Zen and the art of business judging
November 10, 2011, 7:01 am
Imagine if you were a judge in a business competition that measures your business across dimensions such as financial results, people, processes, technology, innovation, leadership and overcoming obstacles. Detach yourself from your business physically, intellectually and emotionally and view your business as a judge would do when comparing your business to others. I know how hard this is as I am both a business judge and a business owner. Being a business judge has been responsible for some of the most powerful insights and learning in how to improve my own business. As a judge I also know how difficult it is to detach yourself from your business to gain a clear view of what is looks like to others, be they judges or customers. Despite the difficulty, detachment is absolutely necessary to gain a fresh perspective to inspire new ideas and the motivation to change. Without detachment you can often be defensive and prone to rationalize your status quo. There are a few ways to make this process effective. If you are a sole operator you probably have the toughest challenge but you can do your research and analysis yourself or get help from a consultant, business coach or fellow business owner. Establish your judging parameters. It is hard to benchmark your financial performance against competitors but can base your judging on the health
Never Assume People Know
November 8, 2011, 6:59 am
I have a client about to begin content -marketing that expressed a sentiment that I think may be very common, “why would anybody read what I write? I have nothing new or exciting.” These feelings are not conducive to a good start at writing content. I will admit that I have often had the same feelings. There are times when I am writing a blog or article and thinking, ‘this is common sense stuff, no person will care about reading it.’ My experience and those with whom I collaborate confirm a different scenario entirely. There are a number of points I would like you to consider if you feel your writing and content will not be read or dismissed. • Your ideas, observations and comments are as valid and worthy as any other persons. • If you really look at what is included in the avalanche of online information, there is rarely anything truly new or ground breaking. • People read online content for a number of purposes. These may include learning, confirming, questioning, innovating, and sharing. You do not need to write the ‘theory of everything’ to make an impact in the online world. • Once you begin it is important to get in the ‘flow’ of content creation. You will make an impact on others when they know you are a producer and
Are You Coaching? If not, why not?
November 4, 2011, 6:57 am
I suppose there is a need to clarify what I mean by coaching. When we engage in a coaching relationship with another person we are committed to improving that person’s performance. Coaching can be used in any business discipline including sales. The most common used method to improve sales is to provide some form of sales training. Sales training is done online or in workshops with either a single sales team or a group comprising persons from different organisations and industries. Sales training may be effective if it is implemented within a scaffold of useful ‘on the job‘ tools, follow up, and refresher learning opportunities. My experience shows that in most cases sales training is an event with limited ongoing impact on performance. Sales coaching is much different. Effective sales coaching is one on one. The sales coach engages with the coachee in a focused process to improve performance. There are many tools available to delivery effective coaching. In sales coaching it is essential that the coach ‘shadows’ the coachee on the job. Just as a sports coach analyses technique so the sales coach analyses technique and behaviours as well as providing the tools and guidance to create change. Other tools are available and an effective coach will use at least a few if not all of these. Shadowing (as mentioned above). 360 feedback
