You Think You’re Productive....Are You Wrong?

Does this ever happen to you? You ask someone how they are and this is their response: “I'm good, I'm just soooo busy." You walk away feeling a little uneasy and wonder “should I be that busy?” 

Stop feeling jealous of people who are "sooooo busy.”  That doesn't mean they are producing more, or connecting more, or that they are happy and healthy. 

We need to distinguish the difference between busy and productive. 

Busy is when you've done a lot, but haven't moved the needle at all. 

Productive is when you've done less, yet you have progress.  

We can spend an entire day plugging away at the to-do list, yet the most urgent items aren't being addressed.  One of our favorite coaching tools is to recenter people on this idea.  We'll pose the question, “what can you accomplish that would make today productive?”  

The irony is they name only one or two things, because productivity comes from focused, intentional work...not busy work.  

When you sit down to start your day tomorrow ask yourself, “what can I do to make today a productive one?”

This is a habit that takes work...if you're curious about how this practice has benefited our clients, check out our website  and be inspired by the productivity of the rockstars we work with. 

The #1 Surprise We See When We Meet With Leaders

We haven't talked business plans yet have we?  

One of our most frequently requested services is our leadership workshop.  Without getting into the nitty gritty of what it looks like, the most shocking thing that comes out of those is how many small businesses don't have a business plan...or, they made one 12 years ago that hasn't been seen since the day it was printed and put away in the filing cabinet.  

A business plan is like having a constitution for your business.  It is a plan of how things will work.  Business plans give you focus, direction, and objective ways to manage.  

Areas where we’ve seen magic happen?  My kid's card tricks I have yet to figure out, and the first day of our leadership workshop when all of a sudden everyone in the room is...wait for it...communicating openly.  Their ideas and hopes for what the company could be start coming to life.  

When was the last time you knew for certain that your company was a well-oiled machine based on the plans and systems you put into place?  We have two different business plan templates we use - depending on the season of business.  

If you'd like to go through those with us, shoot us a message and we'll get you and your team a refreshed, business plan that will give you the structure you need to thrive.

Difficult People

Leading difficult people is…difficult.

You work with someone who has loads of potential and you work really, really hard to pull those capabilities out of them. You continue to pull and pull some more and there are hints of progress, but you are exhausted.

This is taking a lot longer than you thought. How do we motivate people to grow without creating stress?

There is a balance between meeting people where they are, while still caring about them so much that you won't allow them to stay there. They can do it.

We have to realize though, that they can do it in their way, with their gifts and their thought processes. 

As leaders, we love to inspire others to grow into.... well, us. Once we realize that people are not us and that they bring things to the table that we don't, it frees us up to help them grow into the best version of themselves.

Next time you are working on developing someone, own it. Believe they have what it takes and also practice patience without expectations, knowing that they innately work differently than you do. This will give them the space to grow and will save you unnecessary frustration.

For more tips on leadership, check out the Business Lab with Laine Schmidt Podcast.

Do What Works

Here you go, free coaching.

One of our most productive questions for people is: “What is working well for you?”  Once they identify that, they plan ways to do more of it. You may have heard the quote "keep the main thing the main thing," and there is something to that.

Due to the constant overload of new ideas coming our way from influencers, motivational speakers (and coaches doing blogs hehe), people think that they need to always be trying new strategies.

I am here today to give you permission to stop. Consider what you are already doing that is getting you results and focus on that. Instead of spending time on things that don't produce, invest your time into the things that already do. 

If you are the king of networking, why are you wasting your time stressing over cold calls that get you nowhere? 

Maybe you have a great product that you can't keep in stock, but you are developing four other products that are completely unrelated to that one...why?  Focus on what works, because it works.