September 2017 « Confidence Coach

“We” Wins

Here’s a basic thought: The team always beats the individual. Are you operating within your business as an individual? Or are you part of the team with your employees, vendors, and customers?

Not sure? Ask yourself these questions: Do you find yourself procrastinating on things you need to do in your work? Do you find yourself spending more and more time at your business? Do you find yourself becoming more and more frustrated with your employees, customers, or vendors? Would you define yourself as a rugged, self-made business owner? CEO? Entrepreneur?

Never forget the lesson that we learned in sports: throughout history, the team always beats the rugged individual. The Gaelic term for this is “We wins,” referencing the power of the tribe — it’s never about the individual. My challenge to you today is to think about being part of the We. All long term success in your business and your life is about the team. Always. We wins. It’s something us Americans are terrible at. We’re winning at our coaching business because we’re doing this together; we have fifteen teammates and we love our work with all of them. It’s the highest form of entrepreneurship: collaboration, working together on the common goal to serve and create value for the customer and clients.

“I” lose, but “we” wins. If you want to talk more about how to unite your team, schedule a free management coaching session with me today.

by Scott Ballard , September 24, 2017

What Are Your Limiting Beliefs?

You’re a business owner, you’re an entrepreneur, you’re a CEO, you’re a leader of some kind — you’re successful. You’ve done things that other people haven’t been able to accomplish.

Now: what’s stopping you from everything else?

You and I both know that there’s so much more you can accomplish. Those tapes that are playing in your head — self doubt and limiting belief, backed up by fear and fatigue — are quite simply the only thing holding you back from all that you can accomplish and become. Change the tapes, and change your future. If you want some support in that process, schedule your free coaching session with me today.

by Scott Ballard , September 17, 2017

Stopwatch Management

Here’s the challenge for this week: First, buy a stopwatch. Bring it to work. Turn the stopwatch on, and complete your first task. Check the watch — how long did that take you? Write it down. Then ask yourself: Is there a more efficient, faster, better way to do that task?

This is all about capturing the investment of time.

Next, give yourself a task that normally takes you fifteen minutes. Set the stopwatch for only ten, and see what happens. My bet is you can complete the task in ten minutes. This is stopwatch management. Now just think with me for a minute: What if you did that with all fifty of your employees? What if, Monday morning, you gave each one of them a stopwatch and told them to keep time all day on the different tasks? And then asked them one simple question: Could this task be done more efficiently? You’re not monitoring their exact answers, mind you — this isn’t micromanagement. You’re giving them a challenge. Challenge them the next day, the next week, the next month, to check their times. How much time can they save? Five minutes? Ten? Even if it’s only sixty seconds, the point is you’re creating a way of thinking about time, which is your greatest asset. Time has the biggest return on your investment that you’ll ever find. Go buy a stopwatch today. And contact us if you’re interested in our free, 3-step plan to getting more time from your business.

by Scott Ballard , September 10, 2017

Someday Never Comes

I’m going to ask you to do something really strange (but hey, if you’re a Portland business owner like me, you’re used to weird, right?). First: Get out a tape measure. Take the tape measure, set it on the floor, and mark that very first notch as the day you were born. The next dash, mark as graduation. The one after that, the day you started your business. Then the inevitable question becomes this: How long is that tape measure? How long do you think you’re going to live? Have you thought about what’s outside of that tape measure — what is your legacy going to be? Or have you forgotten why you’re doing this business? Maybe you’re just drifting, inch by inch, year by year along your life and in your business. If you’re looking for the mark on the tape measure that says “Someday,” it’s not there. This isn’t a dress rehearsal. Your life is represented in this tape measure. It has a beginning, it has a messy middle, and it has an end. You ready to face the truth? Someday NEVER comes! Never. If you haven’t talked to somebody about this, reach out and schedule a free coaching session with us today.

by Scott Ballard , September 3, 2017