Clarity on Steroids

Getting from where you are today to where you want to be in the future demands clarity of thought.

"I started to work on my SWOT analysis for our business. About 5 questions into it I began to realize that I was operating my business on hunches and feelings. It's no wonder I don't have a clear picture of what is really going on or what I need to do to move forward."

Clarity of thought is not a psychic or metaphysical experience.

"How do I know? I don't know how I know. Maybe I don't know what I think I know."

Imagine an engineer trying to build a bridge across the river. It's simple, right? All he has to do is rivet together some steel and connect one bank to the other.

"I figure about 80% of my business comes from people making purchases of $50 or less. I spend about 60 hours a week pursuing more of this kind of customer. Why do you ask?"

A powerful key to earning more and working less is learning how to optimize what you do. Clarity brings to the forefront your strongest skills and talents and leverages them for optimum earning potential.

"We have been doing business this way for 8 years. I couldn't tell you what my P&L says. All I know is I pay my bills. And there never seems to be enough!"

Remember asking your math teacher if you would ever need to know "this stuff"? The answer is Yes.

Clarity is indispensable for moving your life, your profession or your business from where it is today to an increasingly better tomorrow.

To put your clarity on steroids you need one key ingredient.

Data. Cold hard facts.

What are you doing to benchmark your business?

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How's your clarity? Take this simple assessment and give yourself a grade.

These three components are vital if you want to gain clarity.

3 Essential Components for Gaining Clarity

If you have driven your car in a thick fog then you know the fear or uneasiness that comes with not being sure of what is hidden from your sight. Your senses are on edge trying to discern what is coming your way. A deer in the road? An unexpected turn? A stopped vehicle? An icy patch?

Unlike a foggy day, mental fog results from being overworked, un-prioritized activity or subjection to the tyranny of the urgent. We are able to have control over mental fog. These three components are indispensable for gaining clarity and they are in your immediate control:

• Intentionality. Clarity does not just happen. You have to make up your mind that you are going to get clarity and do what needs to be done to make it happen.
• Distraction-free Thinking Space. When phones ring, people interrupt, text messages ping, to-do lists grow, urgencies clamor for your attention or other demands jump on the front burner you cannot gain the overall clarity you need. (You may find momentary clarity for each little thing that arises, but don't mistake crisis control for life control.) To gain clarity you must break away for a mental retreat.
• A Proven Process to Guide Your Thinking. "You don't know what you don't know." A process is nothing more than a step-by-step method of getting you to your desired outcome. Your desired outcome is clarity; do you know step by step what you need to do to get there?

These three components are absolutely essential for gaining clarity for your life, your profession or your business. Eliminate just one of these three components and try to imagine the outcome. Today has enough challenges of its own without creating an underperforming method to gaining clarity.

This one added element is like putting your clarity on steroids.

Clarity? How do you know if you have clarity or not?

Clarity Assessment

"At the beginning of this week I was uncertain about what I was doing in my profession. Today at the end of the week it is very clear to me what I was doing wrong, what I need to do to change course, and exactly how to go about it."

Clarity in any profession results in less complexity and greater effectiveness. How do you know when you have clarity? 

• When strategies are understood . . . 
• When definitive action plans can be implemented . . . 
• When results do not require an advanced degree to validate . . . 
• When you know who you are, where you are going and how you are going to get there . . . 

Many people / professionals / business owners have found this simple assessment tool invaluable for getting a snapshot of their own clarity. A few minutes of your time and a dose of gut-level honesty will help you begin to see your life, your job, or your business more clearly. Use the scores below to answer each question.

5 - Strongly Agree       4 - Agree       3 - Neither Agree nor Disagree       2 - Disagree       1 - Strongly Disagree

1. I have a comprehensive understanding of my talents and skills.
2. I maximize my talents and skills for optimum earnings.
3. I have an articulated list of values that drive how I live and work.
4. I have a written vision for the future of my life / profession / business.
5. I have an easy-to-understand mission with achievable goals.
6. My values, vision and mission are in harmony with each other.
7. I have realistic strategies written out with target dates assigned to them.
8. I rely on actual data to assess my progress.
9. I regularly reassess my current status for strategic planning.
10. I know who I am, where I am going, and how I am going to get there.

Total your score. 

40 to 50: Perhaps you should consider how to mentor someone to achieve their optimum life!

30 to 40: There is room for improvement. Find time for an objective reality check.

20 to 30: Dense fog. Watch out for the unforeseen event waiting for you.

10 to 20: Lost, dazed or confused. Is this what life is supposed to be like?

0 to 10: Crisis. If lack of clarity were a disease, you'd be in the E.R. in critical condition.

Do you use these three essential components for blowing away the fog and gaining clarity for your life, profession or business?


This one thing will take your clarity to a whole new level of strategic planning.

How to Stifle Creativity and What to Do About It

Teresa Amabile writes in the Harvard Business Review that "creativity is a function of three components: expertise, creative thinking skills, and motivation." I think she's right. Expertise is all about knowledge however it is acquired. Creative thinking skills has so much to do with ability to wonder, ask questions and consider the "other" possibility. Motivation drills down to desire.

I am a creative person. In fact, owning a creative agency was my first business venture. I thoroughly enjoyed starting my day with a blank sheet of paper. Dreaming of possibilities and asking "Why not?" brought me more business than I knew what to do with for a young guy with no official art training.

It is true that creativity can be shut down by managers or people who do not understand the creative process. All you have to do is develop a "No" mindset and you can kill creativity faster than the first 3 minutes of an NCIS show can kill it's next victim. Consider these creativity murderers:

• No challenge
• No freedom
• No resources
• No work-group features
• No supervisory encouragement
• No organizational support

Creativity: D.O.A.

To foster creativity in your company you only need to turn the Nos into Yeses. 

But in the small business environment it is often the business owner who has to be creative. Resources are frequently not available to employ someone who can dedicate themselves to being creative . . . and if they are available, creativity is strictly defined to technical tasks: design an ad, get the website up, come up with a slogan, write a brochure.

The creativity that a business owner requires is the creativity of vision and leadership. This is the kind of possibility thinking that walks out in front of the organization and takes it to new frontiers. 

This is the creativity that all too often suffers in the small business because of one key factor. 

Time.

If the business owner can learn time management, priority management and get out of the technical trenches of the day-to-day duties, then the owner can leverage the power of creativity to lead the business to new heights of success.

These Five Power Words Are Like Gourmet Aroma to the Discerning Customer

My friend, Jeff, has a nose for gourmet foods. He will walk past all the olfactory noise of a hundred competitors and isolate a single aroma that turns his head and makes him want to find out more. To watch him take a bite of gourmet chocolate is like watching the most beautiful story ever told. You want in on the experience and soon you are captivated by stories of jungles and cocoa and organic farmers.

Curiosity has been described by Edmund Burke as "the first and simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind." Those individuals and businesses that have harnessed the power of creating curiosity are the ones who lead us and make us thirsty for more.

What is their secret? What words do they leverage in crafting their message to awaken need and want inside of us? Are you effectively utilizing these power words in your marketing messages?

Power Word #1: How

How is that word that appeals to our need to learn, to do and to excel. It creates the desire to get me from where I am at to where I want to be in a practical manner. The promise and the allure of How boldly promises the message of exclusive knowledge, experience and membership. Consider how these messages create the desire to know How . . .

• How a bald barber saved my hair . . .
• How the XYZ Company grew by 150% in just six months . . .
• How can one word in your headline can drive traffic to your website?

Power Word #2: Why

The power of Why is the power of understanding. Human nature recognizes that the person who understands is the person in control. The promise of understanding framed by the power word Why is the promise of controlling one's life and situation. Create want and need using the power of Why as seen in these examples . . .

• Why social media will shape your business in the next two years . . .
• Why long term care insurance will let you spend more weekends at the cabin . . .
• Do you want to know why eating more meat is better for your golf game?

Power Word #3: These

Specificity is the intrinsic power of These. By isolating what needs to be in place and what needs to go you shake off the dead weight and tune up what is being neglected. Crafting a message using the power word These attracts a progressive and decision-making audience. Take a look at these messages . . .

• These 3 keys will make your business king at every networking event . . .
• These businesses thrived in the recession because of this one maxim . . .
• These people are better rested and more alert because of one common secret . . .

Power Word #4: Which

Choice is the power of Which! A menu of options, a buffet of choices, a variety to choose from! People feel better about themselves when they have the power to choose. Leveraging the power of Which in your headlines empowers the reader to choose. Which of these statements is strongest in your opinion?

• Which of these $10 best sellers do you want for only $1?
• Which businesses will still be in business next year . . . and which ones won't . . .
• Which healthcare plan will provide your family with the greatest peace of mind?

Power Word #5: What

Don't you want to know what's behind curtain number 2? Aren't you curious about what is the best bait for catching the largest walleye? Wouldn't you click on the link that promises to tell you what never to eat when flying? What business owner's wife wouldn't know what 3 things she had to do to be able to enjoy vacations with her husband?

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Creativity is one of the most desired qualities in leaders and top performers. Yet this one thing does more the stifle creativity than any other factor . . .

How Leading Businesses Create Their Market

Who hasn't felt the effects of the past few years? The results have been leading-edge businesses becoming more focused, strategic and creative.

Relying on your uniqueness or the greatness of your product or service is no longer enough to edge out your competition. The small business  has to creatively consider how to raise their market's awareness of needs and wants BEFORE providing the solution of the advantage of their product or service.

One powerful way to influence your prospects' needs and wants is by creating curiosity. By creating curiosity you grab the reins of the prospect's attention, amass an audience and warm them up to hear your message.

What is your company doing to create curiosity in the marketplace? Consider these three curiously powerful ways to cause people to want more . . .

Future Talk!

The future is everyone's concern. Provide data or anecdotes that say "Warning! Change ahead!" When we think about the yet-to-come future our concern becomes "how will this affect me?" 

One key to future talk is not to give an immediate solution but to let the market's imagination develop. As their perception of needs and wants surface, you position your company to be one of the solutions for the unforeseen tomorrow.

What information is your company privy to that would cause your market to be concerned about their future?

Party Time!

Good news is coming! Who doesn't like a party? Big, splashy, fun, . . . Invite your friends and get in on the action. When your company plans the party you create curiosity by leaking just enough information to let them know that good news is coming.

The party planning approach appeals to our desire to be part of a clan or tribe. Those who show up are the first ones to experience. They are the ones on the cutting edge of awareness, the first to enjoy the benefits, they become the people "in the know" and they become the go-to people for those who didn't get there first.

How could your company leverage the party appeal to it's marketing strategy?

Pssssst! 

Water coolers may have been replaced by more technologically advanced ways to communicate, but the basic appeal of being privy to "secret" information is alive and well. Do you want to create curiosity and gather a crowd? Just lower your voice, speak in hushed tones, and give just enough information to tickle the ears. Before you know it your company will be being discussed . . . and you have the power to introduce the subject!

What would turn your market's ears in your direction and make them curious to learn more?

These three proven methods for creating curiosity position you to speak to the wants and needs of your market. When you have created your audience, make sure your solution is credible!


And make sure you utilize these five power words that create curiosity . . .

Strategic Educational Leader

Whether you feel overwhelmed from time to time in your current position, want to better handle the challenges you face, or simply would like more fulfillment in your life and career . . . this program is for you!

This four-workshop course designed by and for professional educators will help you improve the quality of your life.

Strategic Educational Leader is a comprehensive coaching and accountability course in learning how to:

Face Reality - and achieve a better work life / home life balance. Uncover what is and what is not working and discover how to improve. 

Leverage Your Strengths - and spend less time on what you do not enjoy or do well. Leverage your strengths for greater productivity and fulfillment. 

Improve Relationships - because leaders are only as effective as the people and relationships around them. To get where you want to be - professionally and personally - these relationships have to be managed and nurtured. 

Focus & Prioritize - and stop feeling like a puppet for students, colleagues or administrators. While there may be a million items on your "to do" list, you need to focus on your next step. You cannot be all things to all people. 

Refine Your Vision & Goals - about your career and life. How does your time fit into the bigger picture of what you want your school/district and life to look like . . . and . . . how is that vision recieved by people in the significant relationships around you?

Workshop Information 

Quarter 1	Intro to Coaching & Strategic Educational Leadership
Quarter 2	Strategic Thinking, Influence & Persuasion
Quarter 3	Leadership Leverage & Relational Management
Quarter 4	Strategic Planning, Focus & Action

Audience: Anyone working in a career in educational organizations and institutions.

"Strategic Educational Leader" is a series of four full-day workshops, one per quarter. At each workshop you will prepare a 90-day planner - a road map to help you focus on what you need to do in your school / district / life. Successful completion of the course can earn you up to 6 graduate credits from Viterbo University's Servant Leadership Program. 

For more information or to register, contact The Growth Coach.

What's Your Dream?

Cheryl — not her real name, but she told me I could relate our conversation — was talking to me because her friend strongly recommended she do so. It can be very difficult to find a qualified individual to discuss your business with and know that you can get the answers you want. Referrals come because you have earned someone's trust.

"So what's going on?" I asked and that's all it took for Cheryl to start talking. Her story is familiar.

• "I started this business because I was good at what I did and I really enjoy doing it. But I'm working 60 hours a week or more."
• "I seem to have hit a plateau about 2 years ago and I just can't seem to get beyond it. I'm so frustrated."
• "Vacation? I think I took two days off last year . . . I don't know. It feels like forever since I could get away from it. If I'm not there, it would all go to pieces."
• "I'm afraid of anyone finding out what's really going on or they'll stop doing business with me. And I need to stay in business or I can't pay my bills."
• "I'm so tired."
• "I think I need to do more marketing. But that means more business and I'm not sure I can handle that. It feels like a Catch 22."

The sound of the coffee makers, the aroma of an exotic light roast from a distant land, and the casual conversations around us seemed surreal. Cheryl's voice hushed and her eyes watered up. "Would you like to buy my business?" She gave a weak smile. If someone came along and offered her the right amount, she'd snatch it up quick. But who would want to buy a job that offered stagnated growth and 60-plus hours a week? 

The conversation paused and she waited. 

"Cheryl," I interjected, "When was the last time you gave yourself permission to dream?"

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Dream. Remember the day you walked out on the skinny limb armed with nothing but a great idea, lots of energy, a simple plan and the support of friends and family? You didn't know everything but you knew you could do it. The world was an empty canvas and you were ready to make a splash.

Then one day the alarm went off. You woke up and discovered that the stuff you didn't know was following you very closely and all of a sudden overtook you. 

• How do you separate yourself from your business? Can you? Should you? 
• How do you hire the right people? The ones who share your vision, values and passion? The people who are skilled and committed . . . and actually come to work to work?
• How do you develop a realistic plan with measurable results?
• How do you sift through the trends and big ideas and find the stuff that will guarantee results?
• How do you make lots of money, keep your happiness running in fifth gear, and leave the world a better place?

What if you could break away long enough to dream again? And in the process get a better grip on what's really going on in your business and life? 

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Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.
Dr. Dale E. Turner

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.
Henry David Thoreau

The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.
Ben Stein

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It is my privilege to help business owners in the Minneapolis / St Paul metro area to dream again and take their businesses to a better level.

Zip Line

The open bed truck hauling a dozen tourists and half a dozen "Tico" guides lurched and bounced along the rocky mountain road. Dust from the road settled on the tropical vegetation on the driver's side and hung in open space on the other side like a cartoon character waiting for the inevitable fall. The passenger side boasted the cliche drop off into a deep jungle ravine.

I was told that there are only two tropical dry forests in the world. I have not been able to verify that information; but I can say that this was certainly tropical and dry.

The truck rumbled under the shade of a tree occupied with howling monkeys.

Grinding to a stop at the top of a mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the lean Tico guides leapt to the ground offering their assistance to the anxious tourists. Cameras snapped pictures. My wife asked about the holes in the ground. Tarantula holes. She backed away.

We hiked several hundred yards to a higher point. Rocks slipped under our feet and the sun reminded us to be thankful that we were not shoveling snow in Minnesota. VERY thankful.

At the top an 800 foot cable stretched across a deep ravine swallowed up by trees in the distance. One of the tourists said, "I'm not going. No way." Another said, "So cool." Another was just silent. Cameras snapped, monkeys howled, spiders hid, tourists pondered falling and the guides strapped harnesses onto our dust covered bodies.

Brief instructions were given with enough hints of danger to make the adrenalin do warm up exercises. A guide hooked himself onto the cable and pushed off into the vast expanse calling out to the vultures flying BELOW him.

One by one we were launched. The show-offs, the nervous Nellies, the screamer, the coolies, the President of the Argentinian Safe Company, . . . until it was my turn.

Strapped in and hooked up I looked at a makeshift sign nailed to a tree: "No turning back now." Guess not. A strong Tico hand gave me a push and the next thing I knew I was airborne soaring hundreds of feet over forest tree tops.

Nice.

We zipped sixteen sections of cable for a total of over 5 miles. By the time we were attached to the fifth cable the Screamer was no longer screaming; instead she was bragging about keeping her eyes open and flapping her arms like a bird. A new found level of comfort.

The Argentinian Safe Company president was "double zipping" with his wife.

The show-off got stuck in the middle and had to be rescued. LOL.

Everyone was laughing, comparing "Did you see?" moments, trying new techniques . . . having fun.

Boy, it feels good to laugh. All the stress and concerns and to-dos had fallen off into the jungle somewhere below us. We made new friends. The wind blew off the dust. We shed our clothes to jump into a jungle river. We swapped zip line stories like we had all gone on separate trips. A guide jumped out from a hiding place wearing a gorilla mask. We screamed and laughed and punched each other.

That evening sitting on the balcony listening to the sounds of creatures without faces I sipped a Costa Rican iced tea and thanked the Maker of Jungles that life is a whole lot more than making the next sale, organizing the next file, and answering the next call.

I mean, did you go into business to get trapped by it and ruin your fun? Probably not. So who's in charge? You or your business?

If it's been awhile since you took a leap just for fun, what's holding you back?

Get refreshed. Get recharged. The office can wait.

Drifting Away from Success

I was snorkeling about 100 yards off shore in the Caribbean. Having dived before I made a note of where I was in relation to my spot on the beach.

The water was warm, the sun was shining, the ocean was calm and the scenery was remarkable. Taking in the beauty of underwater scenery is a great way to spend a day. My snorkeling buddy was nearby and together we pointed out the cool stuff.

After what seemed like a short time we popped our heads above water and talked about heading back to shore and getting a bite to eat. That's when we noticed that our spot on the beach was gone! We were so "into" what was going on underwater that we failed to keep an eye out for where we really were. We had drifted several hundred yards from our original spot.

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Recently I sat down for a one-on-one coaching session with a gentleman who had hired me to help him become more strategic in his career. Those first sessions were very engrossing as we discussed crucial concerns that he had never really focused on previously.

We had a little hiatus over the holidays and then met again after the things settled down a little. He was all excited because someone had given him a motivational book to read for Christmas. He was encouraged to identify ten things he wanted and then to read them aloud every day for several weeks. In this way, he was told, he would keep his goals in front of mind and would get the things he wanted.

Something had changed since we had met last. Just a few months previous he had identified goals and desires that were not materialistic in the slightest. Now his list of pursuits included things like a bigger home, new cars, exotic vacations, and similar luxurious things. The contrast was striking. So I asked him about his previous list of pursuits that did not include any of these new things. "What happened?"

The response was equally striking — a classic deer caught in the headlights moment. It was like he had popped up out of the water and took a look around and realized that he had drifted. He needed to get back to where he wanted to be.

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The Growth Coach process emphasizes a 90-day refocusing because we all drift. When the minutae of daily "to-dos" and the tyranny of the urgent take the reins of our business and personal life, the current carries us away from where we really want to be.

The answer is not to let the current decide where we go. The answer is to take charge and make strategic choices. The answer is to take a periodic retreat. Pop your head up out of the water and reassess where you are at and where you want to be. To work ON your business and life instead of getting caught up IN the pull of the current.

It seems so simple that we are tempted to think we can do it on our own. The reality is that we all need someone who can keep us accountable and ask the right questions. Knowing that someone objective is going to be asking you the questions that get pushed aside incentivizes us to pay attention and give ourselves to doing the important things.

When you engage in this kind of coaching process, the results are truly awe-inspiring!

Life in the Fast Lane

Doug moves fast.

In the past year he has been promoted three times. With each move there is more responsibility and new challenges. A lot can change in 12 months!

• Now he goes into work before breakfast with coffee in hand and comes home well after dinner.
• Lunch breaks are fast and furious. If he takes one at all.
• Calls to family are "while on the run," stuck in traffic, or walking to and from a destination.
• Calls about work can occur any time of the day interrupting any activity.
• The paperwork on his desk gets deeper.

He is being promoted again to oversee a dozen systems. He only knows three of them. Doug will be hiring a team to work under him. 

That's when I got the phone call. 

I anticipated a discussion about time management or priority management. But that was not the question. Wish I had his energy and drive! Doug's question was about how to get ready for this promotion and how to go about learning nine new systems. To top it off, he called while driving to a quick lunch with his wife — I could hear the wind and the open car door "ringing" in the phone. 

In the space between the words I could hear Doug's gears turning and trying to grind out a solution. He wanted to take on the responsibility of his entire team and master the 12 systems himself.

The underlying question was about what it means to lead.

 

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No one can play all the positions in a team. Each player must play his position well.

No business leader should do everyone's job.

Leadership is not being the jack-of-all-trades or the hands-on micromanager. 

Identify what needs to be done.

Define what each player is to do.

Find the players with the right skill set to play each part.

Back off and let them do their work.

Lead by casting the vision. 

Lead by defining the boundaries, obligations and responsibilities.

Lead by empowering employee choices.

Hold employees accountable for performance.

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Text message at 8:21 a.m. "Thanks for your help yesterday. You sparked a lot of ideas for me. I know what I need to do now. You have helped me look at life a lot differently." 

Maybe we'll get around to time management and priority management next week. Time permitting.

What new responsibilities have you taken on in the past year?

Strategic Marketing Referral Ladder

Who does not like referrals? 


Our approach to getting more referrals needs to have a clearly understood objective. This diagram helps to give clarity to a strategic marketing referral approach.


The Five-Fold Objective of a Strategic Marketing Strategy are:
1. Turn Prospects into First Time Buyers.
2. Turn First Time Buyers into Repeat Buyers.
3. Turn Repeat Buyers into Members of our unique community.
4. Turn Members into Advocates for our products or services.
5. Turn Advocates into Raving Fans who can't stop talking about our products or services.


Your Raving Fans are those businesses or individuals that generate referrals for your business. Develop a plan that accomplishes the following for your Raving Fans:
1. Decide to contact them on a regular basis (once a month, once every 6 weeks)
2. Add value to your relationship
3. Affirm your relationship
4. Educate them on how to spot a good referral.
5. Decide how to treat all referrals with excellence
6. Show appreciation to your Raving Fan!


Your Advocates are one step away from becoming Raving Fans. Take time to think about what will move them into that new level of professional relationship. The key is two fold: 1. continue to exceed their expectations and 2. make them conscious of ways they can help you (for example, a testimonial, a review, a referral).


Members are loyal to you but are not motivated to advocate for your goods or services. What should your strategy for Members include? Show how you value their loyalty with the following strategies:
1. Listen to their feedback
2. Meet their expectations
3. Take one step beyond their expectations.


These top three rungs of the Strategic Marketing Referral Ladder are the most important and where you should be focusing your energy. Take a few minutes right now and identify who is on each rung. Make some action steps to start an upward movement on your Referral Ladder.
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Perhaps you need to schedule some time to break away and give some focused attention to your Referral Ladder. To help expedite your strategic thinking process, contact your Twin Cities Growth Coach serving Minneapolis, St. Paul and surrounding metro communities.