Archive for 'Business'

Have you read the book by Spencer Johnson, called The Present? Though short and a rather simple read, it contains a powerful and somewhat liberating message. He proposed that we should literally, “Learn from the Past, Live in the Present and Plan for the Future.” Though there are many ways of assessing how these might translate to our roles as entrepreneurs and business leaders, let’s briefly look at each lesson and see what we can garner.

We cannot drive looking through the Read more »

For most people starting out in business, there are so many facets to consider. Clichés like “It’s more important to work on the business rather than in the Business” or “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” are very often heard but not acted upon. Typically the reason for this is lack of time. However it might be more correctly suggested that it’s not time that is the issue but lack of priorities.

So what are a few key tips to consider when running your small business?Read more »

Chet Holmes, author of The Ultimate Selling Machine, speaks about some pretty astounding statistics when it comes to selling. He claims that in most cases 3% of people are in the market for your product and that maybe another 7% might be open. The other 90% is not in the market at this time.

This is pretty scary and you might rightfully wonder how are you going to even find that 10%, let alone the 3% who want your product? The answer Read more »

Many organizations are developing Internal Coaches as a means of making this resource available to their staff. The use of External (Executive) Coaches, though it can be very effective, is not always an affordable option and creating an internal resource is helping to address this.

In a recent paper by Ruth Donde and David Rock of Result Coaching Systems, they highlighted how one can measure the effectiveness of training internal coaches.

Organizations are now looking to see how they can more fully integrate coaching into their staff training and development. These companies have already embraced this methodology at a senior level where many executive are being exposed to external coaches. However these resources are typically expensive and therefore rarely made available to people outside the executive suite.

Recognizing the benefits, companies are now creating their own cadre of internal coaches, an initiative which is been driven by the Human Resource function. This need is being met by having staff participate in formal certification programs or creating an internal initiative. Read more »

In a recent Forbes article, it was claimed that the need for coaching within organizations is ever increasing yet for some reason managers are not truly embracing it. This same article also stated that according to the 2010 Executive Coaching Survey, conducted by the Conference Board, 63% of organizations use some form of internal coaching, and half of the rest plan to. Yet coaching is a small part of the job description for most managers. Nearly half spend less than 10% of their time coaching others.

In our last blog How Coaching Supports An Organization, we spoke about Read more »

Coaching has emerged as a very dependable and effective methodology in the development of staff within organizations. Companies have long wondered how to make learning more sustainable and integrated. All too often a lot of money has been spent on sending people on various training programs, which very often contained great content; however the impact was never felt back in the company. Coaching, whether in tandem with or in support of training, provides the support and accountability to ensure that results emerge from learning.

Jack Welch, former CEO of GE once remarked “There’s no such thing as work / life balance. There are work / life choices; you make them and they have consequences”

In the Spring edition of the New England Human Resource Association (NEHRA) publication contributor Dan Henry cited a Mayo Clinic research study that the causes of this “imbalance” was rooted in the following:

Globalization International Presence Advances in Technology Longer Hours Changes in Family Roles

Whatever the theory and whether you are running your own business or working for somebody else, all too often it does feel overwhelming and consuming. The push for Read more »