Coach Andrea

Coach Andrea’s Intro

Ever have one of those days when nothing seems to go right? You take one step forward and two steps back?  Even during those times when everything feels out of control, you can choose to be in control of one thing – your attitude.  Read this week’s Tip by Chris Widener with thoughts about choosing your attitude.

Quote of the Week

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”

Your Attitude – You Choose!

By Chris Widener

There are lots of things in this life that we don’t get to choose. On the other hand, there are lots of thing in this life that we do get to choose. Our attitude is one of the things that we get to choose. Nobody else lives inside our brain. Nobody else controls what or how we think. It is up to us, moment by moment, to choose what our attitude is. It is up to us to determine how we will look at and perceive the world around us. It is up to us to decide how we will react to our world around us.

My advice? Choose a positive, optimistic attitude! Here are some thought on choosing your attitude.

We cannot choose our circumstances. For the most part, this is true. We cannot control if someone around us gets ill. We cannot control how another person will treat us. We cannot control the global economy. We cannot control the direction our society as a whole will go. For some, this may seem scary. For me, it is freeing. I don’t have to control my circumstances. Running the whole world would be a big responsibility. It is good to know that I am not in charge of, or in control of all of my circumstances. This dose of reality frees you to focus in on what you can control – your attitude.

We can choose our attitudes. That’s right. We get to choose what our attitudes are. Here is the definition of attitude: “The feeling or opinion about something or someone, or a way of behaving that follows from this.” We choose how we feel about others and situations. We choose our opinion about people and situations. We choose the way we will behave in relation to other people and circumstances. We choose it. It doesn’t have to be bad. It doesn’t have to be anything but what we want it to be. We have the option.

The choice of a right attitude will significantly determine new circumstances. Choosing to have the right attitude will change the world around you. This isn’t any sort of magic; it is just how the world works. Now, don’t get me wrong. It won’t cure everything and turn your world into a virtual Shangri-La, but it will significantly improve the world you live in. For example, let’s say that every day you go into work and you gripe about life and work from the moment you get there until the moment you leave. Will others want to be around you? Will others ask your opinion? Will others like you? Will others ask you to join them for lunch? Probably not! But what if you come to work every day and you are the positive optimist of the crowd? Will everybody love you? No, but significantly more people will than if you are the office pessimist! Your choice of attitude will determine what kind of circumstances you get!

Ultimately, it is our choice on what we have as an attitude. Nobody else can force you to have a bad attitude. Nobody else can force you to have a good attitude. It is simply a choice you make.

Where are you with your attitude? Do you have a good one? Why not sit down and give it some serious thought? Then, no matter where you find yourself, decide to take your attitude to the next level! If you have a really bad attitude, decide to take it up a couple of levels!

Your attitude. Your choice. Choose wisely.

Chris Widener is the President of Chris Widener International. www.ChrisWidener.com Chris can be reached at Chris@MadeForSuccess.com

Your Call To Action

No Comments »

Coach Andrea’s Intro

During this holiday season, I’d like you to be thinking about what you can do to take care of the people in your organization.  How can you show your appreciation for a job well done and keep people moving forward with the mission and vision of the company? This week’s tip by Jon Gordon provides just such a recipe.

Quote of the Week

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

~ Andrew Carnegie

A Recipe to Nourish Your Team and Culture

By Jon Gordon

• Stir the pot with love
• Lead with optimism
• Share the vision
• Build trust
• Fill the void with positive communication
• Add a big dose of transparency and authenticity
• Create engaged relationships
• Combine inspiration, encouragement, empowerment and coaching
• Fill up with appreciation
• Heat with passion
• Bring it all together with unity (Gordon, p. 162).

From: Gordon, J (2010).  Soup: a recipe to nourish your team and culture.  Hoboken NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Reprinted with permission from the OSU Leadership Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, (614) 292-3114, http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu

Coaching Call To Action

This week consider what your team needs from you to be the best they can be.  What will you continue doing, start doing and stop doing?

No Comments »

Coach Andrea’s Intro

I burst out laughing when I read this article from Simon Tyler as the power had just come back to my home office after being out for 24 hours thanks to Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene. I woke up on Monday morning thinking and planning about how I was going to get my work done when there was no electricity. When will I move appointments to, where can I charge my cell phone, what time does the library open so that I can I charge and use my laptop? How long will my cell phone battery last if I make back to back calls? When will the electric company fix the power? Should I call someone? On the way home from an hour at the library, I noticed the traffic lights were working again. I crossed my fingers – hoping, hoping, hoping that the power would be on when I got home and IT WAS! Almost exactly 24 hours after it went off. There was nothing I could do to bring the electricity back any faster.  I had to allow things to work out in that department. And they did! Thank you NStar and anyone else who had a hand in bringing back my electricity.

Quote of the Week

” Do not run away; let go. Do not seek, for it will come when least expected.”

~ Bruce Lee

Allow Things To Work Out

By Simon Tyler

They do. When it appears they don’t or haven’t yet, it’s simply that we haven’t given them enough time.

I have been caught in the middle of ‘arrgghh’ moments when situations are irritatingly not sorted, giving rise to all types of unhelpful emotions and responses. Often in client coaching dialogues this is the focus of our conversation, to move to the positive, focused, and powerful state of allowing rather than effort laden, having to make things happen.

For a number of my clients at the moment their world seems to be serving up many examples of this, and as the volume increases, often without realizing it, the emotional response and general state of mind slips down and into a fog.

Hold on to the truth that these situations ARE working out, and, crucially, without you needing to get in the middle and do the sorting.

Allow things to be, well… simple.

Simon Tyler is one of the world’s leading business coaches. His work simplifies the lives of business leaders and owners. He is an incisive consultant, inspirational writer, provocative public speaker and master facilitator. To learn more about Simon, visit http://simontyler.com.

Coaching Call To Action

This week I invite you to shift what may have become an ingrained attitude. Dedicate this week to charting incidents, simply allowing them to be what and wherever they are at that moment, and discover evidence of ‘things working out’ (particularly without your control or active input). Curb your impulse to wade in, relax and let it be.

No Comments »

Coach Andrea’s Intro

Whether you lead a business of thousands or are a solopreneur, are you the best that you can be? This week, Chris Widener delineates the characteristics of those who are the best at what they do. After reading the list, I noted a couple of areas where I needed to revise my outlook and way of being. How about you?

Quote of the Week

“The roots of true achievement lie in the will to become the best that you can become.”
~Harold Taylor

The “Best” Test

by Chris Widener

Some time ago, I spoke to a group of salespeople in Kansas City as they kicked off their new team. It was exciting to see them get excited about making a difference through their work.

The topic they assigned me was “Simply the Best.” So as I prepared, I asked myself: What characteristics would help someone pass the “Best” Test? That is, what are the characteristics of those who become the “best” at what they do? Here are the thoughts I shared with them:

The Best Are Optimists. You can’t get to the top if you don’t think that there is a top or if you think you can’t make it. One characteristic of those who reach the peak is that they always believe that things can get better or be done better. This pushes them on to be their best.

The Best Have Vision. They can see ahead of the pack. Their eyes aren’t locked into the here and now. They see the bright future and what things will look like when they reach their destiny. While working hard for today, they live for the future! They do what Stephen Covey calls “begin with the end in mind.”

The Best Relentlessly Pursue Excellence. The status quo is not for them. They want to be the best and experience the best. And that means giving their best. They go the extra mile so that in everything they do, in everything they say and think, they are striving for excellence.

The Best Have a Lifelong Habit of Personal Growth. They don’t want to stay at the level they are at. They want to grow in their work, their intellect, their spirituality, their relationships, and in every area of their life. And they discipline themselves to put themselves in situations wherein they grow. Personal growth doesn’t “just happen.” You choose to grow. I always suggest what Zig Ziglar does and that is to enroll in “Automobile University.” Whenever you are driving around, listen to a personal or professional growth CD or MP3. Over the long run you will grow. Also, read more. The old saying is true: Leaders are readers. So are those who pass the “Best” Test.

The Best Understand That They Will Be Pushed by the Competition-and They Welcome It. Like the lead runner in the race who has someone on his heels, the best know that the competition is right behind them. They love it, though, because they know that the competition keeps them from becoming lazy and resting on their laurels. Instead, the competition pushes them to go faster and to achieve more-to remain the best by forging ahead.

The Best Have a Quest for Leadership. Someone has to lead-it may as well be the best! Those who attain it get there because they want to. They want to lead and help make a difference. And they want to be equipped with the skills necessary to lead others on to a better place.

The Best Leave a Legacy. They aren’t in it just for themselves, though they will surely reap the rewards of being the best. Rather, they build things that last beyond themselves, things that can be enjoyed by others as well.

The Best Are Adept at the Two Most Important Pieces of Time and Personal Management: Prioritize and Execute. Just like weight loss boils down to eating right and exercise, personal management boils down to prioritize and execute. First, prioritize your activities. The important stuff goes on the top. Then, execute: do them. The best have habits and discipline that get them to the top by doing the best things and doing them first.

The Best Focus on Building Relationships. Success does not come alone. Everyone who achieves much does it with the help of countless others. How do the Best get others to help them? They treat them right. They embrace them and help them. People become the best because they help other people, and people like them.

The Best Make No Excuses. When they fail, they admit it and move on. They get back up and do it right the next time. They let their actions speak louder than their words. They stand tall and do the right thing the next time. No excuses, just results.

The Best Understand That the Good Is the Enemy of the Best. Yes, they could say, “This is good.” But that would mean they have settled for less than the best. Many people think that good is good. Good is not good. Good is the enemy because it keeps us from the best. Choose your side: the good or the best. The Best choose, you guessed it, the Best.

The Best Dare to Dream. While others live the mundane and settle into a life they never bargained for, a rut, the Best dream of a better life. And then they take the risks necessary to achieve their dreams. They live by Teddy Roosevelt’s quote: Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

Want to be the best at what you do? Take inventory on the above characteristics and then start moving to bring your life in line with the characteristics of the “Best.” Then when you get to the top you will know that you have passed the “Best” Test.

Chris Widener is the Co-Founder of Chris Widener International, www.MadeForSuccess.net, a wealth of ongoing motivation and leadership skills training.

Coaching Call To Action

Take some time today to think about an area where you know you could and should be doing better. Now take one tangible step today to reach for that goal of becoming your best in that area. In doing so, you will reach TRUE achievement!

No Comments »

Coach Andrea’s Intro

As a business owner, do you have a positive attitude? Do you believe in your people, your company, and your success? Peter Wilkinson reminds us of the power of positive attitude and what you can do to promote it for your people.

Quote of the Week

“A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.”

~Patricia Neal

Attitude: It’s the Engine and the Energy

by Peter Wilkinson

Attitudes are generally classified as positive and negative.

With a positive attitude, a person will be motivated to move forward, to improve, to change, to engage, to finish, etc.

With a negative attitude, the opposite happens; there is resistance to moving forward, to improving, to changing, to engaging, to finishing, etc.

As clearly can be seen, the person with the positive attitude is the person we need in organizations.  If everyone in an organization had a positive attitude, think of all the positive energy that would be generated.  The leadership and management challenge is how to provide an environment that generates positive attitudes. One might ask why an individual would have a positive attitude.  Here are some contributors:

• I feel valued.
• I am respected.
• I am encouraged to disagree.
• I understand why we are doing things.
• I have participated in laying out the plan.
• I participate in, and buy into, the decisions that are made.

Incorporating these contributors in our leadership and management approach can yield great results (Wilkinson, 2008, p. 23-24).

Wilkinson, P.R. (2008). Aha: Insights for Effective Leadership and Management. Baltimore: Publish America.

Reprinted with permission from the OSU Leadership Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, (614) 292-3114, http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu.

Coaching Call To Action

Take time to assess the attitude in your company. Is it positive or negative? Are there areas/departments that are more positive than others? Do some investigation this week to understand why and what you can do to spread the positive attitude. It’s worth it!

No Comments »

Coach Andrea’s Intro

While celebrating my birthday on Sunday, I had a surprise visit from my son, James. He and I were on the phone catching up and sharing our plans for the day. When I asked him where he was, he turned the corner into my bedroom with a big grin on his face and said, “right here, Mom!” You have to love these kids! As I was thinking about my message to begin this week’s Tip, I looked out the window to see, once again, the snow falling. Taking Loren Ekroth’s words to heart to start with “News and Goods”, I chose to share my birthday surprise rather than lament about the weather. And to remind all of us here in the Northern Hemisphere that there are only six weeks until Spring!

Quote of the Week

“Good humor is one of the best articles of dress one can wear in society.”
~William Makepeace Thackery

Two Simple Steps To Increase Meeting Productivity

Coaching Call To Action

Assess your meetings. Could they benefit from “News and Good” and/or humor?

No Comments »

Coach Andrea’s Intro

How’s your attitude these days? This question is a great reminder for me and I’m thinking you, too. As we get closer to year end and the pressure is on, are you forcing compliance as a leader in your organization or are you leading with optimism, hope, and enthusiasm? This week’s Tip by Kevin Eikenberry reminds us of the power of sharing enthusiasm and positive messages.

Quote of the Week

“Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.”
~ Harold Geenen

The Importance of Your Attitude

by Kevin Eikenberry

Before any big game, coaches typically give their team a pep talk.

Coaches know from experience that sharing enthusiasm and delivering positive messages prior to the start of a game will help the team perform better. Maybe the other team is bigger, stronger, and faster. The coach may share those facts during practice but would never include them as the focus of the final words to a team. Will a pep talk alone create a win? Probably not, but everything else being equal, it will help.

Think about it this way. The more the expected pep talk provides hope – an opportunity to look at the world from the perspective of success and achievement – the better. Some call this optimism or enthusiasm or a positive mental attitude. Whatever you call it, science increasingly shows it to be a powerful force. Science or not, our experience tells us this attitude is contagious (Eikenberry, 2007, p. 151).

Eikenberry, K. (2007). Remarkable Leadership: Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Reprinted with permission from the OSU Leadership Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, (614) 292-3114, http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu.

Coaching Call To Action

Are you aware of the attitude you bring to encounters with others? Before you enter a room, start a meeting or pick up the phone, ask yourself, what is my attitude right now? Am I providing the space for growth, creative ideas and success or am I constricting, forcing, and deflating those around me? You get to choose which attitude you bring to the table.

Gift Certificates Available

Looking for a unique gift for a friend, colleague or family member? Giving the gift of coaching partners the recipient with a professional coach with real world experience.  Your gift provides one-on-one coaching to help them sift through their conflicting priorities and demands, determine what’s most important and take action.  The coaching will help them focus, gain clarity, problem solve, and get results.  What better gift is there to give someone you care about!

Customized coaching packages available. Please email Andrea@CoachAndrea.com for additional information.

No Comments »

Coach Andrea’s Intro

Now that this week’s elections are over here in Massachusetts, it’s interesting to think about what candidates did during their campaign to garner attention and votes. It was clear that they changed the voice inside their head from saying “no” to “what the heck”. In some cases this worked and in some cases it backfired. But, we all know that unless you try, (make the sales call, make the request, push yourself) you’ll never know if you could have succeeded. This week Michael Neill elaborates on this point using the Clinton campaign as an example. See the power of moving past your inner gatekeeper.

Quote of the Week

“To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.”
~ Elbert Hubbard

A Simple Shift To Create Possibility

by Michael Neill

I was once speaking with the personal assistant of one of my most influential clients. A large part of her job is to be the “gatekeeper” – the ultimate guardian of her boss’ time and schedule.

But when I asked her how often she actually had to “keep the gate”, she said that it was surprising to her how seldom people really tried to get past her and speak directly with her boss. At first, I thought that was odd, because I know a lot of people want things from this client.

And then I realized that wasn’t so odd at all. Because normally the gatekeeper inside us stops us way before we get to the gatekeeper outside us.

How many times do you stop yourself from asking?

How often do you talk yourself out of even looking into something or checking out a possibility because of that voice inside your head saying things like “Gee, they must get bombarded with things like this all the time”, or “that’s never going to work” or “there’s no point in even trying – they’re just going to say no”? We all have that voice – and yet some people aren’t stopped by it. What is it that allows them to move forward while the rest of us hold back?

Years ago, James Carville and Paul Begala were managing the presidential campaign of a then relatively unknown Governor from Arkansas named William Jefferson Clinton. They recognized that the only chance they had to make headway coming from the back of a very competitive field was if they changed the normal way of doing things.

In traditional political campaigns, the default response to any newly proposed initiative is “no”.

In a bizarre twist on “first, do no harm”, the only ideas that get through the screening process are the very small percentage that are either completely generic or on rare occasions, undeniably brilliant. While this does indeed result in a kind of damage limitation, it also results in ideas that don’t make that much difference to a campaign or in the world.

Since Clinton was never going to win with a traditional campaign, his team decided to do something kind of unique up until that point in politics. They decided to change the default response to “yes”. Instead of new ideas having to make it through layers of hierarchical bureaucracy before being approved, the new policy was essentially that any idea that had not been completely shot down by 9am was OK to run with.

This wasn’t an “anything goes” policy, and a number of eccentric, dodgy, and downright idiotic ideas didn’t make it through. But whereas most campaigns might try 2 or 3 different things in a month, the Clinton campaign was trying that many new things each day. And in the space of less than a year, he went from being a complete outsider that nobody believed had a chance to becoming the President of the United States of America.

While you may not want to become the next President, you can still benefit from making this simple shift in your own life. So as an experiment this week, flip your inner default switch from “no” to “yes” – from “what’s the point?” to “what the heck?”

Even if that voice inside your head turns out to be mostly right and things don’t work out and people do say “no” to your requests, you only have to be wrong two or three times to make tremendous progress on your seemingly impossible dreams. And if you don’t start moving past your inner gatekeeper, you’re probably not going to get very far in the outside world.

Have fun, learn heaps, and “just say ‘yes’!”

Copyright 2010 Michael Neill, bestselling author of You Can Have What You Want, and Supercoach: 10 Secrets to Transform Anyone’s Life. All rights reserved – Read more tips at http://www.geniuscatalyst.com

Coaching Call To Action

For the first half of the week notice: How many times do you stop yourself from asking?

For the second half of the week: Make the requests.

No Comments »

Quote of the Week

“You have to expect things of yourself before you do them.”
Michael Jordan

Expect to Win

by Stephen R. Covey and Rebecca R. Merrill

According to Greek mythology, Pygmalion, the king of Cyprus, carved an ivory statue of the ideal woman. He named her Galatea. She was so beautiful that Pygmalion fell in love with her, and because of his deep desire and will for her to be real, with the help of the goddess Venus, he was actually able to bring her to life, and they lived happily ever after.

This ancient myth has come to serve as a metaphor that illustrates the power of expectation. While this phenomenon is commonly referred to as the ‘Pygmalion effect,’ it’s also been called the Galatea effect, the Rosenthal effect, self-fulfilling prophecy, positive self-expectancy, confidence, optimism, or just plan faith. In modern times, it’s been made popular through the musical My Fair Lady, a modern Pygmalion story in which a professor’s expectations become the catalyst that inspires the transformation of a Cockney flower girl into a lady.

The principle is simply this: We tend to get what we expect – both from ourselves and others. When we expect more, we tend to get more, when we expect to get less, we tend to get less (Covey, 2008, p. 121-122).

From: Covey, Stephen R. and Merrill, Rebecca (2007). The speed of trust: the one thing that changes everything. New York: Free Press.

Reprinted with permission from the OSU Leadership Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, (614) 292-3114, http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu.

Coaching Call to Action

This reminds me of something I heard this week, “what you appreciate, appreciates.” When you acknowledge who is around you, shifts occur. This week set your expectations and intentions on what you want from work, from a relationship, from a peer, from yourself. Set the bar wherever you want it and expect it can be. Then push it a little higher. Let me know what happens.

No Comments »