April, 23 2010

Thinking Big...

Let’s think bigger…

The headline on my www.beth-cole.com website is: Think Big, Do Big, Be Big. I voiced that phrase often when I was president/CEO of the Washington D.C. Women’s Business Center where we trained small business owners to start and grow their own enterprises. I used to think that thinking big was pretty easy and I’m here to now amend that -- Thinking Big can be plenty scary.

We want to think big – we may even think we are thinking big – and we don’t so much.

Often just as we begin to think big, one of our little gremlins appears and convinces us that the mere idea that we are about to contemplate is frightening – Just the IDEA. And what do we do? We adjust our thinking to fit a current reality. We begin thinking smaller.

When times are good and a new opportunity seems to be at every corner, our imaginations seem to soar. It’s as if our thoughts meet a hidden demand. We haven’t had a robust economy or great expectations for a few years now and I have noticed that many of us seem reluctant to have large dreams and mammoth ambitions. Let us consider that this is the time!

I offer the following simple practice, which a friend reminded me about just this week.
1. Sit in stillness -- Quiet your mind for a few seconds
2. Then go on a journey…visit new places in your mind. Conjure up wonderful vistas, strange communities even, large and expansive horizons – real or unreal
3. Meet people or other beings along the way
4. Have imaginary conversations if it feels good
5. Let go as much as possible and enjoy a few minutes of totally harmless and often inspiring visions.

As you do this practice, you can nudge yourself on if nothing is coming to you – for instance: What if I talked to a purple penguin? What is the terrain he is living in? Who is he talking to? What does he do with his day? What other species share his habitat?

I needed this – I was feeling stale until I realized that my mind has the ability to transport me to new and wonderful vistas and that when I come back to the present, I am refreshed and hopeful.

Circumstances may be enticing us to think small but we always have the ability to Think Big! That will always be where our payoff is.

April, 08 2010

Show appreciation

This is a serious business tip --

So many people have their noses to the grindstone that they seem to be forgetting to show appreciation in new, different, and sincere ways to their staffs, customers, clients, vendors, whomever.

This is not new.

I just know that the appreciator feels as good as the appreciatee when it happens.

When times are tough, we focus on all of the hard skills that we have learned. We become more "earnest" every minute.

How about taking a thank-you break? Take a minute and let some poor unsuspecting soul know you like something he/she did, thought, or contributed. Become good at this. Of course, be utterly sincere and that's easy too -- we have so much to be grateful for and so many touch our lives each and every day. Make it a practice to be thinking of how you can make someone else feel better about their day. I so hope we will all find ways to improve in this area.

March, 16 2010

passion and persistence

Persistence and passion. Those two qualities are linked in business. It's just plain true -- pure and simple. Ordinary people who are persistent and passionate become extraordinary. We see it all the time. If one is passionate without being persistent, it's not likely that the results he/she wants will come. If one is persistent but not passionate, it is difficult to keep on keepin' on.

I'm not sure that either can be faked. They come from a place deep within and the authenticity of the two of them seems to be exceptionally important.

What should you do if one or the other is missing? I was asked that question recently and I know that in these tough economic and political times, it is easy to loose one's "juice." I don't know of any one way to find it but I do know that if it has gone south, we want to ask for it to come back. We may not know how it's going to happen but just that it is necessary.

Seek to find your passion and persist in implementing your dream. That's a wonderful life.

February, 16 2010

Congruency

I had a client talk to me the other day about the activities of one of her competitors. She was representing a client against a group and the other team was acting in a rude, hostile and "take-no-prisoners" way -- they appeared to have few if any scruples. She was torn about how to handle the situation because, in her heart of hearts, she wanted to be nice, accommodating and congruent with her values and beliefs but she also wanted to make sure her clients' interests would be presented fairly in the hearing.

While it is extremely important to always be true to yourself, sometimes we have to behave in ways that are very hardhearted. Oh, how I wish it wasn't so!

We don't ever have to take advantage of another person or situation but we also have to acknowledge that no one can take advantage of us. I believe that we should try to work all conflicts out in a win-win way but sometimes we must protect ourselves and our clients and that may mean acting in ways that are quite alien to our make-up.

Opportunities to learn exist in all situations. My client is struggling with this dilemma and she is resisting the tug of war. I know for sure that struggle, burden, resistance only shut us down. Aikido techniques, which often teach us to go along with the attack until we can circle around with a winning strategy, are called upon and they will occur to us only when we recognize that the end result is vital and that it takes all of our creativity to achieve the score.