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If You Want To Start A Business, First Test Your Product Ideas, Markets and Price. by @XLConsultingGro

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Test Your Product Ideas

by Elaine Slatter | Featured Contributor

You have great product ideas for starting a business, but how do you know if your target customers want what you are selling?  If you want to seriously start a business, then the first step is to identify your target market and test your product ideas and pricing.

Identifying Your Target Market

Your target market isn’t everyone in the world, even if you have a general everyday product idea such as natural deodorant and organic skin care items.  Yes, men and women might both be able to use this product, but realistically narrow down your market to include the most likely buyers and the best age group for buying your product.  In this particular case, your target market might make up the age group of 25-55 and mostly women.

What is your channel of distribution?

You can choose multiple channels of distribution or just one type of channel.  In the case of organic skincare items, there are a variety of channels that can be chosen.

  1. Direct to consumer (via own online shopping website or via Amazon and Etsy)
  2. Wholesale (to shops, distributors, and wholesalers)

If you are choosing both direct and wholesale channels, your retail pricing must include the wholesale markup as the retail price is the end user pricing that both you and the wholesaler will use.  You obviously make more profit when you sell direct to consumer, but the wholesale channel often has the traffic that will afford you quantity sales but at a lower profit.

Test Your Product Ideas

Before you spend a lot of money on product development, take a small sample of products and test them in your market channels.

What kind of questions should you ask?  Don’t forget you are asking questions to get feedback only.  So it’s just as important to listen to the negative feedback as the positive feedback.  Here are nine suggested questions.

  1. What do you like about this product and why?
  2. What don’t you like about this product and why?
  3. Would the benefits of this products be of interest to you or your customers?
  4. What do you think of the price of this product?
  5. Do you purchase/sell products like this on a regular basis?
  6. What time of year to your stock/buy this kind of product?
  7. Is the packaging and branding appealing?
  8. Is the pricing right?
  9. On a score of 1 to 10 (1= low, 10=high), how likely are you to purchase this type of product?

Once you have tabulated the results of your product testing you will know what areas you need to adjust BEFORE you go to market.  Plus, you will know from the feedback you receive what benefits to amplify when you are marketing your products.

Tricks For Testing Product Ideas

Amazon is a great marketplace to find similar products and check out the popularity of items.  Pinterest boards are another great way to test products.  The number of pins is an indication of how many people are interested.  Sometimes you can get ideas from watching the pitches on TV shows such as Dragons Den or Shark Tank.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Whatever product you are thinking of taking to market, your version must have a unique selling proposition. All that means is a different twist on your products that will appeal to your target buyers, some unique feature that makes them stand out from the competitive product.  This can be something as simple as the color array, multi-use, lightweight, or convenient for solving a nagging problem.

Keep your eyes open, something will pop into your head to start a business.  But be prepared to test your product ideas before you spend tons of money on product development, only to find out your target market doesn’t want your products!

What kind of product testing have you done before you launched your business?

3 Reasons Your Confidence Fuels Your Entrepreneurial Spirit

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Building a new business is exciting! Your vision become a reality in business is an empowering boss move! Passion and purpose are the main ingredients to a great business. Your confidence fuels your entrepreneurial spirit! Inspire your boss moves with three reasons your confidence fuels your entrepreneurial spirit.

Ashley Terrell

 

  • Focus fuels your entrepreneurial spirit! Focus is key when building your business or brand. Your confidence fuels your entrepreneurship spirit when you’re focus on strengthening what encourages you to stand tall! Confidence knowing your brand’s advantages and goals fuel for your entrepreneurial spirit. First, focus on building valuable relationships, not business relationships that aren’t fruitful. Secondly, check your local newspaper or social media networks for clubs, communities or interest groups.  Social media community boards are great for workshops that will allow your confidence to fuel your entrepreneurial spirit. Visit your local library branch for publications and periodicals to fuel your entrepreneurial spirit.

  • Use your confidence to set your brand apart from the “competition”.  Think about this: difference highlights your brand’s many abilities to serve your customers. Entrepreneurs view fellow businesses as competition.  Use your brand’s difference to spotlight why your business or brand is to be considered important. Business development can be responsible for critical thinking of entrepreneurs. “Their business is like mine” is a phrase all entrepreneurs have heard when building their business or brand. Think about like this: brand recognition is a business acknowledging there’s businesses and brands of the same liking. On the other hand, brand awareness is your business’s drill sergeant. Brand awareness keeps an entrepreneur mindful of the necessity to build their brand at all times.

  • Overturning customer’s rejection fuels your entrepreneurial spirit. Lastly, fuel your entrepreneurship spirit with customer service experience. The “engagement-and-interacting skill” will aid your confidence to fuel your entrepreneurship spirit.  Emphasize COACH, not HINDRANCE. Rejection of a brand can allow us to see the client doesn’t have a necessity for what you’re selling.  Confidence and customer service allows you the ability to level with a customer and sell from another angle. For example, your greeting card company wants to print stationary for a prospect. The prospect wants to use your services, but you don’t have their choice of paper. Would you refer the prospect or accommodate by ordering the paper?

Most importantly, confidence reigns loudest during the early stages of establishing a brand. Your confidence level is reason to fuel your entrepreneurial spirit and mind! Begin your day with our She Owns It tips, relax and feel the difference! Furthermore, energize your entrepreneurial spirit and recharge your mind with the inspiring reads below:

7 Ways To De-Throne The Drama Queen In The Workplace @AngeKYoumatter

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by Angela Kambouris | Featured Contributor

Like tornados, drama queens whirl through the workplace, suck the oxygen out of the air you breathe, and their strength leaves behind a huge swathe of destruction. Like emotional vampires, they zap the energy out of you in five seconds. For the drama queen, the workplace is their stage. They immerse you in crisis driven stories, exaggerate their details and inject their fangs without warning, worshipping you one minute and setting you on fire the next.

You all have that co-worker, the one who overplays every situation. Workplace drama creeps its way into all professions but that doesn’t mean it has to stay.  You may not have the co-worker because some of you are that person. Too early, too soon? Everyone does drama to some degree and when someone professes they don’t do drama at all, it’s time to give them the mirror.

Drama queens never see themselves as part of the problem

There is always someone else or something else to blame. If they look at themselves, they are the victim and immerse themselves in the attention to divert any conversations about what is really going on. Drama invites drama.

This very elite group of women and men are highly skilled in both engaging and repelling everyone around them. A selfie whilst embarking on a once in lifetime Europe trip, having your first book published or about to celebrate your wedding anniversary seems to fit within the realm of what most people would publish, however, committed drama queens capture all elements of their world, themselves and the food they eat. They obsess with looking perfect, every last detail from hair, nails, and makeup. All this preening and posing leaves little time for meaningful relationships.

They troll for allies, turn conversations into a competition and their modus operandi in drama is to feel justified. The payoff – “see, l was right”. Drama queens build bonds with people who share in their negativity – people who join in on name calling, shaming and guilting make the best companions.

Bold & The Beautiful

When on the sidelines, drama queens can be funny or fascinating. Think about the Real Hollywood Housewives, Bold and the Beautiful or Days of our Lives – hyperbole and hysteria. They catastrophize small anxieties into big disasters, cry wolf at the slightest sign of trouble to be rescued, obsess over ideas of beauty, wealth and awesomeness. Trump any good or bad fortune with a story of their own, they will throw you under the bus and very quickly will point fingers. They display theatrical shows of vulnerability to dominate conversations with personal stories and can make threats to self-harm when the spotlight slips away. They spray their chaos onto you.

Katherine Crowley, co-author of Working with You Is Killing Me: Freeing Yourself from Emotional Traps at Work describes drama queens as people who can’t self-regulate their own emotions so when something happens, they may feel as of their world is ending. More often, it’s not.

Entitlement to attention

Everything that happens in the world will personally affect a drama queen. The one who posts on social media after a tragedy about their feelings and how it has affected them. The slightest comment or action will convert into their own personal story.

The drama queen constantly is searching for more significance in their life. In today’s digital world, fear is handed on a platter for people to consume. The drama queen, also known as the “disaster matcher” heavily invests in the sad news with an intent to amplify how they have been affected more than anyone else.

Permanent megaphone

The drama queen loves to tell anyone who will listen to their frustrations. They will roll their eyes, sigh loudly begging for someone to ask them what is wrong. If nobody engages, they will volunteer an explanation as to why they are so bothered and continue to repeat the variations of the drama to whoever will listen over the next 10 years. They will capitalize on any opportunity.

Identification of the traits of a drama queen early and taking immediate action to set clear, strong boundaries will preserve your sanity and serenity. Let me share with you tips on how to have better conversations with “queens” who drive you crazy, how to avoid behaving like them and if you need to, de-throne them.

Are you a Drama Queen?

Sometimes you need to undertake a self-assessment to determine if the drama queen is you. If there are multiple people in your life basking in drama, then the common denominator is you. Take stock and ask yourself:

  1. Do you feel important when someone immerses their neediness on you?
  2. Are you the “sanest” one in your group and this makes you feel safe and important?
  3. When you are amongst a group of people do you like to stir things up and bring the focus back to you?
  4. When you listen to a friend sharing a recent painful event, are you caught up in your own mindset thinking about your life events and what story you can share with them or how you can top that?
  5. You gain a few extra pounds and you view it as a catastrophic disaster?
  6. Are you always sharing the highs and lows of your life, convinced every detail matter to your audience?
  7. Do you describe you every day as horrible, terrible, awful, tragic in it?
  8. When something relatively minor happens or doesn’t go your way, do you ensure that everyone within earshot knows about it at that moment or one week, 2 months or 1 year later you continue to ruminate how unjust the world can be?

If there is a resounding yes to any of these questions, you may want to hit the pause button and re-evaluate your level of importance when it comes to any type of relationship. Every human being wants to feel valued but when the scales tip over and your need for attention outweighs your need for healthy relationships, it’s time to edit the story.

Invest in you

One of the greatest ways to drop your inner drama queen is to practice personal solitude. Rather than walk the easy path of external distractions, take the path less traveled. Crowley suggests practicing “physically unhooking” by finding the best ways for you to release the tension the drama queens create. Go for a walk, practice yoga, allocate time to meditate to support you to be grounded and come back to your center.

Get her to become an observer

As a leader, interrupt the dynamic to move the conversation along. When in conversation suggest the drama queen alter their physical space. For instance, if she was sitting on a chair in the office ask her to move the chair to the furthest point in the office and face a different view. As her to look at the wall as though it is a TV screen and she is watching the last event being played out. Ask them to describe what happened in a detached manner. If stuck from detaching, move the chair even further away until watching as a curious observer.

Focus on the facts, not story

When you focus on the facts you are better equipped to manage the situation more effectively. Drama queens will tap into their overactive imaginations and you will hear things like, “she thinks this and that about me” as if they are a mind reader or “I have this gut feeling”. Continual reinforcement of bringing them back to the facts will either create a shift in thinking or they will move on to the next person.

Knock off a drama queen’s crown

Office drama queens need to be dethroned. Most people thrive on drama because they believe in their drama and think the problem is outside of them. When engaged with a drama queen, boundaries are imperative. When they begin to vent, establish the fact that you can no longer take part in the drama. You will need to lead by example.

Invest in how can l help?

Workplace conflict about insignificant details wastes time if the project goal or bigger picture has been embraced. Rolling eyes about a deadline or requested revisions set a bad example for others on a team. Drama erupts when groups waste time arguing about what can’t be done. Instead, make it happen.

Stop rewarding the behavior

When you engage in discussion, even passive listening when the dirt is being dished about others, you reinforce the drama venting. If you rescue them or take their accusation personally, you have entered the web. Setting boundaries and standard about what you will tolerate gives the drama queen a clear message. Tell the truth and tell them that “the venting doesn’t work for you”. You set the standard about how you want to be treated and what you tolerate.

Short-circuit a quest for attention and put responsibility back where it should be. Make a suggestion but don’t fix the problem. You don’t want to build a co-dependent relationship, rather empower queens to find solutions on their own.

7 Principles To Keep The Entrepreneurial Ego In Check by @AngeKYoumatter

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by Angela Kambouris | Featured Contributor

No matter who you talk to about entrepreneurship, there are two things that stand out – humility and ego. Successful entrepreneurs understand that you need a healthy dose of both. The right balance of ego and humility can make the difference.

As an entrepreneur you bring to life a new business model, idea or vision. A level of self-confidence is required to transcend what you are likely to face. How many times do you prepare for a big investor meeting and after your well-rehearsed pitch, they dismiss your ideas as “ok”. Your ego shrivels when your told that your baby is ugly. At this point, the entrepreneur’s ego can your best friend or you worst nightmare.

Every day you will face rejection, and, in many cases, it is just the nature of the entrepreneurial beast. You have heard the stories of rejection from some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs and business leaders – Oprah,  J.K.Rowling, Walt Disney, and Ariana Huffington. The more audacious the goal, the more you need your ego to stay true to the vision.

Here are 7 principles to keep the entrepreneurial ego in check.

Imperfection is a gift

It is critical that you understand, recognize, acknowledge and embrace your flaws and the business shortcomings. When you first start, you think if you don’t know something or the business can’t do something, it is a flaw. When you acknowledge that you don’t know it is a blessing. The day you understand and acknowledge your limits and embrace the power of learning is the day you make great progress.

Student’s mindset

One way to curtail our ego is to always apply a student’s mindset. Those who consistently achieve greatness exert the greatest humility and admit how little they really know.

As a leader when you don’t let your ego get in the way of your ambitions you are able to learn more and lead better. Working from the platform that you aren’t always right, you maximize opportunities to push boundaries of what is possible. When you fight your ego, you remain a student and will constantly absorb new knowledge that enhances your decision-making abilities.

Humility is so 21st century

Humility is a trait of strong leaders. The type of leader’s employees want to work for and investors want to fund. Being humble and acknowledging the error of your ways is also a great way to build trust and credibility. Humility needs to be balanced with a sense of confidence. If not balanced, you can undermine the team’s belief in you and in the business. Humility must be genuine as when leaders genuinely acknowledge mistakes or deficits in an area, it inspires others to discover their own confidence to act, take risks and evaluate their own challenges. This leads to genuine improvement and self-development that will have ripples within the business. Remember, it always starts with you.

No magic formula

There is no magic formula for how you mix ego and humility, you just know it when you see it. However, there are principles that can guide you both can play together. As a business leader you are there to serve your people – employees, clients, investors and partners. Leaders are always thinking about how they can serve the needs of others and not their own. Inviting people to join your vision, invest money, sacrifice their time and trust you with their business is to embrace the responsibility that you are there to serve them. Given it starts with you, the entrepreneur must honor their responsibility, embrace the opportunity to serve their people every day.

Celebrate your wins

Learning from mistakes is important, celebrate wins is crucial. When you celebrate, your brain release dopamine, serotonin and endorphins. The brain’s “happy chemicals” – dopamine – surges after you accomplish a goal or feel successful. On the flip side, low levels of dopamine are connected to procrastination and a lack of work ethic. Serotonin reduces anxiety and depression as it contributes to your overall feeling of happiness. Thinking of a happy memory can give you a little boost as can getting a bit of sunshine during the day. Endorphins give you that feeling of an energy rush.

Achieving and celebrating a goal creates a feedback loop of joy in your brain, resulting in all these chemicals being released and allowing you to experience feelings of happiness, joy and excitement.

Execution is the game

Sometimes the best ideas come at the worst time but not acting could mean limiting your future. Evaluate your idea and find the time to make progress every day.

Many entrepreneurs go through a few ideas or more that end up being absolute failures before finding an idea that works and creates the “overnight success”. Milton Hershey, founder of Hershey Chocolate went bankrupt two separate times before he invented caramel candies and turning Hershey into the multi-billion-dollar company it is today.

Record your mistakes

The Zeigarnik effect was discovered in the 1920’s and still holds today. It found that out brains remember upcoming tasks we haven’t started yet better than ones we have already done. Writing things down improves memory. People who write down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve them. Keeping a list of your mistakes is part of the learning and growing.

Success requires determination to get you to the finish line. Treating every experience as a learning one, embodying the attitude that mistakes are your greatest source of learning and stepping into gratitude for your experiences is the platform to keep your ego in check and amplify your success.

How To Design Your Own Happy by Renee Pedro of @crashpaddesigns

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by Renee Pedro | Featured Contributor

Are you happy? That shouldn’t be hard to answer, but for some of us of it is. Many of us measure our happiness based on outside factors. where we are getting it wrong. Our distorted views of happiness are influenced by what society says happiness is.

This isn’t new. It’s the story of” Keeping up with the Joneses.” A comic strip created by Arthur R. Momand in 1916. It was about the McGinis family and their struggle to keep up with their neighbors the Joneses. Today the Joneses are not only the people across the street. They are your friends and the friends of your friends in your social media news feed. Why are we wasting our lives comparing ourselves to other people? I know women are especially guilty of this. We compare ourselves to other women all the time. How are you ever going to keep up with those countless images of “Perfection” in your Instagram feed? Why do you want to?

When you scroll by a picture of a friend in her perfect living room, with her perfectly coifed toddlers, do you think, darn why can’t we take a family photo like that? What you don’t know is, on her dining room table are stacks of clean laundry, that she hasn’t put away yet. Or that two minutes before the photo the toddlers were covered in chocolate. She’s not Mrs. Jones, either. Like you, she’s trying to keep up. I’m not saying I want to see everyone’s dirty laundry in my social media feed. I just want more people to be real. I “ll go first. There’s an overflowing laundry basket in my bedroom, there are dishes in the sink, dust bunnies in the dining room, and my desk is a mess. There that feels better. I’ll let you in on a secret, perfection doesn’t exist, despite what Instagram tells you.

A long time ago, I made a decision not to be Mrs. McGinis anymore. I don’t want to keep up with Joneses. When I was comparing myself to other people, I wasn’t appreciating who I am and what I have. This is a self-defeating habit. Once we stop striving for an Instagram worthy life we can have a really happy life. On your own terms. Teddy Roosevelt, said “Comparison is the thief of joy”

Once you realize you don’t have to be better than she is. Nor do you have to be thinner, taller, smarter or richer. You can start being happy. If you are being who you want to be, how can anyone tell you, you’re doing it wrong. The only thing you have to be is your best you. To be comfortable in your own skin means being happy to let people know who you really are. I spent my twenties believing that life was a competition, it’s not. There’s no finish line and there is no finite amount of success, money or happiness. There is enough to go around. When it comes to happiness, one size doesn’t fit all. Your happy isn’t the same as my happy. Happiness is personal, and you have to design YOUR happy.

Have you ever heard anyone say, “She marches to the beat of her own drum”? It’s not usually meant as a compliment. When someone says that, people hear, she’s quirky, she doesn’t quite fit in, she likes to do things her own way. It should be a compliment, because being you, and living life on your own terms is tremendous. If you’re an entrepreneur and you’re building your brand you need to march to the beat of your own drum. You’ll never have great happiness living by someone else’s standards. You didn’t start your business to do the same things the same way they have always been done. Why bother?

The first step should be to figure out what your happiness looks like. With all the challenges of running your own business, you should at least be doing it in a way that makes you happy? Everything about your business should reflect who you are and your personality. A few months ago I reconnected with a friend I hadn’t talk to in over fifteen years. We were very close in our twenties, then she moved back to the west coast and after a few years, we lost contact. She searched for me online and found my business Crash Pad Designs. She emailed me and said, “Pedro,(she’s always called me by my last name) as soon as I saw your website I knew it was you.” I was very happy to hear from my old friend. I was also happy and proud, to hear that my business was a reflection of my personality. What a compliment, I was marching to the beat of my own drum.

Here’s a question. What comes first success or happiness?

Every business owner wants to be successful, but if you’re not happy are you really successful? If you’ve already made the decision to be your own boss, don’t hold back now. Whatever your business, you can, of course, find inspiration from other people. Inspiration is awesome but, imitating someone else is stressful and unfulfilling. Running your own business is hard enough, no need to make it harder. So take that inspiration and do it your way. Then one day someone will find inspiration in you.

The moral of the comic strip was, the McGinnis family could never keep up with the Jones. Even back in 1916, the goal post was always moving. Trying to live a life based on other people’s standards of success and happiness, means you will always be chasing a moving goal post.

I am still active on social media and I still count how many people like my post. But I am not chasing that moving goal post. I have dirty clothes on the floor, dust bunnies, and my favorite jeans are getting tight, but I’m really happy.

So what does your happy look like?

The Art Of Letting Go by @ANGEKYOUMATTER

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by Angela Kambouris | Featured Contributor

Have you ever been in that moment listening to the grinding replay of what was said or done, looping over and over in your head? Mastering the art of letting go comes from years of practice. One of the greatest tragedies of human behavior is seeing grown men and women who can’t stop playing the mind tape from an event that happened days, weeks, sometimes years ago.

Most of as human beings know what you need to let go of but like a sinking ship, you can’t. More like you won’t. The things that are heavying you are dead weights. As your ship keeps sinking and with all that weight on board, there is no way it’s moving any closer to land.

When you decide to hold on to the past, this prevents you from creating a strong sense of self. Some people struggle to let go of their pain or unpleasant emotions because they think those feelings are part of their identity. When their pain is intertwined with their identity, they may not know who they are without their pain.

People often hold on to pain far beyond its ability to serve them. Mistakes are replayed over and over again, allowing feelings of shame and regret to shape actions in the present. You cling to frustration and worry about the future as if the act of fixation somehow ignites a superpower. Stress is stored in your body, your cells, resulting in health issues and an acceptance that this state of tension is part of the norm.

You hold on to things, situations and circumstances as in some weird way it’s fulfilling. There is comfort in familiarity and justification. Holding on to the past holds you back from achieving your true potential. At times you use the past to justify your actions and your current decision making. When you are immersed in justifying everything, that becomes part of your story and holds you back from the very thing you want.

When the facts are terrible or heartbreaking, it is human nature to blame someone else, not ourselves. You blame others for your misfortune however the energy invested in maintaining the fire of blame is on your own back. You keep the blaze going at your own emotional expense. By moving the story, you have constructed, allows you to move toward a path you want.

Let me share with you how every moment is a chance to let go and here are some ways to get started.

Choosing you

When you are indecisive about letting go of something that has been there for a while, it may feel risky and may be even a little selfish. It’s not any of those things. It’s brave. When you hang on to something that doesn’t feel right any more or that’s hurting you, one of the bravest things you can do is to listen to that. Most often the justifications are habits and stories that you tell yourself. Isn’t time to choose you over the habit?

Stay in your own lane

Leaders often engage in discussion as if they have control over other’s action. When you hear people discuss employee engagement, assumptions are made that the responsibility sits with the leader. Engagement is a choice, not something a leader can do for others. Engagement without accountability creates entitlement. Happiness is a choice and last l checked, everyone is responsible for their own happiness. By cultivating personal accountability, you determine how you live your life.

Owning your decision

Letting go can be empowering and free you of challenges where nothing else has worked. The Sedona Method, a simple method for letting go of any uncomfortable or unwanted feeling, thought or belief, by asking four questions. Allow yourself with an open mind and heart to ask yourself these questions to release unwanted thoughts and feelings out of your mind. Try them on: “Could l welcome what l’m feeling? Could l let it go? Would l let it go? When?” These questions guide your awareness into the experience of letting go.

Change your thinking, change your life.

Most of us carry powerful emotional narratives – the stories we tell ourselves about our undigested pain. People are used to living life as a series of reactions to what’s going on around them, living with tension in their body that is wreaking havoc on health and most don’t know how to be kind and compassionate with ourselves. You need to make space to choose a different response.

Quality questions to step closer to freedom

Eckhart Tolle shares in his book, A New Earth a story of two Zen monks:

Tanzan and Ekido…were walking along a country road that had become extremely muddy after heavy rains. Near a village, they came upon a young woman who was trying to cross the road, but the mud was so deep, it would have ruined the silk kimono she was wearing. Tanzan at once picked her up and carried her to the other side. The monks walked on in silence. Five hours later, as they were approaching the lodging temple, Ekido couldn’t restrain himself any longer. “Why did you carry that girl across the road?” he asked. “We monks are not supposed to do things like that.” “I put the girl down hours ago,” said Tanzan. “Are you still carrying her?”

Precious time and energy is lost as you become the prisoner from burdens of the past. Holding on to what happened or what you think should have happened. One of the greatest quality questions to ask yourself is “For what purpose?” Exploring what underlines your need to feel right, justified or validated. Oprah Winfrey acknowledges that she needed to do some conscious work to change her need of proving she was right. Change was initiated by a single question that put her on the path to freedom – “Do you want to be right or do you want peace?”

Letting go of rules you create

The most precious resources we have as human beings is time and your attention. When you hold on to resentments, you subscribe to lost time. Time you can never get back or make up. Mel Robbins, TEDx speaker, describes one of her favorite ways to protect her most valuable assets is to protect her first hour of the day at all costs. Letting go of the “rules” to respond to emails, log on to computers or look at her phone, as she diverts her attention to the things that most to her, exercising and her children.

Acceptance is the key

No one should settle. We all have a reality we must accept. No matter as much as we want to hold on to a sunset, we can’t retain everything and still lead meaningful lives. Life is fulfilling when you allow yourself to let go, to be in the moment and feel you in the moment. That is only life’s true reality.

 

What’s Fear Got To Do With It? by Renee Pedro of @crashpaddesigns

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by Renee Pedro | Featured Contributor 

Have you ever thought I wish I had done that, Or I wish had said that? How is Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda, hurting your business? This isn’t meant to dredge up your regrets. I want you to ask yourself, What’s fear got to do with it?

This is important because fear has a lot of power over what happens in our lives. It affects our relationships, our jobs, and our businesses.

Imagine fear is your silent business partner, we’ll call her Doris. What if Doris was always making decisions that undermine you and hurt your business. Would you allow that? Think about it, and we’ll come back to Doris.

First, we need to define our fears before we can conquer them.There are lots of different fears that can affect how we live our lives. For instance my fear of heights. Yeah, it stops me from going to the top of the Eiffel Tower but it isn’t detrimental to my business. But my fear of public speaking could have been very detrimental to my business.

Almost exactly a year ago 4/26/17, I was recovering from breast cancer surgery. For four months. I had spent my days curled in a ball on the couch. I was thinking about the meaning of life because that’s what people with cancer do. I wasn’t working at all, but one day I decided to read my emails. I had an invitation to speak at the North American Digital Textile Conference in New York. Wow. I didn’t know what this conference was, but I couldn’t believe I was being invited to be a speaker.

After asking a few questions, without hesitation or fear I said yes. I didn’t understand how or why but I was going to do this. The organizers are from the UK, and they knew who I was and they knew about my business Crash Pad Designs. So I had to do this and I had three months to prepare, which didn’t feel like nearly enough time.

I had never made a power point presentation and I had never given a speech. I didn’t even know power point was already on my computer. Still no fear. I was too busy to overthink it, so I didn’t. I figured out (with help), how to put together my power point presentation, I had another surgery, and I wrote a speech. Still no fear.

The morning of the conference, as I walked from my hotel. The sun was shining, the city was bustling and I was still fearless. An hour into the conference I was introduced. I walked up to the stage, just as I stepped up I thought to myself, What the bleep am I doing? Then, I started talking. Through a slightly shaky voice, I told a joke, and they laughed. I smiled, and they smiled. I was a natural. Who knew? There was a Q&A after, and lots of questions and I knew all the answers. I killed it. If I had given in to my irrational fear of public speaking I would have missed a huge business opportunity. My speech resulted in valuable connections, thousands of website visits, and now I’m an established expert in my field.

So, what’s fear got to do with it? The answer is everything.

When I said yes, my future was uncertain. I had nothing to lose. As a result, taking a chance to do something this big and scary was empowering.

By the date of the conference, I was on the mend and I knew was going to be fine. At that point, I felt invincible. What did I have to be afraid of? How could a room full of people in their underwear be scary? Pardon the Brady Bunch reference, my age is showing.

This is a story about overcoming fear to do what’s best for your life and your business. My situation gives me a unique perspective. My vision of the world has changed. I can now see how fear is more connected to insecurities, and self doubts than realities. Really what’s the worst that could happen if you make a speech? Really what’s the worst that could happen if you make a cold call? Bottom line is it’s all in your head.

Remember your silent business partner Doris? It’s time for you to ghost her. And it’s time to change your mindset and start living a more courageous life.

“You will never do anything in this world without courage.” – Aristotle

There will always be something you’re afraid of. So here are a few tips and some inspiration to get you on the path to your more courageous life.

Be logical

When you’re preparing to take on a new challenge and conquer a fear you have to take emotion out of it. Ask your what’s the worst that could happen, or how bad could it be. Always weigh the pros and cons.

“Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end.” – Leonard Nimoy

Be open to new experiences

New experiences make you a smarter, and a more well rounded you. Go to a networking event and challenge yourself to meet 5 new people and get their business cards. That means you give out 5 business cards.

“People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves.” – Paulo Coelho

Be able to learn from your mistakes

Yeah, making mistakes is embarrassing, but life’s too short to dwell on them. Make things right if you can, figure out what went wrong and learn how not to make the same mistake twice.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” -Winston Churchill

Be ready to reward yourself

Make it a habit to celebrate yourself, every time you do something courageous.

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.” – Coco Chanel

Most importantly, Be your own BFF

You have to talk to yourself the way you talk to your best friends. Be supportive, encouraging, generous, forgiving, loving, accepting, kind. You deserve it.

“Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.” —Brene Brown

Stop buying into self-doubt and tap into your little rebel inside @AngeKYoumatter

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by Angela Kambouris | Featured Contributor

When you want to make a difference, achieve something significant in the world, and leave a meaningful legacy, then you need to tap into your little rebel inside. No matter what position or title you hold, everyone has a rebel within. The top 1% of entrepreneurs tap into their little rebel to achieve greater and more meaningful success. Richard Branson once said, “success comes to the underdog who doesn’t let sleeping dogs lie and instead shakes up the market by doing things differently.”

The little rebel is the part of you that knows how to challenge the status quo and start the revolution. It is the quiet warrior embarking on a quest to overcome obstacles, the CEO who leads his team raising money for humanitarian causes and building in structures that support staff to give their time and energy to the cause. It is the customer service desk member who initiates conversations with colleagues, despite the squashing of ideas by the manager, to persistently explore how to improve the interface between business and clients.

An empowered rebel has an inner confidence that stems from a burning passion to make meaningful things happen. Melanie Perkins, founder of CANVA highlights that she continuously poured her energy to finding people who believed in her vision and would love to come along for the ride.

Rebels lead with a commitment to continuous learning and build upon their evolutionary wisdom. They lead with influence, graciously bring people along and ensure that when they execute ideas, plans or lead transformational change, that the outcomes are ecological – good for me, good for you and good for the greater good.

On the flip side, when self-doubt creeps in, the imposter syndrome comes out to play. “You are not good enough, you are not smart enough, who do you think you are?” messages play out repeatedly. The cycle is activated and keeps the leader from stepping into their greatness.

Let me share 6 ways leaders can leverage the little rebel inside.

What you resist, will persist.

One of the fundamental mistakes leaders often make from achieving their greatness is relying on what has always worked for them even when it is no longer working. Growth will only occur when you delve deep. Allow your vulnerability to lead you to a place of openness and embracing change. Embracing all of you to earn the freedom to choose who you want to be in this world.

Masquerading who you are is not freedom. Your shadow or leadership gap is your teacher. When you suppress those feelings, thoughts or emotions, they will pop up at the least opportune time. What you resist, will persist. To step into who you are becoming as a leader, means to reclaim all parts of you – the good, the bad and the indifferent.

Leveraging the thief of joy

Self-doubt robs you of all the beauty that is in front of you. Comparison becomes a dark hole and a battle that you will never win. When you stop comparing yourself to others you become the architect of your life. Leveraging the gap, by not signing up to be a thief of your joy, allows you to identify your accomplishments, celebrate the milestones regularly and allows you to focus on your own personal and professional development. Invest your energy into your success and harvest the greatness within.

Self-reflection

Great thinking is facilitated through self-reflection. Transforming negative conversations into self-reflection leads to greater self-awareness and positive change. It shifts the focus to support people to work on the right things. Shifting the negativity of “why you can’t” to “how you can” highlights how you can move forward now rather than suffering. You determine your state. You determine who you need to be in the situation. It’s your choice.

Navigate the inner compass

The rebel has a strong inner self and a personal truth that cannot be walked away from. Feeling free to express themselves demands a level of grit and trail blazing. They require responsibility and conscious choice making. They inspire others to see how they can make a difference, speak their truth and know that they have a power of choice. The rebel decides when it is appropriate to speak up, to fight, to challenge and when it is not. They have the wisdom to concede when it is needed and have learned the immense power hidden in surrender.

Self-Rebellion

One of the most aspects of a rebel leader is their ability to challenge themselves. The unique ability to recognize the need for a full reform of themselves, to take an inner journey, devour the resistance and turn it into a force of awakening. Issues are confronted head on, clear direction provided for transformation and their greatest power is to change their own behaviors and life for the better.

Little things, big impact

Learning to recognize your leadership gap is the factor that determines your greatness as a leader.

One of the greatest questions is identifying who you are being when you are leading. Hit the pause button at any given moment and ask yourself that very question. “Am l leading from greatness or leading from my gaps? Am l leading with confidence or leading from self-doubt?” BOXFOX co-founder and COO Sabena Suri explains that seeing setback as a learning opportunity and asking those questions that will set you up to learn and grow.

What is one thing you can do to leverage the inner rebel within you?

 

 

Queen Bee? Myths and Stereotypes of Women in Leadership by @JoynicoleM

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by Joynicole Martinez | Featured Contributor

Is there a special place in hell for women who do not help each other?

As Madeleine Albright spoke her famous words, raucous cheering erupted. The sound of the moment was palpable as the crowd cheered, but the underlying sentiment is an unfortunate and unspoken myth. This silent ‘girls rule’ that women have a moral obligation to support one another is as fictional as the Queen Bee idea that women are nastier toward other women than to men.

The Myths and Stereotypes

The Queen Bee myth stems from women’s reputation, particularly those in leadership positions, treating women in junior positions women poorly. These female bosses display what’s called “queen bee” behavior, distancing themselves from other women and refusing to help other women as they rise through the ranks.

In fact, humans behave imperfectly in their interpersonal relationships. Blinders manufactured of personal history, prejudices, and assumptions impede our ability to “seek first to understand then be understood.”

Woman are no less or more subject to this blindness than men. Conflict occurs when our blind spots hinder our ability to intentionally listen and we react discriminately to an incorrectly received message. Conflict among women is perceived as negative, contradicting deeply ingrained gender bias – the ideal woman attributes of compassion and submission. These righteous woman qualities would, in the prejudiced mind, keep women from conflict because women are too virtuous to fall prey to preconception.

What’s the reality?

Women in leadership seek out methods to support and encourage others. A study of approximately half a million workers found the gender wage gap increases when women share peer positions. However, where greater numbers of women held higher ranking positions, the rate of promotion for females in lower levels increased. This pattern of promotion exists within the U.S. Army, where research indicates an increased percentage of women among leadership decreases the time to promotion for women in lower ranks.

Talent management experts, Development Dimensions International (DDI), found that while nearly 80% of women in senior roles had served as formal mentors, few of them had mentors of their own. According to DDI, women are willing mentors, other women are simply not seeking them out.

How Women Help.

Corporations developing formal mentoring programs are fostering cultures where it is acceptable for women to seek out and ask other women to serve as mentors. PayPal’s Recharge Program helps skilled women technologists who have taken a career break for personal or family reasons to feel equipped to return to the workforce.

Many women deliberately support and encourage others without formal request. Marketing and communications consultant and CEO of The P3 Solution, Sherron Washington is one such female entrepreneur. Sherron’s Women’s History Month national campaign highlighting the work and achievement of women across industries is in its 4th year. When asked why she engages online communities to highlight the work of other women, she points to her belief in teaching other people the value of the contributions of unsung women and celebrating them. Beyond highlighting the achievements of women and training them to excel at marketing and communications, Sherron’s second book, “The Oops Moment: Eliminating Marketing Mistakes, Mishaps and Missteps” offers entrepreneurs help in mitigating the pain of trying to skillfully navigate constant changes in the marketplace.

The latest “Beautifully Made” campaign highlights women working in varying industries and representing diversity in age, race, and ethnicity. Showcasing the uniqueness of each woman and her professional expertise exposes her to potential clients, customers, and alliances. This is why women support one another. The reason is more than an obligation thrust upon the unsuspecting, more than a need to prove goodness. Leaders recognize the value of thought diversity and the safety of counsel. Effective leaders identify potential, draw it closer, then lift it higher. That is the purpose of mentorship, and women are taking on the challenge. Moreover, she owns it.

One Key Leadership Asset Is Creating CEO’S As Un-Disruptable @AngeKYoumatter

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by Angela Kambouris | Featured Contributor

When we take a glimpse into the hearts and minds of CEO’s in today’s world, we uncover qualities and skills leaders need to meet the demands of their positions in the future. Our current climate of uncertainty, ambiguity demands agile mindsets to be un-disruptable. Our environments demand leaders to navigate constant turbulence and continuously adjust their actions.

There is no warning before the chaos, no recovery period afterward. Leadership today is more about translating order into chaos. A willingness to stretch capabilities into new and unexpected areas to keep ahead of the marketplace.

Flexibility is not only relevant but critical for business leaders in the current digital transformation era. New ideas are demanded and fresh thinking to lead business, in a world were change is the only constant.

Today’s leaders must have a high tolerance for flexibility and infuse the same mindset into tomorrow’s leaders. Let’s share 6 ways how leaders can act with flexibility, enable them to thrive through disruption and lead the transformation of an organization.

The iceberg

There is no recipe how to start this journey, however there are ways that may be considered. When we imagine an iceberg, we know the core is the hardest part of the whole. Same with organizations. Abstain from changing all parts of an organization with detailed long-term plan to prevent killing the agility experience. Step forward by investing in areas that struggle, with remote or new teams. Position the group, start with baby steps by going for low impact, early implementation and do this in a fast way. Keep deadlines short, lead direction with an open-minded attitude and learn with your colleagues in real time.

 Different level of thinking

To be successful in tomorrow’s world, requires a different level of thinking to withstand turbulence and how you adapt, adjust and be agile. When we look at how animals adapt such as a crocodile we know they are very robust. Their strong jaws, metal like armor withstand many threats and they have digestive system that will breakdown anything it eats. When we look at the versatility of a Chameleon, they change color to disguise themselves and hide from predators. Dr Homa Bahrami, Faculty Director at UC Berkeley Center for Executive Education, explains as leaders in business we need a toolbox with different aspects of flexibility – sometimes you need to be agile, so you can capitalize on the marketplace first, sometimes you need to be robust like the crocodile and other times your need to versatile by skilling up people across many areas.

Archetypal teams

As a business leader you need to configure teams with a blend of different archetypal capabilities. A Warrior who when against great odds, challenges the status quo and uses his cleverness and strategic intelligence to find creative ways to turn the tide. The Sage who seeks out information and knowledge to plan, anticipate different scenarios and adopts a self-reflective practice. The Catalyst who illuminates the path, sets the destination, lives by the vision and invests in finding win solutions for all. The Performer who perfects the art of directing moving parts rapidly and their overall skill level being determined by the variations and techniques they can throw into their patterns. The Jester teaches us to lighten up, live in the moment and enjoy interacting with others without worrying about what others may think.

Leaders who understand the influence of an existing culture, can identify the gaps that exist between the organization’s vision and reality, can identify the pain points and focus efforts to strategically design an actionable blueprint for transformation and growth.

Purpose driven leadership

Purpose driven business become brands. They identify what is right with the world, what needs to be changed and create a vehicle to build a better world. Brand leverages passion and non-existent resources in critical ways. When you are committed to a purpose you will find a way to work for the cause irrespective of pay, you will solve problems that competitors cannot because of your monomaniacal focus and you will convince clients that you can do something even if you can’t because you have faith in resolving and doing.

Peter Diamandis explains “one thing l’ve learned at XPRIZE is that small teams driven by their passion and by their clear focus can do extraordinary things that only large corporations and governments could do in the past”. A common purpose is the most important thread holding teams together through a shared culture. A vision and mission statement can create magnetic forces to connect teams to shared goals. When leaders are consistent with their words and actions, people are predisposed to trust them.

Different hats

Business leaders need to be the drivers of their own destiny, to deliberately adapt to new realities, to move quickly to seize opportunities, to wear different hats and switch gears depending on the context. Future leaders must plan with a forward focus, think through different contingencies and to be persistent with clear intentions to allow decision making to be effortless in crisis environments. When things go wrong and they will, leaders bounce back and recover from setbacks to navigate the road forward.

The true mark of a future leader anchors an open-mindedness to different points of view and diverse thinking. A sense of curiosity opens the door for patterns to be discerned with a continual effort to understand. Future leaders must have flexibility to bring the best out of their people and to keep them ahead in the marketplace.