Tag: Linkedin

Do This to Control Your Emotions When You Are at Work

Controlling your emotions is hard enough. Doing so in a stressful and busy environment like at work is even harder.

Have you ever cried after getting feedback? Or struggled with your temper around another team member? You’re human, which means you have complex emotions like frustration, panic, and disappointment.

Leaders are held to a higher standard. You can’t overreact. You must be able to control your emotions. There are many methods you can use to do this. Here are three tools you can use to control your emotions at work.

Get Grounded

This isn’t the same type of grounding that your parents punished you with. Grounding is a technique that can be used to keep your mind in the present.

When emotions strike, it’s easy to lose yourself in thoughts of the past and future. These types of thoughts can fan the flames of your emotions. Here are a few simple techniques you can use to ground yourself and stay in the moment.

• Focus on the eye color of the person you’re talking to.
• Tighten your calf muscles.
• Rock back on your heels a bit.
• If you’re sitting, relax your back into your chair.

The goal of grounding is to focus on what’s true and controllable.

Try Box Breathing

Box breathing is a great way to stay calm and focused. It’s used by the military to manage emotions. It can be a great tool for you to learn and utilize.

This type of breathing is a four-square breathing technique. You will breathe in for four seconds. Hold it for four seconds. Breathe out for four seconds. Hold it for four seconds. Then repeat the same rhythm. This four-sided breathing technique is named after its similar shape. A square or box.

Cool Off

Emotions cause physiological responses in our bodies. Have you ever felt your palms perspire or your cheeks flush in response to anger or embarrassment? This is your sympathetic nervous system going into overdrive. Finding a way to calm your body’s natural response can help you. Cool off is one of these ways.

• Put your hand around a cold glass.
• Take a sip of a cold drink, or put an ice cube in your mouth.
• If you’re wearing a jacket or sweater, remove that layer.
• Move closer to the air conditioner or a vent.
• If possible, take a moment to go to the restroom. This not only creates distance, but you can splash cool water on your face.

There are many more techniques you can use to control your emotions. Start practicing these today so you can be prepared when emotions strike.

Need help getting started? 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 Professionals.

Examples of How Other Businesses Are Handling The Coronavirus Pandemic

Businesses and organizations around the world are changing their policies as COVID-19 continues to spread. Some businesses are providing tremendous examples for other business owners to follow. Below are how some of the largest companies in the world are handling this situation.

1. Uber

Uber has stated that it may temporarily suspend the accounts of riders or drivers confirmed to have the virus. If a driver has tested positive for the virus or is asked to self-isolate, they will receive financial assistance for up to two weeks while their account is on hold.

On top of that, Uber is working to provide all of its drivers with disinfectants to help them keep their cars as clean as possible. Their food delivery service, Uber Eats, is also taking action to protect its drivers and customers. Customers can now elect to have food dropped off at their doorstep to adhere to social distancing practices.

2. Target

Target has looked to increase its staff as demand has grown for groceries and other essentials. They look to increase their staff for services such as pickup and drive up. These services allow customers to get the items they need without ever stepping foot in the store.

They will be cleaning surfaces in checkout lanes and touchscreens at least every 30 minutes to ensure a clean environment for customers. Any team member who feels ill is strongly encouraged to stay home. They have also begun to limit key items per customer to prevent any hoarding.

3. Walmart

Walmart has taken many of the same steps other grocery stores and markets have taken. Hours have been reduced and certain items may be limited by customer. They have also taken steps to ensure social distancing is followed in their stores.

The company has enacted an emergency leave policy for its hourly workers. Any employee that is required to quarantine by the government can receive up to two weeks’ pay. The store is also rigorously cleaning their surfaces.

Before leaving your house to run errands, first, determine rather or not your errands are considered essential. Second, do research to ensure the places you are going are open and are taking steps to protect both you and their employees. These companies are doing what they can to help slow the spread of this virus. *

Need help? 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 Professionals.

7 Steps to Achieve Your Business Goals

When most of us think about Navy SEALs, we think of their bravery and toughness. They take on dangerous missions and seem to achieve the impossible.

In the book The Navy SEAL Art of War by Rob Roy, he talks about how Navy SEALs accomplish these amazing feats. He explains that it’s more about the process than the ability. He lays out these seven steps that you can use to tackle your scariest goals.

1. Always ask clarifying questions. SEALs ask very specific questions to understand their mission clearly. You need to ask yourself the who, why, what, when, where, and how questions about your goal. Use each of these questions to better clarify your objective. You don’t want to go into a mission misinformed about what the objective of it was. The same thing is important when you go after achieving a goal.

2. Inventory all of your available resources. This includes knowing what you have now and what’s coming down the road. Note your tangible resources such as technology and money. Don’t forget to include the intangible resources such as your network and your skills. Consider every resource available to you that can help you reach your goal.

3. Clearly set up roles and responsibilities. If your goal involves help from your team, make sure they know their role and responsibility in achieving it.

4. Maintain hyper focus on your goal. Leaders don’t make excuses and they don’t let circumstances cause them to need an excuse.

5. Think through all possible contingencies and outcomes. Be prepared to work around any problems that may arise. A failure to plan is a planned failure.

6. Train every day. SEALs train a lot. They practice over and over again until they’re stress proof. You need to do the same. The more you train, the faster you’ll be. Training can help you quickly evade problems that arise.

7. The last step is to celebrate! Scratch that. This step is definitely not on the Navy Seals list. It’s great that you reached your goal but now you need an after action review. Navy SEAL’s do a debrief after every mission. You need to do something similar. Look back to see if there are areas you can improve on when you go after your next goal. Rehash the mistakes you made and learn from them to do better next time.

Leaders can learn from Navy SEALs and utilize their processes in the business world. Implement the seven steps above and you’ll be on your way to achieving your next goal.

Need help getting started? 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 Professionals.

Fast Decision Making Can Keep You From Experiencing Disruptions

Whether you working in a company or running one, it’s important to make quick decisions. There are times when you should take time to think and make a plan. However, making quick decisions in some cases can keep your company running smoothly. Here are a few things to put into practice to make this happen.

Pay Attention To Opportunities

In today’s world, everything can change quickly. Advances in technology and growing trends can make it hard to adapt. However, if you’re looking out for these new opportunities, you won’t get surprised. In fact, you should always look for opportunities that will benefit your company.

Some people set an internal focus within their business. This is harmful and will keep your company from growing. An external focus will help you notice outside factors that will help or harm your company.

Be Flexible

When you find various factors that will help or hurt your company, it’s time to adjust your plans. Sometimes you may discover harmful factors to your company and you need to shift your focus. In this case, it’s best to practice being flexible.

Gather your team together and discuss the best course of action. Evaluate all of your options and think through the outcome. Don’t get discouraged when you need to make adjustments.

Take Time to Think Clearly

Making fast decisions requires clear thinking. If you struggle to think quickly in the moment, start by asking key questions. Get your team together and answer questions about the decision.

Taking time to answer your questions will help you prioritize the important areas. Consider the areas your company is vulnerable and what you can do to strengthen those areas. This strategy will help you think clearly and put things into perspective.

Maintain Confidence In Your Actions

Thinking quickly requires you to delegate to your team members and maintain confidence in your decisions. If you’re the only one making decisions, the process is overwhelming. Start by giving some responsibility to your team members. Explain your expectations clearly so there is no uncertainty.

Make Sure Your Company Is Unified

If you’re going to make fast decisions without disruptions, everyone in your company must understand where you stand. Make sure everyone understands the company’s goals and expectations. This will ensure you don’t waste your time growing a company where people don’t agree.

When you need to make fast decisions, try these few steps and watch your company succeed.

We would love to hear your comments. Please email or 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 Professionals.

How Your Company Can Communicate During The Coronavirus Outbreak

COVID-19 has forced businesses and organizations around the world into dealing with unprecedented circumstances. While there may be no tried and true roadmap available to help guide companies through these trying times, there are a few basics companies should continue to practice. Proper planning, communication, and transparency can help you make sure your business sees the other side of this pandemic.

Create a COVID-19 Task Force

First and foremost, you should be assessing how your company is going to be affected by COVID-19. Form a team from different functions of your company to asses your needs and risks. This team should include representatives from the key functions of your business including supply chain, human resources, communications, sales, legal, and more.

Determine who in the task force will make decisions and who will have ultimate authority. Make certain that it is understood throughout the company that employees should only listen to the task force for company updates regarding the virus. Agree internally about what will be communicated before making any announcements to avoid confusion.

Communicate

The most important part of this pandemic for your company will be how your company communicates not only with the customers but with the employees as well. Review the needs of your audience and determine who needs what information and who needs it first.

Your communication plan should be centered around the measures you’re taking to ensure your employees and customers are safe during this pandemic. Regularly pass on information and news to your employees. Don’t let them find out information about the company second-hand. Be sure they are in the know at all times to avoid confusion and a spread of misinformation.

Media Inquiries

This pandemic should change the way your company moves in regards to media inquiries. Consider pushing back any announcements you had planned for the foreseeable future. Journalists, news outlets, and media consumers are focused on COVID-19.

It’s recommended that companies only release statements informing the public on any policy changes during the pandemic. Do not release any information on how the business is being affected by the pandemic.

During these uncertain times, it can be easy to lose yourself in panic when thinking about the future of your company. However, with proper planning and communication, your company can make it out of this pandemic. *

Need help? 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 Professionals.

Focus on Your Strengths and Not Your Weaknesses

It seems in every performance appraisal or job interview it comes up. Yep, your weaknesses. We all know there are things we could do better, but seriously, do we need to shine a bright spotlight on them?

What Happens When You Focus on Your Strengths

Some entrepreneurs believe it is better to focus on your strengths. Focusing on what you are good at enables you to be at your best. It increases enjoyment in your work, and you accomplish more. Instinctively we all enjoy doing things fit are our strengths. When we do things that we love, we get excited. When we are doing things we love, time seems to fly by. It makes us shine, feel good about ourselves, and we perform better.

What Happens When You Focus on Your Weaknesses

Take a moment to think about your weaknesses. How does that make you feel? Tired? Defeated? Drained? When you’re procrastinating it usually involves something you don’t enjoy doing. It stops you from being your best. Focusing on your weaknesses is not the way to make headway in your career.

Improve Your Successes with a Mentor

A mentor can help you make the most of your strengths and use your strengths to solve problems. They know you and can help you get through the difficult days. A great mentor helps you to see that you don’t have to be a pioneer all the time. Your dreams are achievable.

Reframe How You See Problems

Reframing helps you to overcome negative thoughts and use them to feel good about yourself.

Sometimes you may feel that you feel you don’t ‘fit in’. Many successful people have felt that way. You can let the feeling of being different eat at you and undermine your self-esteem. But try to ‘reframe’ the situation to look at it differently. Reframing can help you overcome those feelings. For example, reframe those thoughts with, ‘what makes me strong and different is a good thing. If someone underestimates me, it’s OK. It allows me to catch them off guard.’ Look for ways to turn those moments into something that helps you.

Finding Success

If you want to succeed, focusing on your strengths is the answer. Recognizing your strengths will help you be better and push yourself harder. Keep your eye on your strengths and find ways to enhance and improve them. You’ll love what you’re doing and enjoy your journey to success. *

Need help? 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 Professionals.

Successful CEOs Spend Less Time Managing Then You Think

Successful CEO’s have the ability to spend their time in the most efficient way possible. Their focus is to grow their organization. They’re focused on encouraging their employees to work hard for their company. CEOs are master delegators. They spend less than 40% of their time focused down, managing others. Instead, they spend upwards to 30% of their time looking up and another 30% looking out.

Looking Up

One of the CEO’s main purposes is to be the public face of their organization. They’re the person that shareholders and boards of directors look to for answers. They communicate direction, information, and offer reassurance. This leaves stakeholders feeling confident on where to spend their money.

Well informed stakeholders are able to make better decisions. This includes where and how much they invest in an organization. With investment funds at stake, spending time with stakeholders is an effective use of a CEO’s time.

Looking and Listening Out

What good is the public face of an organization if it’s not seen? An amazing CEO is a well connected and networked CEO.

This means they can’t get stuck behind a desk managing. They must get out and spend time with customers, competitors, influencers, collaborators.

If they want to help their company grow, they need to open their ears. They should always have their ear to the ground listening for ways to improve and grow in innovation. They need to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly. They use this information to mold their products into what customers want. Industry trends change daily. It’s important to be able to move and flow with those trends. This is all the more reason for a CEO to spend time looking out and listening out.

Knowing When To Look Down

Effective CEOs, know how to identify tasks they must complete and tasks they can delegate. They delegate those tasks to leaders in their organization who know how to do the same. Those leaders use the same process to move the tasks down to the appropriate department. This way tasks get assigned to employees whose time is best served completing them.

This process of delegation gives CEOs more time to spend where it’s needed most. They don’t get bogged down with managing their teams. They know when and where to spend their time. This allows them to lead up and out more than they lead down. *

Need help? 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 Professionals.

How to Develop a KPI That Works For Your Business

If your company has no vision, then you will not see success. In order to grow, then everyone needs to be on the same page about goals. In the famous words of Stephen Covey, “Begin with the end in mind”. Let’s take a look at these 5 steps that will help you build world-class KPI’s.

1.Figure Out the Issue

Ask yourself, “What problem do I need to solve?” That will be your root issue and the landing point from where you will build up from. That way, you can tie the rest of your metrics to this issue.

2. What Indicates Progress Toward Your Goal?

One mistake many leaders make is that they go from figuring out the problem they need to solve to trying to measure their success. However, you first need to figure out some indicators that you’re on your way towards your goal. These indicators will also help keep you on track because they can help steer you back towards the goal.

3. How Will You Track Performance?

This is something else that will keep you on track towards your goal. Remember, that the KPI is measuring the outcome. You need to be able to measure all the steps in between to make sure you’re still on track and to make adjustments if necessary.

For example, if your end goal is to add 5 new customers to your client list, then your metrics would be how you measure this.

Would you achieve this by having a certain amount of meetings? Cold calling a certain amount of potential clients? These would be your indicators to help you achieve your goal. The metrics you would track would be how many meetings were held or how many cold calls were made.

4. What Is Your KPI?

This would be the overall goal. In the example above, the KPI would be adding new customers to the client list. Your KPI is actionable and explains what you’re tracking and why you’re tracking it.

5. Where Is Your Information Coming From?

The last thing you need to do is figure out the source for where your information is coming from. How is information being tracked and is it accurate? The best way to ensure the information is accurate is to ensure you assign only one person to each metric. That way, you have one informed person who will know if the information is accurate.

Need help? 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 Professionals.