©2007 Andrew Mark (istockphoto)

Are you dreading going to work? Are you finding that you hit the snooze button more and more frequently during the week? Does it feel like you’re entering a dark, foreboding place every time you set foot at the workplace? Is it fraught with unseen dangers?

Whether you are a senior leader or climbing your career ladder, if you are in the wrong work environment, you will feel like you’re experiencing this situation on a daily basis. If you’re an attorney, an executive, or responsible for launching a new product to market, if you don’t have support to help you reach your peak performance, you will feel like you are constantly at risk.

It is time to face the truth. YOU are in danger. The latest neuroscience research can now validate that there’s a part of your brain that’s activating the danger alarms. It has been called the mammalian brain, the ancestral brain, or the instinctive brain. It is really your amygdala. Yes, it’s a hard word to pronounce and harder to understand because when it’s engaged, all your logic, creativity, and problem-solving abilities shut down. You are in survival mode. The amygdala located within our midbrain triggers the ‘fight or flight’ response when you perceive danger. This instinctive process slows down our rational and creative thinking patterns. When you’re in ‘fight or flight’ mode, logical reasoning goes out the window. What are you left with? Your fear. This fear triggers anger, which ensues in attack posturing or escapism.

What is even more common in our society is what I call the “freeze.” When you want to initiate a change, or when your immediate manager wants you to ‘stretch outside your comfort zone,’ the amygdala is triggered, or your natural alarm system is activated stopping you right in your tracks. You become immobilized and nothing gets done, no stretches, no professional or self-improvement. Why does this happen?

One of the main reasons it is so difficult to change your current situation is that it is much safer and more comfortable to stay in your current patterns. So even if you’re restless or (miserable), that experience itself becomes your comfort zone and it is difficult to change.

Let’s look at a wild animal and its amygdala. It’s so simple for them. Animals are natural masters of shifting from fight to flight with ease. When have you ever observed a lion that was conflicted, stuck in gears between fight and flight?

How about human beings? Have you heard that your mind is your own worst enemy? The reason is that we evolved to handle all kinds of strife. However, when was the last time you faced the danger of a saber-toothed tiger on the road or in the hallway at work?

Let’s face it; sometimes going to the workplace is shifting you out of your comfort zone. Are you the only one with this experience?

If you look around the world, you will observe that most people are run by their amygdala. It’s evident in the conference rooms when different groups vie for territory or meeting their agendas, above all else. Cross-functional teams seem to travel to different destinations while tasked with one major outcome. Project managers in all industries face this phenomenon constantly.

So, if your amygdala is triggering and so is everyone else’s, how can you accomplish anything? You’re right. It’s not simple, but easy once you start becoming aware of what’s really going on.

So what does this all mean? All of us have built mental structures that frame how we perceive the world and ourselves. In order to change, we need to break down these structures and reformat our hard drives (our minds).

First, things first, in the book, the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey advises to “Begin with the end in mind.” However, I recommend that you actually start with yourself and your amygdala. Everyone is hard-wired differently based on genetics and adaptive conditioning as we experience more and more of what life has to offer.

So, first begin with acknowledging that your amygdala is a very powerful tool. Just like the military with a very sophisticated defense system, your amygdala is your personal security system. However, the only way it knows how to keep you safe is to keep you within your comfort zone. Any time you venture or step foot out of this defined boundary of comfort, your amygdala is activated. When the amygdala alarms go off, you can experience a range of mild to severe symptoms. Let’s review what we’re really talking about when this happens.

Symptoms of Amygdala Activation:

1. Procrastination
2. Self-Doubt
3. Worry
4. Over-doing to over-compensate
5. Workaholic mode
6. Feeling Stuck
7. Poor self-confidence
8. Beating Yourself Up
9. Resistance of any kind
10. Losing Momentum
11. Lackluster view of your situation
12. Sad, maybe depressed
13. Caustic or cynical
14. General feeling of misery (remember misery is relative)
15. Symptoms of Stress, including Anxiety and Dread, may lead to panic or severe fear response, if unchecked.

If you have been experiencing any of these sensations, your amygdala is trying to talk back to you. You are in danger of leaving your comfort zone. Remember, everyone has different levels of tolerance to risk. For some, paragliding, skydiving, starting new companies, mountain climbing, traveling and backpacking to third world countries is all within the parameters of their comfort zones. For others, trying exotic foods, starting a new position, scuba diving, or riding a hot air balloon all trigger the amygdala.

The very next action step when you experience any symptoms of amygdala activation is:

HIT THE PAUSE BUTTON

©2008 Sergejs Nescereckis (istockphoto)

If you adopt the metaphor that your life is one long movie, then as you’re watching it, hit the pause button for an unscheduled break. At this point, you have stopped everything.

Tips To Hit the Pause Button

1. Stop whatever you are doing, and take a deep breath.
2. If you concentrate on your breathing, that will naturally slow you down.

Once you have paused, your amygdala will stop escalating to higher alarm levels. The next step will be to calm your amygdala down.

To Illustrate Amygdala overdrive, let me share what happened yesterday evening. A comedy of errors occurred when I unknowingly posted the draft version of this article and then couldn’t log in immediately to fix it. After 15 attempts with new passwords, I was able to log in and delete the draft post. What do you suppose MY amygdala was doing? On a scale of 1-10, it was escalating towards the 10! If you are a Feroce blog subscriber, you received a sneak preview this morning.

Remember, it is not YOU; it is just your amygdala!

Stay tuned to the next installment in this series to discover Tips to Calm Down Your Amygdala.

For immediate relief, contact your Intuitive Success Coach, Wanda.

For more tools, sign up for this blog to get tips immediately sent to your email inbox hot off the press.

Mind Work, Career, Entrepreneur, Wanda, Leadership | Add Your Comment »

Are you wishing to be persuasive and have influence? Would it be easier to shock people into submission?

Influence is the “power to sway or affect.”

Who has this power? How do we get this power? Is it just about having authority, wealth, or status? Or is there more…?

It’s not about the answers; it’s about asking the right questions. What’s it going to take? What does the individual or group need to hear or experience to shift their position, act, or move toward your goal? In other words, how do you sell them on the idea, the action, the concept, or the whole enchilada?

Only by understanding their true motivations, their trigger points for pain and relief, will you be able to assist them in helping to solve their problems and/or bring relief. The question to ask is: What will it take for someone to have “buy-in” about what you are considering or wanting to change, shift, or impact?

As a leader with direct authority, you can bully them into submission. Yet, even if they are saying yes to you, they may consciously or unconsciously sabotage your efforts. What if you are put into a position of leadership with no direct authority? Would this be an exercise in futility or an opportunity to “first seek to understand” before you are understood? It has to first be defined in their eyes as a problem before a solution or an action can be considered.

The military forces train their officers and soldiers to prepare ahead and plan for contingencies. Then why do the rest of us continue to use the shotgun approach?

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

To seek to first understand, we must accept that every individual views the world differently. All of our thoughts are filtered through different glass forms or spectacles. According to Seth Godin, “What’s true is this: everyone looks at the world with a different lens.”

Each person will interpret the world, or his or her corner of the world, from this worldview or lens. If you are trying to persuade or influence someone or a group, the first thing is to try to step into their shoes and begin to understand their perceptions, or the way they see the world. Perceptions influence our decisions, our approach to solve problems, and ultimately, our actions.

So, I recommend the following simulation to start your task of understanding.

1. Do you have enough information?
2. If not, your first priority is to discover the individual(s)’ needs and motivators. It isn’t about what they tell you. It’s about what they are not telling you. With direct questioning and probing you can uncover the real issues that may impact your level of persuasion.
3. The most important question to answer before making your pitch is: what is it going to take for them to shift or change or take the action that you are recommending? (In sales terms, how do you close them? To try your product or service? To take action on your goal? To implement your strategy? To follow your lead?)

If you have ever watched the movie, Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin tells the sales team, it’s about “ABC - Always Be Closing.” But before you can close a negotiation, you must admit that you are always negotiating or selling to others. You need to negotiate or persuade others for a specific result. So you find yourself negotiating: for time with your boss, visibility in the company, for your agenda, in traffic, to be heard and seen by others, with your children, your employees, your clients, your teachers, your parents, to get your needs met, etc.

Within the context of negotiating, let’s look at the last question again. What do you need to understand about what it will take to trigger a response to generate the result you are seeking? Ask yourself, what results do you want? Who will help you get those results? What’s standing in your way? What do you need to know before you can achieve these results? Who will these results impact? Who has the most to gain? Who has the most to lose?

As products of our current society, we are all bombarded with individuals and companies trying to sell us. Current estimates range from 3,000 to 5,000 marketing messages a day, which translates into roughly every 14 seconds you are subjected to being sold. For every single individual there are too many choices and not enough clarity.

Being persuasive and having influence to get targeted results is about first having clarity. Who are you trying to persuade or influence? Do you have clarity about their situation as it relates to what you are proposing or what you are trying to negotiate? Have you asked the right questions to step into their shoes and gain clarity? Is your proposal or recommendation the right one for them? If not, do you have the integrity to admit it or do you still try to push your agenda?

Remember, when someone persuades you or has influenced your decision, you have been sold. You ‘buy-in’ to what they propose, negotiate, etc.: 98% of all buying decisions are emotional. So, when you feel understood and connected emotionally the solution or action step you are about to take is aligned with your motivations and interests. You have clarity. So when it’s your turn to persuade or influence will you have the clarity to move forward from an authentic and genuine place?

Need more tips on being persuasive? Click here for a quick consult.

Ready to boost your influence in today’s competitive market? Click here for a quick tune-up.

Your Intuitive Leadership Coach, Wanda.

Mind Work, Career, Entrepreneur, Wanda, Leadership | Add Your Comment »

I was reviewing marketing materials for a new business campaign and thought there was a lot of valuable information to share.

It became really clear that marketing is the process of developing a relationship with your customer/client.

This relationship process is applicable to a large business organization as well as a single practitioner service business.

The Steps of DEVELOPING A MARKETING RELATIONSHIP

Challenges that Need to be Overcome:

#1 Being Unknown -this is the first stage when your prospect does not know who you are

#2 Recognition without Awareness - this is like being an acquaintance you recognize but don’t know anything about them.

#3 From Impersonal to Personal - - your client prospect has an awareness of your business – product/service, but is not sure what it does for them.

#4 - Connection and Commitment - this is when your prospective client understand that you can help them but is unsure of trusting that you will be the right person to come through with results in the right time frame and right priceEach of the steps in this relationship building process needs to have a different focus.

If you have more than one person in your organization handling these marketing efforts, then make sure to be consistent. Your organization should have everyone “on the same page”, by training them to have the same message, approach, and solution to offer prospects.

Building your Marketing Relationship and Securing New Clients

#1 - Overcome the Unknown
The aim at this point in your relationship is to generate interest. You want to find the right message that will draw the attention of your prospective targeted clients

It is most helpful for this to develop a Core Marketing Message which is often called an “elevator speech”.

This is a short concise message that communicates the essence of what you do.It addresses the kind of clients you work with, the problems you solve and the results you get. It should be one to two sentences maximum, but informative enough to elicit interest

#2 Becoming More Personable – Increase Awareness
You will now need to build on the attention you garnered in your “elevator speech”.
This means presenting your business in detail by answering the questions of who you are and how your product/service works.
It is crucial to keep a clear focus of the benefits you offer to prospective clients and address questions of:

Who you work withWhat approach (program/system) you use

Your background, training, expertise

The track record of success

The most effective way to convey this message is by using an example of one of your past success stories. Stories are easy for people to relate to.

These objectives are often accomplished through a brochure. In today’s internet savvy marketplace it is incumbent in most cases, to have a website presence to establish credibility as well.

#3 Becoming Personal
As highlighted by Dale Carnegie in his best selling book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, one of the most important and effective ways things you can do to establish a relationship is to get people to talk about themselves and their situation.As highlighted by Dale Carnegie in his best selling book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, one of the most important and effective ways things you can do to establish a relationship is to get people to talk about themselves and their situation.It is no different in business relationships

This is when you want to ask questions about the challenges they face as well as their successes of the past. Try to find out what is their greatest motivational factor and what are their short term and long term goals.

This information is crucial, because without it you will not know how to personalize and apply your service/product to fit the needs of your prospect

#4 Make the Connection and Get the Commitment
This is the challenge of getting commitment from the prospect to move forward with you.This is the challenge of getting commitment from the prospect to move forward with you.It is often best to offer your prospect a proposal which includes how you will benefit them and solve the challenge they face

The proposal should include the financial terms as well as time frame you expect will be needed to reach initial short term goals.

If you make an offer and it is not readily accepted or someone says “I’ll think about it – make sure to probe further and flush out their concerns. Ask them, if we could clarify and solve that issue will be ready to make the commitment ?

SUMMARY
The key factor in success in marketing developing business relationships is being able to focus on the needs of your prospective client and build trust. Trust comes from establishing your credibility and competency. From you paying close attention to the needs of your prospective client.

When you have done that you must show you have a cost effective solution and your relationship will begin.

For a jump start to your success, contact our Marketing Coach !

Morris N. Mann, Ph.D. - Small Business Coach

Morris, Business | Add Your Comment »

Two years ago my father died. He always wanted to change his life but it took his death for this change to manifest. He finally succumbed to heart disease.

In his new book, “Change or Die” originally featured on “Fast Company,” Alan Deutschman takes the reader on a philosophical adventure: to answer the biggest what if question of your life. If your death was inevitable unless you changed, what are the odds that you would change? Are you saying to yourself, but yes, if my life depended on it, I would definitely change? During IBM’s 2004 “Global Innovation Outlook” conference, Dr. Edward Miller, dean of John Hopkins medical school and CEO of its university discussed the prognosis of patients with heart disease and reported that the odds are nine to one against an individual changing based on scientific research.

Does anyone challenge this position? If the top minds of Johns Hopkins and the Global Medical Forum can’t effect change, how can one individual hope to change?

This book cites the findings of John Kotter, Harvard business school professor and Dr. Dean Ornish, professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco and founder of the Preventative Medicine Research Institute. Both Kotter and Ornish believe that we have to outmaneuver the mind and focus on an individual’s feelings, the emotional dimension. Ornish reports that focusing on the psychological, emotional, and spiritual dimensions will actually reverse heart disease without engaging the traditional medical model response to treatment. His clinical trials included patients with severely clogged arteries who engaged in a structured program of meditation, relaxation, yoga, and aerobic exercise for one year while attending support group meetings. Interestingly enough, after three years, 77% retained the lifestyle changes and avoided traumatic and costly heart surgeries.

How many times have we heard: the mind is your worst enemy? The reason is that we evolved to handle all kinds of strife. However, when was the last time you faced the danger of a dinosaur or a saber-toothed tiger in your driveway or crossing the street? According to Dr. Robert Maurer, Associate Clinical Professor at UCLA School of Medicine and author of “One Small Step Can Change Your Life, the Kaizen Way,” change is frightening. This fear of change is rooted in the brain’s physiology, and when fear takes hold, it can prevent creativity, change, and success.” The amygdala located within our midbrain triggers the ‘fight or flight’ response when faced with danger. This instinctive process slows down our rational and creative thinking patterns. When we’re in ‘fight or flight’ mode, logical reasoning goes out the window. What are we left with? Our fear. This fear triggers anger, which ensues in attack posturing or escapism. How do we find the secret trap door to get out of this place and stop the discomfort?

Maurer suggests an alternative. The kaizen way is outmaneuvering this natural pattern. Instead of making sweeping massive changes that will overtax and engage the amygdala, he recommends small baby steps. Tiny minute actions guarantee success. For example, he suggests removing and organizing one paper clip off a disorganized, cluttered desk to start this process and whiz right past the amygdala. Soon, by repeating these baby steps, your brain slowly starts reformatting its hard drive and you will start seeing change at a comfortable pace.

So what does this all mean? All of us have built mental structures that frame how we perceive the world and ourselves. In order to change, we need to break down these structures and reformat our hard drives (our minds). This would be very difficult unless we had support and adopted the kaizen way.

Heart patients are faced with the ultimate challenge: “to change or die.” For the rest of us, the issue is “change or lose your mind.” Dr. Michael Merzenich, professor and neuroscientist at the University of California at San Francisco cites that if one lives to the age of 85, your odds are 50/50 that you will experience senility. He recommends a mental fitness program of continued learning to keep the machinery of the mind working. In order to experience complex new learning, one must create new challenges or the mind starts dying. Being creative and innovative is conducive to new learning. The message is simple: change before you die. Change is good for your life and your mental health.

Are you ready to change?

Come join me in my creative playground where anything is possible ……

Mind Work, General, Wanda, Creativity | 1 Comment »

LEARN TO BE DRIVEN BY WHAT IS IMPORTANT – NOT TO MANAGE TIME.
It is popular in time management articles and books to help you more effectively utilize your time by learning how to prioritize what you need to do. If you are a small business owner you probably have a never ending list of things that need your attention. It is not unusual to hear people say:
“There is too much to do, and I don’t know which to prioritize”
“I’m always stressed because I procrastinate, but I procrastinate because I am always stressed out”
“I want to enjoy life and my family more. I need more time because I never have time for myself”
DO YOU SET MEANINGFUL PRIORITIES FOR YOURSELF
Stop for a moment and review what you are doing. What is important is a matter of what you do and why you do it rather than how much pressure you are feeling to get it done. Too often we get busy taking care of those things that are pressuring us. It is these “external pressures” that interfere with use from taking the time to stop and ask ourselves if what we are doing really matters to us.
ARE YOU LEADING YOUR LIFE OR MANAGING IT?
Management works within your existing frame of reference and paradigm. Managing is externally driven. It means dealing in an effective way with what is “thrown at you” by the environment you are in. When you manage you are inevitably managing things, and sometimes relate to the people around you as things.
Leadership is internally driven. When you engage your personal or business leadership qualities, you are often modeling and leading people. As an internally driven leader you should first be asking yourself the question “am I doing the right things” before you ask “am I doing things right?”
DO YOU WORRY ABOUT THE URGENT OR PRIORITIZE THE IMPORTANT?
Steven Covey in his book “First Things First” makes important distinctions in the type of work we do and how we spend out time. He identifies areas that are combinations of urgent and important, or not urgent and not important.
While most time management list prioritizing helps people deal with the urgent, it too often neglects the important. And while urgent issues can sometimes be important as well, they often get taken care of because they are urgent even if they are not important. In such a case, your actions are becoming driven more by external factors, which are not important to you, rather than internal meaningful purposeful ones.
Covey uses an interesting name he calls the “urgency addiction”. This is the sales manager who satisfies an irate customer, the shipping manager who must get out an overwhelmingly huge number of orders in time for Christmas, or the IT manager who gets the computer system up and running after it broke down. You may remember, feeling the “rush” of solving the urgent problem. While that is necessary, it should not take the place of following through on you pre-determined list of important goals.
lead
DO YOU SET ASIDE TIME EACH WEEK TO REFLECT?
The first step to working in more on important issues is to identify what is important to you. For some people that can be developing a mission statement, while for others it can be identifying a clear, concrete vision of where you are headed. It means asking yourself, “what is most important?”, “what do I want to be and to do with my life and business ?”
You must set aside time each week to be asking yourself these questions. Take the time to reflect, and don’t say you are too busy. Without reflection you are on a path without direction. Imagine you are an airline pilot. Would you take off without a pre-determined flight plan and direction ?
SUCCESS IS IN THE DETAIL AND EXECUTION
After you have reflected and re-affirmed your values, you need to decide on the steps to take during the week that will help move you in the direction of that long term goal. You must make sure that what you are scheduling is aligned with your purpose and mission.
Once you have identified what is important for you, it becomes crucial to list daily, weekly, and/or monthly goals that will help you slowly accomplish that which is important. You have to find your own comfortable way to make it happen, but do it. Remember that to accomplish your truly meaningful and important goals you must add them to your weekly to do list. Be driven by internal motivation and not only by what is urgently thrown at you..
SUCCESS IS THE RESULT OF DEDICATION AND HARD WORK
Be realistic. The famous saying that “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, means that significant achievement takes commitment, sweat and hard work. You can’t become successful small business owner overnight.

Entrepreneur, Morris | Add Your Comment »

©2007 Irene Chan (istockphoto)

Is the marketplace spinning you in all directions with no focus?  How do you get off the spinning carousel and get back in the driver’s seat?

According to Daniel Pink, “A Whole New Mind,” we have moved from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. With globalization and shareholders demanding more ROI, large corporations, small business owners and employees alike are experiencing uncertain economic times. Only one thing is certain, increasing your marketability increases your chances of thriving in modern times.

How do you increase your marketability? Marketability is a tenuous term and is referenced by a plethora of career articles. It’s defined as being “in demand” and therefore relatively easy to sell.  Marketing usually refers to products and services. However, we’ve all heard over and again that you need to identify the concept of “you” – as a product. Once you accept this notion, you are ready to become an asset to your organization, to your internal and external clients. The core of everything you do embodies ‘your brand.’ Everyone is born unique, but how many are remarkable? Fear holds you back from being your personal best. According to Seth Godin in his article, “In Praise of the Purple Cow: The opposite of remarkable is very good.”

One’s natural instinct is to blend in, to be accepted. Marty Neumeier, in “The Brand Gap” asserts that “human beings are social animals – our natural inclination is to go with the group.” But blending in may mean that your work performance is only very good. You don’t stand out and you are not as remarkable or marketable as you could be.

Conducting a personal audit of your marketable skills is the first step toward becoming remarkable, or a purple cow. Are you valued as an asset to your company? To your clients? Are you marketable as a product? Are you marketable to your current employer? Ask yourself, what do you do that’s really special? If you have trouble with this question, ask your closest colleagues, or your best friends. It is so easy for us to criticize or judge our own performance. How many of us look inside for the answers? If your current position is just a paycheck or if your heart isn’t in your business, how does that reflect in your current environment?

Many enlightenment experts acknowledge that life is but a mirror of what we feel inside. How does your external world look and feel? Even if you’re not in the ideal work or business situation, there must be something or many things that you do exceptionally well. The key is to uncover these great treasures. As individuals, we are all equal, but unique and special in our own right. To use our special gifts, talents, and abilities and promote them to a current employer or to our internal or external clients, we must first uncover them. Take a marketability quiz and see if you’re ready.

To begin you will need to conduct an audit of your previous roles and accomplishments. Identify a peak performance period when you were at your absolute best. Try to remember your specific activities, who was involved, and all the factors that impacted your top performance. Pay special attention to your workflow and successes. To guide you through this process of discovery, consider taking the free online assessment offered by purchasing the new book, “Now, Discover Your Strengths.”

Diane Stafford, career columnist for the Kansas City Star states, “You can’t change the other guy. You can only change yourself or your response to the other guy.” In this lifetime, you are the major star in the movie of your life. Everyone else is either a secondary or tertiary character, or maybe not even a character. How will this process unfold? The journey to becoming remarkable doesn’t have be an impossible feat, such as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. It can be as simple as the way you answer the phone, the special care you take with clients, the magic you create when you come into a room, or the special quality you add to a meeting. Think small, think baby steps.

The key to success is adaptability. Change takes us out of our comfort zone, activates fear, and stimulates the “fight, flight or the freeze” response. In the 21st century, it is our mind that gets in our way. So, how can we get results in an easy and effortless way? How can we get unstuck without struggle or the need to change? The answer is play. As adults, we have forgotten how easy and fun it was to play in the playground. There were no expectations. We just had fun.

Ready to take the marketability challenge?

Invitation to Enter the Creative Playground

Riding the Merry-Go-Round of Time

How do adults play?
When all we want to do is dismay.
What is the allure of sophistication,
Procrastination, dread, and indignation?
Conformity, tried and true.

Being silly is the cure
For creative spirits that are demure.
Visualize riding the merry-go-round of time.
Situate yourself comfortably as each chime
Signals reverting back yet another year
Passing adulthood by until you’re there!

A resurfacing of your inner child
Will bring about metamorphosis that is not mild.
Be prepared to jump in bales of hay
Giggling, laughing, imagining, in the name of play.
Counter intuitive to patterns of thought
Creativity and Innovation will be sought.

Wanda Ropa ©2007

Mind Work, Career, Entrepreneur, Assessments, Wanda, Creativity, Leadership | 1 Comment »

“Public sentiment is everything.
With it, nothing can fail;
without it, nothing can succeed.”
– Abraham Lincoln

Do you feel like you’re quacking without being heard? Unable to get results?

Quacking doesn’t get results! Getting buy-in does.

“The rules for work are changing. We’re being judged by a new yardstick; not just by how smart we are, or by our training and expertise, but also how well we handle ourselves and each other.” – Daniel Goleman

Buy-in is the process of gaining people’s understanding, commitment, and action in support of your goals. Without buy-in you are almost certain to fail. You can’t just dictate results. People will resist and even try to stop you.  After all, without buy-in you have not really convinced anyone that it is in his or her best interest to participate. How do we do this?

Industry trends and globalization are impacting the marketplace in ways we never imagined. In these uncertain times, the role of the leader is evolving. Once it was highly prized to perform with a Napoleonic autocratic ‘command and control’ style. Today, however, leaders must shift more to a team leader role to achieve buy-in in order to produce results.

In terms of corporate jargon and doublespeak, buy-in really is: “more than just agreement with a concept, idea, or proposal. It implies a deep moral commitment to root for the idea passionately in public – and only work to sink it in private.” – Lara Stein and Benjamin Yoskovitz

So, it is apparent that if you truly don’t have buy-in, you have not really convinced anyone that it is in their best interest to assist you in meeting the organizational goals. What’s the easiest path of least resistance? What’s the secret to easy and effortless success?

Principle #1 - It’s about selling. 

Principle #2 - Whether you want to believe it or not, you are always selling.

Principle #3 - To get buy-in, you need to sell your idea, concept, or proposal.  It’s about selling.

Whew, now that we got that out of the way, you say:  “I’m not comfortable selling.”  You’re in for a reality shock.  Since you left your mother’s womb, you have always been selling.  Unless, of course you were hatched.  That’s right.  Whenever you wanted or desired anything, you had to sell someone to get it.  You had to convince or persuade someone that it was in his or her best interest to get it for you.  For instance, an infant’s cries are usually subdued when they receive attention to their needs.  So, you sold your parents that it was in their best interest to meet your needs. 

Bottom line, to sell someone, you need to understand the proverbial WIIFM channel.  (WIIFM = What’s In It For Me?)  When you tune into the WIIFM channel, you’re stepping into the other person’s shoes.  “People don’t buy our services, products, or ideas.  They buy how they imagine using them will make them feel.” - Spencer Johnson, MD

First, identify the key stakeholders that will impact your results? Who do you need buy-in from? Who are the key individuals that will influence the end results?  Then ask yourself to step into their shoes, how can what you propose meet their needs or solve their immediate concerns.  Why would they want to assist you?  What’s in it for them?  How can this really help them?  How can you communicate this to them effectively? 

Then identify the people outside that group that will resist your efforts and thwart your plans. 

1. Who needs to implement this initiative?
2. Who will be impacted by this initiative?
3. Who needs to be involved because of their knowledge or level of expertise?
4. Who may sabotage this initiative?
5. Who are the key stakeholders in this initiative?

Using a SWOT analysis can help you create a strategic plan as you develop your idea, concept, or proposal.  SWOT is an acronym that stands for:  Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.  Conducting this review and evaluation of what’s at stake will help you facilitate buy-in.

As you develop the SWOT, it can translate into actionable steps based on the analysis:

S     Strengths (maintain, build and leverage)

W    Weaknesses (remedy or exit)

O     Opportunities (prioritize and optimize)

T     Threats (counter)

 

Reaching consensus takes time.  It requires a commitment to the process, active participation from the leader and everyone involved, being open-minded and promoting creative thinking.  Achieving buy-in takes effort.  When team members are actively involved in the decision making process or implementing the initiative, ownership and buy-in increases and it becomes a “we” project rather than an “I” project.  Therefore, the process of consensus anchors and aligns the team on the same page.  Everyone can imagine how implementing this initiative will make him or her feel while serving the greater good.

Would you like more tips on buy-in?

Ready to join me and play with using the SWOT template?

Your Intuitive Leadership Success Coach, Wanda.

Mind Work, Career, General, Entrepreneur, Wanda, Creativity, Leadership | 2 Comments »

Introducing

the SOS Group: 

Answering Your

SOS Call

To

Shift Onto Solution Mode

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

at 6 pm (Pacific)****

Free Group Tele-Coaching Session with Coach Wanda

Has your rescue ship already set sail? 

Are you looking for relief to sail out of problem mode? 

To land in safe harbor and leave your problems behind? 

Are you constantly in distress? 

Sending out an SOS, with no answer? 

Are you out of flow? 

And your problems just grow?

Are you experiencing a recurrent theme of starting, then stopping, and then starting, only to stop in your tracks once again.  Are you frustrated and feel that you will never make any changes?  Do your problems just multiply like bunnies?

Your rescue plane is about to land….. this free group tele-coaching session is a gift!

In less than one hour you will receive one easy and effortless action step to start managing your problems before they manage you. 

You are not alone.  Come experience the energy and dynamic of how the group can support you to shift into solution mode.

Come re-charge your battery and start creating your own solutions!

Click here to sign up, limited spaces available. 

Save the date: 

Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 6 pm (Pacific)****

Free Group Tele-Coaching Session with Coach Wanda

Feel free to share this opportunity with a friend!

Ready to have your SOS answered?

Upon registration, you will receive your bridge-line phone number to call along with easy instructions to participate in this free group tele-coaching session.

Wanda is an excellent Success coach and Creativity Architect. She is definitely one of the best Coaches to turn to when you are stuck with a problem, challenge or obstacle in business or in life and can help you move through the “stuckness” to taking action with tools that are easy, effortless and fun!
-Sharon Price
Founder & Marketing Executive
PowerMarketing University
San Diego, CA 

Wanda has a unique gift when it comes to working with people. Wanda TRULY wants to help people succeed. She has the unique capability to focus on the needs of the person with whom she is speaking. She is a great listener and totally engages in the needs of the person. She is intelligent, witty, flexible, hard working, caring, intense, and fun. People flock to her; she has a “pied-pier” ability to draw people to her, and handles this gift with respect.
-M.G.
Chief Human Resources Officer
Ames, IA

Wanda was an inspiring coach who used creative tools and helped me to add amazing techniques to my own toolbox. I have benefited greatly from the guidance, information and creative problem solving that have to be the foundation of this process. I would highly recommend the process to anyone who is searching for their next steps in life or in their career.
-Robin F.
Training Leader
Kansas City, MO

The Quicksand of Your Mind

Are you in struggle?
Your mind a puddle?
Are you stuck?
What luck?
In the quicksand of your mind?

Are you out of flow
And problems just grow?
What to do, to solve this riddle?
Stuck in the middle
In the quicksand of your mind.

There’s only one way
Out of this unwanted stay.
Resolve to clearly see
And not live by some false decree
In the quicksand of your mind.

Wanda Ropa 

Copyright ©2007 Wanda Ropa

Reserve your spot today!

6 pm (Pacific)****

7 pm (Mountain daylight savings)

8 pm (Central)

9 pm (Eastern)         

Mind Work, Career, General, Entrepreneur, Wanda, Creativity, Leadership, Relationships | Add Your Comment »

Introducing Feroce Coaches
Bradley Foster and Wanda Ropa

Attend our Free Group Coaching Session

Learn how to achieve creative breakthroughs everyday!

Hear Bradley Foster and Wanda Ropa in action in this free group coaching session where you can get some work done and listen to others bring their challenges forward. This is an interactive coaching session where you are invited to participate.  You will experience the creative synergy of these dynamic and exciting coaches as they coach a group live. 

Bradley and Wanda are experienced leaders with a fresh approach whether your challenge is at work, at home, in your career, your relationships or achieving your goals.

Join Bradley and Wanda to help you get you back to that space where you are able to breathe and to see that you have many more options than you thought possible.

Stop Dreaming and Live your dreams!

Sign up, now, spaces will fill up quickly.*

Choose the date that is best for you:

Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 11 am (Pacific)****

Click here to sign up.

Feel free to share this opportunity with a friend!

Upon registration, you will receive your bridge-line phone number to call along with easy instructions to participate.

Ready to join us?

**** 12:00 pm Day light Mountain Savings; 1:00 pm Central; 2:00 pm Eastern

Mind Work, Career, General, Wanda, Creativity, Bradley, Relationships | Add Your Comment »

Success, what is the secret formula? Does it seem to elude you? Are you born to be successful? Is it predetermined by destiny? Is it something that can be learned? What are the secrets of success known by the elite few?

If all of us are born with creative talents, what distinguishes the men and women who are recognized for their creative achievements in diverse fields, such as science, engineering, marketing, art, music, manufacturing, literature, poetry, architecture, to name a few? Similar patterns exist with every client, from every walk of life. The differences lie in how they uniquely respond to life’s stimuli and triggers, based on the resources and tools they possess.

First, and foremost, it is vital that you define what success looks like to you.  Every individual is born unique, with distinct tastes and preferences. For the Buddhist monk, success is reaching enlightenment. For the corporate mogul, it is becoming the CEO of the number one company in his/her industry. For individuals climbing the career ladder, it is consistently being promoted up the ladder without plateaus. For the scientist or creative, it is being recognized as a leader in their field, pioneering and pushing the envelope past its breaking point, and still pushing.

So, we’re talking about peak performance. Do you remember a time that was a peak period in your career or life? A time when you were at the top of your game? A time when your heart was racing in excitement, you felt the adrenalin surge? Remember when you felt like Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) shouting, “I’m King of the world” in the movie, “Titanic?”

Take a moment to review your periods of peak achievement. What was going on? Who was involved? What type of activities did you thrive in? What project were you involved with? How were you feeling? What was your energy level like? What challenges were you facing? Did you lose track of time?

It is important to understand what was going on in a peak period to be able to recreate it and repeat this process. This will help you find flow. Being in flow is easy, fun, and effortless. If something isn’t easy or effortless, you feel like you’re swimming upstream, against a strong current, experiencing resistance.

This means you need to take a step back. Somehow, you are fighting yourself, either fighting what isn’t natural with your talent, fighting against the wrong type of environment, not the right fit, but clearly something isn’t working.

When work and life are easy and effortless, you are in flow. You are listening to the natural rhythm. Just like Circadian rhythms, being in flow means you are following your heart’s desire and using your natural strengths.

“We all are capable of reaching that state of effortless concentration and enjoyment called ‘flow.’” Joseph Campbell, author of “The Hero With A Thousand Faces,” declares that the end game is “to find your bliss.” I believe it’s about being in ‘flow.”

How do you get your natural talents to make you money? How do you naturally become successful? First, you identify what these talents are. Once you know the type of activities that make you shine, match them to your true interests. Ask yourself: if there were no obstacles, what would you be doing in life?

If there was a magic genie and you had 3 wishes, what would you be doing differently? What would remain the same?

How can you get these results, without the magic genie? Actually, you have power that maybe hasn’t been harnessed! For Frank Herbert fans, the book and the movie, “Dune” depicts the sleeper who has awakened. How do you get your creative sleeper, your amazing inner power to awaken?

Sign up for our free teleclass and discover why it’s all about TALENT and everyone has it. 

Explore Feroce Forum, the new site for teleclasses and more……

Learn the secrets of success your colleagues aren’t telling you.

Are YOU ready to shift into success?

Mind Work, Career, Assessments, Wanda, Creativity, Leadership | 5 Comments »