http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_88.htm

Once you complete the quiz, be sure to determine whch area you need to improve on the most and make it a goal.

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

Jim was terrified. He thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!”
When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed, Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, “This is your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!” Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even grow his seed.

“How could he be the new CEO?” the others said.

Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – it was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!”

* If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
* If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
* If you plant humility, you will reap greatness
* If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
* If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective
* If you plant hard work, you will reap success
* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by — still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil – he so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach; it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room.

When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful – in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

“You’ve recently been promoted to “manager.” Congratulations! But as a first-time manager who’s now responsible for the growth and well-being of an entire team, you have no idea what you’re getting into. To help you out, I spoke with a few recently-appointed managers and an executive coach to get some pointers.”

http://blog.softwareadvice.com/articles/hr/5-tips-for-first-time-managers-1031912/

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

“This is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip.

You don’t have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder on them.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.

4 Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies..  Awards tarnish..  Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson:

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money…or the most awards. They simply are the ones who care the most!”

”Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!”

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

“Did you know that there are 4 common obstacles that salespeople face when closing sales? There are several other reasons why the end game of selling is stressful and difficult, but there are a few that are most common. I’ve created a special, free report for you, but first, I want to go over the most common obstacles to closing sales.

Fear of Failure
There are several other reasons why the end game of selling is stressful and difficult. First and foremost is the fear of failure experienced by the prospect. Because of negative buying experiences in the past, over which you could have no control, prospects are conditioned to be suspicious, skeptical and wary of salespeople and sales approaches. They may like to buy, but they don’t like to be sold. They are afraid of making a mistake. They are afraid of paying too much and finding it for sale cheaper somewhere else.

Fear of Criticism
They are afraid of being criticized by others for making the wrong buying decision. They are afraid of buying an inappropriate product and finding out later that they should have purchased something else. This fear of failure, of making a mistake in buying your product, is the major reason why people object, hesitate and procrastinate on the buying decision.

Fear of Rejection
The second major obstacle to selling is the fear of rejection, of criticism and disapproval experienced by the salesperson. You work long and hard to prospect and cultivate a prospective buyer and you are very reluctant to say anything that might cause the prospect to tune you out and turn you off. You have a lot invested in each prospect and if you are not careful, you will find yourself being wishy-washy at the end of the sale, rather than risking incurring the displeasure of the prospect by your asking for a firm decision.

Customers Are Busy
The third reason why the end of the sale is difficult is that customers are busy and preoccupied. It isn’t that they are not interested in enjoying the benefits of your product. It’s just that they are overwhelmed with work and they find it difficult to make sufficient time available to think through your recommendations and make a buying decision. And the better they are as a prospect, the busier they tend to be. This is why you need to maintain momentum throughout the sales process and gently push it to a conclusion at the appropriate time.

Inertia is Hard to Break
The factor of inertia is the fourth reason that can also cause the sales process to come to a halt without a resolution. Customers are lazy and often quite comfortable doing what they are currently doing. Your product or service may require that they make exceptional efforts to accommodate the change or a new way of doing things. They perhaps recognize that they would be better off with your product, but the trouble and expense of installing it hardly seems to make it worth the effort. They see no pressing need or urgency to stop doing what they are doing and start doing something else with what you are selling.

Everyone Buys at the Same Time
The good news is that everybody you meet has bought and will buy, new products and services from someone, at some time. If they didn’t buy from you, they will from someone else. You must find the way to overcome the natural physical and psychological obstacles to buying and then hone your skills so that you are capable of selling to almost any qualified prospect you speak to.
I’ve created a special report to help you overcome obstacles that preventing you from closing more sales and making more money. This report is called 7 Tips to Boost Your Sales.

Download it here–for free!

To overcoming obstacles,

Brian Tracy”

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

There once was a rancher named Molly
Whose Ranch was OK, but she not so jolly
The ranch hands were mad, cattle running amuck
Profit was dwindling, poor Molly was stuck

Inventory, weather, food for the cows
Get it all done, she didn’t know hows
She felt very busy, but spinner her wheels
It seemed like she was always back on her heels.

If I could be more productive, get teams to work
Perhaps the important I’d never more shirk
I’d love to know just how to win
To operate my ranch to bring more dollars in.

She needed a strategy to help her sort out
All things of import, the rest she’d toss out
She looked for some help, these topics to broach
And saw the best was to hire a coach.

The ranch became a team, all personalities tested
All working their strengths, while the others, they rested
When one goal was done another was made
The progress she saw, she never would trade.

It just goes to show when life gets a mess
It hampers your business, and just causes stress
So take home a lesson from Rancher Miss Molly
Hire a coach and make your ranch much more jolly!

Every business owner and executive is just like a rancher… with much to plan and manage.
If coaching can support you or a rancher you know, e-mail for a FREE sample session!

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

You’ve waited long enough. This is the day to take action.

The excuses are quite reasonable and understandable, and yet they have brought no value to your life.

Let go of those comfortable excuses, and step forward into the bright, direct light of achievement.

The hours in this day will quickly pass no matter what you choose to do with them.

So you might as well make full use of them to create meaningful value.

If you’re not sure what to do, take a moment and reach deep inside.

Remind yourself of the things that mean the most, and do what truly strengthens and supports those things.

If the disruptions and distractions erode your focus, reach inside again.

Commit yourself with your actions, over and over, to live true to your highest vision.

This is your life and today is your opportunity to make a difference.

Get busy, because fulfillment is now yours to create.”

Ralph Marston

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

1) Set your “stage” for work. What inspires you, what relaxes you, what brings you joy? Decorate your office with some “art”… some people put motivational quotes or passages, pictures of family, certificates of achievement, photos of their WHY (i.e. working hard to save for retirement at the beach), etc. Having these inspirational pieces make your office more enjoyable to be at and help you to relax. Music, smells (i.e. candles), sounds (i.e. fountains) can also help to make a more relaxing environment. Think about the most relaxing place you enjoy going and try to bring in a few of those attributes to your office space.

2) Keep your office space neat and organized. While some people believe they work better in their piles, it has been studied and proven that piles create more stress, take more of your time looking for things and result in reduced productivity. All of this is related to stress. When you can get things done efficiently, not only do you work at a high performance level but you finish your work quicker. So keeping your office neat and organized will get you out of there sooner and reduce your stress while you are in it.

3) Cluttered space is a combination of the two challenges above. It is important to ‘weed” through your stuff and get rid of things. In today’s digital world with a good computer file system and a strong back up system, you can reduce the paper you have. There is a book on Feng Shi and Clutter that tells the cost of clutter in your office and home… just saving things that can be recycled requires you to have more space, more heating/sq. ft. expense, etc. Clutter can make you feel like you have more to do and make it more difficult for you to “finish” tasks as you get distracted with clutter that you touch trying to complete a task. It is a great practice to at least ONCE a year empty your office and sort as you put it back, returning only things that are needed.

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN

Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN