Thank you all for your patience and emails.  Wordpress required some updates and I found myself locked out of my own blog.  Thanks to the gurus at NeoWeb, I am now back up and functioning.  As for what has happened since September 30th. 

1. Yes the rumors are true, I have returned to school.  I have now returned to school. I am working on my Doctorial in Communications and Marketing.

2. I have run into some minor health issues, I am not sure when the surgery is scheduled, but I will keep everyone updated.

3. Thanks to my neighbor’s dog escaping we have gained a new housemate.  Million, on his romp around the neighborhood, found a small German Shorthair Pointer puppy that was dumped by the ditch not to far from my house. Well in the month I have had him, and he is not quite so small anymore.  We have named him Wachter (pronounced Vector) it means Guardian in German.  He behaves so much better than the ladies, and now my former “puppy” has a play mate, the old lady still has companions and the cat is still tormented, but now by just one more. 

Comments should be working now, so feel free to post here, or you can continue to email me at clconsultingsvcs@sbcglobal.net

Carrie

A few years ago I was working for a company that decided they were going to make some sweeping changes, and they needed the general population’s “buy in” to make these changes not only happen but successful.  So someone got the brilliant idea to make every employee in the company take a series of seminars.  While in theory this is a great idea, the actual practice became a little more of a headache.  Almost 900 employees were cycled through programs whose curriculum was designed for an audience whose educational level was not quite to high-school graduate.  Yet the education of the actual audience attending these day-long courses ranged from Associates degree to Post graduate.  In my particular seminar I was sitting next to someone in upper management who had earned their PhD. 
These courses were designed to unite the company and prepare for change.  Well I have to honestly state, they achieved half their goal.  These seminars did indeed unite us.  Unfortunately, we were united in our feelings of frustration, and resentment for the big brass’s complete disrespect for our time, and the perceived poor opinion of the mental capacity of their workforce.  Moral dropped and took the productivity along with it.  People started to utilize the company computers for their own personal job hunts, instead of work.  By the time management connected the dots and managed to figure out where the problem existed, it was too late and over 800 employees were laid off. 
All that being said, in order to set goals, you must first know where you are.  What is the status of each component of the picture?  While in some cases it is advisable to take a step or two back in order to move forward, there is also a lot to be said about not stepping too far back, you may get stuck in reverse or ended up completely stopped.
Figuring out where you are is benchmarking.  This is your starting point for each goal. Identify what it is about your (or your business) that is either unsatisfactory or needs growth. This process is done in industries across the board.  The medical community does this, every time you change doctors, you have to go in for an “initial physical” Same with most medical or life insurance, and medical research.
If you are in the service industry, then start surveying your customers, a simple card in which they mark what they are happy or unhappy about and allow a space for whatever comments they may have.  I do this through surveys that are attached to invoices. 
If your change is going to be in your processes, then talk to the people who are involved.  Most importantly of all, LISTEN to them.  Think of it this way, your car mechanic may be a high school dropout, but even a neurosurgeon listens to the mechanic when the problem involves the car or other equipment.  Everyone has an area of expertise, and your employees, staff and customers are going to have a better idea of how well your processes are working.  
Listen to what messages are being given to you on a regular basis, in your personal and professional life (I am not talking to people who are in a toxic environment, the rules for assessment are different.)
Next Post:  Where are you going?

I am going to start a series on long-range planning.  I have received several emails about how to set achievable goals, so we are going to start taking a goal journey.  What are the steps, and how do you know what goals to set? And finally most important, how do you reach those goals. 

It is not a fear of failure that most of us fear, but a fear of success. We ask ourselves “Who am I to be beautiful, wealthy, smart or successful?” When we should ask “Who am I not to be!”

From the movie “Akeela and the Bee”

My daughter came home from her first track meet, where she had run her heart out. After only two weeks of training she found herself competing against those who had been running and training longer than herself. Dejectedly she crawled onto her bed and with tears in her eyes she informed me that she had not won. I sat there in silence; watching her cry because I had no words for her, that would magically heal her hurt.

I look at the kids around me and see the home room moms, and soccer moms. I see the kids whose moms give them everything they need, as well as most of what they want. It is easy to get caught up in what I can’t do. This is the same trap that my daughter was falling into. I thought of what my mom would have done, what a good mom would have done. Then I thought about what was truly important. It isn’t the trophy at the end of the run, or the medal or even a certificate.

I asked my daughter if she did everything coach wanted her to do in practice. I asked her if she had finished the race, and then I asked her if she had run her hardest, did she give it her all? Her tear-filled chocolate eyes looked at me and she answered “yes.” She had run her heart out; and most importantly, she had run the entire mile. She didn’t let the heat beat her, and she didn’t give up because the race was too long, she finished her run. I gave her as much of a hug as a tweener will allow and told her that she did win. She didn’t give up, nor did she slack off, she finished the race and ultimately that in itself is a prize, and an accomplishment. Her only true competition is against herself. It is not against the neighbor who never has a positive or uplifting word for anyone, nor is it against the other runners, some of them have been training for two and three years. Her competition is against the voice inside her head that tells her what she is and is not worthy or even capable of.

Ultimately in life the prize that we receive may not be the one that we are going for. The trophies and recognition that society dangles in front of us are not always the true measures of success. As each of us reaches for different goals, we seek to accomplish them in different ways. Where one person or team starts closer to the end mark another may have that same mark as a long range desire. Ultimately the point of winning is not a matter of if you get to the mark first, but by getting there by doing your best. The grand prize is the feeling you get when you look back at what you have accomplished, when at the completion of that seemingly impossible project and you look over your finished product and say; “WOW!! I did that!!

I was watching a documentary on the doctor trials from New Orleans and was struck by one main thing.

It is amazing at how quickly society will judge the actions of people who have survived the improbable, impossible, and insurmountable; then complain about the lack of compassion available when they themselves face the same.

This is not a justification for the horrors that the survivors of Katrina faced, but stop and think for a moment. Can you honestly anticipate your reaction to a life altering tragedy?

In today’s society where the buzz phrase is “Secret thinking” people seem to forget that even when you are dreaming and hoping for the best, you still need to prepare for the worst. When learning self defense, you mentally and physically practice the moves just in case you are ever attacked. That does not mean you are focusing on the negative, but instead you are training your mind and body how to act in an instinctive manner, when you will not have a chance for thought processes. In choir practice, you stand and sing as if you were actually performing. What you practice on is the way you will react when it is crunch time.

The same thing happens with business. Most people do not want to make arrangements for a crisis. What are you going to do if, heaven forbid, your business face a life altering issue. They come in all forms, Tornados, hurricanes, floods, technology failure, or even your main client no longer needs your service. What is your contingency plan? What have you done to become prepared for the worst? Do you have your processes in place?

The easiest (and most common) of these to avoid is the next client/customer issue. When is enough business enough business? Even when your company’s plate is full, it is important to continue marketing so you always know where your next client is coming from. Always network; set a portion of a day aside each week to market your business, so you always know where your next client is coming from. Depending on your business, in some cases the client gives you a warning that they are leaving, but sometimes they just stop coming for no apparent reason. What about something more unexpected?

This week I was one of the chosen few to experience a computer crash. The computer has been sending signs for some time that it was preparing to give up the ghost, but with technology it is never easy to predict what is simply a worm, spyware, adware, or a pending crash. I don’t need to say that for someone who runs their business completely from computer and a home office, having the main computer crash is NOT a good thing. Fortunately for me, I had a plan in place.

When I work with clients to develop business plans, I almost always get the same response when I get to the exit plan, or crisis plan. “I don’t need that” Some people become impatient, some flat out insulted when it is time to discuss what you are going to do if something goes wrong. But one of the main tricks in becoming successful is to prepare for when things go wrong. Every crisis always started off small, it is only when the warning signs are ignored that it becomes a major issue. Do you have a contingency plan in place? Have you identified the potential crises that your company risks? Do you know what you are going to do if your delivery system goes on strike? What are the crises you face now? Are you operating in “fireman mode”? Putting out fire after fire as they pop up, or do you have a plan in place to keep the fires from happening.

In my case I pay just a little bit every month for an online back up. Then I back everything up, every day. So after I corrected the cause of the crash, it was a simple matter to restore my back ups. Because I plan for the worst, and hope for the best, most of the times, it turns out that I worried for nothing. But, on those occasions when something goes wrong, and believe me, almost nothing ever goes according to Plan “A” it is always good to have a contingency plan in place.

Identify your potential fires, and figure out how to keep them from blazing out of control. Remember it is easier to blow out a candle than to extinguish a kitchen file.

My ex husband used to complain that there was not a topic in existence that I did not have a comment or some knowledge on (but then again he never tried talking to me about sports). The one thing he could never understand was that as a bibliophile, it is absolutely necessary for me to read something new every day.

I was raised in a household where my mom was a school-teacher that opted out of the workforce to be a SAHM, and my dad was an electrical engineer and a military man. Both took great pleasure in tormenting my sister and me with word games. “Mommy, what’s for dinner?” Her answer would be “food.” Anytime there was another meaning to a phrase that my sister and I would ask Mom and Dad would take the opposite meaning than what we had asked. Jill and I would rack our brains to find different phrasing on questions and statements in order to get our point across, a quest that inevitably had us turning to the encyclopedia or a dictionary.

The point in the exercise was to help us to expand our communication skills, (or maybe it was to get us out of their hair). Ultimately we were not expected to know every existing word in the English language, but we were expected to know where to go to find the answers. To this day, I still cringe when I see someone playing the word definition search in Reader’s Digest.

I work with new Entrepreneurs and Business owners all the time. One of the biggest obstacles in working with this enterprising group; is convincing them that they do not have to know everything, nor do they need someone on staff that knows everything. What is important is that as a professional, you know WHERE to find the answers.

Inevitably I will be working with a client and get a question about the layout of their website, or how to correct a subscription issue. My answer every-time … “This is a Will question” or Mike, or Pam, or whoever the expert is for that particular team. I do not need to know how to work everything about every aspect of my business.

Just like it is not necessary for you to understand the intricacies of how the electrical current keeps your computer, modem and the rest of your network running. You do need to know that you need electricity, and that in order for technology to work, you have to have access to it, and how to use it safely. The same with your business, your “power source” is not just the knowledge you have, but your ability to find the correct answers to the questions that are going to be asked.

One way to insure you have answers available is to make sure you have strong pillars. What is your network; who are your pillars for success? Take a piece of paper, and divide it in ½ lengthwise then in half again. On the top left hand corner make a list of your strengths, (be honest folks, if can’t do it now, then don’t list it). On the opposite side make a list of your weaknesses. Under your strengths list the people/services you know who could use these services, under your weaknesses list people/services you know are good in these areas.

Do you see anything that is trainable? Do you see strengths you can teach to others, or weaknesses you can learn from others? This is your opportunity chart; use it to help you develop your team and networks. Remember it is not necessary for you to know all the answer, only where to find them.

Reaching the mark

My oldest started cross country training last week.  She and I have made an agreement that next Mother’s Day Weekend we are going to participate in the two mile River Run in Wichita.  Some people would say “no big deal” while others would say “You want to do WHAT??”  The truth of the matter is that before today, I have not run in over ten years so I have about 100 lbs and two miles to go before I am ready for April/May 2008.

All summer long we have been working together, preparing her for the beginning of cross country. By the end of summer break we reached the point that both of us could walk almost 4 miles.  Now school has started and she is actively training, it is time for me to train as well.  One of the benefits of living in a small town means I can do my running through the neighborhood after dark.  I grab my gear, and select my music then hit the road.

So what does training for a short race have to do with running a business?  Well ultimately the processes are the same.  Today I set my goal to jog to a certain corner, walk for so long then run for next segment.  The first goal is to run for a quarter of a mile.  Tonight I was lucky to make half of that goal, but that does not count as a failure.  While I have not yet hit that goal mark, the deal is I am out there swinging.  At this rate I will breeze right pass that goal and hit the next several.

Business goals are the same way.  Say your first major goal is to become a million dollar business, but you are just now starting to run.  How do you make it? How do you get to that point?

Like my running, break it down into smaller steps.  The first goal is to attract your first round of customers; the second is to keep them.  Step by step, day by day you work, train and plan for your growth.  What is your company going to look like when it has grown to that point?  Where are you going to be and how long is it going to take you to get there?

The first trick to reaching goals is to make them reachable.  While it is realistic for me to plan to run two miles a year out, there is no way at all that I will be doing it by the middle of next week. Go ahead and set an ultimate goal that seems absolutely unreachable, there must be reachable goals aimed towards that.

The second trick to reaching goals is to start working on them.  My run didn’t happen by me sitting at the keyboard talking about what I am going to do.  It happened by me putting on my running shoes, finding the music that would get me a rhythm to move and walking out my door.  As I sit here reveling in the endorphins that are now rushing through my system, I know that I am going to be running side by side with my daughter in 2008.  Who knows, maybe I will even go to church the following Sunday in my favorite dress that was in storage, is now hanging on the outside of my closet door waiting for me to “Get on the ball!”

What is your goal?  Where do you want to go?  What visual reminder do you have to help you get there?

Nobody who has ever met me believes that I am shy, and probably for a good reason.  But one of the most common myths is that  introvert and shy are the same.  Dictionary.com lists Bashful, timid, and retiring as synonyms for shy, none of which describes me. Where an introvert is someone who is more comfortable with themselves than in a huge group.   I found this article on Yahoo Finance, apperantly it was originally posted on Entrepreneur.com and felt it made a strong point.  I have been asked more than once, how do I network? Where do I go, and I hate being in crowds, is there another way to network?

 Why Introverts Can Be Great Networkers
Wednesday May 23, 3:00 am ET
By Ivan Misner

I had an interesting conversation this morning with a close family member.  I shared with her some great news, and instead of a ‘Congratulations!” “That’s Great!” I received a less than enthusiastic response.   It is amazing that in some cases our families are more interested in pointing out our failures than celebrating our successes.  Every successful entrepreneur and business person has mistakes tucked under their belt.  It is from those errors that our accomplishments are built on.  In truth, I have learned more from classes that I did not pass than the ones that I did. 

One of the major hurdles that a successful person needs to overcome are the lies we have learned.  First, failure is not bad, and it is not wrong.  It is up to the individual to determine what these adversities mean to them.   I am reminded of the story about the donkey in the well.  The farmer looked at the donkey and decided that the task of pulling it out was impossible.  So he started shoveling in dirt to fill the well.  At that time the donkey had a decision to make…

1. Let the dirt bury him, life is over and is now defined by the final failure.

2. Shake the dirt off, stomp it down and use it to form the foundation that allows you to crawl out of the well. 

I listened to a catalogues of my past less than successful attempts, on everything I have tried since before I even finished high-school.  The list even included projects I have consulted on, and helped give birth too. Projects, that by their very design was for me to step away when my part of the contribution was over.  I left that phone call feeling dejected and full of self doubt.  At that time instead of thinking “I have done it!!”  I was thinking, “Why did I ever think I could do this” All of my accomplishments over the past 5 years no longer mattered.  Nothing I have survived, none of my successes even existed at the end of this 10 minute phone call. 

At the risk of sounding like I am on “The Secret” bandwagon, this is when a gratitude journal comes in handy.  Instead of letting something like this get me down, it was my turn to turn it around.  Like most other professionals I have an amazing support group standing behind me.  Most of whom do not allow me the luxury of wallowing in self pity.  My past mistakes and triumphs have enabled me to learn how to tell my inner gremlin to hush.   As I sit down and review my goals, past and present, I am reminded of what I have accomplished, how far I have come, and what I am capable of.

So now I feel a renewed sense of accomplishment as I celebrate successfully completing a goal. I look at my past and how obstacles that at one time seemed insurmountable, formed the very steps that I walked on to get to where I am today.

It is morning; I roll out of bed and groggily reach for the cup of hot tea that is being handed to me by my loving daughter.  We sit together for breakfast as we discuss our plans for the day.  I have client projects to work on and the girls are going over the list of chores that they happily do together before the carpool shows up to take them to their summer camp classes. Everyone rises from the table, and rinses their breakfast plates before loading them into the dishwasher.  We hear the horn honking outside as the girls run a brush through their hair for one last time just to make sure that they look their best.  Their clothes are clean, pressed and do not have a speck of dirt on them.