E-Myth Daily Message

[Az Gardener]

I get daily messages from my E-Myth coach. Sometimes they are inspirational, sometimes educational, sometimes they do nothing for me but I am glad he still sends them to me. Since I have figured out the copy paste feature I will be forwarding them If I get the time hope everyone enjoys them. I will include contact info on the first one but not on any others as I don't intend this to be free advertising. Hope this is not a problem Sean.

Good Morning:


"Men and women want to do a good job. If they are provided the proper environment, they will do so."

Bill Hewlett




Make it a great weekend.

To Great Business & Great Life,


Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"
E Quest Development Company
Making Your Business and Life Work for You!
P- 623 551 5469
F-866 483 0369
www.equestdevelopment.com
eden@equestdevelopment.com
My Strategic Link http://edensunshine.blogspot.com

[Az Gardener]

I will add afew more I have saved.

Good Morning:

Do you realize that a system is simply a method to ensure that patterns of events that take place happen on a consistent and predictable manner?

Some patterns are easy to identify. Other are more obscure, but, nonetheless, there exists a pattern,

Sometimes simply recognizing successful patterns and orchestrating them so they happen more consistently will result in dramatic improvements to the business without re inventing what you do.

I've had clients report significant increases in business productivity, as measured by the amount of profit and revenue produced per employee. In some cases they experience and increase of over 50% just by documenting what they already do. The difference? More consistency.

Investing in the development of your systems will make your business money while increasing your profits too!

[Az Gardener]

Good Morning:

The other day when I was talking with my son about taking him to the skateboard park this weekend. I told him we would go on Sunday afternoon when I got back from a business trip.

He followed up by asking me if "I promise" to take him. Nothing like putting the pressure on. All of a sudden I got real serious about what I was agreeing to do.

It's funny how when someone asks you to keep a promise, it get's our attention.

Imagine being invited over to a friends home for dinner on Saturday night. If your friend asked if you would be there you would probably either say, "No, I'm sorry, that's not a good night for me", or you might say, "Sure that would be great. I'll be there."

But what if they said, "Do you promise to be there?" Even though you may have fully intended to go, all of a sudden the ante goes up in terms of your character and credibility. Nobody with any concern for their character and reputation wants to be known as a promise breaker.

When it comes to accountability in your business (and life) agreeing to do something is like agreeing to a promise. The problem is this, people generally don't think of it that way until you make a point of it.

So when delegating assignments and gaining agreement from your people, try asking them if they promise to get the assignment or project done as agreed. Then you will find out exactly how committed they are to following through.

[Az Gardener]

Good Morning:

Occassionally clients ask me profit sharing for their employees is a good idea.

I believe it can be an effective motivator for your team provided they believe that the work they do can have an impact on the bottom line and that they believe that what they do will make a difference.

The intention in creating a profit sharing plan is to encourage people to be mindful and focused on building your business profitability.

Regardless of whether you are going to share profit or not, most of the clients I work with have established that increasing the profit of the business is a goal that ultimately everyone in the business is accountable for regardless of the position they hold.

Our job as managers/owners is to help our people understand what they can do individually to increase profits. Are we to be aware of expenses for office supplies, inventory, productivity on the job. Perhaps we are to impact profit by being more effective in terms of pricing a job or producing estimates. Effective business owners constantly provide examples of how people can contribute to the profit of the business.

Bottom line, if you want your people to help in maximizing the profit of your organization they must know how they can make a difference.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

Good Morning:


"A good manager is a man who isn't worried about his own career but rather the careers of those who work for him. My advice: Don't worry about yourself. Take care of those who work for you and you'll float to greatness on their achievements."

HSM Burns



Indeed a manager is accountable for the results and performance of the people who report to them. If your people are not producing the results you have set for them it ultimately comes from poor management.

In a systems driven business, the manager creates the system that will ensure quality results.

Here are some potential reasons why your people may not be producing the results you want:

You don't have a well documented system that works in place.
You have hired people that don't have the skill set necessary to operate the system properly.
Your people haven't been trained properly.
They haven't agreed to follow the system and so there is no accountability.
You haven't identified the results you want accomplished.

Make it a great day.

Thats all for this week

[BSDeality]

great thread AZ_ I look forward to more quotes.

[LindblomRJ]

More people should pay attention to this. Nice its short sweet and to the point.

[Howard Roark]

Great stuff!!

Thanks! :)

[z_clark]

Keep 'em coming. Tks!

[Az Gardener]

Here are a couple from the archives.

Good Morning:


Continuing from yesterday's message regarding changing the culture of a business; here are some steps to make it happen.



#1 - Come face to face with the truth about what your current culture really is. You can't fight a problem if you can't identify it. Example: let's say you've identified that people in your business have a general lack of respect for each other and your customers.



#2 - Look for sources that are perpetuating that culture. Know that a company culture is often a reflection of the leadership and key management, you might have to take a closer look at you own behaviors, attitudes and beliefs.



#3 - Redefine or restate the new value or belief you would like to install. Let's say you want to create an environment of team work. Get really clear on what team work really means. You might define it as: Our entire staff demonstrates a greater committment and focus to achieving the goals of the team and company then their own goals and results.



#4 - Determine your methods and forums for communicating and training the new value. Develop a process that will actively and ritualistically build and support the value and belief. Expect the change to occur over a several year process.



#5 - Create a system for measuring individual performance and adherence to the new value and culture. Be prepared to hold people accountable and mentor them to understand how to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the new culture.



#6 - Actively screen and recruit candidates that will more likely fit the culture and expect that some of your current people will have a hard time adapting in your business will eventually leave.



With a real committment, focus and consistent effort, you can and will see dramatic differences to the way your business operates due to your investment in building a quality culture.





Make it a great day.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"Watch your thoughts for they become words. Choose your words for they become actions. Understand your actions for they become habits. Study your habits for they will become your character. Develop your character, for it becomes your destiny."

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Take the 15 minute Strategic Challenge

The purpose is to begin to really condition yourself to work like an Entrepreneur or Manager.

First, every Entrepreneur and Manager knows that thinking IS working.

The technician must be DOING something, an action, to be working. That is why so many business owners are running around doing technician work. Because if you aren't running around being busy, doing it, doing it, doing it, than you must not be working. Wrong!

Don't believe me.

How would you react if you came to work tomorrow and all your employees were sitting around thinking and not doing?

See?

So for the technician, thinking is not working; but for the Manager and Entrepreneur it is.

So here's the challenge.

1- Schedule 15 minutes per day for the next 21 days of uninterrupted time during normal working hours.

2- Tell your staff, no interruption, no phone calls, no e-mails, nothing.

3- Find a place away from your computer screen. No e-mails.

4- Turn off cell phone, pager etc.

5- Sit in a chair with a note pad and think.

6- Ask yourself one of two questions. Question #1 is a "what" question. Example: "What's my goal.", "What is the result I am after with this system.", "What do I expect from that position/employee." Question #2 is a "How" question. "How am I going to get that result."

Question #1 is a leadership question. It defines objectives. Question #2 is a manager question. It determines how results will be achieved.

7- You are not obligated or responsible in anyway for producing ANYTHING during this time. If an idea strikes you or you have a thought, write it down. If nothing comes up, no big deal. This is THINKING time.

DID YOU KNOW that the actual art of documenting of a system is largely technician. Some folks get consumed with the idea that they have to produce a document to be productive. The 15 Minute Strategic Challenge is about practicing the art of thinking.

Good luck.

To More Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein”
H. Jackson Brown

[Az Gardener]

Good Morning:


"What we think or what we beleive is, in the end, of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do."

John Ruskin






To Great Business & Great Life,

[LawnBrother]

AzGardener, I really like michael gerber and the e-myth. thanks for posting these.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"Each of our acts makes a statement as to our purpose."
Leo Buscaglia

Most people go through life with little or no intention or purpose behind their actions. You can tell what is important to them by those actions.

A select few have a clearly defined and specific purpose in their life and they select actions that move them towards achieving that purpose. You can tell what is important to them by their actions also.

So, by our actions, regardless of whether we are purposeful or not, people can see what is really important to us.

What will your actions today reveal about what is really important to you?

Are you building a life and business that serves your life or are you in survival mode?

To More Life,

Sorry I was late with this one today.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

How do companies that embrace teamwork as a value build it into their culture?

They recruit people most likely to be team players.
Ownership and management model teamwork in their activities and behaviors.
They celebrate group and team efforts and achievements. They minimize individual, star accomplishments.
They build upon a strong sense of belonging to the company through information sharing, gatherings and cross training.

The point is that once a value is established, specific actions and behaviors must be built into the system of "how it's done around here", in order to support the culture.

Are your actions consistent with your company values?

To More Life,

[Az Gardener]

Sorry about the hiatus

Good Morning:

In a systems driven business if you want to improve your business, focus on improving your systems. Understand that your business is simply an interconnected, collective group of processes, systems and procedures. The quality and performance of those systems will determine the quality and performance of your business.

The job of a manager is the improve the systems within their area. Imagine if you and your managers are always focusing on improving the systems and procedures in your business, then your business can't help but improve.

[Az Gardener]

Good Morning:

"We must learn to balance the material wonders of technology with the spiritual demands of our human race."

John Naisbitt


Suggesting that in the midst of all the technological advances designed to improve communication, we must never lose sight of the value of personal relationships and the human need for connection to others.

Make it a great day.

To Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

Great message today, really hits home. I need to let the crew know what I am working on.

Good Morning:

Congruency in your leadership and effectively influencing your team requires that you combine what you say and what you do.

Your creditability is diminished if all you do is talk about your goals, objectives and values and do not back up that talk with actions and behaviors necessary to achieve those results.

Example: if you talk about creating a systems driven business and yet do not follow through with the action to support the development of it.

Serving as an example, walking and living, is not enough if you don't connect your action to the goals and results you are working towards.

Example: If spend time working strategically in your office, perhaps and hour per day, but your team has no idea what you are doing during that time. Great intent, yet you lose the opportunity to effectively influence.

The best combination is to communicate your goals and connect your actions and behaviors to those goals.

Example: Taking the above scenario where you are spending time everyday working on systems in your office; you would now let your team know that you are doing that because your have a goal for the company to become fully systemized within a year.

Owner Integrity = Connecting Goals and Objective + Appropriate Actions and Behavior.


To Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

Good Morning:


"The things we fear most in organizations -- fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances -- are the primary sources of creativity."

Margaret J. Wheatley





Working strategically, we respond to every frustration by recognizing an opportunity exists to make improvements. In a systems driven business we find the simplest improvement to eliminate those frustrations and challenges are often found in the creation of a system.



Your mantra as a business owner then becomes, 'every frustration is often the result of a lack of a good system'.





To Great Business & Great Life,

[1MajorTom]

A great thread. Kudos AZ Gardener. :clapping:

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."
Will Rogers



To More Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!



“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”

Carl Bard



Wishing you a prosperous, healthy and passion filled New Year.



Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!



Growth of a business can be measured in many different ways. You define it. Some business owners limit their definition of growth to be increase sales or revenue.



Taking that limited approach can have adverse consequences on the business.



Example: A company may experience regular increases in sales revenue but continue to see profit margins and profit dollar amounts decrease.

Or a business may focus so intently on customer fulfillment they totally miss noticing decreases in employee morale and increases in employee turnover.



When defining what growth means to you and your business, replace the word growth with improvement.



You may decide then that improvement represents a combination of:



* Increasing sales
* Profitability
* Customer and employee satisfaction
* Efficiency and effectiveness of your business as measured by your systemization percentage.



A couple of guidelines to follow when establishing your growth or improvement standards.



1- Take a balanced approached

2- Make sure the objectives are in alignment with your personal goals and objectives. In other words, make sure the improvements are congruent with your Business – Life Connection.

3- Make sure your definitions or targets are measurable, trackable and reported regularly.





Make it a great day.

[Mr. Vern]

"Men and women want to do a good job. If they are provided the proper environment, they will do so."

Bill Hewlett


Great lead in quote to a great thread! I worked in management in HP for many years and I can say that we lived this motto! You would hear this quoted on a regular basis - at least once per week. It was our governing philosophy in our personnel programs and in how we set up our work environments. It is absolutely true, and if you remember it when approaching a problem you will realize that 95% of the time the problem is not with the personnel, but rather something in the work environment. The key to this of course is that you have to believe in it, and you have to have good hiring practices so that you don't hire the losers that are out there.

Great thread!

[Az Gardener]

Great feedback! Good to hear these methods are in use and working. Not just great ideas/theories that are impossible to implement. Thanks for the feed back.

[LawnLad]

Thank you for posting these quotes. We're currently working on documenting more of our systems and looking for improvements - particularly after reading PLANET's recent Crystal Ball Report on Lean Management and the elimination of waste which ties into the E-myth's creation of systems and the franchise prototype.

I'll take some of these ideas/quotes and share them with the guys. Creating a culture where everyone in the organization is looking to solve problems is critical and quotes/information like this will only help.

Thanks.

[ArizPestWeed]

http://www.e-myth.com/pub/htdocs/aboutmeg.html

I am reading one of his books now

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

My personal trainer said that half the battle in getting fit is just “showing up”. Obviously I recognize I am not going to make any progress just showing up and then sitting there looking pretty.

The point is that if you want to make a change or improvement, the first step is to take the first step and “show up”.

When it comes to improving your business, really making it great, the business owner must create an environment where there is an adequate emphasis on doing strategic work in the organization.

My trainer also says, “You won’t get fit just thinking about it.”

I say, “Your business will not truly improve if you don’t make sure that the right type of strategic work is taking place on a regular and consistent basis.”

Schedule today, if you haven’t done so already, specific time on your calendar, to work ON your business. I highly recommend at least five hours a week.


Make it a great weekend.

[Hard Worker]

Great thread, really enjoy the reading.

[Vikings]

E-Myth Revisited is a great book but his others are weak. I remember I read, maybe here, to buy the E-Myth Contractor because it was focussed more for contractors but it's really not, it was very lame.

Buy E-Myth Revisited, it's a classic must have but get his other books/advertisements from the library.

[Hard Worker]

E-Myth Revisited is a great book but his others are weak. I remember I read, maybe here, to buy the E-Myth Contractor because it was focussed more for contractors but it's really not, it was very lame.

Buy E-Myth Revisited, it's a classic must have but get his other books/advertisements from the library.

AZ what is your opinion on his books?

[Vikings]

Here, I don't like this Gerber guy myself he is a guru type that aggressively sells "personal coaching". You are like the Grasshopper and he is your Obi wan. Give him 10,000 bucks then he might bless you with enlightenment.

That said, E-Myth Revisited, is a good/great book but don't get sucked into his cult.


http://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Mastery-Essential-Disciplines-Building/dp/0060723181/sr=8-2/qid=1168201643/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-5191240-4145531?ie=UTF8&s=books
"Do yourself a favor. Buy the E-Myth Revisited, learn the basic principles and then use your own mind and gut to lead you to the next level. I have a feeling that there are many entrepreneurs that get sucked into the "Cult of Michael Gerber" and roam the Earth searching endlessly for some specific information about how they can apply Gerber's principles to their business. I wish those lonely wanderers good luck."

[Az Gardener]

I think the books are advertising for the coaching. Whether it was intended or just happened by accident. I read the E-myth and E-Myth revisited and while it got the wheels turning and gave me some ideas it just was'nt enough. Possibly I'm just not all that bright.

Quite by accident I ran into an E-myth coach at a sales class I was taking. Side bar if you can get your hands on some Sandler sales info or coaching I think it too is very worthwhile.

I was in a partnership at the time and my partner was not willing to commit to the program. A few years later out on my own I had the money and my coach called me out of the blue. Using his systems I might add, for prospecting for clients. The time was right and I used his services for 2-years.

Not cheap 600 per month but the best money I have spent to date on my life. I say this because the things I have learned translate to any business and most life functions. Coaching ,teaching, organizing your home, you name it.

The devil is in the details as they say. I tried developing systems on my own and at the time they seemed great but they were too complicated and were missing important components. The systems alone will not do the trick they are just one component. Its like building a house you need to start with a concept and a plan. Learning how to frame or lay block is helpful but it wont get your house built.

Like everything it is not for everyone but I can't say enough good things about it and how well it worked for me and my life.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

Leonardo da Vinci



Make it a great day.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!



“What you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing; it also depends on what sort of person you are.”

C. S. Lewis



The perception a business owner has of their business is often dictated by how closely they stand in their view of it. The more intimately involved an owner is in the business, the harder it is to be objective and have a clear perception.



A goal every business owner should have is to see their business as their clients or prospects see it. That represents the reality to the client or potential client. It also represents an opportunity to make adjusts to the business, operations and marketing to bring your client perception and the reality of your business into harmony and congruency.



Make it a great day.



Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!



“All you have to do is know where you're going. The answers will come to you of their own accord.”

Earl Nightingale



Suggesting that sometimes as we set our goals we may not know exactly how we are going to get there. If your vision and goal is clear, invokes your passion, commitment and focus and if you can honestly say, “my heart is in this”, then begin and move forward with confidence. Suspend the notation that you have to know exactly how you are going to get there and then get moving.



As Nightingale says, the answers and solutions will reveal themselves as you progress towards your goal.



Make it a great day.



Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!



“If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.”

Raymond Inmon



Sometimes the greatest ideas and inspirations come when you remove yourself from your day to day environment. Go for a walk or a drive. Leave your cell phone behind. Plant a seed of a well thought out question in your mind and allow yourself to be inspired.



A well thought out question might sound something like…



“How can we increase our sales leads without increasing costs?”



“What can we do to create greater staff buy-in?”



“Where do we want to be with the company in 3 years?”



“What opportunities exist in our market and how can we address them?”



The value of breaking away from routine, day to day, is often underestimated. I encourage you to test it.



So go for a walk and make it a great day.



Great Business & Great Life,

[Howard Roark]

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

Leonardo da Vinci



"Simply" Brilliant!

[Eakern & Dog]

"A good manager is a man who isn't worried about his own career but rather the careers of those who work for him. My advice: Don't worry about yourself. Take care of those who work for you and you'll float to greatness on their achievements."

HSM Burns



Indeed a manager is accountable for the results and performance of the people who report to them. If your people are not producing the results you have set for them it ultimately comes from poor management.

In a systems driven business, the manager creates the system that will ensure quality results.

Here are some potential reasons why your people may not be producing the results you want:

You don't have a well documented system that works in place.
You have hired people that don't have the skill set necessary to operate the system properly.
Your people haven't been trained properly.
They haven't agreed to follow the system and so there is no accountability.
You haven't identified the results you want accomplished.



So true! So True!

[Az Gardener]

I hope so, this is the basket I have chosen to put most of my eggs into.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“I know you've heard it a thousand times before. But it's true -- hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don't love something, then don't do it.”

Ray Bradbury

This is true about working ON a business verses IN it. Just as a technician practices his or her trade, an entrepreneur practices the art and skill of doing strategic work.



Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!



“Good instincts usually tell you what to do before your head has figured it out.”

Michael Burke



Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!



One of the biggest challenges that business owners deal with is finding and keeping quality people.



To build a great team requires that you identify upfront the TYPE of people you want working in your business from an attitude and character stand point.



Then actively recruit for the right types of personalities; people that you feel will fit into the company culture.



Finally, screen for skill and experience AFTER you’ve determined that the candidate is a good fit for the company.



Make it a great day.

Great Business & Great Life,

[LawnLad]

For added information about skill, knowledge and talents, read Marcus Buckingham's books - "The one thing you need to know" and "Now, discover your strenghts". These books help to define the differences between skills, knowledge, and talent which combine to create people's strenghts.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

While presenting to a group of business owners about the Level Seven System and its effectiveness at transforming good businesses into great businesses, I received a question from one of the attendees.

The thrust of the conversation centered on how our businesses can be so much better, more productive, more profitable, more consistent, and serve our lives as business owners more fully.

The question was, “Eden, do you feel that our expectations are too high as businesses owners? Are we expecting too much from the business, from our people and for our lives?”

“No!” was my straight forward and immediate response.

So I turned the question back to the group. “By a show of hands,” I asked, “how many of you are ok settling for owning a good business verses owning a GREAT business.”

Not a single hand went up.

The consensus of the group later was that in order to have a great business, the owner was going to have to engage in doing things different than the typical tradition activities and thinking the average business owner engages in on a day to day business.

So the question of the day is this? Do you know what you need to do as the business owner on a day to day basis? Do you know what work you should be doing and how you should be thinking to create a wildly successful, great business?

If you have any doubts, any questions about the response, then I would invite you to ask me next time we talk. Or simply call me today. I welcome the conversation.

Make it a great day.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“In large organizations the dilution of information as it passes up and down the hierarchy, and horizontally across departments, can undermine the effort to focus on common goals.”

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

Which is precisely why we must be intentional about our Downward Communication Forums and Methodologies. We must put strategic thought and energy into the practice of communication. Specifically, answering the question, “how do we ensure the effective transfer of information as it relates to our company goals, objectives and vision to our people and so there can be a powerful and enthusiastic collective focus throughout the organization?”

* Begin by identifying the information you want to convey.
* Identify the forums for communication.
* Establish your systems and timeframes.
* Execute.
* Monitor how well your people are getting it.

Make it a great day.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“We wanted Nike to be the world's best sports and fitness company. Once you say that, you have a focus. You don't end up making wing tips or sponsoring the next Rolling Stones world tour.”

Philip Knight

In Nike’s case they made a decision to be the best in the world, which gave them focus. For many of us, our aspirations may not be as great. We can, however, strive to be the best in our community, region, state, or industry.

Now you just need to define what it means to be the best.


Make it a great day.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

The difference between having a fair or good verses a great business (to be defined later), rests on the quality of the leadership and the management of the business.

The responsibility of building solid leadership and management starts with the ownership on the company.

The first step in building great leadership and management skills begins with the owner themselves. An owner must be proactive and intentional about developing their own competency.

Understand, in simple terms, leadership is about dreaming and then telling; management is about discovering how to get the results and ensuring the results happen.

Make it a great day.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Some of us will do our jobs well and some will not, but we will all be judged by only one thing -- the result.”

Vince Lombardi

Make it a great weekend.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Always keep your composure. You can't score from the penalty box; and to win, you have to score.“

Horace

Bears fans forgive me. In watching yesterday’s Superbowl I can’t help to be impressed with the grace and composure that the Colts and Peyton Manning exhibited especially when they made some critical errors in the first quarter of the game.

Despite being down, they stayed focused on the goal. They knew what they were capable of doing. They trusted each other and their own abilities and they kept moving forward.

As business owners sometimes we forget to do the same. So when you are down…

Stay focused on your goals.

Recall your past successes and victories.

Trust yourself.

Keep moving forward and know that your preparation and planning will pay off.

Make it a great week.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving.

They make mistakes, but they don't quit.”

Conrad Hilton


Make it a great day.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Leadership is not about position or title. It’s about taking action. Look for the leader, he or she is the one with the most clearly defined and confidently communicated vision, direction and goals.

Make it a great day.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“The inner speech, your thoughts, can cause you to be rich or poor, loved or unloved, happy or unhappy, attractive or unattractive, powerful or weak.”

Ralph Charell

Make it a great week.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it's the same problem you had last year.”

John Foster Dulles

If you deal with problems tactically, in other words roll up your sleeves and fix it yourself, then don’t be surprised when the problem reemerges some other time in the future. Perhaps the problem is wearing a difference mask but the underlying issue remains the same.

If you deal with a problem strategically by asking the question, “What system or process can we put in place to eliminate this problem?”, then you will see your business transition to the next level.

Make it a great day.

Great Business & Great Life,

[daveyo]

Az, thanks for sharing.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person.”

Albert Einstein

To build a great business requires a devotion to developing and exercising the skills of business leadership and management.

The question of the day is this: What are you doing to develop and exercise or master the skill of business leadership?

Tomorrow look for suggestions that will help you answer that question.

Make it a great day.

Great Business & Great Life,

[ICS]

AZ I enjoy you tid bits of info and enlightenment

[Az Gardener]

Sorry I can't take credit for them, I am just passing them along. See the first post to see the source.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Continuing from yesterdays message…

Here are some suggestions that will help you in mastering the skill of business leadership.


1- Schedule specific time to work on your skill. Put on your leadership hat.

2- Give yourself permission to simply dream and think without considering HOW to make the dream come true. Simply explore possibilities.

3- Take time to examine and research your industry for evolving trends, emerging client needs and unfulfilled opportunities.

4- Take time to examine other industries as well. Perhaps doing that will help you see unfulfilled needs within your own industry.

5- Take a more global look at your business. Even if you don’t plan on expanding globally.

6- Be open to criticism, complaints and “knowing the truth” about the performance of your business. The truth often reveals opportunities.

7- Make it a practice to review your goals, vision and culture of your business, and your corresponding “Leadership Documents”, at least once per month. If you don’t have corresponding leadership documents, call me today!

8- Practice your communication skills. Remember leadership is about defining results and your vision AND creating buy in and support from those around you. Take time to practice and learn new ways of communicating and inspiring your team. Plan to do so in a regular basis.

9- Finally, know that although some people have natural leadership abilities, leadership is a skill that can and must be developed if you want to have a great business and great life.

Make it a great weekend.

Great Business & Great Life,

[ArizPestWeed]

I have this book & I need to finish it .
I think I'm on page 10

Thanks for the psot , I mean , Post

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“To be successful in these days of changing economies, technology and workforce, it is imperative that your company's culture is carefully defined, and then supported and communicated each and every day.”

Make it a great day.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Systems without leadership are essentially worthless. Why? Because systems are simply tools designed to produce a result. Leadership is about defining results. So in the absence of clearly defined goals, the effectiveness of your systems is diminished or as I said potentially worthless. Your well intended systems without a well defined result could be producing outcomes inconsistent with your vision and goals for your business.

If you want highly effective, results producing systems then you must engage in the practice and do the WORK of the leader.

Make it a great day.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Having trouble attracting the right employees to your business? Use benefits and perks as bait.

Benefits and pay will get them to the door. It’s your company culture that will keep them there.

Try promoting something like. “Do you have what it takes to make (blank $) / hour (or year).

The fact is you might need to consider paying more per person. Is it possible that a higher paid person may ultimately serve your business more fully?

I was once told that the difference between a $9.00 an hour and $11.00 per hour employee is huge in an office setting.

Once you have an abundance of candidates, you can be more selective in your screening process. The key is to look for people that will fit your culture and company values. Rely on your systems to ensure productivity and value from your people.

Make it a great weekend.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.”

Mario Andretti

Make it a great week.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Where is your passion and focus? Consider the different roles that make up a business.

The Entrepreneur/Leader is passionate about seeing their Dream and Vision become a fulfilled reality.

The Manager is passionate developing the WAY or SYSTEM’S necessary to achieve the company goals.

The Doer or Technician is passionate in the DOING of the work.

The Entrepreneur considers EQUITY or business value as the reward for doing their work well.

The Manager considers PROFIT or efficiency as the reward for doing their work well.

The Doer or Technician considers personal compensation as the reward for doing their work well.

Great businesses are built when there is sufficient focus, passion and energy dedicated to entrepreneur, manager and technician work.

Great Business & Great Life,

[bullethead]

GOOD MORNING!

“If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.”

Mario Andretti

Make it a great week.

Great Business & Great Life,

....well then, I must be haulin arse (great quote, thanks for sharing)

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Have you ever witnessed the difference in a child’s attitude and emotion when you get in the car and tell them you are taking them to Disneyland versus the dentist?

I have. And I find it amazing the impact knowing where we are going has on our emotions, motivation and willingness to be involved.

When my kids know we are going to Disneyland, which they love, they demonstrate unbelievably high levels of enthusiasm and cooperation.

On the other hand, when they know they are going to the dentist, no offense to those of you that are, the best I can hope for is a lot of kicking, screaming, resistance and crying.

I once conducted and experiment. I asked my kids to get in the car and not tell them where we were going. They questioned the heck out of me and fought me tooth and nail. They showed the same lack of enthusiasm and cooperation as if they were going to a dentist.

So here is the point as it relates to business and your role as the leader.

If your people know your vision and where you are going, you are either going to get great enthusiasm or total resistance. If someone is resisting, perhaps you should evaluate whether they should be included in the ride.

The best you can possibly hope for when your people are in the dark, like my children, is a very low level of enthusiasm and enough cooperation to keep their jobs.

So what do you do? Make it a point to regularly remind and communicate with your people where you are going.

Make it a great weekend.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

How intentional are you about your leadership? Great business leaders are committed and focused on making sure the efforts and work taking place in the business are consistent and will lead to accomplishing their goals and vision.

With that comes many choices. You can do the work yourself. Not much leverage there however.

Or you can improve and more effectively define and communicate your goals and objectives.

Make it a great day.
Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“When you want to encourage a greater sense of responsibility in others (and yourself), emphasize the anticipation of accomplishment, not the penalties for failure.”

Roger Crawford

Make it a great weekend.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

This is one of coaches oldies from a few years ago I wrote it down and just came across it again.

A bar of iron costs 5.00
made into it is worth
Horseshoes 12.00
Needles 3500.00
Springs for watches 300,000.00

Your value is determined by what you are able to make of yourself.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Determine to become one of the best. Sufficient money will almost automatically follow if you get to be one of the "best" in your chosen field, whatever it is.”

Donald G. Mitchell

Make it a great day.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“We are all salesmen every day of our lives. We are selling our ideas, our plans, our enthusiasms to those with whom we come in contact.”

Charles M. Schwab

To become a more effective leader requires that we practice the art of selling.

Make it a great day.
Great Business & Great Life,

[vtscaper]

Thanks A-Z some helpfull stuff.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

As a proactive leader, new possibilities and opportunities will be presenting themselves to you. Your ideas and vision will continue to evolve and grow. So go and nurture it.

Consider Walt Disney for a moment. His vision for his business didn’t start with Disneyland and Disneyworld. It started with a simple cartoon that became Mickey Mouse. That vision evolved into a full length animated motion picture titled “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, eventually leading to the concept and creating of Disneyland and more.

Walt was a proactive leader. Always redefining and re-communicating his dreams and ideas.

Great business owners constantly nurture and stay open to new opportunities.

What are you going to do today to awaken and fuel the leader inside of you?

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Most employees in a business don’t really feel like they can influence or effect the primary goals of the business. These high level goals include things like sales, profitability and customer satisfaction.

If they don’t believe they can impact the goals, then how can they make the maximum contribution to the business? They can’t. Their focus will be limited to the things that they believe they can control.

So how can you create an environment where your people are connected and consciously contributing to the overall results of the company?

Simply ask them.

Example. Most employees don’t see how they can impact the bottom line profit of the business, so simply ask them how they think the work they do has an impact and can improve the bottom line.

Make it a great day.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“All winning teams are goal-oriented. Teams like these win consistently because everyone connected with them concentrates on specific objectives. They go about their business with blinders on; nothing will distract them from achieving their aims.”

Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame football coach

Make it a great week.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

GO WEST.

I asked my son Kyle, “Why did the pioneers go west despite the challenges and difficulties they were going to face?” as I read the question on his homework assignment.

Kyle responded, “To find a better life.”

“You’re right!”

When you GO WEST in your business you are certain to face some challenges and difficulties in pursuit of a better life. You may not face rough terrains, harsh temperatures, sickness, hunger and angry Native Americans. You might face resistant employees, difficult decisions, personal challenges and having to change personally while making some short term sacrifices but I assure you a better life will be waiting around the corner.

You might just experience more freedom, a fulfillment of your dream and vision, more money and a time off while building an organization that makes you proud.

Make it a great day.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Playing safe is probably the most unsafe thing in the world. You cannot stand still. You must go forward.”

Robert Collier

Make it a great weekend.
Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“The first rule of marketing is to have a great product or service. The second rule of marketing is never forget the first rule.”

Victor Kiam, Chairman for Remington Products

Make it a great day.
Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Define your business goals clearly so that others can see them as you do.”

George F. Burns

Make it a great week.
Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Are you buzzin? Or better yet, is your business buzzin?

What does that mean exactly? If your business is buzzin then you have people talking about it. That includes clients, prospects and even the media. Ideally the buzz is positive.

One way to determine if your business is a buzz is to ask your clients this simple question:

“On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a resounding yes, would you go out of your way to refer us to a friend, relative, neighbor, co-worker or colleague?”

If 60% or more of your responses are a 9 or a 10, then you’ve got buzz.

Make it a great day.
Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when it's convenient. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”

Kenneth Blanchard

Make it a great day.
Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Leadership is the activity of influencing people to cooperate toward some goal which they come to find desirable.”

Ordway Tead

This quote suggests several things.
A leader identifies opportunities or goals that are desirable to potential followers.
They set or establish a goal.
The figure out a way to communicate to influence cooperation.

Make it a great weekend.
Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On the Level Seven Principle of Conveying Information…

“The two words ‘information and communication’ are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through.”
Sydney J. Harris

Good communication suggests that people fully understand your message. Through that understanding, people will begin to take action that leads to accomplishing or supporting the desire goal or result.

Consider how effective your communication is. If you are seeing buy in and behavior consistent with moving towards your objectives then you are doing an effective job of communicating. If there is a lot of chatter and yet people keep doing the same old thing without any improvement than perhaps you should evaluate your communication processes.

Make it a great day.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!
On becoming a Level Seven Leader…

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.”
Jim Rohn

Discipline, or self discipline, is best defined as consistently following-through with the actions, behaviors or activities necessary to produce results, whether we feel like it or not.



Some critical business activities include:

· Personal and Team Leadership Development.

· Strategic Planning

· Systems Development and Documentation

· Employee Mentoring and Training

· Objective Evaluation of Numbers and Business Performance

· Systematic Process Improvement and Innovation

· Vision casting and communication

· Defining and building a solid, self sustaining business culture.



Great Business & Great Life,
Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"

E Quest Development Company
Making Your Business and Life Work for You!
P- 623 551 5469
F- 866 483 0369
www.equestdevelopment.com
eden@equestdevelopment.com

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Perhaps you are familiar with an interesting new character that has been building a reputation in the world of reality television over the last couple of years. Gordon Ramsey, world famous chef and antagonist on the program Hell’s Kitchen has a new program titled Kitchen Nightmares. The program, originating in the U.K., is quickly becoming a weekly television mainstay for folks fascinated by Ramsay’, brash, candid and in your face approach to transforming failing restaurants and their owners into hopeful, invigorated enterprises.

I have to admit I have often got caught up in the drama. Gordon and the producers no doubt create it for the entertainment value. Yet, in the midst of the hype and hoopla, I have noticed an interesting trend from show to show.

Here is the typical scenario.

The businesses are failing and their reputations are in the gutter.

The menu is terrible.

The food is worse.

The restaurant is often filthy and/or the equipment is in shambles.

The management and leadership of the restaurant is totally dysfunctional.

Employee morale and pride is at an all time low.

Then Gordon comes in to save the day.

During the process, Gordon’s focus is usually on reinventing the product. He creates an entirely new menu, redesigns the restaurant and theme, get’s the place cleaned up and, when appropriate, get’s new equipment in place and, to the best of his ability within the time frame given, retrains the leadership and management.

The interesting thing is this; once the new and exciting product, environment and theme is successfully introduced I have consistently observed a dramatic improvement in employee morale, pride and enthusiasm. In other words, there is a direct connection to a belief in the perceived quality or value of the product or service and employee buy in and motivation.

The question of the day is this: Are your people excited about your product or service? Are they proud to be included and a contributor in the delivery of your services or products? Do they understand and believe in what your business does?

Imagine the power and the impact on your business if EVERYONE on your team were truly excited about what your business does.

Check tomorrow’s Daily Message for steps on creating or reinventing a compelling business model that you and your people can be excited about.

Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

Been busy so I haven't posted in a while but todays info was good so here it is.

One of my clients came to me the other day with a powerful story she has given me permission to share.

The other day I received a phone call from a friend who was very upset over an email that she received from someone. She began to tell me her story and read me the email response that she was planning on sending to the person who had upset her. I listened to her for awhile and then I asked her, “What is it that you need from me? Do you just need to vent, do you want my opinion, or do you want me to help you with the email you need to send? What is it that you want me to do for you?” She let me know that she really needed me to just listen and to help her with the email. So I did just that. I listened for awhile and we decided that she was ready to rewrite her response. Again, I asked her a poignant question, “What is that you hope to accomplish with this email? Do you just want to retaliate, do you want to defend yourself, what outcome do you want?” She shared with me her purpose and together we decided that her current composition would not accomplish her goal. In the end, we rewrote the email and she did in fact get the results that she was looking for with her email.

Why do I share this story with you? Because it was during the course of this conversation that I recognized that my application of the Level Seven Way of Thinking, specifically Defining Results, had now spilled over into my personal life. I realized that I have now become a Results Oriented thinker. I asked her for the results that she was looking for very unconsciously. I wanted to know upfront what was expected of me so that I could attain it and I wanted to know what her goals were so that I could assist in reaching those.

When you make it a point to own the highly productive mindset of being a results oriented thinker as suggested by the Principle of Defining Results in the Level Seven System, you can’t help but have it spill positively into other areas of your life.

Becoming a results oriented thinker simply requires that you determine and define the outcome you wish to accomplish with every action you take.

Great Business & Great Life,

[dutchhook]

AZ,
thanks for the commitment to the postings.
Is it OK for me to put these on my blog??

Thanks!

Steve Hoogenakker

[Az Gardener]

AZ,
thanks for the commitment to the postings.
Is it OK for me to put these on my blog??

Thanks!

Steve Hoogenakker
Steve@Landscape.Pro

I don't mind and many of them are well published so I don' think its a problem. That said it would be nice if you could see the first post and drop line to Eden asking his permission as he is the one sending them to me. I am sure he will be fine with it, just a professional courtesy.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On becoming a Level Seven Manager:

Is growth important to you and your business? Trick question you say. Well perhaps.

It is often said, “You are either growing or dying”. I agree. But we need to be careful to identify or define what growth actually means to you and your business. Is growth represented strictly by increases in sales? What about bottom line profit? Perhaps growth is defined as increased efficiency and productivity, customer satisfaction, employee morale, and process management?

Regardless of how you define business growth, over the next 6 days I will be sharing some critical processes, systems and ways of thinking that will help you effectively and simply manage the growth process in your business.

Stay tuned…

Great Business & Great Life,

In case you are all wondering how did we get from E-Myth to level-7 leadership and what is level-7. Sometime last year Michael Gerber did not renew his contracts with his coaches and they are not allowed to teach his program anymore or purchase his materials for resale. My coach Eden, Yes his real name, didn't miss a beat and was quickly teaching his own level-7 stuff. Evidently he was working on his own program on the side and had his own ideas on how to improve upon the e myth stuff. So that is the information I am posting these days.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On becoming a Level Seven Manager:

From yesterday regarding effectively and strategically managing your business growth…

Point #1 – Does you business have a process that tackles and fixes problems and opportunities that are raised by your customers? Most businesses operate based on the “Tea Pot Syndrome”.

Dealing with these customer related, or essentially any, challenge in a business is like a tea pot. You put the pot on the stove, turn on the heat and when it starts to whistle you remove it from the heat. Problem in most businesses is all we do is lift the pot off the stove for a minute until it stops whistling. Once it’s quiet, you put it down, but you haven’t dealt with the source of the frustration; the flames below. Alas, “The Tea Pot Syndrome”.

When you have a customer raise an issue, you have to systematically deal with the source of the problem. You have to put out the flames so to speak. Question is does your business respond this way?

So the recommendation is simply this: When you have a frustration in the business you respond by saying, “We have a system problem here and what system is lacking or not working that is causing this problem”. Then you go to work on the system to ELIMINATE the source of the frustration rather than just resolve it.

Actions Steps for you to consider.

1-What is our company attitude and mindset when it comes to dealing with a frustration or challenge in the business?
2- Do we have a defined and documented system or procedure to deal with it?
3-What are the specific actions and accountabilities, as defined by the system, that individuals in your business need to take?

Bottom line: If you don’t respond to problems by addressing the system solution you will inhibit the growth of you business because you will always be dealing with and resolving the same problems over and over again.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Braveheart]

I get daily messages from my E-Myth coach. Sometimes they are inspirational, sometimes educational, sometimes they do nothing for me but I am glad he still sends them to me. Since I have figured out the copy paste feature I will be forwarding them If I get the time hope everyone enjoys them. I will include contact info on the first one but not on any others as I don't intend this to be free advertising. Hope this is not a problem Sean.

Good Morning:


"Men and women want to do a good job. If they are provided the proper environment, they will do so."

Bill Hewlett




Make it a great weekend.

To Great Business & Great Life,


Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"
E Quest Development Company
Making Your Business and Life Work for You!
P- 623 551 5469
F-866 483 0369
www.equestdevelopment.com
eden@equestdevelopment.com
My Strategic Link http://edensunshine.blogspot.com


Good Stuff Az,

I am a hugh fan of Gerber! I am only going into my 3rd year in business and I am projecting to net 145k this year. That's not even considering new business, just exsisting accounts! It is all because of the systems I learned to put in place! And because of my mnuals they are almost all low skill level, young people!!!

At this point I have delegated almost 90% of company resposibilities and I am only doing this as a side job so it only take me 3 or 4 hours a week! Gerber is the BEST!

[Az Gardener]

The hard part is getting out of their way and to stop tinkering. As a entrepreneur it seems to never be good enough, fast enough, whatever enough. I finally had to let go and move on to other aspects of the business and it is working better than I could of imagined. Congrats on your success too.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!
On becoming a Level Seven Manager:

Continuing from the previous Daily Message regarding effectively and strategically managing your business growth…

Point #3 – Does your business have a plan to balance capital efficiently between today’s needs and long term growth?

Unfortunately many business owners aren’t strategic about the growth of the business and managing its financial resources. Poor financial management and no strategic plan and vision, leads to the week to week struggle of making their short term ends meet. Obviously this dampers any future growth.

In addition to having a vision and plan, which I’ve talked about many times through the Daily Message, you must create a solid financial management plan including:

Determining the finances needed to fund the future growth of the business?

Establishing where the money is going to come from? Investors, loans, self funded through company profits?

If self funded, determine what percentage of your profits are going to go in your pocket personally, how much in reserves and how much will be allocated towards future growth.

Example: My former business partner and I decided up front how we would allocate company profits.

We determined a base reserve amount to have in the form of cash in the bank for emergencies and back-up. It was equivalent to three months of fixed expenses. We funded this first. We also made sure we had a secure line of credit just in case.

We also determined how much short and long term debt we felt comfortable carrying in relation to total assets. In our particular case, we were ok having some debt because we could create leverage with it.

We determined that a specific percentage of profit would be allocated to pay us and our team members in the form of profit sharing.

We allocated a percentage to fund our growth plans. Specifically, new buildings, capital equipment, new hires and sales force development and technology.

If your goal is to grow your business with intention, than it is critically important to consider where the money to fund that growth is going to come from and do so in a strategic way that balances current needs and future plans.

Look for Point #4 in the next Daily Message.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[bill8379]

Good Stuff Az,

I am a hugh fan of Gerber! I am only going into my 3rd year in business and I am projecting to net 145k this year. That's not even considering new business, just exsisting accounts! It is all because of the systems I learned to put in place! And because of my mnuals they are almost all low skill level, young people!!!

At this point I have delegated almost 90% of company resposibilities and I am only doing this as a side job so it only take me 3 or 4 hours a week! Gerber is the BEST!

This post reminds me of the chapter in Emyth revisited about the Hotel and all their manuals for every detail is that correct?

[Az Gardener]

Well that's the thing about the book, it gives you just enough information to get you really excited but not really enough to teach you how to set up the systems.

There is no system that will cover every single situation. The other thing is if you wait until you think a system is perfect you will never start your business. The best you can hope for is to begin with a plan, get your crew to buy in and participate in the plan. When a problem arises you address the shortcoming in the system that allowed the problem to occur. Rewrite the system, train the new system and wait for the next problem to be fixed. The good part is the problems occur less and it is not the same problem over and over again.

Its like sailing you don't point the ship in one direction and go right to your destination. You have to work with the wind and currents that are constantly pushing you off course. You keep your eye on the compass and keep aiming at your destination. Eventually you make it to where you want to be.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On becoming a Level Seven Manager:

Continuing from the previous Daily Message regarding effectively and strategically managing your business growth…

Point #4 – Does your business have a clearly defined process to identify opportunities, develop, launch and expand products and services?

Entrepreneurship is all about recognizing opportunities to provide a better product or service that addresses the needs or wants within a market place. However, an over extension of this entrepreneurial spirit often leads to challenges that actually inhibit or imbed the growth of a business.

Challenge #1 – The innovation of new products or services is done haphazardly or without careful consideration. The owner walks in and says, “Hey I saw a company do this and we should do it too.” Bam! A new product evolves without considering:

1- Does it actually fit our business model, goals and vision?

2- Is there really a need for the product or service within the market?

3- Can we do it well and profitably? What is the result we are wanting to accomplish?

4- Rather than rolling out a new service, can we simply improve an existing product to better meet the market needs?

Challenge #2 – The process of identifying and developing new products and services is largely dependent on the owner. If he or she isn’t doing it than there is often little or no innovation. A clearly defined process that involves your team members in looking at the current product mix, evaluating and surveying the market place, developing and launching new ideas, takes the burden off the owner. Ultimately, by involving and integrating others you will get more robust and creative ideas. You also have a level of accountability so the businesses isn’t over innovating.

Begin developing these specific systems and processes to manage your new product roll out strategy.

A- Create a market research process. The purpose is to identify and assess new opportunities in a systematic way. This might involve client and prospect surveys, focus groups etc.

B- Develop a system to study trends and opportunities that emerge inside and outside your industry. Many of my clients participate in conferences and attend events that are NOT industry specific to see what is happening in the world outside

C- Create a system to actually develop and design the product. Within the system identify all the steps that take place in product/service development.

D- Develop your product launch or expansion strategy? Determine up front how you are going to roll out the product and who you are going to roll it out to.

Look for Point #5 in the next Daily Message.

To catch up on this entire Daily Message Series go to My Personal Web Log (click here)

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On becoming a Level Seven Manager:

Continuing from the previous Daily Message regarding effectively and strategically managing your business growth…

Finally, Point #6 – Does your business have a clearly defined strategy to become systems driven rather than people dependent?

Being a system driven business IS the solution to building a great business that serves your life. Having great people in the business is critical to its success as well. Getting the right people in the business requires having a great recruiting, screening and hiring system. So I would take a stand that the KEY to making a business work and stand out from the crowd comes down to the quality of your systems.

You’ve heard me preach that message many times.

In order to manage growth in your business successful then you must have a defined strategy or process to continually drive the development, evaluation and innovation of all your systems, processes, procedures, key documents and essentially component that makes up your business. It is simple a way of life.

In Level Seven terms we call this the Principle of Replication.

So what does it look like in your business?

How are you going to ensure that all your procedures and systems get documented?

How are you going to evaluate them on a regular basis?

How will you orchestrate innovation and improvement of those systems when its appropriate to do so?

These are the fundamental questions to address to build your replication strategy.

To catch up on this entire Daily Message Series go to My Personal Web Log (click here)

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

Count Leo Tolstoy

When it comes to building a business that really works and serves your life, and the people that it comes in contact with, often begins with changing the way you think about yourself and the business.

Our outward actions are a reflection of our inner thoughts.

If you believe you don’t deserve a prosperous business, your actions will reflect it.
If you believe you aren’t a capable manager or leader, your actions will reflect it.
If you believe the business can’t function without you, your actions will reflect it.

Begin changing the way you think by reaffirming your right to prosper, your capability as a leader or manager and your ability to experience true freedom.

Make a list of 5 reasons for each and study them every day.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On The Level Seven Principle of Conveying Information

My wife told me that 30-40% of the second and fourth grade at our kids school have been out this week. The flu is running rampant this season it seems. My youngest son, Trent, came down with it last Friday night while at a sleep over at a friend’s. By Saturday, his friends entire family was sick. Amazing how quick these viruses spread.

If only we could be as effective with our communications with our teams. One of the buzz words in business these days is viral marketing. Viral marketing is a fancy way of saying “word of mouth”. The key to effective word of mouth is to actually give people something to talk about. That is why controversy, shock or extreme news gets so much attention.

I am always encouraging my clients to be very intentional about communicating company goals and your vision. The question is whether or not your message is contagious. Are you finding that people are talking about it ‘behind your back’ so to speak. If not, maybe you need to jazz up the message to cause a stir.

Stay tuned next week on some ideas on HOW to get your people talking about your business.

Stay well.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[PlatinumLandCon]

This is great! I liked e-myth when I read it

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On The Level Seven Principle of Conveying Information

How do you get YOUR people talking about your business?

The other night I was flipping through the channels. Like most homes today, we receive literally hundreds of channels through satellite and cable.

As I was surfing, something caught my attention, like a train wreck. I had to stop and watch. I came upon an old black and white classic broadcast of Billy Graham preaching a sermon in New York City in 1957.

I was captivated by the message and the delivery. I have seen a lot of speakers in my life but few presented a message with as much power, conviction and enthusiasm as Graham’s classic sermon. He was animated, focused, intense and passionate.

Some would say that the message itself was a bit hard hitting. Fact is he was preaching on things that most people don’t want to hear and talk about. And yet, he filled stadiums.

I asked my mother in law if she had seen him preach before. She said, “Not live, but on television”. Without prompting she went on to say, “There was no one like him. He was powerful”.

I suspect people talked a lot of Graham. Many lives were changes because of his messages.

Here is the problem. Most business owners are not preaching the message of their business in a manner that is filled with conviction, passion and enthusiasm. I am not suggesting you adopt his style but his delivery was unique and memorable. The key question is “Are you delivering a message that is unique and memorable?”

Want to check out the Billy Graham video? Click here.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

This is from a franchise company that I have had a few meetings with. They send me monthly newsletters to keep in touch. I thought the message was good for all of us.

Building a successful franchise company is not just about the documents!! The graveyards are full of would-be franchisors/companies that thought all they needed were documents and didn't have the kind of guidance that we provide. We are here for your success. Take advantage of these benefits!

Those documents and systems don't do anyone any good if the only person who knows them is you. It also reminds us to use the programs we have paid for.

My truck was stolen a few weeks ago and too late I realized I had some additional insurance that would have paid my deductible and helped with rental expenses. I know I have discounts available to me through the associations I belong to I wonder how much money I have left on the table because I have not always used them?

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On the Level Seven Principle of Conveying Information

See if you can pass this test.

Name the 5 wealthiest people in the world.

Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

Name the last five winners of the Miss America.

Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

Name the last decade’s worth of Super Bowl winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesteryear. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:

List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

EASIER?

The Lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care!

When it comes to motivating people and getting them to pay attention to OUR MESSAGE perhaps the best thing we can do is demonstrate that we care about them.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Got passion!

Wonder why your people aren’t passionate about your business? The reality is that it is very difficult for your people to be more passionate than you are about your business.

If they lack passion, maybe you need to step it up a notch or six.

Ask yourself the question, “If we could accomplish one thing really big this year, what would it be?” Then do a gut check and ask yourself, “do I really care about that myself?” If so, run with it and make it a mantra for your business in 08.

Check out a new blog entry – Time to Make the Donuts! Click here.http://www.makingyourbusinesswork.com/Blog.asp

To A Great Busines & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Hire the best. Pay them fairly. Communicate frequently. Provide challenges and rewards. Believe in them. Get out of their way and they’ll knock your socks off.”

Mary Ann Allison

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Are your people putting their heart into their work and the vision and goals of your business?

Businesses that inspire their people to put their heart into it, as you might imagine, are able to accomplish feats far beyond your expectations.

There are several things great leaders do to get people to put their heart into it.

1-Describe the vision.

2-Help people see how it benefits them.

3-Ask them to commit to their role and part in the process. It’s ok to ask them to commit. I’ve had some clients have their people sign a Commitment Agreement. Obviously it’s not binding, but it does suggest, symbolically, an agreement beyond the norm.

4-Create an environment where they take personal responsibility and ownership of their part and role. I have clients that have asked their people to publically apologize when they don’t live up to their agreements. Now that’s bold, and quite frankly, is not for the faint of heart. But I will tell you this, it raises the stakes, demonstrates you are serious and suggests that you live by a code of higher standards.

5-Acknowledge them for their effort. When someone goes above and beyond, put them up on a pedestal for all to see.

6-Keep reminding them of the vision.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

A ‘cult like’ atmosphere is one of the characteristics you see in high performing businesses. Don’t take ‘cult like’ the wrong way. Perhaps it is better said, ‘a loyal community’. That’s sounds better doesn’t it? Who would ever deny that they want to have a business made up of employees best described as a loyal community? Not many, I would suspect.

So how do you create a loyal community? Three primary ingredients.

1-There is a Common Purpose…

2-With a Common Language…

3-In a Common Place

We’ve talked extensively about common purpose. It’s your compelling vision that unifies your people. Common place is easy. It’s the work place.

Tomorrow I will talk about how to create a common language.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

So how do you create a common language in your business to build your culture and differentiate your business?

Disney was famous for doing this. Employees are cast members. The hiring process is called auditions. Engineers and Designers are Imagineers. Customers are called guests.

Simply take typical documents, processes, systems and common terms that you want people to remember and rename them. Ideally come up with something creative and unusual.

Examples:

Your company Characteristics of the Ideal Team Member becomes “The West Winger” (named after the TV Program).

Your company core values becomes “Our Gold Standard”.

Your company primary goals and objectives becomes “Target 08”.

Your clients become “Our neighborhood”.

You give your product or service an unusual name. Example “Venti” at Starbucks is the large coffee.

People that are negative in the business are called “Oscars”. Remember the Sesame Street character Oscar the Grouch?

The process of transforming your business becomes “Level Seven the Biz”. (I had to get a plug in J)

Are you getting the idea? It might sound corny and impractical to some of you, and that’s the point. Businesses that stand out often are willing to do what seems to be impractical or silly.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[rmmllc]

I just started the E-myth book. It is an eye-opener. I was having thoughts of doing what the book says, then a friend bought the book for me and it was right along the lines of my plans for this year, plus some. Any who haven't read it, i'd recomend it.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“The older I get the more wisdom I find in the ancient rule of taking first things first. A process which often reduces the most complex human problem to a manageable proportion.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower

As the leader of your company, putting first things first requires that you focus on ensuring an ongoing communication regarding your company targets and objectives.

Pick one of the below items and decide to spend time one day per week for each item. Your focus is on answering the question, “How can we improve the performance in these areas beginning with improving our systems. Look at the system or systems that have impact on those areas.

· Gross Sales

· Gross or Net Profit

· Productivity

· Customer Satisfaction

· Employee Morale

So let’s pretend it’s Monday and you’ve decided to look at the area of gross sales. That might lead you to looking at your lead generation systems, your lead conversation systems, your company marketing message etc.

From there you may even dig a little deeper which might lead you to improving your system for training your sales people your sales systems.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

What kind of day will you have today? It’s your choice.

A great day begins with deciding to have a great day. Sounds simple enough. Focus on the possibilities of the day and HOW you would like to BE.

Example: Your mindset is… I am going to bring a ton of enthusiasm to work today and BE encouraging to everyone I meet. Stick with it.

A bad day begins with focusing on the HAVE TO’s versus the Choose to’s. “I have to do this or I have to do that.” Sometimes we focus on the things we don’t get to do and that results in a bad day.

So point is this… Make a choice to MAKE it a great day. Choose who you would like to BE and the positive outcomes you will accomplish.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On Becoming a Level Seven Manager…

The best players don’t always make the best coaches. And the best coaches aren’t always the best players. This is true when you rely exclusively on natural talent and ability.

That doesn’t mean we can’t become better coaches with the right training and system. Being a great manager is like being a great coach. Our job is to bring out the best in our people. Right?

I have heard owners of business say on many occasion, I am not a good manager. You probably aren’t naturally. You are a great player. That’s your training, interest and talent. But that doesn’t mean you can’t become a great manager. In fact, you must if you want to leverage your efforts, replicate yourself and your business.

How do you become a better manager? Stay tuned tomorrow.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On Becoming a Level Seven Manager…

Continuing with analogy that being a great manager is like being a great coach. So how do you become a better manager?

Starts with a change in beliefs about your role as a manager. Coaches coach, don’t play. Imagine you are the coach of a basketball team and see that a player is out of position, you can’t run onto the court during the game and take their position. At the same time, as a manager, you can’t jump in and do the work that your people are supposed to be doing. You must be of the mindset that you are training them how to be in the right position at the right time. That might include using tools and resources like a documented system, or a play book. Football players, regardless of position, have a play book. They know exactly where they are suppose to be or what they are accountable for doing during each play. It’s outlined in writing.

So great managers focus on helping their team members know specifically what they are supposed to do and how they are supposed to be.

More tomorrow…

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On Becoming a Level Seven Manager…

Continuing with analogy that being a great manager is like being a great coach. So how do you become a better manager?

Pay attention to your team members. Specifically, identify any attitudes, behaviors or techniques that could be improved to maximize performance. Think about it. Isn’t that what a coach does?

From an attitude perspective determine if they are living up to your defined Characteristics of the Ideal Team Member or any attitudes critical to peak performance.

From a behavior stand point determine if they are doing the actions necessary for success. (Daily or weekly prioritizer)

From a technique stand point determine if they are doing the actions correctly or in the best possible way. (systems)

More tomorrow…

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On the Level Seven Principle of Threading Culture…

Creating a solid culture centered on the right attitudes, behaviors and systems or techniques is analogues to branding your business to your customers.

In other words, you must be as intentional in your communications designed to get your people on board as you would in communicating your message to clients and prospects.

It often starts by asking the simply question, “Why would someone want to work for us. What do we have to offer that differentiates us from other employers.”

You might continue by coming up with a slogan or theme that captures the essence of your culture. Ritz Carlton calls it their Gold Standard. Some of our Level Seven Community Clients call it the Characteristics of the Ideal Team Member.

Once you’ve figured out the message then you have to deliver it with the same precision as you might deliver an advertising and marketing campaign.



To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Do you picture your business or your life as it currently is or how you would like it to be?

Take a moment today to meditate on the idea or vision of the business (or life) you are working to create. Don’t be afraid to create vivid pictures and imagery. Be detailed. Take some time and afterward see how it makes you feel. If you find your energy level, enthusiasm or passion is elevated then you are on the right track.

People with the most rewarding lives continually see their lives evolving into something more meaningful or purposeful.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

This was the first question Eden asked me years ago when we started and it took me in a much different direction that I thought I was going. When I signed on with Eden My hope was to learn a little about systems to manage the field better and some office stuff I had never been exposed to.

When he asked me what I wanted the business to look like in 10-20 years well that was something else entirely. So I described what I would like to get to and we began to reverse engineer my company. Starting with the end in mind and how I would get to that imaginary company of my dreams. I don't know if I would have stuck with it without that vision.

It all sounds very "foo foo I know" but If you don't know where you are going you don't have a map to get there. You also wont know when you have arrived either.

Last thing is it is not easy no matter how you go about building your business, if it were everyone would be doing it. The only thing you can hope for is that you have different problems from day to day :confused: not the same ones reoccurring. At least you will know you are getting somewhere if you have different problems. :laugh:

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“The strength of a tree lies in its roots -- not in its branches.”

Dutch Proverb

The strength of a business lies in its values, its vision and the position it takes to differentiate itself - - not in its people, systems, methods or processes. Understand that without knowing what the business is, or, becoming, your people and systems can’t be effective at doing their jobs.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

I just signed up for a month of meetings with my old mentor to work through this sliding pay scale program I am working on. It was good to talk to him again.

GOOD MORNING!

On the Level Seven Business Development Process…

I was speaking with a friend of mine the other day who is starting a new private school. As an educator for many years she finally got fed up with the mediocrity that exists in the public school system. This led her to the decision to open the new school.

She was excited as she described the school philosophy and how that was going to drive the structure of the classrooms and how the curriculum is developed.

She went on to say that often the public schools compartmentalize the content of what is taught. They see reading as separate from math. Writing is separate from social studies etc. Her approach is a more WHOLE VIEW approach to teaching the child. Her approach integrates all the disciplines together. Or at least acknowledges the interrelationship between the disciplines. This made a lot of sense to me.

It occurred that in most businesses they compartmentalize the primary functions of the business too. We see sales as sales. Production as production. Accounting as accounting. We don’t look at the business from a WHOLE BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE. As a result, we look to make improvements in a compartmentalized manner too. This approach can be effective but it’s not the MOST effective approach to building an extraordinary business.

This is why having a BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PHILOSOPHY like the Level Seven System is so important to your business. Is serves as a way to unify the view of the business and the primary business function like sales and operations. It also drives how the business goes about making decisions. Is forces us to change our thinking which leads to a change in action and behavior.

Albert Einstein once said, “The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them..”

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On the Level Seven Principle of Defining Result…

Frustrated with employees not hitting the mark in terms the results you expect them to achieve?

If so, maybe the problem is you. What I mean by that is often our expectations or, let’s say our communication of expectations, looks more like a moving target to our people.

Imagine holding up a bulls eye and telling your people to hit it. But if you waving it around, then it makes it very difficult to hit.

The solution is simply to take time to define the specifics behind the result and performance of each of your team members. Make sure the target for them is steady and easy to see.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

On the Level Seven Principle of Conveying Information…

Tell your story with passion and enthusiasm.

I attended a presentation yesterday. One of my clients was conducting an informational session about their business to some prospective clients. In attendance was about 50-60 people interesting in their program. The goal of the presentation was to get people to either identify that they were ready to move forward or were interested in being contacted for more information.

We structured the presentation to provide a lot of details about the program upfront. We decided that at the end, the owner would give their impassioned “speech” about why the business exists in the first place. She really connected with the people. So much so she got applause at the end. She spoke from the heart.

Afterwards, I had the opportunity to speak with some of those candidates for the program. Most commented that they had an idea the program would be good but they didn’t realize how passionate the owner and team was until they heard the owner speak at the end.

They were sold.

The question of the day is this…”How are you communicating your passion or telling your story to your clients?”

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“To be always intending to make a new and better life but never to find time to set about it is as to put off eating and drinking and sleeping from one day to the next until you're dead.”

Og Mandino

I often meet business owners waiting for the right time or conditions to start working on their business and life. In most cases, the time or conditions will never be right and, in the end, nothing happens or changes.

To overcome procrastination here are four quick steps.

1-Take responsibility for your life and situation. If you want to improve things you have to start moving.

2-Examine and eliminate your excuses.

3- Get clear on the results your want to accomplish and focus on the benefits of achieving the result. Have faith and courage in the result coming to pass.

4-Ask for help. Sometimes help is exactly what is needed to overcome the issues keeping you from achieving your goals.

To A Great Business & Great Life,
Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!
Here are some common characteristics of High Performing Business Owners.

1-They have big dreams and goals.

2-They have faith and confidence. They either believe in themselves and their ability, a higher power and His desire to provide, whatever. They have belief and confidence that their vision or goals will come to fruition.

3-They have the ability to share the vision with people that will support and contribute.

4-They get off the couch and take action.

5-They never give up on the dream. NO MATTER WHAT.

To A Great Business & Great Life,
Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“When you're average, you're just as close to the bottom as you are the top.”

To A Great Business & Great Life,

Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"

[Az Gardener]

Here is something we worked on last week.

Characteristics of the Ideal Team Member – The Gardner

Positive Attitudes – You have a choice. Decide to be enthusiastic, have appositive mindset and outlook and high energy

Safety – Keep each other safe; make decisions that ensure minimized personal injury to others

Be good stewards – Take care of equipment, be proactive in equipment maintenance, maintain appearance of equipment, minimize waste of materials and supplies, and be productive with time.

Stay the Course – Pay attention to instructions and follow directions, use the company systems and procedures to produce the best results.

Pride in Work – Includes making a decision to do your very best everyday on the job, take pride in your appearance and in your conduct

Be proactive–in looking for opportunities to provide better service, upgrade, replace plants, flowers etc. when they cease to be an asset to the garden.

Be team minded – look for opportunities to help and support each other in work, focus on goals of team and company.

Be dependable and reliable – Follow through with your commitments and promises!

We are working on incentive based pay now. My assignment for the week is to come up with a scoring system of sorts so the guys are crystal clear on what they are going to be graded on. What scores they must achieve to reach the bonus marks.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On the Level Seven Principle of Defining Results…

Having a system without a defined result is like handing someone a rifle and telling someone to make use of it. Who knows what they will end up using it for or the result they will produce.

Now imagine handing them the rifle and asking them to shoot at the target in the distance.

If you want your systems and people to be as productive as possible, make sure your system result statements are clear and concise.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

How do you know you are effective as a leader in your business?

Two things –

1-People will repeat and replicate your unique language, communication, vision, company goals and objectives and core values, independently.

2-They will begin making decisions and behaving in a manner consistent with actions to support reaching those objectives.

That is why you want to create unique terms to describe your vision. In the Level Seven System we call it Your Vision of the Ideal Business. You want to create unique terms to describe your company primary goals. In the Level Seven System we call it the Bahama Report.

Start by creating your own language i.e. Customer service is called “The WOW Factor”, a great team environment is called “The Dream Team”. When you use these terms repeatedly as you cast your vision and do “your leadership thing”, you should eventually begin to hear your people repeating the same terms. Then you know you are doing an extraordinary job of leading.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On Becoming a Level Seven Leader…

Being a business owner committed to building an extraordinary organization is serious business. Regardless of the size and scope you desire.

Great businesses understand the importance of constant and never ending improvement in their systems and their people. In other words, everything must be growing and improving. Sometimes growth or improvement requires letting go of the past and learning or adopting something new.

OK. So let me cut to the chase. If we expect our people to learn and grow and be open to “change” then we must LEAD in that change ourselves. Think you’re perfect. Sorry you’re not. In fact, you could be the very reason your business isn’t growing the way you would like it to be.

So here are the first steps to making personal improvement. Ask yourself these questions.

1-Am I open to change? (Are you really?)

2-Am I open to other people helping me identify areas I could improve without getting defensive?

3-What qualities do I see in myself that are holding back my progress?

4-What qualities are people around me suggesting I need to work on?

5-What is going to be my strategy for improving myself?

Once you open yourself up to opportunities to improve personally, people will more likely respect and be open to your mentoring and support in their own improvement.



To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On Becoming a Level Seven Leader…

“How bad do you want it” I am inclined to ask people who say they want to achieve a goal, to transform their business or to go from mediocre to extraordinary in business and life.

Let’s put it on a scale of 1-10, 10 being “I will do virtually anything, within reason, to see it happen”; 1 meaning “I ain’t changing nothing”. Where are you?

If you aren’t a 7 or above, as my New York Italian friend would say, “Fo get a boud it!” (Translated: forget about it). Which means your dream or goal is simply not compelling enough to make the necessary changes to get to where you want to be.

I hope you see that if you are not making the progress you want, you have to change something?

Chances are you are going to have to make adjustments to either…

1-The way you think

2-Your discipline, behaviors or actions

3-Or the processes, systems, techniques, methods you currently follow.

You might have to change all three.

The beauty of the Level Seven System and Implement Program is that it guides you in developing and creating a compelling goal and vision. It helps you make the appropriate thought process improvements. It supports you in the disciplines necessary to be effective while providing you the tools or systems needed to effectively and easily transform your business.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"
Making Your Business Work
P- 623 551 5469
F- 866 483 0369
www.makingyourbusinesswork.co

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Consider the extreme differences between being proactive verses reactive in your business and your life.

Being reactive suggests an emotional response that comes from fear, pressure, procrastination or focusing on the immediate situation. Think about it for a moment. How much of your day to day activity is made up of reacting to situations?

Being in reactive mode leads to only one thing; always being in reactive mode. It is a never ending loop. We reactive and resolve, hopefully, and then we wait for another situation to arise that we can react and resolve again.

Being proactive suggests an action that is grounded in confidence, foresight and thinking ahead. In proactive mode we engage in future thinking and issue resolution before the issue comes up. We focus on building rather than repairing. Get the idea?

The nice thing about being in proactive mode is that there is a ton of leverage that comes out of it. A little proactive thinking and action will go a long way to eliminate the situations that we are forced to react to also.

Want a competitive edge in your business? Consider that 97% of business owners operate unsuccessfully in reactive mode on a day to day business. Begin to work proactively and you immediately will experience an advantage in your business.



To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Consider that most business owners are on a journey to figure it out. “Figure what out?” you ask.

They are figuring out how to get the vision of the business to align with the reality of the results the business currently produces. And to do it with confidence.

Most business owners never figure it out, however. Just ask them the question, “Is your business where you want it to be AND do you know HOW you are going to get there?”

Those that are honest will say, “No.”

Even those with great self confidence come face to face with the reality that they too are winging it.

Please don’t miss understand me. I am not necessarily suggesting that business is terrible. In some cases it’s good. But there is a big difference between being good and having a business that FULLY lines up with your vision.

Since a majority of businesses are not accomplishing this result, then it stands to reason that in order to line your goals and reality up, you will have to take a different approach.

The Level Seven System approach requires a fresh look at the way you think about business, yourself and your people and the resulting actions that follow.

Bottom line: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Results.

[Az Gardener]

On the Level Seven Principle of Gotta Do It…

Taking appropriate action is absolutely critical to getting results. Do nothing and nothing happens. Unfortunately many of us put off taking action and stay stuck. Sometimes we avoid those actions because they are not things we like to do. Sometimes we avoid because it is a new habit or behavior and we simply we don’t feel confident. Regardless, putting it off results in not getting the results we desire.

A friend of mine, in an attempt to shed some unwanted pounds, recently took up jogging. He jokingly said, “There is not a piece of equipment on the planet that can measure how much I hate jogging”. He did say that the one thing he likes about jogging is having jogged. He has a good sense of humor.

He went on to say that as much as he hates it he still does it because he knows it’s good for him. “So how do you stay with it and consistent?” I asked.

He said, “I realize it takes a ton of self discipline to stick with it and do it every day. But I only need enough discipline to do it today. And tomorrow, I only need enough discipline to do it tomorrow”.

Wow! I got it. Sometimes we focus on the weeks, months or years required to get from point A to Point B in our lives or businesses, and that overwhelms us. But if you simply begin each day, hour or moment with the idea that I only need the discipline to get through it right now, imagine how much more effective we will be in our lives.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Want to know the most important strategic question you can ask in a business?

Its “How are we going to…?”

Often I find people saying, “this is how it is”. They are essentially stuck in a mindset or way of thinking.

Example: I was talking with a client recently who is spending a lot of money on advertising. Currently they don’t see any way around doing what they have always done to produce leads. The problem is that the advertising doesn’t produce a result that justifies the expense. Yet, they continuing doing the same thing believing they can’t change it.

The challenge is they are not asking themselves the right question to stimulate the right thinking that might lead to discovering a new way of effectively adverting. Or producing leads.

Asking the “how to” question requires clearly understanding the primary goals and objectives you want to accomplish. In this particular case, the goal is not to advertise. That’s the system. The goal is to produce quality leads at the lowest cost while supporting and building our brand.

The question then is “how do we increase the quantity of our leads while reducing the cost per lead and still build our brand?”

This question forces our creative and innovation juices to flow, provided we are open to doing something different to produce a better result.



To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Differentiating is not an advertising or marketing function in your business. It’s a fulfillment function.

This means a business must design a product or service that will differentiate itself first. Then through marketing and advertising you communicate how your business, service or product is different.

Interestingly, the better you differentiate, the less marketing and advertising you need to do.

Consider how much advertising you’ve seen for Google, Nordstrom’s, Starbucks, I Phone, and Southwest Airlines. Any marketing you’ve seen is designed simply to support and reinforce the brand already defined.

It’s never too late to redefine your business, your product or service.

Begin by asking the questions.

1-What and who is our market? Get specific with trade area, demographics and psychographics.

2-What do the people in our market REALLY WANT. Don’t assume anything here. Ask if you need to get confirmation.

3-What product or service is needed to meet that need or want?

4-Is there anything like it in our market, our trade area or industry?

5-Finally, can we build or provide it at a profit?

Most of the time, creating or recreating your product, service or business requires a simple and modest shift in focus and execution. Once that is done, you will find that differentiation become simple and effective.



To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Continuing from yesterday’s Daily Message …



Here is a list of some of the common areas that hold business owners back from making real and permanent transformation in the business.



Micromanagement – They must be involved in every task their people do. To focused on tasks rather than results. They simply don’t empower people to think and perform. Business can’t grow because if it does, they can’t control things as well.



Abdication – Places to much confidence in a person’s ability to perform without clearly defined results. Problem with abdication is that people will focus on tasks that may or may not lead to the ideal results.



Fear of Letting Go – Business owners often are so familiar with the work they do and don’t believe anyone else can do it as well as them. So they keep doing the same work day after day, month after month, year after year, and don’t focus on producing leverage. They have to believe that others can do the work they do with the right system and then let go and let them do it.



Too focused on short term – Consumed with dealing with immediate issues and current needs without spending time working on the development and fulfillment of long term objectives. Yes, they survive the day and may even see the business grow, but we are talking extraordinary growth and transformation.



Too internally focused – If you want people to follow it isn’t going to happen simply by the strength of your personality or will power. I have met very dominate people who thought they were good leaders only for them to discover that their people really weren’t following them. Leadership is about service and serving others. It is about identifying a need or opportunity and creating a vision to solve that need. When a business owner is too self consumed with their own goals and objectives and doesn’t adequately focus on the needs of the people they work with, they are going to be pulling the wagon all by themselves.



Closed Minded – Believing that we have all the right answers, are always correct or others don’t have good ideas or insights. Often they won’t take correction or accept feedback from others without getting very defensive. When they demonstrate an unwillingness to really listen for truth, even if it hurts a little, suggests a real unwillingness to grow. If the owner won’t grow, then don’t expect the people to grow. And of the people won’t grow, neither will the business to its full capacity.



Lack of confident outcomes from future action (Won’t take action)– Many business owners won’t take appropriate risks or necessary action because of what they believe might happen when they do. They have a vision or picture of a negative result that dominates the potential positive outcome. In reality, all the above are a reflection of what the owner believes will happen if they let go of those behaviors that don’t serve them well and take new action.



See anything that strikes a chord? Begin to paint a new, more positive picture or outcome in your mind and see how that effects making real and permanent transformation in your business.





To A Great Business & Great Life,

[k911lowe]

i didn't realize Phoenix landscapers could be so philosophical.keep up the good work.

[Az Gardener]

This one should have been first. I have been busy sorry they are out of sequence.

GOOD MORNING!

Television for the most part is a big waste of time. Especially some of the so called reality TV programs. As if they are really reality. Every once in a while, however, these programs have a redeeming quality about them.

The other day my wife and I were discussing some of the challenges business owners experience in business.

Often people problems are at the top of the list. My wife reminded me of a program called “Super Nanny” or something like that. For those that haven’t seen the program basically you have a family where the children are absolutely out of control. And that is probably an understatement. The way the kids act is outright shocking. Funny thing is that the parents typically don’t have a clue what to do. Their feeble attempts to makes improvements are to no avail.

In comes the Super Nanny who observes the family for a day or two. She watches the kids rule the roost and then makes her recommendation.

In virtually every single case the nanny shows the PARENTS what they need to change about themselves in order to create an environment where the kids will behave.

Get it? The parents must change first.

When a business owner wants their business to improve or change, they must change first. They must change the way they think which will change the way they act.

Not seeing change or improvement in your business? Maybe it’s you.

Check tomorrow’s Daily Message for a list of some of the common areas that hold business owners back from making real and permanent transformation in the business.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Every business owner I meet say’s they are committed and desire having a culture in the business that supports a positive, upbeat environment.

The definition for a positive upbeat environment may vary from owner to owner. The words we speak have a dramatic impact on that environment, regardless of the definition. When we speak negatively, the environment will be negative.


In order to foster a positive environment a business must stop and eliminate gossip and back biting. I have yet to see an example where this serves a business well. Still, it runs rampant and goes unchecked in organizations all the time. It may not be outward and blatant. In most businesses, it actually is rather subtle.

Consider a conversation that takes place between two people about another person. If the conversation is not positive about that person or objective than should it be happening? No.

What do I mean by objective? I hear people all the time making opinioned, unsubstantiated assessment of people performance. It is ok for a manager to be speaking with another manager regarding another person’s performance if they have objective data to support the conclusions.

“Fred is not hitting is sales goals.” versus “I think Fred is wasting his time and not doing his job.” Not hitting goals is measureable and objective if you have the numbers in front of you. Wasting his time and not doing his job may be true, but at this point is an opinion.

Now what happens if an employee has a gripe or frustration about another team member? In this particular case, if you position the frustration from how it affects you, versus an attack on the other person, this is legitimate.

“John is a lazy bum who continually drops the ball when it comes to keeping his commitments to me” versus “I feel very frustrated because John has made some commitments to me that he hasn’t followed through with”.

See the difference? One is very negative and accusational and the other takes ownership of their frustrations and feelings.

Begin to take notice what you say about your people to other in the business. Is it negative? Is it objective? Consider the impact you are having with your speech and tone of your conversations in the business and observe how it changes your organization.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Stay away from shiny objects”, I warn my clients. There are some many great ideas and products out there vying for our attention as business owners. They are all promoting the next greatest product or service. They strongly promote their new features and benefits in an attempt to capture our attention.

This happens a lot in technology but it’s not exclusive to that industry.

Recently I spoke with a client who had adopted a new software program into his business. The company made the decision to switch their software largely because of the new bells and whistles on the competing program.

After fully integrating the software, they came face to face with the reality that despite all the new features, the new program didn’t produce the RESULTS that they needed. Yes, it did something’s the other program didn’t do but they lost something’s in the conversion.

I experienced a similar situation a year or so ago when considering changing our contact management system. I found myself literally spending hours researching the new product. I finally stopped myself and asked the question, what result do I want to accomplish. In the end, I realized the program I had, with a few modification, would product all the results I needed. I probably saved myself $1000’s of dollars in implementation costs and the program itself.

Lesson: Before making any changes to your current systems, reevaluate the current system and your redefine your result. Then determine if the current process can be modified to achieve the redefined results.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

One of the biggest challenges in business is being objective about our own business. Fact is sometime we are so close to it, or in it, or emotionally connected to it, like a child, we just don’t see things clearly.

This is not a pitch for coaching, consulting or outside advice from others. One of the biggest advantages according to my clients is the idea that I see things from a different perspective and that helps them make more productive decisions.

I had a big ah this morning as I was thinking about how a business can apply this idea internal. Why not try cross departmental or positional innovation sessions. In other words, create an environment where your business is “self consulting” across departments.

Example: have your sales manager look at production from a consulting or “how can we improve this area point of view and vice versa. This could also work within positions within the company too.

A great tool for this is the Level Seven System for Improving Performance.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“I'm slowly becoming a convert to the principle that you can't motivate people to do things, you can only demotivate them. The primary job of the manager is not to empower but to remove obstacles.”

Scott Adams

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us.”

Stephen R. Covey



To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow.”

Woodrow Wilson

How well are you utilizing the brain power of your people? Collaboration is essential to staying up with and ahead of the curve with innovation, brainstorming and understanding emerging trends and markets.

Implementation Step: Establish a forum within your business to simply discuss ideas, brainstorm and challenge your current processes. Begin by asking these questions.

·How or what do we need to do to reach our goals and objectives?

·What trends or changes in the market, industry or world should we be paying attention to that might affect or current business?

·What can we do to stay cutting edge?


Bring your people into this conversation in a no hold barred, open forum where there are no right or wrong answers. In fact, you might even find that no action is taken on any of the ideas that come up. This process will invigorate your employee buy in and supercharge your businesses creativity.



To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!



Don’t wait for signs that your vision and goals are becoming a reality before you act. Otherwise you may never begin.



Start today by conducting yourself in a way that suggests the vision is already happening or happened. This is a demonstration of your true faith and confidence in your dreams and vision coming true.



Perhaps you’ve heard the story of two farmers who prayed for rain. Afterwards, one farmer went out and prepared the fields, the other did nothing but waited.



Who do you think had more faith and confidence in their prayers? This message is not about prayer but about faith and confidence and believing in a positive future. Although prayer is a powerful thing.



In your business you can cast your vision and then wait for something to happen. Or you can begin preparing and acting as IF it is going to happen.



The question of the day then is this: “If your vision for your business were true right now, what would you do differently today?”



To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“As you get bigger, you have to learn to delegate. It’s also an excellent way to get staff involved in the company’s operations.”

Azim Premji

Delegation begins by clarity in communications. Make sure people understand the goal or outcome you desire, give them the tools needed and provide the support necessary to reach them. You must also have agreement from people that they will follow-through with their commitments.

And then, the most difficult part –we have to let go and trust that people will perform.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"

Making Your Business Work

P- 623 551 5469

F- 866 483 0369

www.makingyourbusinesswork.com

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Beware! If you are a great problem solver you also might be a great problem identifier. In other words, you might come off a bit critical. Do you see that in order to utilize your gift, problem solver, you must have a problem to solve. So, in some people’s eyes, your employees for example, they might think you are always looking for things that are wrong or broken.

I am not suggesting that you stop exercising your gift. However, I am encouraging you to make it a point to be looking for and recognizing the GOOD and improvement your business and employees are making.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Those who are blessed with the most talent don't necessarily outperform everyone else. It's the people with follow-through who excel.”

Mary Kay Ash

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Sometimes the most important question a business can ask is not what should we be doing but rather what shouldn’t we be doing. It is so easy to get caught up in pursuing new opportunities and lose focus on core competencies. It takes disciple to hone in on doing what you do best and keep it simple.

At the same time individuals and employees can ask a similar question. What shouldn’t I be doing in order to be more productive and produce maximum results?

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results.”
James Allen

One of the keys to the formula for getting the right results is thinking. Sadly, our society has a very low value for thinking. Consider this, when was the last time someone paid you to think. Or when was the last time you paid someone to think. No. We want action, movement, activity. If people aren’t moving or doing we get nervous.

Imagine walking in your office or business today and everyone was staring out the window thinking. Most business owners would freak out and say get back to work.

Granted, we need efforts to produce results but effective businesses encourage thinking.

Google actually allows employees to spend up to 20% of their time thinking and focusing on their own projects.

Tomorrows Daily Message will focus on some practical and productive ways to create and support an environment of productive thinking in your business.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!



Yesterday I wrote about the importance of taking time to think. Doing so results in improved productivity and effective innovation.



Here are a couple ideas that you might consider implementing into your business to encourage creativity, process improvement and productive thinking.

· Schedule a monthly brainstorm session with employees with no agenda other than to respond to this question, “What can we do to improve the business?” Let the ideas fly.

· Encourage people to make a list or keep a running list of ideas that could make the business, their job or systems more effective and share it with their manager regularly.

· Have people swap jobs or responsibilities for a day, week or month. Sometimes walking in someone else’s shoes helps then gain a new perspective on things.

· Instead of giving people direct answers to the questions they ask you, turn it around and say, “What do you think we should do and why?”

What ideas do you have or currently use to encourage and reward thinking and idea sharing? I would love to see your responses.



To A Great Business & Great Life,



Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"

Making Your Business Work

P- 623 551 5469

F- 866 483 0369

www.makingyourbusinesswork.com

My Personal Web Log

eden@equestdevelopment.com

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

One of our company contributors shared this story with me recently.

It is a powerful and effective illustration of the power of adopting the right thinking as it relates to problem solving.

The other day I received a phone call from a friend who was very upset over an email that she received from her ex-husband. Suffice to say they were not getting along and, as usual, their conflict was impacting the children negatively.

Now my friend shared an e-mail she had received from her husband and began to read me the email response that she was planning on sending back to her ex. The e-mail response she prepared was rather scathing and harsh. Obviously reacting to the negative e-mail he sent her.

I listened to her for awhile and then I asked, “What is it that you need from me? Do you just need to vent, do you want my opinion, or do you want me to help you with the email you want to send? What is it that you want me to do for you?”

I continued with a more poignant and specific question, “What is that you hope to accomplish with this email? Do you just want to retaliate, do you want to defend yourself, what outcome do you want?”

She shared with me her purpose and together we decided that her current composition would not accomplish her goal. Again, without getting into the details her goal was simply to create an environment where there was some civility between her and her ex so the kids would NOT be so upset about the divorce situation.

We worked on and revised the e-mail and sent it off.

Several days later I spoke to my friend and she told me that the e-mail set off a chain of events that has resulted in much more agreeable dialogue between her and her ex husband. In other words, we accomplished the result. I am absolutely convinced that if I hadn’t asked the question specifically, ‘What result do you want to accomplish’ this wouldn’t have happened.

Why do I share this story with you?

Because it was during the course of this conversation I recognized that my application of the Level Seven Systems, specifically The Principle of Defining Results, had now spilled over into my personal life. I realized that I have now become a results oriented thinker. Unconsciously I have begun to think first about the results or goal I want to accomplish before I act. This approach will ALWAYS produce a more productive outcome than acting without a clearly defined purpose.

Great story! I thought so because the Level Seven Implementation Process focuses on accomplishing the outcome of reframing our thinking so we take more productive and effect action within our business. The side benefit is that that same improved thinking with spill over into your personally life too.

Here is to productive thinking!

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On Becoming a Level Seven Manager

“One who cares is one who listens.”

Richard J. Clarke

Want your people to care about your business? Want them to really care about performing and putting their best foot forward? Do you want loyal, committed people? Then you must demonstrate that you care and are committed to them, first.

Sometimes this is as simple as sitting down periodically and simply listen to your people. You’d be surprised how much it will do for their morale and satisfaction. In the Level Seven System we call the process One on One Meetings.

I know the argument. I am too busy. I’ve got to much work to do. I would venture to guess that if you feel that way you are probably spending most of your time working on things like, how to get your people to perform better, put in more effort and be more committed. Is that approach working?

If not, perhaps it’s time for a One on One Meeting.

If you want to learn more about One on One Meetings, call or e-mail me today.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On the Level Seven Principle of Replication…

Every system or action in a business must have specific and intended purpose or result. Otherwise it becomes robotic and without energy. If you want to improve the performance of your business, make sure you know the reason why and have a purpose behind everything you do.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

I might add that you have to pick your battles or prioritize how important to the bottom line or client satisfaction is what you are trying to accomplish.

From time to time when I contemplate a "problem" it is just my neurotic disposition that is the problem and what I want to "correct" will have little effect on either the bottom line or client satisfaction. It will only please me and irritate the crew and ultimately undermine my crews morale which is about the most valuable asset we have. IMHO

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On the Level Seven Principle of Facilitating Compliance…

Are you guilty of ‘drive by delegation’? You know the type of delegation that is like a drive by shooting. You rush in, toss a request out to someone to do something for you before they have a chance to get your license plate number.

Proper delegation requires several key steps.

1- Describe the result or outcome you want completed.

2- Discuss HOW you would like it done, if necessary.

3- Assign a due date and time.

4- Gain agreement from the person you are delegating to.

Yes, we live in a fast paced world and time is of the essence. Consider this however, how much time is it costing you when an assignment or project doesn’t get completed correctly or on time?

To A Great Business & Great Life,

This made a big/huge difference in my business. It really illustrates how important a task is when you take the time to explain it fully and ask them for a commitment.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.”

Admiral Hyman Rickover

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

I was out of town for th week but here is the latest had to read it a couple of times myself, Olde English I guess. :laugh:

GOOD MORNING!

“If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however, if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that.”

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On the Level Seven Principle of Replication…

Massive change in an incremental way happens with the implementation of the Level Seven System. What exactly is massive change? Well, from a pure numbers stand point, how about a 40-100% increase in revenues, profitability and personal income and more. This doesn’t even take into consideration improvements in personal satisfaction, employee morale and a more productive business culture. Although, you could argue, that ultimately those intangibles improve the bottom and top lines too.

Don’t believe it. That’s not surprising especially if you think compartmentally. Most people look at improving sales and profit number simply by focusing on marketing. If you do that then you can get improvement but rarely those types of numbers. Perhaps you will see a 10-20% increase. The reason you won’t see huge numbers is because you are only looking at one primary function of the business.

What happens when you begin to look at improving performance in all the primary functions in the business collectively? Then you experience incremental increases in operations, client fulfillment, sales, lead generation, cash and money management, employee production, customer relations and retention and more. Incremental improvement also means reductions in wasted time, energy and effort.

Do you see that when you begin to think of your business from a whole business perspective, with system development being the basis for the improvements, you can’t help to experience a collective and often radical improvement throughout the entire business that add up to huge numbers?

Practically speaking, if you want to see major changes in your business begin by focusing on one system per day. Document it. Train it. And install it. Then watch how your business begins to take new shape and really grow.



To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On the Level Seven Principle of Creating Replication…

By now you probably know that the system is the solution. But do your people get it? Do they connect the fact that the work they do, the results they produce and the challenges they encounter are largely addressed within their documented systems and procedures? Often they don’t.

Employees often don’t equate that dusty three ringed binder on their desk as the answer or source to the questions that come up for them on a day to day, week to week basis.

So how do you help them get it? Simple. Next time an employee approaches you with a question ask them the question, “What does the system say?”

Now a couple of things might come out of that.

They might say, “I don’t know.” This should lead to more training.

They might say, “We don’t have a system for that.” This should lead to new documentation.

They might say, “I’ll go check.” If you consistently respond this way eventually your people will begin to resource their systems first before asking you for help and answers.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Values are a stronger binding force than authority.”

From the book “The Starfish and the Spider”



To A Great Business & Great Life,

How true this is! I had a word with the owner of a very big local LCO last week. He has over 500 employees, ranked 25th largest LCO company in the country. We were discussing labor, he said "We hire attitudes, everything else we can teach".

Forget the "experience" hire for values and attitude and teach the rest.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“No employer today is independent of those about him. He cannot succeed alone, no matter how great his ability or capital. Business today is more than ever a question of cooperation.”

Orison Swett Marden

To A Great Business & Great Life,
Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"

Making Your Business Work

P- 623 551 5469
F- 866 483 0369

www.makingyourbusinesswork.com

My Personal Web Log

eden@equestdevelopment.com

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“See it big, and keep it simple.”

Wilfred A. Peterson

Here is a great question for strategic thinkers that rarely gets asked and could potentially revolutionize your business. “How do we build a business that is congruent with our vision AND keep it very simple at the same time?”

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“One man may hit the mark, another blunder; but heed not these distinctions. Only from the alliance of the one, working with and through the other, are great things born.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Have you asked the people around you to support the vision and goals of your business? It is not enough to simply share them. Although that is a great start.

As a leader you must engage them. Ask for their help. Then you will find out how well you have communicated your vision and whether or not they are inspired to truly support the cause and dream.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

We had a meeting today and I had the guys fill the rest of the crew in on what they learned in a horticultural conference last week. They were very well prepared and had some pertinent information that we can all use right away. They were all interested in doing more frequent meetings, doing a good job and growing the company. Finally many long years of work is coming to fruition...makes me tear up. Once before I had a group of educated guys but I had not instilled the proper company culture. I had to clean house and start over and the new group is not perfect by any stretch but the attitude is right so I am confident that we will continue to grow. This stuff works I'm telling ya...

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Leave the drama for your momma!” Trent, my comedic 8 year old blurts out responding to his older sister’s temper tantrum. Trent is funny and has a way of breaking the moment with off the wall comments like this one.

When it comes to work, we need to learn to leave “our drama for our momma” too. A place of business is no place to over dramatize our personal problems and issues. It’s disruptive and quite frankly unprofessional. Yet, I am amazed at how many people come to work each day and think it’s perfectly acceptable to let their personal life flow right into their work environment.

If drama shows up in your business, it is usually because the owner has allowed it or because their people are doing it unconsciously for attention. Probably both.

Now there is an appropriate time for drama in business. It’s what I call positive drama or putting on your work face. Just like a performer on stage, at work we show up ready to impress and perform. It begins with our customers and it continues with our co-workers.

Great companies understand the importance of the dynamic of positive drama. They communicate to their people that they are on stage, so to speak, and that their customers and co-workers are always watching.

So as my son Trent would say, “Leave the drama for your momma.”

Tomorrow’s message will cover some strategies to shift a dramatic work environment to one where people are ready to impress.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

From yesterday’s message here are some simply strategies to eliminate the drama in your business.

#1 – Communicate that drama needs to be left at home. Don’t assume that people are even aware when they are bringing drama.

#2 – Set the standards for appropriate customer centric work and environment. If you walk into a business and two employees are talking and don’t stop to greet and serve you, they are not a customer centric business.

#3 – Privately hold people accountable for drama they bring.

#4 – Work on building people’s self worth and esteem. High drama people are often seeking a sense of significance and attention. We all need to feel important and unique. Drama is not a productive way of getting it. Replace they need for drama by helping them see how they are valued and significant.

Make it a great day, focus result and develop your people.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Three Rules of Work:

Out of clutter find simplicity;


From discord find harmony;


In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”


Albert Einstein

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“It’s not that some people have willpower and some don’t. It’s that some people are ready to change and others are not.”

James Gordon

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

There are three primary qualities that make up great businesses.
The have great systems, the right people and high standards and/or big goals.

If you want to build a business that is scalable and has the potential to work without you then you must spend adequate time working on these three critical areas.

1-Plan time to facilitate, the development of your systems, procedures and processes.

2-Spend time to develop and mentor your people so they will continually improve and define the culture and conduct of your business.

3-Stay up to speed by reviewing, revising and communicating your goals and objectives on a regular basis.



To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation.”

William Arthur Ward

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Want your people to be more excited about your business? How about make better decisions? Then it’s essential that you help them develop a more global view of the business.

This requires clarity in your mind the vision and direction of your business and robust, consistent communications.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Your ability to communicate is an important tool in your pursuit of your goals, whether it is with your family, your co-workers or your clients and customers.

Les Brown

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“I believe life is constantly testing us for our level of commitment, and life's greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a never-ending commitment to act until they achieve.

This level of resolve can move mountains, but it must be constant and consistent. As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret.”

Anthony Robbins

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Nothing is so common as unsuccessful men with talent. They lack only determination.”

Charles Swindoll

To A Great Business & Great Life,
Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"

Making Your Business Work

P- 623 551 5469

F- 866 483 0369

www.makingyourbusinesswork.com

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“The results you achieve will be in direct proportion to the effort you apply.”

Denis Waitley


Regardless of the results you would like to accomplish you must apply effort in these areas.


Establish the right attitude or mindset. “I am absolutely confident that I will achieve this result by next week.”
Do the right activities. “I am going to make 25 new contacts with prospects this week.”
Use the right approach or system. “ When I contact people I will utilize this proven process or script.”


All of these are equally important. You could sit around all day long with the right attitude and nothing will happen. We need action.

We could be running like a chicken with our head cut off with the wrong attitude and the wrong approach and still achieve limited results.

We could have the best system or process but without behavior behind it, again, nothing will happen.

Being great AT business and achieve ideal results as a business owner requires the right attitude, doing the right work and using the right system.

Make it a great day!

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.”

Vincent Lombardi

Having the right attitude, doing the right behavior and using the right technique is vitally important to any endeavor. Evaluate the quality of your attitudes, behavior and technique or system anytime you want to improve performance. This approach is true for your team members too. If you want to impact the results your people are producing than make sure they have the right mindset , taking the right action and using the best approach.

Make it a great weekend.
To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Warren Buffet is the ultimate contrarian. When the market is up and people are excited, he is selling; when the market is down and people are freaked out, he is buying.

Going with the trend or what appears to be the practical thing to do often is not. Going with the majority can sometimes be a fatal mistake.

The Level Seven Way often challenges what are often thought of as practical business practices. Sometimes it’s the seemingly impractical that produces the best results.

Here are some typical approaches that happen in business and their apparent impractical counterparts that have proven to produce better results.

Focus on the tactical work in the business versus focus on working strategically ON the business. Working On your business produces better strategies so that the tactical work is more efficient and effective.

Disregarding employee’s opinions versus creating collaboration and open participation. Engaging your employees so you have more hands and minds working on the common goals of the business.

Narrowing your focus on one primary goal like sales versus take a whole business collective results approach. Establish multiple qualitative and quantitative goals in order to ensure a balanced self sustaining business.

Point is this; just because everyone else does it a certain way doesn’t mean it’s the best approach. Look at the real results to determine if you should take a contrarian approach to your business development.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Are you responding to problems and frustrations in your business in an appropriate and productive manner?

So often I find businesses caught up in the drama of discussing WHAT HAPPENED versus HOW DO WE FIX IT.

If you spend more than three minutes discussing what happened you are WASTING your time. What happened doesn’t matter. What matters is what the business is going to do to eliminate the frustration or problem from coming up again.

The most productive way of eliminating the problem or frustrations is to acknowledge that it is likely the result of a lack of a system. Fix the system. Fix the problem.

Belaboring on the problem and how it got there will not lead to a solution. In fact, it often results in finger pointing and placing blame. Stop it. It simply doesn’t work.

Great people, great leaders, great managers don’t point fingers and cast blame.

Have a problem or frustration? Begin by asking the question, what system do we need in place to eliminate it forever.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Are you responding to problems and frustrations in your business in an appropriate and productive manner?

So often I find businesses caught up in the drama of discussing WHAT HAPPENED versus HOW DO WE FIX IT.

If you spend more than three minutes discussing what happened you are WASTING your time. What happened doesn’t matter. What matters is what the business is going to do to eliminate the frustration or problem from coming up again.

The most productive way of eliminating the problem or frustrations is to acknowledge that it is likely the result of a lack of a system. Fix the system. Fix the problem.

Belaboring on the problem and how it got there will not lead to a solution. In fact, it often results in finger pointing and placing blame. Stop it. It simply doesn’t work.

Great people, great leaders, great managers don’t point fingers and cast blame.

Have a problem or frustration? Begin by asking the question, what system do we need in place to eliminate it forever.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to.”

George E. Allen

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Fear is an insidious virus. Given a breeding place in our minds it will eat away our spirit and block the forward path of our endeavors.”

James F. Bell

Fear causes us to make choices and decisions that are not likely to be consistent with achieving our goals. Fear is simply our mind focusing on outcomes that are inconsistent with what you want. If you want to control fear, you must be intentional about what you ALLOW your mind to focus on. Notice I accentuated the word ALLOW. You have a choice what you focus on.

If you listen to the media and focus on that…you will likely have fear.

If you choose to focus on your goals, vision and continually ask the question, “what do we need to do to get there?” you will subdue your fear and achieve the results you desire.

Be mindful of your thoughts and focus on positive, encouraging outcomes and protect yourself from the negative fear producing outside influences.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Fear is an insidious virus. Given a breeding place in our minds it will eat away our spirit and block the forward path of our endeavors.”

James F. Bell

Fear causes us to make choices and decisions that are not likely to be consistent with achieving our goals. Fear is simply our mind focusing on outcomes that are inconsistent with what you want. If you want to control fear, you must be intentional about what you ALLOW your mind to focus on. Notice I accentuated the word ALLOW. You have a choice what you focus on.

If you listen to the media and focus on that…you will likely have fear.

If you choose to focus on your goals, vision and continually ask the question, “what do we need to do to get there?” you will subdue your fear and achieve the results you desire.

Be mindful of your thoughts and focus on positive, encouraging outcomes and protect yourself from the negative fear producing outside influences.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Oh no I can feel a Daily Message coming on,” a client said to me the other day.

He had just shared with me how he had hired and paid an employee for over a year only to let him go because he simply wasn’t paying off.

“What were you hoping to accomplish with him when you brought him into that position?” I asked.

Although the client had a fairly good idea, it wasn’t a rock solid, measurable and tangible outcome.

“My understanding is that this was a new position you created in the business. So in other words you were experimenting with an idea with no way of knowing if the idea was working. You were relying on hope and your instinct.

“Yup, I suppose so.”

“And that experiment cost you how much?”…

Read the rest of the story tomorrow as I share how to minimize risk and maximize performance of your ideas and innovations.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"
Making Your Business Work
P- 623 551 5469
F- 866 483 0369
www.makingyourbusinesswork.com

Sorry about the double post yesterday. I am the one who said there was a daily message coming on. The circumstances are not exactly what he said though. I had promoted someone from within to a supervisor position and have come to realize that it has not panned out financially. So he and I had a meeting and I gave him a couple of other options withing the company. He has been a very valuable team member for years and I believe the company is better for having him, just not in the position that I put him in over the last year. It has been a very difficult decision to make but $$ wise it is for the best.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Continuing from yesterday’s Daily Message

So how much is random experimentation costing your business? Yesterday we learned that one business spent over 40K on an employee with no tangible benefit to the business.

If you want to minimize risk and maximize performance begin by applying the Level Seven Principles of Defining Results, Knowing What’s True and Creating Replication.

First, get very clear on the outcomes or goals you want to achieve.

So let’s pretend you are going to implement a new advertising and marketing campaign.

First determine what results you really expect to produce. Perhaps you expect to get 30 new qualified leads over the next 6 month period. When you do that you will generate enough revenue to make 10 times your investment.

Next put in place a way to track and evaluate regularly. So let’s say every month you put a score card together and review performance.

Next your determine if the campaign is on track. Now at that point you might need to assess incremental results but you should have determined that all upfront. But for simplicity sake let’s say you expect 5 new prospects per month. What do you do when you learn that the first month you only got 2. You must stop and evaluate the system or process. Maybe you need to tweak the approach. Not necessarily can the idea altogether but certainly look at it more carefully.

By taking the approach of identifying your goals, setting up benchmark or tracking points to measure and then making incremental adjustments to you plans along the way then you can minimize the possibility of costly experiments and innovation in your business.

[Az Gardener]

Just out of curiosity who reads this thread on a regular basis? I see the ticker continue to go up but I didn't know if it is regulars or just random drop ins. Just curious.

[Dynamic]

This is my first time reading and I like it. It would be better if it where emailed directly to me. Thanks again.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

To A Great Business & Great Life,

I don't think I like the sound of that advise... next he will suggest everyone cut their own lawns too.

[JDUtah]

I don't think I like the sound of that advise... next he will suggest everyone cut their own lawns too.

haha!! that's funny!

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

We just finished the Level Seven Arizona Community Roundtable last Friday. The Community Roundtable is a quarterly event where businesses that are in the process of implementing The Level Seven System get together for a day to brainstorm, problem solve and innovate. Many breakthroughs are made through the process because the conversations are so focused and utilize the Level Seven Language and Way of Thinking to drive our solutions.

One of the big question that came up last Friday was “How to Get Our Employees to Buy in to Our Vision and Direction of the Company”. Several hours on the conversation lead to the framework of what is likely to be a very productive system.

Want to see the system and read more? Click here.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

I was at the round table and it was a good, all be it long day. If the click here link works there is some good info in there. if you have the time I would recommend it.

[Az Gardener]

Sorry about that here is the click here link.
http://level7blog.typepad.com/making_your_business_work/

[Lawnworks]

GOOD MORNING!

“Fear is an insidious virus. Given a breeding place in our minds it will eat away our spirit and block the forward path of our endeavors.”

James F. Bell

Fear causes us to make choices and decisions that are not likely to be consistent with achieving our goals. Fear is simply our mind focusing on outcomes that are inconsistent with what you want. If you want to control fear, you must be intentional about what you ALLOW your mind to focus on. Notice I accentuated the word ALLOW. You have a choice what you focus on.

If you listen to the media and focus on that…you will likely have fear.

If you choose to focus on your goals, vision and continually ask the question, “what do we need to do to get there?” you will subdue your fear and achieve the results you desire.

Be mindful of your thoughts and focus on positive, encouraging outcomes and protect yourself from the negative fear producing outside influences.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

The news is obviously depressing lately. If you block it out, it seems you will uninformed... how do you listen and not be depressed?

[Az Gardener]

When I got my Harley many years ago I decided I needed to take a Motorcycle safety course. Going from mini bikes and small dirt bikes when I was 15 to a Harley at age 30 was a big jump.

One of the things they taught me is when you enter any turn but especially those big sweeping bends when you are are on open road doing 60 (or more) is focus on where you want to go not the guardrail, "look through the turn". "Where you look is where you will end up" I vividly remember my instructor telling me.

That has really stuck with me and I believe it applies to many things in life. As I have heard many say I know there is a recession but I have chosen not to participate. That's not to say it has had no effect on my business but I refuse to let it dominate my life and business. I move ahead with my expansion plans just a bit more cautiously.

If you think about it now is a great time to expand. All the vendors/suppliers want your business and will jump through hoops to get it. There are many good deals to be had on everything from land to equipment. The labor pool is deeper than it has been in 20+ years. What more could you ask for? All the years of complaining about not being able to get good help... If you can't find help now you never will.

Many will go under but this also leaves many people needing a new service provider. So I guess it comes down to what you are focused on.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Ralph Vatalaro, owner of Aquatic Environmental Systems and member of The Level Seven Arizona Community, reaffirmed one of the challenges of building a prosperous business these days. “The principles of running a successful business are simple, but they are not necessarily easy to implement.”

He continued by adding, “The key is knowing the principles and being intentional and committed in your efforts to accomplish the results you desire and then diligent in your follow-through”.

Do you have a clearly defined way of doing business? Do you have a set of your own proven best practices that dictate how you do business or are you flying by the seat of your pants? Not knowing what you don’t know. Don’t feel bad. Most business owners don’t and are all just trying to figure it out while trying to make living in the meantime.

There is way however…
Read tomorrow how I discovered that without having a foundation behind how I did business continually lead me to frustrations, challenges and dead ends in business.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

I think John Wooden is great. For those of you who are not familiar with him he is probably the most successful basketball coach in NCAA history.

One of the many keys to his success is to stick with the basics.

He worried little about the competition. “Play your own game”, he would say, “and do your very best. You can’t control what others do”.

Don’t get fancy. Do the basics well. His teams focused on fundamentals. When a player was having a difficult time shooting from outside, he would have him practice layups and gradual work back up to outside shooting. We has a master of doing the most important things well.


The same is true about business. You must do the right things well, or exceedingly well. The challenge is that there are a thousand different ideas about what those right things are. Some would argue marketing, some people development, some fulfillment, some money management. All of which are important.

Fact is you must do all those things well in order to build an extraordinary business. So the questions is how do you do all those things well.

The Level Seven System suggests that everything you do is a system. If you improve the system then you improve the business. If you become systems driven, then all those areas I mentioned before get addressed and ultimately work at maximum effectiveness and efficiency.

Back to basics I say and consider the fundamental and potentially business transforming question, “How do we create a fully systems driven business?”

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[JDUtah]

AZ,

Are these still E-Myth messages? Or from another company?

[Az Gardener]

E Myth international terminated all its contracts with the coaches a few years ago. They were subcontractors. From what I understand the new E myth CEO thought just selling the information via the Internet was more profitable.

Eden was working on his own program and it just forced him to complete it sooner. That is the Level-7 stuff.

My experience has been if you don't have someone there pushing you this kind of work does not get done. Plus there is not too many situations he has not heard before working with so many different companies. He has been doing this for 10 years that I have known him. I couldn't afford him for the first several years.

The messages are all from the same guy he is selling his program now instead of E-Myth.

[JDUtah]

Wow, I was out of that loop, lol. I appreciate your input and agree that it is indispensible to have someone there. I look forward to when I can afford coaching like that. If you don't mind, how much does the basic coaching cost? What is his program like? And does he (will he is the real question) offer services in Utah?
Thanks for posting this great stuff!

David

[Az Gardener]

Figure about 400-500 per month. He works with people all over the country. Even though we are in the same town I have gone a year or so without seeing the guy. I am now doing two phone meetings a month that last about 40-50 minutes each. When I started I was doing 4-1 hour per week meetings per month. He supplies all the workbooks and stuff, some come in the mail other stuff is E mailed.

You should probably commit at least 3-4 hours per week minimum to do the strategic work that you and he discuss at the meetings. I worked out a deal when I started that I would pay for 9 months spread over 12 months. I just had no time from Oct-Jan to do any strategic work so I just took a break at that time.

The only other bit of advise I can offer is don't start unless you are committed to spend the time to see it through. Unless you are willing to enforce your systems and policies this will be be a poor use of resources too. Although the information will make you a very good management guy if you ever decide to get a job. The other great thing about this information is once you learn it you will have the confidence to work in any business for yourself or someone else it is not industry specific.

Ralph Vatalaro, owner of Aquatic Environmental Systems and member of The Level Seven Arizona Community, reaffirmed one of the challenges of building a prosperous business these days. “The principles of running a successful business are simple, but they are not necessarily easy to implement.”

Ralph hit the nail on the head easy to learn tough to implement and enforce. If it were easy every business would be great.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal

-- a commitment to excellence -- that will enable you to attain the success you seek.”

Mario Andretti

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persist in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

George Bernard Shaw

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On the Level Seven Principle of Conveying Information…

Leadership, as you know, is about influence. Essentially it’s about creating an environment where people will support and buy into a vision of hope for the future. More specifically, agree to follow you as you move towards achieving the goals of the organization.

Without followers you are not a leader.

Don’t deceive yourself. Position is not leadership.

When you are asking people to follow, as you share the goals of the organization, make sure they are BEHIND IT. So often people will blindly agree to WHATEVER to appease the boss.

You are wasting your time if you think you are going to get support in these situations. Better to take your time and really get enthusiastic collective focus from your team.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Order marches with weighty and measured strides. Disorder is always in a hurry.”

Napoleon Bonaparte


To A Great Business & Great Life,
Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"
CEO E Quest Development Company
Founder of the Level Seven System
P- 623 551 5469
F- 866 483 0369

www.LevelSevenSystems.com
My Personal Web Log
eden@equestdevelopment.com

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!
A business is only as strong as its weakest link.

Consider that all businesses have critical primary functions that must operate effectively and efficiently.

Those functions include:

· Developing a meaningful Marketing Strategy

· Executing an Effective Advertising or Lead Generation Campaign

· Converting Leads into Profitably Business

· Hiring and Recruiting the best people for your business

· Training and Development Your People to Produce

· Producing and Delivering a Quality Product or Service

· Managing Your Money and Finances

· Integrating IT into the Business

· Providing Quality Leadership and Direction

If either of these areas are lacking or performing at less than optimal levels, then the performance of your business will ultimately be held back too.

Is your business firing on all cylinders?

Tomorrow we will discuss a simple strategy that can help you achieve optimal results in all these critical business functions.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

From yesterday’s message…

It is clear that a business is only as strong as its weakest link.

So how do we make sure the business is fully developed and producing optimal results in the critical business functions like sales, human resource and IT?

You can take one of two approaches. One works and one doesn’t effectively support building great, scalable businesses.

Option #1 – Hire the best possible people you can to fill positions in these critical areas. Business reality – people leave and with them their knowledge and expertise.

Option #2 – Focus on building and continually innovating systems in these areas using current talent and resources available.

Fact is most business owners can’t be EXPERTS in every function of your business (Ok, maybe some of you think you can). We must rely on others to produce quality results if we want to grow. We don’t want to be people dependent however either. Choose to be the best at driving the development of systems in every area of your business. Make your primary job and focus answering this key question. “How do we make sure we have the best possible systems operating throughout our entire business?”

Take that approach and then you have no more weak links holding the business back.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Every job is a self portrait of the person who did it. Therefore, autograph your work with excellence.”

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however, if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that.”

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

As a Level Seven Manager we are encouraged to treat and develop our people to become what they are capable of becoming. To help them grow. When we invest and believe in them, we will see an increase in performance and results.

Begin by asking people their goals. These goals could be personal or professional. Tangible or intangible. Once the goal is set then commit to support them and ask permission to hold them accountable for the actions and behaviors necessary in achieving them.

Investing in your people could be the best investment you make in your business.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Some self-confronting questions:
"Where do I want to be at any given time?"

"How am I going to get there"?

What do I have to do to get myself from where I am to where I want to be?"...

"What's the first, small step I can take to get moving?"


George A. Ford

Level 7 Daily Action Step: Revisit your Business Life Connection today and mark your calendar for the days or weeks off you are planning to take this year.

To A Great Business & Great Life

[ICS]

Keep'em coming AZ

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit.”

Andrew Carnegie

Level 7 Daily Action Step: Revisit your Business Life Connection today and identify one activity that you do at work that you would rather not be doing. Example: I don’t like having to be responsible for ordering inventory. Then begin to identify “how” you can have that work be done by someone else or some other way.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Employees hate to be micromanagement. Just ask any of them.

Employers hate it when their people don't produce results. Just ask any of them.

Now assuming you, as a business owner or manager, are not simply abdicating and putting up with poor performance and results, you are probably having regular conversations with your people to figure out HOW to get better performance and results.

The conversation often sounds like, "tell me what is happening with this...?" or "Explain what is going on with this client...?"

Believe it or not, to most employees this feels like micromanagement. To a manager, we are just trying to figure out how to fix the problem.

To read more about how to eliminate micromanagement and get your people involved in innovation, click here to read my blog.

Level 7 Daily Action Step: Put a post it note on your computer or some place in clear view that says, “The SYSTEM IS THE SOLUTION. FIX THE SYSTEM, FIX THE PROBLEM”

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Efficiency is not in doing the unusual well but in doing the usual unusually well.”

No magic bullets are required to build an extraordinary business. It simply requires doing the things that you do in your business very well. Sometimes it’s knowing what your core competency is and primary reason for existence and orienting all you do to accomplish that result.

Example: A real estate business might say, “We are better a connecting buyers and sellers together than anyone else around.”

An HR and PEO Services company might say, “We do a better job at making the lives of our clients simpler and more efficient.”

A restaurant might say, “We make the experience our guests have so rewarding and memorable they can’t help talking about it.”

A home remodeling company might say, “We ensure that the dollar value of a home is greater than the cost of improvement.”

Level 7 Daily Action Step: Answer this question today: What can or do we do in our business better than any other business in our market or industry that really makes a difference to our customers.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Keep in mind that you are always saying 'no' to something. If it isn't to the apparent, urgent things in your life, it is probably to the most fundamental, highly important things. Even when the urgent is good, the good can keep you from your best, keep you from your unique contribution, if you let it.”

Stephen R. Covey

Level 7 Daily Action Step: Think about the above quote and consider what non-tactical, highly important activity you and your company should be focusing on this year.

Here are a couple suggestions.

· Resolve to get all your systems in your business fully documented and installed.

· Resolve to truly identify the culture and core values you want to instill into your business and create a plan to implement.

· Resolve to have everyone in your business spend 30 minutes per week brainstorming ideas to make your business and systems work better.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"
CEO E Quest Development Company
Founder of the Level Seven System

eden@equestdevelopment.com

[Az Gardener]

Dave,

Please accept this invitation to attend the 2009 Level Seven National Roundtable on February 27th and 28th, in Phoenix, Arizona.

This is an exclusive event for Level Seven Community Members and Special Guests Only. Space is limited on a first, come, first serve basis.

You won’t want to miss this very impactful 2 day event.

What are you going to come away with?

As customary for this event our clients (you) set the agenda. This format is so powerful because you get the answers you need rather than hoping the topics will fit what you are looking for. You could bring a specific frustration or challenge you are hoping others in the group can help you address strategically or simply want some ideas on how to improve specific area of your business. In the past, we have covered topics such as:

· How to get your people more involved in systemizing your business

· How to increase your lead and sales conversion percentages

· How to increase employee morale, motivation and accountability

· How to generate a more powerful and effective lead generation program

And more…

Bring a Guest for Free!!!

I want to make it easier for you to get some of your favorite associates to get involved with the Level 7 Program and Community.

I will be providing 1 VIP Guest Pass for you to invite a business owner of your choice that you feel would be a great value to the group and would be a potential good fit for the program.

Let the power of the group and the program do the talking.

Mark your calendar now. In the next couple of days I will give you a call to fill you in on the additional details and to secure your seat.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

If you think you would be comfortable at this event and you want to take a road trip and come to Phoenix I would be happy to have you as my guest at the round table. Unfortunately that's about as far as my hospitality can extend. I have 4 small kids and a small home so no place for you to stay. I can help out finding a reasonable hotel and I can shuttle you around for a couple of days. PM me if you are interested.

[JDUtah]

Woot, I'm a friend of yours... ;)

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Allow me to simplify the complexity of creating a successful business with some simple logic.

The goals of your organization are directly impacted by the performance of your departments.

The performance of each department is impacted by the performance of the people within those departments.

The performance of the people is directly impacted by their knowledge and experience OR the systems, processes, tools and procedures they utilize to produce the results of their position.

Relying on the knowledge and experience of your people to produce results makes consistently growing, replicating and improving the performance of your business very difficult. It depends on your ability to transfer or find people with ALL the right knowledge necessary to produce optimal results. People dependent environments are very difficult to ensure business success.

When you rely on systems to produce optimal results, it only requires that you have well developed processes and people that are trained and willing to follow the system. It is far easier to improve a system than transferring random knowledge into people’s head.

Consider the last time you trained or explained something to an employee only to later find that they were still doing it wrong. Consider also the number of times that you have had to repeat instructions to the same person or had to re-train different people on the same information only to have them doing it differently and not producing optimal results.

Systems driven environments work consistently and maximize the likelihood of business success.

So applying this simple logic, if you want to ensure that you reach your company goals, your business must work on and improve your systems and become a systems driven business.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"So many people along the way, whatever it is you aspire to do, will tell you it can’t be done. But all it takes is imagination. You dream. You plan. You reach. There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, with belief, with confidence and trust in yourself and those around you, there are no limits.”

Michael Phelps, Olympic Gold Medalist

To A Great Business & Great Life,



Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Speaking with a client today, the founder of a nonprofit, private school, our conversation turned to the importance of developing social skills in children. Granted, academics are vital to success and future opportunities, but let’s face it, the biggest challenges we tend to deal with in life have to do with how we relate and deal with other people. Our social skills so to speak.

Consider the last time you had to deal with an employee because they had poor math or reading skills. Now consider the last time, perhaps today, you had to resolve a conflict between two people because they don’t seem to get along.

Next week, I will present some ideas and tools, and perhaps a system, that will help you develop a more “social, people friendly environment.”

Make it a great weekend.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

At Level 7 systems we have a saying around here about our people. In addition to being results focused, our people must also “play well with others”.

What exactly does that mean? Simply, social skills are a vital part of success in business these days. If you agree, then here are some attributes of people who seem to get along with others and create a more harmonious, team oriented environment.

Accepting the fact that other people are different then ourselves is a critical social skill. Accepting other leads to an environment where there is less judgmental interaction. This includes recognizing and accepting differences in our cultures, values, beliefs and personalities.

As a manger or team leader who might be experiencing issues with people on your team that don’t seem to get along with others, you might addresses this point and ask the question, “Is the individual being critical and judgmental of other people based on personalities, up bring and personal beliefs?” Helping people become aware that they are doing that and coaching them out of it may help eliminate some of the interpersonal issues happening in your business.

You can ask the employee this question specifically, “Do you think the issues you are having with [insert person’s name] might stem from the fact that you have different personalities, values and beliefs? And is it possible that being critical of those area are affecting your ability to work together?”

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

On developing social skills that are relevant to your business continued…

Listening is a critical skill necessary to effective social interaction. Quality listening is actually a byproduct of demonstrating an interest in other people and putting aside your own agenda.

Let’s face it, we live very busy lives. Sometimes we are too busy. We are focused on getting results. Getting things done. That’s fine. But fact is sometimes we get so caught up in OUR AGENDA, we don’t take time to listen and demonstrate an interest in other people.

So what is the action step associated with improving this skill. It begins with awareness that you might be engaged in a conversation with another person and your mind is focused on OTHER THINGS. When you are not INTO listening the you have 2 options.

Option #1 is that you make a conscious choice to stop and actively listen to the person you are engaged in a conversation, putting aside your own agenda for a moment or…

Option #2 kindly explain that you would like to talk with them and want to give them your full attention. Then set up a time when you can talk and LISTEN.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“A successful social technique consists perhaps in finding unobjectionable means for individual self-assertion.”

Eric Hoffer

In other words, how do we say what we want or need to say without offending others. I suppose this requires that you care about whether or not you care about if your words cause offense. If someone doesn’t care, then I suspect they might have a difficult time getting along with others.

Working and getting along well with others then requires.

1- We are considerate of how we say what we say not desiring to offend.

2- That we choose not to take personal offense to what others say.



To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“I have made mistakes, but I never made the mistake of claiming that I never made one.”

James Gordon Bennett

To A Great Business & Great Life,


:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh: Todays message is so relevant for me at this very moment I can't tell you ...but I will try.

I am having my enclosed trailer painted. I dropped it at the shop yesterday morning as they instructed. With all my equipment inside and the back door unlocked so they could paint without the handles in the way. At 6:10 pm I check my messages and the Mgr had left a message at 5:28 that I should come down and put a lock on my trailer tongue as they could not get it into the shop (which they had previously assured me they would). Of course I freak out, run down there in my 1/2 ton to find the shop closed my ramp door still unlocked the locks there just not latched. No lock on the tongue. By the way they had not done a thing to the trailer it had just sat there all day.

So I hook it up and pull it home very pissed off. This morning I get a call "hey your trailers gone should I call the police?" What do you mean its gone didn't you put it in your shop like we agreed? "Well no, we couldn't get it in because there is another trailer in there and it would not fit". "But I called and left you a message". What time I asked? "ummm 4:00". I said you couldn't call again before you closed? or looked up my name in the phone book to call my home? That's my livelihood, you couldn't go across the street to Home Depot (literally right across the street) and spend 20 bucks on a lock to protect 30-K worth of equipment that I trusted you with?

This dumb *** had the nerve to argue with me and try and explain his way out of it. I did not once in 5-6 minutes of arguing hear him even attempt to apologize. What the hell is wrong with people?
:hammerhead::hammerhead::hammerhead::hammerhead::hammerhead::hammerhead::hammerhead::hammerhead:

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Where there is no vision, there is no hope.”

George Washington Carver

I heard is said recently that a leader is a dealer of hope. And the key to hope is vision. Building a vision of hope for the future is what leaders do. May I also add, they do it confidently.

In the midst of challenges, adversity and despair, leaders, you, are required to identify and communicate a vision of hope for the future for those around you be it business, home and community.

Lead today with a vision of hope.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“One measure of how creative you are is how you respond to changes in your circumstances and environment. How flexible are you? Consider how water adapts to its environment: evaporation, condensation, snowflake, melting, flowing, goes around rocks, fills containers, etc.”

As the world and our perception of it changes around us we must be creative and flexible. We must be vigilant with tracking and knowing the truth about circumstances. Not jumping to conclusions and opinions but relying on evidence and fact. We must be proactive as we evaluate performance and attainment of our goals and finally, asking the question, what systems do we need to improve to deal with the changing times.

By the way, one of the most important questions you could be asking right now is this… “Is our marketing message congruent with the needs or wants of our potential customers and target market.”

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“The greatest ability in business is to get along with others and influence their actions. A chip on the shoulder is too heavy a piece of baggage to carry through life. “

John A. Hannah

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

It has been said that, “Life and death are in the power of the tongue…” Suggesting that our words have great power. What we say and how we say it will influence our circumstances around us.

What are you saying about your business these days, are you speaking life? What are you saying about your people, are you encouraging them and building them up?

Begin today by being aware of the words you speak. “Better to say nothing,” my mother would remind me, “than speak ill will of others or a situation.”

Try reframing your statements which requires reframing your thinking.

Rather than saying “business is bad”. Say, “We have some tremendous opportunities available to us now.”

Rather than saying “Joe is doing a lousy job”. Say “Joe has some great talents, how can we help improve his performance?”

Finally, as I suggested, what comes out of our mouths is dictated by our thinking. So we must be very aware of what we allow that goes into our heads that might impact our thoughts. A good rule of thumb as you hear negativity is to ask yourself the question, “Is what I am hearing truth or is it someone’s opinion.” There is more opinion out there then we all realize. And that is MY OPINION.

More on this tomorrow…

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Have you become a product of your environment? Are you being influence so much by what you hear and see around you, regardless of if it’s true or not, that you change your behaviors. Or are you driven by what you believe and know to be true?

Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile barrier despite the fact that everyone’s opinion was it couldn’t be done. He didn’t allow his beliefs to be impacted by the opinions of others.

We must be very careful to discern the limitations people put on us, our businesses and lives based on their opinions and beliefs.

Do you believe you can build a thriving business –RIGHT NOW? Popular (I think it’s actually unpopular) opinion says no.

Do some research today. Look for some facts about businesses that actually grew during challenging economic times. See what you find out. I recently saw a report that suggested that by comparison the recession we are currently in is the mildest one on 30 years when you look at interest rates, unemployment increase and inflation. Seems like it’s getting a lot more attention, however.

By the way, I think we always have challenging economic times. When business is booming we have more competition, when things tighten there are few competitors. Again MY OPINION.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“The perfect no-stress environment is the grave. When we change our perception we gain control. The stress becomes a challenge, not a threat. When we commit to action, to actually doing something rather than feeling trapped by events, the stress in our life becomes manageable.”

Greg Anderson

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Want to generate more revenue? Duh, who doesn’t. In order to do so we need to be more strategic about our marketing (knowing your customer) and advertising (getting the message out) during down turns in the economy.

Here are some interesting statistics for those you who like evidence.

A McGraw-Hill Research study of over 600 Businesses found that during the recession of 1981-1982, businesses that maintained or increased their ad spend during this time averaged higher sales growth during the recession and in the following 3 years! By 1985, those same companies experienced sales increases of 256% over those that had cut back on advertising.

Likewise in 2001, another study found that aggressive recession advertisers increased market share 2 ½ times the average for all businesses in the post-recession. In 2002, the Strategic Planning Institute illustrated that during economic expansion although 80% of businesses increased their advertising spend there was NO improvement in market share. Why? Because everyone has increase ad spending!

BUT, spending money for the sake of spending money is foolish not only now, but anytime in business. Applying The Level 7 Principle, carefully define the result or outcome you want from every advertising effort and track the results like a mad man (or woman). Make sure your dollars spent are paying off in either increasing your leads and building your brand in a positive and measurable way.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[JDUtah]

More about the study...

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7450921/Innovating-Through-Recession-Andrew-Razeghi-Kellogg-School-of-Management

[Az Gardener]

Outstanding :clapping::clapping::clapping: thank you for the link :waving:

[JDUtah]

yw. Thank you for this thread... very helpful. :)

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"As a manager the important thing is not what happens when you are there, but what happens when you are not there.”

Ken Blanchard



To A Great Business & Great Life,

Some days its better than others :waving:

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“Efficiency is doing better what is already being done.”

Peter F. Drucker

Now, more than ever, we must have our team members minds and activities narrowly focused on the producing the most relevant results in the business.

Sometimes that requires investigating the tasks your people do, or the systems they follow, and consider if it is the most appropriate or relevant work to lead to the optimal result.

Ex. a business might be spending a lot of time and money composing and sending out monthly or periodic newsletters. Not a bad idea, unless the result and purpose of that activity has not been clearly defined. “We do it because it’s what we have always done” no longer serves as an excuse. We must literally look at everything we do and consider if it is really producing the result we want. If not, eliminate the task or structure the task so it is more effective.

By the way, for those of you who are tracking progress on my book The Level 7 Way: A Practical Guide to Building a Business That Really Works!, have posted a new entry. Check it out. I look forward to your comments.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"

I'm the guy entrepreneurs and business leaders call when they want a practical, simple, cost effective and proven approach to building a great business that really works.

P- 623 551 5469
F- 866 483 0369

eden@equestdevelopment.com

[Az Gardener]

While this is not E myth it is a good read and gives me confidence in what I am doing. "High Commitment, High Performance CEO's, are you one and don't even know it? I am.

* How high-performance CEOs build resilience
A Harvard professor who has studied CEOs says the successful ones are focused on profits but maintain a broader perspective about their role. "The purpose was to add value to employees, customers, community, and society -- not just shareholders," said Michael Beer, author of "High Commitment, High Performance: How to Build a Resilient Organization for Sustained Advantage." Harvard Business School/HBS Working Knowledge (2/9) Here is the link to the article. http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6108.html

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

In meeting with a group of small business owners, they weren’t personally small, they were actually quite knowledgeable and motivated, we agreed that times have changed. Ok, so that doesn’t sound so intelligent and knowledgeable. You’d have to be a hermit to not be aware that there is a different climate in our economy today compared to a year ago.

Frankly, I don’t like talking about the economy. Not that I am ignoring the impact it is having on business. I just don’t want to be party to adding to the general sense of negativity and fear behind it all.

By the way, on a side note, a friend of mine who works for a local talk radio station shared with me that the station got a letter from the ‘big boss’ regarding the tone of the news being reported. Apparently the owner owns multiple stations across the country and sent the same letter to all his stations. It basically stated, we need take the lead and start reporting some good news. Listenership is down because people have gotten sick of the bad news. Good for him.

Personally, I was getting ready to call for a boycott on all media and news. That’s my inexpensive solution in place of a trillion dollar stimulus package. If we can get people to stop focusing on the negative so much I believe that in itself will help to stimulate the economy. Alright, off my soap box.

Back to the meeting with the business owners, we quickly came to a very important conclusion regarding factors that were directly effecting business revenue. Now we know that there are many systems that impact revenue. Specifically your advertising or lead generation systems, your sales or conversion systems, you fulfillment systems (delivery of your product and service, let’s face it, if we can’t deliver, we can’t get paid). We resolved however, that the most important system to focus on is the System of Evaluating Customer Perceptions and Needs.

You see they have changed over the last six months or so. People are thinking differently about making purchases, doing business, buying and transacting. Those that have jobs that are not threatened have stopped spending too. People are in a holding pattern and yet, most businesses have not changed their messages, sales approach and even their product offering, because they haven’t truly considered how the mind of their prospects have changed.

Begin today by evaluating and demonstrating, what I would call, Empathy Marketing, by putting yourself in the shoes of your prospects and ask yourself the question, “How do they feel and what would motivated me to buy today if I were them?”

See how that begins to change your lead generation, conversion and fulfillment systems.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

Took the kids sledding yesterday so I am a day behind, so we have a couple today.

GOOD MORNING!

In a conversation I had with a client the other day we discussed the importance of celebrating even minor victories as his company continues to advance, even in the midst of ‘difficult times’. When our people are getting beat down by the media and the ‘stuff’ going on around us, we must help them see that they and the company are still winning.

Begin by looking at your objectives and acknowledging and celebrating even minor achievements, regularly.

Examples:

A new system documented and the frustrations it has eliminated or results its producing.

A new account your just acquired.

A modest increase in profit margin this month.

Keeping current producing levels at peak levels.

A new system innovation.

Celebrate a victory today!

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be."
Albert Einstein

Applying The Level 7 Principle of Knowing What's True, we must be objective when it comes to evaluating the performance of our company, our people, our systems and the market and industry around us.

Often we "establish a theory" and seek to prove it. Fact is, we can almost always slant the story so it suits us.

Courage leaders don't bury their heads in the sand, they seek the REAL TRUTH, whether they like it or not.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!
"The business schools reward difficult, complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective."
Warren Buffett

There are seven simple behaviors that work and will transform the results you get in your business and your life if you apply them. click http://www.edensblog.com/ to read more.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!
"I'm freakin out!" is a sentiment I am hearing more and more from business owners, entrepreneurs and employees. Ok, that might be a little extreme. The fact is that during uncertain times, people generally feel more stress.

Without even being aware of it we tend to take our frustrations out on other. Often without even being conscious of it.

A client shared with me this morning that he is even feeling a little more impatient these days. At the same time, however, he is aware of it.

He also suggested that, “Although things are changing in his business due to economic conditions. Since he has implemented the Level 7 System in his business, he is confident he is doing the right things.”

Forgive me for my shameless plug.

As leaders and entrepreneurs, we must be aware of situations around us that lead to a recognition of potential opportunities. Leaders and entrepreneurs must be sensitive. Not cry on my shoulder sensitive, more like empathic sensitive. We must able to put ourselves in the shoes of others and UNDERSTAND what they need.

Through that understanding evolves an opportunity to provide a product or service that solves that need.

Through that understanding evolves an opportunity to step into a role where you can provide more effective leadership.

Now is a time for leaders to demonstrate that they understand how the people around them might be feeling about current economic and business conditions.

It begins by simply acknowledging people fears.

You might say, “I understand you might have some concerns or be stressed out about the uncertainly of our current economic and business climate. I am also concerned”.

The next step in this leadership conversation might be to say, “What can we do together to create an environment where we don’t have to worry about it? What can we do to create our own destiny and not be affected so much by outside circumstances?”

Now that’s leadership in action.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Truly empowering people can be very difficult for some leaders and managers. Empowering people is leading people to a place of independence and self sufficiency. Suggesting that the people you manage and lead might surpass your abilities.

Now what happens when you associate your abilities with WHO you are, your self-worth? You may not be able to give it up. Does that make sense? If your identity is based on what you know or do, giving that away means you are potentially diminishing yourself.

The most effective leaders and managers are looking for ways to make themselves dispensable. In doing so they are effectively raising others up to greater results and performance.

Can you really let go and lead people to surpass you? When you do that you create an environment of real leverage and potential growth.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"

Sorry I have been away so long didnt know it had been so long since my last post.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Just got off the phone with a client. He is in the real estate business and unless you've been living under a rock, you know that industry has been hit very hard over the last several years.

"Buyer motivation has changed dramatically", he said. "People are simply not doing anything."

"Well, yes," I added. "The question is how are you responding?"

The fact is buyer motivation has changed throughout our economy these days. And we need to change our message to respond appropriately. We can't keep telling the same story and expect people will listen.

Click here to find out what the new story needs to be that will impact buyer motivation.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[JDUtah]

post the link?

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"Enthusiasm is nothing more or less than faith in action."
Henry Chester

Faith is a hope for the future. Building faith requires intentionally fostering a positive vision for the future. So enthusiasm begins with an action that paints a picture of hope for the future that you connect with.

What is one great thing you believe or envision happening today?

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

Sorry... here is the link. You have to scroll back to the 11th to get that message. There are more now.


http://www.edensblog.com/

[Az Gardener]

Thats odd my copy cut paste didn't post ???
GOOD MORNING!

"The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor."
Vince Lombardi

I would add that the quality of your business is in direct proportion to your commitment to excellence as well.

Begin by defining what excellence means to your business - What are your uncompromisingly high standards and goals?

Determine that you will attract, hire, mentor and develop your people to be the best they can be.

Establish that your systems are the key to results and therefore will work on continually developing and improving those processes in your organization.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Successful businesses have figured out the art of replication. They replicate employee performance, attitudes and culture. The know how to duplicate what they do and how they do it in every aspect of the business.

Replication is simple. Sadly, most businesses are so focused on innovation and reinventing they never build a model that works.

If you have acquired a new client, hired a good employee and have at least one happy customer you can replicate and grow.

Having a successful business is easy when you focus first on replicating what you do well.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"I would rather have 1% of 100 people's efforts than 100% of my own effort."
J. Paul Getty


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"Perseverance is not a long race. It is many short races, one right after another."
Walter Elliot

The problem for most folks is they don't see or know what or where the finish line is. They are just "running".

Begin with a long term objective. Perhaps 3 years out. ex. Increase personal income 300%.

Break it down to annual and even monthly goals.

Determine weekly or even daily goals AND the activities that must happen in order to hit the goal.

Now apply daily or even hourly discipline to ensure that the small goals or "races" get completed everyday. Remember you only need the discipline for the hour or the day.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Just because everyone does it a specific way doesn't mean it's the best.

Going against conventional or tradtional action or approaches often produce the best results.

Consider the companies that a focusing on building their business culture versus pursuing profit first. Companies like Southwest Airlines, Nordstroms and Zappos (online shoe retailer) invest lots of resources to employee training.

Most businesses agree that building and investing in employees is benefitial to the business, but they don't do it. Many businesses agree that creating replication and systems makes sense yet they don't allocate resources and enegry towards it. Many business put all their energy in tactical work versus strategic development and implementation.

And that is why there are so few extraordinary businesses.

Lesson: Take untraditional approaches and grow your business.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

When a member of your team thoughtfully engages in the documentation of a system or procedure, it begins to change the way they think about their work and the business.

I am talking about seriously engaging in the process. Not just going through the motions.

Once that same person experiences the power and benefit of that work, they will be sold on the process. They take greater ownership and pride in their work

ex. Many of our clients employees have gone through the process of developing replication in their areas of responsibility. Once they get promoted or begin to manage others, they experience the ease in training and mentoring people to achieve maximum results in the shortest possible time.


To A Great Business & Great Life,