Self Improvement Tips

In the last post I spoke about some of the foundational components to building a strong culture. It is necessary for people to feel safe and to believe they belong to something bigger than themselves. Also, for a culture to thrive it needs a clear mission, vision and an established purpose. As a business coach in the Woodlands and as a business coach in Houston, a clear sense of purpose makes the possibilities for growth and advancement of an organization much clearer. Why? With clarity comes pointed and focused action. The individuals and teams who make up the culture have a clear purpose. Several years ago, a designer and engineer, Peter Skillman, held a competition to find out the following: Why do certain groups add up to be greater than the sum of their parts, while others add up to be less? To this end he assembled a series of four-person groups at three major universities and a few other places. He challenged each group to build the tallest possible structure using the fo...

A college professor prepared a test for his soon to be graduating seniors.  The test questions were divided into three categories and the students were instructed to choose questions from only one of the categories.  The first category of questions was the hardest and worth fifty points.  The second, which was easier, was worth forty points.  The third, the simplest, was worth thirty points. Upon completion of the test, students who had chosen the hardest fifty-point questions were given As.  The students who had chosen the forty-point questions received Bs.  Those who settled for the easiest thirty-pointers were given Cs. The students were frustrated with the grading of their papers and asked the professor what he was looking for.  The professor leaned over the podium, smiled, and explained, “I wasn’t testing your book knowledge.  I was testing your aim.” An anonymous writer once commented, “Make no small plans for they have no power to st...

There is some gold to be mined during the Holidays in discovering your keys to success in life. For most of us, the normal routine is gone. It disappeared during the Christmas. And it was good. Now we have entered that twilight zone. What is the twilight zone? It is a time and place where the rhythm of business, life or both has changed. For most, it is a time where things have slowed down. If you have children in school you will not get to enter the twilight zone until after they go back. The twilight zone is a time for reflection and evaluation. It is a time, with the coming of the new year, to take stock of who you are and where you are at. It is a time to reflect on what has been and what is to come. It is a time of transition as we move from a Holiday mode back into our normal every day routines. One of the keys to success, whether you are a self-employed business owner, entrepreneur, solo professional or an individual, working or not, is to enjoy and learn from your time i...

For your self-improvement to benefit you for the long term you must be regularly evaluating your performance. Here are some tips on self improvement. One Down, Three to Go! The first quarter of 2018 is gone. In today’s world, danger awaits those who wait for the once-a-year performance review. Before the second quarter gets too far away from you, I strongly recommend that you evaluate your current performance and associated results. Right now, yes, right this second: ask yourself these very important questions to set up your personal development goals: 1. Concerning my year to date performance, how am I doing? 2. If I continue along with my current strategies and performance, how will I be doing at the end of the second quarter? 3. What am I going to do starting today to get myself back on target? 4. What new strategies and habits must I implement in order to improve my performance? The reality is that at this very moment, you are in one of these three positions – ...

To move forward in business, you or your organization must be good at execution. It sounds so simple, yet time and again the execution of a strategy or change fails. How come? Any time you seek to execute a change in strategy you are asking yourself and others to change your human behavior. It may be the behavior of a few, a team or an entire organization. The answer to good execution of strategy is to change the behavior of the people, to change the human element. You can have written goals, tactics, and deadlines. These are good but they are only “on paper” change. Without commitment and proven practices to follow to execute the strategy or change “on paper” you will fail to change the one component necessary to success. That element is human behavior. Behavioral change strategies are very challenging. You can’t just put them down “on paper” and order, let alone expect them to happen. Behavioral change has a better chance of success when the system is changed and people are ...