Terry Schaefer

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September 14, 2017 by Terry Schaefer

Priorities Made Simple

Labor Day just passed and we’re headed into the last four months of the calendar year.  And this is a time to look at how well this year is going for you, personally and professionally.

Are you disciplined to review and revise your intended outcomes for 2017?  We all have great intentions as the new year comes and goes.  Though how often are you modifying and making course corrections for the desired outcomes you want this year?  It is as important as any other forecast we make for oneself, and it needs regular attention so you get the results you are looking to achieve.

Making your priorities personal provides clarity on what you want and keeps you aligned with the things that are important and relevant.  Remember the phrase “what you believe, you can achieve”? Writing down what you want to achieve sets in motion the steps to get what you want.  As I have just reviewed my own planning chart, I see the quarterly priorities and monthly focus have been accomplished, setting up the yearly goals to become my reality.  Easy, quick, alive and responsive are some of what this planning chart brings to achieving what’s important.

Because this chart is so simple and easy to use, yet so effective, I wanted share it with you. Download the chart and get started on setting your own priorities.

Download Priorities Made Simple


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Filed Under: General Business

August 2, 2017 by Terry Schaefer

Simplifying Complexity

Have you ever looked at a situation and said “That’s too complex for me?”  Complexity seems easy to identify, and hard to address.  While some situations need complexity, sometimes in the long run, keeping it simple has huge advantages.

This was a recent conversation that my wife and I had after addressing a major medical issue. The health scare started us talking about what’s important in our lives.  We knew we had a lot on our plate.  And as we addressed this health scare, we both agreed that we have created this complexity by not clearing out the ‘stuff’ that was making the situation more complicated than perhaps it needed to be.  Hence, we were the culprits of our own complexity. Once we acknowledged this, we were able to really look at the situation and make changes that have moved us toward simplifying our lives.

Are we over this?  Not by a long shot.  We’re just starting, though it is apparent that by asking one question, “does this simplify our lives?”, we’re finding some answers to very complex issues.

Whether the situation is personal or professional, if it feels overwhelming or complicated, maybe taking a step back, breaking it down and taking a more simplistic approach might not only reduce stress, but also increase focus on what is truly  important.

What areas of your life could use some simplification?


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Filed Under: General Business

July 12, 2017 by Terry Schaefer

Really Knowing

We all hear this response in answer to our questions, “I don’t know!”  This answer shouts “red flag” for me as either one of two things.  Either the question was not focused enough to get a proper answer, or the receiver of the question is not willing to explore the question.

Have we lost the art and science of asking questions?  Or better yet, do we not honor and acknowledge that ‘not knowing’ in today’s world is a sign of not being educated, bright, aware, open, exploratory, (and the list can go on)?  Have we lost the capacity to wonder (and explore) possibilities that keep us focused on topics that need further exploration?

Nothing has been developed or explained without the sense of exploration and questioning.  Kids do it all the time and if we’ve lost that capability, who do we need to become to get it back?  And if we’ve been cut off by societal norms for being inquisitive, who do we need to become to bring it back so we can experiment without the stigma of failure?

How can we increase our leadership style if we believe (and it has been reinforced) that failure is a demon that keeps us from being the smartest person in the room.  And we can’t develop ourselves when having all the answers is really limiting us from disrupting the status quo, and pushing beyond our own limitations.

To those people who have helped me see this — thank you!  I really appreciate that you have taught me something because of your comfortableness of being “correct.”

I’m looking forward to my next “ah-ha” moment, are you?


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Filed Under: General Business

June 20, 2017 by Terry Schaefer

Re-balancing

On my way back from a west coast trip this winter, I stopped in Colorado to visit with a friend who is a great ski instructor.  I was there to fine tune my skills on skis and she surely helped.

One of her comments about skiing is that as we start our turn, we shift our weight and have to re-balance ourselves as we shift the weight into the next turn.  I thought, “WOW, this is true for business owners as they review and reflect on their next opportunity.”

It would be a good practice at each organizational meeting to spend some time on defining how your organization is re-balancing itself.  There is not a set way of doing this, though asking your leaders, managers and staff questions like, “what’s out of balance” or “what’s not working” will provide insight for what needs attention.  It will also give permission to explore other possibilities that give new life to solving problems.  This may be a great ‘game changer’ for letting your staff share their ideas in a safe and creative way.

So, what are your thoughts?  Does re-balancing make sense for you? How can this keep you on top of your game?


COMPLIMENTARY EXPLORATION

Terry Schaefer offers a complimentary 30 minute call where you can explore how to grow your business past your own expectations.

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Filed Under: General Business

June 4, 2017 by Terry Schaefer

Is Your Team Performing to Your Expectations?

I recently had the opportunity to attend the Scaling Up Leadership Summit. There were many fabulous speakers on the cutting edge of leadership development, each having multitudes of insight and seminal thought processes. I wanted to share some of them and a little about their presentations and their publications.

Robert Cialdini – Pre-Suasion:  A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade

Harnessing the power to advance your message to enhance and produce better and more effective results.

Joe Polish and Dean Graziozi on their books respectively.

The Average Joe’s Marketing Book:  The Missing Manual for Marketing and Growing Your Small Business.  Selling is about influencing and marketing is telling a story.  Establishing an education based marketing program that produces greater results through loyalty.

Millionaire Success Habits:  The Gateway to Wealth and Prosperity  Developing your one page marketing solution that begins with a big question that your clients worry about and want your solution.

Michael Bungay Stainer – The Coaching Habit

Five simple questions that promote self-exploration and extraordinary results without providing advice or directing the outcome.

Raj Sisodia – Conscious Capitalism

How the ‘Profit Maximization’ fallacy has created a selfish productivity environment that removes the possibiliy of innovative thinking and cohesive cultures in organizations.

Bob Chapman – Everybody Matters

Establishing guiding principles that promote inspirational visioning, values based decision making, and grounded optimism in leading in uncertain times.

Jeanne Meister – The Future Workplace Experience:  10 Rules for Mastering Disruption in Recruiting and Engaging Employees

Examination of physical space, learning development, and integrated technology for an effective futuristic workplace.

Elizabeth Crook – Live Large

The power of growing and knowing oneself.

Chris Zook – The Founder’s Mentality

Seven proven tools and ideas that provide innovative strategies to growing your firm.

Bill Adams and Bob Anderson – Mastering Leadership: An integrated framework for breakthrough performance and extraordinary business results

A model that focused on reactive styles and creative competencies from peer and self-evaluation in a 360 platform.

 

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

The Scaling Up Growth Summit will be held in St. Louis on October 17 and 18, 2017.  I will share more information as it is available.

Filed Under: General Business, Uncategorized

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