Key Targets For Business Coaches
If you are passionate about helping business-owners profit from their maximum potential, you can consider becoming a business coach. Business coaches come from different backgrounds and lifestyles, but they need to have certain common characteristics such as a passion for the business, commitment and the willingness to make a difference.
Many times, business coaches miss the opportunity to grow professionally because they do not want to slow down. One way to break this cycle is to center your attention to the things that inspire you. Seek inspiration by considering the targets and goals specifically designed for business coaches. Each target should be able to move you and the business forward.
. Recommit yourself to professional excellence: You are considered a good coach if you are capable of maintaining high professional standards. Professional excellence does not mean a highbrow demeanor that means you are better than others because of your standards, but it means that your high standards are intended to benefit your clients, peers and you in a positive manner.
Your intentions and ethics are also included in the professional excellence of coaching. They need to be in the right place and you need both, to achieve a high level of excellence professionally. If you are not a member of any coaching organization, you can print a copy of the code of ethics of the International Coach Federation. Read the ethics and reflect on what they mean to you, as an individual and a coach.
. Embrace some big challenges: Stand tall in the face of challenges and make sure that the challenges inspire you.
. Recommit yourself to personal excellence: This goal may seem to be deceptively simple, but it is not. For a business coach, personal excellence means living with integrity and then making sure that you meet all your requirements. In addition, you need to work towards achieving your own personal goals. Integrity is very important in coaching and it involves keeping the promises we make to ourselves. This is easier said than done because human beings are masters at deceiving themselves. Some additional steps for improving personal excellence include handling your wants and needs effectively. Needs keep us nurtured and motivate everyone. Needs are known to be simple and complex, hence you need to identify them and work towards fulfilling them.
. Expand your reach: Every business coach needs to achieve this target. You need to consistently seek to expand your network everyday. Many coaches do not spend much time making them visible. You can even be a great coach with very little business.
. Improve your key relationships: Pick 1 or 2 relationships in your life and work towards making them perfect. Nurture and support them and try to give unconditionally, even if it is difficult. Remember that your intention is to improve the relationship. Take the responsibility for the actions, but do not limit yourself to the result.
Make sure that you remember these key targets, to excel in the booming industry of business coaching. Remain updated with the latest techniques, tools and initiatives in the world of coaching.
Business Coaching Innovators is why smart successful business owners hire us. Did you know that using a Business Coach can result in tripling your revenue. Discover our Business Coaching services here http://www.businesscoach.com.
Dream vs. Vision: A Mind-Shift For Visionary Leaders
What is the difference between a dream and a vision?
The dreams you see while asleep at night are a metaphor for the kind of thinking that happens when you fantasize while awake. We often call this “day dreaming” or creative imagination.
The vision you see when you are awake and looking at reality with your eyes is a metaphor for the kind of thinking that happens when you look to your future with your mind’s eye. The inner world (past, present and future) you see is built from your own assumptions or metaphorical constructs. With this kind of vision, you can “look” down different paths, and “see” what would happen.
When we speak of dreams and vision in this article, we’re referring to the dreams and vision you see inside your mind while awake. We all have such dreams and vision; and both are an integral function of human consciousness.
For visionaries, vision is a major source of power and conscious guidance – and it’s something they consciously control. For others, vision is a major source of fear and default guidance – and it’s something to which they unconsciously react.
To be a visionary, and thus have a higher level of inner power to change and create the world around you, one must learn to live at the level of vision.
ORIENTATION:
Dream – What you see when you are imagining a hypothetical scenario.
Vision – What you see when you look to the future without hypothesizing, wishing or imagining.
EXAMPLE #1:
Imagine that you’re on vacation at the Grand Canyon, and you’re standing on the edge of the cliff with your binoculars, looking far off into the distance. Suddenly, on the other side of the Grand Canyon, you see what looks like a jet, and a man in a suit standing by the jet. Then all of a sudden, the man’s hair just kind of flips sideways up into the air. And you think to yourself “Wait a minute, is that Donald Trump?”
Just then you remember he’s doing a new reality TV show called “Who Wants My Money,” where he goes to an obscure public location and holds up a sign that says, “Who wants my money?” and then gives one million dollars to the first person to reach him. “No, can’t be The Donald,” you’re telling yourself, when it happens – the sign goes up – it’s him!
In that instant, you realize “I could win the money!” and you turn to bolt for your car just in time to see everyone else heading for their cars. In that moment, you remember you came on the bus. You turn back and look over at Donald there with his sign, and you dream about winning that money. It’s an exciting dream, but it’s not very real. You won’t win the money.
Then you hear it. That sound… behind you… it’s… your helicopter. You turn around and see your pilot, who will take you anywhere you want to go. Then, in that instant, you turn back around with a smile, you look at Donald Trump and you know that money is yours. You’re already spending it in your mind.
So, there’s a big difference between a dream and a vision. A vision has a power that a dream doesn’t have.
EXAMPLE #2:
Let’s say you have a personal dream of being a public speaker one day. Every time you get the opportunity to speak in public, whether it’s among friends, in classrooms or at events, you feel a little too nervous to speak. It doesn’t seem like you’re ready yet, and you turn away. After several months of this, you look to your future and what do you see? You don’t really see yourself speaking powerfully in the world. You can dream about it all you want, but you can’t really see it happening.
Now let’s say you come to a point, where you realize your dream is dying and it becomes very painful. You become very clear how much the dream means to you, and you take a hard look at the fears and the challenges of becoming a public speaker. You realize that there are values worth standing for to face those fears and walk that path. You take a stand for the lives of the people you want to reach with your speaking. The next time you are presented with an opportunity to speak, you are terrified, but you stand up and you speak. And the next time, you are scared once more, but you stand and you speak. Soon, you look to your future and you see it–you’re speaking around the world. It’s not a dream anymore, it’s your future. A public speaker is who you are.
So a vision has a totally different quality than a dream. A dream is hypothetical, like “Wouldn’t it be nice?” A vision is just what you see. So consider that all of us have a vision of some kind for our life or for our future. It”s simply what we fully expect as we look to tomorrow, to next week, to next year, to our future.
A KEY POINT:
Consider that the “inner” vision we see guides us as much as, if not more than, the “outer vision,” or what we see with our eyes. What we see internally gives us our interpretation of the world out there. Whether we walk down one path in life or another is often determined by what we “see” when we “look” down those different paths–and what we then “feel” as a result.
Based on what we see and feel, our logical, we then makes our choices–supported with seemingly rational justifications. What we often fail to realize is how the context for our choices are already given to us by our vision.
To the extent that we can take control of our vision – or live at the level of vision – we can have much more power to lead our lives and create what we want in life and with others – as visionaries.
VISIONARY ADVANTAGE:
A skilled visionary, the kind of person who thrives in an ever-changing environment, operates fluidly and openly with the world around her. She doesn’t cling to any static or prepackaged view of reality, because she operates on the level of vision. She is a leader, who leads from the power of her own vision.
VISIONARY DYNAMICS:
The more you understand the dynamics of vision, the more you can consciously choose to function at the level of vision–beyond positions, beyond reactions, beyond fear.
The more you practice visionary thinking, the more you naturally operate at the level of vision.
VISIONARY CHALLANGE:
Honestly reflect on your life to see in which areas you are not living powerfully and passionately from a bold vision. In such areas, dramatic positive change seems impossible, impractical or not worth the effort. With a vision, dramatic positive change occurs not only as possible, practical and worth incredible effort–but as “all there is to do.” A powerful vision calls you naturally into heroic action.
Michael Skye, founder and CEO of VisionForce.com, works with a new breed of impassioned change agents around the world, who are giving their lives to stand for all of humanity. The Visionary Mind Shifts are available free at http://www.VisionForce.com/course.
What Bus Are You On?
“The problems we have now in communities and societies are going to be resolved only when we are brought together by a common sense that each of us is a visionary. Each of us must come to the realization that we can function and live at the level of vision rather than following some great leader’s vision. Instead of looking for a great leader, we are in an era where each of us needs to find the great leader in ourselves.” -Werner Erhard
In the twentieth century, it might have been good enough to operate from a position where you knew The truth, you knew what is Right, and you knew The answer/solution. It was easy enough to learn what was true, what was right and what to do. The person in power would tell you All you had to do to succeed or at least survive in his world was follow and obey.
At work this looked like being a good employee, a company man. Fit in, follow, obey. At school this looked like being a good student. Fit in, follow, obey. In your country this looked like be a good citizen. Fit in, follow, obey. Etc., etc. Life was top-down. The masses were controlled by the people at the top. And it worked… on some level. There was order in the workplace, order at school, order in the streets.
A person’s main choice in life was which bus to ride. Ride the same bus my parents are riding, or ride a bus of my own choosing? Then get on the bus, sit down and trust that the driver knows where he’s going. Stay in your seat, and obey the rules for passengers.
When consciousness calls to you and says, hey face reality and look where the driver is taking us, make an excuse to ignore it. When consciousness calls to you and says, hey take a stand and speak up, make an excuse and ignore it.
Quickly, the excuses pile up:
The driver knows everything. The driver is right. I should stay on the bus at all times, because the driver said so. Getting off the bus is wrong. Thinking about getting off the bus is wrong. I am just a passenger, not a driver. Who am I to try to drive?
The excuses form an easy reference guidebook for you as a passenger that you can defer to instead of thinking for yourself. You don’t need to face reality or take a stand for your values, all you need to do is follow the guidebook of excuses.
The guidebook is your Position. It is what guides you.
Many buses come with ready-made guidebooks, or positions, to help make it easy for passengers to stay quietly in the passenger seats when consciousness calls.
Maybe you got on the rebel bus? Your excuses for staying on the bus were plentiful and passionate.
Drivers know nothing. Drivers are wrong. You can’t drive me! I’m my own driver. Passengers are stupid. I am not a passenger.
It’s just another position.
Maybe you got on the red bus.
Reds rule. I am good because I am red. The blue bus is evil. Blue passengers are evil, and should be killed.
The world we live in today is one of Positionaries guided by positions, not visionaries guided by vision. We choose a position and guide ourselves by it. In fact we identify with it. It’s as if our position is who “I” is. Once that happens, there is little chance for us to create a world that works for everyone.
Michael Skye, founder and CEO of VisionForce.com, works with a new breed of impassioned change agents around the world, who are giving their lives to stand for all of humanity. The Visionary Mind Shifts are available free at http://www.VisionForce.com/course.
FAITH vs. VISION
Some people operate from faith, some from vision. Both are invaluable for tomorrow’s leaders and creators. Learn the distinction between faith and vision, and how you can leverage each.
INTRODUCTION:
Before exploring the distinctions between these two concepts, consider that what is meant by any word is determined largely by the context in which it is used. So, rather than assuming you know what is meant here by faith and vision, look closely to understand the context in which we’re using them.
One of the greatest sources of misunderstandings and disagreements is from making the mistake of assuming that because two people are using the same word, they are actually referring to the same thing. Sally can talk about love, for example, and be referring to an entirely different kind of love than the person who is listening to Sally. They think they are disagreeing about the same thing, when they are really referring to two different things.
Faith can be a tricky concept to talk about, because, like love, it is used in so many different ways. The same goes for vision.
For the visionary in training – or anyone truly wanting and willing to be a force for positive change – grasping this distinction at a deep level can swing open the gates to new pastures of inner freedom and inner power.
ORIENTATION:
The term faith is used very broadly. It is worth distinguishing faith from vision and faith from blind faith. Today, we’ll focus on the former, while the latter will be discussed in a future session.
Reason – What you think.*
Vision – What you see (More specifically, what your mind sees when you “look” to the future.)*
Hope – The quality of focusing on the possibility of a desired future outcome that you lack confidence in due to reason and vision.
Trust – 1. The quality of having or placing confidence in a person or an outcome due to reason, vision or past experience. 2. The quality of choosing to have faith in a person.
Faith – The quality of placing confidence in a desired future outcome without regard for reason (what you think) or vision (what your mind “sees” when you “look” to the future).**
Blind Faith – 1. The quality of having confidence in a desired future outcome while consciously rejecting reason and vision. 2. The quality of placing confidence in someone or something outside of one’s self, while refusing to question or think for one’s self (and placing zero confidence in one’s own consciousness).
*Reason is often held to be the set of natural functions of a human mind – it’s thinking, in a very broad sense. Vision is one of these natural functions.
**Human beings derive confidence naturally from reason and vision. To choose to have confidence in something without reason or vision to back you up is faith.
EXAMPLE:
Craig was a visionary entrepreneur with such a grand vision that people around him typically deferred to him. He seemed to be able to see so clearly what many people could not. And, indeed, he did see what they could not.
To those who could not see what he saw, he appeared daring and bold, often venturing into new and seemingly dangerous territory without hesitation. Some people attributed it to faith, assuming he must have greater faith that they had. Those who joined him on projects usually followed his lead, and often without question. When frightened, they simply hoped things would work out and often admonished each other to “have faith.”
Craig couldn’t understand why they couldn’t see what he could see, even when he tried to show them. Soon, he found himself telling people who couldn’t see what he saw to just have faith in him.
His visionary projects grew in size, and without vision, many people working with him often lost sight of the vision. They’d experience setbacks and failure and start to lose confidence. This increased tensions between Craig and many of the people he counted on. Soon, he began asserting more of an authoritarian demeanor, using fear to motivate people when they lacked confidence in him.
Over the months and years, Craig learned to cut people off, at the first sign that they did not trust him. His story became one of him against the world. He grew increasingly bitter, tired, frustrated and angry. As he formed more conclusions about people and the world, his vision grew less and less powerful. He could not see himself working powerfully with teams of people or accomplishing anything great that required a team effort.
Once a great young visionary, Craig devolved into more and more of a hardened positionary. After many lonely years, Craig found religion, and did his best to surrender his position and just trust in God. He became a man of faith. Using this strategy, he once again became a man who people trusted, a leader people were inspired to follow.
KEY POINTS:
1 – Many people collapse vision with faith. When people see vision and thus feel confident, they often say they have faith. However, there is a distinction between having confidence in the face of the unknown with vision and choosing to have confidence in the face of the unknown without vision.
2 – Both vision and faith are powerful and useful. Whereas many people without vision can only resort to faith when confronted with the unknown, a skilled visionary can intentionally manifest a powerful vision. The man in the example did not have this skill.
3 – Vision can be a force multiplier for anyone’s faith. As a leader it is advantageous to be able to share your vision with others in a way that has them see it, so you need not rely on asking people to blindly trust you or have faith.
VISIONARY ADVANTAGE:
A skilled visionary heads boldly into the unknown and can easily inspire others to join him. Such a person can, even after failing time after time, inspire others to keep going forward. His vision and theirs only grows stronger over time.
VISIONARY DYNAMIC:
The more you operate at the level of vision, the greater your faith becomes AND the less you need to rely on “having faith.”
VISIONARY CHALLANGE:
Look to areas of your life where you have come to think you just need more faith in yourselves, others, humanity, etc. Consider that if you had a powerful vision in these areas, it would only multiply your confidence and your faith. Then do the work it takes to build that vision. (You’re not taught very powerful methods for doing this at home, at school, at church or even through most self-development programs. Such methods are, however, taught inside Vision Force programs such as our boot camp).
Michael Skye, founder and CEO of VisionForce.com, works with a new breed of impassioned change agents around the world, who are giving their lives to stand for all of humanity. The Visionary Mind Shifts are available free at http://www.VisionForce.com/course.
Training Black Belts or Hiring Them — Which Is Better?
The Black Belt Theme
A certified Six Sigma professional is one who is an expert in explaining as well as deploying Six Sigma philosophies and principles, including managing supporting system and tools. A Black Belt professional understands team dynamics and has a complete understanding of all the models of Six Sigma and the ability to identify non-value-added elements and activities.
Training Versus Hiring Black Belts
Assume that a business has decided to fully deploy Six Sigma. The organization needs to decide on the timeline and assemble an expert Six Sigma team.
Given below are some advantages and disadvantages that the businesses may consider before deciding on hiring or training:
Advantages Of Internal Black Belts
-From the point of view of investment, though the investment is larger the returns in terms of positive moral and cultural change can be even higher.
-From the point of view of employee loyalty, promoting internal staff always reinforces the employee’s loyalty towards the business, which is very important because then the employee will then try his level best to live up to the trust of the company.
-If we look at it from the point of view of familiarity with the company processes, nothing can be better than internal Black Belts because as they are already on the process, once trained they only work faster and better.
-Internal staff also has a familiarity with company structure and they use this knowledge to achieve better results. As they are familiar with the staff as well, they are able to choose the best possible Six Sigma candidates.
-Internal Black Belts are also more equipped to apply six sigma tools in the company processes. Thus shortening the learning curve.
-Internal green belts can develop their career easily by staying in the company’s Six Sigma team. This enhances the employee’s spirits and dedication towards the work.
Disadvantages Of Internal Black Belts
-Investment is substantially greater for training than hiring.
-Sometimes existing employees can take the loyalty factor for granted and still perform at the same level.
-Familiarity and experience with company processes may prevent the employees from thinking “outside the box”.
-The biggest hurdle that familiarity with company structure can pose is that it becomes difficult to manage the team and resources when they change roles from being peer associates to Black Belts and team leaders.
-It is often noticed that since internal Black Belts have no prior experience of being in that position, they often choose an inappropriate tool. Thus, reducing productivity and leading a culture change.
-After receiving training, it often happens that the person is sought by many organizations that are ready to pay bigger paychecks. In such cases often the employee leaves the organization.
Advantages Of External Black Belts
-Investment amount is lesser in comparison to training.
-Most of the time when a person is hired, he is loyal by default during the initial phase. If the company treats him well this loyalty becomes permanent.
-External Black Belts are true champion team leaders and Six Sigma experts. They come up with more creative solutions as they are not familiar with company processes and this makes them think out-of-the-box.
-External Black Belts choose team members impartially on the basis of their skills and many a times it so happens that company employees are more receptive to an outside entity.
-External Black Belts don’t need any additional training. Their learning curve is thus non-existent.
-Career development can never be an issue with external Black Belts.
Disadvantages Of External Black Belts
-Hiring costs are not to be taken lightly. A highly professional and experienced black belt will charge more.
-Many times, external Black Belts consider themselves “hired guns”. They can leave the project in between and move on to another business that provides them with a fatter pay rate.
-It takes time to be familiar with company processes properly in order to efficiently initiate a Six Sigma project.
-A communication gap gets created because the external Black Belt is not familiar with company structure. Also selecting a team and the implementation of strategy as a whole gets delayed.
-The learning curve as such is non-existent for external Black Belts, but they do get slowed down because they are unaware of the company’s inner working processes.
In the final analysis, the decision to train existing employees to be Black Belts or to hire them from the outside must be made by each organization individually. There is no right or wrong answer, but the organization’s objectives must be considered carefully.
Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution’s Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six
sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.