What do Chicago, New York, Seattle, Boulder, Austin and Boston have in common? My bet is that if you’ve kept up on Who’s Who in emerging entrepreneurial hubs you know these cities are the new Silicon Valleys.  Start-up tech. companies abound in these locations. One of the benefits is that this emergence allows an increasing number of zip-code options for those of us who want to be in the middle of a like-minded, thriving new community.

I find this news thrilling because living in Salt Lake City and working with several internet-based clients here, I know we have to be close to making it on the list. There is something to be said of catching the energy of upswing places where creativity and innovation bolster the economic outlook and mojo for entrepreneurs who want to be part of something new, fresh and successful.

The longer our evolving economy does its thing, the more I notice that my client base has become completely creative in nature, new and fresh as well.

And if you take a look at the word economy at first blush you might view it as a mass of producers and consumers, where the accumulation of money occurs by making and selling stuff.  I’m going to suggest that you consider doing a few things:

1 – Begin to consider an economy as a place where opportunity, creativity, passion, joy flow and are connected to one another by trust and ethics. Envision an economy where you take a stab at making other people’s lives better by doing business with them.

2 – Begin to notice where you are able to associate with like-minded business owners and give yourself healthy doses of that type of positive energy.

3 – Think more about how your company is “good” at heart and purpose rather than “great” on an accountant’s ledger.

I’d be happy to hear from you if you have more questions about this topic. However the main thing I would leave you with in terms of the ideas above are three coaching questions:

Q 1: Where and how am I creating authentic and relevant value to my customer base rather than making more stuff for someone to purchase?

Q 2: Where are you going to find like-minded, positive energy to fuel your work?

Q3: How can you be part of creating an economy built on creativity, passion, joy, trust and strong ethics?

Do these questions resonate with your entrepreneurial spririt?  Write to either Neil@thecoachtoolkit.com or mailto:Lyn@thecoachtoolkit.com if you want an accountability partner on this matter.

About the Author:  Lyn Christian is the founder of SoulSalt, Inc., a coaching and coach training company.  She is passionate about the “free-agent” worker who wants to earn their living and live their lives by doing what inspires them.  Get more information by visiting www.soulsalt.com or contact Lyn directly through lyn@thecoachtoolkit.com.

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Most companies do training days and then the content slips away into memories relatively quickly.  There are a variety of legitimate reasons for that to happen:

• There is no money to extend the learning.
• Participants come back excited and then run into everyone who wasn’t trained.  Pretty soon the inertia from the group kills the excitement.
• We always do what we always did.  There are procedures and new things don’t fit.  Group-think and company structures resist change.

The American Society for Training & Development has some amazing research on the quality of the results that happen with follow-through.  According to the ASTD, the probability of completing a goal changes with follow-through.

• 10% if you hear an idea.
• 25% if you consciously decide to adopt it.
• 40% if you decide when you will do it.
• 50% if you plan how you will do it.
• 65% if you commit to someone else you will do it.
• 95% if you have a specific accountability appointment with the person to whom you committed.

Recently, Dana Phillips and I were doing a training day with a company and I thought that their follow-through plan was brilliant!  At the end of the day, the HR director passed out a sheet with all of the days topics on it.  At the top were a set of very simple instructions.

This section is for your supervisor to understand areas you want to improve. 

1. Indicate at least three areas of awareness you will improve in your professional development.
2. Give specific examples of how you will increase your effectiveness.

She collected the sheets along with the evaluation of the day.  The development sheets were being passed to the immediate supervisor of everyone in the room so that they could develop a specific plan of action.  This method is perfect for most companies.  It’s cheap, build the training into the company DNA, and overcomes group inertia.

What do you do for follow-through?  What do you recommend?

About the Author: Neil Phillips is a founding partner of Team Connections and Director of the DSWA Coach Excellence program.  Get more from Neil on his Direct Selling Notebook , the DSWA Coaching Center and Twitter.

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Even if you are a Solo-Preneur, that is no excuse to function like the Lone Ranger. Business is a team sport. If you review your life (and I mean all aspects of your life because it is extra difficult to discern the entrepreneur’s dimensions from one another) there are about six different areas to consider when drafting your success team.

Obviously for the financial side of things you need someone to be your accountant and someone to play the role of bookkeeper. It helps to have a great banker or two and someone to assist in your financial planning.

When it comes to the physical aspect of life, I find a trainer, preferably a tough one, which is very useful. Find someone who can help you with your eating and exercise plan. They should  also help you take into account your sleeping and renewal patterns too.

In terms of your environment, from time-to-time, I consult with a professional organizer to keep things neat, clean and simple. In addition, it helps even more than you might think, to have someone Feng-Shui your working and living areas.

Mental and emotional health play a large part in your  ability to be a dynamic business owner. I love getting mental puzzles or reading things written by Tony Buzan, to stay mentally sharp. From time-to-time a best friend, a social worker or therapist can assist in keeping the emotional cylinders running smooth and clear.

Spiritually, I love checking in with a coach. There is nothing like knowing you are grounded in your core values, your higher intentions and in taking action that touches upon destiny.

Some people like having an informal “Board of Directors” on their sideline or a group of mentors. Some like to have a roster of specialists like those I mentioned above. It doesn’t really matter what your team looks like, as long as they meet the following requirements:

• You trust these people impeccably
• You meet with them regularly
• You use what they tell you with the best of your wisdom and focus

Who’se on your success team?  Who has your back?  Leave a comment and let us know how you pick your team.

About the Author:  Lyn Christian is the founder of SoulSalt, Inc., a coaching and coach training company.  She is passionate about the “free-agent” worker who wants to earn their living and live their lives by doing what inspires them.  Get more information by visiting www.soulsalt.com or contact Lyn directly through lyn@thecoachtoolkit.com.

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Jack Welsh has often said, “The more our clients succeed, the more we succeed.”

No matter your business, skillful consulting and consultation conversations are a powerful part of your work. The desired outcome of any consultation is of course to find a solution that exactly meets the client’s needs. In other words, we find a way to help our clients succeed.

The best information, the strongest mentoring I’ve ever had in terms of learning how to find the client’s needs comes from Mahan Khalsa. I met Mahan while I worked on the Innovation team at Franklin Covey. In fact, I had the pleasure of being the first ghostwriter/developer for his book Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play. In the book and the audio program by the same title, Mahan offers a masterful methodology of how to handle consulting work.

Let me share some of the highlights:

Common mistakes in our consulting when we are trying to get to a client’s needs are:

• We guess what our client wants
• We accept the first thing that they tell us they want
• Many times, they can’t tell us what they want because they don’t know their options. We don’t take time to draw the solutions out of the client.
• We don’t have the right intent.

The intent of any great consultant is to find the perfect solution for their clients needs regardless if the solution is something you can provide or not.

When we consult it is important to ask questions until you feel like you have a clear view of the client’s needs and challenges… then, repeat back to them exactly what you think they are saying… then, ask them “am I correct?”

The line of questions you’ll use could look something like these:

What have you already tried? What worked, what didn’t?

How do you know this is a problem?

What is the problem causing in your life?

How will you know when it is solved?

How much is the problem costing you now?

How much will it cost you to fix it?

If you are ready to fill up your tank with world-class information on how to be a better consultant, this audio program is my first suggestion.

Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play: Transforming the buyer/seller relationship by Mahan Khalsa, Randy Illig, and Stephen R. Covey (Audio CD – Nov 18, 2008) 

About the Author:  Lyn Christian is the founder of SoulSalt, Inc., a coaching and coach training company.  She is passionate about the “free-agent” worker who wants to earn their living and live their lives by doing what inspires them.  Get more information by visiting www.soulsalt.com or contact Lyn directly through lyn@thecoachtoolkit.com

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