Are You Awake?
June 19, 2008
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“I like thinking of possibilities. At any time, an entirely new possibility is liable to come along and spin you off in an entirely new direction. The trick, I’ve learned, is to be awake to the moment.” - Doug Hall
Have a dream? Get The Mindset of a Champion
February 12, 2008
Are you or are you not, working on your dream?Why not? Could it be that you are caught in a ‘Performance Trap’?
The Performance Trap: “My self worth equals my performance plus the opinions of others.” (Dr. David Cook, The Mindset of a Champion via TSTN)
To obtain your freedom and extract yourself from ‘ Read more
Article Series - The Remote Control CEO
- What is a Remote Control CEO?
- Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
- Outsourcing: Hire Your Customers
- New Employee Indoctrination and Training for a Small Business
- CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
- Experience Flow
- IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
- How Irrepressible Entrepreneurs Transform Their Business and Life
- World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO
- What Are Your Business Goals
- Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance
- Have a dream? Get The Mindset of a Champion
- Listen To Your Heart and Soul by Eliminating Noise
- Budget for Thinking Time
How Irrepressible Entrepreneurs Transform Their Business and Life
February 12, 2008
This morning I had the pleasure of being on the Be Happy Dammit show hosted by Karen Salmansohn with my Joyful, Jubilant Learning buddies including Benjamin Bach, Phil Gerbyshak, EM Sky and Steve Sherlock. What a great way to start the day!
It could take a week or two for the show to make it online, know that I will post a link to it when it does become available.
In the last segment of the show Read more
Article Series - The Remote Control CEO
- What is a Remote Control CEO?
- Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
- Outsourcing: Hire Your Customers
- New Employee Indoctrination and Training for a Small Business
- CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
- Experience Flow
- IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
- How Irrepressible Entrepreneurs Transform Their Business and Life
- World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO
- What Are Your Business Goals
- Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance
- Have a dream? Get The Mindset of a Champion
- Listen To Your Heart and Soul by Eliminating Noise
- Budget for Thinking Time
Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
August 29, 2007
Here is a wake up call…
“The most expensive piece of real estate is the six inches between your right and left ear. It’s what you create in that area that determines your wealth. We are only really limited by our mind.” — Dr. Dolf de Roos: Authority on real estate investment Read more
Article Series - The Remote Control CEO
- What is a Remote Control CEO?
- Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
- Outsourcing: Hire Your Customers
- New Employee Indoctrination and Training for a Small Business
- CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
- Experience Flow
- IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
- How Irrepressible Entrepreneurs Transform Their Business and Life
- World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO
- What Are Your Business Goals
- Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance
- Have a dream? Get The Mindset of a Champion
- Listen To Your Heart and Soul by Eliminating Noise
- Budget for Thinking Time
CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
August 16, 2007
As I mentioned the other day, I registered CEOradar.com. Between preparing for my upcoming Mentoring Program, developing the Small Business Transitions member site I have not had much time to write much in the last week or so. The good news is I am going to give you a sneak peek at my upcoming CEO Radar 360 service.
The 360 Radar Questionnaire
It all starts with the 360 self-scoring questionnaire including work/life balance, leadership, financial management, profit margins, business system, human resources, customer service, sales, and marketing. The image on the right shows a sample of the financial management questions.
Zero In: The Radar Chart
Once the Radar Questionnaire is complete you get a number of reports including the Radar Chart, Financial Ratios, and Report Card.
The Radar Chart provides a visualization of your strengths and areas that need more attention, focus, and investment in your business and personal life.
Back to School: The Report Card
Next up is a 360 Report Card based upon your answers to the 360 Radar Questionnaire using the same methodology used when you went to school. As you can see Read more
Article Series - The Remote Control CEO
- What is a Remote Control CEO?
- Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
- Outsourcing: Hire Your Customers
- New Employee Indoctrination and Training for a Small Business
- CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
- Experience Flow
- IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
- How Irrepressible Entrepreneurs Transform Their Business and Life
- World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO
- What Are Your Business Goals
- Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance
- Have a dream? Get The Mindset of a Champion
- Listen To Your Heart and Soul by Eliminating Noise
- Budget for Thinking Time
Experience Flow
August 1, 2007
By any standards this young lady (14) is an amazing pianist. A great opportunity to observe someone in the ‘flow’.
This video from the 2004 TED Conference is extraordinary for a few reasons. First, the prepared performances by then-14-year-old composer and pianist Jennifer Lin are lovely and technically very accomplished. And — wow — the improvisation she creates on the spot (16:45) is really something.
But, I also wanted to draw your attention to her thoughts on creativity and flow — discussing how she tries to beat distraction and gain focus in both drawing and composition. Her discussion starts around 13:31, but do stick around after for her improv based upon randomly chosen notes. Via 43 Folders
Article Series - The Remote Control CEO
- What is a Remote Control CEO?
- Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
- Outsourcing: Hire Your Customers
- New Employee Indoctrination and Training for a Small Business
- CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
- Experience Flow
- IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
- How Irrepressible Entrepreneurs Transform Their Business and Life
- World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO
- What Are Your Business Goals
- Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance
- Have a dream? Get The Mindset of a Champion
- Listen To Your Heart and Soul by Eliminating Noise
- Budget for Thinking Time
IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
July 17, 2007
Nice to have IBM confirm that business model innovation is the new differentiator and can pay off.
These and other findings are in “Expanding the Innovation Horizon,” the 2006 IBM Global CEO Study reporting on the agenda of CEOs in the next few years.. with 765 chief executives from around the world… Among the 2006 study’s findings: * Business model innovation is becoming the new strategic differentiator. “The business model we choose will determine the success or failure of our strategy,” one study participant said. In contrast to the findings of the 2004 survey, innovation in the enterprise’s business model garnered nearly as much attention as innovation in a company’s core processes and functions. * Business model innovation can pay off. In the financial analysis for the study, companies that have grown their operating margins faster than their competitors were putting twice as much emphasis on business model innovation as underperformers. Via IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
Article Series - The Remote Control CEO
- What is a Remote Control CEO?
- Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
- Outsourcing: Hire Your Customers
- New Employee Indoctrination and Training for a Small Business
- CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
- Experience Flow
- IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
- How Irrepressible Entrepreneurs Transform Their Business and Life
- World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO
- What Are Your Business Goals
- Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance
- Have a dream? Get The Mindset of a Champion
- Listen To Your Heart and Soul by Eliminating Noise
- Budget for Thinking Time
World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO
July 6, 2007
Actions are the physical manifestations of our beliefs. - Steve SieboldEveryday my coaching practice reminds me that Steve’s statement is 100% true. Steve brings a distinction that I think we all know but have thought little about.
Beliefs Primer
Our internal frame of reference which is shaped by our parents, teachers, friends, and family is like lens through which we view the world and what we accept as ‘true’. Steve calls it ‘programming’.Programming shapes our thinking that forms the basis of our beliefs which guides our behavior. We base our decisions and actions upon these beliefs and as Steve says, “Actions are the physical manifestations of our beliefs.” Read more
Article Series - The Remote Control CEO
- What is a Remote Control CEO?
- Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
- Outsourcing: Hire Your Customers
- New Employee Indoctrination and Training for a Small Business
- CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
- Experience Flow
- IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
- How Irrepressible Entrepreneurs Transform Their Business and Life
- World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO
- What Are Your Business Goals
- Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance
- Have a dream? Get The Mindset of a Champion
- Listen To Your Heart and Soul by Eliminating Noise
- Budget for Thinking Time
What Are Your Business Goals
July 6, 2007
Learn to Make Your Business Work For You
Yes, absolutely it’s possible to enjoy the benefits of owning a business that is effortless to run, efficient and effective.
First, you must make the transition from being ‘Hands On’ (at the center of everything) to creating the structure so you can operate the business ‘Hands Free’ - By Remote Control.
Business Performance Coaching Helps You Develop the Strategies, Resources, People, and Systems…
So the business starts to work for you because you have replaced yourself with systems, processes, training, and leadership skills. No longer are you at the center of everything and you are able to operate your business ‘hands free’. Read more
Article Series - The Remote Control CEO
- What is a Remote Control CEO?
- Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
- Outsourcing: Hire Your Customers
- New Employee Indoctrination and Training for a Small Business
- CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
- Experience Flow
- IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
- How Irrepressible Entrepreneurs Transform Their Business and Life
- World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO
- What Are Your Business Goals
- Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance
- Have a dream? Get The Mindset of a Champion
- Listen To Your Heart and Soul by Eliminating Noise
- Budget for Thinking Time
Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance
July 5, 2007
Anita Campbell writes Small Business Trends - Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance…
…not only is there a trend toward Baby Boomers undertaking new opportunities as entrepreneurs, but that in turn is giving rise to new opportunities for enterprising entrepreneurs to serve this huge demographic.
I first began watching this trend back in late 2004 when I was writing my first book, Tips and Traps When Buying a Business and again in my latest book, Tips and Traps for Writing an Effective Business Plan.
Research shows that more individuals are choosing a post-retirement career jump, new business ventures or skipping retirement all together. More baby boomers are seeing retirement as a lifestyle change and a new opportunity rather than the conclusion of a career, and nearly 70 percent report that they expect to continue working well into their retirement years, according to AARP surveys. Anita Campbell, founder and editor of Small Business Trends, has labeled the phenomenon “un-retirement” and says boomers are the driving force toward a new balance of work and leisure. Via Courant
With 70 percent working in retirement, many seeking new business ventures, and viewing this as a “lifestyle change” spells a real challenge for employers with baby boomer employees and an opportunity for business owners that are looking for buyers for their business because they will be looking to Buy a Business, Not Start a Business.
Article Series - The Remote Control CEO
- What is a Remote Control CEO?
- Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
- Outsourcing: Hire Your Customers
- New Employee Indoctrination and Training for a Small Business
- CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
- Experience Flow
- IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
- How Irrepressible Entrepreneurs Transform Their Business and Life
- World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO
- What Are Your Business Goals
- Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance
- Have a dream? Get The Mindset of a Champion
- Listen To Your Heart and Soul by Eliminating Noise
- Budget for Thinking Time
Listen To Your Heart and Soul by Eliminating Noise
July 5, 2007
I have been so fortunate to have spent six weeks in Hawaii with my family. Today we were up at 3 AM to drive up to Haleakala crater on Maui to catch a spectacular sunrise at 10,000 ft.Now our final week is upon us and I find myself well rested and focused. This vacation has taught me that sometimes I need to “retreat before I can advance”.
Retreat to Advance
As the song goes, “Slow down you move too fast, got to make the morning last.” which is nice for a song writer and mornings in Hawaii are really special. Walking the beaches, swimming, snorkeling and taking in the never ending sunshine. I had not realized that I was living on “Someday I’ll” because the noise drowned out my own voice.
Trading Someday I’ll for Right Now
When I wrote What Does it Take to Transition from Solo Entrepreneur to Remote Control CEO? and said to “Eliminate the Noise” I never realized just how much noise I had in my life.
10 years ago I imposed a reading and seminar fast because I was so frustrated that I had not applied what I already knew. It was time for me to be a steward of my life. To replace those activities I dedicated myself to journaling and writing what I was learning coaching my clients each and everyday.
I can say that decision to fast from reading and seminars changed my life because I learned how I learned.
Since then, I have learned how to spot learning gaps in myself and others. Then I think, research, and develop solutions to help my clients. This will be the focus of my third book.
What Creates Noise In Your Life?
I first created this list and shared it in What Does it Take to Transition from Solo Entrepreneur to Remote Control CEO?, now I have edited them and created new questions to help you identify noise in your life.
- What are the activities you currently indulge in that could be eliminated without affecting your income and yet open up time on your calendar?
- Who can you talk with who will provide you with realistic feedback to help you identify time wasting activities?
- Where can you go or what can you do to retreat (i.e. vacation, rest, fast) to a place where you will experience a substantial shift in your routine, get in touch with your soul, or experience silence that will create a new perspective?
- What do find yourself doing when you feel tension? Is this activity really creating value in your life?
- Do you find yourself feeling like you are suffering from a lack of time? Could it be a lack of priorities?
- Do you wake up thinking that “I am so sick of doing this everyday.” but relent and tell yourself “have to do this”.
- Do you know what excites you?
- Do you have a “Stop doing list?”
Be patient, it takes time to turn down the volume on the noise in your life, but it is well worth the effort.
Article Series - The Remote Control CEO
- What is a Remote Control CEO?
- Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
- Outsourcing: Hire Your Customers
- New Employee Indoctrination and Training for a Small Business
- CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
- Experience Flow
- IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
- How Irrepressible Entrepreneurs Transform Their Business and Life
- World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO
- What Are Your Business Goals
- Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance
- Have a dream? Get The Mindset of a Champion
- Listen To Your Heart and Soul by Eliminating Noise
- Budget for Thinking Time
Budget for Thinking Time
July 5, 2007
Dave Pollard makes some great observations about the skill of thinking. Dave asserts that thinking takes time and…
Thinking is a skill, and like any skill it takes considerable and continuous practice. My sense is that those of us who are paid to think are mostly pretty rusty at doing it. Via How to Save the World
For those service based businesses trying to figure out how much to charge for their services, make sure to include the time you will spend thinking.
I included thinking time (aka downtime) into the prices I charge, otherwise I would not be an effective coach for long - I would burn out.
You Cannot Do It Alone
Dave also states that if you want to have time to think you will need the cooperation of the people you work with.
By listening to and observing staff instead of telling them, we empower them to learn more about what works and how it fits with what others do and need. And it frees up management time for thinking. One person can’t do this alone — it requires an entire workforce that can self-manage and function in a flat and largely unsupervised environment. Do this with the wrong staff and you’re a goner — the power vacuum will be filled by the (probably unqualified) person with the biggest ego, as others willingly allow him/her to take the fall for all the incompetent decisions that ensue.
But in the right organization, self-management can produce amazing results. An organization whose people all have the time and capacity to think effectively, and the authority to act on that thought, will trounce their competitors. Who knows, they might even create a model for a better workplace, and go on to change the world. Aha! Via How to Save the World
Self-directed, self-motivated, and caring people can revolutionize your business and the world. Keep up the great work Dave.
Recommended Book
Article Series - The Remote Control CEO
- What is a Remote Control CEO?
- Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
- Outsourcing: Hire Your Customers
- New Employee Indoctrination and Training for a Small Business
- CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
- Experience Flow
- IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
- How Irrepressible Entrepreneurs Transform Their Business and Life
- World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO
- What Are Your Business Goals
- Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance
- Have a dream? Get The Mindset of a Champion
- Listen To Your Heart and Soul by Eliminating Noise
- Budget for Thinking Time
What is a Remote Control CEO?
July 5, 2007
A Remote Control CEO is a business owner who has made or wants to make the transition from hands on to hands free, lives a flexible lifestyle, and has structured their business so it works for them rather than them working for the business.
Greg Balanko-Dickson is a licensed professional business coach that can help you start a second act business, sell your business, buy a business, groom a successor, and help you structure your life and business on your own terms.
Does your business run under it’s own steam?
If not, then your business is dependent on your energy, drive and enthusiasm to make things happen. For your business to run without being dependent on you, then you, your staff and the business must become more effective.
To become more effective you have to make a transition from being ‘Hands On’ (at the center of everything) to creating the structure so you can operate the business ‘Hands Free’ - By Remote Control.
Wait, before you leave because this sounds a little too trite and simplistic let me tell you why you should continue reading. It was a strategic mistake that lead me to stumble upon a distinction - that by increasing the ‘effectiveness’ of myself, staff and the business - any business owner could make huge gains!
Except I did not know I had become complacent…
Complacency can kill your business. It kills your drive, decreases your energy, and makes your mind numb to the obvious. If you have been in business for any reasonable length of time you know the feeling, an overall sense of anxiety and concern about the business.
I often hear business owners state that they feel burnt out, tired, fed up, and frustrated. It can include concerns about profitability, making the next payroll, staff performance, or customer satisfaction. You are not a quitter, so you suck it up and tell yourself that if you work a little harder things will improve - this is a trap.
Working ‘harder’ traps you on a treadmill…
Profitability, human resources, and lack of free time. These are issues that I hear business owners scream HELP ME! on a regular basis. The reason their business does not operate without them being there is because they did not take the right actions - they are stuck in the center of the business.
Every business book, seminar, and consultant will tell you that you have to make a transition from working ‘IN’ the business and start spending more time working ‘ON’ the business - except they do not tell you how to do it!!
Until Now.
To enjoy the benefits of operating your business by remote control, you need to make the transition from being ‘hands on’ to ‘hands free’. Perhaps your goals are to:
- raise the bar on overall company performance.
- make more money.
- pursue a new business opportunity.
- concentrate on the systematization of your business.
- prepare your business for sale.
- buy a business.
- improve some aspect of the business.
- transition your business for future generations.
To achieve your goals it’s all about…
Taking the right action, at the right time for the right reasons i.e. replacing yourself with systems, processes, staff training, and leadership (to name a few). That way you will no longer at the center of everything and are able to operate your business ‘hands free’.
What you can expect working with Greg Balanko-Dickson
I am not one of those fancy consultants who do a report that ends up on your shelf, or make a speech to get you excited for a couple of days and subsequently leave you stranded.
In fact, I become a part of your team and your success becomes a part of my life and my passion.
If you choose my most popular program (the coaching program), I will meet with you on a regular basis (either weekly or semi-monthly) for a minimum of 12-18 months to teach you some great business strategies, brainstorm with you, prepare specific strategies to move you forward, hold you accountable, and move you to where you want and need to be.
We will take the right action, at the right time for the right reasons!
Visit this link to a few read case studies of how coaching has helped past clients.
You will be exposed to over 450 business development strategies
Questions, inquiries, and suggestions are always welcomed, please call me at 1-866-281-8281 or email me.
Sincerely,
Greg Balanko-Dickson, LPBCP.S. More about Greg Greg Balanko-Dickson is a third generation entrepreneur, author, podcaster, and a Licensed Professional Business Coach (LPBC). Greg has programs to help you start a business, buy a business, operate your business by remote control. He has worked with 100’s of business owners in more than 30 different industries including pharmaceutical, biotechnology, oil field, manufacturing, retail and wholesale to name just a few. [Click here to view Case Studies]
Article Series - The Remote Control CEO
- What is a Remote Control CEO?
- Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
- Outsourcing: Hire Your Customers
- New Employee Indoctrination and Training for a Small Business
- CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
- Experience Flow
- IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
- How Irrepressible Entrepreneurs Transform Their Business and Life
- World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO
- What Are Your Business Goals
- Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance
- Have a dream? Get The Mindset of a Champion
- Listen To Your Heart and Soul by Eliminating Noise
- Budget for Thinking Time
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Getting the Price Right
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My Books on Amazon
