Business Keys To Success: Enlarging Others

Enlarging others is an important key to success. As a young employee and ultimately business owner I was striving for success and somehow it was always painful. It turned out that I had the wrong attitude. Instead of enlarging others I was always trying to beat them in an effort to win.

I had played team and individual sports in high school and college and understood the value of team. When I started working after college, initially for large companies and eventually on my own, all that sports training had no impact.

Step 1: Enlarging Yourself

I just kept getting it wrong. In sports I always valued my teammates. Somehow at work I looked at my co-workers as competitors. They were competition for me to overcome in order to rise in the company.

With this totally self-centered attitude I was miserable. Finally I realized that as long as I was trying to beat others or hold them down, that a part of me was down there with them.

At the time, I was working for a large metropolitan newspaper, The Denver Post. I realized that if I was to rise in the company that I had to believe in my teammates, not try to keep them down. This turned out to be a critical step in enlarging myself.

Some people enlarge themselves through more online training, corporate training, business training or business courses. These are all good but there is one thing that is critical to being an enlarger. Learning without application is nothing. And the first person that the learning has to be applied to is you.

So the first step to enlarging others is that I had to enlarge myself.

Enlarging Adds Value To The Team

As I enlarged myself and became more focused on the team and what we supposed to accomplish some great things started to happen.

I was able to have truly meaningful connections with my team members. Instead of viewing them as adversaries or impediments to progress I saw them as human beings trying to do their best. I offered encouragement. I started to receive encouragement in return.

Along with the encouragement I began to know what they liked, disliked and was able to connect with them even better. As I became an enlarger an amazing thing happened. I got promoted. Six months before I thought I was at a dead end.

Enlarging Makes You More Valuable

As I went through this transformation from a team member that detracted from the team to an enlarger I started a process where I became more valuable. I wasn’t doing this just for me personally, but also because it helped others.

Not only was I connecting better which allowed me to communicate and integrate at an improved level, I was making myself better which was making me more valuable.

In my personal business coaching practice I look for opportunities to enlarge not only my clients but how my clients can become enlargers in their companies. I firmly believe that a great deal of small business success in based on the business owner’s ability to be an enlarger.

As a self-employedbusiness owner, entrepreneur, solo professional, corporate executive or individual how are others seeing you? Do they see you as an enlarger? Do you make them better than they are alone through your inspiration and contribution? Do you know what your teammates value?

There are many more pluses to being an enlarger. I learned an important lesson that has stayed with me to this day. Be an enlarger of others. When you are enlarging others the odds are in your favor that they will promote and enlarge you.

Business Keys To Success: The Power of Focus

As a young boy growing up in Chappaqua, New York I learned about the power of focus. Unfortunately, I was learning how to use the power of focus this bright fall day but I didn’t have the wisdom to use it properly.

I was always intrigued by my Dad’s magnifying glass. My Dad wasn’t home this day and I decided to have some fun. For those of you from upstate New York you know that with the fall comes a great deal of leaf raking. I was supposed to rake the leaves. I detested leaf raking. Why?

Focus—Know What You Want To Accomplish

As soon as you cleared up the area you raked there were leaves all over it the next day. I had read in one of my science books in intermediate school that if you held a magnifying glass over a piece of paper or something that would burn that it would focus the power of the sun’s rays to be strong enough to start a fire and burn the object.

My focus was on getting rid of the leaves. And, in a stroke of brilliance I decided to see if I could use my magnifying glass to burn the leaves after I had raked them into a pile. Raking was bad enough. But then having to cart them out into the woods was more than I wanted to handle.

Focus—Know The Consequences

I took the magnifying glass and placed it over a leaf on the pile and let the sun’s rays do their work. But for some reason nothing was happening. Then I remembered that I had to hold the magnifying glass still in order for the sun’s rays to focus.

Once I did that the magic began. One leaf started to burn and as it was burning I grabbed the part that was not burned and stuck it next to a new leaf. After a few minutes I had a fire going.

Then it dawned on me that once the pile burned down that I would be burning the lawn beneath it. That was not good. As I was contemplating that problem the wind which I had not even thought about gave my fire new energy and started spreading it across the yard.

Frantically, I tried to control the leaves by stomping on them and after about 10 minutes the fire was out. Fortunately, the ground and lawn were wet and did not burn.

I sat down and breathed a huge sigh of relief. I had averted disaster. I looked up at the sun and then at the magnifying glass. Yes, the power of focus is an awesome power.

Focus-It Works

In my personal business coaching practice I have to bring the power of focus as do my clients to create pathways to accelerate the process of their successful performance.

Whether you are a self-employed business owner, entrepreneur, solo professional or corporate executive the power of focus is necessary for exceptional performance. No amount of online training, corporate training, business training, business courses or business skills training will work without utilizing the power of focus.

To use the power of focus wisely, unlike my childhood experience, keep the following in mind:

1. Know your priorities. Make sure you are putting your focus on the right thing.
2. Be committed to achieving your goal. Focus without continuous commitment is like holding the magnifying glass for a few seconds over a leaf and expecting it to burn.
3. Pay attention to the details. As in the leaf story where I didn’t pay attention to the details, you must look ahead and see where your focus is taking you.
4. Follow up. Always assess the results of your focus and where it is taking you. Success in business and life is about resetting your focus.

Utilize the power of focus. As you do you can adjust your focus to take you to the business and life you desire?

Business Keys To Success: Leadership Is Empowerment

Over the years my best leaders whether it be in business, sports or volunteer organizations are the ones who practice empowerment. Leaders come in all shapes and sizes.

And, even with all the online training, corporate training, business courses and business skills training developing great leadership that leads to the empowerment of others is not that easy to find.

What Is Empowerment?

In my personal business coaching practice and in my businesses I have learned that there are several ways to look at empowerment. The definition of empowerment has a couple of different angles. The one that I like best and which I have found works best for my personal business coaching clients who are self-employed business owners, entrepreneurs, solo professionals and corporate executives is this:

Empowerment is: “To equip or supply with an ability; enable. More specifically, empowerment is the giving of an ability, enablement or permission.

Empowerment And Leadership

A leader is great not because of his or her power, but because of his or her ability to empower others. Success without anybody to take over once you move on is not success, but failure.

Empowering others allows you to build a team for future small business success and growth. In the corporate world empowerment has the same benefits.

Loyalty to the leader reaches its highest peak when the follower has personally grown through the mentorship of the leader. Why? You may have won people’s minds but with empowerment you will also win their hearts.

Empowerment Makes You A People Person

Since leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less it is important to amplify your leadership skills by being a people person. The last time I checked, leadership and its effectiveness is all about building relationships.

When you lead and empower others it builds a bond of loyalty. It also enables you to more easily introduce and implement positive change.

To have the greatest influence as a leader practice the art of empowerment.