Most coaches and “success” experts counsel you to create a vision, and goals and focus on what you want to achieve in order to create the success you want in your life.

It’s not that that’s bad or wrong, but I’d like to suggest you should also look a little closer to home and focus on all the great things that have happened in your life … all the successes you’ve had in your business and in your life.

Even if you haven’t yet achieved all your goals and your business is not exactly where you want it to be, I guarantee there are a multitude of little successes along the way you could be celebrating right now.

And what better way to set a great vibe and send a message to the Universe that you are embracing your success and you’re ready for more?

Here are 10 questions to help you get started on your Gratitude Journey:

(1) Is your business still afloat?

Over 80% of all new businesses fail within the first few years. If yours is still alive and kicking (even if it feels like your business is on life support!) you have reason to celebrate.

(2) Did you learn something this past year?

Remember, life is about the journey, not the destination. If you had the opportunity to learn and grow this past year, you enriched your life and probably your business, too.

(3) Do you have a least one client or customer?

Congratulations! You’ve enriched someone else’s life or business. And you’ve proven there IS a market for your product or service.

(4) Do you have friends or family who support you?

Succeeding in life and in business is a team sport. Be grateful for those around you who believe in you and support what you do. They can help make the difference between success and failure for you; you’re lucky to have them.

(5) Did you make at least one mistake this past year?

I hope so, because out of our mistakes come our biggest growth opportunities. If you failed at something I guarantee you learned more this year than you would have had everything gone right.

(6) Did you take a chance?

If you’ve started your own business, you definitely took a chance. You risked safety and security for the dream of something bigger, better and more fulfilling. Congratulations! Do you know how many people wish they had the guts to do what you’ve done?

(7) Did you read at least one book?

Reading opens your heart and mind to new possibilities. It expands you and enables you to grow and learn. Be grateful if you read last year, your world of opportunity grew as a result.

(8) Did you give of yourself?

Did you share some advice, teach a class, write an article, give someone a gift, make a donation, tell someone you love them or offer something with no expectation in return? Givers get. Not that they give TO get … it’s just the way the Universe works. You are blessed if you gave this past year.

(9) Do you have a place to live?

Many people lost their homes in an overabundance of disasters in 2005. If you’ve still got a home, even if it’s smaller or not as nice as you wish, consider yourself lucky. And take a few moments to think about those who have lost everything.

(10) Are you alive?

I know it sounds corny and cliche, but if you’re alive, be truly thankful. My daughter lost a 16-year-old girlfriend this past year, and a very good friend of mine nearly died. Life is precious. Be thankful for yours every single day.

Take some time every day to reflect on all you have to be grateful and thankful for and I think you may just be surprised to see more success and great things flowing into your life.

Because remember, what you focus on expands!

(C) Copyright 2006 Debbie LaChusa

Debbie LaChusa created The 10stepmarketing System to make marketing your own business as simple as answering 10 questions. Learn more about this unique, step-by-step system and get a free 10-week Marketing E-Course when you subscribe to the free, weekly 10stepmarketing Ezine at http://www.10stepmarketing.com

Let’s look at your time management skills. Most of us have to work, and the more you can do in the least amount of time, the better. Working smarter frees you up so that not only do you have a job, but you have a life too!

Getting Back To Basics

The most useful “little helper” for business people must surely be the daily To Do list.

You have a couple of choices:

Write your list in the morning, as the first task at the commencement of your working day.

Step back a bit and take the time to do it before you finish up the night before - as your final flourish for the day. This helps to free your mind so that you don’t take your work home with you. Instead, you just leave it there to stew, all by itself, until you arrive next morning to take up the reins.

Write It Down

Effective time management means writing things down so you don’t waste your time worrying about what you’ve forgotten.

Avoid trying to create a To Do list in your head. It must, must, must be written down. And then left somewhere highly visible, such as your desk top. That’s why I suggest writing it in your diary, so you can juggle it with your other commitments.

An effective To Do list will almost always be updated during the day. It is not a static document. As your priorities alter with each crisis, your list will be a work in progress.

First of all, don’t be unrealistic. Steel yourself to list only the achievable projects and activities. If you are unable to complete a task on the designated day, simply transfer it to the next day or another suitable time in your diary. Look at the daily To Do list as the map that keeps you on track.

When you have written your list in the diary, go back and number each item in order of importance. Then, you can simply start with No. One and work your way through.

Your Work Book

In our busy working lives today, we are bombarded with so many different distractions that it is sometimes difficult to keep track of everything that’s going on, particularly if you work in an open-plan office.

Instead of recording on scraps of paper or sticky notes all the zillion thoughts that pass through your mind during these stressful periods, use an inexpensive spiral note book. Anything of importance that you write down can then be found again at a later date. Use it as an adjunct, or a companion, to your diary and as a great memory jogger.

You’ll find using a Work Book will help you focus your thoughts, remind yourself of past conversations and save time as you’ll no longer have to search for all those “back of envelope” notations.

Taming the Telephone

Murphy’s Law of Telephones and Deadlines means that when you are really pressed trying to complete a project on time, the telephone will take off, with a mind of its own.

The pro-active person will rejig their answering message to say something like this: “Hi, it’s Joe Bloggs. I’m unavailable right now however if you leave a message stating what your call is about, and the best time to phone you back, I’ll get in touch later in the day.”

On the other hand, if you have someone working with you who can screen your calls (lucky you) word them up to give a similar message. Asking what the call is about will help you assemble any relevant information before you call back. This will enable you to better plan your day, to return all calls sooner and more effectively.

The Final Word

Keep your time management systems simple because the simpler they are the more likely you will use them. Doing the basics will help you work smarter, not harder.

Have a great week!

Lorraine Pirihi

About The Author

Lorraine Pirihi is Australia’s Personal Productivity Specialist and Leading Life Coach. Her business The Office Organiser specialises in showing small business owners and managers, how to get organised at work so they can have a life! Lorraine is also a dynamic speaker and has produced many products including “How to Survive and Thrive at Work!”

To subscribe to her free ezine visit http://www.office-organiser.com.au

This article may be reproduced providing it is published in it’s entirety, including the author’s bio and all links. For further information please contact Lorraine Pirihi; lorraine@office-organiser.com.au

Doctors in the UK are reporting a dramatic rise in stress and depression, resulting in a record number of people being signed off work, some for up to weeks on end. And the UK is just an example of a trend that is repeated across the developed world. Victoria Fletcher, Health Editor of the Daily Mirror revealed that a survey of over 250 doctors found that stress is the most likely cause of ill health.

Whilst 76% of companies agree, doctors are blaming the increase on employers for not taking the well-being of their employees seriously. That’s because employee health and well being is only fourth on the list of priorities of most companies. It’s behind attracting staff, keeping them motivated and complying with legislation. There seems to be a fine line between keeping an employee motivated and applying just too much pressure. This delicate balance was acknowledged by Bill Callaghan, Chair of the Health and Safety Commission, when he said, “Pressure is part and parcel of all work and helps to keep us motivated. But excessive pressure can lead to stress which undermines performance, is costly to employers and can make people ill.”

When this ‘motivation/pressure’ threshold has been reached the employee shows symptoms of stress. This causes performance levels to decrease and as a result more pressure is applied. It can then become a vicious circle, spiralling down until something gives. And give it does. One in three doctors has noticed a rise in people asking to be signed off for more than seven days because of stress related problems. The CBI revealed that the average public sector worker takes 8.5 days off sick every year ay a cost of £13 billion a year. That’s a staggering £531 per employee and it’s the employer that’s picking up the tab. The problem is that the survey revealed that 85% of employers believe that “busy GP’s are too ready to sign off patients as sick” and that “doctors sign off people far too quickly”.

At a cost of £531 per employee year it’s not surprising the many companies are investing in their own solutions. Although expensive, some now have therapists on their payroll, whose purpose is to reduce stress and lower absenteeism. Many have opted to provide employees with stress reduction CD’s. Just Google stress, reduction, online, therapy, self-help and your find sites like virtual-therapist.com offering stress reducing mp3 downloads that employees can listen whenever they feel the need. There is also a new approach to help employers work with their employees to manage the risks from work-related stress, available from the Health and Safety Executive. This self-help approach to improve employee’s health has approval from the highest level of government, Jane Kennedy, Minister for Work, said, “This is a very practical example of what can be done to demonstrate how easy it can be to reduce the causes of work related stress.”

Getting the motivation/pressure balance right has a profound effect on the profitability of the business. Apart from promoting staff health and well-being, as an employer it makes sound financial sense to provide your employees some form of help to redress the balance. And as an employee isn’t it time to regain control of your working environment and reduce stress levels so that you can be motivated and enjoy work again?

Jim Brackin contributes tips, help and advice on popular psychology to variety of magazines like Cosmopolitan, Real, Spirit and Destiny and Women’s Own. He is the body language expert for Sky News (UK) and developed Personaliteye a visually based personality profile tests that provides free personality based reports on relationships, work, friends and lifestyle.

In 2003, like many Chicagoans, I was nearly glued to the television in
September and October watching the Cubs baseball team during
the play-offs. As a die-hard Cubs fan and suburban north-sider,
I would naturally cheer for my team, no matter how far they
went in the series.

The team had been transformed over the previous few years due to a
combination of things, great leadership being one of them.

During a game in early October, the Cub’s pitching coach went
out to the mound to talk with pitcher Mark Prior. One of the
commentators said, “He is one of the best pitching coaches,
if not the best.” Another commentator asked why he thought that.
He responded, “Because he not only knows about the technical
aspects of pitching. He also gets to know you as a person:
what makes you tick, what makes you work well or not work well.
He gets to know your family.”

This commentator acknowledged good coaching in baseball as
coaching from someone who coaches a player in more than just the
technical areas of pro baseball. Life affects the whole person.
This great pitching coach is acknowledged as great by current
and former players because he knows how to turn average pitchers
into great pitchers, and he utilizes more than just technical
drills. He moves and motivates players to excellence by getting
into their mind, their emotions, and what is important to them,
without being intrusive.

It’s the same way in business. If I, as a coach, only stick to
subjects with clients that involve their business, I could be
missing something. Not that I delve into peoples’ non-business-
private-lives. No, those of you who’ve known me for a while are
aware that I don’t tend to delve there. Understanding what makes
people tick (and how they work well vs. how they don’t work well),
however, can lead to “people data” that affects business and work.
If, like that pitching coach, I can get to know a client beyond
“technical pitching”, I can really help him or her achieve greater
goals (like Cubs pitchers who usher their team to a greater
place than I’ve ever seen them go in my lifetime).

If we translate the pitching coach/pitcher relationship to that of boss/employee, a lot of the same principles apply as well.
Getting to know your employees: what makes them tick, what makes
them work well or not work well, and, if appropriate, getting to
know their family (or, know about their family) goes a long way
toward motivation-to-excellence, in addition to coaching and
leading in technical skills. This type of leadership can turn
average workers into great workers.

© 2005 Borgeson Consulting, Inc.

Glory Borgeson is a business coach and consultant, and the president of
Borgeson Consulting, Inc. She works with two groups of people:
small business owners (with 500 employees or less) to help them increase
their Entrepreneurial IQ, which leads to increased profit and
decreased stress; and with executives in the
“honeymoon phase” of a new position (typically the first two years)
to coach them to success. Top athletes have a coach; why not you?

Click here for Borgeson Consulting, Inc.

This article was originally published in The Business Express, Borgeson’s
free monthly ezine. You may subscribe by clicking here:
Ezine

Introduction

If you were to ask an expert to list the elements that are crucial for the provision of successful programs and services, effective leadership would typically rank very highly. For providers of leisure, a predominantly service-orientated field typically delivered through program structures, the contribution leadership makes is crucial. This is especially pertinent for those involved in the commercial provision of leisure - many of whom are operating in a dynamic and inherently unstable sector that presents not only considerable opportunities, but also, tremendous risks. In light of this, it is worthwhile to explore the specific contributions leadership makes to the provision of leisure programs and services.

A Closer Look at Leadership in Leisure Provision

The value of leadership is often acknowledged or alluded to. It remains however, an often observed but seldom understood phenomenon. In the leisure sector, the value of sound leadership is often remarked upon, but seldom analyzed in any real depth. This typical lack of understanding and insight can be directly related to the fact that there are as many theories on leadership as there are leaders. There are literally hundreds of books on the subject, thousands of articles, and an endless tide of opinion which suggests that understanding the concept of leadership is no easy task.

To begin with a broad definition, leadership can be conceptualized as an influence-based relationship wherein a leader attempts to influence, motivate and direct followers toward the achievement of objectives and goals. Sometimes these aims are mutually beneficial, sometimes they are not. Some followers willingly submit to being led, some followers are in a constant state of negotiation regarding their role, and still others resist being led, but comply due to coercion.

In the past, leadership in leisure provision had largely been the domain of amateur volunteers, with the small number of professional practitioners holding little in the way of formal training or qualifications. In recent decades, with the ever-increasing regulation of the leisure industry and the skyrocketing market value of the sector, commercial leisure providers are typically bound by complex regulations and required to be registered professionals with appropriate qualifications, permits, licenses and the like. Volunteers still hold many leadership roles in leisure provision, but tend to either have some form of training, or at the very least, enjoy a greater level of access to training and support facilitated through governmental and community agencies.

Leadership in leisure provision has now become so specialized it has spawned its own industry. Specific courses, qualifications and resources for leadership training in leisure are now offered by a plethora of educational institutes. This fact certainly acknowledges the perceived importance of leadership in the modern context, not to mention a clear desire to improve and enhance the leadership capabilities of leisure providers, and of course, capitalize in doing so.

The implication is that effective leadership, the exact nature of which is open to debate, has the potential to yield superior outcomes for those involved in the provision of leisure programs and services. It is not enough however, to simply rest the case upon this very general assertion. Let us now examine some specifics.

Effective Leadership Provides Direction

One of the major contributions of effective leadership is a sense of direction and, by proxy of this direction, a focus for action. While this sense of direction generally serves the best interests of the leader’s organization, their followers and their goals, this is not always the case. It must be noted that leaders tend to bring with them an agenda, one that may potentially contravene the interests of their followers and/or the organization and/or the public at large. This concern aside, two factors play into the establishment of direction.

Establishing direction requires a clear vision for the future and the development of strategies to achieve it. This vision should be both focused and feasible, with environmental awareness, or being ‘tuned-in’ to what is going on around you, crucial in finding an appropriate balance between idealism and the constraints of the ‘real world’. A sense of direction is important because it serves to define and maintain the focus for follower’s efforts. Furthermore, when times get tough, the direction provided by a leader can lend stability to matters, aiding dispirited followers in regrouping and renewing their efforts.

Effective Leadership Inspires

A further contribution of effective leadership is that it motivates and inspires followers to negotiate constraints and overcome barriers. Because of this potential, many theories of leadership (charismatic and transformational for example) revolve around the notion that leaders can move mountains by jump-starting their followers and encouraging them to transcend their own self-interests and limitations. The general consensus is that inspirational leaders possess quality communication skills, consistently high levels of energy/enthusiasm and a problem-solving orientation.

Communication skills are vital to anyone in a position of leadership, the outcomes of which are heavily dependant upon an individual’s ability to be an active listener, and consistently clear, concise and considered in both speaking and writing. Also, if a leader lacks enthusiasm and energy, this condition will eventually transmit to his/her followers, making it especially difficult to motivate them. Finally, operating from a problem-solving orientation is crucial because it means that one is naturally inclined towards, and more likely to be skilled and/or experienced in, negotiating or overcoming complications.

Effective Leadership Sets an Example

Finally, effective leaders are good role models. They contribute towards quality outcomes by setting the bar for everyone. As the living embodiment of competent and caring professionalism, the leader who practices what they preach is demonstrating exactly what they expect from their followers. Furthermore, since leaders are also figureheads, they are typically evaluated or judged more often than anyone else. It is crucial therefore, that a leader always strives to set a good example and project a positive image, not just to their followers but also the public at large.

The effective leader also sets an example by blazing the trail. Indeed, just as leaders often receive enormous praise in victory, they typically receive the greatest proportion of the blame in defeat. If we wish to be successful then, we must actively pursue success, and this can be easier said than done. Leadership carries with it not only great prestige and reward, but the very real potential of failure, embarrassment, criticism and conflict. If a leader is not willing to actually lead, and stand tall in the face of such dangers, followers are unlikely to leave the starting blocks either.

Conclusion

Sport and leisure providers operate in a dynamic and highly competitive domain that carries significant elements of risk. While leadership is a concept which is often witnessed and discussed, the specific contributions it makes seldom come into focus. This essay has discussed leadership in the sport and leisure context, with a particular focus on what it contributes to the provision of successful, quality leisure services and programs. In summary, effective leadership aids in enhancing provision outcomes by: setting direction, which is crucial for defining a focus for action; inspiring followers to transcend their self-interest and overcome barriers; and setting an example, through embodying all the qualities a leader expects from followers and championing the cause.

Arron Stewart Is 26 years old, lives in Hamilton, New Zealand, and attends the University of Waikato as a graduate student in Sport & Leisure with an additional focus on Sociology and Human Resource Management. A website has been established featuring more information and selected articles of his work: http://www.geocities.com/arron_stew_79