“If you never had to work again, what would you do and why?”   I was just in a networking event, and I’m not a big fan of the get-to-know-you icebreaker questions as a regular and significant part of a business networking structure, because I like to use that time for working on business, finding ways to help others, etc.   And I usually don’t like this specific question, “If you never had to work again, what would you do and why?”, because it seems like the obvious canned answer would be, “Exactly what I’m doing now!”   BUT…. this time, I tried thinking about it a little bit d ..read more

Having to have a difficult conversation with a difficult employee is one of the worst feelings in the world! Or is it? It’s amazing how many small business owners and leaders in general shy away from conversations they think might be difficult, allowing employees who are under-performing or *are* difficult to continue what they’re doing, creating a snowball effect of harming the business. Difficult conversations usually are not that difficult if you come from a place of service, care and support while seeking to understand the perceptions, perspectives, thoughts, beliefs and feelings of the o ..read more

I was working with a business coaching client a couple weeks ago who said: “I’m upset and frustrated. I feel like I’m not making fast enough progress with my business goals.” And then a new client I was having an introductory business coaching session with said the same thing. It’s important to remember that we tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in the short term, and underestimate what we can accomplish in the long term, because we are so used to being in a reactionary mode in business, responding to and dealing with the day-to-day challenges and pressures that come up. Being in that ..read more

Year after year, your business isn’t growing as fast as you want because day after day, you don’t have time for sales or marketing, or even deeper strategic planning about your business. It’s not that you don’t have time. You do. It’s just that you’re letting employees suck your time away. My clients often find that employee interruptions cost them 5 to 10 hours a week. In that time, they could be working on new marketing strategies or making sales or service calls to bring in new clients and revenue. This client was no different. Let me give you an example. A chiropractor whom hired me said ..read more

It’s not a blanket statement, but the quote in the below graphic can work well for a lot of small businesses. Nurturing great employees in your service business starts with the first contact before the interview, and continues through the interview and beyond. Having the right training and development, and abilities of the managers or mentors to keep teaching, guiding and bringing out excellence is a big part of what makes employees effective, efficient and happy to work for you… and stay working for you! (And we know that employee turnover can kill company morale, profits and your small busin ..read more

A major thing that causes business growth to slow down is the inability of the business owner to build employees up properly and motivate them to perform at a high level. In fact the business owner often DEMOTIVATES their employees in ways they don’t realize. For example: I experienced this firsthand as an employee when I was climbing the management ladder. My boss, who was the business owner, was changing my position during a reorganization after I had been there for years wanted to pay me less than I thought I was worth. We were negotiating my new pay, and upon hearing my counter offer to hi ..read more

Someone asked me this question in an online forum. Here was my response: “It depends on your definition of coaching. ICF (International Coaching Federation) defines coaching as ‘partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.’ I submit to a definition that is ‘the facilitation of growth and change.’ If you are making a distinction in the processes of coaching and consulting, then ICF describes a true coaching-only process as 95% of the time the coach is asking questions and listening to the answers, a ..read more

​​I know you might be scared that if you delegate the things you don’t want to do in your business, your staff are just going to make mistakes and you’re going to spend more time correcting their work. Here’s how you get over that: Realizing that it’s a time investment that you need to make a deposit in order to get a return on. And… it won’t even take as long as you think it will. For example, a lot of business owners think very short-term in the moment, like, “It’ll take me an hour to do this particular task, but it’ll also take me an hour to explain it to someone else to do it and then anot ..read more

I was just speaking with a business leader who shared some current frustrations. This happens a lot to small business owners. Does this sound familiar to you – having that feeling of spinning your wheels: She mentioned how there is a high level of stress day-to-day, people on the team are tripping over each other to get things done, there’s not a whole lot of fluid direction, and multiple people are responsible for multiple and overlapping areas, causing confusion, redundancy, and differing opinions of how to complete projects. This can happen when roles and responsibilities of each person on ..read more

If you didn’t catch it LIVE this past week in our Facebook Group – “How to Use Self-Healing to Quickly Triple Your Business…Even if You’ve Been Struggling for Years” – Jason Rosado & Megan Nolan  Check out this fun, uplifting chat and self-healing demonstration we did about the psychological and emotional challenges of growing a successful business right now. We also showed viewers how to improve creativity, inspiration, productivity and profitability, and to reach your top goals faster than you thought possible. Get in my calendar for the complimentary Business Breakthrough Coach ..read more