Why is Collaboration Important?
Leadership is fundamentally about change – instigating it, managing it, making it successful. Think about it. If a leader isn’t there to change the outcome from what it would have naturally been without that leader, then why do we need a leader at all?  For that matter, this applies to any individual on any team, but particularly to leaders as they often have more influence on the team and its outcomes.

So if positive change is the result of great leadership, it helps to consider that effective change must be supported by many individuals – especially those directly involved in or responsible for that change or its outcome. The individuals working together to create change – growth, new products, new partnerships, new strategies, are most effective when they work together toward a shared vision of what they are trying to create.  This is what collaboration is based on.  The most effective change starts with collaboration on the desired outcomes and strategies to achieve them.

While old-style organizations could succeed with silos and business functions and units that worked independently of one another and often felt like separate companies, there are serious pitfalls to working in that manner in a rapidly changing environment, and today, who isn’t working in a rapidly changing environment?  Time, resources and skills are all in short supply, and collaboration is the key to leveraging the limited resources we have, so  collaboration is critical to embracing change and uncertainty and creating from it opportunity and growth.

What is Collaboration?

Collaboration is working together for a common purpose that harnesses the best of the individuals involved, multiplying their impact on business results. It’s built on trust and mutual respect and shared purpose.  (See last month’s article on Trust).

When we do not collaborate we end up with unproductive or even competing work “silos” that duplicate services or effort or even siphon off resources to “kill” a competitive silo/division/product.  Think about the Microsoft tablet developed 5 years ahead of the iPad, killed by competitive groups at Microsoft.  While competition was seen as healthy, it limited the ability to introduce new products and services that may have been a threat to existing products.  Apple seems to have embraced cannibalizing it’s own product lines (iPhone replacing iPods, for example) and a collaborative environment would better assess the relative merits of new products, even when they cannibalize old product lines.

What Do Leaders Do to Build Collaboration?

As a leader, your responsibility is to establish standards of behavior, attitude and process that enable collaboration, and hold your team accountable for them. Collaboration is a leadership issue, just as trust and values and vision are driven primarily by leadership.

So how can you build or support a more collaborative organization?  There are 3 big keys:

1. Create a shared purpose across all groups
2. Recognize and reward behaviors and attitudes of collaboration and contribution to the whole
3. Use flexible processes that deliver defined results

1.  Create a shared purpose across all groups.  What really matters then, is to quickly gain alignment around a share vision or purpose.  What is the one thing that you are all aiming to do?  What is the one problem we are trying to solve?  What makes that important?  If you don’t have agreement on the problem you are trying to address, you will have great difficulty in agreeing on a solution.  Like math and physics homework, start by defining the problem.  This makes it much easier to determine who needs to be involved, how they will work together, and what the goal of collaborative work might be.  If this is new to your organization, pick one project and work from a definition of the problem and see how that changes the nature of the solution.

2. Recognize and reward behaviors and attitudes of collaboration and contribution to the whole.  A slogan on the wall or an admonishment from management is not nearly as powerful as systematic recognition and reward for the behaviors you want to encourage.  If your best sales person is hard to work with and secretive, and you reward him, you are sending a message that this kind of behavior is not only fine, but to be emulated.  Be careful how you decide to reward those who are actively working against collaborative efforts.  Look at how your reward systems identify collaborative behavior and efforts that benefit more groups and consider how to improve this.  Even simple recognition in company meetings of collaborative efforts and team results rather than individual contributions can start to shift attitudes and behaviors.

3. Use flexible processes that deliver defined results.  Collaboration is not a “soft” skill, but rather a defined set of behaviors and a process that supports those behaviors.  Look carefully at how projects are defined, who is involved and how accountability is shared across groups.  For the best results, start with a shared definition of the problem, a team that includes all stakeholders, a jointly-developed collaborative team and process and clear deliverable results.  Collaboration doesn’t just happen because you ask for it – it needs structure and process that demands it.

Collaboration is often used as a buzzword in modern organizations, but without commitment and effort, it remains just another management fad and fails to deliver its real promise of extraordinary results.  To be a truly fearless organization, boldly finding opportunities in every twist and turn of the market, technology and broader environment, collaboration is vital and requires action and commitment.  What can you do today to build collaboration and fully leverage every member of your team? How will you know you are succeeding?

Trust consists of three elements occurring at the same time: knowing the positive benefits of a relationship, evaluating any risks in the relationship, and choosing how to interpret the behavior of the other person. In companies, this manifests as knowing that the people you work with can and will help you meet your personal and professional goals more often than they will not, and knowing why they behave the way they do and not taking it personally.

At work, you will have conflict with the people you work with – partially by design. It is the conflict and tension between groups with divergent priorities that encourages creative solutions and some level of balance. However, if interpreted as a negative in our work relationships, this conflict can erode trust quickly. For example, you may feel pressured by your boss to get her pet project completed, and tend to forget that she made sure you got a decent raise in your annual review. All humans tend to fixate on the negative experiences we have, so it takes many more positive ones to build a positive relationship. For most things in our lives, the ratio we need is 3 positives to 1 negative, and 5:1 in our intimate relationships. So, how can we build trust when our brains are prewired to distrust?

As a conscious leader in an organization, you have the responsibility to build those positive interactions – both for yourself, and for others in whom you wish to inspire trust.   In building your own positive experiences, be on the lookout for what others are doing that is positive, strong and good. What unique qualities does that person bring to the organization? In which circumstances does he shine? By consciously looking for the strong aspects of our colleagues, the negatives can be more realistically weighed and do not overshadow the trust we are trying to build.   To inspire others to trust you, work on creating positive experiences with you for every member of the group. This is not equivalent to being their friend, or sugar-coating the truth, or going easy on them. It is about being honest, fair, respectful, and consistent in your words and actions.

Here are Ten Key Actions for building Trust in your organization starting today:

1. Trust first.  Building trust with others is a reciprocal activity.  In order to build trust, you must first extend trust.  Give your team responsibility, assume your peers will do the right things, treat everyone like adults. They will tend to reciprocate.  If you can’t do this, don’t expect others to trust you either.
2. Communicate well and often. Keep your team, your peers, your boss informed about what is going on in the business. What are your current priorities? What has changed in the business, the environment, in your results? Be clear about decisions made and the decision process.  Be upfront about what you do and do not know.  Include the right people in your communication to make sure the messages are shared in the broadest circles practical.  Celebrate team and individual wins as often as possible and communicate them broadly.  Share bad news quickly and keep communicating as plans to manage it develop.
3. Demonstrate a win-win attitude by understanding the needs of the organization and the individuals who work in it, and advocate for getting both sets of needs met.  Look for ways to make the individuals successful, to build on their ideas, to help them shine – while meeting the business goals.
4. Truly appreciate others.   As you are looking at the team, find something wonderful, strong, powerful about each team member, and look for that to show up.  Tell them about it, try to find new ways to leverage that strength in the team.
5. Ask for and listen to feedback – in person.  You don’t have to agree with the feedback, but it is important that you truly understand what others are thinking and how you are perceived.  This means getting eye-to-eye with your group.  Electronic communications cannot completely take the place of meeting in the flesh.  Walk the halls, travel to meet, hold group meetings, retreats and one on ones.  The feedback and relationship-building you get in person will be 10x more powerful than emails and teleconferences.  Trust is built by looking someone in the eye, shaking their hand, and reading their body language when they speak.
6. Set clear expectations.  Make sure every member of your team knows exactly what you expect of them, and what your process looks like.  How often will you review their work?  What level of input are you expecting to have in the final product?  Which decisions are you expecting will be made by the team, and which do you need to make?  What can the team do when they need extra support?  What is the agenda for your meetings and what preparation is expected?
7. Walk the talk.  Trust is built in small positive increments.  Find a small win for the team, commit to it, and deliver.  Do it again and again, with ever-larger commitments.  These positive experiences with you (“she really does what she says she will”,  “We can count on him”, “He has our back”) will build trust quickly.  This is about action.  Can others see you actively making the organization stronger and acting for the good of the whole, not just your own career?  That is the foundation of trust, so get out there and make it happen.
8. Make it right.  When you make a mistake, own it, learn from it, and let others know that you are aware, that you are learning, and that you have a plan to prevent the same mistake from happening again.
9. Hold everyone accountable.  As you take responsibility for your results and your mistakes, ask others to do the same.  Have individuals commit to specific actions in front of their peers, and follow up with the group to verify follow-through.  Ask about what prevented something from getting accomplished with curiosity and have individuals come up with a new commitment, with a plan for overcoming that obstacle next time.
10. Practice tough love.  Accepting people the way they are and appreciating their strengths does not mean that everyone necessarily belongs on the team.  When performance standards are not met, when accountability and trust measures are violated, neither the individual or the organization can prosper, and removing that person from the organization may be the win-win solution you are seeking.  Call them on their lapses, give them a chance to correct it with support, and then decide if they are able to meet the requirements of the job or not.  Hesitation to remove an unproductive or even disruptive team member erodes trust quickly.

Remember that building trust is not something that happens on a team-building afternoon, or in one meeting or over lunch – although those can be good places to start.  Trust is created in daily habits you cultivate in working with others to build positive interactions and experiences.  Find ways in your daily work to build in good trust habits and set goals for practicing them regularly.

The lack of trust is the definition of fear – fear of harm the other person may do to you, your career, your reputation, your results, your relationships…  Building trust is one of the fundamental elements of the journey to leading fearlessly.

Have you ever wished for less bureaucracy, less process, fewer approvals?  To achieve this, you need to be clear about how people will make decisions when there are no rules in place, no authority to ask.

The guiding principle for making decisions without a clear rule is to default to organizational values.  This is not writing “Integrity” as a value on a poster on the wall and expecting that everyone will now tell the truth all the time in every circumstance.  Your values come to life (or don’t) in actions you take every day in the business.  How you hire, how you fire, which information you share, which you withhold.  Small consistent actions you take every day communicate loud and clear what you value, and what you don’t.

In organizations, the structure, the practices and the language of work begin to define the culture.  In most organizations, this is unconscious, and our culture is determined by default and often by the microcosm of the people we work with most frequently.  Each leader brings their personal values to work in the absence of a strongly articulated corporate value system, and it can feel fragmented from group to group.  Sales and operations within one company may have very different cultures, making it even harder to communicate and work productively.

To combat this, many organizations create rules, processes and structures and aim for “adherence” and develop a new policy every time a lapse or error is discovered.  You have only to look at our legal system to see where this kind of structure leads – to an ever-expanding list of rules of work that are increasingly difficult to follow, and often restrict some helpful practices in order to prevent unhelpful ones.  Frustration with delays, bureaurcracy and complicated procedures bubble over in organizations creating rules to govern behavior.  And yet, we do not want individuals to run amok and put the organization in jeopardy with their actions.  The best alternative I have seen is grounded in developing a robust organizational culture, based on clear values.

A recent example I came across is Netflix, and this link shares with you their 128-page powerpoint presentation on their culture, why it works for them, and how they bring it to life.

Values-Based Culture

We may comment on the A+ in passing, but it is often glossed over as an area we don’t need to worry about, rather than one in which that student might really build some outstanding strengths.

What about a performance review or a survey on your presentation or reviews of a paper you wrote?  What sticks with you?  Research shows that the negative or critical information is where we tend to focus our attention and is what sticks in our minds.

This focus on “problems” or weaknesses is called negativity bias, and it’s a common human trait.  In fact, it seems to be how our brains are wired, and may be there to protect us from harm and ensure the survival of the species.  Imagine a brain wiring rule like, “100 good things in the environment and 1 bad = focus on the bad so that it doesn’t wipe you out”.  As a survival mechanism, this is pretty powerful.  In our modern lives, however, it has some consequences that are not always so helpful.

One of these consequences is that we focus disproportionately on negative information even when it is not particularly helpful to do so.  When you give or receive feedback on performance, you may notice that even if more than half of the feedback is positive, the overall impression is often negative.  Whether focusing on yourself or others, you will tend to look for “what I need to work on”.  This may lead you to focus on improving some perceived weakness or shortfall, but the overall result is often to feel worse about your performance than is truly justified, and to feel compelled to continue to “try harder” to do things that are very difficult for you.  You may take a class, find a mentor, read a book or implement a new system for getting better at your weak areas.  With lots of effort, you will get better at it, but if it doesn’t come naturally to you, you are unlikely to ever be truly great at it.

The cost of this kind of negativity bias is nothing short of our long-term results and happiness.  We are most productive, creative and satisfied in our work and lives when we have a “positive experience” ratio of 3:1.  If our natural inclination is to accentuate the “negative”, we can have a hard time reaching that ratio.

The value of the strengths movement and a focus on your talents as an individual is to change the focus of your energy and attention to what is already working well, and to find ways to leverage those talents to make them more and more relevant and powerful.  Conscious practices that shift your focus to “what’s right” and from your “to do” list to an “I did it” list help balance out your tendency to only see what remains to be done, what needs improvement and what isn’t working very well.

The purpose is not to ignore very real challenges, or to reframe them in a positive light, but rather to balance your perception by appreciating real progress, real effort, and real successes, even when incomplete.  By taking note of what does work and where your efforts are met with success, you recharge your mental batteries and are better able to take positive action in all areas – including those in which there is still significant work to be done.

In fact, the seeds of success in challenging areas are often hiding in plain sight in the areas in which you have been successful.  Your personal areas of talent can often be leveraged to bring about improved results in new areas of your life.  Take time management, for example.  If this is an area of weakness for you (it is for me!), but you do have a need to achieve something each day, leveraging that need to achieve by putting some time-management tasks in your daily routine as tasks to be achieved may be your route to success.

Everyone desires to reach goals, achieve meaningful results and feel successful.  The way in which you do this varies greatly, and you will have higher levels of success when you find the strategies that leverage your innate talents.  You can get better at many things, but you will make the most improvement in areas where you are already naturally talented.

Think of the star athlete.  If you are a great pro football player, no doubt you worked very hard at perfecting your game, your physical condition, your skills.  But you also were born with some gifts that made it possible for you to not only be reasonably proficient, but truly world-class.  In contrast, the player with below average natural ability can improve significantly with hard work, but can only aim for about average – not world-class.  The difference is the level of natural ability or innate talent.

Each of us has similar natural gifts and talents, innate tendencies of thought and behavior that give us power, make us feel great and where we can excel naturally and without great effort.  If we discover those natural talents and invest in growing them, nurturing them, and applying them to as many situations as possible, we begin to grow into our potential.  For example, if you are an introvert, you can learn to network like a pro, but you will never be energized by it. In contrast, an extrovert may never love putting together reports or analyzing data all alone.  Our introvert can focus on leveraging a few close relationships to build networks of contacts, and our extrovert can build teams to work together to create reports or analysis.  They could even swap specific tasks and still get the work done, but in a way that allowed each of them to do what played to their strengths.   When you begin to create space to focus on those things you do well and enjoy, you can begin to truly shine and stand out as a star in that area.

While it is not possible for most of us to change our daily work overnight to cater to our unique talents, it is certainly possible for each of us to begin to skew our work to include more activities that let us shine, that allow us to grow and begin to see how unique talents and a diversity of talents in a team can be leveraged to overcome individual weaknesses.

If you want to improve your results, or build a high-performing team, one of the keys is to consciously shift your focus from what isn’t working well and try to figure out what is working well and how you can build on that to improve results.   Great analysts can delve into data and discover new trends, phenomena and theories to improve results.  Great motivational speakers can bring the message to more people and get involvement from partners, customers and colleagues to improve results.  Great project managers can marshal and organize the resources to get things moving.  Regardless of the talents you bring to the picture, you can still achieve the needed results, you will just do it in your own way – and differently from someone who brings other talents to the team.

By focusing on your innate talents, your daily accomplishments and small victories, you can increase your “positive experiences” at a conscious level and build strategies that will allow you to build real and lasting strengths.

What will you do to notice your own talents and achievements today?  How about those of your team?

What is a position?  It’s a particular answer to a question, a particular method of doing something, a solution that is definitive and ours, or even a definition or stance that we have chosen to espouse.  In politics we think of these “positions” as clear polar opposites, such as liberal or conservative.  In real life, each of us carries a set of interests (our personal financial interests, our personal religious or special-group interests, etc) which help us move toward or away from the defined polar-opposite “positions”.  When we focus on the position, there is no middle ground to be found, only a “right” and a “wrong” – as we see it.

As you can no doubt guess, this creates plenty of conflict.

So, what is the alternative?  We can instead focus on the underlying interests of each party and find ways to to honor both sets of interests.  Interests are the broader strategic goals held by participants in a dialogue or negotiation.  If “liberal” and “conservative” are positions, “a healthy growing economy where small businesses can thrive” might be one interest.  Clearly not a broad goal that is completely the province of either position, but one supported by people who might identify with either position.

In negotiation, conflict management and communication, the interests are the strategic goals that allow parties to move beyond seemingly opposing positions to find solutions, have meaningful dialogue and to discover win-win arrangements.

In fact, when we discuss only positions, we are taking a very superficial view of any issue or situation, and avoid the greater possibilities for creativity, collaboration and compromise that comes from expanding our view to encompass interests.  Perhaps that is why we hear so much in our sensationalized media about positions – because the goal is often to titillate and gather viewers by escalating and exaggerating entertaining conflict rather than the less emotionally volatile discussion and promotion of real solutions .

In real life, however, we are usually best served by finding the best possible outcome, and most often by finding the best outcome that keeps our relationships positive and productive.   Understanding the overarching goals for someone’s position gives you the chance to better understand their motivations, their passions, their beliefs and their priorities.  If a member of your team suggests spending more on marketing, and another proposes spending less, there is a conflict of positions.  Inquiring into the interests of each person (beliefs about the effectiveness of marketing methods, priorities for current budget, conflicting departmental goals, etc.), allows us to have a meaningful conversation about team goals and the role of marketing in achieving those goals.  The two team members may be focused on meeting the same revenue and profit goals, but approaching it from different beliefs and sets of data.  By sharing those beliefs and the rationale behind them, a new solution may be created that incorporates the observations of both team members, and they each learn something new about how to approach the marketing budget, and renew their commitment to mutual goals and the team.

Conflicting positions can almost always be best resolved by reaching more broadly to understand the underlying interests and reasoning for the positions taken.  In fact, if the broader interests are understood, many of the strategic goals may be met without a compromise of position, as new elements are introduced that meet additional long- or short-term goals.

Where do you find conflict over positions in your life and work, and how could better understanding interests help you resolve that conflict productively?

To get started, work on clearly understanding the positions of all parties (including your own, if you have taken a position), and then asking what about that position is important?  What problems does it solve?  What makes it the preferred solution?  How does it fit into big picture goals?  And be prepared to share answers to those questions for your own position.   You may find that big picture goals are more in synch than you first imagined, or conflict much less than the positions, and open up new possibilities that everyone can both embrace.

Huckabee-Jennings, formerly with Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola in line management positions, received her credentials from the International Coach Federation (ICF) , the world’s largest non-profit professional association of personal and business coaches, after following an accredited coach training program with the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). ICF establishes professional standards and defines and supports ethics within the coaching profession. Coaching is a professional partnership which assists clients in achieving more fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. To earn the PCC designation, Huckabee-Jennings had to, among other requirements, complete over 750 documented hours of client coaching, more than 125 hours of coach-specific training, submit recommendations from expert coaches and pass written and oral exams.

“Laura is a talented Executive coach and leadership development consultant. I served 28 years in the United States Marine Corps and Laura was instrumental in helping me achieve my goals since retirement.  I routinely seek Laura’s assistance on all matters that help me move forward with my business and personal life. Laura’s experience, knowledge  and expertise puts her at the top of my list of those I call when I need help.”  – Bruce Bright, President and CEO, BRIGHT CONSULTING GROUP

Prior to founding Transcend Leadership Coaching in 2002, Huckabee-Jennings completed degrees in Physical Chemistry from Princeton University, a Master’s in Comparative Culture from Jochi University in Japan, and an MBA from INSEAD in France.  She has worked in leadership positions in strategy consulting, consumer packaged goods and high technology companies around the world, including in Switzerland, Poland, Israel, Japan, China and the US.

Transcend Leadership Coaching specializes in helping clients develop higher-level leadership skills, build robust high-performance teams, and develop effective executive presence.  Since starting Transcend Leadership Coaching in 2002, Huckabee-Jennings has worked with leaders and executives in businesses large and small to improve productivity, build trust, reduce stress and grow business.   In her work, she challenges her clients to overcome their internal resistance to change and take calculated risks to develop greater awareness, change outdated behaviors and create phenomenal results.

Laura can be reached via email at huckabee@transcendllc.biz

How about the phrase “He/she/it made me…”?  She made me angry.  The kids got me upset.  The weather prevented me from running today.  I have often felt that the actions I took or the emotions I felt were primarily driven by something outside myself.  There are certainly people and circumstances who trigger specific responses in me, and that can feel like something or someone else “causing” my response.  It is human and perfectly normal to assign responsibility for our actions or emotions to others when we do not like what is happening.

However, when we get into this kind of “victim” thinking, we relinquish our ability to make significant change.  Most of us do not like to think of ourselves as victims. In fact, we would deny vehemently that we engage in victim thinking. But for most of us, there are actually many moments in the day when we choose to let others be responsible for the things in our lives that we find unpleasant unfavorable or unexpected. Some of the phrases you may find yourself or others using include, “he made me mad”, “we can’t change the economy”, “no one told me…”, “that’s just how it is”, “that’s just how we do things”.   Any time that we absolve ourselves of all responsibility for our current circumstances we are engaging in victim thinking.

The momentary relief we experience from assigning blame to some other outside party for our current circumstances has a price. The price we pay is remaining in those circumstances, because in playing the victim, we also expect some outside party to solve our problem. In truth, we each own at least some small part, if not all, of the current situation in which we find ourselves. Even when we are truly victims of uncontrollable circumstances, we can often find warning signals we ignored, good advice we didn’t take, or decisions we made that contribute to us being in our current situation.  At the very least, we are responsible for our reaction to those circumstances, including our emotional response.

Until we are able to acknowledge our own responsibility in creating our current results, our attempts to change those results will be largely ineffective. It is only once we are able to step up and own our piece of what we have created, that we can begin to also create solutions and move in the direction of our true goals.

If your business or life is not creating the results you want, what can you personally do to change that? Where have you structured your business or life in such a way that it creates your current results? Rather than blaming the economy, politics, difficult customers, or any other external party, what would change for you if you focused instead on the one thing you, and only you, can change:  yourself?

As a very successful CEO, why would someone like Eric Schmidt suggest that he needs a coach and so do you?  I see executives every day who make incredible strides forward toward their goals with the help of an executive coach.  Their work is inspiring, and I am honored to be part of it.  But some of you may still wonder what a coach could do for you and why you should invest in an external coach for yourself.

Thinking about the key reasons that have power for supporting your success and growth, the Top 10 reasons for hiring an external executive coach are:

1. Your coach is there for you, your agenda, your goals.  Your coach cares about your success, as you define it.
2. Your coach helps you get clarity around your goals, get inspired by them and what they mean for you, and maintain focus in your busy world.
3. Your coach looks for your blind spots and helps you see the impact you have from a new perspective and see new alternatives to move you forward.
4. Your coach is a source of ideas, knowledge, tools, cutting-edge thought, and a broad body of experience and perspective that helps you recognize challenges early, and discover new and creative solutions.
5. Your coach helps you grow as a leader by developing your awareness, your thinking, your knowledge base and your vision for what is possible.
6. Your coach will not judge you for what you say or do.  You can be perfectly honest about your fears, doubts and concerns and your weak moments without repercussion.  You can truly get out your feelings, worries and challenges and address them with your coach in a confidential manner.  Your conversations are private so that you can tackle any situation – even those you don’t feel you can share with anyone else.
7. Your coach supports you in being accountable for taking action on your biggest priorities.  When you take on a new habit, behavior, style of communicating or other change to your ingrained habits, your coach is your partner for making new habits stick and addressing obstacles as they arise.
8. Your coach provides disciplined self-reflection on what you are doing and where you are going.  You have structured time to take the larger view on your career, your business, your progress toward your big picture goals – and that is what will truly allow you to grow as a leader.
9. Your coach is your objective external sounding board to help you try out new thoughts, behaviors and ideas in a safe environment and giving you feedback on what is moving you forward and what appears to be holding you back.
10. Your coach is a witness to your success and encourages the discipline of measuring your progress and celebrating your achievements, and building confidence and accountability for your actions and decsions that move you forward in achieving your goals.

What could you achieve this year with a coach?

What would it mean for you to rediscover your passion and live each day fulfilling your dream, without the overwhelm?

For most business owners, rediscovering your passion means taking a hard look at what is causing you to feel stress and overwhelm, and tackling that at the source.  This process is simple, but not easy to undertake on your own.  We create our own stress by how we think about our circumstances and how we choose to react to them.  So, the root cause of your stress is you, and there are particular circumstances or interactions that trigger you to feel stress – and these will be unique to you.  The great news is that you can change the stress you create for yourself in any circumstance just by shifting how you think about it.  The first step is to raise your awareness of the kinds of thoughts that are triggering your stress, and take them out into the light of day and decide if they are thoughts that are helping you along your path, or getting in your way.

One of the best ways to raise your awareness in this way is to work with a coach, or a group of business owners who have been through similar things and share some of your frustrations, fears and stress to uncover the hidden thoughts that are raising your stress.  With a professional coach and other business owners, you can ideas on what thoughts are holding you back and how you might change them to gain productivity, confidence and courage.  Even on your own, you can work on this by journaling your stress: try writing down the moments where you feel irritated, worried, guilty, fearful, or angry.  Notice what thoughts are racing through your mind as you experience that feeling and write them down.  Decide which thoughts are serving you well and represent the truth, and which thoughts are creating stress in you.  As you start to identify thought patterns that cause you stress and situations that trigger them, you will gain control over the level of stress you feel, and allow  yourself to refocus on the things you love about being in business.

Stay tuned for another post on Rediscovering Your Passion for Business soon, and join our preview call for upcoming Business Growth Mastermind Coaching in January!

Join us for a Preview Call on January 25th at 12:00 pm CST.

Click this link to register for the Preview Call!

So what remains to define your journey to a more fulfilling life?  Simply making the changes needed to integrate this process into your life on an ongoing basis.  As your life changes and you achieve key elements of your vision, you may find that your vision begins to expand or change in ways that cause you to incorporate new goals.  As you gain skills and overcome obstacles to your success, you may find entirely new skills suddenly become relevant and perhaps even critical to achieving your goals.

How can you incorporate this change without losing your momentum?  Just as good manufacturing processes include an element of continuous improvement, or Kaizen, you can apply this same concept to your vision and your process of achieving it.  And just like running a business or organization of any kind, you want to plan on some regular reviews and opportunities to review what is going well, and what you might want to change.

What personal practices do you currently have in place?  How could you integrate some review of your personal goals and progress into those practices?  If you journal daily, how would you include some review of your plans into that?  If you review your finances quarterly, what would adding a review of other aspects of your business or life at that time add to your ability to plan for the future?  Are there other mindfulness or planning or visioning practices that would lend themselves well to reviewing your vision, goals and recommitting to them, or making appropriate changes to keep the inspiring and motivating to you?

With a vision, goals, strategies and plans that originate in your personal skills, talents, preferences and values, you will find yourself living a life of greater satisfaction, purpose and energy. This higher level of energy will allow you to achieve so much more than you thought possible in your chosen field, while leaving you abundant energy to share with others and inspire them to find their own source of energy, inspiration and fulfillment.

Want to learn more and get help becoming your truest self?  Learn more about my Mastermind Coaching Groups starting this month and come to the preview call:  http://transcendllc.biz/blog/business-growth-mastermind-group