New Series: Maximize Your Small Business Profits

The single most significant action you can take on a daily basis to maximize your performance and profits is to stay in your strengths zone. Your business strengths zone is the equivalent of what some people call flow. When you are in a flow state (your peak performance zone) your focus, performance and productivity levels are all at their peak. In addition, at the end of your activity or work day you feel a healthy sense of satisfaction, rather than a sense of debilitating exhaustion.

How Your Strengths Strengthen Your Small Business Profits

Your strengths are what you do best – most easily, most enjoyably and most efficiently, and therefore will lead to the most profit for your small business. Your strengths come from your natural talents. Your natural talents become strengths only when you have invested time and energy into increasing your knowledge, skills and experience to grow your natural talents into strengths. If you’re not yet 100% sure of what your natural talents are, you can identify your personal talent code here.

Once you have identified what your natural talents are, you owe it to yourself and your business profits to develop those talents into strengths, and to avoid working in your areas of weakness, where you are by definition less productive, less efficient and therefore less profitable. This is the secret to working on your business rather than working in your business.

So how do you avoid your weaknesses and stay in your strengths zone, your peak performance zone?

Outsource Your Weaknesses To Maximize Your Small Business Profits

If you’re anything like I am you will have a million and one business ideas in any given day, and cannot possibly implement them all. My solution to that dilemma is to outsource the tasks and systems that are time and energy draining for me.

When I first realized that I needed to delegate or outsource in order to become more profitable, I procrastinated for some time, putting the process into the too hard basket. I knew that I didn’t want any in-house employees, as I wanted the freedom to work from anywhere in the world, be it my local coffee shop or while visiting relatives in Japan.

The obvious solution was to engage virtual employees to do the work that was outside my strengths zone, but I really felt that it seemed very complicated and inefficient to engage people on a contract or project basis from sites like guru.com or elance.com. The challenge I have with that method is that every time you engage someone for a new project you also begin a new relationship, waste valuable time and energy educating your new contractor about your standards, expectations and professional requirements.

Then along came Tyrone Shum, almost in my own backyard in Sydney. Tyrone introduced me to his Mass Outsource System, and suddenly the cloud of confusion and uncertainty was lifted, replaced by clarity and confidence. Not only is Tyrone’s system amazingly effective and efficient in helping you to grow your small business profits, he actually gives away 10 FREE videos that outline his system in incredible detail.

Since linking up with Tyrone I am so much more motivated, focused and energized, simply because I now have the time and energy that I previously only dreamed about. Time and energy not only to expand my businesses and increase their profitability, but also time and freedom to actually have a life outside of my work. For the first time I feel that I truly am able to win at work.

Small Business Profits Resources Mentioned In This Post:

1. MyTalentCode.com
2. OutsourceTools.com

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

What’s holding you back?

How to create momentum

Are you a career professional, an entrepreneur or a small business owner who is not yet in your Peak Performance Zone, not yet getting the results you really want and deserve?

In previous posts I’ve invited you to identify and execute your primary drivers of peak professional performance and business results, drivers that will create and maintain momentum in your career or business – your Talent Code and your Motivation Code.

If you have applied and leveraged the two scientific laws as shown in the free teleseminar Discover Your Peak Performance Zone, and have not yet achieved the forward movement and progress that you’re seeking, then you don’t need me to tell you that something is holding you back! But what exactly?

Barriers to momentum

What is holding you back, constraining you from achieving the levels of success you’ve worked so hard to achieve?

Rich Schefren, a business genius with a track record of massive success in both offline and online businesses,  describes three types of constraints to business and professional success in his training for entrepreneurs and small business owners:

1. Rational constraints – errors in your thinking
2. Procedural constraints – counterproductive work processes
3. Self-imposed constraints – necessary conditions and rules that exist only in your mind

Of course, those are pretty broad categories, and Schefren breaks each category down into its many subsets and shows you exactly how to identify and overcome your specific and unique constraints.

How to crush your constraints

Schefren’s high level coaching program, Guided Profit System 2.0,
may not be for everyone, but I encourage you to check it out right now,
as he’s offering a payment plan to make it more accessible in these
challenging economic times. I’m not sure how long the payment plan will be available.

3 reasons I endorse the system at www.GuidedProfitZone.com

1. The coaching program is based on a system, and has been scientifically trialled with outstanding results for previous students
2. The system is personalized, so that you are guided into your profit zone by identifying and overcoming your unique constraints
3. Rich Schefren is a man of integrity, who not only understands business systems, but has a deep understanding of what makes us tick as human beings – of what you want to leverage to create momentum, and what you want to eliminate to crush your constraints.

Discover how to crush your constraints at www.GuidedProfitZone.com

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.

Maximize Your Professional Performance with a Live Training and Development Workshop – Win at Work 101

I’m always really excited about leading live professional development workshops … I love the richness and diversity created by live groups as participants interact with me and with each other during the learning and development activities.

With only 10 places available this workshop promises to be a powerful opportunity for the chosen few who join this exclusive group at Castle Hill on Saturday 4th October, 2008. Registration at the early bird investment finishes at midnight, Friday 26th September 2008.

Please note that the Saturday of the workshop falls on a long weekend in NSW, so you can participate in the workshop AND still have two days for your weekend! Good news, hey?

Success stories

Success stories from live WIn At Work 101 workshops become excellent case studies for my Win At Work book, which will be published by a New York publisher. Will you be a success story and be included in my new book?

Check out Sharon’s success story …

Click here for more details on how you can maximize your professional performance and win at work with training and development from LeaderCoach THE VALUES SPECIALISTS

In a hurry?

Start building your Peak Performance Platform now… call our office on +61 2 8850 6834 for your Registration Pack or email [ karyn@leadercoach.com.au ]

To win at work small business owners must be true to their values, just like employees.

Recently I’ve been asked by several would be small business owners how they can choose the right business for themselves. Here’s where I suggest you start – with yourself!

Ask yourself these questions and take the time to reflect and then write down your HONEST answers:

1. What are your primary natural talents?

Your best skills and strengths come from your natural talents. Do you know your Talent Code? The more you can work from your talents the more productive you will be.

2. What do you value?

Your values are your inner motivators and you need to build them into your life every day in order to keep yourself motivated. Check out Twelve Top Reasons to Know Your Values. Have you cracked your Motivation Code yet?

Have youdiscovered your hidden value?

If you are like the rest of us you will have within you a hidden storehouse of treasure that you can bring to your business. Pick up this free eCourse to help you find your hidden value.

3. What are your existing skills?

Are you great at practical, hands on tasks like making or fixing stuff? Are you good at working with numbers or information? Are you a techie person? Do have have great people skills? Are you friendly and helpful on the phone? Can you imagine yourself in a specific role, working from home?

Do you have a big picture of how your products or services meet a need in the marketplace AND a picture of all the small things you need to do to make it happen?

Are you ready and willing to expand your skills?

4. Are you equipped to be self employed?

What knowledge, skills and mind sets do you have about running a small business? Do you understand the legal, financial and taxation responsibilities? Who would use your services? How will you let the world know your services exist? Online, offline, both? Would self employment suit your personality and lifestyle?

Are you willing to learn new knowledge, skills and mind sets to ensure your success? Are you willing to take on a mentor? What criteria will you use to choose a mentor so you don’t get ripped off?

Who will be your mastermind partners and how will you mutually serve each other?

Will you surround yourself with positive, supportive people? Are you willing to read and listen to inspirational messages? Get your FREE Mini Motivators here.

Do you have the skills and strategies you need to manage your time, money and energy effectively so that you can avoid burnout and overcome overload?

And last, but certainly not least, are you willing and able to serve your customers or clients with a genuine can do and will do attitude? Are you someone your customers can trust to deliver good value?

I do hope this helps to jump start your thinking and wish you all the best in your quest to win at work AND be true to your values.

Do you know your talent code? Oprah sure knows hers!

Two people who are incredibly successful in their own careers have forged a partnership designed to turn YOU into a winner at work, without sacrificing your values. And it’s FREE!

Oprah Winfrey

Credited by many as the world’s most influential woman, Oprah is also a self made multi billionaire multiple-Emmy winning host of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest-rated talk show in the history of television. She is also an influential book critic, an Academy Award-nominated actress, and a magazine publisher.

Oprah has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the most philanthropic African American of all time, and the world’s only black billionaire for three straight years. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.

Oprah is very clear about her life purpose, her talent code, and how to use her unique talent code to contribute to the world. She declares in the introduction to this FREE 3 HOUR online seminar that she is paid to be an inspiration to others to go to the next level in their work and in their life.

Marcus Buckingham

One of my favorite authors and mentors, Marcus has a similar life goal to mine … to change the way people work. He worked with the Gallup Organization for many years, involved in deep research into what makes people successful in their work. His writing style is very clear and to the point, as is his teaching style.

Marcus Buckingham is a member of the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Leadership and Management. He started as a senior researcher with The Gallup Organization, and helped to develop the Strengths-based approach to management that is now gaining widespread recognition as the key to engagement of employees.

These two high achievers with generous spirits have teamed uo to present this word class, FREE 3 hour online seminar (you can watch, listen and learn in 20 minute chunks, at your convenience).

If you are struggling with any aspect of your work or work-life balance, and want to learn the scientifically validated secrets of personal success, this seminar will help you to take control of your career and your life.

When you’ve completed your study I would love to hear your results, so remember to return to this page, click on the comments link and tell me what you learnt and how it changed your work life.

Imagine getting paid to do something you love. Create the job, career and life you were meant to live! Join career coach Marcus Buckingham’s online workshop and put your strengths to work today.   CLICK HERE to Win at work with your talent code at your FREE online workshop with Marcus Buckingham