There is Only One Letter Difference Between Networking and Not Working

Business Networking has delivered more return on investment than any other business building tool. Both financially and in non-monetary terms, networking has proven to deliver exceptional value to any business new or established.

Did you know?

 

Networking is the number one recommended business building tactic guaranteed to boost business growth.

 

Business Networking will…

 

Attract new customers by building your profile, facilitating connections, and showcasing your products and services…

 

After all …..

 

People do business with those they know and trust. What better way is there to develop these types of strong business connections?

 

Bottom Line….

 

It works!

 

Critical to YOUR success and the success of your BUSINESS is BUSINESS NETWORKING!

 

The Peak Pathways Omaha Leads Club is designed to help YOU do just this!  We meet every Monday at noon.  If you are in the Omaha area and would like to visit the club to see if it is a fit for you please let one of us know or send an e-mail. 

Optimism and Happiness

The stock market is at record highs and spring is beginning to edge out the cold dark days of winter.  At the same time there are news stories of uncertainty about government taxes and spending; international threats of hostility; and various criminal activities.  Is it the best of times, the worst of times or both?

 

One of the elements of emotional intelligence and a key determinant of success at work and life is general mood, generally defined as happiness and optimism.  Most people have higher self regard when their mood is happy and optimistic and other people like to be around them making for generally rewarding interpersonal relationships.   

 

As simple as it may seem, happiness and optimism are essential for sustained success as a leader.  No one wants to follow a sad pessimist, except perhaps another sad pessimist!  Unfortunately many leaders face tremendous challenges and pressure that may make it quite difficult to remain happy and optimistic.   A good practice for recovering from negative circumstances that have you feeling sad and pessimistic is to go to ‘neutral’.  Halfway between sad and happy; pessimistic and optimistic is a reasonable goal in those situations.  A good analogy is the fuel gauge in your car.  If it indicates it is near empty, getting sad and angry because it won’t stay full is just as foolish as hoping it will be full again on its own.  The wise response of course is to take the fuel level as a neutral indication of fact and then respond with an action –such as stopping to fill up the tank.

 

Move away from acute pessimism by taking a few deep breaths while thinking of aspects of the situation that you are genuinely grateful for.  Oxygenized gratitude can do wonders!  Also talk with your coach, colleagues, or family & friends about the situation to get outside perspectives and most importantly simply take it as an indicator to plan appropriate actions to take.

 

To develop and sustain happiness, research has shown the following are good practices to adapt: (1) Three Gratitude Acknowledgments, three new ones each day for 21 days; (2) Journal daily about one positive experience in the last 24 hours; (3) Exercising; (4) Meditation; (5) Random/Conscious Acts of Kindness, one positive e-mail or conversation daily; (6) Limit news consumption; (7) Limit involvement with pessimistic people; and (8) Get 8 hours of sleep nightly.  Try one or more of these suggestions for an extended period of time and you likely will feel happier – and be a better leader!

Four Fingers!

If you see several people holding up four fingers you are either at a remedial safety course for power saw operators or at a football game entering the final period of play.  As time expires at the end of the third period of a football game many players and fans hold up four fingers as a statement of intention to increase focus and intensity to finish the game strong.

 

With October well underway we are all into the fourth and final quarter of the year.  What are your goals for 2012?  Have you already achieved them or have they been revised downward in order to still be attainable?  Either way it is time to hold up four fingers and recognize that it is time to increase focus and intensity to finish the year on an upward trend.  Even if 2012 ends up a little short of the original goal, you will be off to a fast start with positive momentum for 2013.  We are forming Master Mind Groups now so members can develop that fourth quarter intensity all year long.

 

If you need power saw safety, we know a guy who can help with that too!

Lonely Leaders

Leading is a lonely profession and it only gets lonelier the higher one gets in an organization. There is certainly potential for positive relationships with staff members but those have inherent limitations. Of course many professionals and solo proprietors work alone and they obviously have no one else in the organization to talk to. 

Who can a leader turn to when there are uncertainties on the horizon and tough decisions to make? Professional advisors such as bankers, attorneys, accountants and coaches are certainly a good source of outside perspective. Friends and family will likely be willing to talk and share perspective but they may tend to be either too kind or too critical and may not even fully understand the issue. Getting a meaningful perspective other than your own and follow through with effective action is critical to adapt to changing circumstances, threats, and opportunities. Average leaders are reluctant to ask for help, tend to avoid accountability, and choose to go it alone; great leaders however recognize their personal limitations and surround themselves with experts in various fields with cumulative experience that would be impossible for one person to have.

While the concept has been around for many years Napoleon Hill in the classic, "Think And Grow Rich", coined the term mastermind and defined it as: "The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony….No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind, the master mind."

We have witnessed this concept help many organizations grow and flourish as we coach leadership, teamwork, sales, customer service, and communication skills. However we recognize at times more peer perspective is needed so we are now forming Peak Pathways master mind groups for leaders. Contact us for details at 402.332.3031 or send an e-mail to info@peakpathways.com

Doing What They Know

What do people do when they don’t know what to do?  They do what they know, however that may not be in alignment with what you as a leader want them to do.  It may be obvious that a leader should say what is expected but when it comes to the subtle skills of listening, communication, and generally interacting with other human beings few leaders provide training and direction.  However, those subtle skills and behavioral characteristics are often the critical ones that differentiate great from average.

Beyond modeling their own skills, leaders have three options: hire for those skills; train for those skills; or accept the skills that accompany the technical skills they hire for.  Unfortunately most leaders hire based on if the person can do the job and fire on how they do the job.  Best practice of course selects on both as well as whether the person actually wants to do the job.  We know from Leadership Charisma research that employee engagement and success are driven by fit with the job and a leader who helps them feel and fare better as a person as well as a professional.  Developing the subtle skills of employees is one of the best ways to do that.

Team USA

Later this month when the Summer Olympics begin in London we will likely be hearing a lot about Team USA.  With a lot of individual athletes achieving personal goals and competing for themselves the concept of team can get lost beyond the mere medal counts and a few team sports.  Unfortunately the same thing can happen in businesses.  We are often working with clients to help develop teamwork and communication because individual performance goals can overshadow the team in unproductive ways.

 

Whether a leader is considered successful or not can vary significantly depending on the eye of the beholder.  From a business perspective however the most common measure is the results the leader’s team achieves.  We speak often of personal leadership skills such as communication, adaptability, and providing direction.  However those skills are inadequate if the wrong people are on the team.  The selection of team members is therefore the most critical skill for leaders.   Once the team members are selected a successful team is built by developing mutual trust; positive conflict; commitment; and accountability.  When a leader can build that type of team collaboration leverages the productivity and capability of every individual. 

Culture and Values

Many companies spend significant resources to promote brand awareness to customers, employees, and investors. A common part of the brand is often core values and cultural standards which positively distinguish the company from their peers. Unfortunately as recent new stories confirm, the acts of board members, senior officials and other employees often negatively distinguish them. Examples closer to home include a school superintendent, a police chief, a city administrator, and perhaps even people down the street or next door.

In Peak Perspectives we often have articles on leadership and job fit, two key drivers of employee success. However, a vital element of job fit is sometimes taken for granted. That element is fit with the company’s culture and values. Specifically are the candidate’s normal behaviors and attitudes aligned with the leaders as well as with other employees? If it is a wide gap, the new employee likely will either be dissatisfied enough to quit or the supervisor will fire them. Either outcome is bound to be costly. If the gap is narrower the impact may be more subtle such as a gradual deterioration of the company culture and values. That outcome can of course be even costlier.

As always we welcome your comments and feedback.