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Secrets to Success Deborah Cole Micek |
Leaders achieve
when they listenYou say you want to become the best in the business. That you are tired of being just another person selling the same products that everyone else sells. But you are having difficulty thinking about what changes are needed, and are trying to come up with an action plan to bring your business to the next level.
This morning you may be sitting, enjoying breakfast and you picked up this article and began reading. While you were eating, perhaps you heard this faint little voice. You looked around the room, and tried to figure out where it was coming from. It was giving you tips on marketing, tips on increasing your performance and your personal fulfillment. You became frustrated with this voice because it was telling you things you already knew. Then you realized it was the voice inside your head.
So many of us find it difficult to listen to anything outside of the voice in our head when it comes to our business. "How could anyone else possibly have valuable input about our own business when he or she is not running it?" you might ask.
Truth is, many of us share the same circumstances and have gone through similar situations in starting our business and managing our business growth. Think about when you first started your business. Did you have any idea what you were doing? Where you needed to start? What systems needed to be in place to get the business off the ground?
More and more entrepreneurs are gaining knowledge through reading books or hiring coaches to teach them step-by-step how they can start their own business. Through all the avenues of wisdom building, there is not one person who has succeeded entirely on his own.
Let me briefly share with you about one of my coaching clients. She had this principle down to perfection. I was amazed at the way she would hold onto every word I said like it was platinum. Her ego never got in the way of reaping all the benefits of our coaching sessions. She would always say, "Leaders do not become wise by listening to their own voices." In just one year of coaching she was able to double her income.
Coaching corner
Why is it that as adults and business owners we forget about the most obvious resource -- other business owners who have taken their business beyond what they ever imagined possible? We engage in this know-it-all attitude and take on the perspective that if we don't have an answer or if we have to ask for advice, it means we do not know what we are talking about. Not only is this an inaccurate perception, the truth is the exact opposite.All top athletes know that if they want to be the best at what they do, they must play a skilled opponent and listen to their coaches' insights.
Think of two things you must become the best at to take your business to the next level. Next, find someone who has mastered that area and take him/her out to lunch. Make a commitment to doing everything it takes to achieve your goals.
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John-Paul Micek is a small-business strategist
and chief operating officer at RPM Success Group.
Reach him at JPM@RPMsuccess.com
or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.
Deborah Cole Micek, chief executive officer
of RPM Success Group, is a business success coach
and life strategist. Reach her at DCM@RPMsuccess.com
or (888) 334-8151.
