More successful CEOs are beginning to see the value of having a coach, Eric Schmidt hit the nail on the head.  If it works for athletes it certainly would work in Business.

What are your thoughts?

Some months ago I was at an event sponsored by IBM and the Telegraph Business Club  and was thinking, “am I good at spotting opportunities?”

The emphasis of the main talk was on trends of how more Small and Medium sized companies will do business in the future. Although the audience were a bit sceptical, the statistics are showing that more networking and communication is taking place via social network sites etc.

So here are some questions I think every business owner needs to be asking:

1.  How long do I want my business to be around for?

Sounds like a simple question, but the answer does have its consequences. First, if your target market are 21 year olds and above, then in 10 years time these are the 11year olds of today; if in 10 years time you are going to be marketing to 35 year olds and above, then these are the 25 year olds of today.  So here is what I am thinking: are some of us missing the opportunity to begin the change now or are we waiting to hear, ‘I told you so?’

Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Blogs, Linkedin, etc are becoming part of many businesses’ strategy to build relationships with potential and existing clients.

2.  Is it worth the time?

I think this is what a lot of us are asking; how much time do I have to invest in this before I get a return on my investment?  My thoughts would go back to question one: If your target audience are in this platform, then learn to embrace it! The future of your business lies in the hands of the clients and customers you will keep and the ones you will attract in the future.

3.  Where do I start?

You know, this is a question I have asked myself – I would suggest first doing some internet research on your topic of interest.  Make a few comments on some blogs and forums, begin writing your own thoughts and set up a blog.

The main challenge I think majority of people have is the commitment that is necessary e.g. updating fresh content could be an issue, but if it is something you are passionate about, I think something will always flow.

What do you think?

I don’t see myself as an expert, however, I do have a few friends that know this industry inside out. I am thinking of doing a few teleseminars giving them a chance to teach us how to make the most of this. Do you think this will help you?  Your feedback and any comments on this will help.

5 Simple Points for Character Development

What can we learn from Tiger Woods since the revelation of his extra-marital affairs, being dropped by his major sponsors and having to take a step back from playing golf?

That Character counts!  It was Ghandi that said “One man cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied in doing wrong in any other department. Life is one indivisible whole.” Since many of us today would agree that leadership is influence, we can also see very clearly that other parts of our lives that aren’t going so well could affect our leadership influence no matter how good we might be in our profession.

What is Character?

Repeated patterns of behaviour over a long period of time is what forms character- It is the sum total of our behaviour spanning our whole life i.e. both public and private.  Therefore, it goes to say that a trustworthy person is someone that you know and can predict up to some extent over a period of time.  Since the foundation of Leadership is trust, it goes without saying that we leaders must consistently be working on our character. I am not saying that we will not make mistakes, however, having Core Values that we strive to uphold will create boundaries for us to work on. We must continually be working on our character to provide effective leadership.

Below are 5 Simple things we can focus on to develop our character:

1.      Integrity

Integrity is doing the thing we said we were going to do long after the feeling has left us. Our commitment is what builds trust – these are the silent ingredients of Leadership that inspire others. Think of the many great leaders you know and you will find that they had tremendous integrity which built trust among their followers. Do you do the things you said you are going to do?

2.      Apply principled thinking

Knowing the right thing to do starts from having the right thoughts. This comes through having an ever-learning attitude, new insights, paradigm shifts and new ways of looking at things which contribute to our growth in tremendous ways.  In a recession or downturn economy, it is essential to seek out a fresh approach to your business. You as the leader need to have foresight- this is what gives you the leadership edge.  Not that you see everything, but that even when it comes from someone else, you have the ability to accept it.  Who/What shapes your thinking?

3.      Give yourself time

You know the saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. It’s the same with character development. Effective leadership relies on consistent characteristics, this can sometimes take time to develop. But remember if you work on one thing or area at a time each day, you’ll eventually get there. What’s the one thing you need to work on now?

4.      Learn to embrace pressure

When it comes to character development, pressure needs to be viewed as a good thing, there is a saying that “people are like tea bags, they don’t know what’s in them until they are placed in hot water”.  This is the same with many of us, our businesses places us under various levels of pressure. We can choose various ways to go about things.  It is in these moments of pressure that effective leadership is shown through our character. The ability to say no, especially when no one is looking. What’s your attitude towards pressure?

5.      Making decisions in the moment of choice

The forth point (related to pressure) puts us in a position to either lean into the situation or retreat. Once we decide to lean into it, then making a decision is just as important.  Effective leadership is shown when a decision is made.  Too many of us want to pass the buck because we know that if it doesn’t work out, we are to blame.  Effective leaders make tough decisions.  Each time you make a tough decision, you are growing in character and increasing your leadership effectiveness. How do you rate yourself when it comes to decision making?

If you can answer these questions on a regular basis, you’ll be working on an essential part of your leadership development.

What are your thoughts?

Toye Oshunbiyi

Discover Your True North

Don’t Leave The Blocks Without It!

Why do you get out of bed in the morning?   Do you have a clear concise answer?

Because building and growing a business could be a life-long journey, it is essential that you know why you are doing this.  Are you clear on your personal purpose?

The Common Problem
As I speak to various business owners, I am sometimes surprised that many haven’t really thought of the ‘why’ question.  Many times the answer ends up being that I want to make more money to take care of my family e.t.c. Is that really all?

A personal purpose is always essential to have because as we know, business isn’t always going to be rosy.  The economic climate will go up and down, products and services will change due to new technology.

How My Personal Purpose Came About
My personal purpose for starting this business coaching company was this; when I worked for a Fortune 500 company in London city, going to work, I didn’t see workers, I saw slaves in suits.  They were going to a job not really doing what they wanted to do.  Now, part of my role at the company involved selling to small and medium sized businesses; speaking to these owners it was clear that they were doing what they wanted to do i.e. running their own business, though many of them were struggling.  Naturally, I would give business growth tips from my own experience and books that I had read.

In that, I found my business purpose. “to help business owners grow their business”.  Business owners sometimes need help from someone else who can come in as a coach! A ha! I love doing this! I said to myself.  I then went ahead to do Personal, Executive and Business coaching courses and was ready to go, but let me tell you it is not always easy.

The Next Common Challenge
Balance can easily become your next problem, we have all seen it, you build a successful company but the cost is that you lose your family in the process, or you destroy your health, you neglect good old relationships.  Do you get what I am saying?  These are things I have to constantly work on and strive to help my clients with as well.  I don’t do Life Coaching but your business plays a big roll affecting the rest of your life and this will affect your leadership influence as well.

Funny enough, what most people find is that the core of their purpose lies in adding value to others.  But many times they never really realise it or articulate it.

Something You Can Do Right Now!
Now one of the principles that has kept more balanced is my personal purpose, not just in business but in my life as a whole.

So let me suggest that before you go full steam ahead to take your business to the next level, have a:

• Personal Statement that summarises what your whole life is about (Mine is to seek and do what is best for others)
• Develop a Personal Vision Statement on how you see yourself doing regarding
  • Marriage
  • Family
  • Health
  • Relationships
  • Finances
  • Spiritual Growth/Personal Development
  • Business

Regularly ask yourself those tough questions: How am I doing in this area?

Take time out to assess that last week, month and make the necessary adjustments.

As Stephen Covey said: “It’s incredibly easy to get caught up in an activity trap, in the busy-ness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it’s leaning against the wrong wall”

So when you are asked “Why do you get out of bed?” You’ll have a clear concise answer!

Discover Your True North!

Toye

The Keys to Success

What does, TDIndustries, American Family Life Insurance Company, Medtronic, Wegmans and Landry’s Bicycles have in common?

Well, not only are some of these companies one of Fortunes Best 100 Companies to work for, they have all been founded between 1916 to 1955 and are still going strong! (And maybe you’ve never heard of them!)

So, what is the key to these companies success? Surprisingly these companies all practise servant leadership. If you’ve read my white paper on ’The Core Four Principles of Leadership’ what I am describing is exactly that. Servant Leadership applies timeless principles- that is making serving others the main focus and allowing that to be the main method of influence. Servant Leadership can only be practised by someone totally secure in him/herself; it is based on a selfless attitude, works for the interest of others, putting you, the leader, in a position to sacrifice.

How can you become a Servant Leader?

In my white paper ‘The Core Four Principles of Leadership’ I explain why the first essential ingredient for any leader (no matter what) is to find your purpose. When purpose is clear in a persons mind, then and only then would it make sense to make sacrifices. Can you answer the question ’What is your purpose’?

Also, what is the purpose of your business? These are thought-provoking questions that need to be answered first before we can ever become the great leader that we aspire to be, and through your answer you will see how you can adopt the servant leaders approach.

What are your thoughts on Servant Leadership? And have you a clear purpose for your life and business?

I would love to hear your thoughts. Also, if you haven’t yet downloaded ‘The Core Four Principles of Leadership’ please click on the link. Share your comments below and I look forward to engaging with you.

Discover your True North!

Toye

Have you ever been asked this question: If you were offered (a) £1000 a day for 30 days, or (b) a Penny on day 1, two pennies on day 2, four pennies on day 3, and so on, doubling the amount everyday for 30 days, which would you take?

For those that know the answer, you know what I am talking about, for those that don’t, you’ll have to read on to find out.

The main problem with marketing especially for small businesses is applying patience and consistency. Now this in itself has its setback. Recently, some of you have shared with me the problems that you are facing in your marketing and knowing where to advertise was one of the issues.

Advertising is perhaps the most expensive way to market your business with the least guaranteed results. This means that if you are spending so much money on advertising then after a short amount of time you run out of money and then it’s good-bye to advertising.  Below are a few tips that I would strongly recommend:

# 1. Find cost effective ways that gets your brand name, service or product out there. If you are a service business, a very cost effective way to market yourself is by writing articles. I know I have mentioned this in my 10 Tips but I don’t think we know the power of having something written in print or on the internet that can work for you even while you sleep.

Give yourself a goal to write maybe one or two articles a month. When you read books, listen to the news etc make notes and find out what people are interested in and look for ways that this can fit into the service you provide.

# 2. Eliminate the least effective methods you are using and focus on what works. The moment you notice that a marketing method isn’t working, adapt it; if it still isn’t yielding any results, then stop it. You can then either focus more energy and time on the most effective methods or you can explore by trying out other methods.

I have really got to be honest with you: there are only 6 to 7 major ways to market yourself – Direct Contact, Networking, Public Speaking, Writing, Promotional Events and Advertising – in most cases, whatever you are doing at the moment will fall under one of these topics. So focus on 2 or 3 of these so that you don’t spread yourself out too thin, stay with it for sometime and see the results! It will pay off a lot more than changing too soon.

# 3. Focus on only marketing where you’ll find your target market. This is another area I see many making big mistakes. If you carry a bucket of water through a village were there is water in abundance no one will take any notice of you, however, carry that same bucket of water through the desert, someone might even want to exchange all his gold for it!  I am sure you catch what I am saying.

If you find out where your potential market exists, what they read, where they go etc and you only market your services in those areas, you are more likely to be effective than if you advertised in your local evening newspaper which is very general. Do you know where to find your potential clients? It works like magic, in fact they will say, “where have you been, I have been looking for your service or product”.

# 4. Remember that people need to hear your message consistently. When I was in sales, I was always astonished when I’d call back a potential client that was previously very abrupt with me on the phone a few times and now was suddenly eager to know more about what I had to offer. I learned something really important about people. They need to hear your message consistently because when they are finally ready to buy your services you want them to come to you.

How can you do this? Develop a system for follow up, maybe you’ve heard of the acronym Save Your Self Time & Money; imagine if you had a system that enabled you to keep in touch with every person you’ve met at a networking event, meeting, course, etc.  Well, that should be your goal, i.e. to build a huge contact list so that you can be in touch with them frequently enough so that they don’t forget you. You can do this via email.

# 5. You’ve got to give before you receive. Buying is an emotional thing; sometimes we forget that people will buy when they are in the right mood, or when they now need your service or product. Take as an example the retail shop that treats all it’s potential customers with extra care whether you buy or not – when this same potential customer is in need of retail therapy she will more likely go to where she was treated well. Marketing is everything you can do for that customer before they finally decide to go with you. And in today’s society, people expect a lot up front.

The problem with small business owners is that they are afraid of giving away too much and the customer/client still does not end up buying from them. I want to tell you never to worry about that, word of mouth is a very powerful method of marketing and I don’t think it would ever fade away. Therefore, if you are known to give things away for free, people are more likely to talk about you!

That is what marketing is all about you’ve got people checking your website to download your free article, you got people coming into your store because it’s buy one and get the next one free – With a good plan these people that have come to you for the free offer can soon be converted into clients/customers and, might even be some of your best ones.

The accumulated result of you following these principles is that at some point your business will explode with clients. I think in today’s world, we are spoilt because we expect everything to be instant; we have instant coffee, microwave food etc. So we expect instant return on our Marketing Investments.

Lets go back to the question I asked at the beginning: If you were offered (a) £1000 a day for 30 days, or (b) a penny on day 1, two pennies on day 2, four pennies on day 3, and so on, doubling the amount everyday for 30 days, which would you take?

If you answered that you’ll take the £1,000 then you’ll end up with £30,000 which you might say isn’t bad.

However, the person that decided to take the penny would end up with

£10, 737, 418.23 by day 30! Yes over 10 and a half million.

This is the power of compound interest. So even if all you were doing at the moment was collecting a few email addresses, this could be your ticket to your fortune in the near future. Marketing is compound interest!