Looking back to plan forward: Part 1
This week we will take a short journey through a series of exercises that we use to cement the leanings from the past year and prepare for the quantum leap into 2016.
The first exercise is a simple one but so many people neglect to do this each year let alone each day. Take time to pause and reflect on your achievements. Make a list of all the highlights that both you and your team have achieved throughout the year. Go through each month, pull out old notes or your diary and make a celebration list.
Once you have exhausted your achievements, jot down, next to each item, the reasons why you achieved these. What was the catalyst or mechanics behind each one? What we are looking for here are the cogs that turned and engaged that resulted in success. This is the real learning here, to understand what was done to achieve the results you experienced. When you are done with this, share these with the team and chat about what went right and what went not so right this past 12 months.
Celebrate the victories and learn from the failures.
Congratulations to the Rugby World Cup winners!
It is really interesting that in championships like the Rugby World Cup, so many teams arrive to participate, and all f them except one, have to go away losers. it’s not quite fair, is it? Of course for the winning team it is alright, but what about the loosing teams?
Do they ever get a chance to reconcile with their emotions, management or fans, to understand what went wrong? In instances like this it is natural for the fans to point fingers and blame. they blame the referee, the coach and sometimes the weather.It is always nice to blame other people for the failures we encounter, because it makes us feel validated in our misery or anger.
So how does that relate to business? do you ever take time to analyse both your failures and victories in business? Do you spend some time in a postmortem discussion, understanding the things that went right in your business, so you can do more of those and the things that went wrong, so you can do less of them.
Do your clients trust you?
In business we all survive by selling a product, service or skill. but we need to build a relationship and trust with the people that we sell those to -our clients. Zig Ziglar said “Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.” Now, I want to focus on trust because trust is the most important factor in every relationship. If trust is lacking in any relationship, forget about everything else.
You may have product, service or competitive pricing, but if you don’t command and deserve trust , you will not enjoy long term success. It is never enough to simply invite trust, trust is earned. that is why successful companies make it their priority to build and maintain trust with their clients. Clients become loyal to a business because they have trust in it.
In a world that changes as quickly as ours, trust becomes a critical factor. Tom Peters – a business consultant calls trust “the issue of the decade”. Trust makes relationships stronger. it makes a lot of things easier. It takes a lot of years to build, but only a minute to destroy.
For each and everyone of us and for every organization, trust remains something to build up, protected, valued and cherished. without it true success is impossible.
How to be awesome on video calls
Four ways to optimize your video calls:
1. Prepare yourself
Make sure your video looks good. the good thing about video is that you can control what the other person sees. Use the ABCD method.
The ABCD method means:
A – Ambiance
– Have a nice quiet place and good lighting to record. Lighting is important, so make sure the lighting is nicely bright.
B – Backdrop
– Make sure your background is professional and neutral, e.g Bookcase, plain wall with a few nice pictures.
C – Clutter
– Remove all clutter from the desk so that you don’t get destructed or find yourself picking up something from the desk when you are nervous.
D – Dress to impress
Put on formal clothes. Do not wear striped, low cut or too tight clothes, they don’t look good on camera. Do not wear clanky jewelry, they can be so noisy to the camera and cause a destruction.
2. Digital First Impression
It is important to look professional on camera just as you would when you meet in person. Use use professional language. since you cannot actually shake hands with your caller, give them a nice, warm smile, a nod or a wave.
3. Virtual Body Language
Your non-verbal communication is as important as your verbal communication. Be sure to look at the camera and not on the screen at all times, that gives a better eye contact.
4. End on a High
Make sure you end your call with a compliment or a call to action. Make an impressive ending.
Bruce On Business: 10 questions you need to ask and answer when venturing into business.
Are you thinking of venturing into a business? Here are the 10 questions you need to ask yourself and answer.
1. What do I want to do?
2. What do I need?
3. Where do I want to be in 3 to 5 years’ time?
4. Where do you want to be in 10 years’ time?
5.1. What would I need to have to help me get there?
5.2. What would I have to be?
6. Who would I have to meet?
7. Where am I currently?
8. What are my current financial capabilities?
9. What education and experience capabilities?
10. Where is your track record?