How To Keep Growing
How To Keep Growing
How do you keep your business growing? How do you ensure the health of your business and your personal income against threats from competition, market cycles, commission payout changes, regulation of all kinds, and the human threat of complacency?
The answer isn't to run faster on the same treadmill. The laws of physics say you can maintain a steady speed and still accelerate by changing direction. Since you're already traveling at top speed in your business and personal life, you can get the acceleration you need by making small changes in the direction you're taking.
It's hard to foresee what those changes will be, but they'll reveal themselves if you regularly devote some time to thinking and working on your business, not just in your business. A professional is constantly learning and improving through reading, professional education (an annual requirement in some professions), research etc.
Coaching is a very personal and effective means of keeping a perspective on what's happening and "noodling" with someone else what your growth options are. Without a second perspective you often "can't see the forest for the trees." The top professionals in sports and business have a coach or mentor they trust to help them improve their game.
I use a simple set of questions with my clients that focus attention on the gap between what clients know and what they do. Whether my coaching is only once a month or as often as once a week, these questions apply. Try them yourself -- or with a coach to see their power.
Self-Coaching Questions
Begin by writing the completion of these "Sustainment Statements" every week. I recommend a weekly period to give them urgency and to help maintain your momentum. Feedback on a weekly basis is more effective than it is over a longer period of time.
Sustainment Statements
* For the next week I will ... (Be very specific)
* So that ... (What is the outcome and benefit?)
* The results will look like this ... (If you can't describe it, how will you know it happened?)
* After the first week you ask, "What have I done to make progress in ... ?"
* How well or how much did I do? (rate yourself 1-5)
* What will I do next? __________ (pick your next step toward a certain goal or direction)
* So that ...
* The results will look like this ...
Next, find someone to "check your homework." Who is going to keep you on track? I began offering a tickler service to clients who want to do self-coaching in addition to using my regular coaching services.
Repeating this questioning process weekly will make weekly improvements to your business. If you want to make regular progress, get someone or something you are accountable to weekly.
Bob Lodie is a speaker, business strategy coach and consultant to financial advisors. He is author of "Three Steps to Million Dollar Production" and "Personal Success from the Inside Out. He can be reached at bob@boblodie.com or direct at 310-552-6064
How To Keep Growing - To learn more about this author, visit Donald F. Pooley's Website.
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What gets measured gets done.
How do you keep your business growing? How do you ensure the health of your business and your personal income against threats from competition, market cycles, commission payout changes, regulation of all kinds, and the human threat of complacency?
The answer isn't to run faster on the same treadmill. The laws of physics say you can maintain a steady speed and still accelerate by changing direction. Since you're already traveling at top speed in your business and personal life, you can get the acceleration you need by making small changes in the direction you're taking.
It's hard to foresee what those changes will be, but they'll reveal themselves if you regularly devote some time to thinking and working on your business, not just in your business. A professional is constantly learning and improving through reading, professional education (an annual requirement in some professions), research etc.
Coaching is a very personal and effective means of keeping a perspective on what's happening and "noodling" with someone else what your growth options are. Without a second perspective you often "can't see the forest for the trees." The top professionals in sports and business have a coach or mentor they trust to help them improve their game.
I use a simple set of questions with my clients that focus attention on the gap between what clients know and what they do. Whether my coaching is only once a month or as often as once a week, these questions apply. Try them yourself -- or with a coach to see their power.
Self-Coaching Questions
Begin by writing the completion of these "Sustainment Statements" every week. I recommend a weekly period to give them urgency and to help maintain your momentum. Feedback on a weekly basis is more effective than it is over a longer period of time.
Sustainment Statements
* For the next week I will ... (Be very specific)
* So that ... (What is the outcome and benefit?)
* The results will look like this ... (If you can't describe it, how will you know it happened?)
* After the first week you ask, "What have I done to make progress in ... ?"
* How well or how much did I do? (rate yourself 1-5)
* What will I do next? __________ (pick your next step toward a certain goal or direction)
* So that ...
* The results will look like this ...
Next, find someone to "check your homework." Who is going to keep you on track? I began offering a tickler service to clients who want to do self-coaching in addition to using my regular coaching services.
Repeating this questioning process weekly will make weekly improvements to your business. If you want to make regular progress, get someone or something you are accountable to weekly.
Bob Lodie is a speaker, business strategy coach and consultant to financial advisors. He is author of "Three Steps to Million Dollar Production" and "Personal Success from the Inside Out. He can be reached at bob@boblodie.com or direct at 310-552-6064
How To Keep Growing - To learn more about this author, visit Donald F. Pooley's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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