How to Know When to Keep Pushing

Recently, I was out driving on the highway during a rain storm. I signaled right and started to switch lanes. The problem was that, due to low visibility, I failed to see a van that was moving into the same space. It’s tail swiped the front side of my car.

For the next few days, I drove around with increased hesitation. Before turning, I would double and triple check. My driving speeds were down a few miles. In general, I was more cautious. After a while, however, I was back to my New York driver self, navigating the streets with (semi) reckless abandon.

It’s common for people who experience a setback to be more cautious the next time. The problem is, many folks will often view a single failure as an indictment on past efforts and not try again. For example, they make a large number of sales calls that don’t convert. Or they produce a product, service or program that they believe will sell and get almost no response. So, they quickly throw in the towel and give up.

Making Miracles in our Lives

These are the key things that I think if we focus on could really help us move the needle and get unstuck and get going.

Ignore, or, better yet, drive back your inner critic – Often, we can be our own worst enemies. We can do the work, but we talk ourselves into thinking that we can’t. When this happens, be willing to push back and engage in some positive self-talk. Examples include: (1) “You CAN do this! That’s why they promoted you.” (2) “You’ve been in situations like this before and have always come through.” (3) “Just ask someone who was in a similar situation how they handled it.”
Envision yourself breaking through – Ask yourself this: Suppose that overnight, while you are asleep, a miracle occurs and you are no longer stuck. Instead, you have achieved your goal and then some! When you wake up in the morning, everything is exactly how you want it. What do you notice is different? What is the first thing you see?

spirituality, religion, successNaphtali HoffDecember 3, 2018Impactful Coaching & ConsultingHanukkah, unstuck, progress, growth, mindset, miraclesComment

12 Personal “T.H.A.N.K.S.G.I.V.I.N.G” Reasons To Show Appreciation

Thanksgiving is one of the most popular holidays of the year.

For many, it’s a time to be with family and enjoy delicious food (and some football).

It’s also the kickoff to the holiday shopping season.

At its essence, though, Thanksgiving is all about gratitude,

Whether you choose to remember how early American settlers survived a difficult winter or something more recent and personal, Thanksgiving gives us all opportunity to pause and reflect about all the goodness in our lives and say, “Thank you.”

🙏 “Thank you” for your gifts

🙏 “Thank you” for your opportunities

🙏 “Thank you” to the special people in your life

🙏 “Thank you” to the Being that produced you

Winter Driving Lessons for Business Leaders

Driving conditions for much of the Northeast this past Thursday afternoon and evening were downright abysmal. Weather forecasts had grossly underestimated the amount of snow and sleet that would blanket the region, often at blinding speeds. Road crews were slow to respond and were understaffed.

Traffic, naturally, moved at a grinding pace. My commute home, for example, was more than doubled.

Despite my less-than-ideal commute, there were some lessons from the experience that can inform decision making in more normative business conditions. (I guess having multiple hours of solitude can produce some useful insights.😀)

Listen carefully to the forecast – While in this case, the forecast was somewhat misleading, in most instances knowing what is being predicted can vastly improve decision making. The same is true for the workplace. Before taking action that involves outside conditions, such as market and industry trends, seek to get as much information as possible. Then, use that information to guide your decisions. Sounds simple, right? Well, it isn’t, in part because business data is not presented as neatly as a weather forecast. Successful leaders know how much information they need (HINT: it’s not 100%) and then what to do with it and which traps to avoid when seeking to move forward.

coaching, leadership, prioritiesNaphtali HoffNovember 19, 2018Impactful Coaching & Consultingwinter, driving, lessons, safety, leadershipComment

Make your feedback personal

It is not a secret that job satisfaction in this country is not where it should be. A 2014 Conference Board report says that the majority of Americans (52.3%) are unhappy at work. What makes our workers happiest? The CB report says that “interest in work” provides satisfaction to 59% of the workplace. Even more fulfilling was “people at work,” which 60.6% said they liked. Similarly, an expansive study by Boston Consulting Group found that the No. 1 factor for employee happiness on the job is getting appreciated for work. The question for me is this: If interpersonal relationships and the expression of appreciation are so important to employees, why aren’t leaders spending more time doing it?

coaching, leadershipNaphtali HoffNovember 12, 2018Impactful Coaching & Consultingleaders, leadership, feedback, communicationComment

How to get back into a routine

Mondays can be challenging. As the first day back to work, it requires us to leave behind our relaxing weekends and jump back into the grind. Making matters worse, we have to reestablish routines that got interrupted by the relative serenity of Saturday and Sunday. No wonder some studies find Monday to be the second least productive day of the work week, after Friday.

Legal holidays present similar challenges. With a few right around the corner, it would be wise for us to review some ways to jump back into work feet first and get more done.

Since R+R is often associated with a weekend’s gift of “rest and relaxation”, let’s use R+S to connote Monday’s “return and success”.

What to do When Your Clients Disappear

Recently, I have encountered an unexpected spate of established, solid client relationships that simply vanished in thin air. Retirements, changes in title or budget, or shifting priorities have led to a number of longstanding, strong client relationships to go up in smoke. Rather than basing my work schedule on a predictable stream that I built over time with these clients, I have been forced to act quickly to develop new relationships and rebuild my base.

Unfortunately, no one is immune to sudden, impactful changes to their clients or their clients’ needs. Despite many years of exemplary service, market, company or personal factors can force service providers and sellers to have to start again.

Here are some strategies that can help preempt such change and minimize its impact.

Always be in client creation mode – Regardless of how many clients you have in the bag, it’s imperative to continually create new ones. This is true even if you’re at capacity and can’t seem to find time to make new connections, let alone serve them. Make the time to regularly connect with new people, at conferences, online, or one on one, even if it means hiring someone to do some of your own work. Then, find ways to keep them in the window of engagement, such as adding them to a waiting list and an email list. Regularly check in on them and add value to the relationship.

Confront With Care

Few leaders can avoid confrontation. There are simply too many items and employees that require oversight and guidance. The likelihood is very high that every leader will need to address numerous areas of concern within her organization at various points.

Whether the matter is personal (a coworker's attitude or manners, for example) or performance related, confronting someone about an issue can be one of the hardest things for a leader to do. It is generally unpleasant for someone to have to bring this concern forward and demand change and improvement. In fact, many leaders will go to extreme lengths to avoid it. Some reasons for this include:

Fear of how your relationship will be affected moving forward;
Concern over being seen as overly demanding or callous;
Bad feelings from past confrontations that went awry;
Second-guessing and questioning ourselves regarding our grounds and motives for the confrontation;
Negative memories from times that we were confronted by others.

13 "S" Hacks to Increase Productivity

A recent report from the US Department of Labor confirms what many of us already suspect. Employee productivity is on the decline, with increases in email to respond to, web surfing, daily meetings, and poor management partly to blame (though meetings and idea sharing, while not productive per se, can and often do yield positive benefits.) Many leaders and managers similarly are also not as productive as they once were.

Let’s be honest. Staying productive can be tough, especially for folks who need to use their minds (to manage others, plan and be strategic, produce content, develop code, solve problems, coach, etc.) and / or pound the pavement to generate sales or other deliverables.

To help us become more productive, and to make the list more memorable, I compiled a list of “s” productivity pointers. They are in no particular order.

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