What are some of your bigger goals or dreams that are sitting on the shelf because life has gotten too busy for you to even think about them?

You might be thinking, “I will get to them next month, next year.” Well, we know how that goes.

The year passes you by and those desires are still sitting on the shelf, collecting dust. Then the frustration begins to creep in because there is a deep longing inside you to bring these dreams to life.

Here are a few suggestions to get the momentum going while continuing to live your day-to-day life:

Week One: Clarify what you really want. Nothing will happen until you get clear about your goals. Find 30 minutes of private time during one day this week and take out a pad of paper to do some creative scribbling, drawing or journaling about what you would like to see unfold. Maybe you would like to take a trip to Portugal, learn another language, plant an herb garden, write a book or remodel your bathroom. Perhaps a lifestyle uplift by taking more alone time for yourself, or beginning an exercise program.

Week Two: What are the large steps that need to happen to reach your goal? If it is to plan a trip, write down all the steps involved, such as research on flights, hotels, travel sites you are interested in. If you want to write a book but don’t know where to start, maybe the first thing you need to do is to read a book about writing a book. If you want to plant a garden, but you’re not sure what you would like it to consist of, one of your large steps (I call these Mile Steps) would be to spend some time researching plants or flowers. You aren’t actually doing any of this work yet, you are merely writing these steps down. By seeing your large goals broken down into smaller steps, they are much more palatable and easier to swallow.

Week 3: Break it down into daily action steps. Take your Mile Steps from week two and break each one down into small increments. For instance, take your garden research and break it down into 10 minute increments per day. I call these Mini Feats, or small steps of accomplishment. Read your ‘how to’ book for 10 minutes each day. Try doing three Mini Feats per day toward your larger goal, and by the end of the week you are at least 15 steps closer to attaining it. If you say you don’t have 30 minutes somewhere in your day, I have to reply, “I don’t believe you!” Wake up 20 minutes earlier, take 10 minutes during lunch, watch one less football game during the day … I could go on.

Week 4 and on … Make sure you write down your three Mini Feats for each day and give them a time, like an appointment. This way you will be much more committed to making them happen. For more momentum, plan your Mini Feat’s the Sunday of each week. You will be that much closer to your dream by the following Saturday! You don’t want to look back in 10 years and realize that you’re still at the same place in your life then as now. Even if you love your life now, growth is a necessary part of your involvement on this planet. Every single day of your life is precious. Embrace it, and those you love, to the fullest.

Technorati Tags: Business, business success, dreams, Goals, inspiration, life purpose, love, personal development, self help, self-discovery, spiritual, Success, wellness

Avoiding Mediocrity – An exemplar of sustainability

Photo Copyright Jason Dye – http://www.jasondye.com

Adnams is the Southwold based brewing firm founded in 1872 when George and Ernest Adnams purchased the Sole Bay brewery with the help of their father. The business has grown steadily and won great acclaim for their beers, and recently many awards for their sustainable achievements.

Since 1990 the business has expanded to include wine and leisure retailing. Today the business is focused in three areas – Brewing and Brands, including its tenanted estate; Hotels and Managed Houses; and Wine and Shops including the Cellar & Kitchen chain of stores. In 2009 improved growth and profitability led to turnover of more than £50m and in their peak summer season employs more than 400 people

Last week I got the chance to interview Adnams CEO Andy Wood (right) about the business, its authentic values, and strategy for sustainable development.

You can listen to the interview here : Authentic Business Directory – Adnams plc

I would love to hear your comments about Authentic and Sustainable business – post a comment below.

If you would like to discuss how I can help you develop and implement your own sustainable and authentic business strategy then please get in touch.

James Rock – MD and Chief Business Designer

Technorati Tags: authenticis

Have you noticed for the last few months that the phrase “Efficiency Savings” seems to crop up in whichever newspaper or magazine you read, or on any TV news show that you watch? Governments, Local Authorities, and Private Companies all seem focused on achieving savings, in some case up to 40% in certain areas. Unsurprisingly, reaction from customers and employees is a mixture of doubt and fear about what it means for them.

I guess this is understandable. The economic downturn has forced us all to reconsider what we do, and to make do with less… but sometimes the result isn’t quite what we expect.

In my wide experience as a consultant I have heard “Efficiency Savings” used many, many times, and the phrase is abused time and again. Greater efficiency means either achieving more output with the same resources, or the same output with less resources, and the latter is what is usually inferred when the phrase “Efficiency Savings” is used. But in most cases I have found that output also drops as well as input and this inevitably harms effectiveness. I call this phenomena “Saving our way to prosperity” and it constantly amazes me how many management teams believe it will work. But the reality is that this type of cost-cutting is unsustainable – short term cost saving without re-inventing the way things are done only stores up problems for the future. I’ll give you an example.

A client I worked with needed to make “efficiency savings” to satisfy shareholder demands for greater short-term profitability because they wanted to sell the business – and greater profit means higher shareholder value. So it made an assumption that if field service engineer calls were increased from 4 calls per day to 5 calls per day then this 25% improvement would allow them to make 20% reduction in headcount – simple logic – and after all it was only one extra service call per engineer per day…! So the board instructed the management team to make the savings and crack the whip harder to make sure that service engineers hit their new targets – they then sold the business for an increased price and were very happy. A great result for the exiting shareholders, but for the company the result was disaster – overworked engineers could’nt hit their new call targets without considerable overtime, and service parts stock had not been increased to reflect the additional calls so they found they could’nt fix equipment even when they got to customers sites, so re-calls needed to be added; service-call lead-time increased from 1-2 days to over 2 weeks; when challenged by customers about the delays service engineers blamed management for the issues; dissatisfied customers quickly raised complaints; customer service staff became inundated with complaints and repeat calls from customers and the firm lost key service contracts; and the predicted cost savings never materialised – overtime pay increased dramatically, cash collection took longer, whilst turnover dropped by 10% and staff turnover in the department increased to 200% per annum leading to big unexpected and unbudgeted additional recruitment and training costs. The new business owners soon found they had to re-invent the way things were done, and it took 18 months of hard work to turn around the situation and get employees and customers back on board again.

So when you look at making efficiency savings make sure that you plan for success by engaging employees and customers in co-creating the new processes that will deliver savings whilst simultaneously increasing customer satisfaction; be authentic in staying true to your core purpose; and be creative in using Design Thinking to re-invent how you do things.  The result CAN be lower costs combined with long-term sustainable growth and increased profitability – the true way to future prosperity….

I would love to hear your own examples of companies that got this either right or wrong. Leave a comment below.

If you would like to discuss how I can help you make your efficiency savings sustainable then please get in touch.

James Rock – MD and Chief Business Designer

Technorati Tags: authenticis

In case you did not know, the way that facebook works is when you are a member of a  page the program automatically feeds posts back to your news feed wall…. so any information that people post will show up on your wall, unless you UN-Join the group / page it will keep doing it. If you are not happy receiving group messages, the way to stop receiving them is to un-join the group. Not that I want you to leave any of our groups… but I do want to be helpful!

The same thing happens with Friend Requests …the moment that you send a request, if the persons Privacy settings are not on LockDown, You will start to see their posts appearing on your wall. (It is built into the program, it is not because people are sending you everything that they do online…it is a program feed that pulls the most popular things (based on people clicking like) as well as the most recent posts.

When I spoke with an old friend of mine that I had not spoken to in awhile, he called me a spammer…. it was simply because he did not know how Facebook’s auto feed program worked, once I explained it, he apologized and understood. I was not me, it was the program…so if you have friends who share lots, it is likely that Your Facebook is covered with posts by them… if you share lots, keep in mind that you are probably covering your fiends news feeds.

(Lack of knowledge and a persons Perspective can create misunderstandings …so do take some time to learn the program before RE-Acting … when you are educated you can come from a place of understanding.)

Think about your Facebook Goals… when you are there to uplift and motivate others, it can make a real difference to your own experiences. Instead of meeting people by making them go directly to your website…focus on them… otherwise it is like trying to sleep with someone on a first date …or french kissing a stranger before you even know their name.   Be the same genuine person that you are offline , online… you will go much further and be of real Value to your online world!

I hope that this information is helpful.
Wishing YOU the very best.
Humbly Yours,
Marcia

P.S. I started a Facebook page that you may find helpful.. It is called How to: Your Guide to Social Networking & Social Media. Feel free to share any great information that may help others online experience.

Technorati Tags: Facebook, help, How to, Marcia Johnson, networking, sharing, social media, social networking, twitter

I had an interesting meeting with a CEO this week. Our discussion focused on his desire to develop his business Authentically but he was worried about the opinions of significant and vocal shareholders who are constantly pushing him for short-term profitability.  He felt that board meetings had recently become something of a battle zone, and despite a track record of success he felt both insecure and angry that these shareholders are taking such a short-term perspective. This isn’t a new phenomenon of course, its a well known fact in publicly quoted companies, and is often one of the key reasons for under-investment.

Our conversation reminded me of an interview I heard recently with the owner of a Japanese family business that had been trading for more than 100 years. He attributed the long term success of the business to a philosophy of “growing like an oak tree not like a water melon….” He knew that slow organic growth made for a strong business with “A Heart of Oak”. He had seen many businesses that had pushed for aggressive and acquisitive growth that had failed or been taken over and integrated into other companies. I thought it was a good lesson for sustainable business.

But the Oak Tree metaphor didn’t really help my client… he could see the long term benefits, but he needed help to convince his shareholders that adopting an authentic approach can deliver increased shareholder value in the short-term too.  So we sat down and brainstormed just some of the benefits, which include:-

Increased Sales

• increasingly customers seek to do business with sustainable companies, and with those that fulfill a social need;

• customers of authentic businesses tend to tell their family and friends and these word-of-mouth recommendations results in more business; and

• happy customers keep returning – so customer retention is higher.

Reduced Operating Costs

• a true sense of purpose helps everyone focus on core competence, and reducing distracting activities;
• marketing spend is lower since word-of-mouth overtakes advertising and special offers as the principal source of acquiring new customers;
• staff turnover is reduced – resulting in lower recruitment and training costs;
• staff feel more rewarded – since money isn’t their key motivator – resulting in greater productivity; and
• suppliers are more helpful since the respect you show earns their loyalty – they go that extra mile to deliver on time, help develop new products, and find joint ways to reduce total costs.

Improved Shareholder Value

• sustainable growth and steady contracts leads to increased P/E ratios;

• increased profitability is multiplied by the higher P/E ratios to deliver higher shareholder value; and

• business success attracts more potential buyers – increasing competitiveness in the buy cycle.

The above benefits now need to be quantified, but the CEO feels reassured that he can justify investing in developing an Authentic business strategy, and adopting Authentic leadership across the organisation… Is this an opportunity for you too?

Why not get in touch for an exploratory chat about the benefits that your organisation could get from Authenticity…

James Rock

Chief Business Designer – CULTIVAR Consulting

Technorati Tags: Authentic, authenticis, authenticity, CSR, cultivar, exit, Shareholder value, strategy

It was 1998 when I decided to make dramatic changes to my life and redirect my thoughts to obtain my dream. I was a working professional medium and psychic artist visiting my customers within their homes, venues and on the odd occasion in my own house, but it was not what I wanted. My dream was to have my own shop and work from one location, where people could freely locate me and I could also sell giftware and other new age products. My friend had directed me to a new place that had opened in our town and they were advertising for a clairvoyant. I hurriedly went along and gave the owner a free reading to prove my abilities. I was offered the job straight away. Finally I had a base, but again I wanted my own shop.

It was a few weeks later when I bumped into an old friend who told me about her new part time job for the local Business Centre. I had never heard of the place before, she explained to me how they closely work with The Prince’s Trust and how they offer grants and business advice. This was music to my ears, I felt like the opportunity had been directed to me. I had to learn more and so I asked my friend to book an appointment for me. She did and a few days later I was having a meeting with a Business Mentor.
I quickly learned that my profession would be frowned upon by some and so the Business Mentor directed me to put the basis of my ideas down onto a business plan, but to not fully disclose my intentions of offering readings until the money was secure. It seemed a little cloak and dagger, but I listened to his sound advice and agreed that the time was not right for me to shout out and claim fairness for all spiritual readers.

Everything began to happen quickly. I located a shop that would suit my needs, as it had a shop area, sitting area, a private kitchen where I could do individual readings and a bathroom. I was set. My business plan was not difficult to complete, as the advisor had given me an example to learn from. He also gave me computer software.I sourced local wholesalers who sold the new age products that I wanted to sell and I obtained prices and other relevant information from them. This I attached to my business plan. Therefore, I was honestly showing the type of products I was going to offer and the type of shop it would be, I just did not enter my extra curriculum.

My second meeting came about quickly and the Business Mentor completed all the forms for the Prince’s Trust. He explained how I would have an interview with them and then they would hopefully offer me a grant, a loan or both. It all depended on the day and how much funding they had to offer.The day arrived for my interview, my nerves secretly fluttered in my stomach, as I gave a confident smile. To my astonishment the interview was very informal and it felt like I was sat talking to my granddad! The older gentleman was a very kind soul and he was very keen to assist me.

I did it, my dream was set! I received £350.00 in the form of a grant and a £3,500.00 loan. My Business Advisor was shocked and commented on how I was the only one to receive that amount on the day, everybody else had been given a lot less. On top of the help from the Prince’s Trust the Business Centre gave me a £700.00 grant and I did not have to repay the loan to the Prince’s Trust until six months later, which gave me plenty of time to set up the shop and earn an income. Times have changed since 1998 and the Prince’s Trust offer further services. Thankfully spiritual work is no longer a taboo subject and many people have set up shops and other premises with the same support as me.

Eventually I opened a second shop and continued to be invited to business meetings. I found the support to be excellent and very helpful, plus I met many other local start-ups, so my connections also grew.
You can locate the Prince’s Trust at http://www.princes-trust.org.uk You can locate your nearest Business Centre and lots of other helpful information from the website. Look for the Business Programme link and it should say the following:

If you have a business idea, if it is your first start-up, are aged 18-30 and unemployed, the Business Programme could be for you. It provides a loan of up to £4000, your own business mentor and lots of other support. Are you:
• aged 18-30
• unemployed or working less than 16 hours a week
• living in England, Wales or Northern Ireland

You may receive:
• A low interest loan of up to £4,000 (up to £5,000 for a partnership)
• Ongoing advice from a business mentor
• Access to a wide range of products and services. This includes our free legal helpline, sponsored by Barclays.
• A grant of up to £1,500 in special circumstances (subject to local availability)
• A test marketing grant of up to £250 (subject to local availability)
If you don’t fit in to these groups you can locate information about other organisations.

A couple of months after opening my first business I received a visit from my Business Mentor and a group of people who donate to the Prince’s Trust. I showed them my shop, thanked them for their support and then revealed my kitchen area where I conducted readings. They were very impressed and one lady commented on how the kitchen was a great place to offer such a service, as it was like having a cup of tea and a chat, less formal and relaxing.

I felt very proud and relieved to think my secret was out and that the donators accepted it as good business sense! I have never looked back.

You too could soon be living your dream. There is always an available opportunity, you just need to identify what it is you want in life and then go for it.

Technorati Tags: assistance, Business, business centre, fee, grants, help, local, manager, new age shop, owner, princes trust, self employment, shop

Today’s generation of women-owned firms in the United States contribute nearly $3 trillion to our national economy, create or maintain 23 million jobs and produce employment for 16 percent of the U.S. workforce, according to the Center for Women’s Business Research’s economic impact study.

The difference between this generation of women and that of our mother’s is, simply, choice. In the ’60s and ’70s, women forged out into the workforce to exercise their rights to a career. As they began feeling the pressure from the demands of balancing career and motherhood, many opted to resume the role of stay-at-home mom.

In the last decade, the shift in thought has been, “If I am going to put myself out into the world, I want to choose a career that is an extension of who I am as a person. If I am going to put this much energy and effort into my career, while continuing to take care of my family, I want to create something that I really love to do, that I am passionate about.”

Women want to feel a sense of accomplishment. They want a sense of identity separate from their relationship and their children. When this happens, they feel more fulfilled and, in turn, have more to give to those they love.

Connie Delong’s son, Tom, contacted me a year ago to coach his mother to find a career that would be fulfilling to her. Delong had a strong desire to create a career that was meaningful and uplifting. She had been in the mortgage business for years for financial reasons only.

“It is very stressful work and even though I am good at it, it was never very fulfilling for me,” Delong said.

Her true passion is grief recovery support, which she had been doing for years on a volunteer basis through Horizon Hospice of Poway. She wanted to start her own business for a longtime, but was afraid to take the leap and leave her job.

“This economy forced me to find a new way to pay the bills. My gut was telling me that at this point in my life I could no longer work at a job that was unsatisfying. Life is too short to not go after your dreams,” Delong said. “My life and business coach helped me move past my fear of becoming an entrepreneur, and then supported me in laying out a step-by-step strategic plan to create my own grief counseling business.”

Delong is now the proud president of San Diego-based Breakthrough Grief Recovery. She recently stated that she hasn’t been this excited about her life in years.

Linda Webb walked into my office feeling stuck and run down. She used to be a buyer at Nordstrom’s, but went through a divorce and couldn’t travel anymore because she needed to be home with her young children.

She took a job for survival purposes, time quickly passed and before she knew it, 10 years had gone by and her kids were in high school. Webb said she felt like she was running on a hamster wheel that wasn’t going anywhere.

Webb always wanted her own fashion store. She loved the creativity of fashion, but felt having her own storefront was not a viable option. The other side of the story is that Webb’s mother had passed away from pancreatic cancer a few years before.

She said her mom used to find pennies at her feet all the time and would always pick them up and make a wish. Webb’s mom told her that it meant someone in heaven was watching over her. For the few months after her mom passed, Webb was finding pennies everywhere.

Over several months, I guided Webb to help her make her dream come true. She is now the president of heavenspennies.com, an online fashion store. A portion of the proceeds go to pancreatic cancer research, hence the name.

The keyword here is choice, and women are choosing to re-invent themselves in ways that fit their lifestyle, dreams and desires, rather than what has been expected of them by society or family. When they move past their fears and take steps in this direction, watch out. There is absolutely nothing they cannot achieve.

Technorati Tags: Business, business success, Growth, Health, inspiration, life purpose, personal development, self help, self-discovery, spiritual, Success, wellness, Women

Mojo?   You know that certain kind of magical appeal, called mojo?  Not the mojo popularized by fictional super spy Austin Powers.  Eco mojo.  Do you have it?

In his latest book, Marshall Goldsmith defines mojo as the moment when we do something that’s purposeful, powerful, and positive—and the whole world recognizes it.   “When I talk about mojo, I’m talking about simultaneously finding happiness and meaning at work and at home,” explains Goldsmith.  Translated into the language of sustainability, that means meaningful work, engaged employees, and demonstrating values of eco awareness at home and at work.

While one approach to creating meaningful work is top -down within the organization, another path is a green living program accentuating personal leadership.  It’s a matter of aligning your values, green living  concepts and eco friendly  actions of your personal lifestyle and matching those up in such a way that you are demonstrating those values seamlessly at work.  Noted, many businesses and organizations lack direction regarding corporate social responsibility or sustainable business strategies.   That’s where personal leadership kicks in:

•    Consider your approach to your current position.  No one knows your job better than you.  You have a better chance of discovering ways to improve processes and integrate sustainability concepts than anyone.  Perform your job from the perspective of how can I do my job in a more eco friendly manner.

•    Take eco action in your daily activities: recycle, commit to paperless, share with others what you are doing and why you are doing it and get them involved.

•    Engage management by incorporating sustainability concepts in your personal development plan.

•    Take on new sustainability roles and projects in the organization: start a recycling program, lead a paper free initiative, host a lunch and learn providing local and organic foods

•    Become the “go-to” person for all things green

•    Expand your corporate green network: engage in internal business activities, networking events, internal and external training, professional organizations, and business communities.  An easy option is to engage in your company’s community outreach programs

Eco mojo is seamlessly integrating our green living  values in all areas of our lives in such a way that it transforms our environment and gives back in a meaningful way.  It is the personal fulfillment and reward of expanding eco awareness through deliberate eco action that generates shifts in business and personal lives.

Technorati Tags: Business, green living, Growth, life purpose, personal development, Success

As a consumer I constantly look out for businesses that are distinctive, that offer value for money, that deliver great products and great customer service.

As a Business Designer I constantly look out for great companies as sources of inspiration, across all types of sectors, and use these as best-in-class examples to learn from.

Often the two coincide – I find businesses that really make me happy for some reason and share these with friends and family when they ask for word-of-mouth recommendations, and I also share them with my clients and use the things that make them unique to help create a vision of what they could be doing for their own customers. Increasingly I find myself drawn to Authentic businesses i.e. those who display a true sense of purpose, respect their stakeholder needs, act with integrity, are distinctive in their market, and are environmentally conscious.

I have started to develop a list of these inspiring companies, and included a blog-roll on the right where you can link straight through to their websites. If you search the web about any of them you will probably find other interesting comments and articles and video’s about them too.

Finally, I am constantly on the look out for more Inspiring Companies to learn from and so invite you to leave a comment and share your own sources of happiness and inspiration if you think they deserve mentioning…

James Rock – MD & Chief Business Designer – CULTIVAR Consulting

For every career opportunity that we accept it provides us the ability to discover more about ourselves. Each new company, position or responsibility gives us the opportunity for introspection and reflection.

As you put your best effort into each opportunity you will find aspects of each position that appeal to you and aspects that don’t appeal to you. You will also begin to interact with others who have a passion for this job which allows you to determine if you have the same passion or not.

Sometimes, you will be put in a position that may not be your strongest and be given a superior who is not supportive and team friendly. When this happens to you it is imperative that you realize your strengths and what you offer. A rough job and poor manager may lead you to begin doubting your ability, don’t let this happen!

The worst possible situation is if you begin to let your mind run away with negativity. The negative mind has a powerful negative pull on your energy, self esteem, and self worth. If this were to occur your ability to improve your situation at your current job or to have the energy to find a new job becomes negatively affected. You will begin to doubt your ability to offer anything positive to any employer.

Imagine yourself in a career where you are more energized when you leave at the end of the day then before it began. A career where you don’t hate Monday’s just because they are the beginning of a new work week and a career where happiness is abundant.

These opportunities exist in the world. Finding your passion for your career will save a lifetime of mental anguish that will also generate positive results in other parts of your life. Reflect on what your life would be like if you were to get up and enjoy every day. Where would you be emotionally, mentally and physically with that type of positive energy?

Take the time you need to find a passionate career. Take the time to determine what changes you can make in your life for the short term to have success in the long term. Take time for yourself; because once you take care of you, you are able to take care of others.

Technorati Tags: Business, business development, business success, Success