Leading Forward

The Change Puzzle

It's a puzzle.  Why is it that certain individuals and groups are able to move, grow, and create new levels of success while the majority remains stagnant?  Those movers and shakers learned from Peter Senge who, quite literally, wrote the book on organizational change.

Senge identified the six essential pieces that combine to bring about authentic change.  Here's the equation:

TRUST + VISION + SKILLS + RESOURCES + RESULTS + ACTION PLAN = CHANGE

Because each piece is necessary, leaving out any one stops your group's forward motion and derails your plans for success.

Without trust plans are sabotaged.

Without vision there is confusion.

Without skills anxiety grows.

Without resources people are angry.

Without results change is sporadic.

Without an action plan there are only false starts.

Look at your team and ask yourself if you have put all of the pieces in place to complete the puzzle.  To empower.  To not only embrace change, but create it, relish it, and use it to drive your business.

Keep connecting and Keep Leading Forward!

Deb and Brad

How Typical

Of course you've seen, and probably ignored those teeny disclaimer sentences that run at the bottom of most television and print ads.  They usually begin with the statement, "Results not typical" written in a minuscule white 3 point font.

Here's an idea.  Why not proudly proclaim that this success, like all big achievements, is by definition NOT TYPICAL?  Isn't that the message you're trying to sell anyway, that your goal should never be mediocrity?

As a home business owner you should speak honestly about how your opportunity is available to everyone, while proudly asserting that your success is not typical.  Most people choose to play small, to criticize from the safety and security of the sidelines.  Let that not be you.  Let everyone know that you have chosen the path less traveled and are enjoying the view. 

Write your hopes, intentions, and actions in a 72 point, bold, italicized, underlined, all-caps font.  Let your story inspire others to choose results that are far from typical.

Keep leading forward!

Deb and Brad

When to RUN!

The first month of the new year is over, and it's time to check on your resolutions.  If you're one of the many who vowed to improve your fitness through a regimen of running but haven't made much progress, today's post can help you with that. 

How?  Our message today tells you exactly how to use the home business industry to know when to run.  So, lace up your shoes and get ready!

If someone asks you to turn over a list of everyone you know, RUN!

If you are advised not to share the details of your business because a CD or DVD can do a much better job, RUN!

If you are told to approach well-dressed strangers at Starbucks and ask if they "keep their options open", RUN!

If you are encouraged to leave your creativity at the door and "plug into a system that duplicates", RUN!

If you are informed that owning your own business is not fun but hard work and you must "commit" and "persevere", RUN!

If you are supposed to ask someone for their business card with the intent of ambushing them two days later with your opportunity, RUN!

If you are directed to use a three-way call or two-on-one meeting to convince prospects to join your business because you aren't successful enough, RUN!'

If someone tells you they'll build your business for you, RUN!

If anyone tells you that anything can happen overnight such as getting rich, losing weight, or growing hair, RUN!

Keep running until you find a group of people who share your vision of success through service, joy, and integrity. Don't settle for anything less.

Keep leading forward!

Deb and Brad 

 

More

Following up our last post, The Power of the Pen, with one more business building idea we learned by keeping a journal.  If you want more, you must do more.  Yes, there is a distinction between quality and quantity.  And yes, they are both essential.

Writing down your actions not only rewards you for your efforts, it describes your current level of success.  If you look back over several months and see the same amount of action taken, you can be assured that your level of success has also remained constant.

One fellow gym member saw me recording my efforts in my journal and remarked how he used to record his workouts too.  "But now," he explained, "I have it memorized."  His plan for success was to simply repeat the same workout over time. He was dedicated.   He was consistent.  And his body never changed.

My plan was simple...more.  Before beginning my workout, I would review the last time I trained that body part.  Then, I would devise a strategy of doing more.  If I was feeling strong, I would use more weight. If not, I used more reps.  Or I did more sets in a shorter period of time.  Or I performed more exercises.  Each MORE was emphasized with a star in my journal.  At the end of the workout, I could quickly add up the stars and know I was I making progress.

What will your business look like at the end of 2010, if each month you do a little more?  Instead of using your calendar to mark off the days, use it to mark up your progress.  Reach out to more customers - give yourself stars.  Reach out to more possibility thinkers - more stars. Reach out to more team members - more stars.  Read more books which inspire more ideas - more stars.  You get the idea.

Light up your calendar with stars of accomplishment, and your future will indeed be brighter.

Do more.  Shine more. and Keep Leading Forward!

Deb and Brad

The Power of the Pen

You already know that putting your dreams down on paper is the first step to turning them into goals.  You may not realize how recording your daily actions in writing can be the catalyst that turns those goals into reality.

When training seriously as a competitive bodybuilder and power lifter, I kept track of every repetition of every exercise I performed.  I recorded the nutritional value of all the food I ate every day.  My wall calendar was filled with stars representing successful actions.  This lesson in focus changed my body and my life. 

Even though I was the only one who ever saw my workout logs, diet journals, and wall calendar, the incentive to follow through was enormous.  There was no way I would skip that last set of incline presses even though I was exhausted; I'd have to write that down.  There was no way I'd choose a doughnut over a banana; I'd have to write that down.  There was no way I'd skip a workout; I couldn't write that star on the calendar.  And I would never disappoint myself like that.

Here's the action plan: Take that new 2010 calendar and put it to work for you.  Decide on one goal that requires daily action.  It could be keeping your work space organized, or booking new parties, or following up with potential partners - whatever action you need to take to move your business forward.  Now, simply record and reward yourself everyday with a visual reminder on your calendar.  You can add stickers, stars, or smiley faces...anything that demonstrates action taken.

You'll be amazed at how motivated you'll be to keep the streak of successful days going!

One more quick tip: Bigger is better.  Since your reward is visual, get a big calendar.  One very successful home business owner used masking tape to create a huge calendar covering one entire wall of his bedroom...impossible to ignore and thrilling to complete.

Keep focused on your goal.  Keep track of your daily action. And Keep Leading Forward!

Deb and Brad