Jody Johnson's Blog

Today with the team working on several key projects I finally got leveraging through team. Yes it takes an investment ok a huge investment of time to train the team however doing it truly allows them to be an asset of the business rather than a burdensome liability. Especially sad when all they want to do is contribute and help out. The 4 ways to leverage in a business? Leverage through people, leverage through systems, leverage through marketing and leveraging through finances. Want to learn more visit our website www.actioncoachteamsage.com where you can download a whitepaper on these topics.

I’ll never forget the feeling I had in the pit of my stomach when I was ready Steven Covey’s book 1st Things 1st. He wrote about how CEO’s waste so much time because they micro manage their teams. Now everyone knows micro managing the team doesn’t make sense however we do it anyway, that is we acknowledge we do it anyway if we’re conscious of it.  He went on to say how we don’t trust our people and that’s why we micro manage them.  Well that begs a question doesn’t it?  Why would we have team members we don’t trust working with us? Here’s the concept that made me sick to my stomach, “trustworthiness is a function of two things character and competence.” That’s when I got it. The character was fine it was the competence that always got me. Or I should say my perception and concerns of competency. It’s taken me all this time in business to understand that my way isn’t the only way or even the best way (hard one to swallow that one) and that there are degrees of competency.  I can tell you one thing the skill sets the team needed when we first started the business are not the ones we need now. Some of our team members were willing to grow with us, others were not. What has evolved is a mix of hiring people with talent and skills as well as character. Small businesses can not afford to make costly hiring mistakes and any hiring mistake is costly. I once heard hire slowly and fire quickly if it isn’t working out. Easier said than done you say?  (I have gotten tougher about this especially when I figured out what having an employee actually cost me.)  Let’s say we got a good employee, the next step was to set up a training program that sets people up to win. It’s not just what to do it’s how we do it.  I cant tell you how few small business owners even have a job description for their new hires.  Weekly feedback makes a huge difference as well as practicing the principles of “Whale Done” Ken Blanchard’s Book. I find that most people really want to do a good job,  and that I get the team I deserve by the type of leader I am. So when all is said and done, do you trust your team? If not, why not and what can you as the leader put in to shift that? Leverage is the name of the game and one of the key ways to leverage and grow is through exceptional team members that we trust to do a great job and set up to win.

I recently read the book The War of Art by Steven Pressfield in it he states “you have two lives, the one you’ve got and the unlived life within.  Between the two stands resistance.”   I really got a lot from this little book by looking into my life and the clients I work with lives at just how resistance shows up and discerning what to do about it.  Pressfield states that “resistance is the most toxic force on the planet.” strong words and upon reflection I would say from my own personal experience and my experience of coaching others that I would have to agree.  Sometimes we resist because we don’t fully understand something or we intuit someone as not being trustworthy.  We’re not talking about that here.

The form of resistance I’m referring to I many times label “the reluctant leader” a nickname that I have for one of my clients.  He knows who he is.  This has to do with our calling.  The thing we were born to do.  The combination of our natural talents into a constellation that when we do follow our calling results in genius.

So what is genius?  Genius is a Latin word that means “inner spirit” or “guardian spirit”, our natural ability at birth.  One could say that the inner spirit is the one whispering to us calling forth what we are uniquely qualified to give.  Its our special aptitude.   The problem with resisting our calling is that it doesn’t go away, no matter how much we ignore it, no matter how much alcohol we drink, now matter how buried in work we are, it’s just there growing louder and louder through the years.

I believe that most the world’s social ills and an individual’s ills are the result of resisting their calling.  Our school systems have turned out mediocre people focused on what they don’t do well in the name of creating well rounded people.  The problem with that is we’ll only get about 10-15% better at a weakness no matter how much time, attention and energy we throw at it.  By the time people are adults most of their efforts have been focused on what they don’t do well.  Not much confidence generated there to be a leader.  Focus instead on your strengths, give up resisting your calling, step into greatness, express the genius within you.  The world need your leadership now.

You may have noticed that true success is achieved by very few people. What sets a truly successful person apart from the rest? These are people fueled by a vision and working to their strengths. They have used their sword of discernment to distinguish what they will invest their time, attention and energy into. They will let go of and leave to others those things that they are not good at. An interesting thing to note is that successful people have made friends with being uncomfortable, they challenge themselves in their comfort zones. Their natural likes and dislikes are given up when they’re inconsistent with the commitment they’ve made. They are guided by their vision and purpose rather than their natural preferences and prejudices. Successful people continually groom themselves to be the best person they can be. They put themselves in positions in which they HAVE to grow, learn and perform. They surround themselves with other winners striving for excellence. They choose their friends and colleagues very carefully. They have a coach or a mentor or both or many. They have a strong sense of urgency and gratitude. They exude joy and power having unleashed the very best of the human spirit into their endeavors.

The other day someone asked me “how can we create breakthrough results in our business?” Well it all comes down to where you’re thinking from. Let me explain. When someone says “I’m dong everything I know to do” that tells me their growth with be incremental such as 10% improvement over last year or last quarter. Their thinking is from the past, what’s predictable, what’s already been done. Breakthroughs aren’t born there. When someone says to me “We’ll do whatever it takes” that tells me they’re thinking from the future and what’s possible. They’re informed by the past and that’s important, however they are actively seeking additional sources of reaching their goals however lofty. Somehow these people usually do reach their goals. It’s a matter of where one is thinking from. Make a commitment to do whatever it takes, this sets in motion all manner of resources you can’t begin to imagine right now that come to your aid.

Are you the victim of these 5 deadly saboteurs in your business? Doubt, Discouragement, Distraction, Defeat and Delay. Identify an antidote to these and dramatically improve your success in 2010.