Coaching

2017-06-19 – O’ Clients Where Art Thou?

June 6, 2017 by Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

How do you ensure you have enough clients?

In other words, how do you ensure you have a sustainable business?

And by the way, if you’re not a business owner, in sales or another role where you’re looking for, “clients,” substitute the word, “potential employers,” (for those looking for a first or new job) “team” (for leaders) or, “contacts” (for all of us…business is a contact sport…you need to keep building and deepening your relationships!)

So, getting clients.

I’ll admit. I’ve worried about this. It’s kept me up at night, particularly in my first year of business, the same way I know it does with many of my colleagues and clients. However, here’s the thing: that is a question from a scarcity mentality. That there are only so many clients, there may not be enough to go around, and you have to fight to get your piece of the pie.

How pumped are you thinking of it like that? Could there be a different, more powerful question?

Tip #1: Live in Abundance versus Scarcity

Look at professions that have just exploded. My field of coaching and speaking, for example, were pretty much non-existent 40 years ago. There weren’t huge conferences where they paid decent money to have great speakers share their expertise in an informative and entertaining way. There weren’t speaking associations or speaking bureaus. As for coaching, CEOs weren’t building into their employment contracts the need to have the support of an executive coach. People didn’t consider second careers in coaching. We didn’t even have the field of positive psychology to ground the field in. However, the work has grown, the professions have blossomed, and the client base has ballooned.

Why? There’s great value that coaches and speakers provide every day and in everyday life, in the full range of professional and personal realms. Everyone could benefit from insights of a speaker and the partnership of a coach. That’s the abundance mentality. That we can build value and build as a profession because there are more than enough clients out there, as opposed to scrambling to figure out how we’re going to get a limited slice of the pie.

This thinking need not be limited to these professions; what might happen if, in your organization or profession, you believed there already was enough clients who needed your services, products and IP (intellectual property)? How might this change what you focus on and how you do your work? How might this impact your working relationships and how you treat your clients?

And there’s more on abundance mentality (both in this VLOG and on my ‘YouTube’ channel); this is just the tip of the juicy iceberg of abundance thinking!

Tip #2: Have a Unique Brand

What is the unique value you offer the world? What do only you (or your team or company) offer that can’t be replicated? What do you do better than anyone else in the world?

You have to know what your unique brand is. Not sure? Ask those who are already your clients. Your brand is defined by how others see you. Clients have many choices, even if they are limited. If they buy from you, they’ll have the answers as to why you. All you have to do is listen and then implement it more.

If you’re in the right place and offering unique value then you don’t have to worry, “How am I going to find enough clients?” Keep doing valuable work. It’s what you’re designed to do. If you don’t have any clients or they cannot tell you why you are unique then dig into your brand. Get brave and committed to doing what you were most meant to do.

Tip #3: Market Yourself (Your Company/Your Products)

At risk of stating the obvious, marketing is essential. I mention it because so many of us expect that either good work should speak for itself or we don’t believe we should “toot our own horns.” Well, who is going to do it for you?

So, let’s say you know you are doing what you’re designed to do. Yes, you likely have raving fans that will tell others (testimonials on your website, recommendations on LinkedIn, word-of-mouth accolades). Are you just waiting for folks to offer to rave about you though? Everyone’s busy. Maybe they would if you asked them. Why not ask?

You also need to tell the world what you’re doing (what’s in development, what you’ve accomplished, what you do well every day). And tell them why you do what you do. Share it through stories so it’s authentic and memorable.

Your social media profile is a way of continually telling the world about the value you offer. And I’m not saying, “sell, sell, sell,” I’m saying share who you are personally and professionally in a continuous way. Let people get to know you and like you. People are more likely to do business with you when they feel they know you and like you. And when I say, “you,” this applies to businesses as well as your team.

When you show the world what you are all about on an ongoing basis, people will see it and respond. People will notice, and want to be part of that world.

Tip #4: Don’t “Sell,” Add Value

Speaking of, “selling,” I’m not referring to it the way most people think of, “selling,” – that it’s a bad thing. Think of it as, “adding value.” How do you add value to your clients? What part of that value do your clients pay for? What part do they not? What’s the harm of having a range of ways clients can work with you; various revenue streams in your business? This makes it easier for each client to find the right fit for them; right budget, right timing, right touchpoint, right product. When you know you add value, not only does it become less about, “selling,” your business also becomes a heck of a lot more sustainable long-term.

If questions such as, “How am I going to find clients? How am I going to make enough money? How am I going to build my business?” keep you up at night, go back to the question, “What is my way in which I can add value in the world?” Your clients will come, if, and when, they need that value.

What other tips do you have to get and keep amazing clients? This is just the tip of the iceberg!

2017-06-12 – Value Is the New Language of Professional Success

June 6, 2017 by Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

‘How do you know you’re adding value?’

If you’re working in a not-for-profit organization today, you already know they are resource constrained, and there’s no guarantee that your job or your team is going to exist in a year or five years from now. If you own your own business, if you’re leading that company, even if you’re in middle management, we always need to be asking that question. If we’re not being indispensable then, of course, we could be, dispensable. Here are three key elements to keep in mind:

Identify Your Services

The number one thing you need to do is identify the services that you are providing, or have provided in the past. What services could you provide? You need to evaluate, preferably with your team and the input of your clients, how well you provide that service on a scale of 5 to 1.

You should be able to have lots of data. If you don’t have any data or input from your clients, your team, sales metrics or other business metrics, you need to start with that. Make sure you go back and do that first.

Assuming you do have that, identify how well you are providing that service.

Identify Your Client Base

Next, I encourage you to look at all the clients to which you are providing that service to. This is your next layer of analysis.

Ask yourself, if I am providing that service to entrepreneurs, and to small and large businesses, how well am I providing service ‘A’ to each of those groups. Repeat for all services you offer.

Even for those of you who know who your ideal customer is, you may call that your avatar, if you ever provide service to people outside of that niche, I would still encourage you to do this. For those of you considering expanding outside of that area, this is an important first step; how well are you going to able to provide that core service?

Again, the same scale, 5 to 1. How well are you providing that service in each of your client groups?

Decide What Business You Need to Be In (or Not In)

One of the next steps is looking at, ‘What business do I need to be in?’ Who do I need to serve?

Here is where your tough choices come in. You can’t do everything. You can’t be everything to everyone (and do it well). Isn’t that true in our personal lives too? It can be some tough choices, individually, as a team, as an organization, however deciding which clients you are going to continue to serve means you will be more effective with them and become known in your niche. It also dictates what services you provide, what type of staff you need, what markets you’re in, where you need to be located, how to market, etc. There are so many important spin-off decisions based on a firm stake in a particular business you’re in….and what business you’re not in.

In a nutshell, you’re ensuring you have a strong value proposition. In a world full of distractions and noise, competition and new innovations, you want to stay viable and visible. I’m not sure a better way to do that than to be consciously deciding, reaffirming and cultivating the value you offer in your particular area of expertise and industry.

I have a tool that I’ve used successfully many times that incorporates these and other questions Would you like a copy? Download it for free here.

Get even more serious about ensuring you are serving the right folks and you are serving them in the best way that you can. That’s when you are going to guarantee, not just business success, but greater physical and emotional well-being as well!

I want to keep adding value to you! Subscribe to my channel, help yourself to other free resources, and keep crushing it!

2017-05-08 Accelerating Your 5-Year Greatness Plan

May 3, 2017 by Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

Accelerating your 5-year greatness plan is important because if we don’t have a plan, it’s simply a wish and while I don’t know who said that, it is a really great quote!

How do we make sure that in 5 years, we are better off now, or at least just as well off, and as happy as we are now?

Here’s some strategies that I know work really well and are part of my coaching program, “52 Weeks of Greatness”. This work benefits my coaching clients and is often the things that people come talk to me about after a speaking engagement.

Here are my best 5 quick tips for you to accelerate your five-year plan!

Know your Strengths and Interests

If you are operating with them, you will have a lot more energy, enjoyment and enthusiasm. In the past, and here it is again, I gave you a link to a strengths tool. If you haven’t already explored it, check it out! Inventory the interests you have and anytime you can focus on them it’s going to make it easier!

Inventory your Successes

Anything you have been successful with, from the time you took your first step at one year of age, right through to being promoted, or the first person to win an award. Whatever it is that you were successful with, write it down. Don’t minimalize it or be humble. We are accelerating your 5-year plan, not coasting toward it!

Identify How You Spend Your Time

Draw a big circle and within it, draw lines to identify three pieces of the pie. One big part of the pie is work that is awesome, productive, healthy, and makes your day wonderful. The second piece of the pie is simply good stuff, the things that are ok. And the third piece is things that add no value whatsoever. The key here is identifying what you want to do more of and what you need to cut out. Identify what is Great, Good and Not So Good so you see where adjustments need to be made. Note: credit to Michael Bungay Stainer for this idea in his book Do More Great Work.

Learn to Say No

Consider how to eliminate or reduce things in that pile that are not working for you Decide how much time and energy you give them so you can make room for the good stuff. You will decelerate your plan if you are going to do all of those things that are either OK or Not Good. We want to do more Great!

Identify the Next Step Forward.

To accelerate your plan, it needs to be small, manageable, concrete steps. Celebrate them when you reach them! We get into trouble when we create big ambitious goals – “I’m going to run a marathon,” when in fact identifying the next step – “I’m going to join a local running group” – is much more manageable and action-creating.

How will you know you’re successful in this exercise? When you can picture yourself 5-years from now with that plan having been realized. You can tell the story, in the present tense in vivid detail, of where you are now (in 2022) and how you successfully realized your greatness plan. How you:

Leveraged your strengths and built on your interests
Drew upon past successes and resources
Spent your time more wisely
Said “no” more to say “yes” to the right things
Took a first powerful step that propelled you toward greatness

What other steps would you include? Comment below!

I hope you continue to join me in this greatness journey in work, family and life. I invite you to subscribe to my You Tube Channel and share this post with others who are on their greatness plan (or ready to start!) You may even chose to join me one day, such as at the SPARK Women’s Leadership Conference in beautiful Fort St. John BC, where we dive deeper into Accelerating Your 5-year Greatness Plan.

Be Well and Be Great!

2017-04-24 Habits

April 13, 2017 by Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

How do you form a new, effective habit?

You may have a big goal that you want to achieve but are afraid. What if you fail? What if you fail again? Easy to just opt to not try than take the risk. But what if a new habit will serve you well. What if it’s worth the risk? How can you make sure you are successful? How do you form a new habit that is sustainable and you don’t let yourself or others down?

I hear these questions in a wide array of circumstances including in my virtual program, 52 Weeks of Greatness. The folks in this program are in action. They’re ready for movement and momentum. With a bit of support they’re creating powerful goals in their work and personal circumstances, from fitness to mindfulness, from productivity and balance, from business milestones to major personal life shifts. In other words, they are incredibly committed to being successful and yet there is that negative inner voice that says, “but will you really be, weren’t you unsuccessful the last time?”

I hear this frequently when people approach me following a keynote presentation too. They will tell me they want to take action but aren’t sure where to start. That they want to recognize their own or others’ greatness, but what if it comes off wrong? What is going to be different this time?

A new habit.

Habits is merely changing a behaviour until it becomes the new norm. Tricky thing about habit (on top of our self-doubt and past stories of “lack of success” in changing habits) is that there’s a lot of misunderstanding about habits. That’s why I, someone who normally talks about recognition, has a bit of a vested interest in making sure that people get the habits thing right!

Habit Tip #1: Forget about Time

How many days does it take to form a new habit?

I have a feeling the number that came into your head was 21. No matter which audience I speak for, no matter how many people are in the audience, no matter what the education level is in the room, the magic number I heard is 21 days. [Confession time: in my co-authored book, Forever Recognize Others’ Greatness, I didn’t know this at the time when we published it…we reference 21 days!] Where did 21 days come from then? It was actually based on one study from years ago that studied how long it took patients to adjust to plastic surgery; there was never any intention of that research going mainstream for all things habits!

Habit Tip #2: Prime your Brain

The new neuroscience of habits notes that it takes up to 66 days to form a new habit. Good news is that it may take you even less if you also use visualization. I don’t mean they are one and the same, but rather visualization helps in the process of creating new neuropathways that don’t exist so your brain can lock down these new lovely neural connections from a new habit. In trying something for the first time and you haven’t visualized it, you haven’t primed your brain. It’s like making sure you have all the right ingredients before you start cooking – you will be more successful and enjoy yourself more!

Habit Tip #3: Just Start

Instead of going out and jumping in to your biggest possible goal, come up with the smallest increment of change that you can make toward your goal and begin with that. For example, you want to run a half marathon. Instead consider your habit running every day. The smallest increment of your new habit might be setting your alarm early enough to get a run in. Well, if you’re up you might as well get up. The next day, put your shoes beside your bed. If you’re up early and your shoes are beside your bed, you might as well put them on. And if they’re on you might as well walk around. And if you’re walking around with your shoes in the house, how silly do you feel? You might as well go outside. Before week’s end, you’re briskly walking. The next week you’re interspersing it with a light jog. See where I’m going with this? Start small and gain the motivation to get you going further. Don’t believe me? All of this is from amazing research out of Stanford University. Check out the Tiny Habits website for a wealth of information.

Habit Tip #4: Enjoy Yourself

Personal and organizational change expert, Sandeep Aujla notes, pick a goal. Something that you want to change in a way you can practice and enjoy it. Imagine enjoying something that you’re doing! If I decided that I was going to run, I know I’m a social person. I would find it so much more enjoyable if someone ran with me and helped me stay motivated with positive comments. If you are a competitive person, motivate yourself by running to an objective or goal, record your scores. Find a way for you to enjoy it!

So, what habit do you need to form? And which of the four tips are you going to use starting now?

2017-04-17 Bring Strengths Forward!

April 12, 2017 by Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

Welcome back!

I hope you have been enjoying the series on strengths! Now we can move forward into how you bring those strengths forward in your teams.

The most important thing I want to encourage you to do is to think about a high performing team that you have been a part of. First, get that picture in your mind of a team that you belong to; where you have clicked, where you are working together collaboratively and where you knew what you needed to accomplish and were productive. However you define success as a team, that’s the picture I encourage you to have in your mind.

What was common in team success?

Were people all trying to be the same or was there some value of differences? Was there an appreciation that we may not always agree or disagree? Was conflict leveraged as a healthy form of discourse? Was the shared wisdom of the group valued over any one persons contributions?

From my experience as part of high performing teams, those are some of the key elements of success. And don’t take my word for it. Experts in high performing teams discuss these very elements.

So now let’s add on the lens of strengths. Here’s some tips for you:

Understand Yours and Others’ Strengths

Complete a strengths tool and share the results. Remember there’s a free evidence-based tool from Penn State University you can get here. Share your results with each other. What’s in the top 5? What’s the bottom 5? Where are you similar? Where are you different? How can this serve the team?

Give Strengths-Based Feedback

Not only can you give feedback to each other using a less formal and more fun, open and inventive approach with this tool, you can use it in future conversations. Use the language of strengths in your feedback. You will know each other better going forward too. When we know each other better, and value each other’s strengths, there is greater trust. If you are not comfortable in sharing that, you may have some tricky times ahead.

Map Out your Teams’ Strengths

When you know each other’s top strengths, you can physically map them out. You can physically map it out on a white board, plotter paper, flip chart, etc. The most commonly shared strengths, put them in big circles with individuals’ names below. Discuss what strengths are related to each of these common strengths? Draw lines to connect them and add names below these strengths. There’s no right or wrong way (as long as all strengths are treated as important). Get curious how strengths manifest themselves in your work environment and future meetings.

Make Strengths Visible for Everyone

For big change projects, mission critical objectives, and even smaller operational discussions, think about the strengths needed and align people based on strengths wherever possible. For each project, identify your top three or four strengths needed, go back to your map, and see where you already have those strengths on the team. Talk about a great way for someone to get committed to and feeling connected with a project! Help people see they will be successful in the project before they even start! Keep your strengths map out for others to see. Make it a visual reminder that strengths matter.

I hope you found these suggestions helpful on how to bring strengths alive in your team. As a recognition expert, it starts with you and your own greatness so you are able to see that in other people then cultivate it. Strengths is an essential ingredient in this winning formula!

2017-04-10 Strengths Part 3

March 28, 2017 by Sarah McVanel Leave a Comment

Welcome back to part three where we are looking at strengths in your workplace; your own and others.

A lot of questions I receive have been good insight, in terms of what we are looking for and what do we do about it if we really want to cultivate strengths as a group, as an organization or even encouraging some of those people who are shining, who are cultivating their strengths, to continue to shine. It’s a great question. What we see is, organizations that do this consistently are the ones who outperform their peers time and time again. If you want to learn more about the literature, feel free to send me an email; sarah@greatnessmagnified.com I’ll be happy to send you the evidence.

What do you do about it? You may be wondering, how am I so sure that this works? I get asked this when I work with teams and when people approach me after a keynote. Bottomline is: We need to recognize and celebrate the greatness and the strengths within our people so they can continue to grow and cultivate it. If your company only values “natural talent” and degrees, read Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. You will soon realize such a mindset can be your organization’s downfall or even downward spiral!

So if strengths are everywhere, how do we keep cultivating them? Even when there’s no upward mobility possible, limited budgets, even more limited time, and pressure from every direction? Perhaps paradoxically, that’s when it’s all the more important to focus on them. Here are three important questions.

Are strengths are being utilized?

Once you know your strengths, check Penn State free Strengths Tool, The Via Institute’s Character Strengths Survey, you can gauge if you and others are using their top strengths. I believe so strongly in this that every one of the over 250 people I’ve coached started with completing a strengths inventory so we ensure we keep leveraging strengths as opposed to pushing uphill with lower priority strengths. Know your own strengths, start talking about strengths and I encourage you to share this with as many people in your team as possible.

Are you maximizing your strengths?

The second thing I want to ask you is to personally look at the strengths that showed up at the top of your list, how are you using them right now? Are you cultivating these strengths in a meaningful way already? If some of your top strengths are not showing up in your workplace, that’s tip number three!

Is your team embracing strengths?

What can you do, starting today, that allows you and your team to draw richly upon your top strengths to the workplace? If you spend more waking hours at work than anywhere else, why wouldn’t you want to? Now that you have the results of your strengths tool, you know the roadmap to be successful – for yourself and as a team. Ask your colleagues; what are their top strengths? Push to use strengths as a reference point for assigning tasks and projects. Acknowledge when strengths have helped and benefited the team. Make strengths an important centerpoint of team discourse and decision-making.

Share the strengths tool, this blog and video with your boss, colleagues and staff. Go on a quest to learn about your own and each other’s strengths. When we all start from a place of knowing and valuing our strengths, we can advocate and leverage them. Otherwise, we feel frustrated and may not feel valued. This is one more thing we have control over. Why not exercise it?