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What Development Goal Is Right for You?

What Development Goal Is Right for You?

Throughout professional careers, time is often spent focusing on helping others whether it be clients, supervisors, or fellow colleagues and this is time-consuming throughout the years. This is the perfect time to stop and reflect on where you are professionally and what you can do to brush up on your professional skills.

How To Further Develop Your Career

The biggest question every professional asks is what can be done to ensure that they remain up to date with technology and innovations in their field. The answer to this is certifications, licensing, recertifying licensures, or even endorsements that advance and promote professionals skills within the field and areas in which you are employed or hope to pursue employment.

A professional certification can help improve your work skills, knowledge, and competencies in the workplace to have an improved overall effect that is noticeable in your output. There will also be a difference in your understanding of policies and procedures which may enable you to be more proficient and conscious of how decisions affect the business as a whole.

These new skills will help you attain and retain more clients due to improved skills and competencies in the profession you are in.

How To Work Smarter Not Harder

When deciding if credentialing or licenses are the right decision for your career researching how they will help your specific situation and focus in your career is a wise decision. You should consider what are your company’s overall goals and do your wants and needs to match those goals. If your goals are compatible your employer may offer aid in attaining those licenses seeing as there will be an increase in skill and productivity.

The determination of whether the license or certification is right for you based on time, effort, and monetary expense needed before pursuing it fully should be considered fully. If it would help you but you are not able to dedicate the time and monetary amounts needed then it would not help professionally in the end but instead would cause harm and distress. This could cause distraction and decreased attention while in the workplace which could cause negative results and ramifications.

Developing Your Career

Once you have decided upon a certification or licensure to further your professional development goals setting up your time management process to ensure completion is the next step of the process. This will ensure that you complete the process in a timely manner and are able to begin seeing and using the benefits that come from advancing and developing your career further. Due to seeking further education and career development you may find more professional satisfaction in the workplace or other such positive benefits.

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.

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Leaders: This Is The Secret To Preserving Top Talent

Securing and keeping top talent is essential to a company’s success. However, it is also extremely difficult to do. Employers need to try and preserve their best employees and these elite people must be strategic in order to stand out as top talent.

A Leader’s Requirement

If you’re in leadership, then you have to always put your best foot forward and give your best 100% of the time. The benefits of this approach will be seen in the results that follow in both your role and those that you supervise.

Leaders should stand back and be more:

  • Focused
  • Approachable
  • Strategic
  • Thorough

As a leader, take initiative to stay focused and help your team do the same.

Be sure to stick to your company’s vision and others will follow your lead. Also, be an example and take time out to get refreshed so that you can be more balanced in life and stay committed to the company without getting burnt out.

How does one pull this off as a leader? The goal is to have personal leadership and you’ll be set apart. This is just not the norm today.

Steps Toward Personal Leadership: 

Who do you plan to invest in?

As a leader, you must look around you and think about who you should invest in. You may see a need to focus on some growth for yourself too. Is there a course or seminar that would help grow you professionally? Consider yourself but be sure to think about who you need to focus on. Top talent is rare and you don’t want to let a talented individual get passed over or even get complacent. That includes you.

How can you empower someone else?

Once you’ve identified the person or people that you plan to invest in, you need to figure out how to empower them. Equip them to take on a leadership focus and switch their thinking in that direction.

One way to do this is to help them focus on their priorities. They may need help to define what those are, but stick close and they will figure it out in time.

How to consider both time and cost as you develop leaders?

The process of leader development is essential but a strategic approach should be taken. You must think of both the time and cost that it will take to grow talented individuals into leaders. One approach could be to give a large project to someone that is up and coming in their talent and rank in the company. Allow them the opportunity for growth and to let their potential really shine.

Often, the result is that the employee feels empowered and like they are adding value to the goals of the company. This is a win for all.

Growing and preserving top talent will allow for continued growth of your company. The effort is worth it and more.

Your comments are greatly appreciated. Please let us know how we are doing!

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.

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Lower the Basket

In order to improve business operations, you’ll need to acquire the skill of concentration. Companies struggle to make improvements because they are not equipped to move forward as quickly as they’d like and see real growth in the area of operations.

Concentration 

Businesses strive to be more innovative and organized. They want to grow in their communication skills and styles. Often, they lack the one ability that enables them to focus your attention. Concentration is essential for entrepreneurs.

These days we are inundated with busy schedules, social media, and an overwhelming amount of stimulation from all directions. Concentration is what will help us remain focused and stick to our priorities.

This struggle to concentrate may lead us to fail in personal relationships too. Being present is what it takes to concentrate. We need to focus and not get so busy with random tasks and behaviors. People tend to spend their time daydreaming about the weekend, their upcoming vacation, or tonight’s dinner plans.

Lower the Basket to Increase Concentration

Businesses need to make changes in order to improve their operations and this calls for the need to “Lower the Basket.”

Imagine a young boy that cannot shoot a basketball to save his life. What would a parent do in order to assist him? The child is frustrated and the parent is at a loss. One tip that would help could be to lower the basket. Taking measures to allow growth and stretch the child in a different way could pull off big results.

In other words, bring the basket down to his level and current skill set.  We can use this same approach in business. We must lower the basket for our team in a way that helps them to put their eye on the prize. They need encouragement and to be asked how it is working for them and how it made them feel. This is what concentration is all about.

An employee, like the child trying to shoot hoops, will feel the win and learn how to better hit the goals set before them. Training a new team member and helping them to concentrate will give them the skills they need to be successful within the company.

The basket and the stakes will increase; however, the concentrated efforts to train them and equip them with the tools they need will pay off continuously.

Please send us your comments, suggestions, and ideas today.

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.

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A Lesson in Genius for this New School Year

I’ve spent so many years in school, this week doesn’t feel like the end of summer. If feels like a new year.

You know, the one that comes with sharpened pencils, new penny loafers, and a new notebook to signal a brand-new start.

This season also comes with a reminder about talent I believe applies to lots of people today. In fact, I know it does because when I talk about this in my speeches, people seek me out later – in tears.

It comes from a dissertation by a friend, John Radar. John selected six people known for the important contributions they made to the world. He gathered their elementary school records if any were available. Since some were historical figures and no actual records could be located, he created them using biographies and other accounts of their lives.

He included information about their physical health, intellectual ability, family relationships, genetics, social skills, emotional maturity and goals in life and labeled each record with a fictitious name.

Then, he assembled groups of school administrators, teachers and parents to review the records and select two for a special gifted and talented program. Each study participant made their selection and then the group arrived at a consensus. When the group decision was final, the records were “unblinded” and the real names revealed.

Eleanor Roosevelt was not among the two selected. Study participants viewed her as unsuitable because she was shy and withdrawn, her father was alcoholic and her stated life goal – to help people – was “soft.”

Abraham Lincoln was rejected because he lived in poverty with a single-parent and had a disease, Marfan’s Syndrome, known to shorten lifespan. The arts, generally, were not valued which is why Isadora Duncan didn’t make the cut.

The two selected children excelled at the traditional “three R’s.” One was a boy who completed a PhD in Math as a teenager and the other was Bill Bradley, who was not yet a Senator but at that point a Rhodes Scholar and professional basketball player.

Kinda breaks your heart, doesn’t it?

Each one of those rejected contributed a genius to the world:

  • Eleanor Roosevelt showed us the value of emotional intelligence.
  • Abraham Lincoln taught us the value of persistence in the face of loss and how to heal a nation.
  • Isadora Duncan demonstrated that the arts have an important place in our soul.

Might you – or one your children – be graced with genius like this?

If so, I hope it’s been recognized and is being nurtured by the connections in your networks today.

Your comments are greatly appreciated. Please let us know how we are doing!

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.

By Glenna Crooks, Ph.D., noted executive, speaker, problem-solver (www.glennacrooks.com), SageMy™Life founder and author of The Network Sage: Realize Your Network Superpower,

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Leaders Can Be Wrong and Still Be Right

Leaders Can Be Wrong and Still Be Right

People spend much of their time trying to be right and working to avoid being wrong at all costs. While this may be ok in some instances, leadership is not one of them. As early as our childhood, we learn that getting in trouble or doing things wrong is not acceptable. In business and leadership, we should switch our thought process and even embrace and grow from being wrong and accepting the blame when it applies to our situation.

If your team sees you as someone who is constantly right, then you may appear to be a know-it-all. Most likely, this is not pleasant for those around you and doesn’t help you with your leadership role either. Accepting the fact that you are just plain wrong at times will help you improve and allow others around you to see you as both more human and approachable. Try the following:

Embrace Mistakes

If you never make a mistake, then you are not taking enough risks. How will you grow as a leader if you never mess up? You can be wrong and still do well overall. If you want to grow personally, then you must be willing to fail and do it gracefully.

When you make a mistake and let your team see you handle it well, you build trust and buy-in amongst your staff. It is much harder to be transparent and people will respect that effort as you own up to a mistake or flaw of some kind. Embracing mistakes will enable you to be seen as real, approachable, and respected.

Focus on improvement

Your goal should be to constantly improve. If you can’t accept that you have areas where you need to grow, then improvement will be tough. As a leader, your team will follow suit as you seek to change, develop, and try new things. Working as an entire group, you can accomplish much more than on your own.

Cultivate strong team members

Work to grow your team’s strength. These individuals will, in turn, help you as a leader to become stronger with the goal to constantly improve. Be sure that everyone knows to avoid the blame game and set everyone up to grow and learn from each other instead.  Accept being wrong and your team will too. Everyone acknowledging a flaw, mistake, or issue will enable people to feel “human” and it will foster growth rather than squelch it.

Leaders can be wrong and still be right. Seriously? Yes, by accepting that you are wrong from time to time, you will actually be doing things just right. Your team will appreciate your transparency and you will be on the path of continued growth.

Your comments are greatly appreciated. Please let us know how we are doing!

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.

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8 steps to take toward a succession plan

8 steps to take toward a succession planClose knit organizations or multi-generational family businesses tend to have some similar problems along with benefits. One of the issues that rises to the top, yet is often ignored, is a succession plan.

When businesses have a family like management team, then rivalries and personal agendas can often come into play. Also, the situations can be strained because no one wants to hurt feelings or offend.

Open communication must happen in order to have a good succession plan. There are legal and tax issues to be considered. If you put a plan in place, then succession can go smoothly.

Think ahead and follow these 8 steps if you have a family-owned business:

1. Set Clear Goals

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to sit as a team and set clear, specific long (and short) term goals.

When it comes to the future, you should leave no stone unturned. Iron out the details and get the goals and vision in writing.

2. Come Up with Managerial Competencies

Establish agreed upon managerial competencies that showcase what’s important to your operation.

3. Evaluate the Team

Create a system to evaluate your managerial team. Consider the skills of each team member and figure out which managerial competencies are their strengths.

4. Review the Assessment

Be sure to review the findings of the assessment to learn more about each person’s strengths. Then work to tailor an individual development plan for each team member’s career.

5. Legal and Tax Advice

When it comes to family business, there are transfers of ownership and tax implications that must be considered. Seek out counsel and get proper legal advice.

6. Performance Management

Teach your managers how to hold their team accountable for their performance. They should be trained to seek specific outcomes which will help when it comes to a succession plan.

7. Talk with Successors

Talk with your top team members about their career goals and the path they are on. Find ways to provide more training and help them develop even further.

8. Hold on Tight

Do whatever it takes to hold onto your best people. Offer incentives and a great benefits package in order to keep your top talent.

When it comes to proper succession, timing is extremely important. Be wise when it comes to starting a transition. Move your managers up at a slow pace and give them the proper training that they need. With a close-knit group of people, be sure to communicate the promotion and ensure that everyone is clear on the role change.

In order to have a sustainable company, you need to have a strategic plan and a thorough execution of the set goals.

Your comments are greatly appreciated. Please let us know how we are doing!

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.

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Science Discovers Why Some People Are Motivated to Succeed While Others Aren’t

Science Discovers Why Some People Are Motivated to Succeed While Others Aren’t

Why are some people motivated, focused, and successful, while others seem to get distracted, and have little to no motivation to get things done? Is it due to their upbringing? Maybe something about their personality?

Believe it or not, science has made a discovery as to why some are motivated while others aren’t.

Here’s what studies have shown:

Motivation Really Is All In Your Head

Everyone talks about having the right mindset to get things done in life. To be truly successful, it starts with self-talk and what’s in your head. Well, it turns out that part of that is true. Motivation really is all in your head.

Studies have shown that motivation comes from the nucleus accumbens which is a small section in the brain that sends chemical messages to your body. This is the area of your brain that keeps you focused.

Dopamine Is the Key Ingredient to Motivation

Dopamine is one of the 4 happiness hormones, listed among serotonin, endorphins, and oxytocin. When this chemical is released into the body, it passes information from neuron to neuron.

As it moves around in your brain, it comes in contact with other receptors.

The way dopamine plays a role in motivation has to do with the mesolimbic pathway it takes in the brain to communicate. This pathway lies in the middle of your brain and leads to the cerebral cortex. When dopamine goes through this pathway, it provides your brain with the ultimate reward.

Dopamine Encourages Us to Act So We Can Reach The Reward

The main job of this chemical is to get you to move on your thoughts. While it is present when we are happy, it also helps us through pain, loss, or stressful situations. Its job is to get us to do something while avoiding things that are bad.

Motivated People Have More Of This Chemical

Scientists at Vanderbilt conducted a study between those that were highly motivated and those that were considered lazy. They found that the more motivated group had higher levels of dopamine in their system.

Ways to Increase Dopamine

Since you know that this chemical is responsible for more motivation, there are things you can do to increase this in your body. Here are a few things you should implement in your life:

  • Focus on one task at a time to keep from depleting your brain’s energy
  • Be an endgame thinker
  • Eat foods high in L-tyrosine which include vegetables, avocados, bananas, green tea, and apples to name a few
  • Tell others what you’ve accomplished
  • Lend a helping hand to others
  • Take note of the things you have accomplished

These are a few things you should add to your daily routine so that you increase the dopamine in your system. The greater this chemical, the more motivated you will be to get things done.

Your comments are greatly appreciated. Please let us know how we are doing!

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.

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How to Hold On to Millennial Employees

Millennials get a bad rap these days as job hoppers. However, most want to find a great company to grow with. In order to secure dynamic millennials as new hires, you’ll need to adjust how you interview and portray your company in the most attractive light for them.How to Hold On to Millennial Employees

Employee retention is essential, and you’ll find that life is downright painful without it. Companies with high staff turnover rates spend significant time and money on hiring. Spinning your wheels in the hiring process is exhausting and hurts employee morale.

There are ways to hold on to these millennials, reduce your turnover, and build a great team. Be sure your company takes the following steps and initiatives.

Take Your Time and Hire Right

The goal is to find a solid employee with a passion for your company and a drive to succeed. You will want to pass on the candidates that seem flighty with exaggerated dreams of fame and fortune. They won’t stick around long.

Also, hiring managers should embrace millennials that already have some job experience with other companies. They know what they like and don’t like at this point and may be more likely to settle in and stay longer.

Millennials Want a Two-way Street

Work-life balance is important to millennials. They have a willingness to work hard but expect quite a bit from their employers in return. Millennials demand outstanding working conditions, nice salaries, and desire growth opportunities.

There are several ways to provide them with what they want and create a pleasant two-way street. Try to offer them the following:

  • Flexible work hours
  • Great training programs
  • Ask for their opinions and preferences
  • Set clear guidelines and expectations
  • Applaud their achievements and efforts
  • Give them quick feedback
  • Be open to frequent communication 

Change Is Good

In your efforts to retain your millennial workforce, you will find that some changes need to be made within your company. Don’t shy away from this. Your style and culture may need to shift in order to create an environment where millennials will thrive and have the desire to stay and grow in their positions.

In recent years, millennials have brought new perspectives to the workforce. We have seen them embrace equality and diversity in the workplace, for example. They are open-minded and passionate. If you want to retain this talented group, then you’ll adjust accordingly and won’t be sorry you made the effort.

We would love to hear your comments! Contact us today.

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.

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Successful Leaders Understand and Use DISC

When you are a leader in a company, the biggest job you have is communicating well with your staff and facilitating a good environment in which the staff can communicate to one another.

Successful Leaders Understand and Use DISC

In order to boost communication levels, you must understand your own personality as well as the others you work with. Personality traits play a key role in how we express ourselves and understand the way others express themselves to us. It is only natural to think everyone has the same thought processes that you have and understand things the same way that you do. On the contrary, each of us have a different way of communicating and understanding what is being said to us by those around us. With the use of a DISC profile assessment, you can understand your behavioral style and how to best interact with others that have a different behavioral style.

Why Take a DISC Profile Assessment

DISC stands for four different characteristic traits: dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance. DISC is the “HOW” we do things…. Not WHY. How we walk, talk, react, communicate, etc… Not everyone who is similar in these assessments are identical. Your personality has been shaped by a number of factors, whether it be experiences, environment, and belief systems to name a few. No two people will express themselves the same.

Understanding yourself more in depth will help you to be more self-aware. When you take the time to know yourself better, you will inevitably be able to know others better.

How Does DISC Play an Important Role in Good Leadership

Self-awareness plays a key role in being a good manager. DISC assessments help you to take a deeper look at your own personality and communication style. Not only that, in these assessments, you will be given the skills necessary to know how to tailor your communication styles with others that exhibit different personality traits. When you understand how your style of communication is coming across to your employees, you will be able to adjust your actions based off of who you are relating to.

Successful Leaders Understand and Use DISC

With these types of resources available, it is important for leaders to use them to their advantage. To be successful in your business, you have to master the art of relating to other people, no matter how much your personality conflicts with theirs. As a good leader, you need to understand how to encourage your staff to work better while keeping misunderstandings to a minimum. Through utilizing a DISC profile assessment, it takes the guesswork out of how to best communicate and relate to others in your business.

No matter what form of business you run, successful leadership starts with understanding your staff. Until you know them and how to relate to them, you will not communicate as well as you need to. By administering DISC assessments, you will give yourself and your business the foundation needed to build a strong corporation.

Contact us today to try our DISC assessment for free! You will quickly realize their power & significance.

Your comments are greatly appreciated. Please let us know how we are doing!

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.

 

Written for us by our associate Gary Sorrell, Sorrell Associates, LLC. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Improve Your Recruiting Processes

Acquiring top talent is difficult and yet so crucial to your business’ success.

Improve Your Recruiting Processes

Technology has advanced the recruitment process and coupled with an element of human interaction, better candidates can be secured.

Today, there is an abundance of technological recruiting and assessment options. However, companies are not able to measure the long-term impact of these hiring advances as well as you’d think. They struggle to pinpoint the real impact of quality hires and how long they stay.

Hiring managers expect more out of their candidates, especially after they’ve been given assessments and the tools necessary to reveal whether they are the right person for the position. They want to enhance the process in order to attract and then secure better employees.

Acquisitions are important, time-consuming, and potentially costly during the recruitment process.

Ever wondered how this process could improve? It’s a common question amongst hiring managers and HR departments. The more the system is fine-tuned the better for all involved.

Recently there was a survey of 200 hiring managers that revealed some interesting results.

  1. The hiring managers that responded said they wanted to see the recruitment process improved by their HR department.
  2. They reported the desire for a more data-driven process when given the task to hire top candidates.

Recruitment Process

Larger organizations often consist of hiring managers that are frustrated by the challenges associated with recruitment. The survey revealed that they feel like HR should improve the process by utilizing different recruitment tactics.

Data-Driven Process

Hiring managers want to pursue top talent and believe the process should be data-driven. They want candidates to complete assessments and take the information gathered for consideration during the hiring process. Talent acquisition based on facts and data will ensure a better candidate and most likely a longer term employee.

Hiring managers rely on HR to set an acquisition system in place. When they don’t consider best practices and stick to the old way of doing things, they hurt their team and the ability to secure the most talented candidates for open positions. Further, data is a useful tool that will enable a more well-rounded decision to be made when selecting a candidate.

Consider these things and bring them up for discussion as a team in order to create a more seamless recruitment process for your company. Working together as a team will ensure you acquire better candidates while improving employee morale and your bottom line over time.

Need help before your interview? Call us today!

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.

 

Written for us by our associate Gary Sorrell, Sorrell Associates, LLC. All rights reserved worldwide.