Learning to be a Champion Blog

“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.”
                                                                                                                                 – Jim Rohn

Recently, I had a conversation with a company owner who I first spoke with during November 2010.  Back then, we explored opportunities for me to help his company implement the Rockefeller Habits and Gazelles Growth Tools.  He chose not to act on the opportunity at the time. 
 
During this most recent conversation, we spent much of of it talking about the pain of regret that he suffered through most of 2011 due to that decision not to move forward with coaching.  The way he described the missed opportunities and real challenges he faced, it certainly sounded like this pain weighs tons!!!

This owner is now convinced that the pain of discipline is the better pain to endure!  We are reconnecting after the Holidays to discuss specific coaching programs.  This will allow them to better capitalize on their opportunities and more quickly overcome their challenges next year.

So…

Which pain will you endure in 2012 – the pain of discipline (which weighs ounces) or the pain of regret (which weighs tons)?

LAST CALL…

Join me on December 15, 2011 in Columbus, OH and learn how to get your leadership team aligned around the 3 Growth Disciplines and One-page Strategic Plan . Better yet, bring your team with you! There is a discount for teams from the same company.

If December 15th is a bad day for you, I recently identified 3 other dates in December based on the need of one company to offer a PRIVATE VERSION of this workshop. 1 of these dates is still available for teams of 6 or more people.

There is NO ideal time to get started.  Waiting for a better time is a losing game – it never arrives! 

Better times are created by implementing the right disciplines to create better times. 

Thus, there is no better time than NOW to take action to address your growth challenges!

P.S. – If you just want to spend some informal time together in 2012, we (The Grow Smart Group) are hosting people in a Suite at the Schottenstein Center for a few more #2 Ranked Ohio State Buckeye Basketball Games. 
 
The games are listed below and all of them are starting to fill-up already.  Let me know ( jiveson@learningtobeachampion.com ) if you are interested!

• W, 1/25/12 for Ohio State vs Penn State at 6:30pm
• T, 2/7/12 for Ohio State vs. Purdue at 9:00pm
• T, 2/21/12 for Ohio State vs. Illinois at 7:00pm

• What if…you have a strategy and growth plan that provides you a clear competitive advantage against your competition?
• What if…All your employees are A or B players that really understand your vision, and their performance exceeds your greatest expectations?
• What if…Your team fully understands how to listen acutely to the market you serve, and see the trends that your company can provide solutions for before they become a challenge?
• What if…There is a collaborative and comprehensive rhythm for how business is conducted in your company, where everyone is open to learning and growing for the betterment of the company?

How you spend your time?  Or better yet, who would you become?

Effective leaders explore regularly how their current operations structure is causing the organization to struggle.  These leaders regularly seek new simple and effective habits to make sure that STRUGGLE is not part of their future.

Here is a great overview of Apple’s Secrets to Success over the last decade.  If you are trying to create your 2012 strategy and growth plan on your own, I recommend you  use this overview to stretch the thinking of your leadership team.  It will help you outthink your competition! 

Secondly, here is an overview of where email marketing is headed in 2012.  I recommend you consider these points as you rollout your strategy into a 2012 profitable growth plan!

On December 15, you can join me for PROFITABLE GROWTH Planning Day for 2012 where I will stretch your thinking, help you outthink your competition, and support you as you activate a plan that will elevate execution to align with your new strategy and plans.   At the end of the day, you’ll be a whole lot closer to finding your strategy and growth plan.  So what’s stopping you?

For Owners, Entrepreneurs, CEOs & Their Leadership Teams – Spend 6 hours with a senior certified coach and you will GAIN:

• An overview of the Four Decisions (People, Strategy, Execution, Cash) you must get right to grow.
• A considerable start on your 2012 One-Page Strategic Plan, to focus & align your team.
• The Rockefeller Habits checklist to strengthen your ability to execute and accelerate your growth.
• An aligned, accountable, and enthusiastic leadership team, ready to hit the ground running in 2012.

If December 15th is a bad day for you, I recently identified 3 other dates in December based on the need of one company to offer a PRIVATE VERSION of this workshop. 1 of these dates is still available for teams of 6 or more people at roughly the same price.

There is no better time than NOW to take action to address your growth challenges!

P.S. – Do you know someone who might benefit from this information and action packed workshop? I invite you to share the information with them now by forwarding this e-mail!

P.P.S. – If you just want to spend some informal time together learning more about how I can help you, we (The Grow Smart Group) are hosting people in a Suite at the Schottenstein Center for a few more #2 Ranked Ohio State Buckeye Basketball Games.  The games are listed below and all of them are starting to fill-up already.  Let me know if you are interested!

• W, 1/25/12 for Ohio State vs Penn State at 6:30pm
• T, 2/7/12 for Ohio State vs. Purdue at 9:00pm
• T, 2/21/12 for Ohio State vs. Illinois at 7:00pm

P.S. – Do you know someone who might benefit from this information packed workshop?  I invite you to share the information with them now by forwarding this e-mail!  

P.P.S. – If you just want to spend some informal time together learning more, we (The Grow Smart Group) are hosting people in a Suite at the Schottenstein Center for the 4 following #2 Ranked Ohio State Buckeye Basketball Games.

Let me know if you are interested!

1. Whole Brain Involvement (Left AND Right Side) - “The brain is specialized, and the degree of specialization affects how we think and what we pay attention to. We do not function with “half a brain” as the terms “left brained” and “right brained” imply. In fact, the brain’s very design gives us the opportunity to think in terms of and versus or…A six-year study conducted with the U.S. Forest Service using the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) demonstrated that whole brain teams can be up to 66 percent more effective than randomly assigned teams.”  –Ann Herrmann-Nehdi
2. Human Engagement (Head AND Heart) - “For individuals’ behavior to change, you’ve got to influence not only their environment but their hearts and minds.  The problem is this: Often the heart and mind disagree.  Fervently.”  – Chip and Dan Heath
3. Timing (Capitalize on AND Build Energy) - “Energy, not time, is the fundamental currency of high performance.” – Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz     Thus, it is not just about investing time in planning for profitable growth.  It is also about the timing of that investment of time to maximize the energy of and from the effort.  In my experience, the timing of this investment maximizes the energy of and from that effort when it occurs between the Thanksgiving Holiday and the New Year.
4. Process (Education, Examples, Hands-on Work, Habits, AND Leadership) - The right process makes all the difference and A successful leader does what is required to get results from it!

I will book the above mentioned 3 dates with the first 3 teams that commit to PRIVATE VERSIONS of the workshop in December! 

• W, 12/14/11 for Ohio State vs South Carolina Upstate at 7:30pm
• W, 1/25/12 for Ohio State vs Penn State at 6:30pm
• T, 2/7/12 for Ohio State vs. Purdue at 9:00pm
• T, 2/21/12 for Ohio State vs. Illinois at 7:00pm

• Have the past several years been profitable?
• Have we taken advantage of our market changes?
• Am I pleased with how we are growing in multiple ways?
• Am I sleeping well at night knowing we are on the right track?

• People
• Strategy
• Execution
• Cash

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
– George Bernard Shaw

I just returned from the Fortune Growth Summit in Phoenix, Arizona with 514 other coaches, owners, entrepreneurs, executives, and leaders of growth companies.  This is always a great educational event where we all learn from world-class entrepreneurs and thought leaders.However, there is also HIDDEN learning value that always comes from this unique conference every year! 

You see, we learn about the real-time trends, challenges, thinking, and opportunities of successful highly profitable growth companies.  We learn this through conversations, live polls, Q&A, and comments throughout the 3 and 1/2 days of learning amongst the 85 Gazelles International Coaches and the 190 growth companies represented from around the world. 

The learning that came from our formal agenda was TREMENDOUS but the learning that came was the informal interaction was ENLIGHTENING!

So, here is that surprising (and enlightening) truth about highly profitable growth companies…

The most successful growth companies right now are MANUFACTURERS!!!  That is correct – they are manufacturers!  However, they are NOT traditional manufacturers.  They are MANUFACTURERS of Growth!

By and large, highly profitable growth companies before the Great Recession did NOT have to manufacturer growth.  They could achieve growth by taking advantage of the many opportunities presented by the broad growth in the economy.

Today, there are much fewer opportunities being generated by broad growth in the economy.  Thus, highly profitable growth companies today are mastering the process of truly manufacturing growth!  Instead of manufacturing products and providing services, these companies view themselves as “Manufacturers of Growth!” 

 

This mindset is no small part in their success.  Focus and attention drive results!

The manufacturers of the past sought to scale “productivity” but these new “Manufacturers of Growth” seek to scale a different set of things as well.  In doing so, these new manufacturers are creating enduring success.

Fortunately, this success can be replicated!!!

I hope you enter this new category of business in 2012!  Get started NOW by developing your 2012 strategic plan for profitable growth.  Then, launch it with great ENERGY after the Holiday Season! 

P.S. If you need help creating your 2012 Profitable Growth Plan, consider attending my PROFITABLE GROWTH Planning Day in early December.

“Without the strength to endure the crisis, one will not see the opportunity within. It is within the process of endurance that opportunity reveals itself.”
– Chin-Ning Chu

There is a new reality that we are all operating in!  This new reality started to take shape 3 years ago.  Many people have resisted the idea of a new reality and instead focused on enduring a major bump in the road of our old reality.  This is not a long-term winning approach when our reality has indeed changed for good.

Seth Godin does a great job of framing the new reality, calling it “the forever recession.”  If you had been paying attention, you would have first recognized this new reality when he first wrote about it on September 21, 2010.  That was more than one year ago!

So my question is…

How well have you adapted to the new reality?

If you paying attention last year, you evolved and re-invented yourself and your organization over the last 12 months to be much stronger and better prepared for this new reality!

Today, Seth Godin revisited the forever recession.  In this article, he expands on the forever recession and talks about the two races going on; the race to the bottom and the race to the top.  The race to the top occurs around what Seth Godin calls the coming revolution.

Many people have been busy the last 3 years adapting in ways that put them on the race to the bottom.  The winners (or soon to be winners) have been busy adapting in ways to put them on the race to the top!

These few paragraphs from Seth Godin best summarizes the challenge (and opportunity) we all face…

Gears are going to be shifted regardless. In one direction is lowered expectations and plenty of burger flipping. In the other is a race to the top, in which individuals who are awaiting instructions begin to give them instead.

The future feels a lot more like marketing–it’s impromptu, it’s based on innovation and inspiration, and it involves connections between and among people–and a lot less like factory work, in which you do what you did yesterday, but faster and cheaper.

This means we may need to change our expectations, change our training and change how we engage with the future. Still, it’s better than fighting for a status quo that is no longer. The good news is clear: every forever recession is followed by a lifetime of growth from the next thing…

The beginning of a new quarter provides a great opportunity for anyone to engage the future differently! 

In fact, repetitive quarterly evaluation and execution plans supported by coaching and course corrections is a strategic advantage for which everyone has access.  It is what you choose to focus on in this process that becomes your distinctive competitive advantage in the coming revolution!

I encourage you to take an hour to think about this on this first weekend of the final quarter of 2011.  But don’t just think about! 

Identify some strategic action to take in this race to the top.  Define just 3 leveraged priorities you will focus on in the midst of chaos this quarter.

Then, do as Verne Harnish suggests and get a “peer” coach to help you adapt habits that align with these priorities.  As Verne says about his own efforts with a peer coach, “It’s amazing the changes you can make and the habits you can break when you have to answer to someone besides yourself every day!”  This will help you get in the race.

But this is not sufficient to win this race to the top.  You also need a “growth and development” coach, who you meet with once a week or month, to help you perform at your best.  This could be an executive coach, a business coach, or a business mentor. 

According to this Fortune article, a July 2011 American Management Association survey found that 50% of the participating companies provided coaching for its mid to senior level staff.

It is no longer sufficient to just develop and maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses to win the race to the top.  That might keep you in the race but it will not allow you be a winner in the race to the top.  You now need a different kind of support team around you to help make you a winner on that race!

 A “peer” coach and a “growth and development” coach should be on your team!  They will help you successfully adapt to our new reality.

© Copyright 2011 Jon L. Iveson, Ph.D.
Jon L. Iveson, Ph.D. is a Gazelles Certified Business Coach who specializes in helping companies and executives thrive.  Jon focuses on real results and guarantees a real return on investment in his coaching programs.  To learn more about him, please visit his website at www.learningtobeachampion.com or contact Jon at (877)342-4267 or jiveson@learningtobeachampion.com

As the world economy has languished for the last three years, we have heard the same reasoning over and over from pundits and members of the business community as to why – the market needs confidence in order to spur growth!  Unfortunately, most of those same pundits and members of the business community are pointing their fingers at politicians to provide mechanisms for confidence.

In reality the confidence that is needed to spur growth is the confidence that rises up from our passions.  That’s why it was energizing to read about Starbucks’ Howard Schultz and his effort to galvanize the passions of his business peers in spurring growth.  He appears to have passion for changing a broken political process.  I have not heard anything about the specific outcome of this town hall conference call but hopefully it sparked some positive movement.

It is critical right now and moving forward that you don’t allow the bastards (whoever they may be) to steal your passions!  Becoming less passionate but more cost conscious, more methodically, more efficient, etc.. is not the winning formula.  If anything, we need to connect more vigorously to our passions in creating our path forward.

This was my message to a client group yesterday as we refined their strategic plan and developed their quarterly execution plan to deal with some massive external challenges.  As a group, we left the session more energized and confident about the immediate and long-term future.  That is something now something we can build on as we execute the plan and make course corrections the next few months.

Companies or organizations that are thriving now, or will in the future, and people that are thriving now, or will in the future, are the ones that build around passion and maintain a strong connection to passion in moving forward! 

My friend, Jason Ross, and his company, JackThreads, understand the importance of passion and they are thriving because of it.  In this story on JackThreads, Jason talks about how his company rose from his personal passion.  Although not mentioned in the story, I know first hand that it was that passion that sustained Jason in the early days as he tested himself in getting this company off the ground and created early success!

The bastards that could steal your passions are always all around you.  They might disguise themselves as skeptical family and friends, discouraging colleagues and peers, challenging supervisors or superiors, disinterested or disengaged investors, manipulating politicians, or a stagnant economy. Don’t let these bastards steal your passions.  These passions are a fundamental ingredient for your future success!

© Copyright 2011 Jon L. Iveson, Ph.D.

P.S.  WHO is helping you make sure you PASSIONATELY move forward?  This friend, mentor, or coach is invaluable!  They make sure…

• PASSIONATELY get started with the right things
• Taking PASSIONATE action 
• PASSIONATELY move forward 
• Make PASSIONATE course corrections
• Staying PASSIONATELY in the game

It’s the winning process!  None of us knows what the future will hold.  But, if you work the above process, you will be in a winning position in the future!

I am hosting Complementary Telephone Coaching Calls the week of 9/19/11 to help owners, entrepreneurs, executives and leadership team members jumpstart this process.  Schedule your Complimentary Telephone Coaching Call right NOW!