If you feel like getting your business started, or improving your results, is too hard at the moment, you might find this story from CNN inspiring!
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/10/05/malawi.wind.boy/index.html
After you've read the story, think about how you can apply the same attitude to your current challenges. When you are feeling a little buffeted by the winds of change or the storms of economic misfortune, are you looking at ways to harness the energy and use it positively? Are you using all your available resources (perhaps including things or ideas that have been previously discarded) to best effect? Can you get more creative about solving some of the problems you are facing?
Use the power of a positive attitude to help you and your team survive and even thrive in stormy conditions. Your business will be stronger for it!
Showing posts with label attitude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label attitude. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Beware of "Parachute Packing"
There are lots of businesses struggling at the moment – fighting to stay aloft in a storm of negativity; buffeted by gusts of media messages of doom and gloom; tossed about by the expectations set up by economic forecasters seemingly determined to predict us all into disaster.
The current business climate is a little like being on a plane approaching bad weather in mid-flight. Storm clouds are brewing; the wind is shifting in the wrong direction; turbulent times are ahead.
To come through the storm intact, the pilot and crew need to stay calm, put into place the systems planned to ensure survival and take careful steps to look after each other, the passengers and the craft.
If they are all panicking and putting on their parachutes, preparing to jump off, the survival of the aircraft and all the fellow travellers is distinctly under threat!
If you are a manager, or business owner, your calm and assertive position that the business will survive this storm will calm your team and allow them to focus on doing what they need to do. Then you can all get on with the most important job at hand - maintaining the profitability and sustainability of the business - no parachutes required!
The current business climate is a little like being on a plane approaching bad weather in mid-flight. Storm clouds are brewing; the wind is shifting in the wrong direction; turbulent times are ahead.
To come through the storm intact, the pilot and crew need to stay calm, put into place the systems planned to ensure survival and take careful steps to look after each other, the passengers and the craft.
If they are all panicking and putting on their parachutes, preparing to jump off, the survival of the aircraft and all the fellow travellers is distinctly under threat!
If you are a manager, or business owner, your calm and assertive position that the business will survive this storm will calm your team and allow them to focus on doing what they need to do. Then you can all get on with the most important job at hand - maintaining the profitability and sustainability of the business - no parachutes required!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Great Questions for Change Leaders
The only constant in life (and in business!) is CHANGE! So, especially these days, we ALL need to be change agents - taking personal responsibility for improving our own performance in whatever part of the business we operate.
To stay on top of some of the elements that we need to monitor, here are ten key questions for Change Agents, based on an idea from Harvard Business Magazine...
1. Do you see opportunities the competition doesn't see? Do you look for different ways to see the world and your customers?
2. Do you have new ideas about where to look for new ideas? Do you tap the brains of your team?
3. Are you the 'most' something (most efficient; most creative; most caring; etc)?
4. If your company went out of business tomorrow, who would miss you and why? Who are your raving fans?
5. Have you figured out how your organization's history can help to shape its future? Learn from the past to create a better result in the future!
6. Can your customers live without you? What would they do if your product or service was no longer available from you?
7. Do you treat different customers differently? If so, how? If not, why not?
8. Are you getting the best contributions from the most people? Are you accessing all of the potential of all of your people?
9. Are you consistent in your commitment to change? Do you recognise that change is a journey, not a destination?
10. Are you learning as fast as the world is changing? What are you doing to increase the speed of your learning?
Use these questions as an audit of your attitude to change and take action on any that are real gaps in your change strategy. Remember, a positive attitude is always the best place to start. Believing that there will be a good outcome of the change program is half the battle!
To stay on top of some of the elements that we need to monitor, here are ten key questions for Change Agents, based on an idea from Harvard Business Magazine...
1. Do you see opportunities the competition doesn't see? Do you look for different ways to see the world and your customers?
2. Do you have new ideas about where to look for new ideas? Do you tap the brains of your team?
3. Are you the 'most' something (most efficient; most creative; most caring; etc)?
4. If your company went out of business tomorrow, who would miss you and why? Who are your raving fans?
5. Have you figured out how your organization's history can help to shape its future? Learn from the past to create a better result in the future!
6. Can your customers live without you? What would they do if your product or service was no longer available from you?
7. Do you treat different customers differently? If so, how? If not, why not?
8. Are you getting the best contributions from the most people? Are you accessing all of the potential of all of your people?
9. Are you consistent in your commitment to change? Do you recognise that change is a journey, not a destination?
10. Are you learning as fast as the world is changing? What are you doing to increase the speed of your learning?
Use these questions as an audit of your attitude to change and take action on any that are real gaps in your change strategy. Remember, a positive attitude is always the best place to start. Believing that there will be a good outcome of the change program is half the battle!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Are your attitudes contagious?
Listening to the media meltdown about the dreaded Swine Flu, and experiencing the impact of people's responses to it, has me thinking (again!) about the contagious nature of attitudes.
Coming from the Australian Swine Flu capital (Victoria), I'm distressed at the media stories suggesting that the whole state is infected (one story had one in every three people with the new flu - which, by the way, is less severe than the everyday variety!). Our tourism industry is being hammered; hotels and restaurants are feeling the pain. From a local's perspective, it feels like a very big 'beat-up'.
So, thinking about this pandemic, here are a couple of important questions for you. Is there a contagious "flu" of negativity at your workplace? And who are the carriers?
As a manager, you need to make sure your attitudes are strong, positive and healthy because you are more likely to be contagious - people will be looking to you for guidance on how to respond to all the storms that are racing through the business world at the moment - GEC, Swine Flu, etc, etc.
If you start 'sneezing' - sending out bad vibes - before you know it, everybody will catch a sniffle. If you notice symptoms in yourself, or others, take immediate action. Your prescription is to take two smiles (do something that makes you happy!) and call me in the morning!
And if you have the flu, of any type, I hope you feel better soon!
Coming from the Australian Swine Flu capital (Victoria), I'm distressed at the media stories suggesting that the whole state is infected (one story had one in every three people with the new flu - which, by the way, is less severe than the everyday variety!). Our tourism industry is being hammered; hotels and restaurants are feeling the pain. From a local's perspective, it feels like a very big 'beat-up'.
So, thinking about this pandemic, here are a couple of important questions for you. Is there a contagious "flu" of negativity at your workplace? And who are the carriers?
As a manager, you need to make sure your attitudes are strong, positive and healthy because you are more likely to be contagious - people will be looking to you for guidance on how to respond to all the storms that are racing through the business world at the moment - GEC, Swine Flu, etc, etc.
If you start 'sneezing' - sending out bad vibes - before you know it, everybody will catch a sniffle. If you notice symptoms in yourself, or others, take immediate action. Your prescription is to take two smiles (do something that makes you happy!) and call me in the morning!
And if you have the flu, of any type, I hope you feel better soon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
