Breakthrough Results are often like overnight sensations.

We all know or heard of people who have come “out of nowhere” and were the next big thing.

In figure skating, things aren't always as they appear

Stop there—Not true.

It’s like figure skating; we don’t see the spills and bruises, just the end result of the training and preparation. Truth is, they’ve been at whatever talent they possess or developing a product over time that bursts onto the stage or into a market.

Think when Steve Jobs was on hiatus (fired from Apple)—John Sculley headed Apple at the time. In particular, for you “youngin’s” out there, he introduced the Newton PDA. Huh? Yes, the term Personal Digital Assistant was coined by Sculley.

(Apple image)

Newton was a window on the future although a dismal failure at the time of release in 1993.—It was the precursor to the smartphone. Conditions contributing to the failure: The market didn’t rely on computers then, like today, so it was not ready to receive Newton. There wasn’t enough installed computer base for the everyday user to create a tipping point.

So, breakthroughs depend on timing. My experience teaches me that Preparation + Openness + Willingness to learn and adapt = Opportunities; which give you the power (POWA) to achieve your goals. We must be prepared to meet our greatness™. Yet, there must be capacity and openness to receive what may fly in that isn’t planned—serendipity some call it. Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine was such a breakthrough after years of chasing a cure.

Passionate people drive innovation; innovation creates breakthroughs. These types of people ignore time, food, hygiene sometimes, to stay in flow, what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi documented with athletes and his study of happiness. Csíkszentmihályi described flow as “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.” The reference is from Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi).

More recently, Csíkszentmihályi’s work centers on motivation and the success factors contributing to challenging experiences. In fact, he created a new personality “construct” called work orientation, characterized by “achievement, endurance, cognitive structure, order, play, and low impulsivity.” —All these factors contribute to breakthrough results.

What is important to note is the role preparation plays in a breakthrough. Finding all the ways that don’t work are the blueprint building blocks to get to what will. It’s the “keeping at it” that leads to the breakthrough. We can take a lesson from stalwart entrepreneurs who have a vision and won’t stop until it manifests.

Performance matters, but it is the lead up TO the performance that determines the breakthrough outcome. MC

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/blogspot/qDYb
c7e4232e6ad5e385652b43c83aeae033-1331863127

by Coachcubas

Action plan, career, coaching, Creative, entrepreneurs, Marketing, Strategic Planning, Visionary, Wisdom

Is entrepreneurism a gene or skill?

January 29, 2015

So, what if you aren’t born with the entrepreneurial qualities?

Recent findings and emphasis on personal development show that people can learn an entrepreneur’s (E’s) progressive traits and can borrow on E’s native talents.

There are several entrepreneur types that bring different strengths and experience while they learn new skills. This is a list of Positive Potentials LLC’s² observations from serving E’s across two decades of business coaching:

1. The Widget Maker—This type is often mistaken as a classic entrepreneur. These proud, diligent people are adept at doing one thing well—making widgets—Widgets are products and methods that can range from baking cookies to custom car production. The outcome is something they have perfected and want to take to market—They want to reproduce it and sell it. Although they may have no real business sense or experience, they forge ahead, often without a business plan, and launch their idea until they run out of money or personal energy.

Another E in this category is the Episodic E, who may be, for example, a car mechanic. S/He sees an opportunity to work on windmill turbines and opens a “green” shop or a former shoe sales person starts a boutique. They work on what they know within a comfort zone. Sometimes, they have little awareness of the moving parts of a business because they only focused on their part in it. These E’s must add business skills and hire talent especially if migrating from a non-business field like a mechanical environment.

They are comfortable and adept with their skills, limited by what they know, but may not take time or fear advanced training so they move from one episode to another as part of a long learning curve. Their shops can be chaotic and may waste resources, because they do not have a plan or marketing skills. For example, lawyers and doctors are historically inexperienced business people.

2. The Innovator—This E likes to tinker. These are not people who want to open a storefront; they want to “build a better mousetrap.” Often, they will consider selling their idea to Wal-Mart, but do not know how to protect and secure their idea with registered patents or how to attract investors.

They are focused on continuous improvement often coming from a manufacturing or systems background. They believe “necessity-is-the-mother-of-invention,” and use their creativity to solve problems. They are creative people because they see and love how things work.

3. You’re Fired —This is the reluctant E. Today’s uncertain economic and job climate can create this type of entrepreneur, because they may not have chosen to leave but they were downsized. They gather severance, savings and gumption in an attempt to duplicate the job they just lost.

Their perspective is limited because they only see a tiny part of the working business. This E requires support people to draft a written business map to keep the E on course and add talent to fill in the gaps.

4. The Last Hurrah—”If not now, then when” logic? Often a mid-life crisis triggers this E, who is restless and sees a last shot at a long-held dream. For example, in the 1990’s, while the economy was stable, “40-Somethings” saw an opportunity to use their 401k’s to start a business if they resigned. For example, independent coffee houses and bookstores popped up nationwide from these E’s efforts. They may have had access to other resources through their professional networks, too. The Boomers are classical examples of this type. After the economic downturn, many Boomers found themselves unable to retire, so they are back in the job market and ready to pour their energy into a new enterprise.

5. Buy A Job/Be Your Own boss—This E is slow to action and can be motivated by fear or external pressure, and a “I’d-better-do-something” attitude. These are ideal franchise prospects or owners. They like a template business model. It appeals to those who want order for security, not creativity. They want the illusion of being their own boss, but, in reality, they are bound by the franchisers rules with little flexibility to improvise.

They may hire people to organize offices and billing issues so they do not get bogged down with the details. The good news for them is they can better manage their process adopting E traits. Learning offers them a better degree of competence to check the work of others they hired without being an entrepreneur.

These visionary E’s hold and share a strong mental picture that s/he translates into the support of followers. Their persuasive communication style serves them to sell the dream born out of their passion. An example of this “charismatic selling” is the rise of multi-level marketing companies since 1990 that hype success with images of wealth, fancy cars and exotic travel as payoffs. One must ask what they are really selling.

Importantly, people serving entrepreneurs are wise to understand them and can benefit by teaching them how to marketing, deliver services and hire a lawyer. Service providers who help their E’s achieve their visions, have no loyalty issues, especially when times are tough.

Tip—Identify where the gaps are in your process to start a business. Find support to complete the gaps and write out your plan. The magic begins when you can visualize the outcome and know what resources you need to get started.

A positive first step is to seek out the free programs like at Glendale Public Library for more information www.GlendaleAZ.com/library. Good luck. -MC

Resources

http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2695/Business-Literacy-Stimulates-Entrepreneurial-and-Personal-Mastery-Part-1.html

www.ResourcesForAmericans.Com

· Kauffman Foundation www. KauffmanFoundation.com

· Malcolm Baldrige Quality Principles— http://www.nist.gov/index.html

· Entrepreneurship.org, The Policy Dialogue on Entrepreneurship (PDE)

· The Phoenix Business Journal, www.bizjournals.com

· Coaching Programs EMBA (Entrepreneurial Mastery of Business Assets)

· ASU Technopolis

· Positive Potentials’ EMBA Certification Program™

· Fast Track Stealthmode Partners

¹ Michael Gerber, The E Myth Revisited, (New York, 1995), pp.19-33.

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/blogspot/qDYb
c7e4232e6ad5e385652b43c83aeae033-1331863127

by Coachcubas

Action plan, Behavior, coaching, community, fulfillment, Visionary

New Perspectives on How to Best Serve

April 18, 2012

A dear friend forwarded an inspirational article I’ve included in this entry. The theme enlivens and emphasizes how words matter and have different energies. Often, without being aware we diminish others with our good intentions. We may take power from them by implying they are weak and need help, or we may satisfy ourselves while we were intending to fix something for someone else. These outcomes can be reviewed in esoteric writings like the Kabbalah. Accordingly, the Universe is cause and effect, so when something creates imbalance, like the article reference, the entire system is thrown off balance. One such reference is called the Bread of Shame.

The Bread of Shame in essence is when one person always gives to someone and the someone perceives no way of repayment. Consider children who want to make a parent a card. That is their way to “pay it forward” on the care and attention they receive. They want to be part of the family unit and do what they see others doing. Another thought is a homeless person who turns around and offers selflessly to help others. The CNN Heroes Program has many examples of people who were in need then turned around to help others.

Along this line of thinking, at a seminar, I brought up a question as to the meaning of compromise. I drew a formula of: 1 + 1 = 1/2. With compromise, both sides left “hungry,” unsatisfied they had wholeness.
The flip side was agreement based on the cliché “Win-Win” that looked like 1 + 1 = 3.
Everyone left with more than they came in.
Which way do you prefer?

What are ways to serve?

Make your contribution anonymous so no ego energy becomes involved with the act.
As the author suggests, the service is feels like it is generated from outside oneself, while the fixer feels they are generating the energy. Join a community of like-minded people.
Offer what you can with no idea of receiving anything in return.
When you manage an employee, allow them to rise to their talents. Serve them with encouragement.
Parents can serve their children with creative space and stop hovering over them. The children’s beauty will emerge with enough comfort and safety like tending a plant.

Whatever your beliefs, we can all be more accurate in saying what we want to convey.

Todays’ Challenge: Where might we change meanings of help, fix & serve in our lives?
Please leave your comments.

PS—Too bad the presidential race doesn’t understand this type of thinking. From an esoteric perspective, they do not realize the giant circuit they create with negativity—it will only come back to short-circuit what they are doing. mc
DailyGood: Helping, Fixing or Serving?, by Rachel Naomi Remen, MD

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/blogspot/qDYb
c7e4232e6ad5e385652b43c83aeae033-1331863127

by Coachcubas

Breakthrough Results are like overnight sensations

Is entrepreneurism a gene or skill?

Recent findings and emphasis on personal development show that people can learn an entrepreneur’s (E’s) progressive traits and can borrow on E’s native talents.

There are several entrepreneur types that bring different strengths and experience while they learn new skills. This is a list of Positive Potentials LLC’s² observations from serving E’s across two decades of business coaching:

Resources

New Perspectives on How to Best Serve

Enjoy our past posts!

Contact me -

About -

Menu

Action plan

Breakthrough Results are like overnight sensations

Is entrepreneurism a gene or skill?

Recent findings and emphasis on personal development show that people can learn an entrepreneur’s (E’s) progressive traits and can borrow on E’s native talents.

There are several entrepreneur types that bring different strengths and experience while they learn new skills. This is a list of Positive Potentials LLC’s2 observations from serving E’s across two decades of business coaching:

Resources

New Perspectives on How to Best Serve

Enjoy our past posts!

Contact me -

About -

Menu

There are several entrepreneur types that bring different strengths and experience while they learn new skills. This is a list of Positive Potentials LLC’s² observations from serving E’s across two decades of business coaching: