No organisation is ever where the leader wants it to be, there is always room for improvement, or something to be different. In fact, this is a very healthy perspective. First of all, an organisation needs to grow just to stay relevant.

Secondly, all organisations have weaknesses, identifying and dealing with them is like Herding Cats!

Herding Cats: a pretty tough task! Like cats, most employees are independent individuals that like to do things their own way. Dogs will follow you on a lead, whilst cats will walk with you, if they feel like it, for as far as they want to and then complain to be picked up and carried home.

In your organisation, the more weaknesses you see and fix, the more details you pay attention to, and the more improvement you’ll find. This is the path of continuous improvement. Improving a process or product involves a process of evaluation and change.

The steps, functions, or capabilities are manipulated like a math equation to bring about different results, and it can happen very quickly.

But what about the changes that involve people, behaviours and culture? This type of change is much more personal and intimate; it requires shaping to bring about effective results. Shaping can only originate from the leader of an organisation.

It requires their personal touch and investment to make it happen.

Let?s look at the specifics you as a leader need to know to shape your organisation into a highly functioning one:

• Shaping implies constant gradual change. If the right pace of change is not acquired, your chance of success is limited. Too much at one time will damage your organisation, as a result of fear and panic. Too little will not sustain change and make your organisation unhappy with it.
• Because the change is going to take some time, make sure you establish in detail a far-off vision for what you want your organisation to look and act like. Then detail small changes that will act as stepping stones to your vision.
• Each change needs a key person. Most of you can delegate to your trusted staff, but some you will need to keep for yourself due to the importance or potential resistance within your organisation.
• As you begin to shape your organisation do not be surprised when your organisation regresses. Some changes have a strong memory and slowly revert back to their old ways. When this happens put the required effort into getting things back in line and then keep your eye on them, apply effort to ensure the change sticks.
• As the leader, you are the only person who can keep you vision alive and keep your organisation moving towards it. You have to be extremely diligent and disciplined. If you don?t pay attention to it, your organisation won’t either. Your vision may weaken and die as a result. As I said earlier, when you decide to shape your organisation you are in it for the long haul. What will be fun for you is looking back at the end of each year and seeing that change does make a difference. Most people will not notice it like you do because it was a shaping process.That’s OK, it’s the different results you desired and will get credited for.

I get it that the economy isn’t great and people have had their lives turned upside down. Over the weekend I was around several ‘business people’ who could only tell me how bad things were. No amount of encouraging was going to drag them out of the ditch. I had to get away from them as fast as I could. For some reason the easy way out is to complain. And to me that’s sad.

The media only reinforces the fears. “What will we do!? What will we do!?” Well, there is ONE place you can go and ONE person you can see. Business coaches are your best guide to get you there. The following is from a recent newsletter. It tells you where you can seek the help you desperately want/need. See if you can determine that magic place and person before the end of this article. I’m betting you can.

“Focusing on the way you want your life to be when things not going your way in the present moment, is not the easiest thing to do. But if you have the determination to focus your attention in every area of your life as you want it to be, rather than as it is, your life will change dramatically.”

“As you begin to notice the instant, benevolent, cooperative response of the universe responding to your desires, you will in very quickly be one who is willing to let go of everything and anything that is not part of your vibration. You will let bygones be bygones, ex-partners be ex-partners, grudges and mistakes of others and your own, complaints and ill wishes, injustice and bad behavior all become non-issues.”

“Remember, you are Source Energy that has come here to create and you are worthy of every idea that comes to you. The resources of the universe are here to assist you in your creation just as surely as they assist the earth in spinning in its orbit in perfect proximity to other planets.”

“There is no greater creator than you and no greater reason to create than the things you desire in your life. Everything you create is for the purpose of the joyous satisfaction that it gives you as the Source within you expands.”

“Today will bring you a new awareness, a lesson or a manifestation that you are making progress - IF YOU LOOK FOR IT!” … So, it’s me again. I’m guessing you got it. That’s right, the ‘place’ to look is inside yourself and the ‘person’ to seek is YOU. When all of us learn this lesson, practice and refine it, then we will make huge strides in all areas of our lives, businesses, and the world.

Ever wish you had an “Easy” button?

Do you find that your business is so dependent on you that you just can’t get away from it? Wouldn’t it be great if you could just press a button and your business would take care of itself?

Well, then - here’s the good news! It’s possible, but you need to understand one fundamental fact: people should never run a business – systems should. You need the people to run the systems. Systemizing your business is vitally important for the survival of your business – not to mention you and your relationships.

All too often, business owners get caught in the trap of doing everything. They feel that nobody can do anything, or at least the “important” things, as well as they can. They obsess over the smallest details, and then wonder why their employees can’t seem to do anything without strict supervision. They spend all of their extra time looking over the work of their staff, and correcting all of their mistakes. They take all of the calls, good and mostly bad, from the customers because their relationship is with the owner.

If you feel any of these sad statements apply to you, here is my diagnosis: You are delusional and need professional help!

There, I said it!

Stop the crazy delusion that you are the only one who does what you do. Start to realize the power of systems. You see, about 80% of what’s done in your business can be systemized. Take some time to figure out all of the routine things that are done in your business. Now document the best way to accomplish these tasks.

However, creating systems is not enough. You need to be sure that the systems are easy to follow, and easy to do. If you don’t make it easy, it will not be done, or at least not consistently. Here’s an example. Let’s say you create a sales system. Besides the scripts for all of the human interactions (that’s right, scripts), you have an information pack to be sent to your good prospects. Instead of putting this packet together each time, you have to mail one out, pre-pack them so all you have to do is print a letter, insert it into the packet, and send it out. Sure, this seems obvious, but you may be surprised at all of the obvious inefficiencies that exist in your business.

The more you look, the more you will find that there are creative ways to make your business easier. The documentation also needs to be easy to understand. Use short, bulleted instructions – no long paragraphs. Use pictures, diagrams, even videos to make the information easy to absorb. It should be so easy that a third-grader could follow it.

So remember, there is an easy button available for your business. And Easy is spelled S-Y-S-T-E-M-S.

Do you struggle with making deadlines? Do you feel burnt out and tired all the time? Do you put tasks off? These are some signs of being unmotivated. Below are four key ways to help you motivate yourself. When someone is motivated they are more on top of their priorities and end the end feel good about themselves and their work. Try these motivation tips to better yourself and your work.

1) Make time psychology work for you. If you have ever taken a time management course before, you have learned how to pack more into less. But have you ever noticed how difficult it is to leave a project or job incomplete? You can play on this psychology of completion by writing out a things to do list before you go home at the end of the work day. Chances are if you don’t know exactly where to pick up where you left off, you’ll have to start over. Tonight, before you leave the office lay out 5 calls you need to make tomorrow morning. Or go home right in the middle of filling out a prospect contact sheet.

2) Give yourself daily and hourly goals. Very few of us have the ability to stay disciplined all the time. Yet studies have shown that a big difference between those who succeed and those who fail is constant and concentrated activity. Big hitters report such behaviors as not taking lunch until they make a pre-set number of phone calls. They don’t allow themselves to play golf until they sell a certain number of units. Sure they make sacrifices. But in the meantime they also make sales. Most who practice this method of self denial say that when they do earn a lunch or a golf game, the taste is very sweet when linked to successfully accomplished activity.

3) Make selling a game. When you take your work too seriously, it becomes drudgery instead of enjoyment. Most top producers mention that their income takes a back seat to how much fun they have on the job. Interestingly, many poor producers look at their paycheck as being the biggest motivator. The problem is that your sales production will fluctuate. You may go from a “Who’s Who” to a “Who He” in the space of a year. For example, “play” more often with your best customers. Send out birthday cards to prospects or customers you care about. See how many phone calls you can make in an hour or a day without caring particularly about the result.

4) Burnt out is a key factor in maintaining motivation. A great way to avoid the symptoms of burnt out is to link rewards to activity instead of success. One way to kill motivation is to increase your frustration and isolation. You have probably at one time already done this by withdrawing from the people in your life you love. But a great way to create motivation is to give yourself a reinforcement gift that comes as a result of superior effort. Effort always results in success if it is maintained.

1. BUSINESS COACHES CAN SHOW YOU HOW TO GET MORE RETURNS WITH LESS WORK.

   You’re working too many hours and pretty sure that if you left for a vacation or holiday, things wouldn’t operate anywhere near as effectively as they do now … put another way, you’re ready to work a whole lot less … Whatever you call it, small business coaching, executive coaching or just plain old business mentoring, ActionCOACH is the world’s #1 business coaching firm and executive coaching firm. In fact, in 1993 Brad Sugars and ActionCOACH started the business coaching industry and now with more than 1,000 offices in 32 countries, ActionCOACH has literally turned the old business consulting model into business coaching and executive coaching, a far more powerful, profitable and more affordable way for you as a business owner or as an executive to get the help and mentoring to grow your company …

2. BUSINESS COACHING CREATES MORE PROFITS.

   You’re ready to make a whole lot more profit … if you’re not making anywhere near enough money to justify the effort, risk and investment you’re making in the business …it’s time to turn that around …With literally 282 profit and money making strategies your nearest ActionCOACH will be able to help coach you in sales, marketing, advertising, profit growth, business systems, time management and team building strategies to literally jump your revenues in a matter of months … and unlike a business consultant who does the work for you, a business coach will teach you how, while an executive coach will work with your company to get the results your executives need.

3. A BUSINESS COACH WILL HELP YOU DEVELOP YOUR TEAM.

   You’re ready to build or develop a team of people that can grow the business whether you’re there or not … recruiting, training and keeping the best people makes your life so much easier … From our team training programs to our ever so powerful recruitment systems, building a team of motivated, passionate performers is all part of the program that our business coaches and executive coaches will help you implement …

4. A BUSINESS COACH WILL HELP YOU REDISCOVER YOUR PASSION.

   You need to fall in love with your business again, it’s gotten boring and at times you even feel sick of it all … time for a re-injection of that vision and passion you had when you first started … Motivation is at the core of everything your Business Coach will take you through. Building either a simple business plan or marketing plan will give you the clarity on not only what needs doing, but how to do it. Whether you work from home, are just starting, or run a multi-million dollar organization a Business Coach is one of the fastest ways to a better business and a better lifestyle …

5. A BUSINESS COACH WILL HELP YOU NAVIGATE CHANGES IN THE ECONOMY AND YOUR MARKET.

   You know that to grow you need to be learning more, but you don’t even have time to keep up with your industry changes let alone the changes in global business and how to improve it all … Business education has moved into a new realm, with business mentoring and business coaching taking over from traditional consulting, books and seminars so you get the right information at the right time. Think of it as an entrepreneurial degree using your company as a case study …

6. BUSINESS COACHES CREATE ACCOUNTABILITY.

   You need a Business Coach, a business mentor to hold you accountable, to demand a profit, to demand results, someone to push you, cajole you and hopefully more often than the rest … congratulate you on a job well done … Being an owner can be a lonely job, having a sounding board, a business mentor and coach, a friend to talk with you and provide expert coaching, helping you to solve your problems and turn them into opportunities. Creating opportunities is just a small part of what our business coaches do, but often it can be the most valuable …

7. BUSINESS COACHING PROVIDES A SECOND EXPERT OPINION.

   You need a Business Coach, a business mentor to hold you accountable, to demand a profit, to demand results, someone to push you, cajole you and hopefully more often than the rest … You need a Business Coach who can see the forest for the trees, an expert who isn’t blinded by the industry and by too many years in your industry … Running your own company like any part of life, often you need a business mentor to see the simplest of things to help you in areas such as sales coaching. Often business mentors will ask the tough questions so that you’re on track … Join the thousands of other owners and executives around the world, who have implemented business coaching. Take the step before your competition does … call my office today on 07 3232 1195, or read more about business coaching.