July 3, 2013 by

Have a Blast for Business Success

blastWhat is the culture of your workplace? This is the same question for small business owners and larger business operations. It has been said by John C. Maxwell, the New York Times Best Selling Author and Leadership Guru, that culture beats strategy every time. Is your workplace a ‘check your smile and fun at the door’ type of place?

Recently it took me off guard during a visit to a relative start up company to hear some of the conversations about the office politics. One would assume due to the sheer massive size of Google or Facebook that these companies have taken on some of the poor cultural behavior of some other ‘old school’ business operations. The fact that a relative start up was creating political strife, silos and other dysfunctional behavior opened my eyes to certain issues.

The lack of leadership will always present itself in an organization. When leaders lead from the top and set a mindset and behavior for others to follow, these issues do not appear. If they should arise, others will rapidly step in and end the issues through teaching, facilitation of group meetings or other means, in order to set the proper tone.

There is a belief that organizations that are run by younger, more entrepreneurial types, are more in tune with the new generation of younger and more tech oriented workforce. This may not be true at all. Consider a seasoned professional who has raised a few children and has interacted with them and their friends for years all the way through and passed college into the work force. This professional, along with years of parenting may be many times more tuned into the new and younger generation than a single, ‘it is all about me’ CEO of a young high tech company.

Okay, now it has happened again, the flood gates have been opened! Who wrote the book that says everyone needs to be miserable at work?

“How’s it going today?”

“Oh, You know, same ol’ same ol’. How about you?”

“Yeah, another day, another dollar.”

How about lighting up some fireworks and make people smile at work (do not actually set off fireworks in your office, please). Yes, have a blast off meeting to start the day, one day a week. Get people smiling and looking forward to being at their job. There is no reason people cannot enjoy being productive.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Business Environment, Business Strategy Tagged With: , , , ,
June 19, 2013 by

Read A Good Book Lately?

Business It is going to be the first day of summer in the USA this week. It is a great time to have a good reading list ready and to act upon it. Some people might say business slows down in the summer. This may or not be true for you. However, it is a wonderful time to relax a little, put your feet up and read a few books. Maybe you are like me and you enjoy the beach. You sit in a beach chair and the surf is providing a calming sound in the background. This is a perfect setting for reading a book or two.

You hear we all should be growing, pushing ourselves to learn new skills or to become aware of new resources we may utilize both within ourselves and outside of ourselves. What better time than right now to select a few books on topics of interest in paths we need to understand better. For example, if you wish to become a public speaker or a better public speaker, you might join toastmasters and obtain a few books written by experts on this topic. By joining toastmasters you will have the ability to practice your public speaking on a regular basis and obtain immediate feedback.

If you are  into electronic readers such as a kindle or a nook, most books are available for under $10. The expense of owning a book has been reduced tremendously especially in the electronic book category. If you prefer real books that you are able to hold and carry, there are a number of local and online options to purchase regular books.

You may find yourself at a loss for options of books to read. If this is the case you might go to Amazon.com and search on topics or authors and look through the returns on your search. You might go to my suggested reading titles which is emailed to my subscribers each month. The Sunday New York Times each week includes a section titles “Book Review”. In this section there are a variety of categories where top ten lists and much more are listed in addition to selected reviews.

Your action item right now is to obtain a few books and set up your calendar so that you have some time each day for reading a book or two.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced, certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Habits, Inspiration, Self Improvement Tagged With: , , , , ,
June 13, 2013 by

Time to Make a Difference

Make a differenceHave you ever felt you just needed to step in and make a difference? What if you had the opportunity to be part of changing an entire culture of a nation? Would you just say, “I’m in!” or would you ask numerous questions about the cost, the logistics and more?

In February 2013, at an event in Orlando, Fl. an emotional story was told by John Maxwell about his recent trip to Guatemala. The average age in Guatemala is twenty years old. There are severe gaps in living conditions, education and general wealth as in numerous other Latin American countries. The biggest difference in the case of Guatemala is the country, the people, the entire nation are ready for change.

In the audience that day in Orlando there were approximately 700 hundred speakers, coaches and trainers. Some, like me, signed up on the spot without knowing any details, to join a group to travel to Guatemala at their own expense. We were going to train people in Guatemala in seven areas of influence in the country – Transformational Leadership.

These areas are government, business, education, churches, family, military, media and arts. Today, our group of over 140 coaches met with our translators in preparation for presenting to our Guatemala audiences over the course of the next three days. The goal is to train approximately 15,000 people.

Each of these people will then train approximately ten people each over the course of the next six months. Effectively we will have trained close to 150,000 people.

Every single coach paid their own airfare, room and food costs to be here. It is a pure volunteer activity. The entire group is part of The John Maxwell Team. Guatemala Prospera and La Red are part of the team who has laid the ground work for this to take place. At the Palace in Guatemala City, this evening our entire team was applauded in person by the President of Guatemala. We applauded President Otto Perez Molina for his support of his people and their best interests to allow them to grow and learn.

Every single coach is ready to present for two – four hour sessions in the next few days to people who are hungry for change. They each know their country needs change. Each of us is ready to embark on our journey to bring change to an entire nation. One step at a time all marching to the same drum, hearing our own beat, following our hearts to make a difference.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Be An Expert, Coach Mentor, Inspiration, Leadership, Self Improvement Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
June 5, 2013 by

Single-Minded Determination Will Pay Off

Business DeterminationIf you are in the raw start up mode for your business, or branching out into another division or business unit, it might seem like you are attending your first Little League practice as a youngster. New skills to learn. New terminology. New team mates to work alongside. Accountable to coaches. Much more like that first day of Little League practice than you thought?

The way you get through all of this and other bumps in the road will be to have single-minded determination to reach the goal or goals you have set for yourself. What is that ultimate reason why you wanted to start your own business or create this new division or business unit. If you have team members you want them to catch on to this single-minded determination along with you.

The mindset which you will have with this focus upon the result which is to be achieved will propel you and others through the rough patches which always come with anything new.

What do you mean by single-minded? Let’s be clear about a few things, by way of two examples:

1.  A great chef knows the exact dish or meal which is going to be prepared. All of the ingredients are purchased, selected and ready to go when it is time to cook the dish or meal. No one is running out and getting the peppercorns and then returning to only then have to run out again to purchase the organic eggs. In your business, the direction you wish to take requires a focus and the single-minded thought process on what is necessary to get this done. Then it is necessary to stay on this course and get it done. When working with my clients this is what we call ‘staying on the highway’.

2.  If you are looking for a job or another career switch, at the same time as you are creating your start up, this is not having single-minded determination. You must choose.

Are you looking for a new job or a career switch or are you creating a startup? The same with running a new division or business unit. Are you spending your focus and energy on getting a new position somewhere else or on the task at hand? You must choose.

Let’s not confuse this in anyway with not being able to multitask. This is not at all what is being discussed here. When you are leading the business, you must have single-minded determination to bring it to a successful level.

A side note is people know when you are not. Your co-workers, your customers, your team mates, they all know, they can just tell. So STOP IT! You must choose. Which one is it going to be?

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Achieve Goals, Business Strategy Tagged With: , , , , , ,
May 29, 2013 by

Are You A Coach? Part Two

Business CoachIn the previous article we discussed the business of saying you are a coach.

An excerpt from the previous article:

Everyone is saying they are a coach for anything. This is what has become of the term coach. When starting my own practice as a Business Consultant over ten years ago all that came to mind was my interest in adding value to others and mentoring type of work is what interested me. At that time, in my part of the world, if you said you were a coach to someone, the assumption was you were speaking about your volunteer work and they would ask you, “Good for you, Little League or Soccer?” The concepts of coaching were at that time very California or Boston based. Yes, there were books and a few coaches around here and there, it was not a mainstream topic and certainly not a fully recognized profession for someone to undertake for a living other than Major League Baseball or the National Football League or the NBA and other similar sports teams.

In this article you are taken a step further as we discuss, how are you better than your competition? How about what differentiates you from everyone else in your field?

There are multiple levels to consider when answering these questions. For example, Many people would speak up about their responsiveness and customer care. Other people may refer to how many years they have experiencing their area of expertise.

The key point here is the list has to be authentic and be about you and what you deliver. Here are three items you might consider or not. The point is to get you thinking about your three key differentiators.

Listen to my client.

Honestly, ask yourself, when is the last time you worked with someone who fully and intently were only focused upon you? Your needs, your interests, are the only things they cared about? This is how I work with my clients.

My Network Becomes Your Resource

One of the resources I have developed throughout my years of experience in a variety of business and life adventures is my network. When we work together my network is there to go to work for you.

Return On Investment

Many coaches are asked immediately, what do you charge per hour? We are not having that discussion. First we must meet to determine what your needs are? What exactly are you seeking? Then we need to determine your time frame to meet these goals? Once we determine these answers the investment decision will be clearly be yours to make.

What sets you apart from the pack? What are your three key differentiating attributes?

Why not begin by posting these as comments right here?

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Be An Expert, Business Networking, Coach Mentor Tagged With: , , , , , ,
April 10, 2013 by

Create a Mindset Renewal for Mindset Success

Are you interested in going places you have not been to before in your mindset, your attitude and your belief system? A mindset renewal, if you will. If you are ready, let’s do it and go there. Let’s develop a way to stay in the mindset you want and need to succeed.

Let’s discuss some of the foundation and history of your mindset before we begin. Our minds are programmed to think negative thoughts. The majority of us, beginning at age five, heard “No” or “Don’t do that” more often than any positive statements by a large margin. Some examples: “Don’t cross the street”, “Don’t touch that, you will break it”, “Don’t eat that until later”, or “Don’t wear that now, we are going to visit…”

These negative statements were constantly stated to us by a factor of eight or nine times vs. any positive feedback or positive statements we heard from anyone – ever. Every single day, for many years, negative statements outnumbered the positive statements. During our time in school this pattern continued, “No Talking”, “No loitering here”, “No Parking Here”, or “No loud music allowed”.

There are multiple purposes for the utilization of positive affirmations. One of these is to overcome the negative programming instilled in our minds for years. This will take persistent and consistent work. Positive affirmations provide a pep talk to each of us whenever we need it. By taking the time to plan ahead and create a few positive affirmation cards, and carrying these with us or placing them in strategic locations we will always have a positive affirmation to read aloud. This is our self talk pep talk. You might place these on your iPhone or other electronic device as well.

Here are a few options for you when it comes to positive affirmations. If you feel you are not ready to write your own positive affirmations, think of a few names of people you find inspiring and utilize their quotes for your positive affirmations.

An example would be a quote from Jim Rohn, “Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.”

Now you rewrite this quote to become your positive affirmation, “I am living my happiness every single moment of every single day.”

Another example might be this quote from Orison Swett Marden, “Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. seize common occasions and make them great.”

You might rewrite this quote to become your positive affirmation, “I will find opportunities in everything I experience throughout the day today, and every day.”

My suggestion is to create a few dozen of these positive affirmations in your first month of practicing this mindset renewal. Read these aloud or to yourself, often throughout the day. You will feel better about your day and your approach to your day as more time is invested in this practice.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified personal and executive coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Achieve Goals, Inspiration Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Next Page »