coach – Success Strategies

7 Character Traits Being An Athlete Taught Me…

Run The Race

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.
Billy Graham

I was a sprinter. I ran the 100 meter dash; 200 meter and 4 x 100 meter races. This was my thing. When I was called upon, I was ready. It was a desire to achieve not for me but for the wider team’s goal. That’s one of the memories held dear throughout my childhood into adulthood where I participated in events well into my late 20’s.

As I reflect, I am taken aback by the same habits that I used which has stuck with me even today. Here I share.

7 Habits Of A Highly Effective Athlete

1.Discipline

Here it is not about being forced to do something. It is about maintaining daily habits to achieve good or satisfactory outcomes. My dad was a boxing champion who fought for the land of my birth. He was a winner. I would rise early mornings and go running with him before daybreak. Then in the evenings after school I would go practice with fellow athletes. This daily mantra improved my abilities. It was not for personal gratification but for helping the team to win; whether it was school, church camps, or organizational competitive games to come out on top.

2.Determination

Determination means the ability to do something even when the odds are against you. My natural prowess slowed in recent years because I became latent. I sit at the computer all day working without hardly ever getting up to stretch. So after discussion with a personal coach, I decided to start working out. On my second class, I had to drive a 4-hour return trip. I was 5 minutes late for the class due to traffic and was turned away. I had missed the warm-up and didn’t know much. I was disappointed. But through my determination, I decided to make sure it never happened again. I have been attending and haven’t been late again. In this case, my health goals are too important to miss.

3.Drive To Succeed

This trait has driven me to go after my goals, dreams and aspirations. My studies and organizational leadership prowess has helped me to manage business operations with a desire to see others succeed. My published books on Success, leadership, career development and motivation are solid proof.

4.Never Give Up

In the first course I did after I left high school, a teacher lost the end of term paperwork I submitted. She searched and couldn’t find it. This was not submitted online but in person. Talk about being disappointed. I was devastated but I was determined to graduate. So I took a deep breath, asked to redo the major assignment and turned it in again. Yes, I graduated and found that my early training to never give up has stayed with me throughout life’s ups and downs. That experience helped build my strength of character.

5.Commitment

This quality is one that many organizations desire in people. It is a pledge or an agreement to do something. The problem is, we have to strike that balance. Overcommitment, especially for workaholics, can lead to restricted work/life balance or self-care.

The more committed you are, the more work you get….yikes! Certainly the goal you planned (smile)

6.Planning

One thing an athlete must do is plan. No plan easily translates into failure with missed deadlines, priorities and more. A friend shared the woes of a politician who was busy working in the community trying to attract votes. He was successful at that but later discovered that he had missed the application deadline. After all he had done, he was left off the ballot.

7.Teamwork & Care For Others

Teamwork means working together with a group of people to achieve a common goal. Running a relay is never easy. Sometimes teammates become injured, tired, fall behind, or become overworked and the rest of the team must collaborate to build and eliminate the gap. This is not an easy feat but the effort is always well worth it and provides the reward. That’s what I did all those years. Collaborate.

Today, caring for others is my mantra. It goes deep within my inner being and provides that lasting satisfaction when as a professional leadership coach, I help individuals achieve their goals.

I look back and reflect on these traits and with renewed fervor and realize that they made me who I am today. What about you? Did any of the characteristics resonate? Any you would add? Do share, we would love to hear.

Cheers!

^{Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com}

Need To Move To The Next Step? Here Are 9 Reasons To Work With A Coach…

background balance beach boulder — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

We often ask the question why some people succeed when others don’t. It seems there is a missing element. Something we lack. The truth is that you can succeed at whatever you dream about; whatever you put your mind to achieve. Know that you don’t have to go it alone. Here are some reasons why people hire a coach to improve their lives and their business.

People hire a coach to help put systems in place (e.g. time management, social media engagement, managing products, and managing people)
When they know what to do but not how to do it
Feel Stuck , confused
When you want to make more money …want to do what you want to do
When they know it’s time to break free
When they figure out they can’t do it alone
Need resources and don’t know where to find them (financial, legal, staffing, marketing, etc)
When going through a period of transition. when they don’t know what is relevant (been away long)
When fallen behind on their goals, dreams, and aspirations

Feeling confused and need help to navigate to the next step in your career or business? Lets connect.

Cheers!

Moods ‘n’ Pills: Truth or Dare…

Mood: A temporary state of mind or feeling

A well known executive was overcome with emotion and challenges associated with business scrutiny from authorities, succumbed to an overdose. Celebrities mix pills n potions (Niki Minaj), and too often succumb to overdose intentionally or unintentionally mixing alcohol or prescription drugs. But before we jump to criticize, let’s be cautioned… this can happen to a beloved family member too. It’s all in how it’s handled.

Mood is a temporary state of mind or feeling. Emphasis on the word ‘temporary‘. Often we get memorized with the sense that our mood, our situation will last forever. We are blinded and can’t see the road ahead…the future. We become blinded by the challenges of the here and now.

Moody

Being Moody isn’t always an easy pill to swallow for those close to dealing with it.When the problems come and some feel that they cannot handle it, some choose to take a pill out. To sleep, to dream, to make it all go away. But taking a pill out has never solved any problem… it is only a way of diverting the problem from where it is for a short period of time. The solution is in what we do as a direct confrontation to the problem and through finding the means to confront the issue.

Is it sickness? Call a doctor. Is it financial ? Get a job, change your job, or add a part-time gig. Is it business, or relationship on the job or at home? Find a coach. Talk about it to find a solution. If all else fails move on. Your life and sanity is more important.

Today remember life is a journey that comes with highs and lows. When the lows hit as they will, plan for it. Know where to turn to get the help you need to ride the waves. Relax Life’s journey was never meant to ride alone.

Cheers!

Change: Commit or Comply?

Look around you. Change is everywhere. In business, politics, technology, relationships, our lives, spouse, children, bodies (yikes!), and more. Change is everywhere! Can we get rid of the awful feeling that it comes with? Must we comply? Resist? Run? Or simply give in?

My friend’s father was scheduled to do surgery on his leg. While in the hospital he was told that it was beyond surgery and they had to immediately amputate or fear the worse would happen. In no time the decision was made and my friend’s life was turned upside down, or inside out depending on how you look at it.

Immediately the ripple effects at work, among her own children, and in her own personal life could not be missed. Someone had to jump in and smooth the process…and that she did.

Change is constant. Whether it is in our professional life as entrepreneurs or in our personal life. We can’t get out of it. Some bring joy, some sorrow, pain, regret, or disappointment.

Organizations are no different. As professionals we spend most of our professional lives on the job in organizations. So here is a brief discussion on its effects and some tips on how to deal with the pains of change while at work. Our goal is to strengthen commitment as opposed to force compliance on others.

Resistance

We said it before but will say it again…resistance to change can have devastating effects in organizations, politics, and in our own lives. It can result in:

Reduced performance
Increased turnover
Tardiness
Increased arguments and controversy

We resist change. Here’s why:

Parochial self-interest
Misunderstanding
Lack of trust
Different assessments
Low tolerance for change

Here’s how we show it:

Active resistance: Lack of cooperation together with disputes, threat of strikes, and sabotage.

Opposition : Delay, not meeting deadlines or having resources ready when they are needed, and forming coalitions to overturn the change.

Conditional acceptance : Accepting the essence of change while working on its modification.

False acceptance: Pretending to accept the job while doing nothing to implement it.

Acquiescence: Accepting the change while reducing commitment to the organization.

Withdrawal: People simply leave the organization or transfer to another job within the organization that is not affected by the change.

4 Successful Change Management Tactics

We can successfully manage change through persuasion, intervention, edict, and participation. Of the four … persuasion, intervention and participation will more often result in commitment to change, rather than compliance.

Persuasion. The manager articulates the needs and opportunities and then an expert sells the plan to other managers and subordinates.
Intervention. Identify deficiencies, state new objectives and illustrate how these will be met through members of the organization.
Participation. The manager states the problem, delegates responsibility for deriving solution to a planning group, and then provide for implementation of the planned solution.
Edict is less effective because it operates under the dictatorial mode through ordering everyone to follow the stated change plan. This leads to compliance rather than resistance.

To better manage the natural resistance to change in order to sustain performance in an environment of constant change it is best to:

Personalize the benefits of change;
Lead, sponsor and communicate throughout the change process;
Support people through the difficult points of the change journey;
Focus on new behaviors not new attitudes.

Essentially, we can never hide from change. It is inevitable. The traditional form of managing change may be adequate in a slow moving world. However, in our pop Tart rapidly changing social media environment, the traditional forms of management makes implementing change more difficult. Therefore adapting the tactics mentioned will go a long way to fuel lasting commitment that will promote business success in the long term.

If you are not in business, you can still apply the same tactics to your own personal life, career, and relationships. Change impacts us all but it is important to remember… when it hits.. no matter what it is

Change the plan but not the Goal

Cheers!

Bold Steps To Success…

Aspiring Entrepreneur

If you are an aspiring Entrepreneur or Careerist feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, or stressed, this Companion Workbook is for you. It provides exercises, activities, and assessments designed to help on your personal learning journey to accomplish your dreams, goals, and aspirations. As you engage in deep reflections, you will learn more about yourself, and apply the skills necessary to drive your success.

Success Strategies Workbook

This Easy-to-Use Workbook will help you to:

Become Motivated to Achieve your Goals
Define what Success Means to you
Build your Self-Confidence through understanding your Leadership Skills
Take charge of your personal development, life goals, and career path
Be inspired to change and share your success with others.

Get your copy on Amazon or contact me and begin the steps to your success today.

Cheers

Vegetal

Radical Steps To Deal With A Bad Boss

We show up everyday doing a job that we don’t like, and then feel like we are losing our mind when we are expected to be productive and profitable.

Get angry! Tell them off on national TV-like that famous weather reporter did! Give them a piece of your mind-like that flight attendant did, then de-planed! Or quietly sneak away never to return again, which unfortunately happens too often.

Though we may smile at these examples, they are real life situations that actually happened. As a HR consultant, I have worked with clients that have had these experiences and more. Because we spend most of our time at work, it would be great for us to really like what we do, and who we have to work with.

Vincent Van Gogh said that he put his heart and soul into his work and lost his mind in the process. How many of us really feel that way? We show up everyday doing a job that we don’t like, and then feel like we are losing our mind when we are expected to be productive and profitable. It’s hard. But we keep at it if we are to cover our basic needs to survive, thrive, or for those at the higher levels, fulfill our higher need to self-actualize.

STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH A BAD BOSS

If you have a bad boss…see qualities in 23 signs you have a Bad Boss, it is not likely that you are going to change them. So here are a few strategies to help you take the steps to work better with him or her.

Have an early, upfront conversation about what is important to you in a leader and how you can best work together. In a civil manner, discuss things such as:
- Leadership style and the coaching you would need to develop.
- Expectations. What he/she expects from you, and what you expect.
- Perception. How each of you perceive “success” with regard to the job.
- What “meets expectations” or “exceeds expectations” look like on the performance-rating continuum.
- Your current performance

Be proactive and check in with him or her often to provide reports, or updates.

Acknowledge them publicly for their support, especially when they have been instrumental in helping you succeed.

If problems occur that escalate, have a conversation with the HR manager to ensure that any complaints are logged. HR will take the necessary steps to help resolve the issue and can serve as a mediator in future meetings.

If 360-degree feedback systems, and other anonymous options are in place in your organization, do use them to provide input regarding your concerns.

Keep a record of dates, times, and specific examples of issues that have occurred so that you will be able to recall them when necessary.

Essentially, do your best to try to work with the situation you are charged with at the moment. Nothing lasts forever. Things do change sometimes. But by all means, if the horizon really looks bleak in that company, then start the process to move on, especially if it starts to negatively affect your health. Start the job change process to search for a new opportunity. Take the steps to:

Update your Resume
Refresh your LinkedIn Profile
Connect with a Recruiter
Consider other career options

It’s important to heed the caution before you make such Radical change….Making irrational decisions then saying “oh wait”, will be too late. So be cautioned that you never leave a job without first finding another one. It will be well worth it in the long run.

The Journey. Keep Going, don’t stop.

jouney

I’ll never forget the sight. Standing in line more than a decade ago with hundreds of graduates awaiting the march into the ceremony, I saw my mom and dad walking in together a little late. She, with a basket of fruits too heavy for her to bear, but far too precious not to. Him, adorned in a bright red jacket as if to say “nobody is going to make me miss this special occasion when my daughter receives her Masters degree”! I thought to myself…should I acknowledge them or should I shy away from this somewhat humorous sight? I dismissed the very thought and rushed to their side hugging them both. My action was met with admiration, claps, and with sounds of “aww”, as the waiting graduates stirred. Needless to say that this achievement was for both my parents as neither had college degrees. After the ceremony, my mom hugged and congratulated me with the question “when are you going to get the Doctorate?” The nerve! How could she? But her question stayed with me for years, even after the receipt of yet another Masters degree.

Years later, I finally acceded to fulfilling her dream. She couldn’t do it so I decided to do it for her. A year into the program while enroute to a mandated summer conference in Orlando, I received a call that she (with whom I spoke an hour earlier), had suffered a massive stroke!

That was the start of a yearlong journey to be by her side through thick and thin. Ironically both our journeys were paths of learning. Hers being to learn to talk, to walk, to eat, to do life’s simple things, and to learn the basics of living all over again. Me, to face the reality of the situation that my mother was in, and to learn the skills to adequately provide her care. Along with my two sisters (one who was ailing with the ravages of cancer at the time), we brought her to live closer so we could adequately care for her return to ‘normalcy’.

As I reflect on my dissertation journey, on one occasion I remember receiving an important call from a professor while attending to her needs. I answered the call, got the coaching from the professor then returned to finish her care. This became a routine.

I remember being by her side at the hospital for hours, days, weeks. She was my morning motivation. I couldn’t start the day without her knowing that I cared. It was the same at nights. I couldn’t end the day without visiting her; without her knowing that I was there for her. At work, the leaders knew that if they wanted my best then I needed an hour to be with my mom which was the fuel for the rest of the day. I happily worked that back during lunch or after hours. This went on for a year but sadly she never recovered. We later discovered that her body was wreaked with cancer unknown to our family. It was too much for her to bear.

After she passed this was my driving force. I had to finish my studies for her. I had to accomplish her dream, something she couldn’t do herself. I had to finish to show my two girls that you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to. I had to finish and leave something tangible behind. This culminated in a research to track the paths of immigrant leaders and their journey to success to achieve the American Dream. I accomplished that feat two years after she passed away. The research is now published and available here. I now spend my time coaching individuals and entrepreneurs to never give up; to keep going, because with that passion they will accomplish their dreams.