Are You Great at Time Management – or Priority Management?

When a recent college grad puts together his or her first resume for the real world, it can be tough. For most people, it means finding ways to fill a page with relevant work and school experience coupled with those all-important skills lists. If you take a look at any resume – fresh out of college or not – you’ll likely find some sort of reference to proficiency in time management. Everyone wants to believe they can manage their time effectively, and being able to stay on task certainly makes you an attractive job candidate.

But honestly, what does great time management even mean? Are you saying that you can tackle tasks quickly and still have time to check your Twitter feed? Can you squeeze your work into 35 hours and take leisurely lunches? Are you able to step out to that doctor’s appointment without an issue?

Whether you’re seeking new employment – or running your own business – it’s time to change the way we think about time management. What if, instead, we said we were great at priority management? Having excellent priority management skills likely says what you actually mean anyway: When you are charged with a certain list of needs, you can prioritize the most important tasks, accomplish those first and then manage the following priorities.

If you are a business owner or leader, having a priority management mindset also will help you to find the time to work ON your business instead of just IN your business. Once you’re able to manage your priorities and put them in the order you need to, you’ll easily be able to identify those low level tasks that probably don’t need your direct attention. Rather than trying to take care of everything on your own, try delegating those lower level tasks to your staff or find a way to systematize the business so those tasks don’t come to you in the first place.

Essentially practicing excellent priority management can help you better manage the hours you work each day, find ways to remove lower level tasks from your plate and free up time to work on developing your business! If you had even five extra hours per week, what could you do to make your business stronger? We bet you could find ways to improve your systems, beef up your marketing efforts, learn new business trends and more.

If you are having trouble identifying your priorities or developing your business, it’s time to reach out to your local Growth Coach.

The Growth Coach® Team

A.Carangelo@TheGrowthCoach-CNY.com
www.TheGrowthCoach-CNY.com

© 2007-2014 Anthony A. Carangelo – PO Box 370 Verona Beach NY 13162

Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated

EARN MORE, WORK LESS, ENJOY LIFE

E-newsletter for business owners, managers, and the professionals who serve them

Topic: The Gifts of an Effective Leader

As we approach the “season of giving,” I thought I would share several gifts that I have received from mentors who have inspired and enlightened me during my career as a leader and follower.

Gift number one is the gift of attitude. So much of what we accomplish or fail to accomplish begins and ends with our attitude. What kind of attitude do you possess? How do you approach the tough and the easy challenges you encounter? Do you look at each day as an opportunity waiting to be seized or a wall just about ready to tumble down upon you? Is your glass half empty or half full? Your attitude will carry you and those who follow you to new heights or perhaps deeper depths.

Optimism is the second gift of effective leadership. Winston Churchill, when asked if he was an optimist or a pessimist, responded, “What a silly question, I am an optimist of course. Why would I be anything else? To be a pessimist is a waste of time and a waste of space!” Need I say more?

Gift three is the gift of direction. Do you know where you are going and what your goals are? Any effective leader I have ever encountered or read about has clarity of vision and mission. His values are clear and lived. Her path is unencumbered with doubts of where she is going. Before you start your journey, know where you are going so those who follow might know where to find you if they get lost.

Fourth is the gift of followership. The effective leader knows how to follow. Especially she knows when to empower others who have a better idea on how to get done what needs to be done. Effective leaders delegate then follow when the time is right.

The gift of humility is the fifth gift. To lead and be humble is often hard for some leaders. To know you’ve made a mistake and then be able to publicly declare it is too great a risk in the minds of some leaders. To admit you have erred and are wrong is most often the first step to learning new and important lessons.

Action is the next gift. My dad used to say, “Talk is cheap.” He was right, there are too many leaders who are bankrupt when it comes to taking action. When you put your attitude, mission and vision together and you know your direction – your action is the final imperative. Take the gift of action and go for it!

Finally, perhaps the most important gift of all, effective leaders understand that their greatest gift is to value the people around them. The human resource of colleagues, friends, employees, and yes, even our adversaries and the competition all draw out the best in each of us if we allow them too. If we value people, we incrementally increase our own value and our potential for success.

Well there they are, my holiday gifts to you. Some wonderful people have given them to me throughout my professional career, and they have served me well. May you gain strength and improve your leadership skills by thinking about them and using them as well. If you find out that they work and make sense to you please pass them on.

“We don’t change overnight. Personal growth requires persistence.” — The Growth Coach®

At The Growth Coach®, you are never left alone. Experience the power of our support to inspire your growth! Allow us to be your growth partners in business and life. Join us now!

Your Accountability Coach.

Anthony A. Carangelo, owner/ceo

The Growth Coach® of Central New York  

anthony@thegrowthcoach-cny.com                             www.thegrowthcoach-cny.com  

Topic: The System is the Solution

During the early phase of business development or re-engineering, your brainpower and sweat equity should go into the design and creation of your business model and business systems – not into micromanaging.  Spend time developing systems and performance standards early on so that you can lead later on.  Design an entire business template.  Define and organize the work to be done rather than micromanaging the employees.  The more you systematize your business, the less everyone will rely on you for day-to-day questions and assistance.  You will minimize those nagging “got-a-minute” interruptions from your employees.  Also, the system you develop takes your place so that you can step out of the trenches and function as CEO.  Replace yourself with the system!

Your mission is to plan and design the system and then let your employees work the system.  Develop the recipe and then let the employees do the cooking!  Get out of the hot kitchen.  Your employees should understand their roles and function within and according to the system.  Once defined and documented, processes, policies, and practices should be followed carefully.

With help from employees and your business advisers, identify and document all the processes, procedures and policies necessary to achieve more effective and streamlined operations.  You want to get frank feedback at this stage to ensure that you have an effective business model laid out first before you start documenting your business system.  Start with customers’ perceived needs and work backwards re-designing your business so that it consistently and predictably fulfills the promises made to a customer during the selling process.  Be sure all your back-office processes (accounting, finance, HR, technology, administration, etc.) are in alignment to effectively support the operations of the company.  Design or repair any processes that are missing or faulty.

Routine work should be fully systematized and only exceptions should be dealt with on an ad hoc or improvised basis.  A system should eliminate arbitrary work and discretion. Your employees should have the discipline to follow the system and also have the freedom and authority to handle the exceptions that do not fit neatly into the system.  Because most potential problems and crises have been properly anticipated and converted into routine processes, “fire drills” should be greatly reduced.

Once your system is fully documented and your employees are running the system, you need to let go, trust the system, trust your team, and step away from the day-to-day workflow.  With this approach, twelve-hour days no longer need to be the norm.  Once you allow the integrated system to run, the system itself and your employees will do the necessary work to fulfill promises made to your customers.  You will not have to work as hard or as long.  With effective systems, ordinary employees (properly trained) can achieve consistently extraordinary results.

The system is your solution to more freedom, fulfillment, and profits.  Again, plan and develop the system and let others operate the system.

If you would like to achieve greater freedom, fulfillment and financial returns from your business, respond to this email to arrange for your FREE Strategic Mindset® Conversation.

“We don’t change overnight. Growth requires persistence.” – The Growth Coach®

At The Growth Coach®, you are never left alone. Experience the power of our support to inspire your growth! Allow us to be your growth partners in business and life. Join us now!

Your Accountability Coach.

Anthony A. Carangelo, owner/ceo

The Growth Coach® of Central New York 

A.Carangelo@TheGrowthCoach-CNY.com                                             www.TheGrowthCoach-CNY.com

Strategic Mindset® Client Support #102

“Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.”-Franklin D. Roosevelt

Any limiting beliefs holding you back?  Any fears holding you back?  If so, take action.  With action comes boldness and solutions.

Are you habitually looking at and taking action on your Strategic Planner^sm?  If not, you are stunting your success and personal balance.  Stay committed to the process.  Continue to spend time working “ON” your business.  Stay focused on your life and your business plan!

“We don’t change overnight. Growth requires persistence.” – The Growth Coach®

Stay committed to the process.  Continue to spend time working “ON” your business.  Stay focused on your life and your business plan!

Share your thoughts…

Your Accountability Coach.

Anthony A. Carangelo, owner/ceo

anthony@thegrowthcoach-cny.com                                www.thegrowthcoach-cny.com

 The Growth Coach® of Central New York                                   

EARN MORE, WORK LESS, ENJOY LIFE

E-newsletter for business owners, managers, and the professionals who serve them

Passion Is The Why

“To live is to choose. But to choose, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go, and why you want to get there….”
In business, your Values and Mission statements spell out, who your are and what you stand for.

Your Vision statement offers insight as to where you want to go, and your Strategy gives us the how.

….But the why is missing.

BOTTOMLINE:  Passion is the why.

“We don’t change overnight. Personal growth requires persistence.” — The Growth Coach®

At The Growth Coach®, you are never left alone. Experience the power of our support to inspire your growth! Allow us to be your growth partners in business and life. Join us now!

Your Accountability Coach.

Anthony A. Carangelo, owner/ceo

The Growth Coach® of Central New York   

anthony@thegrowthcoach-cny.com   www.thegrowthcoach-cny.com

Topic: Accessing the Power of Gratitude

The practice of gratitude as a tool for happiness has been in the mainstream for years. Long-term studies support gratitude’s effectiveness, suggesting that a positive, appreciative attitude contributes to greater success in work, greater health, peak performance in sports and business, a higher sense of well-being, and a faster rate of recovery from surgery…

But while we may acknowledge gratitude’s many benefits, it still can be difficult to sustain. So many of us are trained to notice what is broken, undone or lacking in our lives. And for gratitude to meet its full healing potential in our lives, it needs to become more than just a Thanksgiving word. We have to learn a new way of looking at things, a new habit. And that can take some time.

That’s why practicing gratitude makes so much sense. When we practice giving thanks for all we have, instead of complaining about what we lack, we give ourselves the chance to see all of life as an opportunity and a blessing.

Remember that gratitude isn’t a blindly optimistic approach in which the bad things in life are whitewashed or ignored. It’s more a matter of where we put our focus and attention. Pain and injustice exist in this world, but when we focus on the gifts of life, we gain a feeling of well-being. Gratitude balances us and gives us hope.

There are many things to be grateful for: colorful autumn leaves, legs that work, friends who listen and really hear, chocolate, fresh eggs, warm jackets, tomatoes, the ability to read, roses, our health, butterflies. What’s on your list?

Some Ways to Practice Gratitude

•  Keep a gratitude journal in which you list things for which you are thankful. You can make daily, weekly or monthly lists. Greater frequency may be better for creating a new habit, but just keeping that journal where you can see it will remind you to think in a grateful way.

•  Make a gratitude collage by drawing or pasting pictures.

•  Practice gratitude around the dinner table or make it part of your nighttime routine.

•  Make a game of finding the hidden blessing in a challenging situation.

•  When you feel like complaining, make a gratitude list instead. You may be amazed by how much better you feel.

•  Notice how gratitude is impacting your life. Write about it, sing about it, express thanks for gratitude.

As you practice, an inner shift begins to occur, and you may be delighted to discover how content and hopeful you are feeling. That sense of fulfillment is gratitude at work.

Original source by Claire Communications

The Growth Coach® guides entrepreneurs, owners and self-employed professionals to become more effective, focused, productive and strategic.  To face reality, identify solutions, and help them stay on track.  We help these successful individuals to work “on” themselves, “on” their businesses, and “on” their specific issues, opportunities and goals.

If you would like to achieve greater freedom, fulfillment and financial returns from your business, respond to this email to arrange for your FREE Strategic Mindset® Conversation.

“We don’t change overnight. Growth requires persistence.” – The Growth Coach®

At The Growth Coach®, you are never left alone. Experience the power of our support to inspire your growth! Allow us to be your growth partners in business and life. Join us now!

Your Accountability Coach.

Anthony A. Carangelo, owner/ceo

The Growth Coach® of Central New York

email

EARN MORE, WORK LESS, ENJOY LIFE

E-newsletter for business owners, managers, and the professionals who serve them

Topic:  Entrepreneur DNA

Explore and reflect on these common traits which make an entrepreneur. 

1. Tenacity – the most important attribute of an entrepreneur is never being willing to give up.

2. Street Smarts – getting out and understanding customers is far more important than book smarts or computer research.

3. Ability to Pivot – it’s not good enough to be tenacious and smart.  You also need to be sure you have a great product/market fit and that it is a big enough market to make money.  The best entrepreneurs fine tune their product and their business model until they find this groove.

4. Resiliency – being an entrepreneur is sexy … for those who haven’t done it.  In reality it’s gritty, tough work where you will be filled with self doubt.  Entrepreneurs are survivors.

5. Inspiration – Tenacity + street smarts is not enough without inspiration.  You need to lead teams and convince others to move mountains when by all means they shouldn’t believe they can.

6. Perspiration – We all know people who can stand up at a conference and deliver a rousing speech or who sound awesome in front of customers.  But it takes more than inspiration to build a successful business.  It takes perspiration also.

7. Willingness to Accept Risk – I’m not talking about crazy risks, but entrepreneurs are people who are willing to start a business on a leap of faith.  They don’t wait on the sidelines forever doing “side projects” until the day when they’re ready to start a company.  If you aren’t willing to take a shot by going full time on your startup it tells investors you aren’t confident enough in the idea or in yourself.

8. Attention to Detail – If you’re going to lead an early stage business you need to be on top of all your details.  You need to know your financial model.  You need to be involved in the product design.  You need to have a details grasp of your sales pipeline.  You need to be hand on.

9. Competitiveness – The best entrepreneurs hate losing.  Whether in person life or business they play to win.  It consumes them.  Sharing the market is not enough – they want to win every deal, hire every great employee and sign-up every partner.  And they want to do it at the expense of the competition.  As Leo Durocher famously said, “nice guys finish last.”

10. Decisiveness / Gets Things Done – Entrepreneurs don’t “noodle,” they “do.”  This is what separates entrepreneurs from big company executives, consultants and investors.  Everybody else has the luxury of “analysis” and Monday-morning quarterbacking.  Entrepreneurs are faced with a deluge of daily decisions – much of it minutiae.  All of it requiring decisions and action.

11. Domain Experience – Domain experience is not an absolute requirement.  In fact, some people would argue that the uber successful ventures come from people outside the industry willing to challenge the conventional wisdom.  But I believe that having domain experience and relationships gives you an unfair advantage.  Better that you start with this than from scratch.

12. Integrity – I believe that integrity and honesty are very important to most venture capital investors.  Unfortunately, I don’t believe that they are required to make a lot of money.  This post talks about my views on this attribute.

(Original source by Mark Suster, VC)

The Growth Coach® guides entrepreneurs, owners and self-employed professionals to become more effective, focused, productive and strategic.  To face reality, identify solutions, and help them stay on track.  We help these successful individuals to work “on” themselves, “on” their businesses, and “on” their specific issues, opportunities and goals.

If you would like to achieve greater freedom, fulfillment and financial returns from your business, respond to this email to arrange for your FREE Strategic Mindset® Conversation.

“We don’t change overnight. Growth requires persistence.” – The Growth Coach®

At The Growth Coach®, you are never left alone. Experience the power of our support to inspire your growth! Allow us to be your growth partners in business and life. Join us now!

Your Accountability Coach.

Anthony A. Carangelo, owner/ceo
The Growth Coach® of Central New York

A.Carangelo@TheGrowthCoach-CNY.com
www.TheGrowthCoach-CNY.com

Strategic Mindset® Client Support #101

“There is one art of which man should be master, the art of reflection.”-Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I just wanted to quickly touch base with you on a few items: 

• Make sure you are spending time on a regular basis reviewing your Strategic Planner^sm.  The Planner is a priority management tool and shows you the areas you should be focusing on over the next quarter.  It is your 90-Day Strategic Roadmap and is the culmination of a full day of honest reflection, thinking and planning. 
• As the CEO and Strategic Business Owner, you should be spending more time working “ON” your business and less time working “IN” your business.  It’s vital that you have time for reflecting, thinking, planning, and reviewing your Strategic Planner^sm and your business.  To help you get into the habit of working more “ON” your business, at a minimum I suggest the following simple schedule for you to reflect, think, plan, and to review your Strategic Planner^sm:

Monday through Thursday-spend at least 15 minutes each day

For the first 3 Fridays, spend 30 minutes

On the 4^th Friday, spend 2 hours (Repeat this Friday schedule for the 2^nd and 3^rd months or until we meet again)

Stay committed to the process.  Continue to spend time working “ON” your business.  Stay focused on your life and your business plan!

Share your thoughts.

Your Accountability Coach.

Anthony A. Carangelo, owner/ceo

The Growth Coach® of Central New York

www.thegrowthcoach-cny.com <||> anthony@thegrowthcoach-cny.com  

EARN MORE, WORK LESS, ENJOY LIFE

E-newsletter for business owners, managers, and the professionals who serve them.

Topic:  Time to Face Facts 

It is time to face reality!  You and your business have some problems that require some solutions.  Very simply, you can’t change what you do not openly acknowledge.  Identifying and admitting a problem goes a long way towards solving it.  

To begin the transformation and healing process, you need to do some serious reflection.   Be brutally honest when you answer these questions:  

• Do I often question, “Why do I have to do every darn thing myself”?
• Am I still working too much and making too little? 
• Am I trapped working “in” my business instead of “on” my business?
• Do I ever wonder if business ownership is truly worth the time, effort, headaches, hassles, and sacrifices?
• Do I feel trapped on a treadmill, moving faster and faster, but going nowhere?
• Do I constantly face frequent interruptions and repetitive questions from my staff?
• Do I go home many nights feeling mentally and physically drained?
• Do I confuse busyness with accomplishment?
• Do I dread the drudgery of facing and solving the same issues and problems each and every day – the burden of re-creating the wheel time and time again?
• Do I daydream about regaining my sense of freedom, joy, passion, and peace-of-mind?
• Do I have anxiety about drowning in projects, problems, deadlines, crises, meetings, employee issues, unanswered voicemails/emails, customer complaints, administrative trivia, and on and on? 
• Do I feel like a master juggler with too many balls up in the air and dreading they will soon begin hitting the floor?
• Am I forever chained to a phone, computer, email, or ipad?
• Am I tired of having customers rely on me personally for services, solutions and satisfaction?
• Am I fed up with missing family time, family events, and making other personal sacrifices on a semi-regular basis?
• Do I crave more free time to do the things that matter most to me?

Admit to the Problem

If you answered yes to most of these questions, don’t feel guilty, ashamed or embarrassed.  You are not alone.  Most owners have never learned to be strategic.  Role models are scarce.  As such, dysfunctional businesses and owners are the rule, not the exception. 

Like you, most owners feel that they have been sentenced to a life of servitude and some even suffer from the blues.  Unfortunately, because of pride, shame or ignorance, this sad condition has been kept hidden in the corner office for too long.  Starting now, you should not have to endure this much discomfort and frustration associated with your business.  You do not have to live this way!  You should not be consumed by your business and frustrated with your life.  Stop and think, why in the world, as the owner, should you have to touch every transaction, be involved with every decision, help solve every problem, or handle everybody’s job in some fashion?  You shouldn’t!  It doesn’t make sense.  Something is broken!  You cannot succeed alone.  You don’t have enough hours in a day or enough energy or bandwidth to go it alone.  Pain is a good indication that something is wrong and needs to be healed!

Realize that you aren’t the only one suffering.  Think about how your stress and blues are negatively impacting your employees, customers, vendors/suppliers, friends and if applicable, your spouse and kids.  Hear this wake-up call!  It is time to shift radically your business beliefs and behavior.  It is time to expand your view of new possibilities for managing your business and life.  The better your business functions, the better your life will function.

You deserve to be free from the daily grind; after all, you own a business, not a job.  You should actually enjoy the journey of developing and running a business and not defer your personal life and happiness until you retire or sell.  Live life now!  Do not get so caught up in making a living that you forget to make a life.  If your personal life is suffering because of your company, either your leadership approach is misguided or your business design is broken, maybe both! 

At this point, simply admit that your business centers on you and is totally dependent upon you.  Admit that you are buried up to your eyeballs in details of the business.  Admit that you are a slave to your business.  Admit that instead of your business giving you greater life, it continues to drain more of your personal time and peace-of-mind.  Admit that while your headaches and hassles grow, your freedom shrinks.

We don’t change overnight. Personal growth requires persistence.

At The Growth Coach®, you are never left alone. Experience the power of our support to inspire your growth! Allow us to be your growth partners in business and life. Join us now!

Share your thoughts…

Your Accountability Coach. 

Anthony A. Carangelo, owner/ceo

The Growth Coach® of Central New York  

www.thegrowthcoach-cny.com <||> anthony@thegrowthcoach-cny.com

Topic: Are You a Strategic or a Tactical Business Owner?

I am on a crusade to re-educate and re-focus business owners/managers to lead more, work less, and enjoy greater freedom, financial success and happiness.  In short, trying to get owners and managers to think and act strategically and effectively. 

Too many owners/managers are gifted technicians but not very effective as strategic leaders.  If you are not leading in your business, who is?  If you are not being strategic, who is?  If you are not proactive, who is?  To find out if you are a strategic business owner, ask yourself the following questions:  

• Do I see the big picture and have a long-term view? 
• Do I think more like a CEO than an employee?
• Do I create a yearly business plan? 
• Is my leadership purposeful, proactive, and planning-based?
• Do I constantly think about the direction and objectives of the business?
• Do I focus on the entire business and not just the technical work of my business?
• Have I created plans, procedures and policies to help operate my company? 
• Have I developed and documented all our key business processes? 
• Do I utilize the leverage of marketing to grow my business?
• Do I spend more time on important matters rather than trivial/urgent matters?
• Have I created a systems-dependent business instead of an owner-dependent business?
• Do I conduct one-to-one monthly coaching sessions with my managers and/or key employees?
• Do I avoid getting buried in the day-to-day details and headaches of the business? 
• Have I shaped my business more by design than by default?

 If you answered “no” to most of these questions, you are operating as a tactical, reactive business owner.  You could benefit greatly from becoming a Strategic Business Owner (SBO).  In short, a strategic business owner gets the highest and best return possible for his/her time, money and effort.  He/she focuses on working smarter, not harder.  Interested in transforming your mindset and behavior to be more strategic?  Send me an email, and we will set up a FREE (45) minute Strategic Mindset Conversation.

 Your Accountability Coach.

Anthony A. Carangelo, owner/ceo 

The Growth Coach® of Central New York

www.thegrowthcoach-cny.com <||> anthony@thegrowthcoach-cny.com