By Pablo J. Perez, Executive and Corporate Coach

“Everybody starts out at 0-0 at the beginning of the game. Everybody is even,” proclaimed one coach whose team was on a losing streak. Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, made a similar point, saying that, mathematically, each game is a new start.

Even though both statements sound logical, both are wrong. Each game does not reset the organizational score to zero, any more than each quarter is a fresh beginning for a business or than each day is a new life for a person. Reset an old car’s odometer to zero, and it is still an old car.

We carry our baggage from the past, but the great news is that attitudes and behaviors can be improved, substituted, or changed, giving us the chance of starting a brand-new winning streak that will make us feel we are attaining our dreams and, as a consequence, becoming successful.

How can I stop a losing streak? How can I start a winning one? Close your eyes and envision your future. Are you happy? Are you rich? You can see yourself many years from now, surrounded by symbols of success, but what you will not imagine is the path to get there. It does not matter how hard you try; knowing what road to take is not an easy task. As people aspire to better lives, they are more likely to seek outside help to get them there: a professional coach.

People seek out coaches for three common reasons: taking their performance to the next level, navigating some transition in their lives or careers, or needing to change a behavior that is holding them back from their goals.

The dictionary defines “Coaching” as “private instruction.” Yes, being a coach is much like being a private instructor, but it really is so much more. I believe coaching is also a talent and a gift. Good coaches have a knack for helping people and encouraging people to dig deep and realize more of their full potential than even they, themselves, thought possible.

FACTS ABOUT COACHING:

• Professional coaching is more popular than ever. The International Coach Federation boasts about 8,000 members, up from approximately 1,500 in 1998.
• In 2004, 56% of polled companies said that executive coaching would be a major learning method they would emphasize. Then in a 2006 follow-up survey, 51% said the use of coaching had actually increased.
• In the study, High-Impact Executive Coaching, 43% of CEOs and 71% of the senior executive team had worked with a coach.
• 63% of organizations say they plan to increase their use of coaching over the next five years.
• 92% of leaders in a  coaching program say they plan to use a coach again.

As an Executive Coach, I help individuals and organizations develop better attitudes more rapidly and produce more satisfying results. I work with my clients in all areas, including business, career, finances, time management, productivity, employee motivation, and relationships. As a result of coaching, clients set better goals, take more action, make better decisions, and use more fully their natural strengths.

If you wish to explore deeper into the subjects contained in this article, please call Activate Group at (305) 722-7215 or send an e-mail to pjperez@activategroupinc.com.

Some of the concepts and facts discussed in this paper were taken from “Coaching: The Fad that Won’t Go Away” by Jim Bolt.

By Pablo J. Perez, Executive Coach

Do you want to grow your business/yourself and survive in the attempt? Do you think you have what it takes to move to the next level? If your answer to the previous questions is in the affirmative you are in a good starting position for your journey to success.

In my last article “The Power of Empowering People,” I highlighted the importance of motivation in the process of reaching extraordinary results. Self-motivation is the fuel of our internal engine. Motivation is the reason why we engage ourselves and we commit to a specific behavior.

With the right motivation you can achieve everything you have ever wanted to have, experience, or become. The power has and always will be within you, but nothing will happen until you get and stay motivated to make something happen, to change your life and achieve your desires. After all, there’s nobody but you looking over your shoulder and urging you to complete your tasks.

So how do you maintain a level of self-motivation that will help you achieve the goals you want? Here are my top 5 self motivation tips:

1. Set your goals and write them down. To become motivated, you need to know what you’re aiming to achieve. So plan short, medium and long term goals. The goals you choose need to be realistic and achievable since setting goals too high is demotivating. 

Write your goals down and place them in a spot where they’re clearly visible. Remember to revisit them as often as possible and share them with someone’s else. Verbalizing and visualizing your goals makes them feel real.
   “Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.” – 
Aristotle.
2. Do what you love to do. Find your true passion. If you love what you do, you are maximizing the probabilities of doing a great job. Even if you or your business is having a difficult moment, your passion will bring new ideas to the table and those around you will  share your energy.
   “Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things” – Denis Diderot, French author, encyclopedist, & philosopher.
3. Stop procrastinating . Procrastination kills self motivation. Every day is different so set up a daily schedule. The aim is to prioritize your tasks, giving the highest priority to those activities that will make you money. 

Don’t allow yourself to become overwhelmed with the number of things you have to do. The answer is to complete each task before moving on to the next one. Procrastination can leave you feeling frustrated, never having achieved anything. Upon completing each task reward yourself for your achievements.
   “Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin” – 
Victor Kiam, entrepreneur.
4. Innovate, be creative. According to Steve Job’s, founder of Apple Computers, innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower. Steve recommends concentrating on really important creations and radical innovations. Hire people who want to make the best things in the world. You need a very product-oriented culture, even in a technology company. Lots of companies have tons of great engineers and smart people. But ultimately, there needs to be some gravitational force that pulls it all together.
   “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” -Ralph Waldo Emerson.
5. Have Fun! Try not to take yourself too seriously. Enjoying yourself while you work and maintaining enthusiasm and motivation helps you keep your stress levels under control.
   “Work is either fun or drudgery. It depends on your attitude. I like fun.” – Colleen C. Barrett

If you wish to make a decision to grow and need assistance to draw the roadmap to success, please review our website at www.activategroupinc.com and call Pablo J. Perez at (305)722-7215 or send an e-mail to pjperez@activategroupinc.com.

By Pablo J. Perez, Executive and Business Coach

A few days ago, I was interviewed by a local radio station in Miami about the effects of the current recession on small business. After the interview was finished, they called me back and expressed surprise at my answers. I did not mention anything negative about the current economic situation. I did not say anything about layoffs, downsizing or business restructuring. Instead, I talked about possibilities.

It is impossible to deny the effects of the economy. We have to be aware of it and clearly understand the impact that this turbulence is creating in our businesses and in our personal lives. However, to achieve success we have to focus on creating possibilities.

In his book, “Making It Happen Before Lunch,” Stephan Schiffman says: “Dwell in possibility, there is always a door somewhere waiting to be opened.” What a great thought!

For me, a possibility is that this climate may result in coaching more clients – to help them increase their success in retaining, developing and enhancing the performance of their people. It could lead to my helping a manager become a leader. It could lead to helping a person or organization plan and implement change.

Focusing on possibilities, in my case, requires overcoming or controlling my instincts and attitudes. It doesn’t mean abandoning what I like to do (organizing, reading, preparing). It does mean creating a habit of thought: to focus on finding the doors that Schiffman talks about, and then opening those doors and walking into an opportunity to be of service to people and companies.

We all have to create our own possibilities. How to do it?

• Start with optimism. It’s so much easier to believe in possibilities as an optimist. That’s a challenge for about 70% of the population – the 70% whose thought pattern conjures up pitfalls rather than opportunities. 

All those pessimists should start every day with this thought: “Something good will happen today – if I make it happen.” Keep telling yourself that. Once you convince yourself that there are doors waiting to open – whatever that means to you – carve out the time and energy to find those doors.
• Talk about obsession, not recession. Don’t participate in negative conversations about the future. Change the subject. Start talking about how well your business is doing and the things you are doing differently. Talk about today. Be obsessed with your success, making reference to your vision and dreams during your conversations with co-workers, family and friends, allowing them to be aligned with your positive thoughts.
• Change your perspective. Don’t stare at the picture from yesterday’s viewpoint. You have to come out to where you are today and watch your life and organization from a different perspective. Stop your day-to-day activities to take some time to look at perceived obstacles and impediments from a different point of view. Invite your team members to do the same thing. If you change your perspective from time to time, the questions you ask will be different, and so will the answers you get.
• Create goals that keep you focused on possibilities.
• Make a promise to yourself that every day you will take an action that will create possibilities (such as a phone call to a prospect, a new meeting with your people, or a lunch with a long-lost friend or client). But in every case – do it!

  Write down your accomplishments when you create a possibility – then see how many of those possibilities you created can be made into opportunities, then into relationships, then into new businesses.
• Speak possibilities. Do you have a roadmap to your success? Do you have variable solutions to your obstacles? If not, act now!  Explore your possibilities. When you speak possibilities you are sending a positive message to the world around you, asking for success instead of failure. You are creating your own future today by opening your mind to new things.
• List your dreams for this year, and draw the roadmap to get there, and you will see how many new possibilities appear in front of you.
• Build on your success. Be convinced that the more possibilities you create, the more doors you will open – and think about how great it will be to step through into opportunities.

Realize that every day new possibilities can be created – they are there waiting for you!

As an Executive and Business Coach, I help people use their resources and skills to do a better job, watching the picture from a different perspective. For more information, please review our website at www.activategroupinc.com, call Pablo J. Perez at (305) 722-7215, or send an e-mail to pjperez@activategroupinc.com.

By Pablo J. Perez, Executive and Corporate Team Coach

If you listen carefully to the talk of the town, you will notice that recession is in the air. People talk about the stock market, the real estate slowdown, oil prices, the presidential election, etc. And I wonder, is a recession a negative economic growth or is the accrual of people’s negative thoughts? Aren’t we responsible for the outcome of our business and personal activities? Are we talking about possibilities instead of negativities?

Two thousand and eight could be your best year ever, but you need to have the courage to take action  to get there. Be ready to use the resources you already have to do a better job..

In his book “Leadership an Art of Possibilities”, Ben Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic says that the new leader’s job is recognizing the downward spiral and enrolling people in the journey to radiating possibility.

There are 5 ways you can change the outcome of your business and personal life:

• Never say never again. How many times have you restrained yourself from doing something because you listened to the voice of the little fellow on your shoulder telling you “you will fail again” or “don’t even try it” or “you can’t do it”.  You MUST stop listening to your negative inner voice, substituting it for positive thoughts about success. Remember, “Luck” were opportunity and preparation meet. When you met your spouse or your partner, where you planning meeting her or him that day? Successful people are always open to new opportunities and ready to say yes.
• Talk about obsession and no recession. Don’t participate in negative conversations about the future. Change the subject and start talking about how well your business is doing and the things you are doing different. Talk about today.
• Be obsessed with your success making reference to your vision and dreams during your conversations with co-workers, family and friends, allowing them to be aligned with your positive thoughts.
• Change your perspective. Don’t stare at the picture from the same spot. You have to come out to where you are and watch your life and organization from a different perspective. Stop your day-to-day activities and take some time to look at the obstacles and impediments from a different point of view. Invite your team members to do the same thing. If you change your perspective from time to time, the questions you ask will be different and so will the answers you get.
• Create power around you. Abraham Lincoln said “You see what power is – holding someone else’s fear in your hand and showing it to them!”  You create power through your actions and your reactions. Every interaction in your life should be a deposit to your power account. Create empathy with your people and put yourself in other person’s shoes, caring about their personal and professional growth.
• Speak possibilities. Do you have a roadmap to your success? Do you have variable solutions to your obstacles? If not, act now! Explore your possibilities. When you speak possibilities you are sending a positive message to the world around you, asking for success instead of failure. You are creating your own future today by opening your mind to new things.

List your dreams for this year, and draw the roadmap to get there, and you wil  see how many new possibilites appear in front of you.

Make 2008 the best year of your life..until 2009 which will be even better!

As an Executive and Corporate Team Coach, I help people use their resources and skills to do a better job, watching the picture from a different perspective. For more information, please review our website at www.activategroupinc.com, call Pablo J. Perez at (305) 722-7215, or send an e-mail to pjperez@activategroupinc.com.