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Six Surprising Facts How Small Changes Lead to Big Results

October 2, 2014September 30, 2014 Shannon Cassidy Leave a comment

You may be surprised at just how effective small changes can be in leading to big results.

Here are six reasons why you don’t have to start big to achieve big things.

Big steps can seem overwhelming: Beginning your journey with small steps makes it is easier to get started. Since getting started on a big task usually seems to be the most difficult part, starting small will help you in the long run.
Small goals are more attainable: While small goals may seem insignificant, they are also easier to achieve. Once you’ve started achieving small goals, you will be more motivated to continue.
It’s gratifying to achieve many small accomplishments: A sense of accomplishment helps you feel better about yourself. This makes it easier to move on to the next step toward achieving all of your goals.
Small things add up over time: If you accomplish one small goal 3-4 times a week, over the course of a month you will have reached an average of 14 mini goals. This is quite an accomplishment considering it all started with something that seemed insignificant at the time.
It’s easier to procrastinate when it comes to difficult tasks: It’s much easier to put off doing tasks that seem too big and complicated. When something seems overwhelming, most of the time it just seems easier to not even try.
It’s harder to make excuses for not doing small tasks: Starting with small steps makes it harder to justify putting them off. Knowing that you only have to put a few minutes towards reaching your goal gives you very little excuses for not doing it.

For help in getting started on your five degree shifts, contact us. We look forward to hearing from you!

What You Should Know About Executive Coaching

September 30, 2014September 30, 2014 Shannon Cassidy Leave a comment

Therapy takes you from where you are now and helps you go back and figure out how you got there. With executive coaching, it’s really about where you are right now and where you ultimately want to be. It’s about taking you from the place where you find yourself, help you to articulate and get clear about where you want to go, and then give you the tools to get there.

1. Executive Coaching Does NOT Fix Broken Executives: While some executives need extra work to improve their performance, a lot of executives are growing in their leadership capabilities with the help of a coach. Why is it so effective? Christine Turner’s research in the Ivey Business Journal indicates that executives improve through guided and focused one on one attention with a coach. Turner says:

The executives said the most significant benefit was the individualized attention they received from their coaches. Add to this the fact that executive coaching takes place over an extended period of time and it becomes a great way to acquire and ingrain new skills.

2. Executive Coaching is NOT Therapy: The thought of lying on a couch and talking to someone who is not looking at us and answering questions like, “And how does that make you feel?” is terrifying to most executives. Coaching is not about dealing with issues in a person’s past necessarily. Coaches are focused on present performance and getting the most out of a leader. Executive coaching may feel a bit like therapy when their coach exposes blind spots in leadership areas. The pain is momentary because it serves as a learning experience. The executive is coached to develop new skills to handle specific performance issues. Sometimes, everyone but the executive can see what is happening to the morale of a team (or whatever issue is looming to hold back progress) — it takes “outside eyes” to help the executive adjust and begin to increase effectiveness again. More than anything, executive coaching is an opportunity to learn. Thomas J. Ucko describes the process:

Executive coaching is a structured process that starts with feedback about the executive’s leadership behaviors, and involves the executive in determining goals for more useful behaviors and in designing a plan for achieving these goals

3. Coaching Gets Results: Although Executive coaching is not a magic bullet, nor a quick fix, many executives are experiencing the positive results of it. The Sherpacoaching 2014 report claims:

Coaches in the business for 2 years or less report results as 51% good, 49% excellent. Veteran coaches, those in business 15 years or more, see 23% of coaching as producing good results, and 76% of coaching arriving at excellent outcomes.

Executive Coaching is growing in popularity because it is helping executives increase their effectiveness as leaders. Not only are the executives benefiting, but so are their companies and direct reports. It makes sense to invest in Executive Coaching to multiple the effectiveness of an organization.

5 Ways to Increase Productivity and Creativity

September 11, 2014September 11, 2014 Shannon Cassidy Leave a comment

Do you ever wonder: what sets apart the people who are ultra-achievers and those who just make a living? Do they work harder? Put in longer hours? Are they just born with something that everyone else doesn’t have? As it turns out, there are a few tricks for kick-starting your creativity and being more productive at work. Try these techniques for a more successful career — and life. Old Way New Way Habits BB bright watermark

Plan Free Time

Ironically, the most productive creatives aren’t just workaholics. Yes, they put in their fair share of time at the office, but these people also give their minds and bodies free time. Time not spent trying to force productivity is the time when your mind is allowed to wander. During these times is when most creative people come up with their best ideas. Schedule some “you” time. Enjoy a long walk, or bike ride, or just sit somewhere you enjoy the view and let your mind meander where it wishes. You’ll definitely see the results back at work.

Create Environmental Triggers

A large factor that derails creative thought is the difficulty people often have switching tasks. Most workers go through the day half-engaged mentally in whatever they are doing, because they haven’t learned to establish clear boundaries between their tasks. For instance, have you ever arrived at work still thinking about a situation at home? Do you go home with work on your mind? Are you distracted during meetings with what’s sitting on your desk?

Learn to create environmental triggers to signal to your mind that it’s time to focus on a specific task. For example, only allow yourself to indulge in that morning bagel after you’re engaged in morning emails, or schedule snack time right before heading to the afternoon meeting.

Control Distractions

In an effort to be available and approachable, many workers don’t set “off limits” time for phone calls, answering emails, or allowing visitors into the office. The most productive and creative workers learn to schedule times for these interruptions, and also set “off limits” times when no one is allowed to distract them. This keeps you from losing those wonderful ideas that you always have right before a coworker comes in to ask about the daily reports — the ideas you are never able to recapture and implement.

Spend Time Reading and Watching Quality Programming

Another factor separating the highly productive, creative people and everyone else is the way they spend their free time. After a mentally exhausting day, it’s tempting to turn on a low-key sitcom and just relax. However, highly creative people make time for reading books and watching quality programming, such as documentaries. When it’s time to solve a problem or come up with a great idea, the people who have invested time in learning have more information stored with which to develop a smart solution.

Get Outside Your Comfort Zone

Most people read magazines about topics they enjoy, talk only to people with which they share common interests, and thereby expose themselves to a limited amount of knowledge. People who are creatively productive take time to develop knowledge on a wide variety of topics. Pick up a book or magazine about a sport or hobby you know nothing about. Talk to someone who comes from an entirely different background than you. Expose yourself to as many subjects and viewpoints as possible, and you’ll see your productivity and creativity soar as a result.

Would you like to learn more about becoming a highly productive and brilliantly creative worker? Want to see more success in your future? Contact us to motivate and empower you and your staff.

Sources:

http://www.learnvest.com/2012/12/how-to-improve-your-creativity-and-productivity/

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/awake-the-wheel/201005/7-ways-enhance-focus-creativity-productivity-and-performance

How to Develop Job Strengths Through Assessments

August 30, 2014August 30, 2014 Shannon Cassidy Leave a comment

Assessments evaluate what makes you stand out from everyone else. Two forms which will help you to develop your job strengths are employee and self-assessments.

Self-Assessments

Self-assessments evaluate strengths and weaknesses through observation. Self-assessment is necessary for the job hunt, internal job promotions and tackling additional responsibilities. Shannon Cassidy’s V.I.B.E. demonstrates how making small, incremental changes can help you achieve amazing things. With her many years of success, coupled with her belief in human potential, Shannon delivers a powerful lesson with actionable takeaways. Your V.I.B.E. consists of four specific pieces. Your Values. Your Interests. Your Beliefs. Your Energy Sources. This workbook is designed to take you on a journey. A discovery of what lies beneath and how that impacts you and others. You will be satisfied, appreciated and well prepared to stay with a company who aligns with your authentic self for the long haul.

Employee Assessments

Employee assessments are the company’s evaluation of your strengths. In addition to hardworking individuals, managers are looking for the right “fit” to drive results.

Companies weigh individual traits to job skills, productivity and sales. Businesses compare the results with your co-workers. The results determine if and where you belong within the organization.
After assessments, companies look for ways to bring employees’ job strengths to the forefront and capitalize on those skill sets. Oftentimes training is provided to enhance desired skills and bring cohesion to team.
Companies maintain retention rates and lower the chance of repeated interview processes for the same job opening.
Personality assessments are helpful to companies for identifying areas of behaviors, motivations, and interests. Utilizing these tools enable managers to build teams within an organization who will, due to their dynamics, most consistently meet their objectives.

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Assessments bring a better understanding of who you are. It helps to be honest in both evaluations as there are no wrong answers. An authentic assessment enables authentic results.

For more information on developing your strengths through personal or team assessments, contact us.

Have you taken a personality assessment test? Did the results surprise you?

6 Tips for Being an Effective Facilitator

August 28, 2014August 28, 2014 Shannon Cassidy Leave a comment

Being a leader is not just about making good decisions behind closed doors. It means understanding and listening to the perspectives of coworkers and stakeholders. A well facilitated discussion ensures everyone’s voices are heard, builds connections among group members, and generates excitement for the topic being discussed. Here are a few tips to take the challenge out of effective facilitating as you hone your own leadership style.

Be clear about the goal of the session. If it’s a brainstorm session and people expect consensus, they will be dissatisfied. If the goal is consensus, and people continue to present new ideas, they too will be frustrated. Explicitly sharing the goal helps keep the conversation moving in the right direction.

Use people’s names. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s important to remember. Especially in groups where not everyone knows each other, consciously using people’s names when you ask them to speak builds a sense of openness and trust in the group.

Restate and connect ideas. This shows that you listen to and value everyone’s input. Restating allows for more people to hear and understand the original thought. Connecting ideas builds a conversation rather than a lecture.

Don’t be afraid of silence. Those who need a little more time to process a question will appreciate it. Everyone will see and understand that their participation is valued and needed. Restate or ask another question after a while, but give people enough time to respond thoughtfully.

Allow for conflicting opinions; don’t take sides. It’s okay that not everyone agrees. As a facilitator, help the participants understand the nature of their conflict. Dig a little deeper to find out why they feel the way they do.

Show your enthusiasm and excitement. When a group member asks a good question or makes a good point, don’t be afraid to show you think so. If you are excited about a topic, others will be, too.