The Benefits of Laughter

We can all take life too seriously at times and fail to see the funny side of things. When you are very stressed you will notice that you don't laugh much at all. However there are many benefits of laughter, including it being one of the best forms of stress relief.

So what are the benefits of laughter?

Reduces stress hormones. Laughter reduces the level of stress hormones in your body, strengthening your immune system and reducing the impact of stress on you.

Increases stress busting endorphins. Laughter increases the level of the natural feel good chemicals in your body - endorphins, just like taking exercise.
A workout for your muscles. A good laugh exercises your stomach muscles, as well as many other muscles in your body, including your heart.

Reduces tension. After you have had a good laugh you feel a release of emotional and physical tension, resulting in you being more calm and relaxed.

Helps the workings of your body. Laughter stimulates your circulatory, respiratory, vascular and nervous systems, which all help to keep you in good health.

Increases energy and motivation. Laughter increases your energy and motivation levels, making you more focused and productive.

Changes perspective. After you have had a good laugh you will find that you look at things from a different and more positive perspective.

Increases creativity. Laughter can give you the space to be creative, by distracting you from the day to day.

Feel better. Laughing makes you feel better, whatever you are doing. It is very difficult to be stressed or anxious when you are laughing.

Improves communication. Laughter is a great way to improve communication with others and to build better relationships with those around you.

Next time you are feeling stressed or are taking life too seriously, remember to look for the funny side of things, laugh at yourself and with others, have fun and enjoy yourself.

Here are some laughter quotations to inspire you:

"The human race has a really effective weapon and that is laughter." Mark Twain

"Always laugh when you can, it is cheap medicine." Lord Byron

"What soap is to the body. Laughter is to the soul." A Yiddish Proverb

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the November 2009 edition of the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring and Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Managing Change

One of the areas that I support my clients with is managing their business through change. Your business may be faced with external changes which are outside your control such as the economic recession, changes in the market place you operate in, competitors bringing out new products and services and unexpected events (e.g. fire, floods etc). Also you may want to make changes to your business, such as growing your business, a joint venture with another company, changing your suppliers, introducing new products and services or relocating your business.

Whatever change your business is faced with, managing the change effectively is key to the success of your business. Here are some tips and ideas that may help you in managing change in your business:

Stay calm. It is easy to panic and get stressed when you are faced with changes in your business. However this will impact on your ability to make rational decisions and to manage the change. Try and stay calm and think through the situation you are faced with rationally.

Decide on what you want. You may jump into making the change but this can lead to you setting off in the wrong direction and having to backtrack. Think through what you want to achieve for your business and what the end goal is.

Make a plan. If you start taking action without a plan you may miss important actions that you should be taking. Think through everything that you need to do to achieve your end goal and plan out all the different actions that need taking and by when.

Communicate. You may know what you want to achieve and have a plan but have you communicated this to everyone who needs to know. Not communicating can result in everyone working in different directions. Communicate what you want to achieve and how you are going to do this to everyone concerned, including your staff, customers, suppliers etc. Continue with regular communication throughout the change and ask for feedback on how things are going.

Provide support and resources. Change is very difficult for those impacted, especially your staff, and you may need additional resources in the business to manage the change. Provide support to all those impacted by the change, whether through internal resources or outside help, and ensure the business is adequately resourced.

Don't lose sight of the customer. When your business is faced with change it is easy to become internally focused and take your eye off your customers and the service they are receiving. Ensure that you focus on providing a high level of customer service and regularly communicate with your customers throughout any change. Also don't forget to keep marketing your business to potential new customers as well.

Take action and review progress. Change can result in a lack of action and procrastination as people get hung up with what has happened or needs to happen. Take action and implement your plan. Have regular progress meetings, review how things are going, agree the next actions and reprioritise and reschedule where necessary.

Be flexible. In any change things rarely all go accordingly to plan. Be flexible and open to the unexpected. Be prepared to change track and adapt your plan.

Keep focused. It is easy to get distracted when many different things are happening and you have a lot to do in your business. Keep focused on the end goal and in implementing your plan. Also focus on what you can control, not the things that are outside your control.

Be realistic. When planning a change or reacting to an external change you can underestimate the time involved and what needs to be done. Being unrealistic may lead to the change not happening or going wrong. Be realistic about what can be achieved and in what timescales.

Get support for yourself. External and internal changes are very demanding for you personally as the business owner. It is at times like these that it is important to get support. Consider what support you will benefit from (e.g. a business mentor, a trusted friend, a work colleague etc.) and elicit that support.

Celebrate success. Making changes and handling change are very challenging for those involved. So don't forget to celebrate a successful change and thank those involved for their contribution.

You may be going through change at the moment in your business, be planning a change or be faced with an unexpected change in the future. Whichever category you are in, look to manage the change effectively rather than letting the change manage you.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the September 2009 edition of the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring and Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Take A Break

Running your own business is very rewarding and enjoyable but it can also be very tiring, stressful and challenging. It is easy to get drawn into working very long hours and not taking any time off. However, spending all of your time at work will reduce your personal effectiveness, productivity, energy and motivation levels and negatively impact your business and other areas of your life. It can also lead to high levels of stress and having to take time off through ill health.

There are many ways of taking a break including working less hours each day, not working at weekends, having a morning off work, attending some training or a seminar, taking a holiday, making time for your interests and pastimes, exercising, having a weekend away, reading a good book, going for a walk, doing some voluntary work and spending time with your friends and family.

Here are some of the benefits of taking a break from your business:

Recharge your batteries. Taking a break will help you to rest, relax, recharge your batteries and feel refreshed. This will enable you to come back to your business raring to go and re-energised.

Time to think. Spending time away from your business doing something completely different will give your mind the space to be creative. Often the best ideas for your business occur when you are away from your business and have the time to think.

Rejuvenate your passion. When you are working too much you can lose your passion for the business because you forget what is important to you. Taking a break will enable you to refocus on why you are running your business and to rejuvenate your passion.

Increase productivity and effectiveness. Taking regular breaks from work will increase your productivity and effectiveness when you are working. You will find that you manage your time better and make better use of your time in your business.

Reduce stress levels. Spending all your time at work is very stressful so reducing your hours at work and doing something different will help with your stress management and enable you to better cope with stressful situations.

Better health and well being. Getting balance in your life by working less and taking regular breaks will help improve your general health and well being.

Improve communication. When you are working too much your communication with others can suffer and you may upset your staff, customers and contacts. Working less will enable you to focus on good communication in your business.

Increase resilience and ability to cope. It is very easy to get things out of perspective when you are working too much. Building in regular breaks from your business will improve your resilience and ability to cope when you are at work.

Improve decision making. When you are working long hours and are tired your decision making can suffer. Taking breaks to make sure you are refreshed and not tired will improve your decision making ability.

Consider your business strategy. Having some time away from your business enables you to step back and have a fresh look at your business strategy and what you want to achieve for your business.

There are many benefits of taking a break from your business and getting the right balance in your life. When are you going to take the next break from your business?

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the August 2009 edition of the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring and Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Keeping Focused

When you are running a business it can be very difficult to keep focused on what you want to achieve for your business. It is easy to get distracted as there are many different demands on your time, as well as many changes impacting your business. The warmer weather and your personal life will also add to these distractions.

So what can you do? Here are some tips and ideas on how can you stay focused on your business goals and objectives:

Set clear goals and objectives for your business. Be clear on what you want to achieve in your business in the short, medium and longer term. Test your goals and make sure you are happy with them. Keep your goals and objectives at the forefront of your mind, communicate them to your team and use them in managing your business.

Identify the benefits and value to you of achieving your business goals. Reminding yourself of the benefits of achieving your business goals as well as the consequences of not achieving them will help to focus and motivate you.

Plan what you need to do to achieve your goals. Understand what you need to do to achieve your business goals and objectives. What do you need to do each day, each week etc, what one off projects need to be undertaken and who is going to do each task?

Prioritise and re-prioritise. Prioritise all the things you have identified in your plans in order of importance in achieving your goals. Re-prioritise on a regular basis and when things change.

Break down larger tasks and projects into smaller manageable chunks. You may find that the size of some of the tasks and projects in your plan are daunting. Break these down into smaller manageable chunks and plan for each of these separately.

Review progress. Take time to review how you are getting on with your plans on a regular basis and to discuss progress with others who are involved. Update your plans regularly in line with the progress being achieved.

Manage your time effectively. There are many different time management systems and each person has their preferred one. Whichever you choose, set realistic times for each task and what you can achieve each day and re-prioritise when things change.

Use your time efficiently. Review your business processes and systems and make them as efficient as possible. Understand when is the best time of day to do different tasks e.g. if you are a morning person you may want to do the more challenging things before lunch.

Get organised. Take time out to get your business, yourself and your working area organised. Remove the clutter and make sure you know where everything is. Maybe get some help to keep well organised.

Delegate or outsource tasks and projects. It may be better for the business for you to delegate or outsource work. Look at areas that you don't like doing, take you a long time or that you are not very good at as a starting point. If you delegate or outsource, regularly review how it is going.

Minimise distractions. Look at what is distracting you from completing your plans e.g. people, email, phone calls etc. Assign set times of the day for dealing with your emails and phone calls and plan time into your week for your staff, customers, suppliers etc. (scheduled meetings or phones calls may reduce ad hoc interruptions).

Get help to stay focused. You may find it beneficial to get help from other people on a regular basis to help you to stay focused on your business goals. This may be from a business mentor, other people in your business, family or business contacts.

Look after yourself. You will be more effective in your business if you also look after your health and well being, don't work all the time, take regular breaks and time off, enjoy time with your family and friends, relax and do something different to work.

Keeping focused is critical to achieving your business goals. Hopefully the above ideas will help you with this. If you are still finding it difficult to focus, it may be because you are aiming for the wrong goals. Re-visit your business goals and make sure they are what you really want.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the June 2009 edition of the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring and Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Keeping Things In Perspective

It can be very difficult to keep things in perspective in your business and personal life. It is easy to get caught up in every day situations and get things out of perspective. This isn't helped by the media who seem to exaggerate each news story so much that it is difficult to ascertain the facts.

Here are some ideas that you may want to try when you are struggling to keep things in perspective:

Turn the statistics around. If you have a customer complaining it is easy to think that all your customers are unhappy. However, maybe only 1% of your customers are unhappy, so 99% of your customers are happy. Looking at it this way will enable you to feel much better.

Remind yourself of what is going well. When something is not going well, however small it may be, you can end up being totally distracted by it. Step back from the situation and consider what is going well, what you have achieved and how much you have progressed. This will make the situation seem much less significant.

Consider the best and worse that could happen. Where you are getting things out of proportion think about the worse case scenario and you will find in most cases it is not that bad. Also consider the best case outcome, so you can take action to achieve this.

See every situation as a learning opportunity. Where things have not gone according to plan, see them as learning and use this learning in the future. Also think back to how you dealt with similar situations in the past and use that learning now.

Keep calm. When things are not going well, it is easy to panic, which tends to make everything worse. Take some long slow deep breaths, calm yourself down and relax. This will then enable you to get things into perspective and decide what to do next.

Think rationally. It can be very difficult to decide what to do in a situation that seems overwhelming at the time. Step away from the situation and think rationally about the next steps. It may be helpful to think about the situation as if you were a third party looking in.

Focus on the bigger picture and your longer term goals. Understand what is really important to you and your business. Try not to let small things dominate your thinking, focus on what matters. Remind yourself of the bigger picture and your longer term goals.

Plan what to do next, re-prioritise and take action to move forward. When you are losing perspective, stand back, plan what you need to do, review your overall priorities, re-prioritise your 'to do' list and take action to move forward.

Discuss with others and get their support. Dealing with something that is getting out of perspective is very difficult on your own. Try speaking to your business colleagues, a trusted adviser, a business mentor, a family member or a friend. They will be able to help you see things from a different perspective.

Expect the unexpected. Everybody has good and bad days and we all have to deal with unexpected events and changes in our life. Accepting that change, unexpected events and bad days happen makes them easier to deal with.

Take a break and do something different. When things are getting out of perspective, take a break and do something different e.g. go for a walk, make a drink, move away from the situation you are in. You will then be able to see things more clearly on your return.

Don't see things as insurmountable. You may feel that the current problem or situation is insurmountable, however, it is likely that you have overcome similar things in the past, so you can do so again.

Be positive. It is always helpful to have a positive attitude. This will make it much easier to keep things in perspective because you will see the positive side of each situation.

Think about when you cannot keep things in perspective, what are the common factors, what has helped you in the past and can any of the above ideas help you going forward?

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the May 2009 edition of the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring and Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Subscribe to our free email newsletter.

Attitudes and Behaviours for Success in Business

Business owners running successful small and medium sized businesses have a range of attitudes and behaviours that contribute to the success of their businesses. The good news is that these attitudes and behaviours can be learnt and you do not have to be born with them.

We have identified below some of the key attitudes and behaviours that business owners of successful small and medium sized businesses display for you to consider:

Keep focused on the business vision, the goals and the strategy that they have set for the business and its financial performance. They direct their minds and all the business activities to achieving the business vision, goals and strategy and maximising the financial performance of the business.

Look for business opportunities at all times. They are constantly aware of the changing business environment and are always looking for business opportunities.

Take responsibility for making things happen in their business, being proactive and accepting blame if things don't go according to plan. They look at how things can be improved, reflect on what the business can do differently and always retain overall responsibility for the business.

Communicate effectively with everyone they deal with. They are emotionally intelligent, use good communication skills, vary these in line with who they are communicating with and are sensitive to the needs of others.

Take action. They plan how they are going to achieve their business goals and strategy and then ensure the action is taken that is needed to implement the plan, without procrastinating. They exhibit a can do attitude.

Take manageable risks in the business. They assess the risks of the actions they plan to take and minimise the risks in advance. They do not take risks that are out of proportion to the size of the business.

Are passionate and highly motivated about the business and are inspired and motivated about what they are doing. In turn they inspire and motivate those around them.

Are open and receptive to people, ideas, learning and information, both within and outside of the business. They are also happy to share information and pass on their experience and advice to others.

Think positively. They maintain a positive attitude and those around them pick up on their positive energy, they feel in control and confident and perform at their best. Everyone in their company feels positive and customers want to do business with them.

See the business from different perspectives. They understand how the different stakeholders in the business see the business and what their needs are, including customers, suppliers, shareholders, staff and even their competitors. They focus on meeting the needs of the different stakeholders.

Are versatile and adaptive to the business and the environment the business operates in. They accept that things do not always go to plan and adapt to external forces and changing customer needs. They embrace change and do not panic when the unexpected happens.

Develop their social capital. They develop good business relationships, both within and outside the business, focusing on building a good network, the reputation of the business and their standing in the community.

Learn from experiences. They learn from all their business experiences, including both success and failure, and focus on continuous improvement in their business.

Have perseverance and resilience. They persevere and do not give up, exhibiting an inner well of determination and resilience, but they are not arrogant or pig-headed.

Are happy to delegate and outsource business functions and tasks for the benefit of the business. They do not persist in doing everything themselves, instead developing and leading those around them to achieve their potential and to maximise the business performance.

Show respect to all the different people they deal with, including their competitors. They take everyone seriously and are willing to give them time and attention.

Believe in themselves and their business. They have a high level of self belief and also believe in the direction they are taking the business. However they are consciously aware of what is happening in and outside their business.

Draw on the help and support of others. They locate themselves in an entrepreneurial environment and draw on the help and support of others where they don't have the relevant expertise or where they need a sounding board or support and motivation.

You may want to compare the above with the attitudes and behaviours that you display and see if there are areas that you want to improve or adopt. In thinking about these you may want to consider successful business owners that you know and what attitudes and behaviours they display and consider modelling yourself on them.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the April 2009 edition of the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring and Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Considering The Way You Think

You probably don't spend much time considering how you think about different situations in your business or personal life. However, how you think effects how you feel, so if you are feeling bad, you have probably been thinking in an unhelpful way. Also, the way you think can cause you to make inaccurate assessments of your experiences, to get the wrong end of the stick, to jump to conclusions, to think the worst, to distort the facts and it can get in the way of your decision making and the achievement of your business and personal goals. Therefore, it is worth taking time to step back and understand the way you are thinking and, where your thinking is unhelpful, to look at changing the way you think.

Unhelpful ways of thinking and how to change them

There are many unhelpful ways of thinking and we have summarised some of them below, together with some ideas as to how to change each way of thinking.

Catastrophising is taking a relatively minor negative event and imagining all sorts of disasters resulting from it. This can result in misinterpretations of relatively minor situations. To change this way of thinking put your thoughts into perspective, recognise your thoughts as just thoughts not reality, consider less terrifying explanations, weigh up the evidence and consider what you can do to cope with the situation until you know the outcome.

All or Nothing Thinking is extreme thinking and it can lead to extreme emotions and behaviours. This can stop you achieving your goals because you have no margin for error in your thinking. To change this way of thinking focus on somewhere between the two extremes that you are thinking, avoid either/or type statements and consider alternative ways of interpreting the situation.

Fortune Telling is when you try to predict future events usually in a negative way. This can stop you from taking action and can become a self fulfilling prophecy. To change this way of thinking test out your predictions, be prepared to take measurable risks and understand that you cannot predict the future.

Mind Reading is when you think you know what other people are thinking. This can result in incorrect assumptions being made. To change this way of thinking generate some alternative reasons for what is happening, consider that your mind reading may be incorrect and communicate with the other people to understand their points of view.

Emotional Reasoning is when you rely too heavily on your feelings as fact and as a guide to reality. This can result in you totally misunderstanding the situation. To change this way of thinking take notice of your thoughts, ask yourself how you would view things if you were calmer, look for contradictory information and allow your feelings to subside before taking action.

Over-generalising is when you draw global conclusions such as 'always' or 'never' from an event. This can result in you assuming that because something has happened once it will always happen. To change this way of thinking try to get things into perspective, suspend judgement and be specific, steering clear of global conclusions.

Making Demands is when you place demands on yourself and others such as 'I must' or 'they should'. This can result in a very rigid and inflexible view of what is happening. To change this way of thinking pay attention to the words you use, adopt a more flexible approach and allow for things to be different to expectations.

Mental Filtering is when you acknowledge only information that fits with a belief you hold. This can result in a very distorted view of the actual information. To change this way of thinking collect evidence that contradicts your thoughts, pay attention to all the information available and take notice of and look to change the filters you are using.

Disqualifying the Positive is when you transform a positive event into a neutral or negative event in your mind. This can result in a pattern of negative thinking and unhappiness. To change this way of thinking be aware of your response to positive information, accept positive events as they are and accept positive feedback from others.

Personalising is when you interpret events as being related to you personally, overlooking other factors. This can result in you feeling you are responsible for everything that happens to others and yourself. To change this way of thinking look for explanations of events that are nothing to do with you, consider why other people may be responding in a particular way and don't jump to conclusions.

Becoming more aware of your thinking patterns and changing those that are unhelpful to you will enable you to handle different situations and events in your business and personal life more effectively and also will enable you to feel better as a result.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the March 2009 edition of the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring and Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Using Intuition in Business

The current economic climate is challenging every business, we all need to think smarter, be more creative, look for new opportunities and take action to maximise our short and long term business performance. However, how do you gain inspiration, decide what you want to achieve, generate new ideas, make decisions and decide the best way forward for your business? One way to approach all of these areas is to use your intuition or 'gut feel'.

What is intuition?

Intuition describes the way that you gain access to and use the brain's power without the constraints of logical thinking. Intuition uses information from a wide range of sources including emotional, physical and instinctive and it enables you to quickly make sense of a complex situation at a subconscious level. It is often called the sixth sense. Where you cannot rationally explain why you chose a particular course of action, it is probably down to your intuition. A combination of reason, experience, information and intuition can be very powerful in business.

How to develop your intuitive skills?

Many people are afraid to use their intuition, preferring to take a rational logical approach and we are also encouraged from an early age to think and act rationally, which can result in our intuition being suppressed. To help you to develop your intuitive skills you may want to try the following:

- Follow your intuition, don't be afraid of it.

- Train yourself to be aware of your intuition.

- Allow yourself to follow your intuition in every day situations and see where it leads you.

- Monitor the results of when you use your intuition to develop your confidence to use it.

- Tune in and listen to your intuition rather than letting your rational mind override it.

- Look at situations that you have over analysed and where you arrived at the same course of action as your intuition was telling you.

- Be on top of your business and the business environment you are working in, including listening to your staff and understanding the customer and market trends.

- Try sleeping on a problem, it is surprising how often you wake up knowing the right course of action to take.

- Take time out from your work and life to reflect and contemplate and build relaxation and exercise time into your schedule.

- Do something different to what you would normally do to open your mind to new experiences.

- Don't listen to your inner voices telling you not to use your intuition.

As you heighten your intuition you will be inspired, find more creative solutions and unlock situations that you are in. You will also help your business to ride out the current recession and move forward in a stronger position.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the February 2009 edition of the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring and Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

The Importance of a Positive Attitude in Business

The media seems to be full of bad news about the economy and the prospects for the business community. It is easy to get drawn into this negativity and to feel very depressed about the future. Conversely, if the media was presenting the news in a more positive light, we would all feel more optimistic and positive. However what is better for your business, a positive or a negative attitude?

Who would you buy from?

Think about a shopping experience. You go into two shops selling similar products. The first shop is not looking its best, the staff are talking to each other about how bad things are and the customers are not being acknowledged. The second shop is tidy and well looked after, the staff greet you in a friendly and welcoming manner and the manager tells you how well they are doing. Which shop would you buy from?

Equally, think about a business networking event. You meet a marketing consultant who is positive and upbeat, who tells you about a great marketing idea you can use in your business and which he has had success with in other companies. You then meet another marketing consultant who is very bleak and he tells you how many clients he has lost and how everyone is cutting their marketing budgets. Which consultant would you consider using in your business?

What is the impact of your attitude on your business?

Your attitude rubs off on your existing and potential customers, your staff, your suppliers, your investors and all those that you come into contact with.

If you maintain a positive attitude, this will be infectious and those around you will pick up on your positive energy. Everyone in your company will feel positive and customers will want to do business with you. This in turn will lead to you maximising the performance of your business.

If you maintain a negative attitude, the opposite is likely to happen. People will not want to be around you, your staff will feel demotivated and customers will not want to buy from you. The result will be that the performance of your business will deteriorate.

With a positive approach you will feel in control and confident and you will perform at your best, whereas a negative approach will damage confidence, harm performance, paralyse your mental skills and may also impact your health.

However taking a positive approach is not enough on its own. You also need to be realistic about the economic climate and market conditions. It is critical that you focus on making sure your business is in the best shape to weather the downturn and maximise the short and longer term performance of the business. This may be by improving productivity, enhancing customer service, changing your marketing activity, maximising your repeat business, developing a new product or service, training staff or reviewing your cost base.

Over the last few months I have met both positive and negative business owners and it is evident to me that those who are approaching the current economic climate with a positive attitude are seeing their businesses perform better than those with a negative attitude.

How to maintain a positive attitude?

Look for the positive side. It is easy to focus on the negative when there is so much negative news around. However look for the positive side and focus on this.

Be aware of your thoughts. Focus on how you think about different situations. If you see a list of businesses closing down in your sector do you think that your business is also doomed or do you see it as an opportunity to find new customers and maybe even increase market share. Challenge any negative thoughts and turn them into positives.

Present a positive attitude to others. Even if you are feeling down, make sure you present a positive attitude to everyone you deal with. This will help you feel more positive and make others feel positive too.

Focus on what has gone well. Focus on what has gone well and what you have achieved. See things that have not gone so well as learning.

Be careful who you associate with. Surround yourself with people who have a positive attitude and avoid those who are negative.

Focus on improving the performance of your business. Focus on getting your business in the best shape to weather the downturn and to maximise your short term and longer term business performance.

Keep your business goals at the forefront of your mind. What are the goals for your business? Revisit them and make sure they are still relevant. Make sure all your current actions support your goals.

Why not try a positive attitude and see what difference it makes to you and your business. You will find that it not only maximises the performance of your business, but it will also have a positive impact on other areas of your life.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the January 2009 edition of the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring and Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Stress Management Tips

You may need one to one support to help you through a very stressful period in your life, which is one of the services I offer to my clients. However, you may just want some advice as to how to manage stress better. I have therefore included below a selection of stress management tips.

Set goals and action plan. Stress can be caused by not knowing what you want to achieve in your business and personal life and how you are going to get there. To reduce stress, set business and personal goals and plan how you are going to achieve them.

Stay focused. You can easily get stressed when you are not focused. Keep focused on achieving your goals and the important things in your business and personal life and it will help you to manage stress.

Take action. Inaction and indecision can create stress, so take the action you need to achieve what you want to achieve.

Manage your time and don't procrastinate. Stress can be caused by poor time management and procrastination. So adopt time management strategies that work for you and don't procrastinate. Also remember to prioritise and re-prioritise when things change.

Control perfectionism and be realistic. Striving for everything to be perfect and for unrealistic goals can create undue pressure and stress. Be realistic about what you can achieve and be easier on yourself.

Manage your mind. Your emotions and thoughts are closely linked together. The way you think influences how you feel and behave. Recognise how you think about things that result in you feeling stressed and work on changing your thinking.

Take responsibility. Blaming others results in you not developing your own coping strategies and can result in you feeling stressed and helpless. Take responsibility for your own actions and you will find that you are more positive and less stressed.

Don't worry about things that are outside your control. It is very easy to get yourself stressed by things that you cannot control. Understand what is within and outside your control, then stay focused on the things you can control.

Think positively and stay upbeat. If you see everything from a negative perspective, you will feel negative, project a negative image and feel more stressed. Thinking positively and projecting a positive self image will make you feel more positive. Look at what you have achieved and your positive qualities. Focus on what has gone well and see things that have not gone so well as learning.

Be assertive. Stress can be caused by passive or aggressive communication and behaviour. Try to develop an assertive manner where you use clear, direct and honest communication with others and be prepared to say no.

Develop your self confidence. If you are low in self confidence and self esteem you can feel stressed by situations. Develop your self confidence by focusing on the positive and what you have achieved.

Accept change. Change can result in a high level of stress. If you accept change as a normal part of life and you expect change then you will be able to manage it better and minimise stress. Look at change as an opportunity.

Take care of yourself and have fun. Not looking after yourself and taking life too seriously can leave you feeling very stressed. Healthy eating and drinking, taking exercise, regular breaks and holidays, interests, socialising, spending quality time with friends and family, getting time for yourself, relaxing and enjoying yourself all contribute to lower stress levels.

Get balance in your life. Spending all your time at work is unhealthy and stressful and results in other areas of your life suffering. Equally doing a boring job can make you very stressed. Focus on getting the right balance in your life for you.

Value what you have. You can get very stressed thinking about what you don't have and worrying about things that are not going well. Remind yourself of the good things in your life and value what you have.

Build a support network and ask for help. Stress can result from keeping everything to yourself and not asking for help. Build a support network around you and ask for help when you need it.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the November 2008 edition of the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring and Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

How to beat the recession?

The media is full of doom and gloom about the falling stock markets, credit crunch, financial crisis and the recession. Everyone is now starting to worry and even panic about the impact of this on their business, jobs, finances and personal life. This month's article is therefore a selection of tips to help you and your business beat the recession.

Know where you are financially. Do you know the current financial position of your business and your up to date personal financial situation? Always understand where you are financially so that you make the right decisions for your business and yourself.

Live within your means. Are you over extending your business or your personal finances or taking excessive risks? Take only manageable risks. Decide what you can afford and stick to it.

Control your cash flow. Do you know and are you in control of your business and personal cash flow? Collect money owed to you, try and re-negotiate your supplier terms, consider reducing stock levels, keep control of your costs and look at opportunities to save money.

Look after your customers. During a recession it is harder to get and retain customers. Look after your customers and provide high levels of customer service. Happy customers repeat purchase and refer new customers to you.

Keep marketing your business. Are you thinking of cutting back on your marketing? Marketing your business is just as important in an economic slowdown as in a booming economy. Get wiser with your marketing. Look at what works best and focus your efforts there.

Stand out from the competition and be different. What makes you different? Why should customers come to your business? It is harder to get each sale in a recession so look at how you can stand out from your competitors. Be different so that you get noticed.

Target the warmest prospects first. Are you spending money chasing cold prospects who have never had contact with your business before? Focus your marketing on your warmest prospects, whether these are your existing customers, previous customers, enquirers or contacts.

Look after your employees. Are you forgetting about your employees with all the other challenges you are facing? Keep your staff motivated, happy and focused on the business goals to maximise your business performance.

Diversify your product/service range. Are there opportunities to diversify your product or service range? You may see an opportunity for a new product or service created by the economic situation or you may find that one area of your business is struggling and you need to look for an alternative.

Work smart and focus on what really matters. Are you and your business efficient and effective? Improve your processes, manage your time better, plan well, keep focussed on what really matters to you and your business and don't forget your work/life balance.

Keep calm and try not to panic. Are you feeling stressed, depressed or are you panicking? Keep calm, manage stress, stay focused on things that you can control, make decisions and take action to achieve your business and personal objectives.

Be creative. Are you facing new challenges in the slowdown? Think outside the box, be creative and look for innovative solutions that will make a difference.

Be positive and upbeat. Are you feeling negative and down with all the bad news around? Keep positive and upbeat. This will reflect on those around you, attract new customers and contribute to your business success.

Keep focused on your long term goals. What are your long term goals? It is easy to forget these when things get tough, but keep focused on your long term goals and this will help you take the right decisions in the short term.

Get support and help. Do you need help or support with the challenges you are facing in your business or your personal life? Don't leave it - get the support you need, whether this be from your accountant, business adviser, bank manager, financial adviser or you may want to consider having a business mentor to help you.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the October 2008 edition of the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring and Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Using Intervention Styles To Help Others

In your business and personal life you often need to help, support, advise or offer your expertise to others. A very useful model to use in these situations is the Heron model of six categories of intervention. It was developed to be used in the helping professions but is very relevant to the business world as well.

This model can help you to understand the different interventions available to you when supporting others, it can help you to use a wider range of interventions and also to improve the way you interact with others.

The six categories of intervention that Heron identified are:

Authoritative interventions

Confronting. This is about being challenging and providing direct feedback in a positive and constructive way to increase the other person's awareness of their own behaviour and attitude (e.g. I notice when you discuss your workload you always sound stressed).

Informing. This is about giving information or knowledge and your view and experience in order to help the other person gain a better understanding (e.g. There is some very good information that will help you in this book).

Prescribing. This is about advising, offering an opinion and seeking to directly influence the other person (e.g. You need to speak to your business partner about the problems you are having with your suppliers).

Facilitative interventions

Catalytic. This is about asking questions to encourage self directed problem solving and to enable learning through self discovery to help the other person to reflect, discover and learn for themselves (e.g. What would make you feel more confident when making a presentation?).

Supportive. This is about supporting the other person and building their confidence through approval, confirmation and validation (e.g. It sounds like you have tried very hard but are finding this problem very difficult to resolve).

Cathartic. This is about encouraging the other person to express emotions and release tension and empathising with them (e.g. What do you really feel about the situation that you are in?).

The best style of intervention to use will depend on who you are interacting with and the individual circumstances e.g. in an emergency type situation you may want to be very prescriptive, whereas where you are trying to coach a member of staff to work more independently you may want to use catalytic and supportive interventions.

It may be useful to look at your own favoured styles of intervention and consider whether you would benefit from using other styles more often or in certain circumstances. You may find that you avoid certain intervention styles because you are not comfortable with them. These may be areas for learning. You may want to practice using other styles to expand your repertoire.

The intervention styles can also be used to reflect back on your individual relationships in your business and personal life. Did you use the most appropriate intervention style at the right time? What impact did your intervention style have on the other person? This will help you with improving the relationships going forward.

I hope that this article has got you thinking about how you support, help and interact with other people.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the September 2008 edition of the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring and Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

What can your business learn from sport?

I have been watching the Olympic Games on the television and I have been thinking about what we can learn from sport that can help us in our businesses.

You cannot fail to admire the people who win medals at the Olympics as well as those who compete but do not get a medal. From these sports people, I have identified the things below that can be applied from sport to achieving success in business.

- Dare to dream: Successful sports people all have a dream. They know what they want to achieve, whether this is to beat their personal best or win an Olympic gold medal. In business you equally need a vision of what you want to achieve in the long term.

- Set goals: Successful sports people set short, medium and longer term goals. They may want to be the British champion this year, the World champion in 3 years time and the following year the Olympic champion. In business you need to also set short, medium and longer term goals, so you are clear where you are going.

- Have a Plan: Successful sports people plan out what they have to do and when so that they achieve their goals. This includes breaking big tasks down into smaller achievable actions, thinking about 'what if' scenarios and revising their plans as circumstances change. Successful businesses also plan in this way.

- Manage your time: Time management is key to success in sport. This may involve keeping to training schedules, getting enough rest, preparing for competitions and planning in breaks. Good time management is also key to success in business. Being efficient, effective and productive, as well as getting your work life balance right are essential.

- Focus on the end goal: Successful sports people keep focused on and committed to their end goal. In business it is also important to keep focused on the end goal. Are you prioritising your actions to achieve your end goal and are you staying focused and committed?

- Manage your mind: Successful sports people believe in themselves, manage stress well, think positively and look after themselves. You can be the fastest runner in the world but you may not win an Olympic medal because you are thinking negatively and letting the stress take control. It is just as important to manage your mind in business.

- Learn and gain experience: Successful sports people learn new skills, keep improving themselves and gaining experience. In business you have to have the right skills and experience to run your business and be prepared to learn and adapt. The business world like the sporting world keeps changing and moving on.

- Deliver on the day: In sport you have to deliver in competition. This will include maximising your performance, through excellent preparation and planning, making sure you feel right and doing your best. In business you also need to deliver. Your business has to be set up to deliver the best service to everyone you deal with, whether this be customers, enquirers, suppliers or investors.

- Teamwork and leadership: When you look at a successful sports team they have a good leader and excellent teamwork. This equally applies to successful businesses.

- Manage the risk: To be successful sports people need to consider and manage the risk. This may include not having a kick about with their children, as this may result in injury. Equally in business you need to consider the different risks and manage them.

- Have a support network: Successful sports people have a support network, maybe a coach, a manager, a sports psychologist, a nutritionist, family, friends and colleagues. To succeed in business you also need a support network, maybe a business mentor, your bank manager, your accountant, your business partner, other business contacts, your family, friends and colleagues.

As well as learning from sport, you may also want to look at other successful business people and try and identify what makes them successful. You can then apply your learnings to your business.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the August 2008 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Benefit your Business by Being More Creative

To stay ahead today in business you need to be creative. Creativity is essential for problem solving, generating ideas, looking at potential options, finding solutions, identifying opportunities, for staying ahead of the competition and for maximising business return.

You may not be naturally creative, you may be a very logical thinker who finds it difficult to be creative or you may find that you always see things in a certain way and find it hard to look at things differently. The good news is that wherever you are on the spectrum you can become more creative.

If you would like to improve your creativity, here are some ideas to help you:

- Don't make assumptions: We all make implicit assumptions (e.g. it cannot be done like that). To stimulate creativity you need to learn to stop making assumptions. Try asking yourself what assumptions you are making, let them go and then think again.

- Think differently: We naturally think in a certain way. You may have come across a similar challenge before and you think the current situation is the same. Try thinking differently and see what happens.

- Ask 'what if' questions: Your rational mind will take your thinking along a certain path, giving you quite a narrow perspective and limiting the ideas that you generate. Using 'what if' type questions will help you to bypass your rational mind (e.g. What would you do if you had limitless resources? What would Richard Branson do?). Try asking 'what if' questions and you will find you have lots more options.

- Look at it from a different perspective: We tend to look at a situation from our own perspective and therefore we limit the ideas that we have. Try looking at the same situation from another person's perspective (e.g. a customer, a supplier, a successful businessman) or from the perspective of an impartial observer.

- Go for quantity: We may naturally only come up with a couple of ideas. Try going for quantity (i.e. look for lots of ideas) which will make you think more widely and you will be surprised at the results.

- Don't make judgements: If you are a very rational person you will have a natural inclination to assess and evaluate any option you identify. This can limit your creativity because you can dismiss options too easily. Therefore try to come up with ideas without assessing or evaluating them. You will find that you are much more creative.

- Capture your ideas: We can be creative at any time and it is easy to forget the options you thought of. Try writing down your ideas, as this will not only record them for later but will help to stimulate your mind to think of other options. Using well know techniques to record your thoughts such as mind mapping can help you to generate new ideas.

- Take a break: Often some of our best ideas come when we are not thinking about a particular issue or trying to be creative (e.g. when you are driving home from work, when you are playing golf, when you are on holiday). Try not to spend all your time working and you may be surprised with the positive impact on your business.

- Use associations, connections and opposites: We can find ourselves struggling to think of alternatives and options. Try looking at the opposite of what you are thinking, look for associated ideas or connected options and you will see your list increasing.

- Think about what you want to achieve: We sometimes forget about our end goal when trying to be creative. Try focusing on your end goal and what you want to achieve and then identify what needs to be different to achieve your goal. You will find that this generates lots of new ideas.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the July 2008 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Dealing with Difficult People

I am sure that you have all had to deal with difficult people before but how did you get on? Dealing with difficult people can make you change your normal behaviours, make you think that it is your fault that they are behaving in this way, undermine your self confidence and negatively impact your business and personal life.

Difficult people are found in all areas of your life. They may be difficult because they are rude, they have to have the last word, they shout at you or raise their voices, they are always right, they undermine you, they don't listen or they do not honour their commitments. You probably will have your own examples.

Here are some tips to try when dealing with difficult people:

- Accept that their behaviour is not personal: Usually the difficult person has nothing personal against you, they are just difficult with everyone. Accept that you are dealing with unacceptable behaviour and work on their behaviours. Look for the person's good qualities and focus on these.

- Act normally: When dealing with a difficult person it can make you act differently to you usually do. You can start to avoid them or behave differently towards them. Try and be yourself and treat them as you would anyone else.

- Try and understand them: The difficult person may be behaving as such for a reason. Try and understand the difficult person and their point of view. They may have issues that can be addressed which will improve the relationship. It may be a very small issue that is impacting them that is easily resolved.

- Communicate well: It is easy for communication to suffer with a difficult person. However, it is very important to communicate well with them. Try to listen to them and to understand what they are trying to say and what they want.

- Build a relationship and trust: The difficult person may be the way they are because of a lack of trust in others or of others in them. Therefore spend time building your relationship and trust in each other.

- Be honest and open: When dealing with a difficult person be honest and open. If you are unhappy with their behaviour then let them know. It is a good idea to ask them what they would like you to change, then let them know what changes they can make to improve the relationship.

- Make them feel good: The difficult person may suffer from low self-confidence or self-esteem. Make them feel good about themselves by focussing on their strengths and good qualities.

- Focus on the outcome: Keep focussed on the outcome that you want to achieve in your relationship with the difficult person. This will help you to keep objective and better able to deal with the person.

- Find a win-win situation: Look for a solution where both you and the difficult person benefit.

- Keep your commitments and deliver: When dealing with a difficult person ensure that you honour your commitments and that you deliver on what you say you will by the agreed deadlines. This will gain their respect and help to build a relationship with them.

- If you cannot make things work then make the decision not to deal with them: Sometimes when dealing with a difficult person, even though you have tried many of the strategies above, you cannot make the relationship work. In this case it is usually better to move on and not to deal with them going forward. Dealing with a difficult person can be very draining and of no value to you. Be prepared to take a decision if need be.

When dealing with a difficult person, why not try out some of the tips above and see if they make a difference? You will probably find that they help you build a good relationship and that they are not 'a difficult person' with you any more.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the June 2008 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

The Art of Persuasion

The ability to persuade others or influence them is a key factor in both your business and personal life. Some of us are better than others at the art of persuasion, but what can we do to improve our own ability in this area?

There are a number of different ways that you can use to persuade others or influence them. People make decisions for their own reasons, so it is important to consider carefully the person you are dealing with in order to decide the best method to use.

By increasing your self-awareness in this area, trying out new ways and deciding on the best methods to use in each situation you can improve your ability to persuade and influence others.

Here are the most common ways of persuading others or influencing them:

- Reasoning: Using facts, logic and reasons to put your point of view across. This is best used where you can support your views with good facts, logic and reasons.

- Inspiring: Appealing to the other person's emotions, using energy, passion and conviction. This is best used when you are looking for emotional commitment and when the reasoned view is weak.

- Asking: Asking questions to encourage the other person to make up their own mind. This is best used when you want the other person to buy into the outcome and when dealing with someone more senior than you.

- Complimenting: Making the other person feel good about themself. This is best used when the other person values your views and with people who look up to you.

- Making a deal: Doing a deal by offering the other person something in return for what you want. This is best used when you don't mind making a deal and have something to offer as your part of the deal.

- Calling in a favour: Getting what you want by calling in a favour. This is best used when you have a very good relationship with the other person.

- Comparing to others: Persuading the other person by using the views of people they respect to support your argument. This is best used when the other person is easily swayed by the views of others.

- Authority: Influencing by using rules or principles or quoting someone in authority. This should really only be used in exceptional circumstances as it will encourage compliance not commitment.

- Forcing: Forcing the other person by using assertive behaviour. This is best used in emergency situations only.

In any given situation you should use the most appropriate methods for the circumstances and the person you are dealing with and move between the different methods if your chosen one is not working. Also consider the sequence in which you use the different methods as some sequences work better than others e.g. after trying forcing it would be very difficult to use asking.

To improve your own ability in this area, increase your self awareness of how you persuade and influence others. Also observe the methods that other people use and how they use them, so that you can identify good practise. Then decide the methods that you want to use for the situation, try them out but be prepared to be flexible and afterwards review how it has gone so that you can identify areas for improvement next time.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the May 2008 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the capacity for recognising our own feelings and those of others and for managing ourselves and our relationships with others. It describes abilities that are distinct from but complimentary to academic intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is a tool that can enhance your business and personal life. It can lead to better self-awareness and self-management and improved relationships with others.

Emotional intelligence is made up of personal competencies that determine how we manage ourselves and social competencies that determine how we handle relationships.

The elements of emotional intelligence are detailed below:

Personal Competence

Self-awareness. This is about knowing one's internal states, preferences, resources and limitations. Elements of self-awareness are:
- Emotional self-awareness: reading one's own emotions and recognising their impact and using gut feel to guide decisions.
- Accurate self-assessment: knowing one's own strengths and limitations.
- Self-confidence: a sound sense of one's self-worth and capabilities.

Self-management. This is about managing one's internal states, preferences, resources and impulses. Elements of self-management are:
- Emotional self-control: keeping disruptive emotions and impulses in check.
- Transparency: displaying honesty, integrity and trustworthiness.
- Adaptability: flexibility in adapting to changing situations or overcoming obstacles.
- Achievement: the drive to improve performance to meet inner standards of excellence.
- Initiative: readiness to act and seize opportunities.
- Optimism: seeing the positive in circumstances.

Social Competence

Social awareness. This is about the awareness of others' feelings, needs and concerns. Elements of social awareness are:
- Empathy: sensing others' emotions, understanding their perspective and taking an active interest in their concerns.
- Organisational awareness: understanding of what is happening at an organisation level.
- Service: recognising and meeting customer and others' needs.

Social skills. This is about adeptness at inducing desirable responses in others. Elements of social skills are:
- Inspirational leadership: guiding and motivating with a compelling vision.
- Influence: using a range of tactics of persuasion.
- Developing others: building others' abilities through feedback and guidance.
- Being a change catalyst: initiating, managing and leading others in a new direction.
- Conflict management: negotiating and resolving conflicts.
- Building relationships: cultivating and maintaining relationships.
- Teamwork and collaboration: working with others and building teams.

To improve your self-awareness and self-management and to improve your relationships with others in your business and personal life have a look at the elements that make up emotional intelligence described above and assess yourself against them. You can then identify areas where you would like to improve and the steps that you need to take to get to where you want to be.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the April 2008 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Body Language

Body language is communication using body movements or gestures, including facial expressions. 55% of how we communicate is made up of body language, 38% is through how we use our voice and only 7% is via the words we actually say. By developing your awareness of the signs and signals of body language, you can more easily understand other people and more effectively communicate with them.

Body language includes body movements and gestures, posture, muscle tension, eye contact, skin colouring, breathing rate and perspiration. It will vary between individuals and between different cultures and nationalities. It is therefore important to verify what you are seeing in a person's body language by asking them relevant questions and getting to know the person.

Here are some tips on body language:

Eye contact
Maintaining good eye contact shows respect and interest. Too much eye contact and the other person will feel self conscious, too little and you will look disinterested.

Posture
Getting your posture right will make you feel good and create the right impression. Slouching can make you feel nervous and uncomfortable. Leaning slightly towards someone can make you look friendly and interested. Keeping you head level will make you feel confident and self assured. Tilting your head to one side will make you look friendly and receptive.

Arms
Having your arms crossed can make you look defensive or nervous, having them open can make you look friendly and receptive.

Legs
Your legs will move around a lot if you are nervous, bored or lying. Try and keep them still to look friendly and assured. Having them crossed can make you appear defensive.

Distance
Getting too close to someone can make you appear pushy or in their face. Being too far away can appear stand offish or remote.

You can identify how a person is feeling or what they are doing from their body language, here are some examples:

A confident person
A confident person usually stands tall with their shoulders back, they maintain solid eye contact with a smiling face and they make purposeful and deliberate gestures with their hands and arms.

A defensive person
A defensive person will have minimal facial expressions, hand and arm gestures that are small and close to their body, their arms may be crossed, their body may be turned away and they will maintain little eye contact.

A disinterested person
A disinterested person may have their head down, have a glazed look or they may be gazing elsewhere, they may be fiddling about, writing or doodling and they may be sitting slumped in their chair.

A person who is lying
A person who is lying will maintain little eye contact and they may have rapid eye movements, they may have their hands in front of their mouth when speaking, their body may be turned away, their breathing rate may increase and their complexion may redden.

A person who is thinking or decision making
A person who is thinking or reflecting or making a decision may look away and only return to make eye contact afterwards, they may be stroking their chin or have their hand on their cheek and they may have their head tilted to one side.

A nervous person
A person who is nervous may be moving round a lot, they may be maintaining little eye contact, they may have their hands grasped together, they may be shaking, their complexion may redden and they may be perspiring a lot.

It is important to think about your own body language and the impression you are portraying as well as interpreting and understanding the body language of others. Understanding more about body language will help you to improve your communication skills and your relationships with others.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the March 2008 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

What is your longer term business strategy?

Have you considered where you want your business to be in 5 to 10 years time? Often you are so focussed on running your business day to day that you don't look at what your plans are for the future. However, looking at what you want to achieve for your business in the longer term can give you the direction, drive and impetus that you need to run your business on a day by day basis.

Developing your longer term business strategy involves understanding where your business is now, deciding where you want your business to go and looking at what you need to do to get there. Strategic planning is about setting longer term goals for your business and developing a plan to achieve them. Whatever the size of your business, you can benefit from developing a longer term business strategy. This doesn't have to be a long written document, it can be in whatever form works for you.

To help you with your business strategy here is a process that you may want to follow:

(1) Understand where your business is now?
This involves looking at your business both internally and externally as it stands today. Identify the key internal data and drivers of your business, such as financial performance, customer satisfaction, staff turnover, sales and marketing trends, conversion rates, productivity etc. Look at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats associated with your business. Understand your unique selling point and who your ideal customers are. Externally understand the business environment, your competitors and the market you are operating in. What is your market share, how do you expect the market to grow, what changes are happening in the market etc? Look at the political, economic, social and technological trends that impact your business. It is important to be realistic, critical and objective in doing this analysis.

(2) Where do you want your business to go in the longer term?
Here you will be looking at the longer term vision for your business and identifying what you want to achieve in the next 5 to 10 years or whatever period you choose. You may be looking to increase your turnover and profitability by x%, to create value in your business so that you can sell it for a certain sum or you may want to keep your business at the size it is now. If you are looking for growth it may be by increasing market share, expanding your product range, investing in technology, getting investment into your business, changing your business structure e.g. a merger or acquisition or expanding into new markets e.g. overseas. Looking at where you want your business to go is an opportunity to challenge the status quo of your business, step outside the box and to think creatively.

(3) How are you going to get there?
Once you understand where you want to go with your business the next step is to identify how you are going to get there. Look at each area of your business and decide what changes need to be made to enable you to achieve your longer term vision and objectives. Then decide the best way of implementing these changes. Create an action plan of what you need to do and when. Finally start implementing your action plan.

(4) Review your strategy on a regular basis
Review your longer term strategy regularly to ensure it is still relevant and where you want to go.

Having a well thought through longer term business strategy will give you and your business focus and direction. It will help significantly with your business planning, time management and running your business on a day to day basis.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk/ or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the February 2008 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Delegation

Delegation involves giving someone else the responsibility and authority to do something that you normally do and holding them accountable for doing it.

It is very important to understand what you should be spending your time doing in order to ensure that you achieve your business goals and objectives. Once you understand this, you can focus on these areas and look at delegating or outsourcing your other work.

Even if you work on your own you can look at outsourcing some of your work, you do not need to do everything yourself. If you try and do everything yourself you are likely to limit the potential growth of your business.

What are the signs that you may need to delegate?
-You are working long hours.
-You are often late for meetings and appointments.
-Your staff and suppliers are confused about what they should be doing.
-Your email inbox, voicemail and in tray are full.
-You never find the time to do the important things in your business.
-You are always reacting to the latest crisis.
-Sales and profitability are stagnant or declining.
-You have some unhappy customers.
-You feel out of control and unable to cope.

Why delegate?
-To enable you to focus on the important areas of your business.
-To achieve your business goals and objectives.
-To increase your sales and profitability.
-To improve productivity and efficiency.
-To save time by giving the work to those most able.
-To respond quicker to opportunities.
-To develop and motivate your staff and increase their job satisfaction.

What should you delegate?
-What should you be spending your time doing in order to ensure that you achieve your business goals and objectives?
-What tasks do you currently do (e.g. daily, weekly, monthly etc.)?
-From the above, what do you feel you need to delegate?
-Consider delegating or outsourcing things that are not in your area of expertise (e.g. book-keeping, marketing, IT support, legal issues etc.).
-Consider delegating all routine tasks (e.g. filing, administration, phone answering, data entry etc.).
-Consider delegating the authority for minor decisions.
-Wherever possible, try to delegate complete tasks.
-If you are doing things that are not essential for the business, why not stop doing them.
-There will be things that you do not want to delegate (e.g. company policy, strategy, staff issues etc.).
-Ensure that the potential benefits of delegation outweigh the costs.

How to delegate?
-Decide when you are going to delegate each task.
-Choose the right person or supplier to delegate the work to.
-Allow the time to delegate the work properly.
-Communicate what you would like doing, your expectations, the outcome, the deadlines and the feedback you would like.
-Allow the people to get on with the work and review it with them at the agreed times.
-Provide support when required.
-Be careful not to delegate too much too quickly.
-Give delegation time to work as the results will not always be immediate.

By choosing to delegate or outsource more of your work you could significantly increase the sales, productivity and profitability of your business, so why not review your workload today and see what changes you can make.

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the January 2008 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Time For Reflection

The Christmas and New Year break is a good time to reflect on your personal and business life over the last year, where you are now and what you would like to achieve over the next year.

When you are busy in your daily life you don't often get time for reflection. However, taking some time out to reflect can help you to put everything into perspective and to decide the best way forward.

Here are some questions for you:

Reflect on your life over the last year
What have you achieved over the last year?
What has gone well for you?
What has not gone so well?
What have you enjoyed doing?
What has been successful?
What have you learnt?

Consider where you are now
How happy are you with your life right now?
What are you most grateful for?
What makes you feel valued?
How balanced is your life?
What motivates you?
What would make you happier?
What is missing from your life?
What would you like to change?
In your business, what are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats?

Your plans for the year ahead
What do you want to achieve over the next year?
What do you want to do differently?
What new things do you want to try?
What do you want to stop doing?
What are the first steps you are going to take?
What help do you need?
Where are you going to get the help you need?
How committed are you to achieving your plans?
When you are reflecting in a year's time what will you be happy that you have achieved?

If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the December 2007 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management

Liz Makin provides personalised coaching, mentoring and stress management services to business owners, directors, managers and professionals.

Are you running a business and need someone:
- To bounce ideas off?
- To point you in the right direction?
- To help you focus on the most important issues?
- To be your confidential sounding board?
- To support and motivate you through the stressful and challenging times?
- To help you to achieve your business goals?

Are you finding it difficult to cope with high levels of stress in your life?

Liz Makin can help you with all this and more. Liz is an accredited business mentor, coach and stress consultant and is based in Stamford, Lincolnshire.

For more information please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

To sign up for the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management email newsletter please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter. Previous articles from the newsletter can be found on this blog.

Work Life Balance

The term work life balance means different things to different people. Work life balance is about achieving a balance that works for you and your family. If you can get the balance 'right' between the different areas of your life then you will feel happier and have a more enjoyable life.

We live in a society where there is increasing pressure on our time. It is not easy to achieve the work life balance that we desire.

If you feel that your work life balance needs changing, here are some tips that may help you:

Where are you now? Identify what you are unhappy about with your current work life balance.

Where do you want to be? Think about where you want to be. What would be different to how it is now?

What do you need to do? What actions do you need to take to get to where you want to be?

Take charge of your life. Have a prioritised list of what you need to do, focus on the key priorities and let things drop off the list that aren't important. Review and re-prioritise regularly.

Slow down. Notice things around you. Enjoy the moment, your experiences and the people you interact with. Don't make plans for every minute of every day.

Take a break. Take regular breaks. Build in time for lunch breaks, holidays, leisure activities and family time.

Manage your time. Set realistic goals and deadlines and stick to them. Schedule in all your actions. Prioritise and re-prioritise when things change.

Don't allow interruptions. Block out time for you not to be interrupted. Schedule in time for emails and phone calls.

Stop work on time. Set times each day for finishing work and stick to them. Maybe finish early some days.

Share the load. Don't do everything yourself. Delegate at work or use outside suppliers to support you. Ask your family to help at home or pay someone to help you.

Simplify and let things go. Review and simplify your work processes. Get rid of clutter at home. Say no to things that don't fit in with your goals and objectives. Let things go that aren't important.

Manage stress. Take actions to manage stress.

Don't forget your family and friends. Allow time to spend with your family and friends.

Relax. Build relaxation time into your day.

Be positive. Celebrate successes and don't dwell on things that have not gone so well. Develop a positive outlook on life.

Look after yourself. Take regular exercise, eat healthily and make sure you have enough sleep.

Set boundaries. Separate your work and home life. Set boundaries so your work does not encroach into your home life and vice versa.

Our previous newsletter articles on procrastination, time management, stress and what's next may also be helpful in achieving work life balance. These can be found on this blog.

If you would like support in achieving work life balance please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the November 2007 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Learning Styles

It is very important to consider how you learn and how others learn when you are training your employees, clients or suppliers, when you are taking part in training yourself and when communicating with others.

Four main learning styles have been identified, which are activists, reflectors, theorists and pragmatists. Most people have more than one learning style but usually one is much stronger than the others.

Have a look at the explanations of these learning styles below. Try using them to decide the appropriate training for yourself, your employees, suppliers and clients. They can also be useful in communication, by adapting your method of communication to the other person's learning style. Using a style that suits the people you are talking to or training will increase satisfaction, whilst participating in training that matches your style will mean a greater chance of success.

Activists like to be involved in new experiences. They are open and enthusiastic about new ideas, they enjoy doing things and usually act first and consider the implications later. They like working with others and feel comfortable in the limelight.
Activists learn best when involved in new experiences, when working with others in group situations and role playing, when thrown in at the deep end with a difficult task, when there is an element of risk and when chairing meetings and leading discussion
Activists learn less when listening to long explanations or talks, when working on their own, when absorbing and understanding data and when following precise instructions.

Reflectors like to stand back and look at a situation from different perspectives. They like to listen, observe and collect data and information before coming to any decision or conclusion. They tend to be cautious and conservative and will listen to the views of others before offering their own.
Reflectors learn best when observing others, when they have time to review what has happened and think about what they have learned and when doing tasks without tight deadlines.
Reflectors learn less when acting as leader or working in group situations, when doing things with no preparation time, when they are thrown in at the deep end and when they are pressurised by tight deadlines.

Theorists are interested in ideas for their own sake. They like to assimilate new information and fit it into their theories and explanations. They tend to be perfectionists and think things through in a step by step way. They are usually detached and analytical rather than subjective or emotive in their thinking.
Theorists learn best when using their skills and knowledge in complex situations, when in structured situations with a clear purpose, when offered interesting ideas and when they have the chance to question things.
Theorists learn less when in situations which emphasise emotion and feelings, when in unstructured situations or the briefing is poor, when doing things without understanding the concepts involved and when they are with people of very different learning styles.

Pragmatists are interested in ideas to see if they work. Ideas in the abstract have little meaning for them. They like to solve problems, are practical and want to put new knowledge to use.
Pragmatists learn best when there is an obvious link between the subject and what they are doing, when they have the chance to try things out with feedback as in role playing, when shown techniques with obvious advantages and when shown a way of doing things that they can copy.
Pragmatists learn less when there is no obvious or immediate benefit, when there are no examples or guidelines to follow, when there are no apparent advantages to the learning and when the event or learning is theoretical.

If you would like more information please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the October 2007 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

What's Next?

September is one of those times of the year when you may feel unsettled, you may be unsure about the direction that your life or business is going in, you may feel overwhelmed by what you have got on or you may want to make changes in your personal or business life.

This is usually as a result of taking a holiday or break during the summer and having the time to think about what is actually happening in your life, as well as what you want in the future. So if you are feeling like this, what can you do? Here are some suggestions that you may want to try:

What do you really want?
-One way of deciding what it is that you really want is to think about waking up one morning and everything is as you want it to be. What would you be doing, saying, feeling, what would other people be saying to you and what would be happening in your life?
-Another way is to write down everything that you would like to do, you want to be and you would like to have.
-You can also think about sitting in your rocking chair when you are old and looking back on your life. What would you regret not doing in your life?
-Look at each main area of your business and/or your personal life and rate them out of 10. This will help you sort out which areas you would like to change, if any.

What is the most important area to work on?
-You may already know what you want to achieve or you may have tried one of the suggestions above to sort out what it is you want. However, where are you going to start?
-Think through what you want to achieve and prioritise what is most important for you to work on first.
-You may find that some things get dropped off your list and you narrow down to a smaller number of things that you really want. You may also find that what you want to achieve is different than what you first thought.

What do you need to do to get there?
-What actions do you need to take to achieve what you want to achieve? If you have decided to work on a particular area of your personal or business life, look at what you need to do to achieve what you want.
-You can do this by brainstorming all the different things that you could do.
-You can think about what actions you need to take to move you from where you are now to where you want to be.
-Consider what will need to be different from now and what do you need to change?
-You could also ask yourself questions to help you to generate other ideas, such as what would you do if you had lots of money, what would you do if you had no commitments, what would you tell your friends to do, what would they tell you to do etc.
-You should now have a list of actions that you could take to achieve what you want to achieve.

What are you actually going to do?
-Narrow down what you are actually going to do and by when. Here you need to decide on which actions from those you have thought of above you actually want to take.
-Prioritise these actions and set deadlines for each one.

Just do it.
-If you really know what you want and you know what you need to do to get there, you then need to take the actions you have decided on.
-However lots of things can get in the way, so you will need to keep reviewing your list and re-prioritising as things change.
-If you are not taking action you may find that you don't really want what you thought you did.

What help can you get?
-To help you with the above, you may want to discuss what you want to do and your action plan with your family, friends or business colleagues so they can support and motivate you.
-You may want to do some reading or attend a training course.
-You may choose to use a business advisor or consultant.
-You could use the services of a coach or business mentor for help with the above and for support and motivation.

If you would like support with moving forward please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the September 2007 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Time Is Money - Are you making the best use of your time?

Are you making the best use of the time you have available to you in your business? Do you know what you are spending your time doing each day? Are you wasting time? Are you spending your time on achieving your business goals and objectives? Are you managing your time efficiently and effectively?

Time is money to your business. Whether it is your time or someone else's time that you are paying for, it is important that the time is spent productively on actions that will achieve your business goals. There are only a limited number of hours in each day and you need to make the best use of that time. No one sets out to deliberately waste time. However, when you are very busy it is easy to be wasting time without realising it.

If you want to make better use of your time, here are some ideas to try:

Identify what your business goals and objectives are. Be clear about what you want to achieve in your business in the short, medium and long term.

Understand what your time costs you. If you can put a value to each hour of your time and that of your staff, you will see the importance of ensuring that you are not wasting time. This may be in terms of the hourly rate you can charge your clients or the gross cost per hour of your staff or on what revenue you could generate in an hour.

Decide what you should be spending your time doing to achieve you business goals and objectives. In order to achieve your business goals and objectives what should you be spending your time doing? Once you know where you should be spending your time you can start to review what is currently happening.

Review what you are spending your time doing. Make a list of what you spend your time doing and how long you spend on each task. You may want to consider this on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

Look at where you may be time wasting. Review the list of what you are spending your time doing against what you should be doing and identify areas where you are potentially time wasting. This could be for a variety of reasons.

Review your business systems, procedures and processes. You may be spending time on inefficient systems, procedures and processes. It is easy to end up with inefficiencies, especially if your business is growing quickly. Review all your business systems, procedures and processes. You may find that some are not required any more, whilst you may be able to improve others to make you and your business more efficient.

Look at whether someone else could do the tasks that you are currently doing. You may be spending time on things you are not very good at, so you are taking much longer than an expert would take. Alternatively, you may be doing tasks that others could do for you to free up your time to focus on more important things. Once you have identified these areas look at who you could delegate or outsource this work to, whether an employee or an outside supplier and the cost of this compared with the potential benefits.

Use your time more efficiently. Look at when you do each task and when is the best time of day for you to do specific tasks. Doing similar tasks in blocks and aligning the tasks to how you feel at different times of the day/week may help you be more efficient. By organising your day better you will find you are more efficient.

Manage your time effectively. Once you have taken action to cut out time wasting, you then need to make sure you manage your time effectively. There are many different time management systems and each person has their preferred one. Whichever you choose it is very important to ensure that you set realistic times for each task, ensure that you are realistic about what you can achieve each day, ensure that you prioritise your tasks to achieve your business goals and objectives and also re-prioritise your tasks when things change or new tasks arise. This will help you to stay focused on your business goals and to keep you motivated.

Tackle procrastination. Procrastination may be the cause of your time wasting. For ideas on tackling procrastination please refer to the article in our March 2007 newsletter. This article can be found below.

There is more to life than work. You will be more effective at work if as well as the above you also look after your health and well being, don't work all the time, have some time off, enjoy time with your family and friends, relax, play a sport or have an interest.

Time wasting may be impacting you and your business. If you would like support with tackling time wasting please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the August 2007 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

How confident are you?

As a business owner, director or manager you are expected to be self confident by your peers, colleagues, employees, suppliers, customers and contacts. However, you may find that you do not always feel confident.

Your confidence may change depending on how your business is going or what is happening in your personal life. You may feel self confident in some areas of your business or personal life but not in others. You may have always had low self confidence.

Your level of self confidence can show to others in your behaviour, your body language, how you speak and what you say. It can also affect your thoughts, feelings and actions. People with low self confidence may avoid taking risks and stretching themselves and therefore will struggle to reach their goals.

If you want to build your confidence, here are some ideas to try:

Look at what you have achieved. Make a list of everything you have achieved and what you like about yourself. Consider your skills, experience, personality, what others like about you, what has brought you success and the challenges you have overcome. This will make you feel more confident as you will have a more positive view of yourself. Keep referring to this list especially if you feel your confidence falling.

Set achievable goals. Make a list of the areas of your business or personal life where you would like to have more confidence. Define an overall goal for each area as to what you would like to achieve. Break this down into smaller goals. This will help build your confidence as you achieve each goal.

Prepare an action plan. Think of what you could do to improve your confidence (e.g. attend a course, look how self confident people behave, do some reading, try out some different behaviours, change the way you think about things, look at when you have felt self confident in the past and what was happening then). Then decide which actions you are going to take and when.

Prepare thoroughly for each action. If you prepare well you will feel more confident. You may also want to rehearse the actions. The more prepared you are the better you will feel.

Don't procrastinate, just do it. Once you have identified what you need to do, don't procrastinate, just have a go. You will start to feel your confidence building.

Allow yourself to feel anxious and nervous. Feeling anxious and nervous is completely natural. Think back to past experiences when you have felt anxious and nervous but have come through the other side. If you start to think that these feelings are natural and positive you will start to feel more confident in difficult situations.

Learn from your past. Review situations in the past when you have felt confident and when you have felt less confident. Look at what went well, what did not go so well and what you will do differently next time. Keep reviewing each situation in the same way as you are building your confidence.

Imagine success. Think about successful outcomes to situations. If you think that something will be a success, it is more likely to be successful. The more success you achieve the more confident you will feel.

Manage your mind and choose what you think. How you think, impacts how you feel and what you do. Therefore, it is important to choose what you think and to think positively

Learn to handle failure. If something does not go well don't look at it as failure, see it as a learning experience. In running a business there will be many things that don't work out. You need to learn from these experiences.

Mix with people who are good for you. Choose to mix with people who help your confidence, that tell you what you are good at, that you can go out and achieve it and ask you questions that help your thinking.

Act like you are confident. Identify people who you think are self confident. Look at how they act and behave and imagine how they think. Try acting and behaving like them and thinking in a confident way and see how it makes you feel.

Low self confidence may be impacting you and your business. If you would like support in building your self confidence please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the July 2007 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

What makes a good leader? - Hints & Tips on Leadership Skills

There are many different views as to what makes a good leader. It has been widely debated as to whether you are born with leadership skills or whether you can develop into a leader. I personally subscribe to the view that leadership skills can be developed.

Developing your leadership skills is essential for running a successful business. Leadership skills can be developed through gaining experience, learning from others, training courses, self development, coaching or mentoring. Here are some hints and tips on some of the key leadership skills that will help you to develop into a good business leader:

1. Visionary. Leaders need to be able to develop, articulate and communicate the vision for their business, as well as inspiring everyone around the vision. Leaders also need to maintain a focus on the bigger picture for their business.
2. The ability to inspire and motivate others. Leaders need to inspire and motivate their employees to achieve the business objectives, as well as inspiring their suppliers, customers and everyone they deal with around their business vision.
3. Customer focused. Leaders need to be customer focused and to continually review their business from the customer’s perspective. Providing a high level of customer service is a key part of developing a successful business.
4. Personal values and a reputation for integrity and honesty. Leaders need a strong sense of personal values and a reputation for integrity and honesty, as well as the ability to keep calm and assured whatever is happening around them.
5. Knowledgeable and experienced. Leaders need to have specific knowledge and experience of the business they are in, as well as good general business knowledge and experience. They also need to focus on self development and be prepared to keep developing their knowledge and experience.
6. Decisive and self-confident. Leaders need to be self-confident and decisive, as well as being accountable for their decisions and for the business as a whole.
7. Ability to effect and lead change. Change is an essential part of business today and leaders need to be able to seek opportunities for change and effect change both within and outside their business. Running a business requires you to be flexible and adaptable at all times.
8. Good communication skills at all levels. Leaders need to be able to communicate well at all levels both within and outside their business.
9. Delegation. Leaders need to be able to delegate, develop, empower and encourage accountability in others.
10. A willingness to take advice and to seek support. Good leaders are willing to take advice on their business, as well as to ask for help and support.

I provide personalised coaching, mentoring and stress management services to business owners, directors, managers and professionals. Leadership is one of the areas that I work with clients on to move their business forward.

If you would like support with leadership in your business please refer to my website http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the Summer 2007 edition of the Success Matrix Find The Experts newsletter. For more information see www.findtheexperts.co.uk.

Are you a good listener?

Most of us consider ourselves to be good listeners, but how often do we really listen to what other people are saying? Poor listening skills can impact on your business and personal life leading to conflict, misunderstandings, relationship problems, losing customers and contracts, unhappy staff, increased costs and lower profitability.

What is good listening? Listening is not just about hearing. It is when you truly understand the other person’s point of view, what they are thinking, how they are feeling and how they see the world. Listening involves not only hearing, but also understanding what is said, giving feedback on what you have heard and using and interpreting the non-verbal aspects of communication i.e. vocal factors (pitch, tone and rhythm), eye contact, facial expressions, body postures and even silence.

What are the benefits of good listening? When you display good listening skills the person you are listening to feels understood and valued and is more likely to be open and honest with you. By giving them the opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings with you they can gain greater insight and make better choices. Good listening will result in better relationships, clearer communication and a happier and more successful business and personal life.

What are the barriers to good listening? There are many barriers to listening including:
- You may have preconceptions or make assumptions about what the other person might say and should say.
- Your attention can be selective leading to bias in what you hear.
- You think faster than other people can talk and your attention can wander.
- You may be unable to ignore irrelevant information.
- The physical environment can contribute to poor listening e.g. other people’s conversations and background distractions.
- You have not allowed enough time for the conversation.
- You may lack concentration because you are thinking of other things, planning what you want to say next or daydreaming.

What behaviours impede good listening? As well as the barriers to listening above, you can interrupt your listening and the other person by:
- Interrupting when the other person is talking.
- Giving advice or offering solutions when the other person is talking.
- Using humour inappropriately.
- Reassuring or consoling the other person before they have finished speaking.
- Fidgeting or distracting the other person.
- Using emotionally laden language.

So what can help you to improve your listening skills? Here are some tips to help you improve your listening:
- Look interested in the other person and be alert.
- Concentrate on really listening to the other person, including what they are saying, how they are saying it and their body language.
- Minimise distractions.
- Be patient and do not interrupt
- Keep up with what the other person is saying and listen to the whole story.
- Allow the other person to be silent. They may be thinking or processing something internally.
- Provide clear feedback to show that you are listening e.g. nodding, agreeing and encouraging.
- Match the other person’s body language, vocal factors, metaphors, use of language and emotional tone, so that they feel listened to, understood and appreciated.
- Try to understand what the person is actually saying, what they are thinking and what they are feeling.
- Use your intuition to try and understand what the other person is thinking and feeling but may not be actually saying.
- Do not be judgemental or opinionated.
- If you need to take notes ask first if this is okay and do it in a way that does not distract the other person.
- Analyse and reflect back what you have heard, by paraphrasing, repeating, asking open questions and clarifying.
- Summarise the key points of the conversation and ask the other person whether they agree with your summary.
- Notice if you are not properly listening so that you can quickly bring your attention back to the other person.

Poor listening skills may be impacting you and your business. If you would like support in improving your listening skills please refer to my website http://makinithappen.co.uk/ or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the June 2007 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Working Styles

Have you ever thought about your working style when communicating with your business contacts, employees, friends and family? Working styles are extremely useful in communication at all levels. Understanding and thinking about your working style and that of the person you are dealing with will help you immensely. There are five main working styles which are summarised below. Most people have characteristics from more than one style but generally everyone has a predominant style.

Which is your predominant style and what characteristics do you have from other styles? Think about your business and personal relationships, especially those where you experience difficulties in communication? You may find that the reason for this is that you have contrasting working styles. Communication can be significantly improved by being aware and adapting to the other person’s working style (e.g. If you are a ‘Hurry Up’ you may need to talk slower, explain things in detail and watch out for signs of stress when you are dealing with a ‘Be Perfect’). Why not try this out and see what impact it can have in your business and personal life?

1. Hurry Up
Motivation - To complete a task in the shortest possible time.
Strength - The amount of work they can complete.
Characteristics - Respond well to short deadlines, tend to delay jobs until urgent, look for the quickest way to complete each task, dislike preparation and checking, seem to enjoy having too many things to do and rushing around, can appear impatient, often fast thinkers who speak rapidly and interrupt without listening properly and like information in bullet points and verbally.

2. Be Perfect
Motivation - To get everything exactly right.
Strength - Reliable accurate work.
Characteristics - Prepare thoroughly, plan and pay close attention to detail, written work tends to be very good although lengthy, check facts carefully and has contingency plans for potential problems, constantly apply high expectations to self and others, can become paranoid and highly stressed by mistakes and tend to speak more slowly and carefully using longer and less familiar words.

3. Please Person
Motivation - To please others and encourage harmony.
Strength - Ability to function in a team.
Characteristics - Understanding, considerate and intuitive, will endeavour to draw in quieter members of the team, aim to please others preferably without having to ask what is required, dislike confrontation and conflict, dislike saying 'no' and can find it difficult to challenge, tend to take criticism personally, often smile and nod a lot in agreement tending to phrase opinions as questions, procrastinates over decisions and has good listening skills.

4. Try Hard
Motivation - The effort required in the initial stages of a new task.
Strength - Ideas, concepts, initiating tasks and getting things off the ground.
Characteristics - Like a steady supply of new and interesting tasks, a tendency to boredom with mundane detailed aspects of any task, highly inquisitive and like to explore and discover, positive approach to problems, follow up all possibilities of a task and may pick up on aspects missed by others, communication is often strained and difficult and often volunteer for any task which seems interesting.

5. Be Strong
Motivation -To stay calm under pressure and present an image of strength and control.
Strength - Ability to cope and remain calm.
Characteristics - Excellent in a crisis, energised under pressure, think logically when others are panicking, consistent steady workers with a strong sense of duty, firm, fair and even-tempered with an ability to give constructive criticism, can remain emotionally detached enabling them to deal with difficult people, appear to be able to make unpleasant decisions without guilt, communication style is often expressionless and unemotional, hate admitting weaknesses, often view failure to cope as a weakness and dislike asking for help.

If you are struggling with communication and you need some support in moving forward please refer to my website http://makinithappen.co.uk/ or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the May 2007 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Can stress be good for you?

What is stress? Stress is the state that you experience when you perceive that you cannot adequately cope with the demands being made on you. You feel under pressure and don't have the physical and mental reserves to cope. This may be because you don't know how to cope, don't have the resources to cope or are in poor health.

What causes stress? Many different situations can cause stress, ranging from a series of minor irritations to major upheavals, including work pressures, personal problems, financial worries, health concerns, perfectionism, procrastination, poor time management, putting too much pressure on yourself, low self confidence, negative self talk or not looking after yourself. Sometimes there is no obvious cause of stress at all.

What are the symptoms of stress? How you cope with stress lies in how you relate to yourself as each situation arises. If you cannot cope, you experience a build up of tensions that can affect you physically, psychologically and emotionally. Symptoms of stress can include:
- Physical signs such as chest pains, increased blood pressure, heart racing, palpitations, panic attacks, constant tiredness, cramps or muscle spasms, food, cigarette or drug cravings, dizziness, lack of appetite, nail biting, headaches, stomach disorders, feeling sick, frequent crying, restlessness, sleeping problems and a tendency to perspire. The body produces 'fight or flight' chemicals which prepare the body for an emergency. Cortisol releases fat and sugar into your body and reduces the efficiency of the immune system. Long term these can lead to high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks and other major health problems.
- Emotional symptoms such as feelings of anxiety, fear, anger, frustration, psychosomatic illnesses and depression. Thoughts may become jumbled and confused and you may become preoccupied with problems.
- Behavioural changes such as being withdrawn, indecisive, inflexible, inability to sleep, increased sensitivity to criticism, irritability, tearfulness and aggression, as well as inability to concentrate.

How can you manage stress? Managing stress is one of the areas that my clients often ask for support with. Stress management involves recognising the symptoms of stress, identifying the causes of stress, taking action to address the causes and thereby reduce the symptoms and where necessary, taking interim steps to relieve the symptoms until the underlying causes have been addressed. There are many different ways of managing stress, including:
-Time management, including goal and action planning, delegation, controlling perfectionism and overcoming procrastination.
- Assertiveness, including recognising behaviours, dealing with criticism and with anger and learning how to say no.
- Rational thinking, including positive thinking, challenging distorted thinking and irrational beliefs.
- Self care, including relaxation, having fun, learning to express yourself, understanding yourself, exercise, healthy eating, a good work-life balance, developing hobbies and interests, expanding your circle of friends and looking after your mental health.
- Medical, including various types of medication.
- Stress management therapies, including psychotherapy, counselling, massage, aromatherapy, reflexology and many more.

Can stress be good for you? Stress is not necessarily bad or dangerous and if you can manage stress in a positive way you can keep on top of things. You will then see stress as invigorating and challenging rather than something to fear. As stress levels increase we move from a state of low performance to a state of peak performance, but as stress levels continue to increase our performance decreases again, as we become overloaded and reach a state of exhaustion and burnout. It is therefore a delicate balance and different for each person. However if stress is well managed it can be beneficial.

Overall, there are positive and negative aspects to stress and it is important to find the right balance in your life. By following good stress management strategies you can enjoy the beneficial and positive side of stress.

If you are struggling with stress and you need some support in moving forward please refer to my website http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the April 2007 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

How do you keep your employees motivated?

Well motivated employees lead to high business productivity, minimal staff turnover and greater profitability for your business. However, how do you keep your employees motivated?

Motivating your employees is not just about paying a competitive salary or offering perks and bonuses. To ensure your employees are well motivated you need to consider all aspects of your business. Here are some hints and tips to help you:

1. Make your employees feel valued. Thank them, give them praise, recognise them for their contribution to the business, encourage them to feel that their work makes a difference to the business and give feedback constructively.
2. Communicate with your employees in an open and honest way, including regular staff meetings in groups and on a one-to-one basis and staff updates on how the business is performing and management decisions that have been made.
3. Review performance on a regular basis through staff appraisals and individual update meetings, ensuring individual objectives are realistic and align with the overall business objectives. Ensure your approach is consistent and fair between employees.
4. Consult with your employees before making decisions that will affect them and encourage your employees to make suggestions for improvements in the business. Ensure you listen to your employees and acknowledge their opinions.
5. Develop trust and teamwork among your employees and encourage them to ask for help when problems arise.
6. Give your employees a reasonable amount of autonomy and control and try and ensure each employee has a variety of interesting and satisfying work.
7. Support your employees through times of change in the business, in achieving work/life balance and managing stress.
8. Provide employees with development and career opportunities, through training, work placements and encouragement.
9. Create an atmosphere where employees enjoy working alongside their colleagues, where there is time for humour and fun and take the time to be interested in their life outside work. Provide a good working environment, together with the right training and equipment to do the job.
10. Pay your employees a competitive salary and appropriate bonuses and perks.

I provide personalised coaching, mentoring and stress management services to business owners, directors, managers and professionals. Motivating employees is one of the areas that I work with clients on to move their business forward.

If you would like support with employee motivation in your business please refer to my website http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the Spring 2007 edition of the Success Matrix Find The Experts newsletter. For more information see www.findtheexperts.co.uk.

Are you procrastinating?

I am sure that you are all familiar with procrastination - i.e. putting off doing things that are important and doing something more enjoyable or easier instead.

But, have you really considered what the costs of procrastinating are to you and your business?
- If you put off something for too long you may miss out on opportunities. How often do you get that big product or marketing idea, procrastinate, then find the competitors have got there first?
- Procrastination is a big time waster. Your time is money and you need to spend it productively.
- It may stop you achieving your business goals or slow your progress towards your goals.
- Leaving things until they are urgent can result in mistakes and low customer satisfaction.
- Procrastination can have a negative impact on your emotions, increasing worry and stress.

You need to recognise the signs of procrastination to be able to do something about it. Do you recognise any of these in yourself?
- Being very busy or always having something urgent to do so you never do the important tasks.
- Being a perfectionist and not wanting to start a task until everything is just so.
- Leaving a task because you feel overwhelmed by it, whether it be due to the size of the task or because you feel you don't have the skills or resources to complete it.
- Always staying within your comfort zone and never tackling the more challenging tasks.
- Feeling that it needs to be the right time or that you need to be in the right mood.
- Fearing that you will fail or even fearing success.
- Finding that you are making a drink or looking at your emails instead of completing an important task.

Understanding why you are procrastinating will help you decide how to stop. You may be putting up emotional barriers, being complacent, fearing failure, avoiding discomfort or feeling that being busy is good for your business.

Stopping procrastinating is one of the areas that I work with clients on to help them become more productive, focused and successful in both their business and personal life. So how do you stop procrastinating?
- Have clear business and personal goals that align with your values.
- Keep focused on your goals at all times.
- Identify the key tasks you need to do and when you will do them to achieve your goals.
- Prioritise these tasks and be prepared to reprioritise them as things change.
- Break down large tasks into smaller more manageable tasks. Start on the easier tasks first.
- Identify the value of completing the tasks e.g. more money, time, fun, less stress etc.
- Use the value and benefits of completing the tasks as motivation.
- Use good time management and organisational skills at all times.
- Try and make tasks more enjoyable and give yourself rewards for achieving them.
- Imagine how you will feel when the task is completed to motivate you.
- Tell other people what you are doing so they can help and encourage you.

Procrastination may be impacting you and your business by much more than you initially thought. Hopefully this article will have increased your awareness of the impact it can have and given you some ideas on how to stop procrastinating.

If you are struggling with procrastination and you need some support in moving forward please refer to my website http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the March 2007 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.

Are you running a business?

I provide personalised coaching, mentoring and stress management services to business owners, directors, managers and professionals.

Are you running a business and need someone:
-to bounce ideas off?
-to point you in the right direction?
-to help you focus on the most important issues?
-to be your confidential sounding board?
-to support and motivate you through the stressful and challenging times?
-to help you to achieve your business goals?

Are you finding it difficult to cope with high levels of stress in your life?

I can help you with all this and more.

For more information please refer to my website http://makinithappen.co.uk