Indifference: The First Enemy From Within

Posted on by

We are not born with courage. And, we are not born with fear. Both courage and fear are acquired through our business and life experiences. Collaborating with and supporting clients as a personal business coach in The Woodlands and as a personal business coach in Houston we encounter fears that are holding us back, yet we don’t recognize them.

One such fear is indifference. It is certainly okay to be indifferent at times. But, if indifference is dominating your reactions and thought processes it will lead you in a bad direction. Indifference is about a fear of setting priorities or knowing how to set priorities. Read more →

Building a Winning Culture: Establishing a Clear Purpose

Posted on by

In previous posts I have looked at building safety and sharing vulnerability which are two components to building a winning culture. A winning culture is one where people want to work at the company they are at. It is where, in your personal relationships that people want to be with you.

The third component to building a winning culture is to establish a clear purpose. I clear purpose is critical to guide the actions and decision making within a company or in relationships. Read more →

Sharing Vulnerability- Building a Winning Culture

Posted on by

Here’s another look at sharing vulnerability to build on the previous post. A winning culture starts inside of you. Then, in your business and relationships, you spread your beliefs about yourself, your world and most importantly how you care for others. Culture, in a business or in personal relationships, is defined by how you care for others.

One of the key components in building a winning culture with others is to create an atmosphere where you can share vulnerability. Sharing vulnerability is not easy for most people. If you share vulnerability you may say to someone, “I don’t know.” Or, “I need your help.” Another way to share vulnerability is to ask for someone’s opinion or expertise. You are not asking for direct help in this case. You want their opinion to help you gain clarity on something where you are stuck or confused. Read more →

Building A Good Culture: Sharing Vulnerability

Posted on by

One of the most overlooked attributes in building a good culture, mostly because leaders are not aware of it, is sharing vulnerability. They are not aware of it because it is counterintuitive. You are told that to be a good leader you must be strong. Yet, the strongest leaders are the ones who admit to and share their vulnerabilities.

What makes them stronger is several things. First of all, when you admit to your weaknesses, your vulnerabilities, you are showing self-awareness, and this causes others to see you as authentic and to trust you. Secondly, when you and your followers are aware of your vulnerabilities you can give those that support you responsibility for taking care of those things that are not in your strength zone. This gives them ownership which is important in creating a good culture. Read more →

Building Safety (Part 4): The Business Steps

Posted on by

In the previous blog post we talked about the personal steps you can take as a leader to build safety and a better culture. In this post we are going to look at the business steps. When I do personal business coaching in Houston and personal business coaching in The Woodlands the bigger challenges to building safety come in the business steps.

Why? The business steps determine the quality of person you bring in the door and ultimately employ. You can bring in people who meet the experience and education qualifications, yet if they are not willing or good at connecting, it will be a never-ending challenge to build a safe and good culture. Read more →

Building Safety (Part 3): The Personal Steps

Posted on by

In the previous two blog posts we talked about building a culture of safety and how it centers on our desire to belong. What are some steps we can take to create that culture? After all, very often it is easy to identify WHY we need to do something and WHAT needs to be done. But, it is the HOW that can hold us back.

As a personal development business coach in Houston I am often reminded in collaborating with clients and even from my own experiences as a business owner, some of which were fairly large, that it is the start of instituting change that stops us. Read more →

Building Safety (Part 2): Do I Belong Here?

Posted on by

As a business coach in The Woodlands, I am always struck by the great sense of belonging that this community generates. It is welcoming but not overly so. People there have to get to know you. Yet, there is something special about The Woodlands. And the people who live there are proud to be part of this vibrant community.

All of us want to belong. As human beings one of our primal instincts is to look for belonging cues. And, like The Woodlands, we want to belong to something bigger than ourselves. Belonging is about connection. Very often, one of the challenges I work with as a personal business coach in companies is with the culture and creating a greater sense of belonging. Read more →

Building Safety (Part 1)

Posted on by

As a personal business coach in The Woodlands and also in my business coaching in Houston the first thing I must do to build trust and rapport is to create a culture of safety. This is true in collaborating with and supporting individuals and groups.

Whether it is the small business owner, a large corporation or individual clients my primary goal is for them to feel safe. If you don’t feel safe you will always minimize your sharing of what is going on that needs to be addressed. In other words, without safety, fear rules. And when fear is your guiding force, whether it be in your business or personal relationships it will ultimately lead to difficult situations because it promotes a lack of trust. Read more →

Group Culture Is a Powerful Force

Posted on by

As a personal business coach in Houston I have the opportunity to work with teams in corporations. In my personal business coaching in The Woodlands, I get to work with small businesses and the teams within the businesses.

Whether the organization is large or small there is a desire to have good culture. It has been shown in studies that a strong culture can increase income by several hundred percent! We know that a good culture works. We are generally not sure why it works. Read more →

How the Kindergarteners Won

Posted on by

In the previous post I related an experiment that was done to highlight aspects that create a good culture in which teams can be productive. As a self-improvement business coach in the Woodlands one of the areas of focus in corporations and small businesses that I collaborate with has been regarding culture and how culture impacts not only a team’s efficiency but effectiveness.

The kindergarteners in the experiment won against teams of business students. They also carried the experiment to other groups. The kindergarteners defeated lawyers and CEOs. So, what was going on that created this unexpected result? Read more →