Coaching in Northern Colorado
A lot of businesses are suddenly struggling. All our assumptions have flown out the window, and it’s seat-of-the-pants time.
You should know that five professional business coaches have teamed up to offer free coaching for owners and leaders who are struggling in this crisis. No sales pitch, no tricks. We’re doing this to support local businesses.
Check it out at nccovidcoaching.wordpress.com.
Sara Colorosa
Carl Dierschow
Nancy Haboush
Bob Nedbal
Jeff Schuster
Which employees are you putting the most effort into? If you’re like most leaders, you end up putting a great deal of time into fixing problems with your struggling employees. You might be hoping that you can bring them up to a level of performance that is at least average.
This is a good intention, of course. Everybody is worthy of your support and leadership.
The problem is that some very important people are being neglected: Those who don’t create problems for you. These are typically your middle-to-top employees.
Why should you step in if they don’t need your help? I’m glad you asked.
These aren’t the folks who need you to solve problems for them. They’re doing that themselves, which is why you can count on them to deliver what you expect. Read the rest of this entry »
During February we had a chance to take advantage of Loveland Startup Month and Fort Collins Startup/Artup Week. There were a whole bunch of great speakers and discussions, and I was totally inspired by a bunch of conversations I had!
This is community at its best.
For me, events like this are all about inspiration. Because I love innovative ideas and passionate people, it helps me to build my energy and expand my mind.
There’s been a lot of talk this year about companies expanding their focus beyond just shareholders, employees, and customers. It’s easy to think that this is all just wordplay, fanciful notions that don’t relate to the real world of business.
This is actually the world tilting on its axis, a permanent and lasting shift for the better.
It’s easy to forget that companies are a relatively recent invention. For most of human history, “work” was tightly linked to an individual’s skill. As those skills developed into areas of expertise, the concept of a “trade” was created. People in your community would exchange their money for the products created by your skill.
You want to take the leap, but … there’s a pause.
When I was a kid, trying to build up my nerves to jump off the 3 metre board at the swimming pool. When I finally did, it was a joyous experience! But I only worked up to jumping off the 5 metre board once.
In my business, I’ve had some of those big-decision moments as well. Here I am, faced with a key decision, afraid but excited to move forward.
A core philosophy of business is to get as much as you can. Market share. Revenue. Profit. Recognition.
If you want to give back, great. Write a check to your favorite charity and let them do the dirty work. So you can get back to your primary objective of growing and making money.
I’m glad to see that this kind of thinking has been breaking down and becoming more human.
“Who’s responsible for this mess?”
That’s the kind of question that sends employees running for cover. Looking for people to blame. Ways to avoid being branded as the problem-causer.
We’ve all been there, and it can be devastating. This is the kind of accountability that rips teams apart.
Why? Because, by asking the question, we’ve established: Read the rest of this entry »
I was at a networking meeting the other day, talking about marketing strategies and what we can do to improve our business visibility.
At that point, we found out that one of the participants just experienced a couple of severe challenges in her personal life. Suddenly that business stuff didn’t feel so important. She needed our immediate compassion and support.
Your company is absolutely unique. So much so that nobody else on the planet is able to do what you do.
Except, of course, that your products are so similar to the competition that people have a hard time recognizing the difference.
By the way, this tension is a universal experience. Read the rest of this entry »
A decade ago, Simon Sinek popularized the idea of marketing your products based on a powerful story. And that story starts with WHY.
That last one sounds a lot like expounding on your product’s benefits, right? But traditionally, “benefits” stop soon after the purchase, quite short term. Instead, we’re talking about a much deeper transformation for customers, something they may even struggle to articulate.
And that’s only the last step in telling your story to customers.
Business Coaching Northern Colorado 