When was the last time you spent time on the “why” of your business?
Why do you do what you do?
How do you define success?
And what would your business look like in a perfect world?
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock and article originally published through the Forbes Coaches Council.
Often, we’re focused on fixing problems, chasing opportunities and keeping up with industry shifts, causing us to overlook the foundation on which we built our business — our “why.” When we lose sight or forget our “why,” we’re more likely to lose our way, like sailing a ship without a rudder. This is dangerous because now we’re at the mercy of the strongest prevailing wind.
In simple terms, a business vision describes where your business is going and how you’ll know when you’ve arrived. A business mission statement is your “why.” What does success look like to you, and why are you working so hard to get there?
A business vision requires you to get real about your personal and business ambitions. How do you define success? What will it take to get there, and how will you know when you do? We’ll get into the nuts and bolts of creating a vision and mission statement in another article, but for now, let’s take some time to dream big.
What are your dreams?
To get maximum impact, let’s park the reality filter at the door. This is a time to envision your business as if there were no obstacles or impediments.
If you are a hard-wired, get-it-done, analytical person and structure is your favourite tool, then this is going to be a challenge for you because it requires trusting in a side of you that you don’t tap into very often — your creative side rather than your analytical side.
Find a quiet spot, free up your calendar, turn off the phone (not just the ringer — turn it off), turn off your email notifications and do the following exercises.
Exercise 1: You’re telling your grandchildren about your life
It doesn’t matter if you have a family or not, or even if you don’t want one. This is an exercise in possibilities. So, answer the following as if you’re telling the ideal story of your career to your grandchildren.
1. What did you do and why? What was the best part of your workday and why?
2. How large was your company? How many employees did you have? How many locations did you run?
3. What achievements are you most proud of? How did your business contribute to other people’s lives?
4. What will you be remembered for? What was it about you that kept your competition up at night?
5. How did you define success? How did your business help build your ideal life?
6. Who took over? Did you sell, close up or transfer ownership to your family?
7. What is your legacy?
Spend about 20 minutes thinking about these questions, and then start writing things down. Don’t self-edit; just free-flow and write what comes to you. It will give you a good sense of what is important and how to get there.
Exercise 2: You’re being given a prestigious award for business excellence
1. In the summary that is read as the award is presented, what will the speaker say about you and your business?
2. What kind of an award is it — humanitarian, entrepreneurship, innovation, business excellence? Is it for you or your company?
3. What accomplishments are being highlighted? What are you most proud of?
4. Where are you receiving the award? Is it local, provincial, national, international?
5. Who will be in attendance? Who are your peers or contemporaries?
6. What would the accompanying media coverage say?
Now, write the story. It doesn’t have to be formatted correctly; just write the story of your success. What would it say? What accomplishments are included? Who’s quoted? Which business leaders will celebrate your success, and what will they say?
Exercise 3: Wave a magic wand
If you could wave a magic wand for all obstacles to disappear, what would your business look like?
1. If there were no barriers, what would you do and why? Many of us spend our lives in a job rather than a career because life happens. What would you do if there were no obstacles?
2. In an ideal world, where would your business be positioned? What would you be known for?
3. What about you keeps your competition up at night? Why? What is your unique value proposition, and how did you get there?
4. What will your legacy be? What will your company be known for in the future? What was your role in that success?
5. What is the best part of your business? What have you achieved? How did you get there?
Create your vision and mission statement
Now, put the papers away for a couple of days before looking at the common themes. Do you see some common words, goals or wishes? Start writing these down.
Your vision for your business is what you want it to be. Your mission statement is what you want to be known for. In other words, the vision is the “what,” and the mission statement is the “why.”
Top Tip: Give yourself permission to dream big, and test your dreams and vision with a trusted friend who will give you honest and constructive feedback.
By following these exercises, you can remind yourself of your purpose, reinforce your forgotten “why,” and stabilize yourself, your business and your people. No longer will you be easily blown by any wind; instead, you’re steering a chartered course with a clear vision and a steady hand on the rudder.
Successful professionals know they have unlimited potential.
Go back to your notes and dream even bigger.
Now is the time to put a stake in the ground and stop playing it small.
In your wildest dreams, dare to be that amazing, brilliantly bright star that you and others admire and want to follow.
Consider what’s possible. What’s your big vision and dream? Rise to your greatest expectations!
Christine coaches with ROI top-of-mind. Many companies who leverage her coaching produce quick and long-lasting results transforming people, processes and culture, impacting their bottom line.
Her time with clients generates powerful results in:
- Business and Personal Development
- Communication and Relationships
- Sales and Sales Leadership
Watching and learning at the feet of titans of Canada’s Wall Street and other business leaders, Coach Christine was influenced by their success and built a corporate career and coaching business founded on proven business practices.
She is an award-winning business woman and contributor to Forbes publications; is an accredited coach with the International Coaching Federation; a practitioner of Conscious Business practices; is certified by the IMPACT: Coaching with ROI program; holds her First and Second Degree Reiki and has studied Aboriginal healing for over 20 years.
Christine loves the adventure of travel and has a knock-out collection of snazzy women’s shoes.
When you want more, are ready to bust obstacles and build your juicy, big life, contact me, Coach Christine Culbertson.
Together let’s step into your untapped potential!
Imagine overcoming obstacles
knocking down barriers and leading valuable
timely conversations that are a win-win for all
Originally published through the Forbes Coaches Council.
Winning-Ways and rich relationships that are robust and productive come from clear communication. What do we need to do and who do we need to be to become master communicators and have strong relationships?
We tend to first look at others’ behaviors and attitudes, but it is the skillful leader who first turns the lens within, discovering soft spots and ways to build and grow themselves. Becoming a leader whom others want to follow (like potential clients, colleagues or teams) is about understanding the needs and wants of others while meeting your needs and expectations.
Our first order of business is understanding our mindset and attitudes and the impact they have on our personal and professional lives. If you’re in a leadership position in business, or you’re a community builder or an entrepreneur, you too will find these grit- and grin-building tools valuable.
Compass Points
Your mindset is your belief of the world, how you perceive the world and how you fit into the world. It shapes your thoughts, forming beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that create your actions.
Psychologist Carol Dweck of Stanford University wrote about two mindsets . A fixed mindset is rigid in belief and action and believes that basic characteristics, like intelligence, are a measure of success or failure. There is a continual push to prove oneself, as failure is seen as a negative. On the other hand, the growth mindset is flexible, believes in hard work, seeks to excel and doesn’t avoid failure, using it instead to improve.
Obstacles and Opportunities:
Here are important questions to ask to help understand your obstacles and grow your opportunities:
- Which is your operating mindset?
- How does it serve you?
- What’s needed or possible to change or improve?
Your mindset is one of the points on your compass, but not the only one. A positive mindset leads to resilient, gritty behavior. Resilience works in tandem with a flexible mindset, where obstacles are course-corrections rather than roadblocks.
Attitudes and Impact:
Your attitude carries a lot of weight too. Preston Ni of Psychology Today talks about different negative attitudes and their impact on personal and professional life. Here are eight warning signs of harmful attitudes and how to bust obstacles and build your strengths:
- Negative self-talk: “I’ll never make quota.” “I just know I’m going to fail.” “No one is interested in my opinion.” Every time we send ourselves a negative message, we undermine our confidence and even self-sabotage our success. Pay attention to the messages you give yourself — find your grit and grin beyond negativity.
- Negative assumptions: Sometimes things go wrong. Traffic jams develop, spills happen, phone batteries die. None of these are inherently positive or negative but our response to them can be. Your choice of response can make you happier or more stressed and luckily your response is completely in your control.
- Negative comparisons: There will always be someone with a bigger car, a higher salary, a shinier watch or a bigger boat. If you constantly measure yourself against others, you will end up stressed, dissatisfied and depressed. Focus on your accomplishments!
- Negative ruminations about the past: We all have moments that we wish we could rewind and do over. If you botched a big presentation, instead of replaying it on a constant loop, learn from it and move on. Focusing on past failure prevents you from seeing new possibilities. Be resilient, own the past and keep moving forward.
- Dealing with difficult people: Some people are jerks, bullies or have made passive-aggressive behavior an art form. They intimidate, threaten, manipulate facts and situations and often take advantage of others. What’s the point in fighting them, right? They always win. Except, they don’t. Instead of reacting and feeling like a victim, you can learn to use strategies and techniques to counter their behaviour and stay in control.
- Blaming: We all know people who deflect responsibility to anyone but themselves. They are late for a meeting because the guy in the car in front of them was driving too slow, not because they didn’t allow extra time for delays. It’s often easier to blame someone else than to take ownership and accountability, but it leads to bitterness and resentment. Take ownership of your choices and actions.
- Neglecting to forgive yourself: Mistakes happen. Learning to forgive yourself for past mistakes can be difficult. As Ni says, “There may be an accompanying sense of self-blame at the blunders made, damage done or opportunities missed. You might think of yourself as a ‘bad’ or ‘flawed’ person and wallow in guilt. During these moments, it’s extremely important to be compassionate with yourself, knowing that now that you’re more aware, you have a chance to avoid repeating past mistakes, and to make a positive difference with yourself and others.”
- Fear of failure and making mistakes: Taking a risk and stepping out of your comfort zone can lead to great new opportunities or spectacular failure. The fear of making a mistake and failing is often tied to perfectionism. Setting high standards can be motivating and, with a flexible mindset, mistakes are opportunities to learn and course-correct. The fear of failure can be debilitating or motivating. What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
Being a leader whom others want to follow takes personal grit and strength
Though it may sound challenging, it’s very doable. Our greatest strengths are being resilient, having a growth mindset and a positive, can-do winning attitude. Take time to discover your soft spots and grow them. And remember to celebrate your strengths and Winning-Ways. Let’s keep you on track for more success and a bigger life.
Christine coaches with ROI top-of-mind. Many companies who leverage her coaching produce quick and long-lasting results transforming people, processes and culture, impacting their bottom line.
Her time with clients generates powerful results in:
- Business and Personal Development
- Communication and Relationships
- Sales and Sales Leadership
Watching and learning at the feet of titans of Canada’s Wall Street and other business leaders, Coach Christine was influenced by their success and built a corporate career and coaching business founded on proven business practices.
She is an award-winning business woman and contributor to Forbes publications; is an accredited coach with the ICF; a practitioner of Conscious Business practices; is certified by the IMPACT: Coaching with ROI program; holds her First and Second Degree Reiki and has studied Aboriginal healing for over 20 years. Christine loves the adventure of travel and has a knock-out collection of snazzy women’s shoes.
When you want more, are ready to bust obstacles and build your juicy, big life, contact me, Coach Christine Culbertson.
Together we’ll step into your untapped potential.
My hubby had just come home from a business trip and we were enjoying a quiet evening watching TV, a fascinating show on the Smithsonian channel. We were chatting and laughing together – overall, a pretty normal night.
Breathe, swallow, blink … in that micro-moment my perspective of our lives change.
Will we ever visit Sedona, tour the Italian coast, or enjoy our gaggle of grand-children dreamed of and yet to be born?
There’s no droopy eye, frozen face symptomatic of a stroke, his eyes sometimes follow, sometimes close but most frightening, he cannot speak. His hands twitch and flail but he is immobile. Sweat beads and trickles down his face pooling in the swirls of hair on his chest and I stare at it, touch it because it makes no sense and I don’t know what to do.
My world is a collision of extremes; I’m panicked and frozen, but in action too. It seems I’m moving, talking, caressing his arms, face, chest, until the ambulance arrives. I feared my husband had a stroke. Welcome to my 15 minutes of hell that scorch my heart.
They pump sugar into his body and he slowly rises from his Diabetic coma.
Thank heavens we avoided a stroke, or worse, the final stroke – death.
Nausea. Fear. Uncertainty. Gratitude. My emotions today, the day after, are turbulent. The trees seem more vibrant, their green almost painful to my eyes, my morning coffee is stronger and my senses are hyper almost as though they scream for more, or less, I’m not sure.
And I pause and think of the comma … I feel the comma will become very significant now — comma for pause, comma for breath, comma for reflection, comma for a new perspective of life.
Yes, and now what’s possible?
Yes, and now what’s important?
Yes, and now …
I share what I’ve learned about the reality and symptoms of a Diabetic in crisis and hope this arms us well because life is too sweet to end too soon.
The highs & lows of sugar and Diabetes:
It’s an equal opportunity disease because it doesn’t discriminate. It affects young, old and those in between, touching all genders and races as well.
Irreversible brain damage or death is possible if the coma is not treated.
An overabundance of sugar (Hyperglycemia) is as dangerous and low levels (Hypoglycemia) of sugar and the Mayo Clinic lists these signs you must be aware of for high blood sugar symptoms:
- Increased thirst
- Frequent urination
- Fatigue
- Nausea and vomiting
- Shortness of breath
- Stomach pain
- Fruity breath odor
- A very dry mouth
- A rapid heartbeat
And here’s the symptoms for low blood sugar:
- Shakiness or nervousness
- Anxiety
- Fatigue
- Weakness
- Sweating
- Hunger
- Nausea
- Dizziness or light-headedness
- Difficulty speaking
- Confusion
The full article and more helpful information can be found here.
Can you tell which my husband suffered from? Yes, it was low blood sugar.
What’s next? For us, it’s being more diligent and ensuring hubby is wearing his Medical bracelet in case he’s away or I’m not around.
What’s next for you?
If you live with or love one who has Diabetes, know the symptoms and get emergency help – fast!
One-third of the population is Diabetic and doesn’t know it, yet it’s a controllable disease when caught early. In case you’re peeing more, eating more and drinking more, here’s a link to the Diabetes Library’s article on the early symptoms of type 2 Diabetes .
Final words from my hubby
“I feel so stupid! I risked my life and the happiness of my wife and family! … It could ‘a been my BIG PAUSE!”
Take good care of yourself and those you love. Christine
An excerpt from Life Notes: Poignant moments, shaggy-dog stories and celebrations from my world to yours
Another special Why …
We peek under the covers and look at Why my clients do what they do.
Here’s my Why:
My new hubby Bob Culbertson and our beautiful relationship, and here’s a picture of my other top Why: My daughter Michelle Swartzentruber, her hubby Derek, and my new baby grandson Kacey.
YES! I’m a Grand-ma and LOVING it!
My business is robust allowing me to flexibly blend family, friends, and work-life.
Dr. Seuss says it well,
So be sure when you step,
Step with care and great tact.
And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act.
And will you succeed
Yes! You will, indeed!
Kid, you’ll move mountains.
What’s your WHY?
If you’re not sure, not to worry, you’re not alone — it’s tough to dig deep into what you value.
Drop me a note as I might have a tip or two to get you started.
Make someone’s day and pay it forward. Maybe they too are curious to be more.
Cheers, Coach Christine
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that might be of value.