The path of least resistance to career and small business peak performance and profits really is an ‘inside out’ path.

Question:
What’s already inside of you, usually lurking just below your conscious awareness, that can be leveraged to boost your productivity and profits?

Answer:
Your key natural talents and your core values. In other words, what you’re good at and what’s important to you!

My previous post examined various ways to leverage your Talent Code™ and as promised in this post I am about to reveal what 10 out of 10 successful people know and do that other people do not know and do … the difference that makes the difference.

Ten out of ten successful people know what their values are and have the skills to live them!

1. Your values are your lifestyle priorities and preferences. You want more of what you value, of what’s important to you. You are intrinsically motivated (motivated from the inside-out) to keep on working towards goals that are in alignment with your values. Values alignment generates motivation and commitment. Of course you need to know what your values are in order to live them. My clients use My Motivation Code™, a values profiler which identifies and prioritizes up to 128 of your values.
2. Your values are the bridge between your inner desires and your outer reality. To turn what you desire (your vision or your set of goals) into reality, you must have skills that will help you get the goals you set. When you work in the area of your key natural talents, continually transforming your knowledge, skills, attitudes and business systems into strengths, you will be more fully engaged in your work, increasing further your motivation and commitment.

Summary: Mobilizing your talents plus your values in the direction of your vision is what REALLY Motivates you!

Contact our office to discover how you can step onto your unique ‘Inside Out” Path To Peak Performance & Profits

Can You Turn A Favorite Hobby Into A Profitable Small Business?

I have been asked this question many times, and the answer is … it depends.

Your small business profits depend on your performance, and achieving peak performance depends on your ability to engage your key natural talents and then to develop them into strengths.

You also want to align your business strategy to your core purpose and to your core values. Exactly how you do this is the core of our live and online workshops.

A note of caution …. while interests (hobbies) and strengths are related, there’s danger in believing that an interest can turn into a full time career. For some people it may, and for others it will only ever be a relaxing and enjoyable hobby.

To work out the difference you need to have a clear understanding of what your key natural talents are, and how they combine with what you value. You can identify your natural talents at http://www.MyTalentCode.com and your values at http://www.MyMotivationCode.com

Those two dimensions (talent and values) must be aligned for you to maintain motivation and achieve peak performance and productivity, which will in turn lead to profits in your small business if your business strategy also meets your market’s needs and wants, and your offers are communicated clearly to your target market.

Hobbies and Your Talent Code™

While interests, hobbies and strengths are related, there’s danger in believing that an interest can turn into a full time career. For some people it may, and for others it will only ever be a relaxing and enjoyable hobby. Here are 10 reasons why …

1. When you engage in a favorite pastime or hobby, you are motivated by the desire for relaxation or pleasure.
2. In hobbies there are usually no tight time frames or standards (other than self imposed ones).
3. The parts of your brain used for your leisure/hobby skills (creative mode) are different from the parts of your brain used for professional productivity (work modes) – that’s why hobbies are relaxing. They literally give your brain a break from work!
4. You can only achieve peak performance when you have a match between the level of challenge involved in a task and your level of skill – high challenge / low skill leads to frustration and inefficiency.
5. You will achieve a very high level of skill (expert status) only through the intense application of time and energy to building your knowledge and skill levels of your natural talents until they become real strengths – worthy of 9/10 or even 10/10!
6. You could apply that same level of intensity to a skill set that is not based on your natural talents, and after years you may still rank only a 6/10 or 7/10, even though you really enjoy using that skill.
7. If you love what you are doing in your hobby and you would rate at 6/10 or 7/10, that’s a pretty good indicator that you should stick to it as a hobby – high pleasure, low pressure!
8. If on the other hand you have a hobby in which your skill levels are 9/10 or 10/10, you lose track of time when you engage in that hobby, AND you still produce excellent results even under pressure, then that hobby may have the potential to become a profitable business for you with the right small business training. You are now motivated by a desire for productivity and profits.
   
9. You can get started by identifying your natural talents at http://www.MyTalentCode.com and your values at http://www.MyMotivationCode.com
10. In the meantime, your hobbies are important for refreshing and energizing your brain,  so enjoy  your hobby, strengthen your knowledge and skills, check out if your hobby matches your your key natural talents and you will end up with either a new career or continue to enjoy your very satisfying hobby!

What REALLY Motivates You When You Engage in Your Hobby?

To summarize the message of this article and to answer for yourself the question “Can I Turn My Hobby Into A Profitable Small Business?” you must honestly look at your key natural talents, and I’ve pointed you to a tool for doing that http://www.MyTalentCode.com

You also want to be really clear about your motivation for engaging in your hobby. Your motivation comes from your values – what’s important to you – and I’ll address that in more detail in my next post, where I will unpack the power of values alignment for maintaining motivation and achieving your professional or small business goals. One thing I can tell you in advance is this:

• All truly successful people know what their values are, and have the skills to live them!

If you are a manager or small business owner seeking to maximize your profits and the performance of the people you manage, without burning them out, here’s an enlightening video that demonstrates the mismatch between what Science knows and what Business does, between the carrot and stick approach and the value of really knowing your personal Motivation Code™ …

Dan Pink on TED Video – 18 Minutes

Backed by solid scientific evidence Dan Pink identified 3 core elements of what really motivates us – autonomy, mastery and purpose.

Autonomy
Pink defines autonomy as ‘the urge to direct our own lives’. He revealed evidence proving that self direction creates more engagement in workers for all but the most mechanical of tasks, and that attempts at external motivation work only in a limited range of circumstances involving non cognitive tasks.

In our one day workshop ‘Win at Work 101 - The Art & Science Of Peak Performance & Profits’  we reveal to you exactly what you must do to achieve autonomy by personalizing your peak performance and profits strategy.

Mastery
He defined mastery as ‘the desire to get better and better at something that matters.’ Our proprietary course ‘Win at Work 101 - The Art & Science Of Peak Performance & Profits’ reveals the secret to cracking your personal Talent Code™ and leveraging it to turn your key natural talents into strengths, plus we reveal how to apply those strengths to what matters most to you in your profession or business. 

Purpose
Pink defines purpose as ‘a yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.’ In ‘Win at Work 101 - The Art & Science Of Peak Performance & Profits’ we show you exactly how to match your personal Talent Code™ to your unique Motivation Code™ to discover and apply your core purpose through our proprietary values alignment process.

‘Win at Work 101 - The Art & Science Of Peak Performance & Profits’
This breakthrough small business peak performance and profits training and development is available in two formats:

1. Online home study. Find out more and register at www.WinAtWorkCourse.com
2. Live, interactive workshop. Contact our office for the date and location of our next live event:

• Email [workshop@leadercoach.com.au]
• International Phone:  +61 2 9686 4257
• Australia Local Call:   1300 15 6768

Post A Comment

Time to get involved!

Introduce yourself and post your thoughts in the comments box about Dan Pink’s video or about my response to the video’ Looking forward to meting you

Where’s your professional or business focus?

To achieve the professional outcomes or the business results you really want, nothing beats the power of focus, if your training and development activities focus of the right steps.

Are your business or career goals focused in the best possible way to move you forward into your peak performance zone, or will they lead you around in circles?

Take a look at this 3 minute 24 second video for some clues to creating focus and forward momentum …

Side Note: Grand children are so cute … grandparents get all of the pleasure and none of the pain:)

How to leverage the Power Of Focus Model

1. Identify your current career or business reality – be brutally honest with yourself; focus on the truth
2. Identify your values and their relative priorities – focus on what really motivates you, your values in your Motivation Code™
3. Set your vision and your goals in alignment with your values – your inner motivators
4. Identify your natural talents – focus on your Talent Code™
5. Leverage your talents for maximum productivity when working towards your goals -
6. Outsource or delegate the tasks that don’t require your primary talents – focus on productivity without burning out
7. If you need to adjust your strategy due to changing conditions, make sure all adjustments are still focused on aligning with your core values! 

Download your Power Of Focus Model in .pdf format

Share your thoughts, results and suggestions in the comments box.

Hathaway’s character in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ gradually began to live someone else’s values in the name of professional performance and accelerated business results …

If you haven’t seen this film yet, grab it on DVD and watch it through the lenses of living your values at work and at home.

Hathaway’s character begins by being very clear about what’s important to her (her values). Her lifestyle and relationships reflect those values.

In a naive attempt to gain professional experience and win connections that may accelerate her career opportunities in the future she takes a position in an industry in which she has no interest (no values alignment), and for a boss for whom she has respect (again, no values alignment).

As the story progresses we observe a gradual letting go of the lifestyle and relationships that Hathaway’s character had valued previously, although she was not consciously aware that her Motivation Code was changing.

Her wake up call came when the boss she despised (Streep’s character) told Hathaway’s character that she could recognize some of herself in the younger woman … a powerful and poignant moment in the film, leading to her ditching the job, and asking her loved one’s to forgive her.

Successful people know what their values are, and know how to live their values…

Here’s the point … this actually happens in real life too! Hathaway’s character appeared to be winning at work, but the cost of victory was that she was no longer true to herself and what she REALLY valued. If she had not seen the light, she would have eventually spat the dummy, burned out, or lived a life of ’success’ without satisfaction.

Your values are your lifestyle priorities and preferences and are with you 24/7. They determine what you think, say and do – at home and at work, so you really want to know what your values are, so that you can make conscious choices to live and work in a way that aligns with your core values.

Where do your values come from?

From your world-view … the subject of my next post.

Current Economic Circumstances Demand A Focused Strategy To Maximize Your Professional Performance and Drive Your Business Results

That’s why you must understand that your values are the ‘invisible threads between people, performance and profit’ they are your motivation code – driving commitment, loyalty and customer service attitudes and skills. Identifying and prioritizing your values will provide the focus you must have as a basis for a success strategy that will work for you.

An astounding fact is that people who have clarified their personal values have demonstrated a 30% increase in commitment to their role and to their employer, regardless of their espoused values.

Discover how your values impact profoundly your ability to access your peak performance zone as you watch and take notes on this video.

Find out the 3 biggest mistakes that stop people from achieving their peak performance zone and what you must do to prevent those mistakes from wasting your time, energy and money as you reach for your peak performance zone and win at work.

You have a choice … you must ride this wave of economic circumstance, and you can chosse to ride the in the valley and be dumped upon, or ride the crest and reach your Peak Performance Zone™.

Successful People Know What Their Values Are AND How to Live Them

The winners in these changed global economic circumstances will be those of us who respond with greater focus in terms of how we spend not only our money, but also how we spend our time and energy.

Successful people in all contexts know the secret of focus is identifying what they value. Successful people not only know what their values are, they also have the skills and strategies to live them.

Your values are your internal motivators

Click here to qualify for a free values identification session.

Here’s why your values are such a powerful force in your professional and personal life – your values are your lifestyle preferences and priorities and are your inner motivators. They are the bridge from your inner desires to your outer reality. BUT … most of us are NOT consciously aware of what our inner motivators (our values) are because they are just beyond our unconscious awareness.

Successful people have discovered how to bring their unconscious motivators to their conscious awareness and then develop strategies and skills to make conscious choices that are aligned to their core values (the values that are most important to them – their unique Motivation Code™).

Successful people also have the strategies and skills to build a bridge from their inner desires (their values) to their outer reality (their desired results) by using their natural talents (their Talent Code™).

How to maximize your professional performance

Click here to qualify for a scholarship for Session 1 of Win at Work 101

That’s why every professional, every corporate employee and every small business owner who desires to be successful MUST crack their Talent Code and their Motivation Code. When you combine those two codes, which are unique to you, with your Commitment Nexus™ (the values you share with your colleaugues and customers), you will position yourself firmly in the centre of your Peak Performance Zone™, where you must be to maximize your professional performance.

Crack Your Unique Peak Performance Code AND Stay True To Your Values

Click here to qualify for a scholarship for Session 1 and to reserve your seat.

“Win at Work 101 – Crack Your Unique Peak Performance Code AND Stay True To Your Values” will educate and equip you with the knowledge, skills, strategies and systems you must have to succeed in these changed circumstances.

You have one last chance in 2008 to join a live Win At Work 101 Webinar series to prepare yourself for focused action in the times ahead.

ONLY 4 PLACES AVAILABLE so take action now to secure your seat! 

Click here to to reserve your seat.

I’m looking forward to meeting you in the first webinar on October 29 2008 …

How To Maximize Employee Engagement, Employee Commitment and Customer Service Focus With The Three “I”s Of Best Practice Training and Development.

My previous three posts in the Small Business Training and Development series identified The Three Deadly Sins Of Omission in the training and development of the employees in your small business.

I also described the antidote – The Holy Trinity of Employee Contribution to Business Results:

1. Maximize employee engagement
2. Compound employee commitment
3. Cultivate a customer service focus

Now that you know where to focus your small business training and development time, energy and money, you need to know what the three “I”s are and how to use them to turn knowledge into results:

Apply The Three “I”s Of Best Practice Training and Development To Maximize The Impact Of Your Employee Engagement, Employee Commitment and Customer Service Focus

1. “I“ #1:  Identify
2. “I“ #2:  Intensify
3. “I“ #3:  Integrate

Employee Engagement

1. Identify the professional roles in which your employees can perform most
   powerfully with the least effort as indicated by their Talent Code™
2. Intensify the time and energy they spend developing their natural talents into strengths – the path to true employee engagement
3. Integrate their Talent Code™ and unique Motivation Code™ into their daily work practices to access their Peak Performance Zone™

Employee Commitment

1. Identify the unique Motivation Code™ (identify and prioritize the core values) of each employee – their values are what REALLY motivate them
2. Intensify their motivation by aligning their unique Motivation Code™ to your
   company’s Motivation Nexus™ (the meeting point of your values and their values) for sustainable motivation
3. Integrate their Talent Code™ and unique Motivation Code™ into their daily work practices to access their Peak Performance Zone™

Customer Service Focus

1. Identify exactly whom each employee serves – internal or external customers. Establish metrics to gauge their level of success with customers
2. Intensify the application of what they do well in customer service and manage around their weaknesses as identified by their Talent Code™ and Motivation Code™
3. Integrate their Talent Code™ and unique Motivation Code™ into their daily work practices to access their Peak Performance Zone™in all aspects of their work, including customer service

Maximized Manager

If you want to accelerate your business results you must maximize your return on your small business training and development. Your number one goal must be to develop in your people the knowledge, skills, attitudes and systems to accumulate confidence, strengths and skills to manage themselves, their talents, their motivation, and their relationships with your customers and clients for maximum career acceleration for themselves and maximum business results for you.

Small Business Training and Development Deadly Sin of Omission #3 – Failing To Develop A Customer Service Focus

A strange myth about customer service persists in some organisations … that employees who do not directly serve external customers are not in need of customer service training and development.

The fact is that every manager, every employee, every small business owner serves customers – either external customers or internal customers.

And the evidence is clear that of a dozen or so commonly used Quality Management practices, only three have been shown to consistently impact business results:

1. Employee engagement
2. Employee commitment
3. Customer service focus

Customer service focus can be both trained and developed by expanding knowledge, capitalizing on and developing attitudes and values, extending skill sets, and establishing appropriate, context specific systems and practices.

So, you need to seek and find a small business training and development provider who can show you exactly how to connect your business results to your customer service focus by implementing a system like the K.A.S.S.™ system employed exclusively by LeaderCoach clients.

How to overcome the three deadly sins of omission in training and professional development

What you require is a training and development provider who can teach you how to break the cycle of the sins of omission by engaging and applying The Holy Trinity of Employee Contribution to Business Results:

1. Engagement
2. Commitment (which arises from values alignment)
3. Customer Service Focus

Call our office now to schedule your FREE 30 Minute Phone Strategy Session and take your first step to maximizing your professional performance and accelerating the results of the people you manage. Call +61.2.8850.6834.

Small Business Training and Development Deadly Sin of Omission #2 – Not Identifying The REAL Source Of Employee Commitment.

Employee commitment is another buzzword that is tossed around frequently and carelessly in small business training and development and corporate learning and development circles.

Attempts at defining employee commitment have also been made by some training and development providers, often involving very complex explanations. But that the fact is, that like employee engagement, employee commitment is a simple concept.

Check out this short small business training and development video to see for yourself what I mean …

Employee commitment happens when a worker is engaging his core values (his internal motivators) in connection with his key natural talents in the process of his or her work role.

Employee commitment is strengthened further by the individual worker’s Commitment Nexus™, which is the meeting point between the values of the individual worker and values of his employer.

Is you are considering investing in small business training and development for yourself and your employees you want to make sure that you choose a training and development provider who will show you the exact steps you need to take to identify and activate your unique Motivation Code™ and your Commitment Nexus™, to maximize employee engagement for greatest possible impact on your business results.

Look out for my next post and video when I reveal Small Business Training and Development Deadly Sin of Omission #3.