Do you know when to manage and when to coach?

The Forbes article below highlights the difference between when you need to manage versus when you need to be a coach using the sports team analogy.  What is your natural way of leading?  Are you able to change your way of leading depending on the situation or the employee that you are dealing with?  Take the time to read this great article and map out your thoughts about your leadership style.  It’s important to view each member of your staff as an individual and to manage each person based on their level of competency, development path, and personality type.  Doing this will allow you to get the best results from your team and to ensure that things are getting done in a timely manner.  If you are not a confident leader, take some time to self develop by reading, getting a mentor or by hiring a consultant to work with you in this area; you will see the ROI based solely on your ability to work with your team in the most effective way possible.

Happy reading,

~Charlotte

Know When to Manage and When to Coach

Complacency: The Silent Business Killer

Is your business suffering from complacency?  Is everything “good” and are you “comfortable” with your results?  I’ve posted below an article from INC magazine highlighting Complacency as a silent business killer.  Mediocrity in business is seen on so many levels, and often times it is  propelled by ego and an inability to self reflect.  In order to push your business to greatness, it takes leadership that is willing to constantly look at what is working and what isn’t working and provide action-orientated initiatives based on these findings.  It also requires open communication from all angles of the business: from employees and costumers providing feedback, to leaders giving leaders coaching and feedback and all the while, everyone is working towards a longterm vision for the business.

A good indication if you are falling into the dark hole of complacency is the thou use the word “good” for most responses about your business.  It’s impossible for things to always be good and for everything to be fine.  Also, there is a fine balance between critically analyzing your obstacles and continuously complaining without any action.  As a leader, be the inspiration that your team needs to drive your business each day to the next level.  Take the time to hear the people around you and reflect on their words…they are what drives your business and without them you don’t have one.  Your community holds the answers to all of your business needs, give them a chance and you will see how valuable they are to growing your business.

Happy reading,

Complacency: The Silent Business Killer

Accountability and Integrity: The Golden Rules of Business

Accountability and Integrity the Golden Rules of Business

I was very excited to stumble upon this article in INC magazine written by Curt Richardson (Founder and CEO if OtterBox) highlighting the very important set of core values companies and businesses need in order to establish trust with their employees, clients and community!  I recently wrote about this subject (see post below) as it fundamentally is a topic that I am super passionate about.  If you missed it the first time, here is the posting again.

Happy reading,

Charlotte

The Golden Rule applies to business more then we know!

 

8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses

What core beliefs separate medicore bosses from amazing bosses?  INC Magazine has posted a great article written by Geoffrey James highlighting 8 Core beliefs of extraordinary bosses.

You will often hear me talk about the importance of community; I have strong beliefs that when we focus on the people that make our businesses operate (this would be staff, clients and consumers) longterm results are acheived.  Time to start analyzing the type of leader you wish to be and what long-term results you want to achieve!!!

Happy Reading:)

8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses

Creating Sustainable Performance

The attached article “Creating Sustainable Results” by Harvard Business Review highlights the most important piece of every business out there!  It’s a must read for all leaders who really want to create an environment of top performers, financial success, and leaving a foot print of ethical standards for others to follow.  Its key to note that when I talk about “happy employees,”  I mean the ones that truly feel fulfilled, heard in their workplace, and the ones that produce great results.  I’m not talking about “happy employees” that are left alone, are not held to any metrics and really don’t want to do any work.

It’s really quite simple, happy employees=thriving business metrics that can last a life time if you can keep your employees engaged.  It’s certain that you’ll get stronger results from happy employees because they have more energy to give to the business.  Have you ever noticed how much energy and time unhappy employees waste; they are constantly thinking and communicating how unhappy they are, while happy employees are busy getting things done and constantly growing.  Take sometime to critically analyze your workplace; is this a place that you would thrive in?  How would you want to be treated if you were the employee?

Hope you enjoy the article…happy reading!

Creating Sustainable Performance

Embrace Failure

Do you embrace failure?  How long does it take you to recover mentally when you have failed?  Does it consume you for days, maybe even weeks or months; or can you bounce back fairly quickly?  It’s interesting to see that highly successful people bounce back quickly after experiencing a professional failure.

Mistakes are unavoidable and generally I find that when I try to avoid them, I make even more mistakes!  I’ve always lived my life enjoying the journey and experiences that come with it.  Everyone goes through “bitter sweet” moments but unfortunately a lot of people only get to experience the “bitter” and miss the sweetness.  We’ve all gone through situations that leave a bad taste in our mouth, this could be tough feedback, getting fired, getting dumped, making a bad choice…sometimes it’s so bad it stings.  The most exciting times after experiencing this bitter treat, is the aftermath of reflection; this is the time where you assume responsibility for your part in the matter or reflected on what you could have done differently to avoid the situation at all.  Now comes the Sweetness…this learning that you get is better then anything else; it comes from personal experience and it gives you so much information about yourself (if you chose to take it).  I love these moments and encourage anyone I mentor to embrace the tough times for they give you the best learnings!

Just remember, life has a way of testing you again and again if you haven’t learned your lesson yet.  The test can show up in so many new forms and when you finally get it, you will recognize that your pattern has been broken.  Self-reflection is the key to success…when you avoid this process, you avoid taking any type of responsibility and lose the sweetness that comes with the learning.

I love this quote: “Every problem you have in your life right now is your responsibility, regardless of who initially caused it.”

~Marc and Angel

Here’s a great article by Entrepreneur magazine on “Embracing Failure on the Path to Success”

Embracing Failure on the Path to Success

Why Appreciation Matters So Much

This is a great article written by HBR highlighting why appreciation is so important in the work place.  Whether this applies to work or to your personal life, it is important to feel appreciated!  Leading with this in mind will create a strong resilient team ready to conquer the unified vision and goals of the business/company.  Now ask yourself, does your staff feel appreciated?

Why Appreciation Matters So Much

Why Every Monday Counts!

Why start off our week on the wrong foot?  Think of all the wasted time and energy we spend dreading Monday and hoping for Friday.  Sometimes all it takes is an inspiring story to change how we see something…take some time to read “Why Every Monday Counts” from Fast Company!

Why Every Monday Counts

Do you suffer from Procrastination?

By nature, I am a procrastinator.  I love to do things when I’m “in the mood” or when I “feel like it” and one of my signature descriptors has been, “I do some of my best work when I’m under-pressure”.  In order to succeed in juggling many projects, priorities, schooling and most importantly motherhood; I have to turn on my ultra-organized switch and maintain a tight routine so that I accomplish the goals I’ve set.  Although this has not been the natural me, I quickly learned that I need the skill in order to succeed!  Interestingly enough, I am also much more productive when I have a set fitness schedule for the week; I notice a big change when my routine gets off-set, I suddenly start to see my productivity levels decrease (and so does my energy).  Being a leader requires us to know what makes us tick so that we are one step ahead of the game.  It is important to understand where our weaknesses lie so that we can make better decisions in the moment.  Check out the article link below by Fast Company to get a few more tips to end procrastination!

Get back to work by meeting procrastination head on!

Some steps to take if you are a procrastinator:

1. Every time you feel like putting something off, write it down.  There might be a distinct pattern that you will see after doing this exercise for a month.  Perhaps you hate doing paperwork, or answering messages?  Maybe it’s a certain time of day where you procrastinate more then others?  All great questions to ask yourself.
2. Once you detect a pattern, you can decide to delegate that specific task or perhaps schedule time each day to focus just on that one task?
3. Schedule everything!  If you tend to procrastinate and area always “flying by the seat of your pants”; then write everything down and ensure that you stick to your schedule.  Your daytime will be your new best friend; but again you need to train yourself to use it each day sot hat you start to create a new habit for yourself.
4. Start your day off my writing or modifying your ongoing to-do list.  I like to highlight things when I;m done so that at the end of my day, I can see everything that I have accomplished and I know what to move over to the next day.  Starting you day this way will also help you prioritize your to-do list.
5. Set yourself some goals each day!  It feels so good to reach goals and to push yourself to amazing lengths.
6. Share your learning’s!  Those who are around you can help support your journey and help hold you accountable.

Charlotte

You deserve what you settle for…

I was looking back at my personal blog and found this posting that I had made last year.  This statement is one that struck me to the core  and correlates to business and life in so many ways.  It is so important to raise a high bar when we are developing our businesses, holding our teams accountable and hiring our people; settling for less often creates many more bottlenecks, leaves people with a bad taste in their mouth and compromises our branding.  The most amazing connection is the one between work and life…when you settle at work, are you also settling in our personal life?  What is the benefit in doing so? What is the cost in doing so?  Such a great exercise to reflect on.  Below is the original post:

Ever read something and it completely knocks you on your ass and suddenly things just become clear? One day I stumbled upon “You deserve what you settle for” and clarity literally smacked me right in the face! A statement that really just sums up most of my past learning’s; think of all the times you failed to act quickly or delay decisions that you know needed to be made. Then you end up in a situation where you are not happy or feel disappointed and all the while you could have changed things much sooner (when your internal gauge started to tell you something was wrong or the situation/person didn’t match your values). Is it a bold statement to think that we deserve what we get if we’re not willing to change things on our own? I felt so much freedom with this realization…if I settled for less then mediocre…well then I got what I deserved!

Isn’t it so amazing that life is all based on our ability to make choices and take responsibility for the results that we get? Sometimes the lessons sting, but then again the learning’s are a sweet reward if you choose to find it.

Charlotte