Coaching for Entrepreneurs, Executives & Employees

Whether you are an entrepreneur, executive or an employee, you are an individual human regardless of the type of business you’re in. As an individual, you possess characteristics, beliefs and habits that you have developed from the time you were born to the present day.  It’s these beliefs and habits that make up our personalities and who we are. Some of these beliefs and habits support our goals and make us great leaders, and others don’t. The beliefs and habits we have determine the decisions we make, our attitudes, how we treat others and how we respond to situations.

For an individual with the desire to grow and achieve success, situations and challenges occur that are common in life and business. How we handle these moments, even when they appear negative, dictates how we respond, the actions we take, and our attitude toward them, which determines the outcome. Does the outcome of these situations support your growth, your goals and the direction you desire to go in? These situations, also referred to as “key moments” can be big, but oftentimes it’s the small key moments that are more frequent that are often overlooked and not given thoughtful consideration.  As a result, these small key moments we encounter continue to shape us over the course of our lives and are a bigger factor in our success than what you may think. When our behaviors, habits and beliefs, shaped from these small key moments, are not supportive, they hinder our success more than the obvious significant moments. Our response to the smaller, more frequent key moments during our lives will determine how we respond to the bigger defining moments.

As an individual with the desire to get more out of life, a career or business, how do you change these beliefs, habits and the paradigm from which you live to support your future growth? Changing habits, behaviors and beliefs as an individual can seem an insurmountable task; it’s the reason there are thousands of self-help books. If it were an easy feat, and with all the information readily available to us on how to change, why is it that many of us don’t?

Where you are today is a result of the choices and the,

conscious and unconscious, decisions you’ve made in life

Coaching has been proven by many individuals and organizations to be a valuable catalyst to help a person or organization shift directions and change habits, behaviors and perspectives that will alter the outcomes of their future decisions to support their goals, dreams, and the direction they choose to track.

Does coaching work? Is coaching valuable? That depends on how important success is to you. It depends on your level of desire andcommitment to change and grow to achieve more out of life. If the desire to achieve more and to change is absent, then coaching will be of little value to you or the organization. However, when desire and commitment are present; coaching has been proven to be a viable catalyst for great growth and success where many realize exponential results.

Why do some people succeed and others don’t? Simply put, people that succeed have desire, commitment and discipline and choose to live with intent and focus on the right things that get them the right results, thus achieving success.

For many individuals and organizations, their belief system and perspectives see coaching in life and business as something nebulous, and, as a result, they grossly under value coaching as a catalyst for change and growth and continue down the same path of limited or backwards growth. Continuing to do the same activities and expecting different results is a misalignment between realistic goals and actions. Oftentimes this can be seen as competing priorities or a lack of focus, ultimately resulting in little or no results and frustration.

Coaching and achieving results or success is a process. If you look at it from the perspective that it is nebulous or mysterious, then how would you ever develop a plan that allows you to achieve repeatable and predictable results?

What does a coach do?

There are many professional coaches today that an individual or organization can hire as catalyst to support change and growth. Coaches are all unique and come with their own sets of experiences and approaches and specialties.

Your coach operates as your trusted and impartial partner to support you in your efforts through the process, to challenge you when needed, to acknowledge and celebrate your wins, to hold you accountable to the goals and priorities you’ve defined, and to be your thinking partner, asking powerful questions that provide you with insight and clarity to overcome challenges and fears while on your path to growth, leadership and success.

What is the coaching process? Some of the areas the coach may explore with you to create, clarity, focus and balance for growth and leadership are but not limited to:

Assessing the current – Understanding the current situation and concerns is an important consideration during the coaching process, as it gives insight into the behaviors and beliefs that created the undesirable conditions that are inhibiting growth. When there is clarity and awareness of the issues, it can be taken into consideration during the discovery and planning phases of the coaching process to free up what’s holding you or the organization back.

Developing alternative perspectives and a winning mindset – The perspective on where you are today and want to be in the future will determine the decisions you make. Making intelligent decisions involves looking at circumstances and the future from a different viewpoint, one that provides an avenue to other alternatives and approaches. A healthy winning mindset supports positive attributes, opens the mind up to fresh ideas and possibilities and achieves growth.

Discovering possibilities - Each person and organization has their own definition of success and an idea of what they would like to achieve. The coaching process helps you flush out the ideas through discovery and why those ideas are important to you or the organization and your growth.

Identifying and clarifying realistic goals – What are the important goals in your life or the organization? If there is a lack of clarity in the direction and goals, it creates competing priorities and a lack of focus, leaving little or no results. This is a chronic problem that triggers frustration and conflict individually and within organizations and strips away confidence, positive attitudes and enthusiasm, which are replaced with fear and doubt.

Designing and planning actions & priorities – Designing and planning actions and priorities that support the realistic and meaningful goals defined for the individual or organization is a key factor to getting results. When actions and priorities are not in alignment with the goals, the expected results are not achieved.

Executing, staying focused, progress and accountability – One of the biggest challenges we have is the ability to stay focused and to apply consistent effort over time to achieve the results we’re looking for.  Regardless of the goals and actions defined if you or the organization cannot execute the plan with focused and consistent effort results will not be realized. Your coach is your accountability partner to help keep you focused on things you’ve identified will create progress for you or the organization by helping you stay focused and hold you accountable to the actions.

What causes a lack of focus?

Lack of focus or clarity is one of the reasons people seek coaching. The belief is that when a person or organization can increase their focus the results will change, which is not always true. A lack of focus is a symptom to an underlying issue. If the underlying issue is not addressed, then just increasing focus on the same things oftentimes will not generate the expected results.

Approximately 10,000 to 60,000 random thoughts go through our minds each day. Managing these thoughts and ideas while pursing your goals can be a real challenge, and when you’re an organization with multiple employees, and each has thousands of thoughts and ideas, it’s no wonder organizations lack focus, have competing priorities and conflict, all of which inhibit growth. To effectively manage these thoughts and increase focus requires clarity and alignment of  your purpose, your strengths, your core values and beliefs, and your goals and actions. When this is achieved, you shift yourself into a mode where you are moving forward with intent and deliberate action, which is recognized as being “focused.” Not moving forward with clear and meaningful intent means that your mind is in an idle position and more susceptible to the 10,000 to 60,000 random thoughts we have, thus creating distractions, which show up as a lack of focus. It’s the lack of focus that is more easily recognized as the problem, because it’s at the surface level, but oftentimes it will go unresolved because the real ailment is never addressed. As this cycle continues, frustration, doubt, fear, and stress continue to build from expending energy without getting results. The phrase “spinning my wheels” has been used to describe this state, which strips away your confidence and energy and leads to a point of major frustration also referred to as a WTF Moment as described in Mike Brenhaug’s book WTF Transform what appears negative into a positive to become unstoppable!.

How do I gain more confidence?

Confidence is a state of mind and is based upon previous experiences, failures, beliefs, skills and knowledge. When a person is clear on who they are, their passion, beliefs, strengths and mission are in complete alignment with their goals and actions. This cathartic process shifts a person into what I call the “Core of Success.” It’s operating from the Core of Success that produces confidence, perseverance, a positive attitude, enthusiasm and other characteristics associated with success and replaces the attributes that create the undesirable. A person virtually becomes unstoppable when living from the Core of Success, which is recognized as confidence, drive and determination.

How do I overcome fears?

Your coach will work with you to identify what’s causing the fears to create a plan of action. Many times fear has set in as a result of lack of clear purpose, planning and goals. Just creating awareness around the fear won’t necessarily eliminate the problem. Fear is an emotion and a symptom, not the problem. You overcome problems, which can reoccur. Symptoms are indication that something is wrong, which needs to be diagnosed to solve the real problem, thus eliminating the symptom, which in this case is fear. When the real problem is solved, fear is replaced with confidence, a much more positive and desirable emotion that supports strong growth and leadership.

How does training fit in with coaching?

Coaching and training oftentimes are separate, as there are coaches that specialize in coaching and trainers that specializes various training topics. The two go hand in hand like sales and marketing. You can operate them separately, but they are extremely powerful and effective when utilized together. Which comes first, coaching or training? It depends on the situation, but for many, engaging a coach comes first because it’s the coaching process that will assist you in assessing the situation and planning the future and will allow you to determine what, who and how much training is necessary to support the future direction. Training alone, without clear purpose as to why, or not addressing the real problem, will result in a low ROI. If you’re not certain which to do first, then it’s a pretty good indicator that you should choose to work with a coach to bring clarity to what your desired outcome is.

How long will I need to work with a coach?

There is no definitive answer. It depends on what you want to get out of your life, business and the coaching engagement. If you’re looking for a quick fix, then coaching most likely is not the answer. Coaching is a powerful collaboration partnership to guide you to greater growth and leadership. Some coaches offer short-term packages and others choose to work with individuals and organizations that are committed to greater results. In any case, coaching and training should not be viewed as quick fixes, as this will set you up for false expectations and disappointment. Quick fixes are a temporary solution until the real problem can be resolved. This works in some areas of our lives, such as when our car is broken down and we need a quick fix to get us to the professional to diagnose and fix the real issue. Growth, leadership and success are achieved from decisions that are made from commitment, and a “quick fix” mentality is not supportive of long term, “all-in” commitment. Do you begin toward growth and your goal and then stop at some point, or are you committed to the end? It raises the question: when considering personal and organizational growth, is there such a thing as a “quick fix?” Our life and success is not a destination but a journey.

How do I know if coaching will work for me or my organization?

Three key attributes are necessary for coaching and training to be effective and are good indicators if coaching will work for you:Desire, commitment and discipline. If desire is absent, then the willingness to be open to fresh ideas, to look at things from a different perspective, the willingness to change behaviors and develop habits is absent. When that is absent it’s extremely difficult to be committed to growth, leadership, and success. Without commitment, the discipline to follow through on necessary actions that create positive habits for change that support growth won’t occur.

At the end of the day, the question still exists. How valuable is coaching for me and/or my organization?

Well, that is up to the value you place on growth and success as an individual or leader as well as the organization. Only you can determine how valuable your future is to you. Do you value your future success enough to invest in yourself and/or the organization?

To help clarify the value of coaching, ask yourself these questions:

If you as an individual or organization had a clear purpose and goals that were in complete alignment, that allowed everyone to be on the same page and were living each day with intent, clarity, focus, balance how valuable would that be to you and/or your organization?

How would that change your life and/or business?

How would that change the life of those around you, your employees or your clients?

How much more valuable or effective would you be to yourself or others?

How much more time, balance and happiness would it bring you?

What are the cost to you and/or your organization in time, happiness, results, and revenue if you continue as you are today?

Your answers to these questions will allow you to determine how valuable coaching is to you and/or the organization. You either choose to live life with intent and move forward or not. There is no in-between.

Live from the Core of Success, Be Unstoppable, and Win The Future!

Mike Brenhaug

Mike Brenhaug is a professional business coach and author of the bestseller WTF: Transform what appears negative into a positive to become unstoppable! Mike coaches and speaks with entrepreneurs, executives and organizations on focus and shifting into the Core of Success, where results will be realized.

www.BlueRockCoaching.com

Introduction chapter from the WTF Transform what appears negative into a positive to become unstoppable! Book.

What is a WTF Moment?

I was on a coaching call one day with a new client who was extremely frustrated with the lack of results he was getting from his efforts. He asked, “Mike, I’m doing all I can to grow my business. I get up early in the morning, I make sales calls daily, I attend networking events, I blog regularly. On top of trying to get more business, I have clients to service. What’s going on? What more can I do?”

This wasn’t the first client that had come to me with similar feelings of frustration, experiencing what I refer to as a “WTF Moment.” This is a very real moment that we experience in life and how we respond to this moment will determine our level of success.

The type of WTF Moment I’m referring to happens in business and in life when you are doing everything you possibly can to succeed, yet things are just not clicking. You feel major frustration, you become discouraged, and you lose confidence and faith in yourself and your abilities. It’s something that has you so frustrated that it distorts your perception of the situation; your emotions and adrenalin are at a peak and cause you to literally think, WTF? It’s at this moment that you feel like you’re stuck, your wheels are spinning and you can’t seem to move forward. You lack focus and energy because your mind is occupied with all these other feelings that are uncomfortable and negative. Your confidence, positive attitude and willingness to win have been stripped away. You feel like you don’t have any other options, so it’s natural, when you see “WTF,” to perceive it as a negative, because that’s exactly how it feels. You throw up your hands because you’ve done everything you possibly can, and you’re just not getting the results you expect. You think to yourself, “What is going on? What more can I do? I’m doing everything that I can. I just don’t know what else to do.” What can you do at this moment? How do you respond? How do you shift from this WTF Moment into a different mode that will produce positive feelings of happiness and joy, and give you an abundance of energy and confidence that moves you forward?

The very WTF moment that you’re experiencing and perceiving as a negative is the very moment that is a catalyst for change when you look at it from a different perspective. A negative feeling is just an emotion. We perceive it as a negative, because it feels uncomfortable and we don’t see a way out because frustration and doubt have overwhelmed you. Who made it a negative? Who says it has to be a negative?

As humans, we’re the ones that take it as a negative. Now, think about this. That same feeling is a catalyst for change. If life never challenged you, what would cause you to grow? You wouldn’t. When you’re comfortable, there’s nothing to motivate you to change. A WTF Moment is a positive; it’s life’s way, or God’s way, of motivating you to change. When you make a WTF Moment a positive, you open your mind up to new ideas and possibilities. When you judge your feelings and accept them as negative, you close your mind, which creates stress and worry. You were born to succeed and life wants you to succeed. Life and God are on your side and nothing is more gratifying than you living a successful life with joy, love and happiness.

When your view changes, your mind will see that there are other definitions for those three letters: WTF.

Where’s The Focus?

When you can focus on the right things that will produce the right results, you’ll transform your WTF Moments into positives and become unstoppable.

Are you focused on the things that will bring good into your life or are you focused on the wrong things that will bring the bad?

Are you focused on the right actions that will get the right results?

Are you focused on the right clients?

Are you focused on what fires you up and gives you real internal energy?

Are you focused on your strengths?

Are you focused on a positive attitude?

As you read this book, I invite you to look at your WTF Moments as positives rather than negatives. Do you know what’s causing those frustrating moments? The methodology covered in this book will help you transform what appears negative into a positive for success. You’ll

learn how to change your perspective and focus to get positive results and get what you want out of life and business. Great things are happening in your life, and change is good. When you’re changing, you’re learning and growing.

For more information on how to Transform what appears negative in your life and business into a positive to become unstoppable! visit www.WTFmomentbook.com

By Mike Brenhaug author of  WTF Transform what appears negative into a positive to become Unstoppable!

Mike Brenhaug is a transformation coach for executives, business professionals and entrepreneurs.

www.BlueRockCoaching.com

I could recommend a hundred books on setting goals but if you’re not reaching your goals then what’s the point? Anyone can set goals! What’s important is reaching the goals you set.

If I could share one important thing about goals it would be, make it meaningful. We can set goals all day long, create an action plan, and even want it. But at the end of the day, if that goal really doesn’t have a deep meaning for us it’s not going to happen.

When you think about your goals ask yourself the following questions.

1. What does reaching this goal mean for me?

2. How will my life and those close to me be different?

3. Why is this goal important to me?

4. Does this goal excite me and give me the fire, passion and energy to make it happen no matter what?

5. Am I okay with not reaching this goal?

The key is getting beyond setting goals and actually reaching them. Sometimes we get caught up in having a list of goals, but having a list of goals that really doesn’t have any meaning for us, can actually cause feelings of overwhelm and discouragement because we’re not reaching our goals. There’s a reason you’re not reaching your goals. Could be you have too many goals and not focused on the most important ones, could be the goal really isn’t meaningful to you. Focus on fewer goals, make them meaningful and make it happen no matter what!

Mike Brenhaug

3 Important Questions to Ask on Monday Morning

It is the beginning of the week for most and the most important day of the week.  How you start your Monday determines how successful your week will be.  Make sure you start your week off right and ask yourself the three most important Monday questions and give it serious thought and answers.

1. What is my goal for the week?

2. What are my most important activities this week that I must get accomplished to help me reach my goal?

3. What are the things that are keeping me busy but not important and preventing me from reaching my goals that I need to stop doing?

Ask yourself these three simple questions every Monday morning you will be on track to set your week up for success and get results.

Have a productive and successful week!

Mike Brenhaug

Business Growth Expert

www.bluerockcoaching.com

Ensuring you have a stable business is the advantage you need for sweet success.

There’s no doubt the current economy has created an environment where people and organizations are working harder with fewer results. It’s easy to get caught up in the “doing” instead of focusing on the right activities that generate results and promote stability.

Three ways to restore balance and improve efficiency:

1.  Spend time reviewing your strategy to make sure it’s in alignment with your purpose, goals and vision. By doing so, you bring the team together and avoid competing priorities. A plan with measurable metrics is a valuable tool that will help keep you and your business on track.

2.  Focus on high payoff activities to maximize your time, efforts and increase your results. If you feel stretched it’s a good indication your plan is insufficient and lacks focus.

3.  Evaluate your expenses and cash conversion cycle to optimize cash flow and redirect towards growth catalyst such as sales and marketing activities which will produce new business.

A crystal clear plan will create alignment with your team, allow you to execute effectively and ultimately restore balance in your organization.

For more Success Tips, visit www.FastBizGrowth.net

Congratulations! to the top 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies in Orange County.  Last night the Orange County Business Journal held a cocktail reception to honor OC’s Fastest Private Growing companies.

 

To achieve great growth and make the list requires a great vision, commitment, persistence and a winning team.  Despite the economy these companies saw new opportunities or pushed through to make it happen. Great job!

 

Here’s a list of OC’s Fastest Growing Companies.  When you’re out and about in the OC make sure to congratulate them.

 

Rank       Company

1              Pacific Pharmacy Group

2              Stone Equity Group

3              Debtmerica LLC

4              Most Brand Development + Advertising

5              Networks In Motion Inc.

6              Point One Technologies Inc.

7              Stearns Lending Inc.

8              Cosemi Technologies Inc.

9              Monkey Hook LLC

10           Incipio Technologies

11           Affiliate Media Inc.

12           American Correctional Solutions

13           Lead Tracking Solutions

14           National Retirement Partners

15           Promotional Fulfillment Services Inc.

16           Earthbound Media Group

17           EPS Corp.

18           Telogis

19           Tallega Software

20           Synoptek Inc.

21           Blytheco LLC

22           Lifespring Nutrition

23           Tenacore Holdings Inc.

24           B.B. Graham & Co.

25           Electronic Cash Systems Inc.

26           Govplace

27           Increase Visibility Inc.

28           Golden Construction Development Co.

29           Genea Energy

30           International Education Corp.

31           Suite Solutions Inc.

32           Lexipol LLC

33           APR Consulting Inc.

34           Xelleration LLC

35           Absolute Screenprint Inc.

36           Custom Building Products, Inc.

37           Carrillo Business Technologies Inc.

38           Pacific Building Care Inc.

39           Quality Assurance Inspections

40           Trace|3 Inc.

41           Neudesic

42           Alar Staffing Corp.

43           Structure Networks Inc.

44           Rauxa Direct

45           Wireless Emporium Inc.

46           KnowledgeCentrix Inc.

47           UPS Protection

48           Hospital Associates

49           Vizio Inc.

50           Universal Services of America

51           Stremicks Heritage Foods LLC

52           IMS Co.

53           Wisdom Financial Inc.

54           IFiber Optix

55           Golden State Foods Corp.

56           LifeScript

57           Pacific Dental Services Inc.

58           Principal Technical Services Inc.

59           Pioneer Circuits Inc.

60           Options Investments Inc.

61           Fresh Start Bakeries Inc.

62           CDCE Inc.

63           BandCon

64           Pacific Rim Capital Inc.

65           Insight Investments Corp.

66           Yard House USA Inc.

67           Britstan Technology

68           WiLogic Inc.

69           Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo

70           Cummins Cal Pacific

71           Trinet Internet Solutions Inc.

72           Risk Management Group

73           Ventura Foods LLC

74           Aeronet Logistics Inc.

75           Keating Dental Arts Inc.

76           Intelli-Flex Inc.

77           Dougherty & Dougherty Architects LLP

78           Tawa Supermarket Inc.

79           Dr. Fresh Inc.

80           Linc Group

81           Cell Business Equipment

82           TriZetto Group Inc.

83           Play N Trade Franchise Inc.

84           MS International Inc.

85           In-N-Out Burgers Inc.

86           Architects Orange

87           AeroFlite Enterprises Inc.

88           Celeris Systems Inc.

89           Wahoo’s Fish Taco

90           Orange Label Art + Advertising

91           Akins Consulting Inc.

92           JIPC Management Inc.

93           Express Manufacturing Inc.

94           Silverado Senior Living Inc.

95           Murrietta Circuits

96           Specialized Marketing Services Inc.

97           Bright Now Dental Inc.

98           Kingston Technology Co.

99           Super D

100         Helpmates Staffing Services

 

To your continued success!

 

Mike Brenhaug

Yesterday I attended the Orange County Venture Capital event in Newport Beach where Guy Kawasaki was the keynote speaker.  Guy shared with us his Best Practices for Twitter.  I have a Twitter account, and tweet every now then, but I never really understood the power of Twitter.  For me, I couldn’t understand how or why anyone would have the time to sit in front of their computer and read tweets all day.  Not that I’m an expert now, but I do have a better understanding of Twitter and will be tweeting much more while using Guy’s Best Practices.  

 

Guy Kawasaki’s Best Practices:

1.    Always link to something interesting.  Link to something of interest that will peak the interest of others, create more followers and drive traffic. 

2.    The goal is to be re-tweeted.  You want others re-tweeting your tweets.

3.    Inform not Me form.  What Guy meant by this is that don’t tweet useless tweet’s about yourself like “my cat just rolled over”.  Tweet useful information that will “inform” followers.

4.    It’s okay to repeat tweets.  Guy repeats tweets every 8 hours.  It’s like the news; CNN & Fox will repeat the same news clip throughout the day to reach viewers/followers.

5.    Ignore those that complain you tweet too much. 

6.    This is my favorite and a direct quote from Guy “If you’re not pissing someone off on Twitter you’re not using it right”.

 

Now that you have Guy’s Best Practices go out and tweet someone off. 

 

To your twittering success!

 

Mike

 

Upcoming workshops:

November 12^th – “Accelerating Growth during an Economic Recovery”.  A must attend for any executive looking to achieve growth and capitalize on the economic recovery.   For more info visit: http://www.businesscoachpro.com/rockefeller-habits-executive-workshop/

We’re among friends, so let’s be frank, shall we? Training is one of those boring, tedious necessities that we businesspeople must politely endure–while examining our fingernails. Once we nod and agree that, oh yes, training’s important, we can maybe change the subject to much more pressing matters, like product development or finance.

That’s what I used to think, too. In fact, I was dragged into paying attention to my training department because I needed financing to grow my debt-collection operation. The rating agencies really wanted to see a comprehensive training department before they would give my company a solid rating.

I threw some money into developing a training program , never expecting it to become much of anything. Was I ever wrong. Our training became our secret weapon, because error rates plummeted and productivity shot up. Over time it expanded into a full-time, six-week intensive program that was called one of the best in the world for our industry. In fact, the training program was one reason we became a Harvard Business School case study.

Let’s examine six myths about training and the cold, hard reality.

Myth: If I hire quality people, I don’t need to train them.
Reality: That’s fine if you’re a cottage industry with a couple of employees. But the bigger you grow, the more detached you’ll be from daily operations. You simply cannot assume that even the best people are aware of your practices. Customers are far too expensive to attract and retain to leave them to haphazard treatment.

Myth: Highly trained employees will just leave and go to competitors.
Reality: Maybe, but so what? Ray Kroc built McDonald’s on the philosophy that “We can invent faster than they can steal.” Besides, great training programs are actually an employee-retention tool.

Myth: It costs too much.
Reality: An expense is something you pay that doesn’t pay you back, like potted plants. Training is an investment that should immediately pay big dividends in the form of fewer costly errors, higher productivity and greater customer retention .

Myth: I’ll do it when things get better, or I’ll do it when things slow down.
Reality: We’re among friends, remember? This is a lame excuse and a cop out. We can always kick the can down the road by saying now’s not the right time for anything we don’t feel like doing. Even mud knows to take the path of least resistance when flowing downhill. Leaders are supposed to be smarter than mud, and strong enough to make difficult investments today that will pay off big in the future.

Myth: On-the-job training is the best training there is.
Reality: I’m a big believer in on-the-job-training, but only when it’s part of a much larger package. We had our loan-collection trainees make calls very early on to live customers, but they were closely monitored. We discovered that when we just shoved them out to sink or swim, the learning curve was longer. When we mixed the live practice with classroom work, the trainees asked practical questions and could immediately put the answers to use on the next call.

Myth: We have something better than a training program; it’s a mentoring program.
Reality: This is a variation on on-the-job training and is almost always a cop out. The so-called mentoring consists of employees showing up to work and being run through a sheep-dip orientation by personnel. Then there’s the obligatory matching up of the New Guy with the Old Hand. It’s all new for the New Guy, but this is the twenty-eighth kid the Old Hand has trained. Because there’s no money or incentive in it, that training mainly consists of “monkey see, monkey do.” Unless you run a zoo, that’s no way to operate your business.

Create a superb training program, not for the brownie points it will get you, but for the cold, hard cash it will drop to your bottom line. Trust me: Your competitors will never figure it out.

Bill Bartmann is the foremost expert on helping entrepreneurs profit from buying bad loans and a leading authority on entrepreneurship in America. His book Bailout Riches recently became #1 on Amazon’s Best Seller List. Bill offers free educational materials for entrepreneurs at www.bailoutrichesnow.com and can be reached via email at askbill@billbartmann.com.

We all hear how important team work is to the success of an organization.  I happened to be listening to Dan Clark the other day and he was talking about “teams”.  One of the key points of his message that I found so true; team work is important, however, each team member needs to be individually prepared and ready.  A team is only as good as the weakest link.  When you think about the best teams in the world, they all individually come prepared and ready to win.  It’s the individual preparedness that makes a great team. 

 

What are you doing to ensure that you and your team are individually prepared to be a winning team?

 

Statistics show that coaching, training, and continuous learning are the key to individual and business success.  So what’s stopping you from developing a plan that allows you to get the results you want?