The OCD ADHD CEO: Hey Michelangelo, CALM DOWN! (5)

Business Coaching and Lead Generation

By: Santi Chacon
Business Coach

First Things First

How are we doing with the perfectionist stuff?  and by 'we' I mean YOU! I hope by now that you have become a little more friendly toward constituents, customers, investors...you know people. You know it is in your best interest to move your perfectionist-ism off of things and direct it toward toward taking care of your people. After all managing and leading in a business is getting results through people.  Don't get me wrong being a perfectionist is not bad it is just not always productive and often may lead to counter productive measures. If this was the case of a "little" over the top I wouldn't be presenting a business series on your OCD tendencies.

Just remember "You are not normal", the average person doesn't read this stuff or take advantage of opportunities as you have. You have goals and a vision for your business. If you have done your job as an executive than learn to let go. Just like a parent must let go when the children are all grown up, an executive must let go once his business has matured. If you know letting go will be disastrous then you should keep reading this series, and hope to amend your errors in judgment.

Okay, no more deviations: 

Macro-Perspective On Lead Generation

If you want prospects to become interested in your offering you will be confronted by a series of choices. These choices will lead you to develop marketing or lead generation campaigns. Lead generation activities range from good ol' fashion cold calling and networking to savvy online marketing such as pay per click and social networking and everything in between. If you are a small shop or a sole proprietor with a small staff not every lead generation activity is going to provide a return on investment, therefore not  every lead generation activity is worth pursuing. You must evaluate your financial restraints, talents, and time restraints before understanding what direction will be most profitable for your business. These three areas will have the most influence on your lead generation and small business success.

Financial Restraints

I believe the first area you should consider is your budget, if you don't have one create one for marketing.  If you forsake creating a budget for marketing you may end up spending more then you can afford to. Without budgetary restraints your small business will not survive. Placing spending limits will help you to do more with less and it will push you to be more productive with you financial decisions.

What can you afford to do? If you have a larger budget for marketing you may consider outsourcing some of your marketing needs such as sales or SEO for your online presence. If you have a smaller budget you will have to invest your energy in lead generation activities that are inexpensive such as cold calling or networking, if done correct the former just needs a phone and internet connection and the latter needs a place, people, and your willingness to begin a pleasant conversation to evaluate if there are needs you can meet.

Talents

To posses a talents in business is to have a specialized knowledge, skill, and experience. A talent in lead generation is valuable and can be used to create the most leverage in your business. If you are better with people in person you may consider brushing up on your networking skills, if you have a wonderful speaking voice you may consider cold calling. If you are much more of a long-term strategic player then you may consider spending your time creating profitable partnerships and learning new skills toward internet marketing and long term-strategy.  

Time Restraints

As you grow interested in specific lead generation activities and marketing campaigns related to your talents please understand it takes time to master one lead generation strategy. In other words it takes time to get your sales pitch down and to get prospects in your sales pipeline from demonstration to purchase or it takes time to understand SEO strategies and to gain exposure. In business time is money, so do your homework and consider based on your talents, financial restraints, time restraints and chosen lead generation activity what  your ramp up time is.  Remember in business things cost twice as much and take twice as long, so be prepared.

Happy New Year!

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The Spiritual CEO: Our Commitment

Executive Coaching | Spirituality

By: Santi Chacon
Executive Coach

Divorce

Jesus: It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

The central theme here is not marriage but spirituality. Jesus doesn't start his conversation with an explanation but a command and a consequence.  It is important that we consider the 'Why?' to his statement.

Was Jesus attempting to reveal the spiritual nature of relationships?

Intimate relationships are mirrors to our inner world. Relationships will reflect on our self-hatred or self-love, on our spirituality or carnality. Ongoing romance has the potential to grow our capacity to be spiritual or to be fearful. The fashion, in which Jesus presents the concept of marriage is very basic and uncomplicated. If a person is willing to put away a relationship that has given much in the way of healing,  service, dedication,  obedience, and the nurturing of mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical needs, then her commitment in other relationships is unstable. Relationships that carry less weight then a marriage will suffer as a consequence of instability of character and spirituality.

Spirituality is tested by the positive and negative waves of a meaningful relationship. The moment a person commits herself romantically to another human being is the moment she begins to discover the depth of her own spirituality. Will she continue to love, forgive, and nurture in the light of difficulty and unrest?

Let's consider a few thoughts about marriage and the inferences and implications if spirituality is our goal:

Indicators Of A Whole Person

No institution exemplifies love, wholeness, union, and stability (elements that define spirituality) more than a healthy marriage.

Personification Of Love

Marriage is a personification of love.  A persons' hidden character  displays whether she is capable of loving herself and then extending that love to her husband.  If she is capable of loving another person the marriage will shine and if she fails then marriage will serve as a crushing blow.

The Secret To Truth And Happiness In Marriage

What God attempts to teach us in marriage are spiritual principles. Every moment is created for you to extend yourself in love, to forgive, and to withhold judgment. When two lovers learn to do this they will not only discover a healthy marriage, happiness and fulfillment, but spirituality.

The holy instant is the Holy Spirit's most useful learning device for teaching you love's meaning. For its purpose is to suspend judgment entirely. Judgment always rests on the past, for past experience is the basis on which you judge. Judgment becomes impossible without the past, for without it you do not understand anything. You would make no attempt to judge, because it would be quite apparent to you that you do not understand what anything means. You are afraid of this because you believe that without the ego, all would be chaos. Yet I assure you that without the ego, all would be love.

The past is the ego's chief learning device, for it is in the past that you learned to define your own needs and acquire methods for meeting them on your own terms. We have said that to limit love to part of the Sonship is to bring guilt into your relationships, and thus make them unreal. If you seek to separate out certain aspects of the totality and look to them to meet your imagined needs, you are attempting to use separation to save you. How, then, could guilt not enter? For separation is the source of guilt, and to appeal to it for salvation is to believe you are alone. To be alone is to be guilty. For to experience yourself as alone is to deny the Oneness of the Father and His Son, and thus to attack reality.

-ACIM

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Conversations: Social Media Talk

Business Coaching

By: Santi Chacon
Business Coach

I am a proponent of getting out there and conversing with clients, partners, and other stakeholders about best practice.  Conversations have a wonderful way of weeding through the irrelevant; after all I get the 'the best of'' straight from our stakeholders. Professionals are invited to a round table event to discuss small business issues. These talks provide tremendous insight into small business and help us keep our fingers on the pulse of our stakeholder's preferences, thoughts, and needs.

I expounded on a few thoughts for you during that discussion:

JD: Talk about social technologies used as a vehicle to launch a product, brand, or service.

Chief Biz Guru: Any social media platform or technology would work wonderfully in launching a product, service, or brand. The key is to engage individuals or businesses that fit your target market before attempting to launch or roll out any new product, service, or brand image.

Content 

Education has always been the root to success not only for emerging markets but for emerging businesses. The world is hungry for opportunity therefore great content is effective in building brand awareness. It is appropriate to build a following through content creation before launching anything. I feel the more effective question to ask is: What social media platform can be best used for my brand, product or service?  This question infers that each business model is different. So, the original question can be answered in wild generalizations. This question just proposed beckons a specific understanding of a business plan and goals.

Tools used to build communities around your content first and brand second may include:

1. 100zakladok
2. 2 Tag
3. 2linkme
4. A1-Webmarks
5. Add.io
6. Adfty
7. Adifni
8. aero
9. All My Faves
10. Amazon
11. Amen Me!
12. Aol Lifestream
13. AOL Mail
14. Arto
15. Aviary Capture
16. Baang
17. Baidu
18. Bebo
19. Bentio
20. BiggerPockets
21. Bit.ly
22. bizSugar
23. Bleetbox
24. Blinklist
25. Blip
26. Blogger
27. Bloggy
28. Blogmarks
29. Blogtrottr
30. Blurpalicious
31. Boardlite
32. Bobrdobr
33. BonzoBox
34. BookmarkedByUs
35. BookmarkingNet
36. Bookmarky.cz
37. Bookmerken
38. Bordom
39. Box.net
40. Brainify
41. Bryderi
42. BuddyMarks
43. Buzzzy
44. Camyoo
45. Care2
46. Chiq
47. Cirip
48. CiteULike
49. ClassicalPlace
50. Clickazoo
51. clp.ly
52. Cndig
53. Colivia.de
54. Communicate
55. Connotea
56. COSMiQ
57. Delicious
58. DesignBump
59. Designmoo
60. Dig This Webhost
61. DigaCultura
62. Digg
63. Diggita
64. diglog
65. Digo
66. Digzign
67. Diigo
68. Dipdive
69. doMelhor
70. Dosti
71. DotNetKicks
72. DotNetShoutout
73. DotShare
74. Douban
75. Drimio
76. Dropjack
77. Dwellicious
78. dzone
79. edelight
80. EFactor
81. eKudos
82. elefanta.pl
83. Email
84. Embarkons
85. euCliquei
86. Evernote
87. extraplay
88. EzySpot
89. Fabulously40
90. Facebook
91. Fai Informazione
92. Fark
93. Farkinda
94. Fashiolista
95. Fashion BURNER
96. FAVable
97. Faves
98. favlog
99. Favoriten.de
100. Favoritus
101. Flaker
102. Floss.pro
103. Folkd
104. FollowTags
105. forceindya
106. FreeDictionary
107. Fresqui
108. FriendFeed
109. Friendster
110. funP
111. fwisp
112. Gabbr
113. Gacetilla
114. Gamekicker
115. GiveALink
116. GlobalGrind
117. Gmail
118. Good Noows
119. Google
120. Google Buzz
121. Google Reader
122. Google Translate
123. Gravee
124. GreaterDebater
125. Grono.net
126. Grumper
127. Haber.gen.tr
128. Hacker News
129. Hadash Hot
130. Hatena
131. Hazarkor
132. Healthimize
133. Hedgehogs.net
134. HelloTxt
135. hipstr
136. Hitmarks
137. Hot Bookmark
138. Hotklix
139. Hotmail
140. HTML Validator
141. Hyves
142. ideaREF!
143. Identica
144. iGoogle
145. ihavegot
146. Instapaper
147. iOrbix
148. iSociety
149. iWiW
150. Jamespot
151. Jisko
152. JoliPrint
153. Jumptags
154. KaBlog
155. Kaboodle
156. Kaevur
157. Kipup
158. KiRTSY
159. Kledy
160. Kommenting
161. La tafanera
162. Laaikit
163. Ladenzeile
164. Librerio
165. Link Ninja
166. Link-a-Gogo
167. LinkedIn
168. Links Gutter
169. LinkShares
170. Linkuj.cz
171. Livefavoris
172. LiveJournal
173. LockerBlogger
174. Logger24.com
175. Lynki
176. Mail.ru
177. Markme
178. Mashbord
179. Mawindo
180. Meccho
181. meinVZ
182. Mekusharim
183. Memori.ru
184. Menéame
185. Messenger
186. Mindbodygreen
187. Mister Wong
188. Mixx
189. Moemesto.ru
190. mototagz
191. mRcNEtwORK
192. Multiply
193. myAOL
194. mylinkvault
195. Myspace
196. N4G
197. NetLog
198. Netvibes
199. Netvouz
200. NewsMeBack
201. NewsTrust
202. Newsvine
203. Nujij
204. OKNOtizie
205. oneview
206. OnGoBee
207. orkut
208. Osmosus
209. Oyyla
210. Packg
211. pafnet.de
212. PDF Online
213. PDFmyURL
214. PhoneFavs
215. PimpThisBlog
216. Ping.fm
217. Planypus
218. Plaxo
219. Plurk
220. Pochval.cz
221. PopEdition
222. Posteezy
223. Posterous
224. Prati.ba
225. Print
226. PrintFriendly
227. Pusha
228. QRF.in
229. Quantcast
230. Qzone
231. Read It Later
232. receeve.it
233. Reddit
234. Rediff MyPage
235. RedKum
236. RideFix
237. Scoop.at
238. Segnalo
239. Sekoman
240. Select2Gether
241. Shaveh
242. SheToldMe
243. ShirIntarIn
244. Simpy
245. Sina Weibo
246. Slashdot
247. SMI
248. SodaHead
249. Sonico
250. Speedtile
251. Sphinn
252. SpinSnap
253. Spoken To You
254. sportpost
255. springpad
256. Spruzer
257. Squidoo
258. Startaid
259. Startlap
260. Story Follower
261. studiVZ
262. Stuffpit
263. StumbleUpon
264. Stumpedia
265. Stylehive
266. Surfpeople
267. Svejo
268. Symbaloo
269. TagMarks.de
270. Tagvn
271. Tagza
272. tarpipe
273. TellMyPolitician
274. The Web Blend
275. Thinkfinity
276. ThisNext
277. Throwpile
278. Tip'd
279. TopSiteler
280. Transferr
281. Tulinq
282. Tumblr
283. Tusul
284. Tvinx
285. TweetMeme
286. Twitter
287. TwitThis
288. Typepad
289. Urlaubswerk
290. Viadeo
291. Virb
292. Visitez Mon Site
293. Vkontakte
294. vybrali SME
295. Vyoom
296. Webnews
297. Whois Lookup
298. Windy Citizen
299. WireFan
300. Wordpress
301. Worio
302. Wykop
303. Xanga
304. XING
305. Y! Bookmarks
306. Y! Buzz
307. Y! Mail
308. Yammer
309. Yardbarker
310. Yemle
311. Yigg
312. Yoolink
313. Yorumcuyum
314. Youblr.
315. Youbookmarks
316. YouMob
317. Yuuby
318. Zakladok.net
319. Zanatic
320. ZicZac
321. Zootool

Effectiveness

Efforts should remain strategic and a person should consider limiting the platforms she uses, otherwise it may be difficult to track real results to improve effectiveness. Too many social media platforms may cannibalize a brand if individuals are not careful.

Business Model

The television show American Idol is a great example of creating a following first and then delivering music brands second.  This show has launched many multi-million dollar brands. The shows community has tremendous buying power. This potential revenue stream is available to anyone who can create a similar type of following on or off-line.

JD: What made social media a more appropriate choice than a ‘traditional’ marketing approach?

Chief Biz Guru: Online marketing has only captured 16%-18% of the world's market (advertising industry), which tells me that there is tremendous growth potential. For most of the world a traditional approach to marketing is the most effective platform for marketing dollars.

Tradition Vs. Internet

Although we as consumers perceive internet dollars as a transition in business as we know it, it is only a niche market on a global scale. What exemplifies tradition are 2010 numbers.  As we end this year we should note that it was highest grossing year for retailers at 520 billion dollars in revenue, in which internet sales were only 11% of that. Using social media as a platform to sell products and services is a growing niche of the internet  but only a small fraction of the 11%.

The Social Media Niche

After all our social media focus is still on sales, right?  Don't take your eyes off the prize, which is revenue first in the form of a return on investment.

In this social media niche people want a relationship with brands, value delivered upfront before deciding to pay for anything, transparency, and through social media these needs are met. The Gallup Organization has done numerous surveys on customer engagement based on their findings I would argue the more prospects or customers are engaged the more loyal they will be to a brand. Social media is a wonderful platform to engage those prospects and customers early in the sales cycle and in the aftermarket.

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Conversations: Social Media Context

Business Coaching

By: Santi Chacon 

Business Coach

Every professional should have many conversations in his or her career with associates and constituents regarding business, psychologies, and trends;  new philosophies will be created and most important new self-concepts will be forged. 

This Was A Conversation That I Felt Presented New Insights:

I had a bit of an epiphany today... or maybe it is better described as a distillation of all this crap I have been sorting through.

The ONLY question everyone seems to be asking about Social Media Marketing is: 'How do I use it to make money?'

The short answer is this: social media marketing is NO different than traditional marketing...it just provides more venues and high scalability.

My personal definition of the role/intent of marketing is simple: Marketing's job is to get identify prospects and get them to (figuratively) raise their hand and say 'that looks like something I might be interested in.' Pretty basic right?

Somewhere along the way, somebody decided that social media marketing was going to change the dynamics of how people buy (and how companies sell.)

THIS IS WRONG!

Can you imagine walking up to someone at a networking event, introducing yourself, and then offering them your services at a special 50% discount if they act now?

Of course not...we all know that networking events represent an opportunity to meet new people and possibly get their business card so you can potentially schedule time to meet with them and get to know them better.

Guess what? Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, etc are no different thank networking events - with the obvious exception that you don't have to put on pants and endure cheap wine and crappy appetizers. Oh yeah...and he potential for scale is enormous! (e.g. you might be able to interact with 10 people at a networking event but you can message the crap out of your Facebook peeps!)

The diagram above is a work in progress but basically I am trying to integrate social media marketing into a framework that anyone can understand.... Please share your thoughts.

Response:

To be successful the objective in marketing needs to be segmentation. Any marketing effort (this includes social networking/Media) along with branding, should reach out far enough to find the low hanging fruit, or to those who are currently in the market for what the organization has to offer. If you do not think of it this way it  will be impossible to justify your time investment or to create an ROI. Companies don’t buy goods and services people do; social networking is about reaching out to people. Individuals who are reached out to can open doors for you and perhaps say ‘yes’ to your product or service.

Social Marketing embraces the concept of lead generation through branding and brand awareness; especially if we are seeking a ratio of prospects to closed sales as you spoke of in other conversations. If we are smart about business and become personal as we maximize exposure through social media, we can reach the low hanging fruit. If our intention is to segment those in the market today along with those who will be in the market tomorrow through social media, then ramping up toward our sales goals will be inevitable. The professionals, who are not able to get to the low hanging fruit using social media, shouldn’t think it’s impossible but should aim to develop necessary skills. This is not to say that we do not attempt to build relationships through long-term branding. An observation of quantum mechanics states that 'when our perception of a thing changes the very nature of that thing will change.' It is merely about breaking any limitation in our self-image and about the setting of our intention.

It really is about networking smart enough so that when you tell someone about your special they will decide to purchase it. Timing is everything in business, get in front of the right person at the right time and they will say yes. The key is to get in front of enough people all the time.

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The Business Coach: A No Brainnnerrrr

Business Coaching

By: Santi Chacon
Business Coach

If we are in business for ourselves or with someone else, there are studies you can take on, in which will create great momentum. These subjects are: 'The strengths Movement" (The Gallup Organization) as well as The Keirsey Method (David Keirsey). Both would seem to come out of the Positive Psychology Movement, because of similarities in their themes. You can work with these tools hand in hand.

Transformations

While we were sleeping organizations have transition from big and bulky to flat from centralized to decentralized. These businesses have moved from authoritarian leadership to authentic leadership, from hierarchy to teams, where authority is based on consensus.  Companies have moved from thinking of people as a capital expense to people as a capital investment. They moved from thinking people had produced systems, products, or services that were thought to be the competitive advantage, to understanding that people are the competitive advantage. The organizations with this curious yet fascinating infrastructure have learned to run like gazelles. All this is due to their talent other wise known as their people.

Discovery Of Discipline Mavericks

A laser focus on selecting the right candidates and with employee development infers that the attempts at seeking perfect candidates should not be sought through methods that promote generalizations but through methods that promote meaningful specifics.  Executives should discover based on a person's idiosyncratic neurological patterns (that's specific!) the right prospect for the role. As your process begins to discover the disciplined mavericks of the business world you would do well to create an environment that nurtures and motivates their genius.

When all is said and done it would seem that your people were custom tailored to excel at their roles in  your company.

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The Spiritual CEO: The Journey Into the Ego (1)

Executive Coach | Spirituality

By: Santi Chacon
Executive Coach

The Two Thought-Systems

Two thought systems exist in our lives. One thought system is based on the will or sovereignty of God the other is based on fear. The thought system that is based on fear is called the ego (in the bible it's called 'the old man' or 'the flesh') and the thought system that is based on the will of God is knowledge or truth (under one law, the law of love or God. - ACIM).

The ego's thought system is formed in one of two ways, either, we model unhealthy behaviors in our environment or we make decisions based on what we perceive to be emotional voids or personal attacks. The symptomatic actions that derive from our mis-perceptions are products of a deep rooted belief system that is embedded in our subconscious mind. These actions are played out simply because we don't understand our "truth" or true nature in God.

What we discover later about these actions is that the emotions attached to them become an addiction, in which become self perpetuating. On this note St. Paul states: "The acts of the sinful nature (ego) are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God".

It is this type of addictive behavior that become the illusions to our truth. We mistake physical sensation and fulfillment as the only reality.

Our Three Gifts

1. Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'there it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
2. God determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' 
3. The third gift is the realization of the first two gifts.  All along he was with us, and all along we were in Him; and we have been guided by his hand. God is always within us and we inside of him it is what we call: 'OmniPresence'. There is nowhere we can go where God is not. - The Psalmist uttered: "If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there".

The Beginning Of Our Way Out

So, it is here we must begin our journey, to understand the way out of what some have described as a dream or unreality. The ego is simply an extension of our projections, based on a legacy that was left behind by what the bible called the first Adam. The Garden of Eden, or the pre-separation condition, was a state of mind in which nothing was needed. When Adam listened to the "lies of the serpent," all he heard was untruth. You do not have to continue to believe what is not true unless you choose to do so.

-ACIM 

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The Life Coach: Resilience

Executive Coaching

By: Santi Chacon
Executive Coach

Alexandria, Alexandria, Alexandria

It started with my friends two year old, feeling a bit of fatigue. Soon Deanna came home a little frantic; Alex had a fever. We quickly ran the bathtub water, cooler than usual, to cool her down. This continued on throughout the evening; the little girl crying out to mommy, for help. Alex and I both hoping that her mom somehow had the secret to health and well being.

This went on for the entire week, jolting awake by Alex's sobs and running bath water to cool her. When Alex's fever subsided a bit, to something mom was happy with she would lay her back down to hopefully find rest.

In observing this drama unfold, I became aware that when Alex felt better in between the ups and downs of her fever, she was swept away by a cheerful state of alacrity. She asked (in only the way a two year could; mumbling) to go outside to play, she wanted to enjoy the freedom of being two; in that wonderful carefree way. She wanted to run around and to enjoy life once again; such a beautiful little soul. In my heart I knew her resilience was something we all could take note of.

Thoughts

How many of us choose to enjoy life? Or to re-awaken our freedom to live carefree right after we experience an unmet expectation a heart break, an emotional interruption or detour? How many of us stand up with great alacrity and get on with life with the enthusiasm to live the life we were meant to lead?

Would it be true to say that we fall into the temptation of wallowing in the mire of our situation? or allowing ourselves to be swept away by the mellow drama of our self-pity?

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”

Viktor Frankle

When it comes down to it, it really is about how we respond to life, and our attitude along the way.

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The Executive Coach: Simple Leadership Theory

Executive Coaching

By: Santi Chacon
Executive Coach

The Engaging Leader

We live in a world system that is highly governed by influence. Unmistakably, those with the most influence receive the most privilege. It is those who have learned to govern by influence who become ‘Leaders’. If we are in the business world, we must learn how to be thought leaders and how to grow in congruence with our unique voice.

Simply put, the role of leadership is to create a unique vision, voice, to develop a character that is congruent with that voice, and to find those who desire to follow our standard.

Our goal must be to move from transactional and authoritative leadership to authentic, principled centered, transformational, and servant leadership. All this means is that we should move away from ‘Just doing our job’ or ‘fulfilling our responsibilities’ (transactional leadership) or ‘calling all the shots’ and ‘micro-managing’ (authoritative leadership) to a leader that acts on his understanding of guiding principles such as the law of reciprocity, the law of love, locus of control, as well as sound business ethics and principles (principle centered leadership). We should move closer to being a leader who comes with his warts and all; who is not afraid to fail in front of constituents; one who shows his humanity and works on the congruence of his character (authentic leadership).  We should choose a character goal of being the leader who is driven by his passion, and vision to be a catalyst for the transformation of his business (transformational leadership), a leader who dedicates himself to serving and who labors to contribute and add value to his constituents and his customers (servant leadership).

People want to follow someone that they want to follow; be someone they want to follow.

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The OCD ADHD CEO: Hey Michelangelo, CALM DOWN! (4)

Business Coaching and Business Finance

By: Santi Chacon
Business Coach

This Is Not Your Grandmother's Finance

Don't complicate it! have more money coming in than going out, keep cash reserves for a rain day or an economic burst, know when you reach your financial cap on a product or service and set market share goals, and diversify in other industries.

Good Accounting

Positive cash flow is a big challenge with smaller companies.  Negative cash flow is symptomatic of faulty marketing or no marketing at all. Being a great marketer takes experience.  If you haven't forged the experience to make your company profitable just know that marketing is a skill that can be learned or outsourced.

Stewardship

Great financial stewardship should require three things. The first concept is to save what you can, the second is spend slowly, and third create more income streams within reasonable time. Consider the illustration of having a tub (this represents your business), with holes (these represent accounts payable/debt) and  running faucets (these represent accounts receivable/earning opportunities).  The goal of the business finance game is to turn on as many faucets and plug as many holes up, so that the water (cash) steadily increases.

Water

Your first financial obligation to stakeholders is to grow cash reserves. Cash has the benefit of keeping your lights on and keeping jobs i.e. buying you time when you are racing against the clock to produce results.  You will have rainy days in business maybe even rainy years brought about by unexpected market or economic conditions. Be prepared! Save at least two years worth of of your company's expenses.

Holes

An executive needs to be disciplined in spending, if you find yourself making poor purchasing decisions I have a few suggestions you can apply before making a purchase:

• Measure and Document Your Return on Investment 
• Document Your Opportunity Costs 
• Create a Purchasing Board

Faucets

Set market share goals. Focus on penetrating target markets until you meet your objective.  As your business experiences steady growth began focusing a percentage of your resources on creating a related subsidiary. A key to creating a successful subsidiary is to leverage current strengths i.e. knowledge, experience, customers, vendors, partners etc. in gaining traction in your new niche.

Examples Of Related Industries

A few examples of closely related industries would be Telecommunications and PBX (Long Distance and Phone Systems), Telecommunications and Teleconferencing (Long Distance and Audio Conferencing), Hosted Software Solutions and Stand Alone Software Solutions, Business Consulting and Business Coaching, and Business Consulting and Information Products (reports, books, booklets, e-books, subscription based publications online and offline etc.).  All these related businesses can be leveraged using the same resources.

This type critical thought can be a little tricky if you are not familiar with it, so if you have any questions I have free answers.

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The OCD ADHD CEO: Hey Michelangelo, CALM DOWN! (3)

Business Coaching and Market Research

By: Santi Chacon
Business Coach

...Okay, I'll Give In

Hey, I just had an earth shattering revelation 'If you are going to be fixated and OCD about something obsess over your people'  Wow! you read it here first. After all say it with me, "Everything is marketing!" Your brand is on the line. Start a cult that revolves around your brand and began from the inside out; the best companies always do. If you're gonna be a perfectionist you might as well make sure you choose the right thing to be a perfectionist about otherwise you'll  look like an idiot. No point in being a perfectionist in something that has no value or consequence (hmmmm, now there's a thought).  Just don't lose sight of what is truly important.

Enough Of The Shenanigans!

So far we covered management and branding, now we are going to cover market research. If branding was a jigsaw puzzle market research data when interpretated would be the picture on the box. In other words you have no idea what your brand should look like to your key stakeholders unless you took a hard look at the box (market research data). Many executives attempt to guess in this area, some become lucky and have successful careers but some guess and find themselves in bankruptcy, the choice is yours.

The Market Research

Ultimately, as a business owner you should have located some type of industry news source with market data i.e. journals, blogs, research articles, etc. If you read regularly on your industry this market research stuff won't seem so overwhelming. Ongoing industry research will provide a landscape to measure customer data against and as a consequence provide a holistic depiction of your companies advantages and disadvantages.

Macro-Market Research

The first area of market research is going to be embedded in your business plan. This is nothing more then a business prediction based on your interpretation of data measured against your ideals. These are predictions on how economic forces and conditions will affect your offering and vise versa. After examining your ideals and your environment you'll gather experienced professionals to assist (if possible) and you'll start to develop your offering, beginning your long journey toward profitability.

Micro-Market Research

The second type of market research is based on your real-time response from key stake holders i.e. front-line employees and customers.

In the beginning, as you make your first five thousand cold calls you have painful conversations with prospects and forge through your eureka moments bloodied and battered. You began to understand your offering through the eyes of the market as you receive push back on your value propositions from talkative prospects who explain to you why they need or don't need your product. With the lapse of time and relentless effort your marketing message becomes more relevant; you began to fine tune your offering, your value propositions, and brand. Finally, after years of experience and countless incremental adjustments to your offering and marketing message your sales efforts have transitioned to a sales force. 

At the end of the day you retire to your quiet office. You take off your suit jacket and drape it over a seat, you sit back in your overstuffed leather love seat, lean back, and put up your feet on your ottoman. Exhausted you take out your long awaited cigar and clip from a near by humidor and began to reflect on your time on the front-lines.

As a start up executive you had experienced customer acquisition and customer turn over. You had experienced customer loyalty, prospects who were on the fence, while others who became customers soon after continued  shopping around in hopes of finding more value or a lower price elsewhere. And even then it was hard to understand the motives of your customers.

How do these ongoing complexities affect your brand?

Now, you have about a dozen sales professionals, a few resellers, account managers, and a solidified marketing strategy that brings thousands of visitors to your website and blog weekly. As a sales person you could barely manage your own sales pipeline and now you are suppose to make assumptions regarding brand experience.

Just as we talked about in our last conversation you should want congruent and consistent branding. You can't have this if you fail to understand how individuals experience your brand.  You also don't know what attracts or discourages prospects or customers from converting into raving fans. Oh, sure you may have some notions or have picked up on a few things  but unless you have clear cut market data you have only observed the shadows of your business potential.

Market research data should be collected and labored over to understand the implications on your business.

So, roll up your sleeves and get to work and start developing your questionnaires. After all a marriage is so much better when you are intentional.  Roll out a marketing plan that puts a questionnaire in a customer's hot little hands every six months and provide incentives for filling out your 'short' questionnaires. Most importantly, when you receive your data began to make appropriate changes and enhancements.

...and to all a good night!

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The Spiritual CEO: Our Passions

Executive Coaching and Spirituality

By: Santi Chacon
Executive Coach

Driven by the need to excel in our talents and abilities.  We dig in our heels and push against the tide of what others said we could not do.  Working long hours, we move from smaller wins to larger wins and we began to feel a sense of pride about what we have accomplished.  We learn to be competent and skillful and we learn to deliver our product or service more effectively with time. We shortly find that through the lens of our accomplishments we grow less and less tolerant of those around us who do not deliver value to our goals or business. 

We have attempted to push our way to the top where a delicate balance between reality and illusion lie. Reality is defined by a mindset that is based on love and illusions are defined by a mindset that is based on fear. The world we slip into is a world where our projected guilt transforms into critical attitudes toward ourselves and others.  This is a superficial existence that feeds on strategy, knowledge, drive, and lack of love in its many forms. We have entered an illusion, in which we strive to receive and people are used to satisfy an appetite. In this world it is easy to lose recognition of who our brothers and sisters are beyond a physical body. 

Back To Eden

Now the serpent was more subtle and crafty than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made. And he [Satan] said to the woman, Can it really be that God has said, You shall not eat from every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit from the trees of the garden, Except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. But the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die, For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil and blessing and calamity. And when the woman saw that the tree was good (suitable, pleasant) for food and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave some also to her husband, and he ate. Then the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves apronlike girdles. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you? He said, I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Our Perception Of An Exchange 

Adam had exchanged his innocence for a perception of God, which made him feel ashamed and afraid. Every day we have an opportunity to make the same judgment of body identification or spiritual identification. We can see ourselves separate and use the body for our appetites or we can see our brothers and sisters for who they truly are.

Jesus: You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who so much as looks at a woman with evil desire for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye serves as a trap to ensnare you or is an occasion for you to stumble and sin, pluck it out and throw it away. It is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be cast into hell (Gehenna). And if your right hand serves as a trap to ensnare you or is an occasion for you to stumble and sin, cut it off and cast it from you.

Jesus speaks of one of the most dangerous of appetites, which is the first step down a path that will consume us. This is a journey, in which each step becomes easier and easier to take enticing our senses into a perpetuated illusion, where lust is mistaken for love; a world where only guilt abides.

The Choice Of Exchange

Communication ends separation. Attack promotes it. The body is beautiful or ugly, peaceful or savage, helpful or harmful, according to the use to which it is put. And in the body of another you will see the use to which you have put yours. If the body becomes a means you give to the Holy Spirit to use on behalf of union of the Sonship, you will not see anything physical except as what it is. Use it for truth and you will see it truly. Misuse it and you will misunderstand it, because you have already done so by misusing it. Interpret anything a art from the Holy Spirit and you will mistrust it. This will lead you to hatred and attack and loss of peace.

Yet all loss comes only from your own misunderstanding. Loss of any kind is impossible. But when you look upon a brother as a physical entity, his power and glory are 'lost' to you and so are yours. You have attacked him, but you must have attacked yourself first. Do not see him this way for your own salvation, which must bring him his. Do not allow him to belittle himself in your mind, but give him freedom from his belief in littleness, and thus escape from yours. As part of you, he is holy. As part of me, you are. To communicate with part of God Himself is to reach beyond the Kingdom to its Creator, through His Voice Which He has established as part of you.

-ACIM

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The Executive Coach: The Relaxation Response

Executive Coaching and Emotional Intelligence

 























By: Santi Chacon

Executive Coach

Self-Control

Self-Control is the name of the game when you are leading a competitive organization, and feel the pull of emotions with remnants of distorted voices of broken expectations still ringing in your ears, when things heat up and stakeholders are coming down fast because last quarter's numbers weren’t what they should have been.

Whether you are leading a family, a ministry or business you are leading. And if you are leading objectivity is extremely important, to stay outside your emotions for the moment when your tendency is to be inside your emotions is key. Bottom line when you feel life’s pressures this is the time you need to show your constituents your unshakable character. The rule of thumb the more stressful the situation the more relaxed and objective you need to be.

You may ask: How am I supposed to do this?

Let's start by going over a few concepts first.

Psychosomatic

Psychosomatic denotes that our thinking affects our body for good or for worse. But, the challenge to stay “cool headed” may have its roots deeper than you have imagined. In your earlier years if you had exposure to an insecure or emotional authority figure, whether a boss, a church leader, or a parent where yelling and over reacting was the norm, than ingrained in your neuropathway could be the habit to over emotionalizing or over reacting in times of stress.

Along with loosing our temper is the danger of causing wear and tear internally. When we tend to loose our temper and our heart rate goes up, blood pressure rises. When this is done consistently it can cause micro tears in our arteries, there by giving way for plaque to build up, this may cause heart disease, never mind the ulcers or weakened immune system. These are just a couple of instances of the damaged that can be caused by over emotionalizing. There are more dangers to “loosing control” than a damaged relationship, its damaged health.

Stimulus and Response

Stimulus and response plays a factor in our tendency to react to life’s stressful situations. If I punch you in the nose there is a split moment before you decide to react. If I’m bigger than you, you may consider running, if I’m smaller than you, you might consider hitting me back. This reaction is called the fight or flight response which is highly embedded in our psychology and physiology. The ability to control our destiny lies between this space of stimulus and response. If you control this space you can lead incredible change.

In history those who learned to control this space between stimulus and response had facilitated national and world change i.e. Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mother Theresa.

The Answer

There is a way out of old patterns and into self-renewal. One of the latest discoveries in psychology was that relaxation has the propensity to heal the body and to restore the wear and tear. Along with relaxation, meditation has been recognized to develop the prefrontal cortex which is the control panel for things like self-control, motor skills, and speech.

When a person meditates they gain the freedom to use the space between stimulus and response constructively. This can be a powerful ally and tool for leadership development. Start by contributing 10-15 minutes a day within 8 weeks, you will notice a great transformation in emotional intelligence, and maturity.

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The Business Coach: The Beginning of a Work in Progress

Business Coaching and Small Business

By: Santi Chacon

Business Coach

Posturing

When it comes to starting a part-time business or a business that is running on a shoestring budget your posture and follow-through are everything. The key to success right out of the gate is to work with what you have. Don't obsess over what you don't have. Don’t use anything as an excuse to fail.

If you have the ability and resources to launch a website and marketing materials than do it to whatever degree you can. Extend yourself as far as you will go. If you don’t have the ability to set up a website become professionally creative. Do not use lack as an excuse not to take action on your dreams. You have to develop the skills to move forward. And you develop the skills to move forward by moving forward and persisting until they have developed. Plain and simple, let nothing deter you from action.

Do not make the mistake of thinking that you have to have everything in place in order to succeed. This is not true. I have won business based on a simple text email, from people who have never heard of me, that simply stated my intentions; I have associates that have won business due to their initiative and reputation of excellent service – no marketing materials exist.

Mull it Over

Moving forward with your existing resources is no excuse not to think things through. Make sure you put thought into what you are doing. Think through your marketing information, think on paper or word document, even if you don’t have a marketing budget to invest. This process will help you to think through your value proposition, so you will sound half intelligent when speaking to a prospect.

Now, that you put away all the excuses not to take action and have thought about your offering, put yourself out there. If you don’t have business cards to pass out put an email together and send it out. Look online for a couple of hundred phone numbers to call. Get out there and get your story in front of people consistently. In business timing is everything if you hit a chord with the right professional at the right time you will get business. 

If this seems a little too far fetched for you, partner with someone who provides a similar service. Let the CEO or VP of Business Development know that you will sell for them for a commission. This is also known as a reseller agreement. Let them know you will be willing to exchange your efforts for their reputation and collateral. You may find that it is more profitable for you to join them than to go our on your own, especially if they have a reputation in the market place. There are many businesses that create revenue through reselling another companies products or services.

Accidental Success

What happens when you stumble across a potential customer that says yes? Make a connection by providing extra value free of charge to show your worth. The added value could be a free consultation, free trial, white paper, or a free e-book that is related to your services. When you get an opportunity to provide a free assessment or analysis or added value than you have earned the right to ask for the business. After a few of these you will have the confidence and finances to put some marketing materials together. Value needs to be contributed  to the fact that your potential sales are not based on marketing materials but on gaining the skills to move forward in the light of difficulty.

Creating Leverage In a Growing Business

As your company becomes moderately successful you may find that you are limited by billable hours. When you can't find time to bring on more clients began investing in creating something you can sell along with your services. Restructure your business model, so that you can sell more of something without having to invest your time in billable hours, raise your prices, partner with others, to create a one stop shop for any related needs you may run into, or work to resell other services to existing clients. These suggestions have the potential of adding credibility to your company. 

You are always limited by your lack of imagination and hard work. 'Necessity is the mother of invention.'

Remember to think outside your box and to always posture yourself for business success.

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The OCD ADHD CEO: Hey Michelangelo, CALM DOWN! (2)

Business Coaching and Branding

By: Santi Chacon
Business Coach

Are You Celebrating Progress Instead Of Perfection?

A key to reinforcing behavior is to celebrate, to make things enjoyable, and to have fun.  After all you are not normal you should know this because you are the only one you know of that has been wearing business suits since the age of four, has the money from your lemonade stand from the age of six, and started reading the Wall Street Journal at the age of 10. Most people don't strive toward 'the perfect' like you do.  Don't miss the fact that you are never alone when it comes to business, so if you can't have fun with this stuff for yourself do it for your employees and your customers.  They would rather have someone who is fun loving rather than a stick in the mud.

Let me remind you: As you work on your business please understand 'the perfect' will never exist; however, progress will always exist. Do not let the perfect be the enemy of progress.  Just because things are not exactly the way you want them to be doesn't mean things aren't worth while or worthy of celebration. If you can't celebrate the small victories, what can you celebrate?

Progressing Is Very Pragmatic

For my intent and purpose here I will describe progress as taking a few of these concepts we are kicking around and incorporating them into a plan. If there are things that I mentioned that stick out to you treat it as you would a technology you are attempting to implement into your business. An implementation should consist of the following stages: pre-planning, choosing a cross-organizational team to set goals and priorities, re-planning with team feedback, establishing processes and protocols, planning for problems, working with each department toward implementation, training and development for all employees, establishing opened communication, and reinforcement.

Branding

The conceptual foundation for branding is a unique message that is communicated to a specific demographic and psychographic. You want your business to communicate something to a niche market, something that is relevant to them and their needs.

Everything Is Marketing

Your business just doesn't stop at the end of the day but continues to interact with people as you pick up your dry cleaning or go to the super market, as your managers go to the movies or the restaurant down the road, as employees share their day with friends and families, as customer service interacts with customers, as customer support assists a customer in resolving issues, as sales people speak to prospects, as your receptionist greets a visitors as they see your office building for the first time, and as online visitors visit your website or blog.

So, do me a favor, I want you  to think through a few things over or maybe just revisit a couple of concepts again. Hey, have fun with this, your right brain will work much better if you do.

Will You Marry Me?

Answer the question: What type of brand is relevant to your target market? Branding speaks to the personality and preferences of prospects and customers.  This is why Edward Jones and Charles Schwab  look conservative, Starbucks is trendy, and why McDonalds has a playground. What are your potential customers and existing customers looking for when they look for your product or service. You are asking them for a date in hopes of a marriage of some sort, not just a one night stand. What romantic qualities are they looking for in a company?

What Is Your Story?

Be like a novelist; create a character profile for your company. The more in depth your company profile is, the more dynamism others will witness. It will not just be a value proposition but a living and breathing story. Revisit a movie or novel that you enjoyed. Take a hard look at a character, his or her personality, courage, sense of humor, neurosis, and narcissistic tendencies. Notice how the writer hints at pieces of the subconscious, which intrigue you and compel you to know more. The character has a complex past that shapes and molds the characteristics that unfold before you. What do you want to tell your customers and prospects? Do not think 'value proposition' just think 'story'.

Are You On The Same Page?

The next step is to create different dimensions of your story through out each department and streamline the company's personality. From your schwagg to how clean your restrooms are, all communicate your brand. Branding needs congruence. Each department, each employee, and each manager has the opportunity to tell their portion of the story. If you make the story exciting and adventurous, each individual will talk and brand your company. Chant it like a mantra, say it with me: 'Everything Is Marketing'. Be congruent from the website to how employees interact with each other and with customers. You have the opportunity to improve each person's life that comes under your influence. You have a chance to create any impression you want, so make it a lasting one.

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