610-793-6609 michael@achievable.com

How Will You Emerge From This Crisis

May 6, 2020 | Business Growth, Business Owners, CEOs, Leadership, Leadership Development, Strategic Planning, Success

If you are waiting to get back to “business as usual” you will be grossly disappointed. The world has changed, is changing, and will continue to change. Those who are waiting to go back to “business as usual” will be left behind.

So what do we do to thrive in the “new normal”?

As business leaders, our number one priority is to stay focused on strategy and provide direction for our teams.

You might be wondering what an effective strategic plan even looks like right now. Dennis Carey, Ram Charan and Tierney Remick wrote an article  in The Executive outlining 5 critical “pivots” CEOs must make right now to stay in business and ensure a successful future.

Make employees a top priority.
Keep the organization lean and nimble.
Redefine what a “responsible” balance sheet looks like.
Adapt to consumers’ changing needs.
Step up to social responsibility.
If you want your business to thrive you have to be intentional in your actions and not just reactive. Intentionality requires planning. Ask yourself these questions: Is your current plan still applicable?

Are your goals aligned with the aforementioned criteria? Are you taking action to achieve those goals? Are you communicating openly with your team and are you listening to their feedback?

How you and your business emerge from this crisis depends entirely on what you are doing right now. Are you thinking strategically and acting intentionally? Creating a One Page Strategic Plan is a good first step to ensure that you are.

Click here  for more information and to download the One Page Plan Strategic Checklist and get a jumpstart today!

Make It a Grateful Day

May 3, 2020 | Business Owners, CEOs, Happiness, Leadership, Leadership Development

Paul J. Meyer of Leadership Management International defines attitude as “a mental disposition toward events, people, or situations that controls behavior.”

This definition clarifies why it is so important to be mindful and aware of our own thoughts and attitudes. Our thoughts CONTROL what we do, whether consciously or subconsciously.

It is equally important for those who want to live successful lives to change negative thought patterns and attitudes through continuous repetition of new, positive thought patterns.

Attitude is essentially the perspective we take when looking at the world around us. Over the past few weeks, I discussed several different ways that we, as leaders, can look at adversity in a positive light.

Today, I want to discuss one fundamental and powerful perspective that is perhaps most often overlooked – Gratitude! Adopting an attitude of gratitude is a simple step we can take during these times to change our focus from problem to solution. When we start thinking about why we are grateful, our reasons to be grateful become more and more abundant. But how does this work?

Practicing gratitude changes the structure and function of our brains. The more we express gratitude, the more grateful we become overall. Although there is not enough space here to dive deeply into the neuroscience that supports this, you can find it here.

Research also shows that expressing gratitude positively correlates with being happier, healthier, and more professionally engaged. Madhuleena Chowdhury of Positive Psychology explains that regular practice of gratitude releases negative emotions, lessens pain, helps us sleep better, improves our ability to manage stress and reduces anxiety and depression.

As leaders it is our responsibility to model positive attitudes and behavior. If we adopt an attitude of gratitude, our behaviors will show this. We will communicate gratitude to our families, employees, customers and communities not only through our words but through how we live and do business. What a wonderful world it could be if we all behaved gratefully.

Do you want to get started on the journey toward an attitude of gratitude? Click here to download the Attitude of Gratitude worksheet today. Another way to express gratitude is to Celebrate Your Success. Click here to Download.

This is Your Time to Shine

Apr 14, 2020 | Business Owners, CEOs, Ethical Leadership, Leadership, Leadership Development, Success

Many of us have endured the OPEC oil crisis, hyperinflation, stagnation, Black Monday, the Asian financial crisis, the Dot.com crash, 9/11, the Gulf War, the Great Financial Crisis, and many other blows over the years and we survived and some even thrived through the mess of it all

The reality is we already have the necessary skills for dealing with scary times like this because for most of us we have already been through challenging times just starting and growing our own businesses.

We have faced all kinds of challenges on a daily basis and have grown from them. Entrepreneurs and business owners face uncertainty every day just by virtue of being who we are and how we’ve chosen to live our lives.

We are continually creating a bigger future for ourselves which gives a higher level of clarity, focus and results giving us greater confidence and capability to do it again and again.

Our future is something we always create from our imagination and now is the time to crank up our creative imagination and that of our teams to move forward. This is the time to bring your new ideas forward, to launch new goals, to be proactive, creative and resourceful.

Victor Frankl wrote, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” This is the perfect time to pull out our plan of action for the future and review and update our personal goals and business goals.

It is time to review our Strategic One Page Business plans and the ideal time to grow our mastery of key leadership skills that will help us and our teams moving forward. Now is the time to build relationships and create greater value for our employees, clients, and prospects.

Leaders, this is YOUR time to shine!

If you missed it last week, we want to share The Strategic Coach, Dan Sullivan’s “The Scary Times Success Manual” with our readers again this week. Click here (https://achievable.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Scary-Times-Success-Manual-Dan-Sullivan-The-Strategic-Coach.pdf) to download.

Why You Should Have an Others-Centered Focus

Mar 31, 2020 | Business Owners, CEOs, Ethical Leadership, Leadership, Leadership Development

Today I want to talk about how we can use our focus to create value in the challenges that we face as business leaders. Value can have many definitions but for the purpose of this post, I want you to consider the definition of value as equivalent to goodness. Good is defined by Peter Demarest of Axiogenics, LLC. as the degree to which something has all the attributes to fulfill its purpose. Thus, you are a good business leader to the degree you are able to lead yourself and others.

If what is most important to you right now is self-centered, it will be difficult to cope and adapt to obstacles. You may feel like the trouble you are facing now is a direct attack on you and your business. If you feel this way, you may want to reflect on your purpose and your organization’s purpose. Successful leaders are others-centered and their business purpose should serve the common good – family, employees, community, the world. What can you do right now to create value for others and can this be aligned with your goals? Perhaps it already is.

Look for what you can do that is good. When we focus on what is good, we develop a positive leadership attitude. How can you assist your employees? How can you continue to serve your clients and community? The answer to these questions will relieve you of the fear of uncertainty and give you direction in continuing on your journey toward success.

What Power Do Business Leaders Have Now?

Mar 25, 2020 | Business Owners, CEOs, Ethical Leadership, Leadership, Leadership Development, Motivation

The level of uncertainty in business and in life is rising in America and around the world, or is it? Did we ever really have certainty about the future? We made plans and we made contingency plans but many of us never planned for this. How can we continue to achieve our goals in business and in life? How do we begin to overcome the challenges we are facing and how do we help our employees do the same?

One quote from Napoleon Hill describes a positive perspective in answering some of these questions, Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit. Some sources quote Hill replacing “benefit” with “opportunity”. What can we learn from every obstacle we are facing and are we going to allow this adversity to improve our strengths or limit us? What good can we find in this? What opportunities are being placed before us today?

You might be feeling powerless over your circumstances, but you have power over your attitude and your actions. These will determine your success or failure – that is one thing that is certain.

Attitude is the lense through which we choose to see the world. We can choose to feel overwhelmed and then become defeated or we can choose to adapt our strategy to the current environment. We can be stagnant or creative. We can stand stunned like a deer in headlights or move forward. What do you choose?

Check out our blog next week as we continue discussing positive leadership attitudes and how we can find value in adversity.

 

How Do We Cultivate the Necessary Knowledge to Inspire Change?

Feb 25, 2020 | Business Owners, CEOs, Ethical Leadership, Happiness, Leadership, Leadership Development, Productivity, Success

“Knowledge is power” is a phrase credited to Francis Bacon in his Meditationes Sacrae, published in 1597.

Since then, it has been quoted by many, including Thomas Hobbes and Thomas Jefferson, and debated by others who argue that knowledge is not enough to drive action or create change. I would have to say that I agree with both sides.

Lifelong learning is one of the core values of my company, Achievement Unlimited, Inc., and also one of my own personal values. So, yes, I believe that knowledge is power because it is the primary catalyst for action and change. The question we must ask, though, is how do we cultivate the necessary knowledge to inspire change, and once attained, how do we turn that knowledge into action?

I have coached many business owners, C-level executives, and organizational leaders, departments, and teams in goal-setting and strategic planning. Goals and plans are crucial to establish direction and define achievement and success. My experience and most research on the topic show, however, that most of even the best plans fail to be executed.

Why?

Depending on who you ask, there may be different reasons why business leaders, teams, and individuals fail to meet their goals, but I have come to believe it boils down to one reason – thinking. People struggle to meet their goals because they are repeating patterns of thought that stop them from achieving, succeeding, or even just being happy.

The workshop I facilitated last week with my mentor, Peter Demarest of Axiogenics, LLC, created awareness for its participants of how their own personal and individual ways of thinking are stopping them from achieving what really matters most to them in life and in business. We learned that human beings function at their “best” only 5-15 percent of the time. This is because people are stuck in ways of thinking that are counterproductive to achieving what they truly want.

Peter wrote posts for “Tuesdays with Michael” over the past three weeks that highlighted some of the core concepts we discussed in the workshop, including The Central Question, Valuegenic Self-Leadership, and Neuro-axiology, and he dove into greater detail during the workshop about what these mean and how they apply to each individual member of the group.

Each participant took the VQ Profile assessment before coming to the workshop and received their First Steps VQ Assessment Report, which provided them with an explanation of their greatest cognitive asset and two of their most dominant cognitive biases that have limited them in their journeys in business and in life.

Eyes lit up at the revelations made, and the participants discussed how accurate the reports were. A few members shared that they read their reports to their significant others, who responded in agreement to the report. Knowledge of this information is critical in defining the actions needed to break through our limiting beliefs, and we are often very unaware of why we do the things we do that bring us great distress and stop us from realizing our full potential.

This goes back to my beginning point that “knowledge is power” but it cannot stop there. Awareness is the first step, and then the real work begins. Peter gave each participant questions they can ask themselves to help them utilize their cognitive asset to overcome their cognitive biases and create a breakthrough. One participant wrote that the workshop provided “fantastic insight and valuable steps to become a better leader.”

Are you a business owner or C-Level executive who is tired of hitting a wall while striving to achieve your business and personal goals? Are you ready to make the changes necessary to finally achieve what you want with less stress and greater personal fulfillment? The next Self-Leadership Breakthrough is scheduled for Wednesday, March 18 and begins at 8:30 AM. Click here to register.