Surrounding Yourself with Experts

No one person can be an expert at everything. There are people who think they are, but they are probably lacking in social skills if that is the case.

One can be good at many things, but it is important to surround ourselves with people who can compliment and supplement our own skills. Whether we need to contract with a financial consultant or a business advisor or simply hire a marketing or sales expert fulltime, it allows us to focus on our own areas of expertise and let others handle the parts of the business where we may personally struggle.

Another option is to make sure we have mentors and coaches around us who we can turn to for bouncing off ideas. Sometimes it is simply helpful to have a sounding board so that we are not holding our ideas inside, but rather letting them out to grow.

The awareness for today is to recognize we are not the best at everything, but we can surround ourselves with those that create a team (formal or informal) who can help us accomplish our goals.
~Paul

Transitions

While change can be scary, it can also be exciting. I am currently going through a number of transitions and they all feel quite positive; I will try to go into more detail at another time. When we are feeling good, everything around us seem to fall into place. When we are happy with ourselves and the direction we are taking, we notice and focus on the positives and this greatly improves our general outlook on life.

The awareness for today is to be open to change and transitions in our lives. If we hold on tight and struggle against them, we may miss out on tremendous opportunities.
~Paul

Paranoia

Paranoia is a funny thing. I end up with people sending me direct comments, e-mailing or even calling me to find out if a specific blog I posted was about them. More than often it is not, but I think what is fascinating is how we can all relate to some basic topics and in turn learn from others.

I know my own paranoia sets in when I hear or read something that could possibly relate to me and it is a relief when I learn that it is not about me, however, I try to take away new knowledge from the lesson; if I didn't act or respond a certain way, I would not be paranoid on that specific subject.

The awareness for today is to learn from our, as well as others', mistakes and even if we are not responsible for something, we should always be working to improve ourselves.
~Paul

Panic Situations

Today I was involved in a situation that appeared to need immediate action. After discussing it with various advisors, I was ready to jump into action. That action would have created a much more tense and dramatic situation than was needed. Before I did jump, I spoke with one more advisor who cooled me down and in a very rational way helped me to look at the situation from a different perspective.

After that discussion, I went back to the drawing board and decided to not function from a place of panic, but rather measure the situation and give it some time to self correct before jumping into action. The situation still needs to be dealt with, but it can be held off for a short bit and handled from a place of stability rather than panic.

The awareness for today is to breathe when necessary and gather as much information as possible before making drastic decisions.
~Paul

Professionalism Above All

Not all people get along...plain and simple. We all have different personalities and approaches. I often tend to be very straightforward and that does not sit well with some. I am okay with that. I am a business professional and when I am working with people, we are working together for business purposes. Not everyone needs to be my buddy. The important thing is that we all act like professionals and treat each other with respect.

There are times when we do connect and relationships move beyond business towards friendships. However, that is not a requirement of my business relationships.

The awareness for today is to be, above all, professional in your business relationships and recognize that not everyone you work with will have the same personality or interests as yourself. Business relationships can be friendly without being friendships. Just remember to have respect for those who you work with.
~Paul

Growth versus Change

The New Year always brings about change. Someone recently said to me that we should be open to all changes. I cannot fully agree with that. Obviously change is inevitable, but not all change is good. I think growth is a better word to use in this situation. Change can be both positive or negative, but growth suggests positive change...being more than before.

When looking at business, it is important to work towards growth; growth of sales, growth of revenue, growth of customer base, etc. Not all change will be positive, but we must be flexible enough to compensate for any negative changes that occur from outside of our control (yes, it is true, we cannot control everything).

The awareness for today is to focus on changing through growth and building your business or personal life through positive means. Take the negative changes and adapt to them by looking at what positive actions you can take to compensate for the negative.
~Paul

Don't Panic, Paul!

My laptop no longer appears to be recognizing my battery. Bummer. I do have an extended warranty that I bought with my computer from CompUSA. CompUSA is going out of business and will no longer accept warranty work in their stores. So, I have the warranty company mailing me a box and then I have to send in my entire computer. This is not an easy thing for me to do as I rely quite a bit on my laptop and use it for both business and personal use.

When I first learned that I would be losing my laptop for one to two weeks, I was panicked. What was I going to do???

Then I breathed. I started looking into my options and spoke with some computer guys I know. The solution for me is to back everything up (which one should do regardless) and then I will run my hard drive as an external drive on a friend's laptop that I am lucky enough to be able to borrow. What a great solution. It will take me some time to back up and ensure that I have everything I need, but it is doable.

The awareness for today is to not panic when face with situation to that alarm us. Breathe in and out and then look at the situation as you would anything else...one step at a time.
~Paul

Starting with a Bang

Only partially listening to my own advice of last week that said to not expect to accomplish everything at once, I am already a bit frustrated with myself that I have not yet completed all the goals that I set for myself for 2008. Come on, it is already January 7th! :-)

I know this is ridiculous, yet I continuously create more stress for myself by maintaining unreasonable expectations. I hope that you do not do the same. When I finally do take the time to breathe (which is very important!), I calm myself down and recognize the absurdity of my expectations. From this place of calmness, I refocus on my goals and also work to remember the location so that I can find the calmness more readily.

The awareness for today is to keep up on your goals for the year, but know that they are for the entire year, not just this month, week or day. Track your progress, but do not be discouraged if your accomplishments are not accumulating as quickly as you would like...simply appreciate them for accomplishments.
~Paul

There is No Future! Relax, it is Okay.

I was speaking with a friend the other night regarding concerns for the future and he shared some thoughts from Chogam Trungpa Rinpoche (1939-1987). Basically he said that there is no future...and there never has been a future. That stuck with me so profoundly! I do my best to remain in the present and focus on the here and now, but recognizing that the future does not and never has existed helps me to pay attention to where I am now and what I need to deal with today.

Now let me say that this does not mean one should not plan for the future, but we cannot hold too tightly to our future "plans."

The awareness for today is to recognize there never has been a future and that we live in the present. I remember an analogy that I used while in graduate school to describe "being present." Being present is like driving on a dark highway with only your headlights lighting the way shortly in front and behind you; as you keep moving, your lighting (your present) is right there with you.
~Paul

The New Year - 2008 is Here!

Now the new year has begun and it is time to turn all of those good intentions into actions. I know this can be overwhelming and the common question I hear from people is how to even begin. There is a great quote from the Tao Te Ching that says "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." How profound! The point is that we must start somewhere and every little bit that we do will help overall.

Whether your goals and intentions for the new year are personal, business, lifestyle or project oriented, there is a beginning to each of them. Begin taking small steps in the right direction. Be easy on yourself; if your goal is to grow your business, you mostly will not have increased sales by the end of this week...but, you can complete your new sales plan by Friday.

The awareness for today is to enter 2008 with a fresh attitude and begin taking care of yourself and your needs one step at a time.
~Paul

Happy New Year!!!

Reflecting on the past year, I am amazed with how much has occurred. Looking back, the changes that have taken place were both planned and unexpected. Looking forward, I can plan my goals and intentions for the future, but I also am aware that there will be unexpected changes and events in the future, just as there have been in the past. I go into 2008 with the intention to make myself a better person and to do my part in helping the world around me.

The awareness for this New Year's Eve is to set goals and intentions for the future, but to be conscious of the reality of change and impermanence.

Wishing you and yours a fantastic end to 2007 and a prosperous and healthy 2008!

Cheers!
~Paul

Business Intuition

Intuition is defined at dictionary.com here. The first listing is "direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process; immediate apprehension." (Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.)

Recently, I have been working on listening to and trusting my intuition. I have found that if a person rubs me the wrong way upon my first impression, even if they have done nothing overtly to cause it, I should listen to my gut...much more than often it is right. I have noticed my reaction to business ideas, potential employee interviews and even involvement with a board of directors. I cannot always explain it, but when I have not listened to my intuition, or a client has not listened, a lot more damage is done than if Paul's gut had been adhered to.

I have been working on finding a way to incorporate intuition into my business practice. While I believe we also listen to our guts, I don't believe that I do enough and would like to change that. I am going to experiment with this a bit.

The awareness for today is to trust your intuition and find a balance to see how that helps improve your business (and other) decisions.
~Paul

Compassion

Today I returned a call from a colleague in London and I felt that I left a curt message; I was swamped and running in many different directions and I believed that that had come across in my message to him. About ten minutes later, I called him back to apologize for being short on my message to him. He answered the call and had had no issue with my message. He had understood that I was busy and felt that I had conveyed that appropriately to him.

I learned that I am more sensitive to how I treat others than they may be themselves. Interesting thought.

The awareness for today is that while we may at times rub people the wrong way, when we are conscious of it our true intentions can shine through.
~Paul

Take Advantage of the Slower Pace

The end of the year is rapidly approaching. For me, 2007 went by in a flash. With holidays and vacations, this can be a frustrating time of year to try to finish up projects as we are often waiting on others. Strategic planning now can save you time next year. Set goals, timelines and get the research you need started while other things may be slow.

Some of you may not be experiencing the lull in activity due to the need to have projects completed before the end of the year. If that is the case, wrap up the year and take time at the beginning of next year to do your planning.

The awareness for today is to take advantage of the slower pace (if it exists for you) and put in some time to plan for next year.
~Paul

A Glitch in Communication

I must have some wires crossed internally today as I do not seem to be communicating well with others. I am not arguing with people, but somehow what I am saying or writing (in e-mail) is not being heard. I have answered others questions and yet I am asked the same question again by the same person. I have also had a few e-mail responses where the person replying did not even read my notes or questions.

I guess it is just an off day for me; they happen. Perhaps I am the problem, perhaps it is others; maybe too much turkey, weather shifts, Monday, whatever it is. This too shall pass.

The awareness for today is to recognize that we cannot always have the best day ever. Tomorrow will be better!
~Paul

Underperformance

We always strive to work with the best people. We want to hire employees that impress us and who have fantastic recommendations. The problem is that even the "best" people have off days and situations that arise which are out of their control.

A company that I am working with is struggling with one specific department. The department was launched with the best of intentions and a fantastic action plan. Partially due to outside events, the department has not performed as well as expected; I believe that the department was not as well staffed as believed to begin with. At this stage, it is a rush to remedy the situation and possibly hire replacement staff.

The awareness for today is that every business can have unforeseen situations pop up even when strategic planning has been done from the onset. Go with it and do the best that you can when you are put in a situation you cannot control (which really is most situations; you can help shape a situation, but you can't really control it).
~Paul

Busy Day, Good Day

I know there is an old saying out there that is along the lines of "if you have something that needs to get done, give it to the busiest person." Logically, that doesn't make sense...one would think that you would give it to the least busy person. However, once someone is busy working and they have found their groove, they can generally accomplish quite a bit more than they normally do.

I am having a day where I feel swamped, but I know that I am accomplishing quite a bit. The work keeps getting piled on and I keep completing it. It is definitely satisfying.

The awareness for today is to first remember to breath when you get overloaded with work. Then focus and complete what you need to accomplish. It is that simple.
~Paul

The Problem with Problems

"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem." - Theodore Isaac Rubin, 1923-

I read this quote and was wowed by it. It is very simple, yet it says quite a bit. There will always be issues, or problems, in business. Even when things are going quite smoothly, little issues pop up. Let the above quote resonate a bit with you; problems occur and we need to be aware of that fact.

A little over a week ago, I blogged on "The Certainty of Change." We cannot expect everything to remain the same and therefore within change we will have problems come up that must be dealt with. If we can remain flexible, we will be more prepared to deal with these changes.

The awareness for today is to recognize that we will all face problems, but if we are open to them, we will be able to deal with them much more effectively.
~Paul

Different Personalities

This weekend I was at a holiday party hosted by some Intel employees. Everyone was very nice, but I did notice it was a social event filled with introverts. That is not a complaint as I am often quite introverted myself.

What this made me realize is that it really does take all different kinds of people to shape our world. I have been interviewing sales candidates over the last couple of weeks and I have noticed there as well that different personalities are needed for different reasons.

The awareness for today is to step back from judgement and appreciate that there are many different personality types out there and we each have our own roles to play in the grand scheme of things.
~Paul

The Certainty of Change

Looking out the window, I can see that autumn is truly here. Trees have leaves of many colors or no leaves at all. It is a beautiful time of year. It is important to recognize that with change comes, well, change. While we can struggle against it as much as we would like, change is inevitable.

The awareness for today is to pay attention to the one thing we know for certain in this world: things will change; impermanence is real.
~Paul