Leaders develop daily, not in a day. – John Maxwell
Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN
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09SepEffective Habits, Executives & Leaders, Goal Setting, Leadership Development, Management Skills, Performance & Productivity, Personal Growth No Comments
Tags: Leadership
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02SepBusiness Coaching, Career Exploration, Career Fulfillment, Effective Habits, Energy Management, Executives & Leaders, Goal Setting, Human Performance, Leadership Development, Management Skills, Performance & Productivity, Personal Growth, Productivity, Removing Obstacles, Time Management, Work/Life Synergy & Balance No Comments
I recently had to do a comparison of coaching and type of candy.
I picked Jolly Ranchers and my husband Mike wrote this poem about Jolly Ranchers and Coaching…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 stuckInventory, 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
Tags: Business-Coaching-Services-Leadership-Corporate-Training-Development, Coaching
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22Jul
To lead yourself, lead with your head. To lead others, lead with your heart. – John Maxwell
Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN
Tags: Leadership
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08JulBusiness Coaching, Effective Habits, Executives & Leaders, Leadership Development, Management Skills, Performance & Productivity No Comments
Difference between Leader and Manager http://bit.ly/cPwQHE
Leadership Management Conflicts: Leader uses the conflicts Manager avoids the conflicts Focus: Leading people Managing work Outcomes: Achievements Results Appeal to: Heart Head Origin of word: The word “leader” adopted from the German: the word Führer, and its accompanying ideas on the Führerprinzip The verb manage comes from the Italian maneggiare which in turn derives from the Latin manus The French word mesnagement Also refers to: Leadership also refers to those entities that perform one or more acts of leading Management can also refer to the person or people who perform the act(s) of management Approach to risk: Risk-taking Risk averse Meaning: Leadership means “the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members.” Management comprises directing and controlling a group of one or more people or entities for the purpose of coordinating and harmonizing that group towards accomplishing a goal. Seeks: Vision Objectives Role in decision-making: Facilitative Involved Horizon: Long term Short term Offers in exchange: Excitement in exchange for work Money in exchange of work Styles: Transformational, Dictatorial, Authoritative, Consultative & Participative Transactional, Autocratic, Consultative and Democratic Power through: Charisma & Influence Formal authority & Position Organization: Leaders have followers Manager have subordinates Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN
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17JunBusiness Coaching, Effective Habits, Executives & Leaders, Leadership Development, Performance & Productivity, Personal Growth No Comments
John Maxwell Leadership INVENTORY:
A. What tools are you using to raise your level of leadership and, in turn, your effectiveness?
Check out: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership John Maxwell
B. Rate your leadership on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high) and discuss how you assess your effectiveness.
C. Using this same scale, rate the top 3 people in your organization.
D. Are you willing to invest the time to educate yourself to become a better leader?
E. Do you believe that developing your leadership skills will increase your effectiveness?
F. “The one thing you need to know about leadership is that there is more than one thing you need to know about leadership!”
G. Some laws will expose weaknesses you may not have ever realized you had. Some laws you may already practice. All are tools to help you achieve your purpose and dreams.Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN
Tags: Leadership, Personal Growth
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08Apr
General Business Factors
- 78% – Lack of a well-developed business plan, including insufficient research on the business before starting it.
- 73% – Being overly optimistic about achievable sales, money required and about what needs to be done to be successful.
- 70% – Not recognizing, or ignoring, what they don’t do well and not seeking help from those who do.
- 63% – Insufficient relevant and applicable business experience.
Financial Factors
- 82% – Poor cash flow management skills/poor understanding of cash flow
- 79% – Starting out with too little money.
- 77% – Not pricing properly – failure to include all necessary items when setting prices
Marketing Factors
- 64% – Minimizing the importance of promoting the business properly.
- 55% – Not understanding who your competition is or ignoring competition.
- 47% – Too much focus and reliance on one customer/client.
Human Resource Factors
- 58% – Inability to delegate properly – micro-managing work given to others or over delegating and abdicating important management responsibilities.
- 56% – Hiring the wrong people – clones of themselves and not people with complementary skills, or hiring friends and relatives.
So, what brings people to coaching is to have a strategic partner to THINK IT THROUGH. Your family is not neutral and does not necessarily have the ability to give constructive feedback. You boss, up-line or co-worker are also not neutral and may have the same blindside that you do. Your friends only want to hear so much about your work and few are willing to spend hours planning with you. The most common misconception of coaching is that its for people who are struggling and need help. While coaching can help these people too, We are not talking about people who NEED help. In order to be successful everyone needs to stop, think it through and plan.
What do you need to think through? What do you need to plan? Take time today to evaluate your business and needs. Consider where you might be at risk and what you want to design to support you to be strategic, proactive and successful!
Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN
Tags: Top Ten, Why Businesses Fail
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25MarBusiness Coaching, Career Exploration, Career Fulfillment, Effective Habits, Energy Management, Executives & Leaders, Goal Setting, Performance & Productivity, Personal Growth, Time Management, Work/Life Synergy & Balance No Comments
VISION – MOTIVATION – FOCUS – CLARITY – ENERGY – SPEED – PRODUCTIVITY – RESULTS – SUCCESS - and more.. What could you do with this?
VISION. You will have a clear idea of where you want to go and how to get there. Often we know the end result, but do not see what it takes to get there. This is critical for your success. You cannot do what you cannot see first. Coaching will ask you questions to make sure your vision is strong.
MOTIVATION. You will know what you really want and understand your unique values and motives to keep you moving forward. Stop procrastinating, delaying and putting off because of fears, perfectionism and doubts.
FOCUS. You will be able to operate with clear priorities, doing what is most important things which will allow you to excel In the midst of ‘urgent’ demands and busy chaotic schedules and lives.
CLARITY. Each coaching session deepens your learning about how you work and think. Coaching also prepares you for action and supports you in getting crystal clear on the steps to take. By work with a coach, you will get a helicopter perspective so that you can return to your business and navigate quickly because you have taken time to assess where you are going. You will be able to see what is right in front of you and developed a plan to forge ahead.
ENERGY. You will find yourself working at your optimum potential. Why? When you are operating in line with your values, life just simply comes together in an easy way. Coaching will give you with the encouragement, momentum, and natural dynamics to operate more efficiently and effectively. You cannot get more hours in the day, but if you have more energy, you will get more done and feel great!
SPEED. You will be more effective. Through planning and strategizing, you will be able to eliminate ineffective methods and enhance those methods that are most natural to supporting you in reaching your goals quicker.
PRODUCTIVITY. You will simply get more done. Coaching will keep your goals clear and in line with your vision. Next, it ensures that what you are doing is important to furthering the bottom line, not just want is urgent, easy or obvious. Then, the regular accountability provides a structure that will keep you moving forward, so you can really get it all done.
RESULTS. Through regular coaching and consistent follow-up, you will increase your bottom-line results. Profits. Clients. Personal Passions. Weight Lose. Whatever your objective is, coaching is a strategic partnership to support you in getting what you want as quickly as possible. If you are ready and motivated, you can actually double what you accomplish in a period of time.
SUCCESS. You will be more successful. Through keeping focused on what you want, the goals and the plan, coaching helps you keep the big picture in mind while you implement the small steps. While focusing on the goals, coaching monitors the balance in your whole life, so you are not distracted with life pulls but have all the elements of your life complimenting your actions. Before you know it, your goal is complete!
Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN
Tags: Business Coaching, CLARITY, Coaching, ENERGY, focus, motivation, Productivity, RESULTS, SPEED, SUCCESS, VISION
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18MarBook Reviews, Effective Habits, Executives & Leaders, Performance & Productivity, Work Environment No Comments
The book, Traction, is a fantastic resource for business owners (one person businesses and up) who want to understand the PROCESS side of their business. The tag line for the book is “get a grip on your business”, which is exactly what this book is written to help you do. Guiding you through a process to think through the stages of HOW a business works and apply that to your own business. Like many business books, you are thinking about the parts of your business: vision, marketing, plans, obstacles, etc. But the difference in this book, is thinking about these concepts from a SYSTEMS approach. This is invaluable and the glue that binds many concepts together. Many business owners have many of the ingredients of their business (vision, mission, goals, etc.) but struggle to know how to implement all the elements in a system that is sustainable. The traction concepts help to put it all together in a process that supports the owner to stay focused, clear and positioned to move forward.The other concept that is naturally developed when you talk about process, is ROLES. This book helps to clarify and identify key roles and players on a business team, especially that of the business owner. Often a business owner is a visionary (idea person/leader) OR an integrator (implementer). This book helps to define the roles and how to make sure all tasks are covered and being addressed. A key part of addressing process and roles is uncovering areas of the business (i.e. marketing, finances, etc.) that are not being approached strategically and then redesigning and aligning them so they are proactive and effective pieces that support the direction and success of the company. While many elements in this book are well known by business owners, this book is an excellent road map to put all the pieces together and in perspective. I love this book as a tool to support business owners to understand, see and sync everyday business concepts in a way that will get your business some true TRACTION.
Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN
Tags: Gino Wickman, process, roles, systems, Traction
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04FebBusiness Coaching, Effective Habits, Executives & Leaders, Performance & Productivity, Personal Growth, Work Environment No Comments
There are several tools out there for understanding your personal style. Many are similar, but offer a unique perspective on different facets of your personality. The Strengths Finder Assessment, The Myers-Brigs, The DISC Personality, Keirsey Temperament, The Shape Personality, Authentic Happiness Questioner, and Jung Typology Test, are a few.
One CORE assessment on understanding behavior and personal style however is the DISC. If you are interested in purchasing this assessment, please e-mail me (cost: $25).
What makes the DISC different is that it has 4 distinct styles that are consistent for people across ages and generations. While other assessments help you to understand YOU and YOUR STYLE, the DISC helps you to understand you and as your learn the DISC, you begin to understand others and why they act the way they do. This is relevant with co-workers, boss-employee relationships, marriages, children, friends, etc. It is helpful for reducing conflict, being more productive and having stronger communication and relationships across the board.
In my February Newsletter, I have written an article that offers a snap shot of what the DISC traits are. D for Drivers, I for the Influencers, S for Steadiers, and C for the Conscientious.
With the knowledge of your personality you can better understand how you work with others and understand how they work and why they work that way. Understanding both sides, you can then formulate a strategy of how to maximize your personality traits to contribute to others, work well with them and enjoy your relationships.
Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN
Tags: Authentic Happiness Questioner, DISC, Dynamics of Personality, Jung Typology Test, Keirsey Temperament, Strengths Finder Assessment, The DISC Personality, The Myers-Brigs, The Shape Personality
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21JanBusiness Coaching, Career Exploration, Effective Habits, Executives & Leaders, Goal Setting, Performance & Productivity, Personal Growth No Comments
Have you ever thought about trying coaching but don’t really know how it works? That is a common question people have. Here is what we, at Synergy Strategies do: …..
We are a coaching company that supports people to bring every part of their life together to create a vision and plan so that their life works in fluid motion and harmony. It is like the gears… when they are all there and working together the power is great and the movement is great. When gears are missing or misaligned, it is difficult for the machinery to be productive. When your life is moving in sync with your values, dreams and goals; suddenly it is easy and enjoyable. It is an amazing feeling!
Name a professional athlete that does not have a coach. That would be absurd right? Those people are professionals because they are talented by their own right. They don’t need a coach to tell them how to play. They need a coach to keep them on the edge of their learning, seeing the big picture, the blind spots, and constantly pushing them to the next level. We are the professional sports coach for the mind.
Coaching will challenge you to think bigger (vision) and deeper (learn more about yourself) so you can continually develop and move forward toward your goals.
Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN
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