Find the answers to your top 5 questions about how and why business coaching can help every business

People buy from those they know, like, and trust. This is generally agreed to be true of today’s consumers. That people buy from people. I’m not just talking about sales to customers here but also leading teams. Gaining employee engagement through good leadership. I started managing staff over 40 years ago and back then there was a distinct separation maintained by managers or business owners from their teams or employees. Consider the working landscape now. Over a relatively short amount of time (even though it may feel longer when you have been in the workplace for 10, 20, 30, 40 years, or more), the workplace has changed significantly. Employee expectations have changed significantly. They expect and demand more from their employers and their working environment. Combine this with the need to demonstrate your brand and culture to differentiate yourself in the marketplace and there is a need to show your personality and character. However, with the colossal (I am tempted to describe it as catastrophic) growth of social media, a lot of personal information is out in the open, which can be detrimental. My questions for you to ponder today are: What does my team need from me as a Leader? Do they need to see a bit more of me as a person? Or am I too close to them? Am I too exposed? Do I over-share? The Johari Window is a framework for understanding conscious and unconscious bias that can help increase self-awareness and our understanding of others. It is the creation of two psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham, with the name being taken from combing their first names. There is lots of information on the web if you want to investigate it in more detail. The basic premise is that trust can be acquired by revealing information about you and learning from feedback. Each person is represented by the four quadrants or windowpanes. Each signifies personal information, feelings, motivation, and whether that information is known or unknown to oneself or others. When I first came across this model, approx. 15 years ago, I was studying for my Level 5 in Leadership & Management and managed five different teams within a large company. It made me reflect on how much my team knew of me as a person and once I considered them as individuals, it led me to open up more which in turn improved our relationships and communication. Since then, it has become part of my reflective practice. Why not take five minutes and have a look for yourself? Please feel free to book a chat if you would like to find out how Executive Coaching can benefit you as a Leader or Manager in your business.

Do you have an action plan for your time management? Whilst I was writing this, I had to stop and reflect on myself. The last thing I want to do is tell anyone how to manage time and be a hypocrite. Time Management is one of my favourite subjects, and I could probably write about a different aspect or technique every day so here is just one thought. Successful time management includes using your intelligence and skills, as well as putting an action plan into play. Action plans are lists of responsibilities that instruct a person “to carry out to achieve an objective.” The list centers on the goals immediately needing achievement on demand. The list or action plan enables you to center your attention on the specific obligations required of you. There are lots of software programs available that help those of us with busy schedules and where time management is a struggle. Larger companies would be wise to invest in this type of software since it is a source for managing time. However, if you own a smaller company, the software programs are often expensive so you might want to resort to some of the software programs that offer similar tools for organizing, such as Microsoft Outlook, to manage your time. Microsoft Outlook has book organizers, address books, and other tools sufficient enough to help smaller businesses manage their business. If you are not using a cloud-based storage platform yet and are still storing files on your computer, be sure to back up your data so nothing is lost. Backups are essential for protecting important documents, and it spares you the headache and heartbreak if your hard drive fails, and your data is lost. Even though many of us use cloud-based systems now, how often do we work on a current draft or project, on our desktops, without thinking about backing up? It may sound obvious but be sure to use a clearly labeled and logical file name that you will remember. So much time can be wasted trying to find a poorly labelled document. My first ever job in the NHS was in the Medical Records team and I spent every day searching the hospital looking for misplaced records! Keep your files tidy and archive regularly so older versions of documents are not used in error. Last week, I saw the consequences of this when a client’s assistant had been using an old version of a contract, with incorrect prices, which resulted in the loss of thousands of pounds in revenue before it was spotted and corrected. Be brave. Delete files you no longer need. Why hang on to something that you will not need again? Wasted documents take up time and space in the sense that if you are searching for a document and continue to stumble on papers you no longer need, it is a waste of time. Your laptop will benefit from a tidy up too as it can help to increase speed and available space if you have a good declutter. Remember saving 10 minutes a day saves you one working week every year! What would you do with that time? If Time Management is an issue for you or one of your team members, then I’ve just created a workshop just for you. Alternatively, why not book a Power Hour to tackle your time bandits, let’s get you sorted TODAY!

The software application PowerPoint has been a revolution in public speaking, particularly in the business world. PowerPoint is easy to use, available with almost every implementation of the Microsoft Office suite and it's reliable. If you can use Microsoft Word, you probably have the skills to put together an effective presentation using PowerPoint. But just like anything else, there is a right way and wrong way to give a talk using PowerPoint as a speaking tool. If you have ever sat in on a presentation where the speaker used PowerPoint unwisely, you know that the tool can become as much of a curse as a blessing to a public speaker. So, it's good to have some guidelines on how to use PowerPoint to help your presentation and not hurt it. Knowing in advance some of the problems that can disturb your talk if you use PowerPoint unwisely can help you in the design of your slides. Avoid too much text It’s a good idea to keep the text short and punchy. Use pictures to convey your message instead. If you put a long paragraph of information up on the screen, you will see people squinting to try to read it all. Even if the section of your talk refers to that text, you put your audience in the position of trying to read that text or listen to you. Either way, part of your message will be lost as they try to keep up. Special effects Special effects like animation, fade or other ways text can be revealed on each slide can be fun but please use them in moderation! Avoid the temptation to get too cute with these effects. It's always nice to have a little humor in your presentation but if your slides are overly “busy or cutesy” it reduces the credibility of your talk. Also, if every slide uses a different special effect, color scheme, or font, not only is that distracting to the audience, it makes you look like you just discovered PowerPoint and had to play with all of the toys it has. Keep the slides consistent with your brand font and colours. Timed progression Another great device that PowerPoint offers is to allow the software to change slides for you on a timed progression. In that way, PowerPoint can change the slide every two minutes allowing you just the amount of time you want between slides. While this is also very slick, it is a dangerous toy to use because it can cause you to stumble while doing your talk. You have to have your talk planned to a high level of precision to carry off that kind of talk and if you pause too much, have a question pop up or have any other disturbance in your script, PowerPoint will move on when you do not. So, use this feature with caution. Face the audience How many times have you seen presenters turn their back on their audience to read a PowerPoint slide to them? This is the number one most common mistake people do when speaking using PowerPoint. Turning your back on your audience is always a bad idea. Make sure you are facing forward when discussing your slides. Check yourself I have seen too many presenters standing in front of key data or blinding themselves with the projector light so always check and plan where you intend to stand or move around. Also, avoid fiddling with coins in your pocket or the gadget to change slides. It is too easy for the audience to tune into your behavior rather than what you are saying. Keep It Simple My preference would always be to keep the slide number to the bare minimum. Use pictures to prompt you for each slide’s point and to engage the interest of your audience but it avoids them trying to ‘read’ the slides. Rehearse the points you want to make for each slide. Check your timings. Keep your special effects and transitions simple to avoid complications. This approach assures that PowerPoint remains a tool that you are using not a tool that is using you. If you would like some support with preparing your presentation, or delivering it, then please get in touch as they are some simple ways to make your presentation land better and to increase your confidence in delivering it.

There is no doubt, times are tough for some businesses now. Some sectors are thriving, but I am still hearing too many tales of people struggling as clients are postponing or cancelling work, tightening their belts and opting for the cheaper option, or trying to tackle themselves. If you are being negatively affected, then take some time and work ON your business - stop and reflect. What can you do to change your mindset and find new revenue streams? MINDSET Firstly, try not to panic. Work through some, or all of the tasks below and YOU WILL FEEL BETTER. Taking positive action leads to positive results. ASSESS YOUR FINANCIAL SITUATION Take a good look at your finances. Are your financial worries clouding your judgment or creating paralysis? Start with your Cashflow forecast so you can see where the potential problem times might be. Again, this is something I would encourage every business owner, no matter how large or small, to have and keep up to date. You cannot rely on your accountant to tell you how you are doing as this will all be based on retrospective figures. Nor is it good enough to rely on your bank balance figure only as an indicator of your financial well-being. Have a system to ensure you invoice for work done promptly. Diarise to invoice immediately after the work has been completed or first day/Monday of the month. Can you ask for stage payments? Tackle your credit control. What monies are owed to you? Ring all of your creditors today. Check they have received the invoice in case it has not arrived with the Accounts department. Ask if it is being processed. Remind them that it’s overdue and ask for a specific date when it will be paid. Then follow it up if you don’t receive it when agreed. It is an unfortunate fact of life, that many companies will pay based on “who shouts loudest”. If you are not following up, you may well get pushed to the back of the queue. If you find this difficult, you can create an accounts@ email from your business so you can use that for all your accounts-related activities. Then ‘wear’ that hat when doing your accounts. This will help you feel more removed and professional. Ideally, you would have a system for issuing invoices, reminders, and follow-up dates systemised. If this is still too difficult for you then seek the help of a credit professional. I have lots of contacts if you need an introduction. Can you reduce your terms? I was working with a company recently that had 28-day terms for a service that most customers would expect to pay on collection. When we discussed why they operated like this, it became apparent it was historical with no valid reason. So, we reduced terms for contract clients to 14 days and for other customers, it became cash on collection. This had a massive positive effect on their cash flow and the customers all accepted the change as it was reasonable. Can you renegotiate terms with the companies you work with? Either supplying or purchasing from? Again, this can ease your Cash gap worries. RESOURCES Take stock of your assets and consider whether you are utlising all your resources. Do you have skills and services that you could use but have stopped for whatever reason? LEAD GENERATION STRATEGIES What lead generation strategies are you currently using? What have you used in the past that worked but you have stopped for whatever reason? I would recommend having five different strategies you use and allocating time to each eg 20% to each so you are not just focusing on those you find easiest or like more! Are you looking for clients or customers in the right places? Where would your ideal client look for your type of product or service? Are you sticking with the comfortable options? Some of the strategies need to be ‘hunter’ rather than ‘farmer’ so you get a faster response. Not everything can be the long game! Plan your activities but do not spend valuable time on this today if this is a form of procrastination for you. Remember, progress not perfection. MARKET YOURSELF When was the last time you contacted previous customers and clients and reminded them of everything you do? Time flies by and people often only remember the one thing they purchased from you so it’s important to remind clients of your existence and everything you do/offer. Review your marketing materials. Are you portraying the benefits of using YOUR services to your potential customers? What makes you different? Unique? Special? How will you help them overcome their problems? Are you focusing your energies on the right activities? Are you sticking with the safe options? Use testimonials, reviews, and case studies to promote yourself and write blogs or articles to demonstrate your expertise. GET SUPPORT Brainstorm with trusted friends, peers, colleagues, team members, or your Mastermind group. If you haven’t got a Mastermind group, now might be a good time to reach out to other professionals you know and seek support. Identify successful and supportive peers whom you trust, to be honest and direct with you. Family members and/or partners may not be the best option as they may find it hard, to be honest. Remember, a problem shared is a problem halved. That may not be strictly true but as humans, we generally feel better if we feel heard and understood. Talk to someone today. TAKE ACTION These are only a few of the things you can do, and I have focused on immediate actions you can take today but with some tweaks to your systems, a lot of these problems can be prevented. I guarantee that if you take action today, it will make a difference. If I can help you with any of the tasks above then please get in touch TODAY. Please don’t be stressing alone.

I was at a breakfast networking event last week, and the topic was menopause in the workplace. It raised a lot of valid points about menopause not being treated as an illness but rather a process of life, an ongoing event. This led me to think about how I have been treated as an employee, during major life events and changes during my career, and how I treated my team when they were going through significant life events. Unfortunately, I have come across too many managers and directors who have gone to great lengths to avoid having to address issues with staff, waiting and hoping the issues will pass so they don’t have to take action. I have heard too many people in leadership positions over the years say “I can’t cope with crying women; you’re HR can’t you deal with it?” I am sure any HR professionals reading this will have witnessed this behaviour first-hand as well. It doesn’t matter what the topic of the conversation is, more how you react and handle it. Do you avoid having tough, difficult, or sensitive conversations? If so, I urge you to pause and reflect as to why? Ask yourself, what topics do I try and avoid? And, why? What do I need to address within me to be able to have open dialogues with anyone and everyone about anything?! What does it say to my team about me as a leader? Am I letting them down? Am I creating an open and inclusive culture? Am I sensitive to my team’s needs or relying on them to raise matters with me? If so, how would it feel if I had to go to someone in authority to ask for help to make my working day more bearable? Why bother? You have invested time and money in creating and developing your teams but unless you support them when they need it, they may well leave, and as we all know talent acquisition and developing individuals takes an enormous amount of time and effort, let alone the negative impact and disruption to the affected teams. It’s not just the individual who needs support, that you might be potentially upsetting, but also colleagues who know what is going on and will question, “is this how I will be treated if I need help”? If you want a company culture where staff feel valued, heard, and respected then don’t make them have to ask you for help! By “nipping issues in the bud”, you can prevent issues from escalating and becoming a crisis, or potentially developing into conflict within teams. What can you do? Start, by taking your inventory and addressing your blind spots. Own your part and seek help to be a better leader. Get comfortable with yourself first. Learn how to have conversations and understand if your team really is ok, or just politely replying to you because they are thinking “what’s the point of mentioning …”. Get comfortable and confident having sensitive, tough, awkward, personal, or challenging conversations as soon as you need to, and not postponing or ignoring them. Then you can tackle the obstacles within the company. There are so many simple hacks you can do within a workplace to improve the quality of the working day, and usually with minimal expense but you do have to be open to making change. Addressing your demons in this area could be the single, best thing you can do for your business today! The results will be worth it for your personal development, your personal life, and the changes within your workplace as a result of you really being open, approachable, and empathetic, truly are limitless. Don't forget that as a leader, it is your responsibility to ensure every member of your leadership team is also comfortable talking to their team members.

There are numerous personality profile test out there, and most of us will have completed one or two during our careers from the 16 Personalities test from Myers Briggs or Belbin to DISC. They are used for a variety of reasons, from recruitment to developing leadership and management skills and developing confidence with customer and sales management. I have heard comments suggesting that using these types of personality profiles within a business is “manipulative”, especially from a sales point of view. I would suggest that this might be the case, in the hands of someone unscrupulous, but generally, anything that makes you more conscious and aware of the communication needs of others is only to be welcomed. Given my background, I have used these profiles in HR and leadership development, and I am definitely a fan! Why use personality profile testing? I think the best description I have heard is rather than “treat others as you would have them treat you”, understanding someone’s personality profile can help you communicate with them “as they would prefer you to treat them”. Alternatively, consider communicating with someone, where you know and understand your personality profile and theirs, as visiting them in their own country and speaking their language! Some of the benefits of personality profile testing? Understanding how each team member naturally communicates and prefers to be communicated with can significantly improve the effectiveness of teams working together on projects and communication in general. Used as an exercise for team bonding, it can increase and deepen understanding of others’ needs, as well as identify how one’s behaviour may impact others. Being able to identify other personality types, and then communicate with them in the way that suits them can have a profound effect on increasing productivity. Managers and supervisors can be better leaders by understanding the needs of their teams. Understanding one’s personality type and those in the recruitment process can identify and avoid unconscious bias. Understanding the personality types in a team can be useful for identifying candidates for the right fit and/or avoiding conflict. Employees can benefit hugely from understanding their personality types in more detail as this can help eliminate frustration within roles and identify areas of motivation. Undertaking a profile test can increase self-awareness – leading individuals to challenge themselves and develop in weaker areas and can be linked to personal development plans. As the tests can identify learning styles, this can help to match the most suitable mentor to work with a mentee who can use the best approaches to support them. If an employee is underperforming, understanding their profile and comparing it to their job description may help to identify challenges within the workplace which can then be addressed. As a project manager, it can be useful for allocating tasks effectively. Profiling also shows what motivates individuals as business owners and managers can often presume others may be motivated by the same things they are, which can lead to inaccurate assumptions. Once you understand the individuals within a team, most profiling options will then allow reporting on team dynamics or partnerships. This team reporting can help partners or leadership teams develop more effective working arrangements, playing to the strengths of the individuals within a team. These are just a few examples of how I have seen profiling be used to good effect in a workplace. There are lots of free tests out there so do try one, or a few different types, to see what they say about your personality type. My personality profile of choice is DISC which I have found to be extremely accurate and as a Thomas DISC certified practitioner, I admit I may be a tad biased! I love the range of reports available with DISC that allows me to look at group dynamics and particular areas at no extra cost once we have completed a profile on each of the individuals concerned. Completing a test only takes 10-15 minutes but the very detailed reports produced will take a lot longer to digest and understand! They can be conducted with individuals, teams, Boards of Directors, or senior management teams and I guarantee you will be amazed at the benefits to the individuals and the teams involved. If you would like to discuss how using a personality profile could help you within your business or organisation then please do get in touch.

Are you in a partnership with one or more others? Or working in a family business? If the answer is yes to either of these questions, then I would urge you to stop and consider: How closely aligned are you and your partners right NOW? When was the last time you had a deep and meaningful conversation about your personal ambitions and your growth ambitions for the business? How would you rate the communication between the key players? Have you had a niggle and chosen not to address it? Do you know you are burying your head in the sand? Are there roles and responsibilities which would benefit from being clarified? Are personality, communication, or attitude differences starting to become more apparent? Were you brutally honest with yourself when you answered the questions? If not, have another go! Business partnerships tend to start with great enthusiasm and energy as the business may have been formed due to friendships or respect for like-minded individuals. However, over time this can dwindle, or wane or relations may even break down completely. This has become increasingly apparent post-Covid-lockdowns when normal service got disrupted, other matters took priority, communication became fractured and now partners may be trying to navigate new waters. This all applies to family businesses too. Many of which have very murky or non-existent job descriptions or poorly defined areas of responsibility, resulting in a lack of accountability. This combined with communication issues based upon not upsetting other family members can hamper the progress of developing individuals moving up with the family business and lead to a lot of wasted energy. What can you do? Tackle it head-on and do it immediately. Time will not heal in this circumstance. Addressing the matter will. Conducting a review of your business can help business owners redefine tasks and areas of responsibility, identify new revenue streams, ensure all key players are aligned in their thinking, and re-enthuse leaders or directors. I would also suggest you consider the impact it is having on your employees. You may be adept at avoiding or skirting the issue, but I can guarantee that your employees will have picked up on the slightest tension. A final consideration is how this underlying issue or tension is affecting you in your personal life. How conscious are you of the effect it is having on you and your family? If you are not sure how to begin, then please get in touch. Having an objective outsider who can facilitate discussion and focus you on honestly examining your current position, and then help you identify a blueprint for your future plans can be invaluable. It may even save your business or a fortune in legal fees if you can steady your ship and get back on an even keel and are all in agreement about your future direction.

Any single goal requires hard work and properly constructed time management in an effort to achieve our dreams. Do you have a goal for the next one, three, five or ten years? If not, then you had better get to work identifying your goals but that would be the subject of another post! If yes, then you need to get working on committing yourself to the steps required in order to achieve your goals, which include hard work and effort on your part. Time slips from our hands, and if we are not monitoring our time carefully, then time and money are lost forever and there is no turning back. There are many strategies, tips, and tricks when it comes to managing time, and finding the right tools for you is key. Over one, three, five, or ten years, anything can happen. We can lay out a well-constructed plan that seems bulletproof, but suddenly everything changes when we did not calculate all aspects of life into that plan. Business failure is often a direct result of negligence in time management. The sad fact behind bankruptcies is that some may be due to people failing to add and subtract disaster in their time management plan, while others may have taken for granted their achievements and wasted their time and resources. Whatever the reason, someone did not put work and time management into proper effect. When we plan to achieve goals, we need to look at ourselves foremost, and then move on to other requirements that support reaching our goals. Knowing ourselves first can help us to see if we are lacking in one area, and which area of our being is the strongest. Time management schemes help us to reach goals, by keeping us motivated. If we are lacking motivation during the process of reaching our goal, then we need a solution. Knowing ourselves is the first step to setting goals, achieving goals, and setting up a time management scheme that works. Once we overcome this obstacle, we next move to planning to reach our goals. We start with work and critical thinking! One of the best tools in our lives is education since it directs us on the right path to success. If you are lacking skills and/or knowledge, then you can identify areas to improve. Starting and running a business is never easy. It takes time, effort, and money. If you do not have these three ingredients, your goal is hampered. Therefore, you need to set up a budget, and savings, and monitor your time carefully to meet your business goal milestones. There are many ways to make money and save money. All we need is the knowledge, skills, and willingness to achieve. The odds of starting and surviving with a business are against us so effective planning and time management are key to long-term success. If you would benefit from an objective view of your business plan or need help developing one, then please get in touch. The same with finding the right time-management techniques for you. Book a Power Hour now and save yourself time and money long-term!