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“What’s your advice for getting out of a temporary rut?” I asked Jack Canfield

Since last year’s onset of the pandemic, there has been a proliferation of virtual events, giving people around the world (with an internet connection) the opportunity to learn and grow, even as it seems the world has been falling apart around us.

Today, I was fortunate to attend (without charge) two of the sessions in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)’s Sustainability Development Summit. The full video is at the end of this article.

The second was entitled “Leveling-up for High Performance and Breakthrough Success.” The presenter was Jack Canfield, who I had never heard of. Sure, I knew about the “Chicken Soup For the Soul” series of books, but didn’t know the author’s name or what he had accomplished.

His presentation was empowering and action-oriented and I found myself taking screenshot after screenshot. Yes, registered participants will get the recordings, but in the moment, I wanted to capture those aspects of his presentation which resonated with me, such as….

  1. Success Principle: Decide what you want. What is your vision of success?
  2. There are only 3 responses you have any control over. E + R = O: Thoughts, Images, Behaviour
  3. You have to give up making excuses
  4. Create a Breakthrough Goal.…a goal that would quantum leap your personal or professional success or the success of your organization…and that will require you to grow to achieve it.
  5. Practise the “Rule of 5”: Do 5 things every day that will lead to the achievement of your breakthrough goal.
  6. Set a goal that is big enough so that in the process of achieving it, you will become someone worth becoming! BHAGBig Hairy Audacious Goal”

What I appreciated about the presentation and indeed the first one I attended, what that the speakers took questions after. Here is the host Dr Terri-Karelle Reid asking the question I posed which was “what’s your advice for getting out of a temporary rut or setback, especially if you’re normally positive and a believer?” (That’s the reflection of the ceiling light)

“Setbacks are part of the process” Canfield said. He further said that it is learning to handle those obstacles which builds your capacity, confidence, patience and courage. Part of the goal of life, he said, is to become a master, like in Karate, where you go through different belts.

Other advice he gave was:

  • See those ruts as opportunities to learn something new.
  • Surround yourself with positive people. Listen to something positive everyday.
  • Get your mindset changed and start doing something different.

Canfield ended by saying this:

A rut is something where you keep digging the same hole over and over and it looks like forward progress, but you’re not going anywhere really. You’ve got to do something different, anything different at all that you think might get you out, and surround yourself with something positive.

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Do you say any of these to your employees?

Entrepreneur magazine published this article by Lindsay Broder which discusses 7 things you should never say to your employees. Be honest. Have you ever said any of them in the heat of an interaction with your employees? I have heard many mangers say #1 “I’m the boss. Do as I say.”  Perhaps early in my managerial career, I might have been guilty of that too. However, as I focussed on my personal development, I realized that I had to find other ways to influence the employees I managed to do their assigned tasks….and willingly, so that customer service could be at the desired standard.

I recall having success where I managed a team, most of whom were much older than me, were unionized and were generally seen by others as the ‘bad eggs’ in the company. Treating each as a human and an individual, I set out to find what made them tick, what their hot buttons were and ways which made them shine. I guess I realized I was successful, mostly, when I received an award for my leadership of that team.

My feeling is that if managers have to resort to any of these 7 phrases or retorts, then they themselves have some work to do on their skills. I am not saying that all managers have to be perfect, however, they should certainly try to better tomorrow, than they were yesterday. Read more, try new things, hire professionals like us to help identify the issues and suggest solutions.

Commit to avoid saying any of these phrases to your employees. They will appreciate you for it and your customer service delivery will improve.Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

What’s the vision for your service?

Business owners, especially those who are in a manufacturing type company, may focus all their energies on the product, from design specifications to manufacturing processes. How much time is spent designing the service they would like their employees to deliver to customers who will buy those products?

I feel that the starting point is to define what the vision for your company’s service is. What would you like to measure your service against? What key performance indicators will you use? What kind of training will be necessary? How often will you test the service anonymously to see if the end result you envisioned is being delivered to the customer?

If you have been in business for many years, it is not too late to do this exercise. Gather your key employees together and you should also try and include those who have served customers directly as they may have valuable contributions. Brainstorm and see what you define as the draft vision for your service.  Although you would be working from ‘front to back’, you will be able to use the vision statement as the starting point to make changes throughout the company.

To complement that exercise, you will also need to have the necessary training sessions to ensure that it permeates throughout the entire organization and is infused in all your processes.Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

Increasing Productivity, Motivation and Engagement

All companies want to get the most out of their employees. That means ensuring employees want to be at work, fully committed and operating at maximum capacity. This article gives some tips from Yves Morieux’s Ted Talk. His theme is simplification, which resonates with me. Watch the original speech.

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