business mentoring Archives - Page 4 of 26

Do Your Goals Have That Inspiring Mojo?

January 19, 2023 by Lisa Mininni Leave a Comment

Inspiring others and enrolling them in something bigger is a skill. It’s a skill that every leader needs but not every leader has.

One leader that had that skill of enrolling others was Martin Luther King, Jr. He inspired millions into action with his I have a Dream speech. He enrolled others in an idea, he spoke into a future, and painted a picture with his words. He declared a future that, at the time, seemed impossible. His goals were spoken from the heart and had that inspiring mojo.

Business leaders can learn a lot from his approach. When you read your goals are you inspired by them? If you aren’t inspired by them, others won’t be either. So, what are those finer points that inspire you and others?

When developing your goals for your company, consider these tips:

1. Construct goals using declarations with future-based language.

With future-based declarations, you craft visions so that others see new possible outcomes.

2. Inspire others with vivid, tangible outcomes.

When you use tangible outcomes it creates focus. When you speak those outcomes regularly, others see and hear consistency and consistency creates trust within your company culture.

3. Align goals with a greater Contribution in the World.

When your company’s Contribution is actualized, has a ripple effect in the world. Align your goals to that contribution and watch how new opportunities emerge.

When you put the effort into setting up your goals that are aligned and inspire you and others, you start the ripple effect. You have the power to enroll others, create opportunities, and produce results that weren’t going to happen but happen because of your inspiring approach.

To craft your company’s Contribution in the World and learn more about scaling your company, join us for the Introduction to Scaling and Systematizing at https://www.ExcellerateAssociates.com/events.

Leadership, Goals and 3 Essential Steps to Turn Around Your Company

January 12, 2023 by Lisa Mininni Leave a Comment

When the pressure is high and things may not be going well, getting your team on track can be tricky. Being silent, assigning blame, or barking out orders never works. It makes a bad situation worse.

Early in my career, I was hired into a position where the division was last in employee engagement, everyone complained about the HR Department, and the organization was failing in a number of metrics.

How did we turn around our reputation despite persistent complaints, increase employee engagement from last to first in the company in 12 months, and improve our metrics overall?

These simple but effective steps work wonders:

1. Acknowledge the Breakdowns

First, you must acknowledge that there have been breakdowns. Denying or trying to explain away problems only occurs that you’re not listening. As a leader, if there are known issues, you want to acknowledge that you’ve heard the complaints and are doing something about it now.

There was no mistaking being last in employee engagement. We let others know we heard them, prioritized the concerns, communicated a plan, set timelines, and followed up consistently on the improvements.

2. Create, Clarify and Communicate The Goals

If goals were easy to define, everyone would do it consistently. The majority of people do not know how to set goals. They set action items, they might set objectives, they are not setting goals.
If you’re turning around your company and your team, you must define goals that enroll others. Enrolling others in goals that are descriptive so that others can see it.

Last in employee engagement? Set a goal to be the Best Place to Work by a defined date. Set monthly and quarterly objectives that move you closer to that goal. Set a metric, in this case the employee satisfaction survey, to determine if you met the goal.
It’s not enough to state the goal once. Communicate the goal and your progress consistently and often. That said, it brings us to the last point.

3. Acknowledge Your Team and The Progress

As you communicate the goals often, remember to celebrate the small wins. Celebrating successes and acknowledging others shows your team that you’re taking a stand to change the status quo.

When one of my executive mentoring clients was tasked with a similar declining reputation in her department, she started to shift the perception by hanging a large banner with the new goal. She engaged her team to create a “wins” display, listing of all of the improvements that were making and accomplished. Her team visually sees a new direction. Visitors to her department can see the ongoing progress. Her communication in leadership meetings addresses each improvement.

While these actions seem simple, with consistency, they transform the environment and others see the progress. Setting and communicating the goals along with a structure to fulfill on your newly stated future, will show that you can powerfully transform any situation.

The Art and System of Goal Achievement

January 5, 2023 by Lisa Mininni Leave a Comment

As we start 2023…
• Have you thought about the impact you want your company to have in the next three years?
• Have you clearly articulated the monthly and quarterly benchmarks to your team?
• Do you have a way to hold your team accountable?
• Do you know what you want to achieve by the end of today?

If you answered no to one or more of these questions, you’re not alone. Studies suggest that over 80 percent of people never set goals. Further, most professionals also don’t have a system in place to achieve their goals.

With over 30 years training business professionals, I’ve come to one certain conclusion about goal setting. Goal achievement is an art and a system.

Overcoming Excuses to Goal Setting

Over the years, I’ve heard the excuse from business professionals who said they don’t set goals because of who they become in the process of achieving the goal. They have a history of being intense or forcing an outcome.

In goal setting, you get to choose who you will be in the process of achieving that goal. Rather than be intense, who would you choose to be to achieve your goal? Generous? Calm? Unattached? Intentional?

Notice that none of these ways of being is intense or forceful. Rather, they are preferred ways of being while working toward the goal.

Goal setting should be designed to tap into your greater level of leadership. When you play a bigger game, you also want to expand your leadership capacity.

Be Crystal Clear

Setting goals is also about being crystal clear in your end game. Without a clear view, you’ll be forever changing course.
One of our clients did not have goals for the company, did not have goals for his team, and simply met with his team each day to distribute assignments. He then wondered why he wasn’t achieving the financial goals of the company and why he had a trail of leads that went cold because nobody followed up.

As a leader, if you’re not crystal clear about your goals, do not align each position with the goals of the organization, and don’t review them consistently, you will also fall short of keeping others engaged in playing full out. Your team should know the goals of the company and, most importantly, how their position directly relates to the goals of the company.

Create An Existence System

Setting goals is not complete without an existence system to move the goals from concept to reality. It’s not only important to write down your goals, but have a way to take consistent action, track the benchmarks, establish accountabilities, and continuously communicate the progress and celebrate wins.

So you can see, goal setting is art and a system for achievement. What action will you take today to crystalize your goals this year? Who will you choose to be as a leader to accomplish your goals?

Is It Relevant?

December 15, 2022 by Lisa Mininni Leave a Comment

There was a word. The word was so powerful it changed consumer behavior.

Nobody even questioned the process that contained this word.

What was that word?

Repeat.

If you read Benjamin Cheever’s book, The Plagiarist, a marketing executive becomes an overnight success by simply adding the word repeat to shampoo instructions: Shampoo, rinse, repeat. As the story goes, shampoo sales skyrocketed.

While this example is a work of fiction, many shampoo bottles had this word in their instructions.

Why would you need the word repeat in the shampoo instructions? If you were to look at consumer behavior in the 1950’s, many people didn’t shampoo their hair as often as we do today.

Over the years consumers changed their habits shampooing more frequently making the process of “repeat” obsolete. While there was a change in consumer behavior there was also an opportunity.

With frequency in shampooing, hair became dry and unmanageable. Therefore, conditioner was added to the process. It not only created another step in the process, it added another revenue stream to the shampoo industry.

So, what’s the point?

What we learned, what we know, and what we’ve seen, may no longer be relevant in today’s marketplace.

Yet, there are times where we try to apply what we learned, what we know, and what we’ve seen and wonder why it no longer works.

It may be just the right moment to create a different word, process, mindset, or viewpoint.

As we wind down this year, take a few minutes to celebrate what is working and review what isn’t working in your business or life. Identify what you want to create going forward. Explore ways you could approach your business or life differently not from what you did in the past, but what you want to create going forward.

What Does It Really Mean to Create a Sustainable Business?

December 8, 2022 by Lisa Mininni Leave a Comment

If leaders learned anything during the pandemic, it’s the importance of intentionally creating a sustainable business. A company that can innovate, shift quickly, and creatively meet competing priorities won’t be a luxury, it will be a necessity.

As we welcome a new year, consider asking yourself: What does creating a sustainable company look like?

A sustainable business is usually defined as having a minimal negative impact or positive effect on the environment, community, society, or economy. Leaders often overthink what it means to build in sustainability.

If you’re like most business professionals, you may look at sustainability and think it involves making large capital investments. I invite to look at a broader definition of sustainability. What are the little changes that could be made that make a lasting difference not only for the environment but keep your business sustainable and even ready to take on an unexpected event.

When I was renovating the Business Innovation Lab CoWorking & Conference Center five years ago, it was quite an undertaking. While simultaneously managing Excellerate Associates, I was also my own General Contractor since no GC’s would return my calls, especially for a small 8100 square foot project.

In just two months, six HVAC unit replacements, kitchenette installation, major plumbing installations, drywall, painting, lighting, and flooring were complete. In addition to making hundreds of decisions a day between two companies, I could have easily thrown my hands in the air. There were days I was simply overloaded and asked myself what I got myself into in purchasing the building.

As I was renovating the Business Innovation Lab, the renovation costs came in higher than projected. This often happens in any renovation but that meant shifting funds from the furnishing’s budget. Training tables, chairs, whiteboards, supplies, podiums all had a cost. Keeping sustainability in mind, here’s where we not only saved on the budget but how we built in sustainability especially for something we could not have anticipated.

Little did we know that in 2020 when we started the second half of the renovations, we would be confronted with a major pandemic. Being mindful of sustainability in our first half of the renovation, helped us navigate this unexpected event. While we were fortunate to be nearly at full capacity during the pandemic, we also had reserves that wouldn’t be there if we spent it on high-end, brand-name furnishings.

Below are steps in using a sustainability mindset that had a positive environmental and economic impact:

1. Notify Your Network.

The first step to building sustainability was to notify my network. When one of my family members heard that a law firm was renovating, she let me know that they were getting rid of executive chairs, wall hangings, and commercial furniture. The ergonomic executive chairs alone saved almost $10,000. They were going to throw out this furniture! Add on commercial meeting tables, bookshelves, and other artwork, we saved at least $50,000 in costs and saved the furniture from going to a landfill.

If you’re fortunate to work with a company that is renovating, don’t let those resources go to a landfill, contact your local Chamber who may know a small business that could use the furniture. In my case, some of the commercial furniture needed a touch up. With some fabric paint and wood stain, we took coffee table and chairs from dated to delightful.

2. Reuse.

As I was looking at my growing collection of plastic grocery bags, they were the perfect size for the trash cans in each of the coworking offices. When we announced our sustainability efforts and that we would be reusing the single-use shopping bags, our coworking members gave us glowing feedback. They liked seeing how the bags from the local family-owned grocery store were being reused.

3. Repurpose.

With a conference room, buying bulk items, like candle holders for events can add up. As I was looking at our glass collection of yogurt containers, I realized that a small tea candle could fit inside. Who knew repurposing could be healthy and functional!

4. Rethink.

When our sponsor proactively suggested using paper gift bags instead of plastic gift bags for a recent gathering in our conference room, we were elated. Consider making this simple shift with your collaborators, at your next event, or when purchasing your branded products.

With little effort, we were able to have an economic and environmental impact that aligned with our company goals and brand. With collaboration with our sponsor-partners, we are able to infuse sustainable choices. I invite you to look around your company and your daily processes to see what you could repurpose, refurbish, reuse, or even rethink ways to make your company highly sustainable.

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