Back in 1981, Ken Blanchard wrote his #1 bestselling book, “The One Minute Manager”.  The book demonstrates some very practical and proactive ways to manage your people, all centered on the thought process of quick and focused interactions with your employees.  The end goal was an empowered team that was led by a proactive and focused manager.  Some thirty years later, it seems that our business culture has morphed many of our leaders into the “Got a Minute Manager”.  The “Got a Minute Manager” is characterized as being easily accessible, constantly operating in interruption mode, and micromanaging the team to the point that the entire organization operates with a short term, tactical focus.  The end result is a team and organization that is working harder, not smarter, and employees asking the question, “Whatever happened to great leadership?”  If you find yourself living in the world as the “Got a Minute Manager”, here are some steps to get you back to the “One Minute Manager” mentality:

 Take Back Your Time by Implementing Strong Boundaries

The key to ending your days as the “Got a Minute Manager” is to build some strong boundaries around your time.  The best way to accomplish this is to tell your staff that they are no longer free to interrupt or approach you whenever they feel like it.  Ken Blanchard suggested in “The One Minute Manager” to set up 15 or 30 minute touch bases once a week with your employees.  Instruct your employees to bring their questions and issues to their weekly touch bases.  If there is an emergency and they absolutely have to talk to you, set up two or three 10-minute times during the day where you have an “open door” to address those specific issues.  Taking this step will free up your time so that you aren’t in constant reactionary mode, and will allow you to have time to actually lead, instead of react.  Additionally, it will empower your employees to find their own solutions to problems, instead of constantly relying on your direction.

End Wasteful Meetings – Once and for All

“If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be ‘meetings.’” – Dave Barry

As the quote above suggests, most meetings are a complete waste of time.  If you find yourself spending an inordinate amount of time in wasteful meetings, here are a couple of key things you can do to end this problem: 

• Have a written meeting agenda for every meeting you hold, and demand the same from others
• End your meetings with specific assigned actions items and due dates
• Make sure your meetings have a time limit, and stick to it

Following these three simple keys will eliminate 80% of your wasteful meetings, and open up huge blocks of time to focus on the two key areas every great leader focuses on, which is leading and developing.

Lead and Develop Yourself and Your Team

Great leaders do two things well – they lead their teams, and they develop the capacity of their people.  One of the main reasons that we have so many “Got a Minute Managers” these days is simply because managers don’t understand how to lead, and the power of developing the talents of their team.  So, it becomes easier to completely avoid these things by being ‘busy’ reacting to things all the time.  By installing some boundaries and managing your time, you can open up the time to lead and develop.

Great leaders take the time to understand the needs of their employees, and work with them to develop their talents so they can move up within the company, as well as increase their capacity to contribute to the team.  Now that you have extra time for this, set up a time to talk to each of your employees to have a discussion about where they want to go with their careers, and how you can help them.  Put together a formal development program, where you are meeting on a regular basis to develop your staff and provide them the tools and training to do so.  Additionally, be a role model by doing the same for yourself.

If you follow the 3 keys above, you’ll quickly make the shift from the “Got a Minute Manager” to the “One Minute Manager”.  The end result will be a team that works smarter, not harder, and an environment of development, growth, and superior results.  Now, go be a great leader!

If you are an employee, one of the things that is most likely going to happen to you at some point in your career is that you will unexpectedly lose your job.  In the fast changing job market, there are mergers, acquisitions, reduction in force programs, and internal politics that often lead to unexpected things happening.  So, what do you do when you are let go from your position unexpectedly? 

Understand Your Benefits Package

Usually when you are let go from your job, your company will provide some type of exit package.  Many times this includes a continuation of salary and benefits for a period of time.  Sometimes outplacement services are provided as well.  Whatever it may be, make sure that you fully understand what you are entitled to.

Make sure that you also understand how to apply for any unemployment benefits that you may be entitled to.

Don’t Panic

Why a sudden job loss can be traumatic, the worst thing to do is panic!  Feeding your fears can cause you to make poor decisions that can affect your career, as well as your future.  Take some time to catch your breath and digest what happened before you make your next move.  Oftentimes, losing a job is the best thing that can happen to you in the long run, as it provides you the opportunity to choose a new path.

Have A Plan

Before taking on a job search, it’s a good idea to put together a plan of attack.  Unless you are certain of what you want to do, you may want to consider working with a professional to assist you with your job search, updating your resume, or exploring what it is that you want to do when you grow up.  Outplacement services can be a good option, as well as a good career coach.  While money is definitely a concern here, this can be the best investment you make!  A good career coach can assist you in understanding your skills and talents, helping you figure out the best career move for yourself, as well as assist you in marketing yourself and your overall job search.  A small investment here can lead to a big return!

Put Yourself First

Any career transition can be stressful.  A forced one can be extremely stressful, so it’s really important that you take care of yourself during this transition.  Eating right, working out, and surrounding yourself with supportive people is a great way to help yourself stay positive during this stressful time.

By following these simple steps, you will start you job search off on the right foot, and be on your way to a successful career transition!

I often tell my prospective clients that trying to sell coaching is like trying to describe what chocolate cake tastes like to someone who has never had a piece. You can go on and on for hours, and you still don’t truly understand until you taste it yourself. This is not only true in the coaching business, but for all service oriented businesses. The fact is if you are in a service business, you can’t sell your service. Your prospects must experience what you do if you ever hope to make them your customer.

Here are a couple of tips to help you attract customers to your service business, instead of trying to sell them:

1. Identify your target customers.

Who are you trying to attract? What market segment has a need for your service? Figure out who your target is so that you can spend your time and energy wisely.

2. Help them uncover their need for your service.

Get to know your prospects by asking them probing questions that will help them uncover a need for your service. For example, if you are a financial planner selling financial services, you might ask a potential prospect what their biggest financial challenge is, or if they are happy with their current financial situation. The key here is not to sell them your service, but let them sell themselves. They should be doing most of the talking.

3. Provide an opportunity for the prospect to experience your service.

Allow your target customers to experience your service in some way. For example, if you are a personal trainer, you could offer a complimentary session. Doing this allows your prospect to experience how your service can benefit them, and reduces their risk in purchasing your service.

4. Have them express their experience in their terms.

Now that they have experienced your service, ask them to quantify the results in their terms. This will allow them to sell themselves in a way that has meaning to them. Once they see value in what you do, you can ask for the sale.

5. Make sure they have a great experience, and ask for referrals.

Once they are your customer, make sure that they have a great experience, and then ask them for referrals. Remember that the easiest way to generate additional customers in a service oriented business is through people that have already experienced what you do.

Keep these 5 tips in mind when “selling” your services. Once you have mastered these tips, you will find that you will attract all the customers you need.

Happy selling!

Do you find yourself being challenged to find a healthy balance between your career and life outside of work?  The term work-life balance first appeared in 1986 in the US in response to the increasing demands of work and career and their effects on ones’ lifestyle outside of work.  Many companies, as well as employees, have struggled with this concept since that point.  There have been endless corporate programs, training sessions, and efforts to try and obtain an effective balance between work and life outside of work.  Is the term work-life balance something that you should really be striving for, or is it a complete fallacy?

The term work-life balance is really misleading at best.  Balance is defined as “a state of bodily equilibrium”.  So, the term itself assumes that your work and life outside of work should be in complete equilibrium.  While this seems like something to strive for, do you really want to have complete balance between your work and your life outside of work?  What does that even mean?  By defining this as your goal, are you setting yourself up to chase after something that is not only impossible, but perhaps not even desirable?

Perhaps a better way to define work-life balance would be to slightly shift your goal to one of work-life integration.  Integration is defined as “behavior, as of an individual, that is in harmony with the environment”.  By shifting your focus to integration instead of balance, it sets you free from chasing after the impossible equilibrium of your work and life, and allows you to determine how to create an environment that is in harmony with your overall life goals.  Which one sounds more empowering to you?