How To Bring Your The Purpose Of Your Business Alive
May 24, 2016

To download this interview right click here and select 'save link as'.

Have you ever uttered the words or had the thought "I wish I could find good people" or "why don't my people care as much as me"?

These can be symptoms of a lack of connection with the purpose of your business .... What???

Yes it can be a little intangible and is on the 'fluffy' side of business, but the truth is, as humans we crave connection. Yes even you. And if your team doesn't feel a connection to the work they are doing, their sense of care will be greatly diminished.

In this interview, Candace Wagner shares how she has brought her business purpose alive in a multitude of ways. Enjoy!

The Reality of Open Book Management
Mar 24, 2016

Truthfully, this is just one reality .. but a good one at that šŸ™‚

Norm Jefferies of Computer Merchants has been running his company for over 20 yrs and I think it's fair to say, he's doing a damn fine job at it.

Norm and his team adopted the philosophy of Open Ā Book Management (OBM) at an early stage and it has become a key part of their culture.

In this interview, Norm shares how they implementedĀ OBM and whatĀ the benefits and challenges have been of sharing the numbers within the team. We dive intoĀ the specific of day-to-day tactics, how OBM affects performance and how they make it a living and effective tool to align the team.

If you are thinking of implementing Open Book Management or are on the other side and think it's crazy, either way you'll get some direct benefit of learning from Norm's experience.

Enjoy!

 

LinksĀ from the interview:

Computer Merchants website -Ā http://www.computermerchants.com.au/

Norm on LinkedIn -Ā https://www.linkedin.com/in/normjefferies

The Great Game of Business -Ā http://greatgame.com/

Ownership thinking -Ā http://www.ownershipthinking.com/

Cloud Technology – What You Need To Consider Before Diving In
Feb 17, 2016

Cloud computing is all the rage ... in case you didn't know. It has the capacity to significantly increase your competitive advantage ... if you know how. And therein lies the challenge.

Enter Clayton Oates.

Clayton has been consulting to SME's about software for over 25yrs. So if you ask how long he's been involved with cloud technologies, it's fair to say he's been there from the start. In this interview we dive into the reality of cloud technology today, what it can do for your business and what you should be wary of.

There are definitely some precautions to be taken. But not so many as to stay on the sidelines. Be bold and have a listen to the gems Clayton shares with us in this 30min chat.

Enjoy.

Note: You can find Clayton at the following links:Ā Website |Ā Twitter |Ā LinkedIn

If you'd like to download the interview mp3, right click hereĀ and choose 'Save Link As...'

All Performance is Driven by the Quality of Our Thinking – Interview with Damian McConnell
Jan 22, 2016

To download this interview right click here (and choose 'Save As')

Damian McConnell has been involved in Personal & Professional Development for the past 16yrs and now brings his message to the business world working with individuals and teams to elevate and improve how they think.

We dive into Goal Setting and how to go about it so that yourĀ goals areĀ realized vs just being dreams. Damian has a unique view on this and some powerful ways to go about it.

You may have heard before that your goals need to be 'realistic' and 'achievable'. Damian likes to scrap this approach and his philosophy around thisĀ is worth exploring. You might be surprised.

Enjoy the conversation.

Notes: here are some links that were mentioned in this interview

Damian's website -Ā http://www.mindstoretraining.com.au/

Napoleon Hill -Ā http://www.naphill.org/

Gestalt -Ā https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology

90-day planning document

A Better Alternative to New Years Resolutions
Jan 18, 2016
Most people acknowledge that New Year's resolutions rarely work, so why do we keep making them? Is it a moment of drunken utopia that makes us believe that this year is going to be different?
The truth is, Jan 1st is just another day in the calendar. There is nothing magical about it. I know that sounds a bit deflating. Sure, it comes with the perception that you get a clean slate (and Iā€™m all for taking advantage of that) but that is it. So why do we think a ā€˜resolutionā€™ is going to work on Jan 1st vs. any other date on the calendar?
The reason most resolutions donā€™t work is because there is no emotional substance behind them. The plan to go to the gym and workout 4 times a week takes some serious dedication. Most people wonā€™t do it because it requires a massive change in habits and the payoff is not entirely clear. The gym resolution is based more out of pain and fear (ā€œI look like crap in front of a mirrorā€) vs passion and excitement.
My goal here is to give you a more concrete strategy to make your business and your life better
There are three things that must exist for a plan to be well executed. They are:
  1. Emotional leverage.
  2. Tools and skills.
  3. Visibility / Accountability.
(note: Iā€™m now talking about plans and not resolutions. And the first ingredient to make a plan work is to actually have a plan 😃.Ā I'm not going to be talking about how to create your plan here. For more on that topic read my post creating 90-day plansĀ or the importance of planning)
Emotional Leverage - is the ā€˜whyā€™ behind your plan.
Why do you want it?
What is it going to do for you?
How important is that to you?
Your answers to these questions must add up and offset the level of difficulty in sticking to your plan. In other words if you are not really clear on the payoff, you are likely to quit or fall off the plan as you come up against obstacles. If the pain of not achieving your goal is less than the pleasure from hitting your goal ā€¦ youā€™ll quit every time.
The way I do this, is I get my wife and kids involved in setting our family goals. Then together we work to build our vision board (a board with pictures representing the things we want to ā€˜beā€™, ā€˜doā€™ and ā€˜haveā€™). These are both individual and family based. One of the ā€˜haveā€™ items on our vision board right now is a pool in our backyard. And every other night or so, as we are putting the kids to bed, we role play how it would be to have the pool, like it is already there. During this process we get a feeling that builds within us. Itā€™s an excitement and it give me fuel during the day when Iā€™m going about executing my plan. Believe me, having your kids asking daily ā€œhowā€™s the pool coming along Dad?ā€ is potent fuel for action.
Does it work. Hell yes. Iā€™m using it right now. For me, writing like Iā€™m doing here, is one of those tasks that will easily fall on the procrastination pile. So to make it happen I think of my kids playing in the pool. It makes me move!
Tools and skills - when you are awesome at something, it is much more fun to do. Simply because it is easy. So to make executing on your plan easier, get better at the things on your plan. The more you invest in your own education and betterment, the easier life becomes. The question to answer is - ā€œwhat 2 or 3 skills are going to be critical to this plan succeedingā€. Then develop some methods for improving (reading books, practice, attending a course etc). Just think, if you invested in improving 1 or 2 skills every 90-days, how much could you improve over the course of a year? What about 5yrs? Oh yeh ā€¦ this is where the gold really lies.
Visibility and Accountability - Even if you have strong emotional leverage and you have all the tools and skills you need to be successful, sometimes we just donā€™t make the best choices with our time. (i.e. we get distracted - it happened to me yesterday as I passed too close to a bike shop and I got sucked right in 😃Ā ) and caught up in things that are not key to our progress.
My suggestion for you here is have your goals and key activities clearly posted where you can see them. I use my 90-day plan format and have it posted on my wall in my office. Our family vision board is where we eat every meal. It is all front and centre so itā€™s very hard to forget. I also take tasks from my 90-day plan and have them posted right in my calendar so I know exactly what Iā€™m supposed to be working on and when. My last tool is one I call 'The Sales Gameā€™ and it is a points system based on certain activities I know need to be done to grow my business. It sits on my desk and is very obvious. It serves as a constant reminder as of what I should be working on.
Having someone you are accountable to also helps. You really should have others involved in your plan anyway so it becomes easy for others to see what should be getting done. Iā€™m not a big fan of people checking in on me (I know when Iā€™m behind, having people ask me just pisses me off). What works for me is making commitments to people. I really feel bad when I donā€™t keep my commitments. Know what form of accountability works for you and use it to your advantage. Want an app solution? Check out www.coachme.com
Some things to remember before you run off - executing on an idea is way harder than coming up with the idea. Sticking with a plan is way more important than having the perfect plan. Use these tools and strategies to truly make this your best year. Iā€™d love to hear your success stories. Email me jamie@jamiecunningham.com