Bits and bobs

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The Power to Shape your Destiny: 7 Strategies for Massive Results 
by Anthony Robbins ( set of 5 CDs)

The Power To Shape Your Destiny will become your best ally as you use it to realise what you really want from your life.

The first thing here is to have clear in your mind: what do you really really really want?

Then, whether you want to advance your career, lose weight, improve your relationships, see the world, or just have time to pursue your favourite hobby, this program will show you what has been holding you back in the past, and help you to achieve a break through.

Anthony Robbins understands the struggles and frustrations that can accompany any attempt to improve and grow.  He also knows the excitement and fulfillment that comes from actually reaching your goals and he can teach you how to shape your future through the power of purposeful goals by tapping into qualities that you already have inside of you.

What will you learn:

• How one simple exercise, when practiced for 20 minutes a day, can make you biggest dreams happen. This exercise can help you wiping out fear, procrastination, worry, anger, bad habit, or obstacle to achievement.
• How a certain quality you already possess can eliminate all your bad habits, and how that same quality can drive you to establish a new level of excellence for your life.
• How to identify the primary motivator in your life and modify it so it serves you.
• How to improve your decision-making system and your nervous system so you naturally attract and create a great destiny
• Powerful decision making skills that help your body and your mind actually create solutions

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Anthony Robbins will give you the skills and motivation you need to make your life extraordinary and this program will give you that extra boost to put you over the top. 

Remember though 2 very important things:

1. Like building muscles ( or becoming an athlete) you can't go to the gym once and except the muscles to suddenly appear, you need to do it regularly, the same is applicable here. Repetition is the key to mastery.
2. Knowledge is not power, is potential power. It is what you do with the knowledge that is important. Listen to the CDs and apply apply apply!!!

People stuff

Interview with Patrick Thorpe: my first years as an Interim Manager 
Part 2     

After exploring moving from being an Employee to Self-Employed and then to Business Owner in the articles Are you dreaming of becoming your own boss?  and Moving from self-employed to business owner , here some tips from someone who has actually done it: Patrick Thorpe of Corexis Consulting Limited.

      

      Q4  What business services do you and your business provide?

      A4  Facilities management is an interdisciplinary business function that coordinates space, infrastructure, people and organisation to ensure that the non-core services support the businesses key activities.

My market place is Facilities Management Consultancy and there are 3 strands to my market offer:

1. Facilities Management – offering advice and consultancy on facilities management services offered across multiple sector
2. Business Consulting - project delivery for key areas of improvement, including bid management programs
3. Interim Management – hands on, operational and business development support to drive tangible and demonstrable business outcomes

My business is UK centric and currently the market place is very buoyant hence there isn’t a great deal of ‘downtime’ currently.

          

     Q5  What is it actually like? Are the benefits and challenges the same as you thought? More/less?

·    A5  Having now worked ‘as my own boss’ for a number of years, I am convinced that the benefits of working for yourself far outweigh those offered by ‘working for the man!’ 

      

      You can choose who you want to work for and know that the assignment has a definitive time period
      You have the ability to choose if you want to commute or work from home – the project/assignment outcome is not dependent on where you work.

      You can set your own working hours – and choose when ‘your best time’ of the day is for working.

      You have independence and autonomy and you call the shots and make the decisions and have total responsibility for all your action.

      You have total control of your cash flow! And when there is an abundance of work you might choose to take a month off between assignments!

      

      If the ‘homework’ has been undertaken correctly before plunging into the interim market then there should not be too many challenges that come as unexpected. A clear benefit is to have an experienced mentor/buddy who can advise on the best solutions to counteract the challenges!

      Q6  What advice would you give to someone who wants to be an interim?

·     A6  There are a number of suggestions that I think would be advantageous to someone who wants to become an interim.

1. Explore every avenue to understand what the transition to the interim market is going to like and how it will effect individual circumstances. Talk to the Interim Management Association (IMA) and Institute of Interim Management (IIM) to gain further insight. Don’t stop talking to anyone/everyone to get advice – they will all have experiences to share
2. Evaluate and define your product and construct a business case to justify the market need. Establish the routes to market and investigate the competition – is the market flooded, is there scope for more opportunity and identify the risks
3. Decide what interim ‘vehicle’ is to be used – an Umbrella arrangement or the incorporation of a Limited Company. This will take a little time and cost to set up so it needs to be explored fully. Gov.UK is a good source of information to set up a private limited company
4. Find yourself a good accountant – look for someone local who has a good reputation and steer clear of the large corporate accountancy firms (£450 is the going rate to produce a set of final end of year return
5. Talk to the likes of ‘Wenta’ who give advice on business startups from expert business advisors
6. Importantly – decide on and establish a financial ‘buffer’ as there will be a possible delay of at least 30 days from completion of the first assignment to getting paid. In addition, anticipate that there might be a delay before realising the first assignment. It is important to build a cash flow early to understand the financial commitments and to budget accordingly

Q7  What do you enjoy most about it?

      A7   The best enjoyment for me is to know that you are running your own business – there are good times and challenging times – but there is nothing like knowing that you are ‘master of your own destiny!’

     To read Part 1 of the interview click here

  

People stuff

Interview with Patrick Thorpe: my first years as an Interim Manager  

Part 1

After exploring what it takes to move from being an Employee (you have a job) to Self-Employed ( you own a job) to Business Owner (you own a system &/or people work for you) in the articles Are you dreaming of becoming your own boss?  and Moving from self-employed to business owner , I wanted to bring to life these concepts by interviewing people who have actually seen, done, got the T-shirt and get some more tips.

      First interview of the series is with Patrick Thorpe of Corexis Consulting Limited.

Q1  Why did you decide to become an interim? What benefits you thought it would give you and the challenges you would face?
A1  The interim market has really chosen me – after leaving a blue chip Facilities Management (FM) service provider though redundancy, I set up my own company to offer consultancy, project work and bid management within FM. After undertaking a number of projects within business development it has now morphed into interim operational management for a world renowned higher educational establishment. 
A clear benefit to me is the freedom of working for yourself. You do become the master of your own destiny and you are free to make absolute decisions about what work you want to go after and when. I firmly believe that when you work for yourself it gives you a different mindset and drive about attaining success in everything that you do – and trying that much harder to ensure that you achieve it!

     There are clear challenges in setting up your own company and deciding what the best modus operandi is best – formation of a limited company or an umbrella organisation. Both options have benefits dependent on your business activity and for me the incorporation of Corexis Consulting Limited has been the perfect option for combating the majority of challenges.

       Q2  What was your career path?

       A2  I am an ex-hotelier and started my career path working for the ‘J. Lyons and Co.’ at their subsidiary, Strand Hotels Limited. After working at the Cumberland, Kingsley, Strand Palace and Regent Palace Hotels in London, I moved on to work for Holiday Inn in Kuwait. On my return to the UK, I joined a contract catering company that prompted my career to move out of the catering sector into the world of facilities management. After a new career working for top FM companies – Sodexo, Compass Group, Johnson Controls and finally Balfour Beatty Workplace in both operational and business development roles, the opportunity came to form my own company and start a new chapter in my working life.

Q3  As you move through your journey to become/be an Interim Manager, what key skills did you find useful?
      A3  There are an abundance of new skills that are there to be learnt in the Interim market – and here  are 4 that are fundamental to future success in my opinion :

1. Planning – for a new career move and understanding that all the decisions taken at this time    may have a significant effect on your future place in this market place
2. Salesmanship – in learning to market yourself, your company and defining the product that you are bringing to mark
3. Financial management – in understanding and planning for ‘downtime’ in work activity (as it will happen!) to ensure that a financial ‘buffer’ is maintained to keep you and your company solven
4. Contact building and networking – sweat networking assets, especially though social media as these are powerful mediums to exploit for future assignment opportunities. 

Join me tomorrow for Part 2 and more insights from Patrick...

         

People stuff

Moving from self-employed to business owner

OK , you have made the leap from employed to self-employed and now you are have realised that there aren't a lot of options for moving forward: you can increase your rates or land bigger and better clients. But as long as you are "self-employed," your path can be limited. 

As a freelancer/consultant/self-employed person , income is pretty much directly proportional to the time spent working. The more time worked, the more you can make, and there it goes the work-life balance that perhaps was one of the reasons why you wanted to work for yourself in the first place.

Instead of thinking you are on your own, if you only start thinking of yourself as small business owner/entrepreneur, the opportunities available boom. 

Doing so gives you leverage to start earning a lot more money, dreaming a lot bigger, and most importantly, helping to bring bigger/better service/s to your customers.

Running a business means creating services and products that don’t require direct input.
The business is scalable and has intrinsic value. Freelancing/consulting etc. is trading time for money. As a business owner you can earn income without necessarily increasing the amount of time you spend earning it.

So, how do you do that?

1. Schedule time for business development

Spend a regular proportion of your time building your business until it can replace your freelancing income. 

At first your time might be spent on figuring out what kind of business to build researching into how to market services in a more focused way, and maximise the potential of the network of contacts and colleagues, without taking advantage of them. 
Research the market well and offer an attractive overall package to prospective clients. 

2. Automate

Many skills/services can be automated into products that people are willing to pay a subscription to use. 

3. Hire people to leverage your time

A self-employed person working alone must do everything from high-value to low-value activities ( i.e. using your main skills to doing admin) .Freelancers can leverage their time by hiring help for lower-value tasks. The booming virtual assistant industry makes this cheaper and easier than ever before. 

If you can start to use one or all these 3 methods you can then the start to enjoy the benefits of multiplying your income without multiplying the time you spend working.

Attractive, non?

People stuff

Are you dreaming of becoming your own boss?

The idea of working for yourself, daydreaming about it mostly on holidays or after a really bad day or a boring day at work, can sound really attractive and liberating. You can pick up what you are working on, where and when , the all sought-after work-life balance, and most importantly who you are working with, what there is not to like?

If you are contemplating the switch, here a few things to consider:

• Timing and research: make sure that you get your timing right. Do your research, chose your market and most important make sure you prepare yourself and have the right level of skills and knowledge to be "sellable".

• Financials: make sure you have a financial buffer. This way as you find your niche you do not have to take on work that you do not want to and you have the time to build up potential clients and network. Depending on the nature of your job, perhaps you could start seeking small contracts whilst in employment, working part time ( provided you are not setting up business in direct competition with your employer or provided this is within what your contract of employment allows - do check). If this is a route you are going to follow make sure you get a good accountant and declare your earnings accordingly.

• Market yourself: network , network, network. Build relationships and ask for referrals. Please do bear in mind you can't just show up at networking events and ask for referrals when you need work, this is an ongoing thing. You also need to ensure you "pay-back", do referrals for other people.

• Find a mentor/coach, someone you can bounce off ideas with and check feasibility, preferably a "role model", someone who has taken the leap from full employment to self-employment. 

So, are you ready to be your own boss?

People stuff

I don't get along with my boss: what can I do?

To start with, don't let your job and your boss define who you are: it is a job not your life.
Develop tacticts that work for yourself and your present circumstances and keep up your mood
(remember Harvard Business Review research).

In practice you could:

1. Manage upwards - try to understand what is important to your boss and why, what makes him/her tick, make yourself valuable and develop a positive working relationship.
2. Manage yourself - focus on what you can control and do it well.
3. Leave - if neither option one or two work, then change your job.

Remember the 3 questions:

Do you like yourself?
Do you like what you do every day?
Do you like how you do what you do?

People stuff

What is the most important indicator for career performance?

According to the Harvard Business Review research people with a positive mood are 31% more productive, 37% more influential and 300% more creative.

Wow, some numbers...

The lesson seems to be that if we can master our mood we can master our career (and life).
So what is your mood right now?

Do you like yourself?
Do you like what you do every day?
Do you like how you do what you do?

If you can't answer yes to these questions, perhaps you should ask yourself why.
Food for thought...

People stuff

Pic from www.tccinspiringloyalty.com

How do you inspire loyalty with a limited budget?

Money is not always the driver: if employees are paid in a way that supports their chosen lifestyle and they are not necessarily ambitious, then they are likely not to be loyal and could easily leave for another organisation that pays more.

Without strong and effective leadership your team is likely to look elsewhere for someone to follow;
keeping employee engaged and driven to work hard for a common shared goal is very important.

Clear proportionate and achievable but stretching targets that work for both you and your employees is key.

Bits and bobs

Networking is a powerful tool:
the Islington Chamber of Commerce Summer Party


There are many different ways to develop a career and/or business but one way which is frequently overlooked is networking.

We all know the power of social connectedness: the breadth and quality of our work relationships has a positive impact on health, both physically and psychologically, has impact on
our personal outcomes and achievements,  and on businesses's performance.

When networking with purpose and connecting to people/businesses that you can learn from and you can add value to and them to you, joining industry groups, attending conferences and participating in forums, you can both find people to connect with and that can connect you to others in the industry and dramatically develop your business.


The Islington Chamber of Commerce Summer Party is a perfect vehicle to connect with like-minded people, develop connections and relationships.

One important thing to remember about networking though: you don't just network when you are desperate for business, you plant the seeds in good times and keep in touch. It is all about developing relationships in the long(er) term

People stuff

Is sisterhood alive or dead?

Pic from www.emanuel.org

The opportunities to progress into leadership roles are few and far between ; furthermore we find ourselves in a world where traditional roles and opportunities are put in question by technology and, as we continue to digitise more and more, there will be fewer and fewer roles for all.

In this climate, is competition between women more and more fierce?

The answer perhaps can be found in our instinctive animal behaviours
which trigger in us the fight for survival.

Pic from phsychlopedia.wikispaces.com

Scarcity has a direct impact on human behaviour; if opportunities or resources are limited and demand is high, genetic programming can trigger behaviours intended to give us an advantage in the battle for survival (or those limited opportunities). The Dominance theory is all about preferential access to opportunities and resources over someone else, dominance is held through competitive behaviour.

The sub dominant animal is critical to the relationship in this theory as it is the ones that maintains the dominance relationship.

In a corporate context we need to consider this theory especially on what it might drive in terms of initiatives on gender balance in the workplace.
Tackling behaviours is important , together with ensuring that the supply of opportunities is sufficient so that dominance is less of an issue.
This is about the fight for survival and resources and the supply lies at the heart of the situation.

Then again if we suggest that women should win more roles, it somehow implies that more men need to lose and more than ever before.
And the dominance theory would start all over again...

People stuff

Is Networking working?

Pic from www.australianpersianbusiness.networking .com

In one of my previous blog Networking to develop your career  I wrote how networking is one way to help with career development which is frequently overlooked.

However, according to a recent survey by Ernest & Young, only 53% of people view networking as a professional skill.

Has networking developed an image issue?
Does the terminology bring about images of "all-boys"clubs?
What if we changed the name to be more reflective of modern day life?

Pic from blogstrideapp.com

We all know the power of social connectedness: the breadth and quality of our work relationships has a positive impact on health, both physically and psychologically, has impact on
our personal outcomes and achievements,  and on the organisation's performance.

So, what shall we call it?

People stuff

Pic from www.keyword-suggestions.com

Planning your career

When planning their career too many people focus on the job title when looking for the role that will progress them up the career ladder.

Although job titles can be a reflection of seniority, the more important thing are the experiences and responsibilities the role will provide: it is all about building experience and transferrable skills which, eventually, will help securing that very senior job.

It also does help to build a career map with the next 2 or 3 roles that takes toward the direction wanted whilst building knowledge, experience, skills and profile.

Employers look for the actual previous experience , the depth and breadth of the role and what was achieved rather than a mere job title.

Anybody can be a Director of Paperclips non?