Success Quote

“Be larger than your task.”
Orison Swett Marden

August 28, 2008 | Filed Under Quotes | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 TASK And You Can Change It All!

Your daily tasks may be getting in the way of building your business. 80 percent of my clients report they’re so busy they don’t have time to work on ‘growing’ their company.

Ironically when we uncover what they are spending their time on, it’s usually tasks that other people ought to be doing. Some of my clients will start delegating within a month and clear their decks. Others need to be weaned gradually.

Here’s the key question that gets them shifted off of “I have to do it myself” and onto “Jerry, let me tell you what I’d like you to take care of.”

Ask yourself:

“What are the 3 lowest risk items on my own To Do list?”

Be honest about it. If you can list 53, 15, or 5 items, there will definitely be a way to rank order them. You may have planned to do the ‘easiest’ first, or later when you have ‘free time.” Either way, you just found things that you can hand off in the next 48 hours.

August 26, 2008 | Filed Under Catalyst Action Tip | Leave a Comment 

Diversify The Ideas That Build Your Business

© 2008 Linda Feinholz

I’m a voracious reader. There have been some years when I read nearly 400 books… and worked full time and slept fewer than 4 hours a night. I love reading.

That was then… And now my body wants more sleep, and my reading has dropped off. So I use my reading time even more focused. 20 percent for pleasure and 80 percent for the joy of new ideas that I can take to my clients.

I don’t usually take the entire book or article for them to read. I extract the core idea, perhaps even a quote, and take it into a discussion to illustrate a new way of thinking about their challenge.

I have favorites that I give to management teams whose companies are facing growth challenges, leadership practices, and marketing. Those include the

  • Harvard Business Review article by Larry Greiner “Evolution & Revolution as organizations grow” (I prefer the original version, not the updated one),
  • Fast Company’s piece called “Measure What Matters”
  • Inc Magazine’s “Cold Fish, Hot Data, New Profis”
  • Fast Company’s “Start With Nothing”
  • And Fortune Magazine’s “Making The Lord’s Copies”

If you get yourself a copy of these, you’ll find the following core ideas: Read more

August 24, 2008 | Filed Under Delegation, Goal Setting, Ideas, Managing, Marketing | Leave a Comment 

Books, Bobbing & Business Building

Don’t you just love technology? I‘m actually on vacation as you read this. Bobbing around the warm seas of Neuvo Vallarta… or the pools. Hanging out under the sun shades and gabbing with my pals.

This is a pretty unusual trip for me. I typically plan a 4-6 vacation ever several years, and all my other get-aways are pretty spontaneous – a week or two of decide-plan-go.

I’m taking my Flip camera with me and looking for opportunities to catch some of the action – I may even share it with you if I get photo clearances from the kids in the inner tube. Picture me on the flume in the photo. (Hah!)

Before I headed out of town I pulled together this week’s article. It’s in response to a question that was posed to me about just where I get the idea I bring to my clients.

It seemed like a great time to stimulate your thinking about how to diversify the ideas you are exposed to as well.

Read it today and tell me what you’ll be adding to your explorations.

August 22, 2008 | Filed Under Ideas | Leave a Comment 

Success Quote

“Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them.”
Orison Swett Marden

August 21, 2008 | Filed Under Quotes | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 DAY And You Can Change It All!

Are you thinking about your long-term goals for your business? Or are you spending most of your time fighting fires and tracking your daily tasks.

As a business owner and leader, it’s critical that you spend at least 20 percent of your time on the ‘long view.’

One of the core reasons to have a team and as staff is to delegate the vast majority of the ‘doing’ in your business to them so that you can lead the company forward.

Ask yourself:

“What percent of my time this week is on the long view for my business?”

If you’re spending less than 8 hours a week exploring the path to your 5-year goals, you’re not used to taking that long-view. Take out your calendar and put 4 or more hours on each of the next weeks for research, thinking, conversations with others that are not about fixing the daily challenges your business is facing.

August 19, 2008 | Filed Under Catalyst Action Tip | Leave a Comment 

What WILL Make The Difference In Your Business Results?

© 2008 Linda Feinholz

All too often our progress in business plateaus. You know, it levels off at the point you achieved when you last gave it attention. Very often we settle into ‘habit’ mode and forget to look at the long view for our business.

Over the years I’ve consulted to many business owners and leaders who want new results. By their own admission, they’ve assumed that staffing up or cutting expenses was the route to achieving their business’s next level. In their hearts they believed that if they managed the money, the rest would follow.

They’ve very often been wrong!

It’s already standard business practice to manage the money. What differentiates successful companies from those just noodling along are some things not discussed in business courses and business books.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: One of the most important ways to boost your business is to focus ON your obstacles.

Watch Your Competition

It’s very inspiring to be told to ignore your competition. We were well trained in school. all dream of doing better on a test than our classmates, and that carries over to how we behave in business. “I won’t look at yours paper if you don’t look at mine!”

The fact is, the more you know about your competition the quick you can sort through potential options for your own business, and Read more

August 17, 2008 | Filed Under Managing, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Thoughts On Stepping Longer In Business (and in life)

I got a lot of comments on my note last week – people applauding me for the great results on the financial goal I set for myself this year.

Several folks asked me what I did differently this year. As I thought about it, I realized that it was a mix of old familiar activities AND ones I’d never stepped up to before.

One of the key ones, and this is uncomfortable to say to you, is that I asked. I asked for support from folks that I share my goals with. That’s a given.

But beyond that I stretched out of my comfort zone and asked for the support of professional colleagues, in a way that met both of our goals. The result is I was referred to a client that I’ve been working with for nearly eight months. AND they’re one of my all time favorite clients – they pull me aside to tell me how they’re using the ideas and techniques I’m showing them and talk about the results they’re getting and loving.

And for my part, I’m passionate about people getting better results from their efforts and I love seeing people take our conversations and the tools I show them and making a difference in their lives.

So, the result of my stepping up with a new stride to that uncomfortable action is both warming my financial results and my heart all at the same time.

Thus, last week’s article, this week’s quote, and some additional thoughts in this week’s article on what I did differently.

Go on! Be ‘different’ this year!

August 15, 2008 | Filed Under Goal Setting | Leave a Comment 

Success Quote

“All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.”
Orison Swett Marden

August 13, 2008 | Filed Under Quotes | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 PRACTICE And You Can Change It All!

Are you a constant note taker? For some of us (I confess, that’s me too) our backgrounds required note taking so that we could create reports for others.

A funny thing happens along the way. We loose track whether the note-taking is still serving us, or is a habit that’s diverting our attention.

Unless you have a team you must report details to, it may be time to change your focus on the page to a focus on actual to do’s.

Ask yourself:

“What percent of my notes do I ever refer to again?”

If you’re anything like me, you may find it’s become barely 10%. For myself, I’m going to try on only writing down the actions that need taking, and see if I can’t free up my attention to use it on implementation rather than worry over what I might have in a note that I thought I was supposed to store somewhere.

August 11, 2008 | Filed Under Catalyst Action Tip, Productivity Tools | Leave a Comment 

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