Coach Andrea’s Intro I remember reading a story about a restaurant that was having “issues” with its catsup bottles.  The tops kept coming unscrewed and catsup spurted on customer after customer.  The remedy was to offer to pay the dry cleaning bill for the customer covered in red sauce. Steve Straus would say the restaurant provided first aid, but not “second aid” (finding the core reason underlying the problem). In our businesses, we are all moving quickly and hopefully bringing our key strengths and skills to the office.  If you don’t have the time or inclination to create permanent solutions to your problems, surround yourself with those who do. Quote [...]

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Coach Andrea’s Intro David Cottrell provides an insightful idea about team make up that you may not have realized. He says there are two types of people: high-energy performers and energy sappers. The ratio of energizers to sappers is important for the team to be successful.  And it’s not a 1:1 ratio. Who is on your team? Quote of the Week “Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” ~Vince Lombardi Identifying Energizers and Sappers by David Cottrell In theory, every person on your team is a source of energy for your organization.  But in [...]

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Coach Andrea’s Intro It’s hot here in New England this week!  So, I thought it best to keep this week’s tip short and to the point and provide something to chew on. Michael Angier’s article fits the bill.  It’s summertime.  We are combining our personal life and business life differently than we do at other times of the year.  A perfect time to check in and ask yourself if you are trying to be one way in one part of your life and another way in another part of your life.  It’s all YOU. Can you really separate yourself? Quote of the Week “Dare to be yourself.” ~Andre Gide You [...]

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Coach Andrea’s Intro I’m happy to share Simon Tyler’s description of the Urgent/Important Matrix.  The first time I saw this it opened my eyes to how much time I was spending in the Urgent quadrants, without taking the time to decide if the tasks truly were urgent or important.  I had a sense they were and rather than take the time to step back and access, I kept moving forward adding more and more to my plate.  Sound familiar?  You get an email and drop everything to respond to it, your phone rings in the middle of your precious “planning” time and you answer it – concentration lost and another [...]

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Coach Andrea’s Intro A number of my clients have been asking recently about following up with prospects – how, how often, what do I say? You get the idea.  This week’s article by Robert Middleton provides 3 client attracting steps to master.  My take away from the article is you have to have a process, a system that you use faithfully to turn prospects into clients. It’s up to you to create the timing of that process based on what’s worked best for you in the past, and then use it! (See Coaching Call to Action to read about specific strategies for follow up.) Quote of the Week “A process [...]

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Coach Andrea’s Intro As I think about the upcoming Father’s Day celebration, I’m reminded of the ebb and flow of the intelligence of a parent as seen from the child’s perspective.  When the child is young, the parent is really smart,  and then the teen years hit.  As a parent, our opinion isn’t even worth considering.  Lo and behold, when the “child” hits 20 or so, we get smart again.  Children (and adults) find ways to ignore this wisdom.   This week’s article, Voices of Wisdom, connects me to the wisdom of my Dad (and Mom).  When I ask for their opinion and experience, they are a great source of wisdom. [...]

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Coach Andrea’s Intro As a business owner, do you value the knowledge held by your employees? Of course!  Do you promote learning from others, the creation of new knowledge, and the transfer of knowledge between workers? Maybe not.  Loren Ekroth reminds us that conversation is the life-blood of the knowledge economy of today.  Conversation skills are key.  Read on to learn more about the impact of better workplace conversations. Quote of the Week “Knowledge is the only instrument of production that is not subject to diminishing returns.” ~ John Maurice Clarke Better Workplace Conversations by Loren Ekroth The ability to create relationships of trust and sharing, so valued in family [...]

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Coach Andrea’s Intro Like Michael Neill, as a coach, I am expected to ask “great” questions that facilitate “aha” moments when you are able to “see something about yourself, your work, or your life in a whole new way”.  Early in my coaching career, I had a list of these great questions in a notebook in front of me for my coaching calls.  I busily scanned them during the call so that I would be ready with the one that would make the difference and create a shift for my client.  I was more present to my list, worrying about which one was right, than listening to my client.  After [...]

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Coach Andrea’s Intro I laughed out loud when I read Art Sobczak’s list of avoidance behaviors!  A few of my favorites are – the dog just has to be brushed, it’s of upmost importance to organize the freezer and lastly, I need to call my friend Jeanne and catch up. Now that we can label these behaviors (thanks Art!), are you ready to take step #1, make a commitment to improve?  Keep reading to learn steps 2 to 7. Quote of the Week “I believe half the unhappiness in life comes from people being afraid to go straight at things.” ~ William J. Lock What Avoidance Behavior is Holding You [...]

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Coach Andrea’s Intro Are you the type of business person who takes a long time to start a project and once started the momentum builds? Or are you the type of business person who is fine getting the project started, however never know when to stop the project? This week’s article is beneficial for both groups. Either way, you need to know when to end the project and it may be before the project is ‘finished”. Barry J. Moltz recommends including the definition of success and failure in your project plan. I’d always included the results I wanted, but not the point of failure.  What a great idea! Adding this [...]

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