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THIS WEEK
Embrace Your Mediocrity
ALSO IN THIS EDITION
Many people wait for things to be “perfect” before they pursue their dreams and goals. They wait for the perfect conditions, the perfect attitude, and the perfect time of year. They want to achieve their goals … but the time just isn’t right.
They wait to take action on the things they need to do to grow their business until they have their strategic plan in place, until staff turnover settles down, until they stop being so busy, until they get a few more clients. They want to get around to taking the actions they need to do to grow their business … but the time just isn’t right.
Sound familiar?
By waiting for the “right” time before acting – you are accepting your business as being less than it could be.
People often procrastinate because of fear – fear that they won’t be able to handle the results of their action (either good or bad). They are afraid that "I can't do it", "They will reject me," or "I'm not good enough".
These are huge fears felt by most business owners. These fears end up paralysing people in place, numbing them into inactivity.
So if you recognise yourself in these patterns what can you do about it?
… Start from wherever you are.
By that I mean, look at just one thing that needs doing immediately, and start there. Don’t try and change the world in one day … don't tackle the big fears at the beginning. Sneak up on them.
Just do one small thing, which in the process will also help you to clarify your direction and goals.
If you need to revamp your business cards … start there. If you need to get some direct mail or marketing out there to attract new customers … start there.
Just start with one thing, one idea, and one strategy and get that done. When that is finished, do another "one thing".
Don't try doing everything all at once or you will become like the couch potato who suddenly decides they want to run a marathon – all great intentions but burnt out within the week.
Small consistent steps are the way to go. You don’t need perfect situations to get started. You just need the courage to take the first step even if it isn’t a big one or perfectly executed.
If you remember back to when you learnt to ride a bike, you were mediocre before you became good. Give yourself permission to make mistakes and give things a go while you learn.
And know that starting any journey will trigger "stuff" for you. Prepare to be challenged. There will be high points and deep lows. There will be days when things sail along smoothly and other days when you feel like you are walking through cement. You will be run off your feet with clients one day, and surrounded by silence another day. This is all part of running a business.
Each opportunity in life carries its own risk – no opportunity comes risk free. If you are fearful of the negative result that may occur, then you will not be willing to fully accept the risk and take the opportunity when it presents itself. If you are afraid of being wrong, then you will do something that will end up making you wrong.
If you are afraid, even if you do see an opportunity in front of you, you will be too scared to take it – worrying that you may fail. You will go out of your way to talk yourself out of the opportunity, looking for all the evidence to support why you shouldn’t do something. You will interpret every bit of data as telling you the reasons why the opportunity wouldn’t have worked. You talk yourself out of success.
The people who succeed are the ones who have the greatest clarity combined with the most consistent action. Keep revisiting your path and direction. When things are murky, take time out to clear your vision. If you do that, the marketing actions you take will bring greater results.
You see, unless you believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you.
In business,
- the first sell is always to yourself,
- the second to your team and
- the third to your customers.
You need to buy the concept and be fully on board first, before anyone else will come on board.
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| HR Tip of the Week: How to Review Jobs That Have Changed |
Some employees complain that their annual performance review is not relevant, as their duties and responsibilities have substantially changed since they last set their goals and objectives.
This is a challenge for many businesses. While some jobs stay fundamentally the same from year to year, other jobs flow and change almost like an amoeba. What should managers do to review performance in those situations?
Ideally, each time your employee changes roles, or takes on new responsibilities, you need to set new performance goals and objectives.
If you work on the basis of projects, each project should have its own mini-review built into it to help people reflect and learn.
You can also set up mini-reviews every quarter for fast moving jobs, just to keep things on track. These don't have to be the full "song and dance" routine, but more in the line of a half hour discussion that is distilled down into a maximum one-page of agreed objectives, "riding instructions", and agreement on delegated authority.
What you are really doing is setting out a one-page project plan, just to ensure both of you are working from the same page and have a shared understanding.
But what if you haven't done this, and you only realise it when the review rolls around? In those cases, admit you stuffed up, that the objectives are no longer valid, and focus on the learnings for both of you. It is better to use the review as a way to work out how to move forward, than look backwards and try and force a review on something that is no longer meaningful.
When in doubt, come back to the reason you are doing the review. Are you doing the reviews to boost productivity, enhance communication, and build your team, or are you doing reviews to tick off boxes and keep your HR people happy? Go with the approach that gives you the best possible team outcome.
For more great performance review tips, check out our Employee Performance Reviews: Tips, Templates & Tactics.
 Having an up-to-date employee manual is vital for any business that employs staff.
We have just totally reviewed our fantastic Instant HR Policies & Procedures Manual to:
- make it even more user friendly,
- update it against the changes to Parental Leave and Unfair Dismissal,
- amend a pile of sections based on changes to requirements including payslips etc, and
- add in new sections relating to Whistleblowing, time clocks and Smoking.
We are watching trends in relation to workplace surveillance. At this stage NSW is the main state with detailed legislation covering workplace surveillance, and if this extends to other states this year, we will be adding in a new policy during the next review of the manual.
All clients who purchased the manual since January 2010 will have already automatically received a new free download link to the updates. (All updates are free within 12 months of purchase of the manual).
If you haven't yet checked out our Instant HR Policies & Procedures Manual, now is the perfect time to do so, as we have also added in a bonus pile of great new articles including:
- Reasons why you need a HR Manual;
- Implementation tips on how to implement your HR Manual;
- How to write your own HR Policies;
- How to hire your first team member;
- How to make Codes of Conduct "stick"; and
- Firing Tips - how to fire someone respectfully.
So, check out our Instant HR Policies & Procedures Manual, and get all of your team on the same page.
Just in case you have missed any of the free resources we have released in the past few weeks, here they are in the one blog post ... including our latest release "Lessons from Leaders" - weekly reflection questions and inspirational quotes to challenge your thinking.
exuberantly yours
Ingrid
Heart Harmony
Legal stuff: This newsletter is intended as only a general guideline for Australian businesses. You should seek specific advice for your situation rather than relying only on this newsletter
Earnings disclaimer. Some of the content may include advertorial information, which means I may receive financial compensation for the products I recommend. But - unless I know and trust the product, I will not recommend it.
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