In my January 8th blog post we discussed how to hold yourself accountable for reaching your own goals. But as a manager or a CEO, how are you holding your employees accountable for reaching the division or company’s goals?
Repetition is Key
Recently we got a puppy, which is a more of a life-changing experience than I thought it would be. We planned where we would take him, what we would do, how he would sleep with us in our bed, the works. Once he came into our home, everything in our routine changed, but it wasn’t what we planned, of course. It takes awhile to get a puppy used to your routine, and you have to change your usual habits to accommodate your new family member. So, for a while everything was chaos. But every day the new routine was solidified and everyone got used to it. Daily we worked with our puppy to teach him not to chew on our rugs and chairs, to go to the bathroom outside, and to give us his paw on command. We had to repeat ourselves over and over for days and weeks on end until he understood what was acceptable and what wasn’t. Repetition was key for everyone to get used to the changes and for our plans of taking him on walks in the woods, traveling with him, and having him know more tricks than any other dog we know was made a reality.
The art of Communication
I recently had a septoplasty, terminate reduction, and sinus surgery all at once. Basically, I had a lot of work done in my nasal passages. As part of the recovery process, I had to wear splints inside my nose and there were a few stitches. 5 days after the surgery, my husband and I went to the doctor’s office to have my splints removed - and apparently also to have the worse doctor’s experience of my life.
Just do It
It’s the day after the Super Bowl and you really don’t want to be reading this right now. Reading this means you’re not sleeping off your late night and you’re most likely at work. 14 million people took today off as a sick day, making the day after the Super Bowl the biggest sick day of the year. We all have those times when we just aren’t feeling it. We want the day to pass so tomorrow can come and we can have our motivation back and be ready to tackle what lies ahead. How can you motivate yourself even when you can’t imagine doing anything other than turning off your alarm clock and pulling the covers back up? Here are some tips that may benefit you.
The Eagles have Landed
...in the Super Bowl! After a terrific season up to that point and a record of 10-2, the Eagles’ Quarterback, Carson Wentz, found himself injured and unable to complete the game against the Rams. The backup Quarterback, Nick Foles, stepped in to finish out the game with a win. Nick Foles would also go on to finish out the Eagles’ season while Carson healed for next year. Although Nick wasn’t as strong as Carson on the field and left many fans anxious after his first 3 games as first string, he played very strong in the NFC Championship and he and his teammates landed themselves in the Super Bowl after 14 years. Even though the team’s star Quarterback (who was the #1 ranked Quarterback in the NFL) was out for the rest of the season, the Eagle’s pulled together, changed their strategy, and did the unthinkable. How?
Pay Attention
How often do we go through the day huffing and puffing about the way people do things? “Didn’t they even read this e-mail before they sent it? There’s a spelling mistake.” “Who parks their car like that? What a moron.” “Why can’t my kids just put away their laundry? They’re so lazy!” These all seem to be external factors that put us in a foul mood. In reality, though, these are just situations that are triggering something inside of us. This trigger, in turn, causes us to be upset. If we want to know what's actually bothering us, we have to REALLY pay attention to ourselves.
Boosting Productivity in the Office
We always talk about tools we can use or mindsets we can have to improve our productivity, but we haven't talked about how our environment affects us. If you're not comfortable when you're working, or are too comfortable, you won't accomplish as much if were just the right amount of comfortable. The chair you're sitting in, how your office is laid out, the room temperature and brightness, and noise volume all affect your comfort and therefore have an effect on your productivity.
Accountability Management
Now that you have your New Year’s Resolutions finalized, how are you going to make sure you achieve your goals? Setting up a way to be held accountable is the #1 way to help you succeed. Think about it this way: when your boss tells you that you need to get something done, you stay late and work those extra hours to make sure it’s done. When you buy a gym membership, the chance that you’ll continue going for the duration of the membership is far less than 100% because you’re only accountable to yourself.
Resolve to Improve
Are you living your dream life - doing what you want, when you want? Are you making the kind of money that allows you the freedom to do the activities you really enjoy while keeping you satisfied and fulfilled? Most of us will answer 'no' to this question, which makes the new year the perfect time to start making changes in our lives so that we can eventually shout 'YES!' when we see this inquiry.
Remember that everything is a choice. The life you're living is all based on choices that you have previously made. So why not choose to live a life that really makes you happy? By setting and focusing on goals you have for your perfect dream life, you can start to make progress towards it. Don't settle for "fine", merely looking forward to those couple of times a year when you really enjoy yourself. This is the only life you live, so why not choose to enjoy every day?
Set Your Intentions
Remember Christmas Eve night as a kid when you couldn’t wait for the morning to come? You were either too excited to even try to sleep or you would go to bed super early thinking that the sooner you go to sleep, the sooner the morning will be there. You had a plan where you were going to open presents and have the most amazing day ever. That was your intention. And it came true! Christmas morning would come, you tore open all of our presents, and you spent the rest of the day playing with your new toys. It was amazing! Why can’t every day feel like that? News flash – it can. Well, closer than you may think, anyway.
Do Less. Accomplish More.
Everyone is always focused on being more productive - doing more in less time. We're always on the go, go, go and barely have time to eat and sleep let alone relax and enjoy ourselves. Remember that one time last year when you took a vacation and enjoyed yourself? What happened when you got back to work? Were you more productive, organized, happier, stress-resistent, and satisfied? You very likely were. Imagine being able to feel more like that every day, not just when you're on vacation!
Give Thanks all year Long
It's Thanksgiving season; the time of year where we send out e-mails and cards about how thankful we are to our employees, friends, and family. It's a feel-good week and we spend part of our time reflecting on how we got here and who helped us along the way. But what about the other weeks of the year? How often will we show gratitude and appreciation for those around us two weeks or two months from now?
Be Flexible
It’s Monday. And like every Monday when I’m not on vacation, I was a little more stressed than I would like to be. You may have noticed that this didn’t come out around 7 or 8am like I normally try to do. Rather, it’s coming out around 11pm. It’s late, but what’s really important is that it’s out on the day I set out to post my blogs every week.
Man On
My oldest stepson, Jarrett, plays soccer for his high school and a travel team. He plays forward and is the team captain. If his soccer team were a business, he would be the CEO, Owner, or Managing Partner. Jarrett leads his team during warm-ups and helps everyone know what they're doing when they're on the field, making sure to yell "man on!" when someone from the other team is coming up on someone with the ball. Communication is key on the field to make sure everyone is aligned with what the plan is, where there might be gaps in coverage, and when someone may need help. Organizations need the exact same kind of communication for the exact same reasons.
Small Business Conference Resources
As business owners and company leaders, we should always be networking and learning to help our businesses and grow ourselves as well as our teams. So, like you would expect, when I saw that SCORE was hosting their 7th Annual Small Business Conference in Philadelphia on October 26th, I signed up. There were some great tools and resources I learned there that I would like to share with you.
Part-Time Executive
As you know, every week I put out a blog post with ways or be more efficient or productive so you can spend more time doing things you want to do. What if you’re too busy to even breathe let alone stop for a second to take control of your tasks? That’s how it was for me last week when my new, very large, project kicked off. I’m primarily a Project Manager as I grow my Executive Coaching business. And as a part-time Executive thinking back on last week, I really should have followed my own advice. These following three things would have made the week a lot more bearable if I had done them.
How do you show Up?
It Doesn’t have to be Lonely at the Top
We’ve all heard the phrase “it’s lonely at the top”, and in a lot of situations it is. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, I would argue that it shouldn’t be. Rather that sharing some resources that help executives, business leaders, and entrepreneurs overcome loneliness, I hope you see that you don’t have to feel that way in the first place.
Inspiration in the Workplace
Why did you get up this morning? Is it because you had to go to work so you can earn money to pay bills and buy food? Or were you inspired about what you would be doing rather than just excited about the paycheck that comes from it? For most people, it’s the former. We work so we have money to not work.
Imagine what it would be like to want to go to work every day – to believe in what you were doing, how and why you were doing it, and with whom you were doing it with.
Loosen Up to Maintain Control
Have you ever tied your shoes too tight for fear they may fall off of your feet? What happens? You restrict the blood flow to your feet and you start to lose feeling in them. Once you loosen your shoes up a bit, the blood flow returns and you don’t even lose your shoes! But if you didn’t loosen your shoes, eventually your toe nails would grow slower, the hair on your legs would stop growing, and you could even lose your foot. The point is – bad things would happen.
Now think about what would happen if you tried to manage your team too tightly...