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.

Stop letting Twitter suck productivity from your cash generating time and put a clear marketing strategy in place to leverage 100% of the time you spend on Twitter …

If you are a small business owner or manager, ask yourself these 4 questions:

1. Do you use Twitter for business communication in any shape or form?
2. Are Twitter and other new media part of your marketing strategy?
3. Does your Web 2.0 strategy, including Twitter along with other social media, generate business and cash flow?
4. Have you discovered how to leverage Twitter for maximum return on your time invested?

If you answered “No” to all or most of those questions then Mark Joyner has the answers you’ve been looking for …

I don’t usually make recommendations about other people’s programs in my posts but here comes an exception …

I’m a huge fan of Simle.Ology (use it every day) and have purchased many of Mark Joyner’s products and programs.

I’ve just had the opportunity to check out the latest addition to his stable of marketing and business acceleration programs for small business owners who want the best training and development to maximize their results.  The learning and development materials that I have used to date I can only describe as superior in every way – elegant, intelligent, simple to use and incredibly good value.

The latest offering is ‘Twitter Cash Strategy Map’ , which is FREE to download and offers you a clear and practical plan to leverage 100% of the time you spend on Twitter to:

1. “Learn the Strategy Used by Social Media Mavens to Have CROWDS of People Eating Out of Your Hand
2.  Learn How to Use Twitter for Marketing without LOOKING Like an Annoying Marketer
3. Learn How to Get a Follower List in the Thousands (Way Easier Than You Think)
4. More… “

Check out Twitter Cash Strategy and post your review in the comments box below this 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 …

Choosing a training and development provider is not easy …                           and that’s why I have decided to go public with my Consumer Awareness Guide.

Recently a friend was telling me about the many tens of thousands of dollars his employer had recently wasted on a “motivation expert” who claimed to be able to “motivate” the senior management and sales team to better performance.

Several months down the track nothing has changed – the staff are not more motivated, the sales team is not performing any better, and business results are at the same level.

How do you ever expect to find a qualified, competent, professional training and development company?

You start by reading this Consumer’s Awareness Guide. ..

In this fact-filled booklet, you will discover:

• How to avoid “cookie cutter” training and development rip-offs,
• Three deadly sins of omission in training and professional development
• Five mistakes to avoid when choosing a professional development provider
• Three methods to find the training professional who offers what you want
• The importance of value versus price
• Why 99% of the professional development programs used by most companies are a waste of time and money
• Why you want a professional development provider who will work with you each step of the way, plus much more …

The goal of small business training and development

We wrote this guide to help you better understand training and development, the goal of which is to make changes that maximize your professional performance and accelerate the results of the people you manage. Change is an inside-out process and can only be triggered by inner motivation, motivation that is fueled by your values, not by another person’s “rah rah” tactics.

You can make your own informed, intelligent decision.

Grab your copy of “The Consumers Awareness Guide To Engaging a Training and Professional Development Provider” now and when you’ve read and digested the valuable and sometimes controversial  information enclosed in the report’s 21 pages, post your response on this blog.

Is Recognition More Important as a Driver of Employee Engagement to Gen Y Than to Baby Boomers?

The Melcrum Blog just published the results of a poll over whether “recoginition [is] like heroin, where you need more and more to get the same effect”. Here’s my personal response …

Recognition as a driver of employee engagement

Yes, recognition has been shown to be one of the drivers of employee engagement, so your poll results certainly are interesting. I’m a baby Boomer (upper end) and I have to confess that I do like recognition ONLY IF it is private and personal – please don’t call me out front and make a public fuss!

Recognition is a basic human need, and my observation across 40 years of working life is that there are generational preferences AND individual preferences within generations regarding HOW recognition is received – public or private, verbal or written, email or letter, formal or informal, encouraging words or a gift/monetary token and so on …

Employee recognition must be authentic

One word of caution about giving recognition – it has to be sincere and deserved. Fake praise has been shown to be more damaging to employee engagement than no recognition at all.

If you think of recognition simply as an encouraging expression of appreciation for a job well done, why would you NOT give recognition where it’s due? After all, research shows that GIVING recognition when it is deserved boosts the production of “feel good” chemicals for the GIVER as well as the RECEIVER!

More ways to drive employee engagement

As a representative of the training and professional development industry I have written a connsumer’s guide that demonstrates why increasing employee engagement must be the number one focus of small business owners who want to be maximized managers and accelerate the performance of the people they manage. You can request your complementary copy of “The Consumer’s Guide To Engaging a Training and Professional Development Provider” here.

Is Recognition More Important as a Driver of Employee Engagement to Gen Y Than to Baby Boomers?

Have your say. Post your observations in the comments box below …

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.

Win at work with best practice training and development …

G’day from Sydney,

Here’s your last chance to have your say in shaping the next round of LeaderCoach training and development workshops, teleseminars and online courses.

Four short questions and you’re done!

Many thanks if you have already contributed in the last month … I appreciate your responses and have taken your needs and suggestions on board.

I trust you got some benefit from the audio gift I made available to you. (Let me know at valuescoach@gmail.com if your gift hasn’t reached you yet).

Who should participate in the survey?

1. Small business owners looking for world class small business training and development to impact their bottom line
2. Managers in corporate and not-for-profit organizations who want to accelerate the performance of the people they manage, without burning them out
3. Individuals who want to crack their unique Peak Performance Code™ and maximize their professional potential.

Both surveys close at midnight on Thursday, 25th September, so click on the links now while the win at work survey is on your mind.

Feel free to answer just one or both …

Here are the survey links

1. Fast 4 Question Survey – Your Professional Development Needs

2. Fast 4 Question Survey – Your Team’s Professional Development Needs

Thank you for your contribution to setting the standard for best practice training and development, and you can expect to receive a small downloadable audio gift from me as a token of my appreciation for your time.

PS

I’m getting really excited about the next Win At Work 101 live one day workshop to be held on Saturday 4th October in Sydney.

Call our office on +61.2 8850.6834 to see if you are a good fit to be one of the 10 participants.