"One of the Best! These business trainers and speakers educate, train, and create a winning attitude for your team."
- George Allen, Legendary Motivator and Head Coach of the Super Bowl Champions Washington Redskins, in response to a meeting planner's question regarding MVP Seminars.
Motivation doesn't last. We wish it would, and I especially, since I'm what is termed a 'Motivational Speaker'. It's a misnomer. The truth is: no one can motivate you, and even if they could, it wouldn't last.
Though we feel good when we go to a seminar or workshop or experience a speaker who does a good 'pump up', the other side of the coin is learning what to do when the 'pump up' wears off. Just as important, it pays to understand the nature of motivation in the first place, which would leave little room for disappointment when the 'pump up' wears off and you're back to the daily grind of doing what must be done.
To me, motivation is like lighter fluid, whereas inspiration is like charcoal. When you get out the grill, you fill it with charcoal. You then pour lighter fluid over the charcoal. When you set the lighter fluid on fire, you get a big 'poof' of a flame, depending on how much lighter fluid you poured
If you're like me, you carry on a conversation with yourself all day long. It usually goes something like this, "Wow, that was a great point he just made. I wish I were as sharp as he is," or, "She looks so confident! I wish I were that confident."
Most of our self-talk is a reinforcement of a belief that we are not enough. For you, this may show up as not having enough, not knowing enough, not being acknowledged enough. It's important for us to recognize what we're saying about ourselves because our core beliefs will be reflected back to us.
People and circumstances will either confirm or contradict what we believe about ourselves.
Let's take that last point a little further. I coach a manager who is responsible for two very different departments. The staff in one of her departments frequently complains about her, saying she is not available to them, that she does not follow up on thei
All of us encounter a critical bus stop sometime in our lives.
B- Building
U- Unbelievable
S- Skills
through
S- Surviving
T- Testing
O- Outlasting
P- Performing
In THE OTHER AMERICA, the defining year remains 1931--a year when more than one fourth of all American were ill clad, ill fed and ill housed. That's surviviving.
In THE OTHER AMERICA, there are continual layoffs, no affirmative action or equal opportunity, no health insurance and no unemployment insurance. That's testing.
In THE OTHER AMERICA. there are endless challenges to be overcome-- aptitude testing to exclude, overpriced courses and training and rigid and frequent certification requirements. That is outlasting.
In THE OTHER AMERICA, one's best is never good enough. New data skills, new regulations and rules and new circles of friends must be endlessly mastered. Now that's performing.
Many people struggle with finding time to fit everything into their busy schedules. We often neglect our health and well-being in favor of completing tasks. We don't exercise. We don't eat right. We don't even relax. We think that we just don't have the time to take pause in the midst of so much activity. Meditative activities are so important to weave into our lives that I wanted to provide an even easier way to incorporate it.
Meditation doesn't take long hours of classes or workshops to learn how to do. It is a practice which means the more you do it the better you will become and the more benefits you can reap from it. To meditate, all you have to know how to do is to breathe, relax and think. Meditation is continuous and profound concentration on a single subject. It is to give something your complete, undivided attention. You don't need a quiet room or a special place to perform meditation. You don't
I am the victim of a hovering parent. At times, it seems that almost nothing I do is right according to my mother. My decision-making is questioned in regards to my parenting skills, my relationships and even how I keep my home. She means well but she can be a bit overbearing at times. I used to get rather frustrated and resentful of her constant nitpicking but through continual personal development, I have learned how to deal with her. Our relationship has drastically improved since I have changed the way I respond to her. Since I know I am not alone, I thought I would share how I manage her helicopter parenting.
The first thing I did was to realize that she has good intentions. From the time we are conceived our parents begin to map out our lives. They dream about what we will look like, how we will act, what we will be when we grow up, who we will marry, where we will live and how many children we will have. Everything they do from that point out is geared toward molding us
Because I was the Ah Champion of my Toastmasters club when I first joined in 1991, I've been asked many times, "How can I reduce my ahs, ums and other filler words?"
First, I explained that many people use filler words thus, if you are surrounded by these people, the ahs and ums are not as noticeable to others simply because they are used to hearing filler words. I've heard a District Attorney, elected to office and having spoken to many, many groups have over 100 ahs and ums in the first 5 minutes of a 20 min. presentation. I've seen a criminal attorney asking the judge to reduce the bail for his two clients with multiple ahs and ums. Additionally, he was pacing back and forth and his eyes were focused on the floor rather than making eye contact with the judge. In actuality, the use of filler words may be due to a lack of confidence, inability to think on our feet, etc.
The ability to bring people together to accomplish a task is a difficult talent to master. It takes a combination of acquired skills and experience to guarantee the success of anyone in a leadership role. An incompetent manager can have a devastating impact on an organization. A leader with the knowledge, experience and insight necessary to ensure a high performing and profitable organization is hard to come by. In a recent Gallup survey, it was found that 25% of U.S. employees would fire their boss if they could. With one out of four managers failing, it is easy to see how ineffective management decreases employee performance and increases customer dissatisfaction resulting in a negative affect on the organization's bottom-line.
The art of effective management rarely presents as an inbred gift. An effective manager must be an innovative leader who exhibits creativity, enthusiasm, confidence and an innate respect and good will toward every individual within the organization. The manager has to be willing to embrace new concepts and reconsider old practices in order to unleash the potential of the team. To be an effective manager, one is required to learn and utilize four basic management tools: coaching, feedback, counseling and discipline.
Coaching is the ongoing, informal training that confirms when an employee is doing well and identifies potential areas of opportunity. There are five essential keys to the coaching process.
Listening with sensitivity and consideration to hear what is really happening should be your primary objective. In the coaching function, learn to use the power of silence. An effective manager seeks first to understand, then to be understood. This allows employees to know that you value their opinions and keep their interests, priorities and goals in mind. Actively listening to your employees builds trust and lets them know that you respect them as a "whole" person. Employees will be more open and will more readily clue you in to valuable information you may not otherwise be privy to.
Language that demonstrates the ability to create new realities with precise types of speech is necessary to clearly disseminate your message with the highest likelihood of retention. Communicating effectively with appropriate language, pitch, tone and volume is the best way to articulate company goals and objectives.
Attitude greatly impacts your ability to produce results. Approaching employees with a caring attitude aids in the employees being receptive and open to communication. An abusive, hostile or even disinterested attitude directly impacts the emotional health and productivity of employees. A manager who displays a positive attitude in every message reinforces the employee's belief in their own value to the organization.
Self-Development is the process by which managers continue to strengthen their own skill set through continued training and value-added experiences. By being a model of excellence, productivity and fulfillment, an effective manager demonstrates the acceptable behaviors that set the tone for a climate of responsibility.
Leadership involves developing a clear vision and strong message which must then be successfully communicated to the team. Your expectation of employees and their expectations of themselves are the primary factors in how well employees perform in the workplace. Set achievable goals and share them with your employees so that they know what is expected of them. Delegate the workload and set realistic deadlines. This will provide invaluable training to employees and save on hours of unnecessary work. Utilize a time management system that is simple, organized and efficient to track completion of tasks. Being able to hold employees accountable is a vital function of the coaching role.
Feedback provides specific information that lets employees know how well they are performing. Feedback can be positive or corrective. It builds employee beliefs in their capabilities and provides them with insight into how they can improve their production. Corrective feedback should only be given in private. Feedback should always start positive and end positive. Never solely identify what the employee is not doing or is doing wrong. Employees need to have their confidence reinforced through praise and appreciation. Feedback is a two-way communication device. Allow employees to respond to your message so they know that they are included in their own development. One of the top complaints employers receive in regards to employee dissatisfaction is poor to non-existent feedback and recognition. Opening the lines of communication allows you to stay tuned in to your employees so you can be proactive in resolving situations before they escalate. Ask SMART questions (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-based) to identify fears, problem areas or opportunities.
Counseling is a tool that shows employees what they need to improve their performance. Point out issues in the employee's work in a calm, non-accusatory manner. Ask them what you can do to help. Work with the employee to develop concrete goals and a timeline for resolving the matter. If the problem is personal versus job-related, be empathetic and offer a flexible solution to help create a synergized work/life balance. Remember, you are not a therapist. Refer employees to the proper support groups if necessary. Counseling measures help to reduce turnover, prevent disciplinary action and shows that you are committed to your employee's success.
Discipline is a necessary evil to help employees follow company rules. Disciplinary action should be taken as a last-resort effort when previous coaching, feedback and counseling attempts have failed. The primary goal of discipline is not to punish your employees but rather to help guide them back to satisfactory job performance. Focus solely on performance, remain fair and impartial. Although it is recommended to dole out discipline as soon after the misbehavior as possible, it is equally important to make sure that you have all the facts before you act. Improperly or unfairly holding an employee accountable for an action without adequate investigation can lead to lowered employee morale, loss of respect and possible lawsuits.
Effective management is more than just implementing policies and procedures. It means getting the most out of all of your employees, helping them to perform at their best individually, cooperatively and in groups. Managing your team effectively and efficiently requires the willingness to learn a variety of leadership skills. An effective manager must be able to coach, provide feedback, counsel and be comfortable in disciplining team members. By developing your management skills you will appreciate colossal benefits in increased productivity, decreased stress and increased confidence in both yourself as an effective leader, as well as in the employees on your team.
Niquenya D. Fulbright is a Chicago area executive life coach, professional speaker and corporate trainer with over 10 years experience specializing in motivating small business owners, entrepreneurs, executives, and individuals in a career or life transition to use their innate abilities to master their goals and achieve successes beyond their wildest dreams. Contact MVP Seminars to secure Niquenya for your next big event or training session.
At last writing I mentioned my program called "R.I.S.K. To The Power Of Two!" The eight categories being:
Riches......................Resources
Image.......................Integrity
Safety......................Security
Kindred.....................Kingdom
These pairs of similar qualities represent the priorities in out lives. They are fairly self explanatory but what may not be quite so obvious is that they are compliments or contrasts if you will.
Riches represent more value than worth. That is a $10,000 bill or gold or diamonds have a value but have limited worth outside of themselves.
Resources on the other hand, have value potential beyond their inherent worth. Take a word processor for example. For less than $100 you could write the next All-American novel.
Image is what is evident when everyone is watching.
Integrity is when no one else is watching.
Safety is situation dependent and moment to moment.
Security is independent of situation and time.
Kindred involves our "horizontal" relationships, those of family and friends, to people we have never met on the other side of the planet, or universe.
Kingdom refers to our "verticle" relationship with God.
Now I could go into much more detail about these categories and how to benefit by increasing your awareness of them but let's just use these brief descriptions for now.
Here is the $10,000,000.00 question... If you were to list these eight categories in priority of most important to you what would they be?
And here's the $100,000,000 question... if you asked your significant other, a friend, a coworker, to describe your priorities would their list match yours?
Most people never give this any thought, but until you do you're like a someone lost in a smoke filled burning building; wandering around banging into walls but not knowing how to use those walls to get you to where you want to go.
Take a moment right now and make your list. Ask three others to describe you and offer to do the same for them. It could be the most revealing activity you do in your life!
Having cared for more than 10,000 in more than 25 years of Emergency Services Terry knows how to assess and treat what is ailing you and your organization's health. Many have called upon him to save their lives... give him a chance to change yours!
As a professional "Risk Taker" I will be focusing my blog entries on that topic. Think about it, everything we do involves risk... and unfortunately we receive very little schooling on the nature of the subject!
That's why I have been developing "R.I.S.K. To The Power Of Two!"
This is a framework of looking at the eight most common areas where we take risks in our lives. The eight categories are as follows:
Riches......................Resources
Image.......................Integrity
Safety......................Security
Kindred.....................Kingdom
In my following posts I'll share with you my thoughts, insights, feelings, and opinions regarding this extremely important part of our lives.
Networking is a method that is used to build relationships. These relationships could be with classmates, co-workers, business partners, vendors, service providers and even family. We often attend family reunions where we meet new and distant relations. This is an excellent vehicle for networking. Networking is the process of discovering and using connections between people. Many of these connections actually stem from already established friendships and business relations. Networking is the ability to explore all of your relationships and utilize them to help you to move closer to your long-term goals.
Think of a computer network. You are the central server. Whenever you come across another server with information you wish to access, you need to build a connection with routers and cabling to reach the information contained on that server's hard drive. The router is the method or the person who referred you to the new server and the cables are the relationship that was built between you and the new server in order to easily access that information.
Why is networking so important? Have you ever heard the phrase, "it's not what you know, it's who you know". Truer words were never spoken. By building positive relationships with a variety of people both in and out of your chosen career field, you may find a whole world of new opportunities that you can begin to explore. Networking is probably the most important skillset you can possess in your career, business and life in general. Networking allows you access to people and resources that you may not otherwise have had prior contact with. Through the proper use of networking skills, you will be in a position to weave your way through the intricate infrastructure of corporate America. For professional women, this could mean that the infamous "glass ceiling" could literally disappear. Your career options become limitless and getting your foot in the door becomes effortless.
Networking makes you visible to potential employers, your current management and other business connections. If you have a job where you're stuck in a closed-in cubicle all day with little interaction with your co-workers, what is it that sets you apart from any other caged employee come time for annual review? Believe it or not, your performance is secondary to the attitude and personality that you display during those rare occasions that you do have the opportunity for some sort of social interaction. Almost every company participates in a form of employee appreciation to help promote corporate culture. These are usually company-sponsored events like department parties, holiday celebrations or summer picnics. Employees who actively participate in these types of events are much more likely to climb the corporate ladder and receive higher incremental raises than employees who never attend. This is because the actively participating employee shows his/her management that they are a team player, fully engaged in their commitment to their position which results in the building of a clearly visible and viable relationship.
Some other reasons learning to network is important are that you are can explore your chosen career and examine its outlook, connect with and learn from others in the industry, learn and start using industry-specific jargon and get support and additional leads and referrals to aid you in your job search. Networking can vastly narrow your target list of potential employers and help you to maintain employability in an uncertain job market.
So we know what networking is; now how do you do it? Networking is actually a lot easier than it seems. We do it every single day. When you nod your head to a stranger whom you have happened to have made eye contact with, or saying a casual hello to your neighbor or even smiling at the driver in the next car who is bopping his head to some beat; these are all examples of the very first stage of networking - greeting and acknowledgement. So in the first stage, you are simply establishing contact. Greet and acknowledge the person you are attempting to network with. "Hello", "Good morning", "Happy Friday!", "Hey!", "What's up?" In whatever manner is the most appropriate given the situation and the person you are addressing, you must first establish that contact by acknowledging them with a greeting.
The second stage is the introduction. In this stage, you are exchanging information about one another in order to begin building a relationship. The introduction is the most crucial and the most difficult stage in the networking process. It is composed of several elements: the name exchange, the elevator speech and business card exchange. The name exchange sounds simple enough but you would be surprised by how many people actually forget to give the other person their name. So get into the habit of stating your name and position first whenever you meet someone new. "Hello, my name is Niquenya D. Fulbright and I'm an executive life coach and professional speaker." Or "hello, my name is George and I work in real estate" or "Good morning, I'm Pat O'Hara. I'm an investment banker." You should say this as clear and concise as possible. Be prepared to repeat or even spell difficult or uncommon names, especially in loud, crowded places. Also, if the other person doesn't immediately offer their own name and title, make sure that you ask them "what is your name?"
Once you have exchanged names, you must then further build on the new relationship by telling the person why they should care to remember you. What do you do? Usually your job title isn't clear enough to give people a good idea of what you really do. This is where an elevator speech becomes important. Your elevator speech is a minute or less introduction of you and your business or career. It should be interesting enough to capture their attention but not so detailed that there isn't further room left for conversation. Also, you don't want to go much longer than a minute as then it can become boring. Once you have delivered your elevator speech, you should then ask the other person, using their name, what it is they do? For instance, "okay, Claudia, so what do you do?" An example of a full introduction sounds like this, "hello, my name is Niquenya D. Fulbright and I'm an executive life coach and professional speaker. I specialize in motivating small business owners, entrepreneurs and individuals in a career or life transition to use their innate abilities to master their goals and achieve successes beyond their wildest dreams. I have a special passion for single working mothers because I am a member of that group. So, what is your name and what do you do?" You should write out a good elevator speech and practice it several times until it is committed to memory.
The final element of the introduction is the business card exchange. Before you break away from a successful contact, make sure that you request the other person's business card and give them yours too. You should also write down a few key points from your conversation on the other person's card. Some things that will be important are where you were when you met them and any personal information that could help you to identify who they are. If they mentioned they are married or have a few kids, this would be important to jot down for use in follow-up conversations.
The final stage of networking is follow-up. This is where you take all of the business cards that you have collected and send a quick email or snail mail letter to the individual. It should read something like "Hello Claudia, I really enjoyed meeting you at the annual Church Bizarre. It is so nice to meet someone else who is also interested in playing paintball. Maybe one day we can get together to build a team. We can even bring our kids. I know you said your daughter would definitely be interested. I actually know of an event coming up in April. I can forward you that information if you like. Please let me know if there is ever anything that I can do for you. I look forward to connecting with you again in the future, Sincerely Niquenya D. Fulbright." At the end of your email or letter, make sure to include your signature with title, company and contact information. This is really important to maintain visibility in this new relationship. You should continue to send periodic quick notes to the other person over time. It is a good idea to notify them of special events and important updates about your own business too. Be careful not to spam your new contact by gaining their permission prior to sending out any frequently distributed newsletters or adding them to any mailing lists. You can even invite them out to a coffee or tea date to discuss mutually beneficial projects as well.
So you know what networking is and why it is important and I've even given you some ideas on how to do it. Now where do you start? First, join as many networking groups as possible. Organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, your local church or neighborhood community councils, political fundraisers and others are excellent forums for establishing new relationships and often host events specifically geared to this purpose. When choosing a networking group, rather online or offline, there are several factors you must consider. These include whether membership is free or by fee, the size of the group, its growth potential and the quality of contacts within the current member base. Pick and choose your groups based upon your intended purpose and whether it is a cost-effective solution based upon your budget.
Get into the habit of going through the networking stages everywhere you go, even at the bus stop. Participate in all company functions, be they holidays, birthdays, bowling, picnics or whatever. Volunteering is also a great way to build relationships through networking. Relationships are essential to life. No man is an island, therefore, without relationships, we can not breathe. Never discount a connection even if you can not see an immediate use for the new contact. The situation may change for either or both of you. It is not unlikely that this person could offer you a referral 5-10 years down the line. By maintaining follow-up contact, you are essentially doubling your own network by gaining access to theirs.
Make sure you reach out and touch someone today. Make a commitment to establishing 10 new contacts, 10 new connections, 10 new relationships each day. And follow-up!
Niquenya D. Fulbright is a Chicago area executive life coach, professional speaker and corporate trainer with over 10 years experience specializing in motivating small business owners, entrepreneurs, executives and individuals in a career or life transition to use their innate abilities to master their goals and achieve successes beyond their wildest dreams. Contact MVP Seminars to secure Niquenya for your next big event or training session.
