possibilities for solutions, innovations, and growth, will forever lie dormant, stunted, and wasted.

Take Action:

Seek the potential in others. What we see is often what we look for.

Provide others with a chance to grow. Ask your colleagues to try new assignments, to recommend some changes, to take-on special projects. The people who step forward may surprise you. Everyone is more than their job description.

In today’s economic climate, go beyond and look for those who have the potential to be leaders, but also take notice of how creative and innovative they are in the work they do. Out of the ordinary, you may find the extraordinary person you have been looking for.

You are capable of doing much more than what people expect of you. You have the potential of going beyond your expectations. But you need to have someone give you the opportunity to show what you can do. Some people are recognized for their efforts, and others need to be pushed a little. Which one are you?

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you, please contact us at 602-405-2540, or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com.

Are You Already Working in Your Dream Job/Career?

2010-05-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

Many people go to college and spend four years getting a degree. When they graduate, they either work using that degree they earned, or decide to work doing something else. When you’re finally fed up with your unfulfilling, dull career doing whatever pays the bills, it’s time to find your dream job.

Many people are not working their dream job/career because if you are like most people you work because you have bills that need to get paid, and you work in any job. For most people, they are dissatisfied with the job or work they do.

The reason you may not be working on getting to the next level of your success might be because you are not interested in the job or career you are in. With so many people dissatisfied with their jobs/careers, and no doing anything about it, they miss out on opportunities that could be exciting enough to do want they want, instead of what their employer wants.

Finding the perfect job can be a challenging task. For many, it becomes a life long journey that can feel nearly impossible to reach. Each individual may have a very different idea of what that means for them. Up to 75 percent of workers are still searching for a job they love, according to the job search Web site Career Builder.

Confucius says: “Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life.” Finding the job/career of your dreams means that you focus and concentrate on the work you are doing. It is something you want to do and feel good about yourself while and when you complete what you are working on.

Knowing what you want as your dream job/career helps you feel excited about what gives them satisfaction in the work they do. Having a sense of positive self-esteem and being positive with what you do helps you feel confident, less stressful and able to be creative and innovative in using your maximum potential as you feel fulfilled in what you enjoy doing.

Imagine your ideal career, and what you would be doing right now if you were there. Start to think about what you REALLY WANT from your dream job/career. Figure out what you want out of life and look at your skills, talents, knowledge, abilities, interests and passions. Write down what you really want to do and then how to get there.Think about what inspires you and how finding your dream job/career will help you feel great about yourself.

Anyone can get a job and get paid. But doing what you love and getting paid is a double plus for many who are more than satisfied in the work they do. So,take a risk and take action to feel good at what you do in your job. Best wishes in finding your dream job/career.

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you, please contact us at 602-405-2540, or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com.

Getting Your Point Across When You Only Have 60 Seconds or Less

2010-05-17T08:54:00.000-07:00

You need to get an important message across to employees and the problem is, employees have so little time and attention. I am sure that you receive several emails daily where a few people at least, do not get their point(s) across to you asking you to do or respond to something they ask for/about.

But if you were given less than 60 seconds to get your point across to another person, most people give excuses. Some have said, “I cannot possibly make my point in a short period of time.” Granted that 60 seconds or less is not much time to get your point across to anyone, but think of about this. If you were in an elevator with someone who you wanted to ask a question to or say something to, the time between floors is the only time you have to see that person and say anything to. Do you think you can talk with them in that short period of time? They probably do not have any other time to stay on the elevator with you.

The basic principle of a 30 even a 60 second message is to have a clear objective. Essentially, what do you want to achieve?). To get your point across in business today you need to focus on your own communication skills and your audience’s ability to understand. Speakers who get their points across in a short period of time and know to concentrate less on what they want to say and more on what they want you to hear are the most successful

One of the most important abilities of a manager is the ability to get your point across. Some have said that, “85 percent of what you accomplish in your career and in your personal life will be determined by how well you get your message across and by how capable you are of inspiring people to take action on your ideas and recommendations.”

When we're trying to get a point across to someone else we often think long and hard about what we want to say. Instead of focusing on what you want to say to get your point across, you should focus on what you want the other person to hear.

You want to say just the right thing so the other person understands your point. Sometimes you practice what you are going to say.

Verbally, 3 Seconds is all it takes to lose your audience. It is also all it takes to grab their attention – if you know how.

3Basic Principles

1. Know What You Want- Have a clear objective of what you want to say.
2. Who Can Give It to You- Know who you are talking to.
3. How to Get It

Keep it Brief and Simple
Say what you need to say and nothing more. Keeping it simple will allow your audience to understand and remember what you want them to.

Use a hook in your message to grab their attention. This is what you create to have your listener think about what you are saying or asking about.

Use descriptive words that catches you listener’s attention. Paint a vivid picture for your listener.

Be Detailed
In what you do choose to say, tell the audience specifically what they need to know, including quantities, hard deadlines, and delivery.

Body Language
Make sure your posture depicts someone who considers themselves as confident and successful. Otherwise, your listener is not going to have a good impression about you no matter how well you come across to them. Do not have your arms folded, and as long as you sound confident with good eye-contact and do not apologize for possibly feel anxious or nervous, you will probably be in a good position to get what you want from them.

You may feel that what you have to say is important enough to you. So create a compelling opening line for your listener to grab onto what you are saying. Be a little creative in your opening statement, and then ask a specific question relevant to what you just said.

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you, please contact us at 602-405-2540, or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com.

Maintaining & Sustaining Work Productivity

2010-05-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

On a scale from one to ten, one being the least productive and ten being the most productive, how would you rate yourself on productivity during an average work day?

Do you constantly look for files or papers, while your inbox is overflowing with unanswered messages? You have to move two stacks of papers to get to your keyboard, and you need to find your contact information for the day. You have a constant nagging feeling that you’ve forgotten about something vital, and that major project you want to start work on still remains a pipe dream. Are you always leaving your seat to retrieve supplies or materials that are crucial to your most important work?

Do you have the tools you need to work at your optimum level of efficiency? Here are 8 essentials for a productive work environment. None of them require a degree in rocket science, and most offices have them, but may not be using them in an effective manner.

Organize Your Day on Paper, Before Your Day Begins
Spend ten minutes each evening or ten minutes each morning planning your day on paper. Write down your top priorities for the day, and circle the two most important items on your list. Instead of feeling overwhelmed at all the work you must do, focus only on those two items. Even if all you complete on this day are those two items, they are the two most important and can be marked off as major accomplishments. Do this every day, and you’ll power up your performance fast!

Motivational Momentum
How many times have you been asked "What are you going to do to motivate your employees?" Know that your employees value your opinions, your insights, and your time. They value the effort you take to work with them to develop their skill sets and their careers.

Everyone knows that motivation will increase our productivity. Don't wait for inspiration to hit. Take action first and the motivation will follow. Play to Your Strengths

"Keep a positive attitude: There’s is nothing more powerful for self-motivation than the right attitude. You can’t choose or control your circumstance, but can choose your attitude towards your circumstances."

Take the Time to "Connect"
Network with other professionals in your field who you gain the most benefit from. Also, set some time each day to connect with the individuals you entrusted with the projects and/or tasks you delegated. Take the time to consider how you can use skills in your business/department and watch productivity and profits soar.

Minimize Distractions
If you must attend mind-numbing meetings, mentally challenge yourself to solve problems inside your head as the minutes go by. Set aside a specific time to answer emails and phone calls, rather than answering every call at all times. If you are having personal problems, mentally picture yourself putting them inside a drawer and closing it to refocus on your work.

Manage Your Employees by How they Work
Take notice of your employees. Are they working using their personality preference levels, or do they just plug into a slot to fill a desk that was available? Low productivity among the employees could be because the job that they are doing does not suit their temperament or qualities or skills. Through assessments and appraisals, managers are better able to evaluate an employee's skills and thus, can shift him to a department or a job that suits his qualities.

Action Files:
These are the files that you use every day. Many people use these as their to-do list. Action files should be located on the desktop or as close to you as possible. They can be organized by date, topic, or type of action. Some examples of names for action files are: to read, to file, waiting for response, consider this, call, email, etc.

Sustaining Your Results
Essentially, think about what works and what works very well for you to keep your results from declining. Delegate projects and tasks to those who are capable of completing them by your specific clear instructions and vision of what you want done. Let your employees figure out how to complete the project or task as this will give them an opportunity to be creative in what they do.

Appreciate Employee Days

If a manager wants to know how to improve productivity in the workplace, then the most effective tool that he can employ is employee appreciation. Many organizations today use various methods, such as giving out gifts, celebrating employee appreciation days, having special events in office, for appreciating and motivating their employees.

Follow the steps above to create your own productive work environment. Monitor each step and modify when needed. Be open to suggestions and other opportunities in getting things done.

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you, please contact us at 602-405-2540, or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com.

Former Military Leaders as Elite Captains of Industry

2010-05-12T11:56:00.000-07:00

From the people who brought us $640 toilet seats and $500 hammers, the government this time has actually helped corporate America by teaching military leaders the worthiness of being a corporate executive. At a time when executives across the United States are confronted with the potential crisis of the looming shortage of younger talent being executives of the future, executives are addressing the junior leadership void.

Corporate America has long tapped the talent of leaders who began their careers in the U.S. military- a testament to how well the Armed Forces train future leaders. Military metaphors abound in the world of business. Companies rarely enter new markets,; they usually "invade" them.

Many former military leaders have MBAs and after they leave the military, they became business leaders in various organizations across the United States. The experiences many of these individuals have from their military careers serve them well as leaders in corporate America.

According to a study completed by Korn/Ferry International, that companies led by executives who had been soldiers often fared better than their competitors and the CEOs lasted longer in their jobs. They had an average tenure of 7.2 years, while those who did not have a military background lasted 4.6 years on average.

Its researchers believe that because CEOs often have to make difficult decisions in demanding circumstances, the military is a good training ground as it gives soldiers considerable expertise in handling high-pressure situations.

Running a corporation, like waging a war, requires strong leaders who can focus on the mission at hand amid enemies bent on defeating them. Clearly, some tactics and strategies are interchangeable between the boardroom and the battlefield.

The trend is not entirely new. Within the past decade, corporate honchos could march to the advice of books that enlisted the strategies of such noted warriors as Gens. Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and General George S. Patton. But today's military leadership books are riding a crest of fortunate timing.

At the beginning of 2009, there were 39 CEOs of S&P 500 corporations who are military veterans. Countless others are leading smaller companies or serving in key senior executive positions throughout corporate America.

The Korn/Ferry report identified six common leadership traits that serve veteran corporate leaders well in the boardroom:

1. Learning how to work as part of a team
2. Organizational skills, such as planning and effective use of resources
3. Good communications skills
4. The ability to define a goal and motivate others to achieve it
5. A highly developed sense of ethics
6. The ability to remain calm under pressure

7-Eleven CEO Joe DePinto, "I give the Army and the military a lot of credit for progress I've made my career." He went on to say, " A lot of it has to do with leadership development that I learned. How to lead soldiers, how to lead people, putting the organization ahead of yourself, having a can-do attitude, a focus on getting the job done regardless of what the job is. I really point to those as part of the reason why I think I have been successful in my career thus far."

Bob Ravener, who served as a senior executive with Starbucks Coffee Company and the Home Depot on his way up the corporate ladder, also acknowledged the crucial role his service as a Navy officer played in his career. "I learned valuable skills such as self-discipline, teamwork, leadership, service, relationships, commitment, calm in the face of adversity and delivering results. These skills have proven integral to success in business as well.

Corporate America is looking for leaders, and if they cannot find them in the ranks of their own employees, the military is producing more and more leaders through their ranks for corporate America. Some companies and organizations are beginning to shift gears in how they operate due to these individuals leaving the military and joining the ranks of corporate American leaders.

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you, please contact us at 602-405-2540, or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com.

Do Not Let Fear Block Your Path to Your Success

2010-05-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

You are probably aware that if you are not where you want to be in your life in terms of success, you are blocked. There is something in between you and the results you want and desire in your life. Your hidden fears may be hindering what you do, and as a result, your fear(s) may be blocking your success. Self-sabotage is when you work against yourself and your goals. It does not have any rationale behind it.

Confronting a fear can be tough, but the reward is enormous. Confronting just a small part of a fear is an accomplishment. Fears that block your success can have you pay a heavy price if you do nothing to change it- Lower Self-Esteem, Self-Confidence, Career, and even your personal life, just to name a few.

In a word- it could be summed up as "YOU"...you are the block that is getting in the way of creating the life you want and desire.

1. Negative Beliefs: For some people, they possess a lack of belief in their own abilities. Get rid of your limiting beliefs that keep you from being open to new positive opportunities. Use positive affirmations each time a negative thought comes into your mind.

2. Fear of Failure or Fear of Success: Fear of success is the work of your inner critic. When you think about it, the face of failure often is that of 2 fears: Disappointing others and disppointing yourself. When you fear success, it is often due to underlying anxieties about change. Fear of failure is completely understandable as no one likes to fail. We also do not want to disappoint other people as well as ourselves. Many people think they are suffering fear of failure when what they really have is a fear of success.

3. Resistance: Fears are created by your belief which becomes a roadblock. This costs you plenty with regard to your self-esteem, self-confidence and ultimately greater self-satisfaction. For many, resistance is that invisible thing that has you avoid what you love doing the most. But the good news is that you can learn to beat it and realize your potential.

4. Avoidance: People who refuse a job promotion, hesitate to accept more responsibility, quit just short of their goals, refuse to accept a compliment, resist change, or fail to meet performance goals may all have something in common. They may fear success and be engaging in success avoidance or success sabotage.

Fear may cause you to avoid doing the very things that create success. Being successful means leaving a predictable way of life and entering into the realm of the unknown with unanticipated changes.

5. Staying Focused to Your Destination: To succeed at overcoming obstacles, you need to have the determination not to quit, despite the obstacles. Ask yourself these questions:

What would happen if this problem was not there anymore?

What would you be focusing on after you resolve this challenge?

Your hidden fears are sabotaging your professional and personal life. Challenge yourself in these areas and feel comfortable in stretching yourself more to succeed. In reality, people do not fear success, they block it.

Do the Thing You are Afraid to Do: One of the most effective tools to overcome fear is to do the very thing you are afraid to do. This means you must act against your thoughts and feelings. While fear is motivating you to avoid, learn to use the energy of your anxiety to force yourself forward. Many speakers overcome their fear of speaking, so you can do the same with what you do.

The way to overcome your fear is to answer the "What if?" question. When you find yourself feeling the fear, ask yourself "What if" questions. This turns a fearful situation into a solution-focused situation. Look for alternatives and creative ways to handle the potential problem(s). When you have the answers to your "What ifs"you can control your fear.

Conquer your fear of success with a plan to manage your success.

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you, contact us at: 602-405-2540 or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com

Integral Components of Introverted Success

2010-05-06T16:18:00.000-07:00

Valerie wondered about her success and thought about, "What was working and what was working well." You see Valerie is an introvert and most people who know her think she is like them -an extrovert. Valerie operates more as a social introvert or an extroverted-introvert.

For many, success is an integral part of their introverted success. First and foremost, introverts must understand the connection between being an introvert and moving out of their comfort zone in order to move forward in their professional and personal lives. Basically, putting the following 3 components in place can help generate impressive results.

Winning Mental Edge

Having a mental edge on anything you do takes a lot of work especially when you focus and concentrate. You can begin with believing in yourself. Think about what Napoleon Hill wrote, "If you can conceive something in your mind and believe it to be true, then you can achieve it."

By writing down your specific strengths and weaknesses, you will be able to look for and understand how your beliefs and other mindsets need to shift more positively in order for you to reduce your anxiety or nervous thoughts and feelings to gradually get out of your comfort zone.

Once you begin, your self-confidence will improve and you will be able to handle stress better as well. You will find that you will be able to accomplish more and you will have more control of your introversion. You may even find that you are more social and feel more comfortable in more situations than you have in the past.

Taking Consistent and Persistent Action

In order to take yourself to the next level of your success, you need to understand how you got where you are now and where you want to go. Taking consistent and persistent action every day is a strategy of step-by-step actions to get you to your desired goal. By taking these actions, even in small amounts, you can move yourself forward to the next level of success and comfort.

Asserting Yourself More than Before

In getting ahead in today's world, introverts need an edge to boost them from where they are. When it comes to working with other people, there may be times when conflicts or "personality clashes" occur. Do not let these situations put you back into your shell. As much as you can, get support from co-workers, and learn how to handle various types of personalities. Your assertion skills will help you in the long run.

As you integrate all of your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your skills, talents, knowledge, abilities, interests, and passions, you will learn how to leverage and take advantage of situations. You will gradually see the results of thinking and feeling less introverted. The results will bring changes that let you exceed beyond your expectations from where you are now to wherever you want to go next in your success.

Remember, this is not going to be an overnight change, so you may not see the difference at first. You will gradually feel it and think differently as your belief system and attitude shift more positively. Your confidence level will improve as you begin to take small steps out of your comfort zone and you begin to feel good about those experiences.

Most importantly, you will begin to move forward in your life both professionally and personally.

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you move forward, contact us at 602-405-2540 or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com.

Ten Steps to Business Success

2010-05-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

Everyone who starts a small business has high hopes for success. There are a number of things you can do to create a successful business. The key to success is in adopting a positive attitude and investing your time and effort to take consistent and persistent daily actions. Here are some great ways to get started.

You excel at what you do, and have already identified your audience/target market.

1. Success on Your Terms
What do you call success? Define it for yourself since everyone has their own thoughts of what that is for them.

2. Believe in the Power of I Can
Believing in yourself with your mindset and a positive attitude all play a big role in whether you succeed or fail. Successful people often say that it was their drive to keep going, despite the desire to quit, that drove them to successful heights in their business/career.

3. Create a Business Plan Outline
A successful business must have many ingredients to succeed. Have a blueprint of what you want to do and how you are going to reach your goal with the business resources at your fingertips. A good business plan should include a description of what you are selling (products/services), your background and qualifications for operating the business, who your prospective clients/customers are and where they can be found, what is needed to build the business, how you plan to promote, and how much money is needed for start-up costs.

4. Fully Leverage your Unique Characteristics
What are your key strengths? Assess your strengths and weaknesses. You may find that some of your weaknesses are your strengths. Take advantage of both depending on the situations you are in.

5. Have a Sense of Urgency- Getting Things Done
For many, they use time management and schedule when to complete the specific needs for a specific period of time. This along with a few other listed items can work together to get what you need done and successfully.

6. Taking the Appropriate Actions
Take the specific actions you need to accomplish your goals. Successful business owners are people in action. They make things happen. Adopting a mindset of taking action is key to maintaining and sustaining the momentum you need to be a business success.

You should always keep a list of simple things you can do either to market your business, improve your skill set or to make your business operation run smoothly. Taking any action, even small steps every day, will keep you moving forward towards accomplishing your business goals.

7. Goal Setting
Set S.M.A.R.T. goals: Sustainable, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic/Relevant, and Timely.

8. Ask and Follow Up
If you want success, just ask for it. Asking for business from others should be part of your automatic routine. Follow up with others who bought from you and as a service you can either ask them to complete a short survey or just ask them about the product or service they purchased from you as well as ask them what else you can do for them.

9. Define Your Next Steps
How are you going to reach the next level of your business success?

10. Review and Refine
Every 3 months review what your business has done, how well things are working, and how you can be more effective and efficient in getting things done. Also, remember to review your marketing program: what is working and what is working well? Adjust or modify what you think and feel needs to be improved. Revise your business plan to reflect these changes.

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you move forward, contact us at 602-405-2540 or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com.

Failure Is Not An Option

2010-05-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." - Thomas Alva Edison

Some people say that "Not only is failure an option, it is often the best one." If you are not looking to complete a task, sure this works, but you are not going to get the results you want- unless you want to sabotage your efforts.

You can read all the self help books that will put you in the right mind set. That will give you the skills you need to reprogram your brain to think differently.

"Failure is Not an Option" is a quotation from the movie by mission control flight commander, Gene Kranz during the Apollo 13 crisis in 1970. We have all used the phrase at sometime. When failure is not an option, means that you are committed to doing whatever it takes to succeed. Failure is often the path to new, exciting opportunities that would not have appeared otherwise.

Too many people live their lives in doubt with worry. They are afraid. People use, "what if", in a negative sense when they are afraid of failing. What if it goes wrong? What if it does not work out? Worry and fear do not produce success, only failure. Refuse to be afraid. You can be successful when failure is not an option!

People become frozen with fear and they either take no action, or take action while expecting the worse. That is an absolute formula for failure.

Do Not Quit

Do not give up- The most successful people fail well and fail gracefully. But they called failure a "learning experience." Both Thomas Edison and Henry Ford had hundreds of -learning experiences- until they got the specific results they wanted.

Ready for the good news? When you eliminate the option of failure, you open up the flow of creativity, you boost your level of willpower, and you energize your thinking so that only those things that lead to success can control your mind. Once you accomplish that, the only viable alternative is to make it, and make it big!

Understand that Success Is An Option Too and choose to focus on success. Success has much more of an appeal to keep in mind.

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

-Sir Winston Churchill

How to Grab Your Audience's Attention & Keep It!

2010-04-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

Your audience is sitting in their seats, eager to hear your speech. If the first words you utter are entirely predictable and boring- "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you today", or you begin using filler words such as, "ah" or "um", you have just dug yourself a hole about 2 feet deep. In a flash, you have lost your credibility as a speaker, or even worse, as an expert in your field. Your audience begins to take a mental exit. If you continue with the tired old "Today I am going to talk to you about point one, point two and point three" your hole is now about 5 feet deep. Pretty hard to climb out of! At this point, you might just be talking to an empty room.

Everyone finds themselves in the position of having to give a presentation now and then. Yet, many are not trained in how to do so. Immediately after being told by their boss that you have to give a presentation, most people begin to create a power point presentation not taking into consideration who their audience is and what they want to see.

Be Audience Centered

Speakers who "WOW" their audiences have one thing in common: P-A-S-S-I-O-N. Stand while giving your speech without reading puts your audience, at times, sitting on the edge of their seats while they hang onto your every word. You need to capture your audience's attention in the first 30-60 seconds.

Ignite Your Audience with Your Introduction

Romancing your audience helps you capture their attention in a short period of time.

Engage Your Audience

Keep your audience focused and engaged. The more you connect with your audience and get them talking and involved the better comprehension and retention they have of you.

Open your speech or presentation by asking a question of your audience immediately. This gets them involved right from the beginning. Resonate questions for each audience you speak in front of.

Prepare questions ahead of time. Ask either rhetorical questions or one that seeks a response from the audience. If you want the audience to respond, make it easy for them to do so. Ask a question that can be answered with a "Yes" or "No", or call for a show of hands.

As a rule of thumb, always ask two questions.

Tell a Compelling Story

Tell a brief story with key statements under 2 minutes that increases your enthusiasm. Your story must be relevant to a call to action and it should have meaning to your audience. Connect and resonate with your audience by selecting a story based on the goal of making your story their story.

End with a compelling call to action: What do you want your audience to do next?

The next time your audience are sitting in their seats, eager to hear your speech or presentation, remember to capture their attention and get the results you want. Bring out your energy and of course your passion for the subject matter your are speaking about.

No audience member was ever disappointed by a speaker who was interesting. Do not fall into the trap of being boring. Grab your audience with a compelling opening and you will have the best chance of making a positive lasting impression. Instead of people yawning, squirming in their seats, or looking down when you give your speech or presentation, you want your audience to sing your praises every time you speak to a client or conduct a meeting. Well, get ready to set the room on fire after you speak with presence.

Good luck.

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you move forward, contact us at 602-405-2540 or email to nburgis@successful-solutions.com.

Pyramid of Success: Building Blocks for Growth

2010-04-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

In building your Pyramid of Success, your building blocks need to be strong for your beliefs and mindset. This is where your self-satisfaction takes control. But this is just the beginning.

"If you can believe, you probably can. If you believe you won't, you most assuredly won't. Belief is the ignition switch that gets off the launching pad." - DenisWaitley

In creating your path to success, there is no magic formula to your success only that it is yours. To help you begin your journey, think about the following tips:

Definition of Success: Imagine for a moment being inspired by being a success on your terms. Success on your terms is what you decide it is. This is your own path or formula for your own unique success.

Where are you Now? What are your strengths? What is working and what is working well?

Where do you want to go? What do you want to achieve? What is important to you? What are you passionate about?

Interpersonal Skills: 85% of success depends on your people skills (according to Stanford, Harvard and the Carnegie Institute of Technology).

Success is the result of setting goals taking the appropriate actions to achieve those goals.

Take Some Risk: Explore the risks, obstacles, or challenges and work around or through them to get where you want to go. If you fail, call it a learning experience as others have done such as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford.

Take Action: Create a plan of action to help move you forward. Take consistent and persistent action. Remember what Napoleon Hill said, "If you can conceive something in your mind, and believe it to be true, then you can achieve it."

Success in life comes from satisfaction in your achievements.

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you move forward, contact us at 602-405-2540 or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com.

How Many Invisible Employees Do You Work With?

2010-04-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't it be great if your company were filled with visible, productive employees- people who were excited to go to work? Many successful organizations are filled with visible, productive employees do their jobs well and love what they do. But, there is a crisis in business today: The Invisible Employee.

Accordingly, 40% of employees are disengaged if their managers ignore them. But it makes you wonder who the other 60% are! The basic invisible employee rationale goes something like this: Why bother shining when no one notices your achievements? Why exert yourself when you could very well be in the next batch of layoffs? So, just keep your head down and never do more than is asked of you.

The Invisible Employee book written by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton found that 25% of employees are driven to tears and 50% being verbally abused due to expressing their feelings of being unappreciated and that their innovative ideas being ignored by their employers.

Employees are quietly looking for some signal of recognition and receiving none. This issue has caused a lot of frustration, unhappiness and large employee turnovers. People want to feel recognized, and to feel important and needed. Some employees feel that since their bosses do not recognize them, they feel they fade into the woodwork or wallpaper- "out of sight, out of mind".

One employee had this experience: "I remember watching a manager holding an important conversation on his cell phone in my office. He rifled through some of the files I had been working on. He made no eye-contact with me during the 20 minutes he was on the phone. When he finished his call, my desk looked like a mess where my files were in piles that I now have to waste time going through what files I had worked on for my review.

Managers and other executives need to transforming their team from the ordinary to the extraordinary by:

Setting a Guiding Vision of each employee and of the organization

Meet with your employees in small groups

Identify employee achievements that move the organization toward its goals

Celebrate those achievements

Celebrate each quarter birthdays, hiring dates, specific productivity goals, etc.

As a result, your organization will have productive employees, who feel noticed, valued and appreciated.

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you move forward, contact us at 602-405-2540 or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com.

Introverts Acting as If they were Extroverts

2010-04-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

Since moving out of working in computer technology and into the business world, Paul Erhardt struggled with his introversion because social interactions are so different for him. Over time, Paul became known as a "closet extrovert" because when he brings up a business topic for discussion, his department ends up talking about it for hours. That is because Paul typically does not talk much but when he does ask a question, it is thought provoking and so profound that no one thought of it before Paul.

Think of this, you are watching a movie and your favorite actor or actress is playing the lead. Most actors and actresses are introverted. If they can play a role while acting the part, you can try this for short periods of time as well. Gradually stretch your comfort zone slightly, even though you will probably feel uncomfortable at first, but you will get the hang of it.

As William Shakespeare wrote, "All the World's a Stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and entrances; And one man in time plays many parts...", introverts can also play parts as well. They just have to want to, know the risks, and feel comfortable shifting gears. This is what many "Social Introverts" or "Extroverted-Introverts" go through depending onwho they feel comfortable with and where.

Acting extroverted makes people happier, suggests researcher William Fleeson, associate professor of psychology at Wake Forest University, who published his study in the Journal of Personality & Social Psychology. Fleeson found that, "When introverted people were asked to rate their levels of extroverted behavior and their mood at the end of each week for 10 weeks, the results suggested a strong connection between acting extroverted and greater happiness. If people want to be happier and choose to act more outgoing, adventurous or assertive, then they have the power to directly improve their own well being."

Deborah Torres Patel wrote: "Acting as if simply means living with confidence...It means that you do not have to be perfect. It means that you can model someone you think is extraordinary and act as if they would in that situation.

Act as if:

You are fearless
You know exactly what you are doing
You are the most successful person in the room
You have spoken to larger crowds many times before
You did not bother to prepare notes because your excellent messages comes straight from your heart

By changing your introverted behavior, extroverted behaviors seem to have a positive impact on you as you probably prefer having more of an extroverted type of lifestyle than your own.

When you walk into a room and scan for a familiar face, you realize you do not see anyone you know. Do not panic. So, instead of acting as if you are the life of the party, and you do not have to be a wallflower either, introduce yourself to someone and begin a conversation with them. Remember to use open-ended questions.

There is still an introvert-extrovert gap, but this way, many introverts can feel less nervoius or anxious about interacting with others. The only issue may be is how or where else do I get started on the rest of my introversion?

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you move forward professionally and personally, contact us at 602-405-2540 or email at nburgis@successful-solutions.com

How Your Personality Impacts Business & Your Career

2010-04-27T08:53:00.000-07:00

Imagine working in a career that matches your personality preferences to the work you do. You would be happy and productive in your career. Instead of being hired because a position opened up and you would be doing the same thing every day- for many that would be boring or too routine- you actually work in a job you love because it fits you.

Before working your first job, you were probably told that if you work hard, follow the rules and stay focused you will be successful. Wait a minute. Most of the working world does basically the same and hate what they do for a living. Everyone has certain preferences and attributes that affects their likes, dislikes and motivation. When you pursue a career that does not fit your personality type, no matter how strong your skills may be you will eventually struggle to stay motivated.

If you work in a career that does not suit your personality type and provide some sense of personal fulfillment, you will constantly struggle to stay motivated and enthusiastic about your job. In other words, you may perform your job in a satisfactory manner, but you probably hate it and to force yourself to meet your job requirements.

On the other hand, if you work in a career that fits your personality type, you will have far fewer difficulties staying motivated, fulfilling your responsibilities and feeling satisfied with your job.You may even love what you do.

Michael Farr and Laurence Shatkin, Ph.D., authors of the "50 Best Jobs for Your Personality", stated, "A person's personality type play one of the most indicative roles in how much he or she will enjoy their job and get along withtheir colleagues."

Shatkin goes on to say, "People who have a certain personality feels more capable of doing certain things; they feel more accepted when they are among people with personalities similar to their own. People want to feel that they fit in with the people and activities where they work."

Some people use their personality preferences in their careers while at the same time are matched well for the work they do.

The Mcfletcher Corporation, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, consult using their Work-Style Patterns Inventory (WSP) that is a self-scoring assessment tool that helps clarify individual preferences that determines what makes work worthwhile for individual members. The WSP affirms each employee has a preference approach to work and each work environment requires a certain approach to attain team and organization goals. By bringing these approaches into alignment, organizations and their teams increase efficiency and individual employees enjoy greater fulfillment.

Knowing your personality type, as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is another way to understand where your personality preferences fit within careers. It is designed to identify your personality preferences and how you relate to the world around you. The result of taking this assessment gives you a 4 letter code either starting with "E" for Extrovert or "I" for Introvert. From there it is to "help you improve your work and personal relationships, increase productivity, and identify leadership and interpersonal communication preferences. (Some prefer to use the Jung Typology Test found on www.humanmetrics.com)

Executives Who are Introverted and Thriving

2010-04-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

As wallflowers of the world unite, most people really know that quiet smarts come from introverts and closet introverts have populated the highest corporate offices as 4 out of 10 of the top executives tend to be introverts. Many high-powered executives are running small, medium and large companies using the unique characteristics only introverts have. They take advantage and leverage their strengths and several know that many of their weaknesses are their strengths. That is what drives their motivation and moves them forward.

Jennifer Kahnweiler found that 40% of professionals say they would like to change their introverted tendencies , but do not know how or where to begin. The good news is that introversion can be managed.

Most people do not know that Brett is an introvert. At some point after being promoted into an executive position, Brett was misunderstood because of his quiet temperament. When asked about this by another colleague, he told them that he is more of an introvert than an extrovert. He has the leadership qualities to move his team forward in the projects and tasks they are assigned. As a quiet leader, Brett demonstrated his worth and contributions as he was promoted 2 years later to a higher position- president of the company.

You can have excellent leaders who are introverted and still know how to move an organization forward with his or her unique skills, talents, knowledge, abilities, interest and passion. These basics for the introverted leader are more powerful and influential to getting things done than most extroverts think. Underneath it all, I found that some extroverted leaders are beginning to look at and take a page from introverted quiet leaders and find that they are producing higher rates than extroverted leaders.

Remember that introverts prefer to be prepared before going into meetings and do not like to be put on the spot for any reason, prefer to think things through, tend to be very good listeners, and often do not reveal much of themselves to others. To understand what an introvert is thinking you have to ask them, as they rarely volunteer information unless you ask them.

There is no magic pill or formula to swallow to change introverts instantly into an extrovert. So make the best of being an introvert and go beyond surviving and thrive in whatever you do to move yourself forward in your professional and personal life.

What is your take on an Introvert Leader who is able to get more done than an extroverted leader?

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you, contact us at 602-405-2540 or email us at nburgis@successful-solutions.com

Sparking the Quiet Leader Revolution

2010-04-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

There is no need to seed the quiet revolution because it is already here and will only continue with introverts who want to be leaders in small, medium and large companies and they have the know-how to get to the C-suite.

The quiet revolution may not be a new item coming out into the marketplace, or a new program just beginning. It is all around you as more and more introverts begin to step out of their shells and stretch more of their comfort zone because they want more out of life than just staying still where they are. They look to move themselves forward in their professional and personal lives because they know they can take on more than what the myths and misconceptions told them they cannot do.

As a quiet leader, you may not be charismatic, loudly outspoken, or even an outgoing party person, but you know how to leverage your skills, talents, knowledge, abilities, interests and passion into what you do well. Quiet leaders do not talk a blue streak, but when they do speak, they are typically insightful, and have lots of wisdom to the extent that it is profound and relevant to get others to think about the specific project or tasks they are working on .

If you are an introvert, and you are a leaderwhere you Dare to be Different, take advantage and leverage your strengths. Remember, many of your weaknesses can work for you as your strengths. Do not overlook them. You have unique characteristics to help you successfully thrive on.

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you, contact us at 602-405-2540 or at nburgis@successful-solutions.com.

Introverted Lawyers

2010-04-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

Brian Anderson considers himself as an introvert even though he has been a lawyer for the last 12 years. Talking with him outside the courthouse, you can see that Brian is an introvert. But once he walks through the doors of the courthouse, it is as if Brian's personality changed and he becomes an extrovert. This is what is known as being an "Ambivert" or "Social Introvert". Brian takes on the role of lawyer more so when he presents his case in court. He knows how to prepare for the case, what points he wants to highlight, and he is very good at giving his opening and closing remarks.

Accordingly, lawyer's are ranked 6th of Best Jobs for Introverts, and most lawyers agree that they are introverted. Studies show that 54-69% of lawyers are introverts. Trial lawyers, litigators, and prosecutors mediators tend to be extroverts. Family lawyers, mediators and estate planners tend to be introverts.

Since lawyers typically are salespeople, many do not understand that they have to sell to get new clients. For introverted lawyers, they need to discover how they can effectively drum up business and first understand their reluctance to sell.

Many people do not realize what a critical role introversion and extroversion issues play in their job satisfaction and job effectiveness. Introverted lawyers have unique characteristics to help move themselves forward, but they need to identify these traits and work at bringing them out.

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For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how I can help you, contact me at: 602-405-2540, or email me at: nburgis@successful-solutions.com

Working the Room as You Mingle with Others

2010-04-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

You received an invitation to a business event and you are not sure that you really want to go. If you do not go, you could miss out on an opportunity to win over a new client. If you do attend, you have to network with other people and possibly feel uncomfortable doing so as you are an introvert.

Well, just last week you went to a workshop on leveraging your skills, talents, knowledge, abilities, interests and passions when you network with others. This event you are invited to gives you the opportunity to leverage what you have learned. But first, set a goal of meeting at least 3-5 people. That may seem to be a big task, but by using a few open-ended questions, you get to take the focus off of you and put onto the person you are talking to. Also, this may get you some business.

Remember, you are not alone as this same scenario is taking place with many others like you across the country. Networking is not a competition of who collects the most business cards. It is about developing lasting relationships.

You may even find other introverts who either prefer to interact in small conversations with other people, or others who blend in with the wallpaper. Strike up a conversation with someone who looks lost and uncomfortable. They may welcome the company of a fellow introvert.

When you use common sense in approaching others you do not know, again put the focus on them not on yourself by asking open-ended questions. For example, after you introduce yourself, ask questions you feel comfortable that you write out.

In Summary:

1. Set a goal of talking to 3-5 people
2. Break the ice by introducing yourself
3. Maintain good eye-contact
4. Act confident: No one wants to network with a person who lacks confidence
5. Play to your strengths
6. Ask open-ended questions and actively listen
7. Reward yourself afterwards

Introverted Blind Spots: Recognizing What You Are Not Doing

2010-04-21T07:31:00.000-07:00

Typically, people do not recognize if they are not be going in the right direction before its too late if at all. Some do not even recognize or do not want to see what others think or feel about what is going on. These same people also do not want any feedback from anyone.

Introverts do not really see their own strengths and blind spots. Most introverts do not know their strengths or weaknesses, especially when many of their unique weak characteristics are their strengths.

Johar's Window was created with Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955 as 4 quadrants of interpersonal knowledge of yourself and others. These include: Open, Blind, Hidden, and Unknown. The following breaks down each quadrant and let you know what takes place within each.

1. The "open" quadrant represents things that both I know about myself, and that you know about me.
2. The "blind" quadrant represents things that you know about me, but that I am unaware of.
3. The "hidden" quadrant represents that I know about myself that you do not know.
4. The "unknown" quadrant represent things that neither I know about myself, nor you know about me.

Once you have determined your personality type, you need to be aware not only of your strengths, but especially your blind spots.

Identify your strengths and weakness and then look at your preferences. How do you work with what you have and how can improve what you are lacking or missing?