A leader knows behind any growing business, is an even bigger, growing leader. Leadership development, the time and expense of it, are the truest measurements of a leader fully committed to growth and a business that can afford it. To arrive at a place that can afford you the luxury of spending time developing yourself, means you have curated an equally developed business. A business that can support the expense of its most crucial system, Leadership.
Read MoreI started to find myself thinking of work, all the time. Without realizing it, I was so overly consumed with the constant chatter in my mind of what to do and when it needed to be done, I didn’t realize how much stress I had actually added to my life. However, being masked by the false sense of control I had over my schedule and time, allowed me to live in this weird, under and over committed work from home status.
It really turned into the perfectly, hard lifestyle.
Read MoreBefore the COVID crisis, life had become easy and accessible. We could go where we want, whenever we want and super-fast. With entertainment at our fingertips, stimulation was our drug. Worldwide food options and access to goods within hours of placing orders was not luxury, but a staple. People will go and pick up your takeout food from just about anywhere you want and deliver it to you. Your takeout food. Let that sink in for a moment. And even if we wanted to go pick up our own, take out food, we can hire a personal driver, in whatever luxurious mood we are in(I won’t deny I go super deluxe every once in a while), to drive us there and back. Many got into a state of complacent, consistent obligation to staying busy all the time.
Read MoreIn the past, some may have called me a gypsy, a roamer, a rambling rose. Yet, with where all the roads may lead me, I don’t think the grass is any greener or the wine any sweeter, than my home away from home.
Read MoreI find myself in yet another systems conversation. I probably talk about systems as much as I do my kids. People talk to me about systems all day long, such as the conversation I find myself in right now. This clients story is no different than anyone else’s, yet with such similarities, I smile, that in some way, all entrepreneurs are plagued with the same challenges. “You really mean I have to document all of that? Shouldn’t they just know how to do that. Especially when I tell them when they are hired?”
Read MoreIt was the middle of the day. I had one of those rare, meeting free days, where essentially I could do what I want, when I wanted. I had a list of to-do’s; related to this day and beyond that I had to choose from. I couldn’t find the clarity to do anything. Mind you it wasn’t avoidance or motivation; which I know plagues many other people out their. It truly was having a deep sense of organization, that made those precious hours the most impactful they could be. Luckily, I knew what to do.
Read MoreI had looked forward to attending this workshop all year. It usually sells out. I know. I have been on the waiting list far too long. My invitation was finally here, crisp and ready to be replied to. As I scrolled over all the usual mumbo jumbo, an acronym scrolled across the bottom that stopped me, BYOD. With the continual degradation of traditional acronyms, this could mean anything. When in doubt, Google it. In 30 seconds I had my answer.
Read MoreAs I listen to my client, I am struck by his intelligence. It is honest, self generated, Ivy League school supported, experience worthy intelligence. It is a type of intelligence I will never hold; much of it relates to his industry and service offerings that are highly niched, degree driven and detailed orientated.
Disclaimer: I have my own intelligence; also degree, experience and organized driven.
Read MoreI have an incessant habit of cleaning before the New Year. I can’t stand bringing junk and disorganization into something that feels to fresh, clean and opportunistic as a New Year. Being off for a few days over the November holiday, allowed me to start digging through piles, filing the trash bin and finding old memories. What a good feeling it is to purge the stuff I don’t need and reconnect with my past memories. This year, I came across something I hadn’t seen in many years; my resume.
Read MoreI remember getting the email like it was yesterday. The neighbor emailed me, “YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE. CALL ME.” As I made the dreaded call, I got the news that no home owner wants to hear. Your rental house is on fire and the neighbors called the fire department. My husband left immediately, for what seemed like, the longest 2.5 hours ever. Waiting to hear what became of my beloved house, the one we brought home our first born to, the one I started my business in, the one that allowed us to move to our dream property on the coast, was the longest 2.5 hours of my life. When my husband called, it wasn’t to lament over the fact that the tenants blew up and then burnt down the garage. No, his words were much simpler; Do we have our papers in order?
Read MoreAfter countless days of wondering, I finally do it. I finally garner the courage to follow up with an associate who hasn’t responded to me in 4 days. Yep, four days..which in my world is a lifetime. During that time, I have thought of her on five different occasions, pushed back our project by 3 days and halted another one coming in, unsure of what direction she wanted to take our work. I have side tracked other work and painfully watched my email, waiting….and waiting……and waiting. All she has to do is respond, answer a simple question about next steps and send it off to me. Did she get the email? Did she forget about me? Did she push send and the internet trolls ran off with my email? No one really knows, because she didn’t follow up.
Read MoreWhat do I do? Do I succumb to the shiny object in front of me? A day of being unplugged? To forgo the accountability and tasks, meetings and outreach that was all scheduled, so strategically might I add, on this day? It would be disastrous to my business goals. I would be behind, by January 5th.
Read MoreLiving with paranoia is crippling. Just ask my client Bob. When Bob came to me he was so paralyzed by his paranoia, that making day to day decisions created so much anxiety and fear that the business was stalling out. Marketing initiatives were not being made, hiring new employees was lagging to the point that client orders were being delayed and even deciding when to schedule a management meeting took so much time, they never happened. Employees were tip toeing around him, to try and push work forward, in fear that if Bob had to intervene, everything would come to a halt.
Read MoreMy hope is my kids know that I am their mother and the rules, love and our family culture is one that they want. However it makes you wonder about the way we are with our employees as well. Could showing up different every time your employees go looking for you, just like the little bird experienced when trying to find his mother, create distrust? Could your employees disloyalty and sluggish behavior be your fault?
Leading employees is a role, that when absent, will show up in low productivity, loyalty and growth. What do those signs really look like?
Read MoreI just crossed a big one off the 2017 goal list and I will not deny, it feels good. It took months of hard work, planning, organizing and perseverance, but in the end it was worth it. While it had nothing to do with Synergy Business Coaching, in some ways it had everything to do with it. Training and running for the Mendocino Trail 50K(That is 31 miles for you Americans) taught me that life is work and work is life.
Read MoreLast week I opened my email, for the fourth time that day and found 6 newsletters in it. A few from current clients, one from a past and various reach outs from companies I have possibly given way to much money to over time. With the limited amount of time I have, I found myself naturally prioritizing what I needed to read, wanted and would never even open. Each week, I find myself doing this more and more and wonder, can there be too much information?
Read MoreEverything was good until, someone asked something so random, I wasn’t even sure they had been sitting through the session the entire time. They pressed me for an answer and I wanted to help. But I wasn’t sure how. I began to sweat and my responses began to ramble a mile a minute. Oh crap. My worst nightmare was becoming a reality at 11:30 in the morning. One of my flaws was being exposed and I couldn’t do anything about it.
Read MoreMost people are challenged to celebrate their wins. In business we are trained to work hard, do our jobs, keep our heads down and clock in and out on time. We have become so trained to do, we have forgotten to be…and being is what life is all about.
Read MoreOne day about 6 years ago I decided to start saying no. Sometimes I wonder if it was some subconscious preparation for children or maybe I was doing what I saw all my mentors do. Either way, I did it. I said no…..and I did it again and again and again.
Read MoreCreating and managing a budget might be one of my most favorite business activities as an owner. The boxes and lines, control and excitement, strategy and repeated actions allows my mind to “zen out”. It must be an entrepreneurs “meditation”. But it doesn’t end after building it. Taking this same system and implementing it via the decisions I make, the strategies I implement, the people I hire and fire completes the perfection this system has become.
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