7 Career Mistakes That Turn Your Mojo Into Nojo

If you’ve been working hard for any length of time, in any field, chances are you’ve experienced at least one humiliating career failure. Career “hiccups” can kill your spirit and make it difficult to regain your motivation, dignity and drive. 

Some of the “bad” things that happen to hardworking, well-meaning, capable people each day include:  Read more

Turning Complaints into Commitments

What are people complaining about in your organisation?

• “We never have a chance to really talk about the big picture of our work. We’re under so much pressure to deliver what is needed now. There’s little opportunity to understand how things tie in with larger goals; consequently, there’s no breathing space for creativity or innovation.“
• “I’d be able to grow and develop at work if I didn’t have to babysit around here…If my subordinates didn’t come to me for every little decision and if they would take more initiative, I’d be freer to do the same in my own job.”
• “There’s too much talking behind one’s back here. People talk about others, but rarely to others. I don’t feel people come to me directly; I find out about things from other people. If I knew and had a chance to talk to the person with a complaint, then we could confront the issues and work on solutions.”

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The Truth About Motivation

Most business leaders have lost sight of what motivates people at work. In fact, some companies haven’t updated their management practices in years,  which means they’re incapable of creating high-performance teams.

Companies continue to ignore the obvious: Offering incentives and rewards is less effective than tapping into truly meaningful intrinsic motivation. Leaders operate on old assumptions about motivation despite a wealth of well-documented scientific evidence.

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Get Back in Control with SMART Goals

Maxwell SMART Agent 86 from the GET SMART television series and movie has a lot to teach us about aligning our values with our intentions and goals.  His character is crystal clear about his values and priorities. He is on a mission as an agent of CONTROL battling the forces of KAOS and always emerges triumphant at the end of the day – even though his GOALS for success are often fraught with obstacles.

Just as Agent 86 had his heart and mind focused on a specific intention, it is equally crucial that you motivate both your mind (what you think you should do) and your heart (what you value). It is difficult to examine your values, beliefs, and true purpose without a trusted partner such as a coach. Once you have explored with your coach what is really important to you in your life (career, family, community, your values and purpose), it should become clear what you need to do. Setting  goals then becomes a natural extension of your values.

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Goal Setting That Works – Aligning Goals and Values

  “Begin with the end in mind,” encourages Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.₁ When you look at your life, there are so many goals you could pursue. But before you can set meaningful goals for yourself, you need to know where you want to go. If you clearly understand where you want to be, you can make sure your actions bring you closer to that place each and every day.

Corporations spend billions every year on strategic planning. They align their business goals and operations with their mission and values – their core reasons for being in business. Corporations may complete this exercise in-house or engage the services of an external Consultant who has specialized skills in areas like values alignment, cultural and business analysis,  and strategic planning. .

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Think or Sink: The one choice that changes everything

What if you could get anything that you wanted without having to change your circumstances? What if you could master your mind so that it would actually alter your experience? What if you could be happy and stress-free regardless of what was going on around you? What if 2010 could be your greatest year ever because you discovered the ONE choice that changes everything?

Wouldn’t you be even the teeniest bit interested?

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Business Breakthrough for 2010 Coaching Update

Have you ever thought about securing the services of a good coach, but hesitated because you weren’t really sure what coaching could do for you or whether it was worth it?

I asked Paula Jandey of Renaissance Tiles, one of my current small business clients to describe her experience:

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Leadership and Women – Babes In Business Suits the Book Arrives in Australia

Babes In Business Suits

Babes in Business Suits is the first in a remarkable series by Canadian author and publisher Felicia Pizzonia, celebrating the entrepreneurial success stories of women around the world.  

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Restructuring and Redundancy: When is Downsizing not the right strategy?

At first glance, corporate downsizing could appear to be a logical pathway to improved profitability during poor economic conditions. Dr Wayne Casio in his 2002 book, “Responsible Restructuring” cites research which offers some surprising results to the contrary. Drawn from an 18-year study of leading companies, this research indicates that the most  profitable companies were those where employee turnover remained less than 5% in any particular year and those which were on a path of growth. In stark contrast, organisations that were downsizing appeared at the bottom of the profitability bucket. So, downsizing as a strategy in isolation may not yield the profitability outcomes businesses may hope for.

Downsizing may not be the right strategy if, on balance, the negative consequences of employee redundancy outweigh the short term benefits as the following examples illustrate: Read more

Managing Change – What can this koala tell us about resilience in difficult times?

Take a moment to consider the Australian state of Victoria. Over the last few weeks, the temperature was reported to be above 44 degrees with burning wind, out-of-control bushfires and catastrophic power outages. The toll in human life continues to rise, with record mortality rates amongst the elderly due to the heat and hundreds of lives lost in the firestorms.  The hearts of many Australians are heavy as we come to terms with the scale of these losses.

 We’re also reminded of the impact these events are having on domestic pets, livestock and the local wildlife population. Losses which cannot be calculated. But amongst all this, are stories of hope and inspiration – take this wild koala.  

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