Pauline Fleming is the Chief Inspiration Officer at Leaders Who Care, as well as my professional colleague, and I am delighted that she agreed to guest on our blog today.
One of the biggest struggles leaders often face is with confidence. Confidence with and from others in particular. People only follow the lead, believe in or buy from those they trust and have a solid relationship with.
We live in an age where money isn’t the only essential currency anymore. Relationships and trust are as important as the money your business works for. They’re more important than anything that you can track on a spreadsheet. Without the people asset, all the other assets don’t matter.
How do you earn and save when it comes to relationships? You put people first. Actually, you put yourself first, but not in a selfish sort of way. Instead, you focus on understanding and satisfying your own needs so you’re healthy and sure of yourself. In this way, you are better able to reach outside yourself to support and care for the people in your life – including your professional team and your loved ones. When you’re caring for the team that works for you and with you, they’re better able to take care of your organization’s clients and customers – and that means you’re doing a great job of taking care of business.
How do you begin to do business with trust? First, you have to trust yourself and your actions. When you’re practicing the kind of self-care mentioned above and really taking the time to ask yourself what you want and what you stand for, you’re able to trust yourself. You can build a culture of trust that positively influences all of your actions and relationships.
I invite you to do a quick audit of how much currency you’re holding right now – but don’t go check your financial statements! Instead, ask yourself about the quality of your relationships and the levels of trust you have in yourself and your people.
Here’s a coaching exercise to get you going. Sit down with yourself for a cup of coffee – or, my favourite, a nice piece of chocolate. Write a line down the centre of a piece of paper. Put Slowers at the top left and Growers at the top right. Now, on the left side, list the people in your work and life who slow you down. This includes customers, employees, colleagues, family, friends, suppliers and more. You know who they are. The kind of person who drains your energy. On the right hand side, list those who help you grow. The type of person who encourages you and actually gives you energy. Give yourself ten minutes just to think about how you could build the relationships and the trust with the Growers in your life. You’ll be amazed what insights come to you when you take “pause time” to consider two elements that are so key to your success and happiness. By the way, you will need to start saying “no” more often to those on the Slowers side. Not always an easy task.What new goal or challenge have you discovered after having read this blog?
Enjoy from Coach Pauline. We specialize in creating business confidence.
Pauline asks what new goal or challenge have you discovered as a result of completing the coaching exercise she outlined — so please share by adding to the Comments below.
Coach Pauline inspires Leaders Who Care to succeed. She teaches them how to grow their people, profits and playtime. The result? Because her clients grow more, stress less and have more reasons to smile, they feel respected, find and keep top talent, discover what motivates their team to be excited to show up to work on Monday mornings, and learn how to make work more meaningful—all critical to attracting and keeping customers. Visit Pauline at www.LeadersWhoCare.com to find out more about how she can support you in taking inspired action on your goal or challenge.
One Comment
Very inspiring,true and to the point.If it is followed in true spirit, it can do wonders and can bring a very positive change in all aspects of life!!!!!!!!