Tag Archives: confidence coach

Retaining your employees

When we do executive coaching, it’s clear that every CEO, business owner, or entrepreneur comes to us with the dream to build something. That’s the mission that drives companies from a kitchen table to a billion-dollar empire. Unfortunately, there’s one thing almost everyone forgets. We forget that our companies are made up of people.

More than ever before, businesses are having a difficult time with employee engagement, retention, the great resignation, and ghosting. The best thing right now is retain the employees you have due to the shortage of replacements.

One important thing to remember is that each of the people that work for you has a dream. Everyone has hopes and dreams for themselves outside of work. But in the past those hopes and dreams were often seen as liabilities to mitigate instead of assets to leverage.

It’s essential that you change your mindset in regards to your employees and come at it from their perspective. For example, if you could help your employee make a connection between their work and their dreams or purpose in life, it would show them that you really care about them as a person.

At Confidence Coach, we help companies engage more with their employees by asking the question: What are your hopes, dreams, and aspirations? This actually shows your employees that you care about them by giving them support not only at work but in their personal life too.

This isn’t just about being nice. When people are in the process of achieving their dreams, that’s where real productivity happens — that’s where growth and creativity and connection happens. Bonuses aren’t enough anymore. People want to have hope and actually feel loved. I did a short video about this that you can check out here called Hope, Commitment & Love. As an employer, you can’t compete in this world anymore with just a paycheck. Employees want to live for a purpose, and if you can help give that to them you’ll have the most motivated team of employees you could dream of. There’s nothing like purpose to drive your team towards real productivity and customer connection.

Everyone has to live and work in their own greatness. If you can harness and build that up, you can make a huge impact on your team. And, together, you’ll have an even bigger impact on the world.

by Scott Ballard , April 21, 2022

Are you in control of your mind?

Finding a better path is all about thinking. Our mind does not control us; we control our mind.

Many people don’t realize that they are actually in control of the supercomputer in their head. They let their mind take them wherever it wants to go rather than consciously thinking and making choices. And for most people, myself included, if we don’t consciously choose to do positive things — to be all that we are supposed to be — our mind will lead us to making bad choices instead. Our mind will say, “I’m not going to get up and go to work today. I don’t feel like it. I’m going to call in sick.”

Changing your life’s path can seem like a huge, unattainable goal, but it starts with a very simple task — a tool that I give to my clients to help them change their choices and the way they think.

The task is easy.

First, every morning, say to yourself,

“What are the three achievements I’m going to go after today?”

Not a million achievements; just three things that are going to change your own world in the biggest way you can with your God-given ability.

Then at the end of the day, before you go to sleep:

Take inventory of the day’s EXPERIENCES:

What are you grateful for this day?
What PEOPLE are you grateful for today?
What you were able to CONTRIBUTE to the world today?

You have the FREEDOM to make a choice to do and to think and to live and to be a person who is going to make a great impact on the world today and everyday.

Be that world changer who will make a difference in the world, and then show your gratitude to those around you.

In my book The Biggest Disability is a Bad Attitude, I share more about the habit of gratitude.

by Scott Ballard , April 13, 2022

Time and Money

Have you ever made the correlation between how you invest your time and money in your marriage relationship with how you invest time and money in your business?

Last month I spoke to you about the Business of Marriage with the idea being you can use life lessons from your marriage that can cross over into your business as well. Today is another thought on that subject regarding investing.

Let’s say you “invest” in your marriage by buying an anniversary trip to Hawaii. By doing this you are investing in this trip with intentionality. You are also investing in your spouse and your relationship. And, you are creating value and longevity through positive experiences.

When you think about investing in your business are you thinking the same way? Are you thinking long term? Because we all know in our business that the greatest investments are the ones that pay off long term; not just a one off deal, but for the long term of your business.

This is just another way of looking at marriage, and then reversing it and asking how would this be really effective if I thought this way about my business and I invested in that for a lifetime for the long term.

Reach out if you’d like to talk with us about this. Schedule a free appointment today.

by Scott Ballard , September 5, 2021

The Business of Marriage

The business of marriage is the idea of using lessons from your business life to help you in your marriage. And, using lessons and things you’ve learned in your marriage to help you in your business.

I love talking about this because Orlena and I have been married for 40 years and we’ve been in business and worked together for the last 10.

We have had many conversations about how we have learned different things from our business that we can apply to our marriage; and how we have learned different things from our marriage that we can apply to our business.

Business/Marriage

Here are a couple of things to think about that will help sharpen and make both your business and your marriage better.

In business you need to know your customer. You need to know their needs, what they like, and what they don’t like. You also need to know all the little details about them so that you can serve them well and they will stay a lifetime customer.
Well, that’s no different than what we’re talking about for a marriage. You need to look at your spouse and learn about them. You need to find out what makes them tick. Find out the things that are meaningful to them; the things that create value and build on that long term relationship.
How much time are you investing in your business? Let’s say you’re working 50-60 hours a week. When you do so, you expect a certain return, result or experience out of that.
So let’s flip that question around and ask how much time are you really investing in your marriage or your family? And are you investing in them with the idea that there’ll be a positive or good return out of that?

It’s a different way of looking at your marriage, and it’s a different way of looking even at your business result.

Where are you at in your business and your marriage these days? At Confidence Coach we are here to help business owners, entrepreneurs and CEOs to grow in their business and work, but our lives are not one dimensional, we all have a life outside of work. Are you putting as much time and effort into your marriage as you are your business?

Reach out if you’d like to talk with us about this. Schedule a free appointment today.

by Scott Ballard , July 22, 2021

The Halo Effect

The halo effect is the tendency to think positively about a person based on just one aspect of their character. Which can lead the most successful people to get trapped by their own thinking.

Below are some ways the halo effect can influence you as a person or as a business owner in different ways in your life.

A couple of sayings around money: Money doesn’t make you smart; wealthy people can easily confuse luck with skill.
Prior success does not guarantee future success.
Intelligence is often situational and specific.
Highly Successful People rarely have anyone to challenge their thinking. They’re often times surrounded by “yes” people.

Just some thoughts about this. If you have customers, vendors, or partners, you have people in your life that you have put a halo over their head. It’s good to remember that we all put on our pants one leg at a time. And, each person, no matter who they are, struggles in at least one area of their life.

Remember this when you are talking to a potential huge customer or you’re trying to close a deal or you’re seeking advice from your attorney, accountant or coach. Everybody has things that they struggle with; we’re all equal in that regard. These people have an area where they’re struggling and maybe you have a strength. Or vice versa, you’re struggling in an area that is their strength.

The halo effect is something we all do with people. We put people on pedestals; think of American Idol, Survivor or some billionaires for example.

A good thing to always remember is that we are all equal in some areas, in other areas we have greater strengths, and in other areas we all share weaknesses.

At Confidence Coach, we are here to help and encourage business owners, CEOs and entrepreneurs to build a better future. Feel free to reach out for a free consultation if you’d like to learn more about how we help people build their confidence and hope for a great future.

by Scott Ballard , July 15, 2021

What’s Going to Keep You Curious and Interested for the Next 25 Years?

Today’s blog comes out of a conversation with an owner thinking about the long term future. She was thinking about her role and what she really wants to do that would be exciting, interesting and keeps her curious with the business, their product and clients.

This is what I did with her. I asked her “What isn’t interesting to you? What is boring or mundane to you?” I wanted her to get these things out of the way. Next I said, “What’s left?” She had five or six things left that she was actively doing in the business that she really cared about.

Then I asked her to rank those things from 1 to 5. By ranking them 1-5 we actually found that one and two really connected and were kind of the same activity or same type of work. That’s when she discovered that’s what she would like to do as her main role 70-75% of the time in her business over the next 25 years. These things would keep her engaged, interested and contributing at a really high level. It was a fun exercise.

It’s an exercise I think you should challenge yourself with. List out and eliminate all the things that aren’t interesting to you or that are boring and mundane. Then think about the one or two things in your business that would keep you interested, curious and engaged in your business at a very high level for the next 25 years.

Let me know what you came up with! We’ll talk to you soon.

At Confidence Coach we ask deep questions that help business owners, entrepreneurs, CEOs and leaders create breakthroughs. Schedule a free consultation today.

by Scott Ballard , July 5, 2021

Are you a victim?

Do you feel like you are a victim sometimes? We’ve all had bad things that happen to us. Are you still living in the past with those bad things and thoughts? And are you still acting and believing like you’re a victim? You need to change that now.

Your identity is not that you’re a victim.

I’d like to suggest that you find some people or even one person that is full of hope, full of vision and full of happiness. Then, you need to start being grateful and appreciate all that life has brought you so far.

When you start to do these things you’ll start to have hope.

Appreciation brings hope.

And when you have hope, you will start to see and experience a vision for your life, for your business, for who you are to be in the world.

“Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.” – Robert H. Schuller

My question for you today is are you still wearing the victim label? Step out today and associate with others that are full of hope.

When you have hope, you can change what you thought was a victim into a victor!

At Confidence Coach, we are here to help and encourage you to build a better future. Feel free to reach out for a free consultation if you’d like to learn more about how we help people build their confidence and hope for a great future.

by Scott Ballard , June 13, 2021

Your Tombstone

Have you ever noticed that when you walk into a graveyard on every tombstone there’s a date the person was born and a date the person died and in between there’s a dash.

Well, to me that “dash” is really your life.

My question to you today is what are you going to do with your dash?

What do you want your life story to be?

What do you want the legacy, impression, influence or impact to be with your dash?

We all think that our last day’s not coming, but we all know in our heart of hearts and mind of minds that our last day is coming.

My challenge to you today is to start living in your dash.

by Scott Ballard , June 6, 2021

A Hill to Climb

When there is a hill to climb, don’t think waiting will make it smaller.

What I’m talking about here is the fact that we all have hills to climb. We all have challenges and obstacles, hard things, difficult choices and work that we have to do.

But what I want you to know is that there is nothing to be benefited by waiting. Other than to make the hill seem bigger or the challenge harder.

You need to build on your bravery! When it comes to those hills, what I want you to do is to put on your bravery, put on your best courage and commitment. Challenge that hill and attack it immediately. Do not put it off.

Today really is about the hills in your life and the bravery and the muscle that you’re gaining by heading straight for the hill.

Remember: when there’s a hill to climb, don’t think waiting will make it smaller. Take it on. You’ve got this!

by Scott Ballard , May 30, 2021

What Being Vulnerable is Teaching Me about Leading People

Today I just want to present an insight about being vulnerable that I’ve been experiencing with coaching and leadership recently. In the past, I’ve tried to hide my challenges or mistakes, my being dyslexic and all that comes with that. But in the last year or so, I’ve been being vulnerable and shared my life story. I’ve discovered that sharing about my dyslexia, my failures, my need to learn, my not knowing all the answers, my listening to other people, and being transparent about my history has helped me to lead people to discover their own strengths and breakthroughs.

I’ve been on quite a few podcasts in the last few months, done some Facebook Lives, been interviewed and also been on a bunch of webinars. Being transparent, I’ve shared that I’m dyslexic and was told that I was stupid and would never be anything by my first grade teacher. I dealt with depression and thoughts of suicide as a young 7-8-9 year old kid. But I realized there was hope and a light around this situation. I had people that believed in me and found that God cared about me. That my life mattered and that there was a plan for me. I’ve just been really vulnerable and really pushing the envelope about my life.

As most of you know, I work with business owners and I always felt like I couldn’t go too far in sharing my past because it might be too much for them to handle. But as I’ve started to tell the whole story, the response has been amazing and phenomenal. Much to my pleasant surprise, people are buying my book “The Biggest Disability is a Bad Attitude” and booking me to speak to their groups.

Something I’m learning is that people, companies, business leaders, and employees are desperate for authentic transparency. They want real people, not Photoshop or social media that says everything is great all the time.

There’s such a hunger for the reality of someone’s life and to have a person open up enough to admit where they’ve gone wrong, say what really happened and even share the consequences. For example — here’s what happened when we lost a lawsuit; here’s what happened when we did this or that.

I’ve realized the power of being vulnerable in sharing these things. A coach and leader who is real and vulnerable gives people hope. It also helps people in return be vulnerable and open with me so I can help them in an even deeper way; it creates for them insights, breakthroughs, transformation and miracles. But this all starts with me setting the example.

I’m challenging you as a leader to be vulnerable. Be honest with people. Share the experiences you have had – the good, the bad, the ugly, the in-between, the successes, and the failures.

The more you do this, the more people will gravitate to you and want to follow you. People will want to listen, learn and then follow whatever the vision or mission you have for your business or your company.

But I challenge you to put on vulnerability and transparency of who you really are – show up as yourself.