Business | Full Life Executive Coaching

The Pitfalls of Starting Your Own Business

August 30, 2011 By JoeSieglerMD

In the recent New York Times article “Maybe It’s Time for Plan C,” lawyers, stock-brokers and IT professionals lose or quit their high-profile jobs and pursue their passions to become entrepreneurs. But they soon find that the “dream job” of owning a business includes a lot of pitfalls.

Owning your own business, according to the article, involves long hours and the added stress of being the driving force behind nearly every aspect of your self-fashioned career. According to the article, the majority of new business fail due to a lack of preparation and experience. While many of the subjects enjoy their new lines of work, the article asks readers to think long and hard before they try being their own bosses.

Starting your own business talks up a tremendous amount of time and effort. If you’re considering self-employment, here are some important executive coaching tips according to what I see as effective:

Identify your reasons for starting a business. There are major risks with going into business. Questioning your motives is an important executive coaching tool to help focus on what you really want. What’s important? Family? Job security? Personal freedom? How would starting your own business help you get what you really want out of life?
Keep your new business in balance with the rest of your life. Being your own boss may make you feel fulfilled in one area, but it can also throw off aspects in your family, spirituality and community spheres. A sudden change in your career means you’ll have devote time and effort to balancing out the rest of your life.
Determine your strengths and weaknesses. If businesses fail due to a lack of preparation, a good coaching technique is to list your best and worst traits and skills.
Talk to an entrepreneurial coach. The right executive coach can help you if you want to start your own business. They can help in a variety of areas such as how you’ll prepare and implement your ideas and plan for future growth.

Starting a business is a huge risk. As you think about what sort of business you’d launch, consider your motivations, and make sure you’re using all the resources at your disposal when you take the entrepreneurial plunge.

Have you considered self-employment? What is your experience?

Filed Under: Balance, Business, Future Vision, Possibility Tagged With: balance, business, career coaching, entrepreneurial, self-employment

How to Beat Net Fatigue

August 25, 2011 By JoeSieglerMD

Twitter, Facebook and the new Google+ help us plan our social lives and can bolster our careers. But being a social-media butterfly can be a job in of itself. “Digitally Fatigued,” an article in The New York Times, profiles several avid “net-workers” on how they improve their lives through social networking without burning out on posts and Tweets.

Using Full Life Coaching concepts, online social networks can touch on work, family, friends and community spheres. But for all of their useful aspects, if we come to overrely on online networking, we risk being behind our computers and missing out on actual life. Those interviewed in the article encountered this dilemma, but through creative thinking, they retained the advantages of social networking.

When it comes to fighting tech fatigue, there are some executive coaching techniques more powerful than just trimming your friend lists:

Keep a schedule and utilize applications to manage your productivity and avoid burnout. Overload happens when social networking becomes a habit instead of a tool. Business writer Josh Kaufman set a schedule of 30 minutes a day to catch up on his posts. He uses applications like Freedom, which temporarily blocks his Internet access when he needed to work without distraction.
Ask yourself if joining a new network will be worth the investment. Social networks appear and vanish with increasing frequency. Google+ appears powerful and enticing, but it’s too soon to know for sure. Jessica Lawrence asked herself what she could get out of Google+ that she couldn’t from Twitter. Cutting down on network clutter can prevent you from spreading yourself too thin.
Use applications that allow you to post on different networks simultaneously. Daily social networking can become a grind for those who make it part of their jobs. Applications like Ping.fm automatically syndicate posts to multiple networks. Buffer and SocialOomph work according to an automatic schedule from a bank of posts made in advance.

As our lives are becoming more integrated with social media, the importance of balancing our online and off-line time becomes more apparent. But with the right mindset in place, you can maintain an online presence without sacrificing time from your life.

Filed Under: Balance, Business, Habits Tagged With: bad habits, balance, business, google, habits, internet, net fatigue, Spheres of Life, technology

Seeing Eye To Eye

August 3, 2011 By JoeSieglerMD

On July 25, an editorial in The New York Times lambasted the Republican Party for walking out on President Obama’s meeting concerning the nation’s financial future. Politics aside, the piece pointed out something interesting: a lack of compromise. According to the article, the walkout stemmed from an unwillingness by both parties to reach an consensus.

On August 2, a bill to raise the nation’s debt ceiling was finally signed into a law. CNN spoke with Fareed Zakaria of Time Magazine on about how the lack of compromise from Tea Party hardliners nearly held the country hostage.

Compromise is a fact of life. As children, we were taught to share. We cannot always have our way, but we can reach an agreement by which we and another party can both be relatively satisfied. Many of us learned compromise by simply sharing our toys and reaping the rewards of community. The same lessons apply when we broker business deals or negotiate decisions with friends and loved ones.

We all have to protect our own interests, and sometimes it’s difficult to find the middle ground. Here are some executive coaching tips for learning how to compromise effectively.

Know what the other party wants. Likewise, decide what exactly you want out of an agreement. By knowing exactly what all parties want out of a deal, it will make negotiation smoother.
Know when to make concessions. Along with knowing what you want, know what you can let go. It can help if you’re willing to give the other party something they want for something you want.
Refrain from a stubborn “my way or the highway” attitude. Listen to others who weigh in on the matter. Ignoring or cutting them off is a sign of disrespect and can put everyone on the defensive.
Conversely, don’t tolerate disrespectful behavior from others. Let them know that, if they’re not willing to at least listen to you, you’re not willing to talk.
Focus on the situation and resist the urge to judge the people involved. Nothing breaks down communication as badly as throwing around accusations that someone else is being “difficult” or “stubborn” if things aren’t going your way.

If employed from a position of strength and awareness, compromise will prove a much more powerful tool than stubbornness.

Filed Under: Balance, Business, Current Events, Habits Tagged With: balance, Community Sphere, compromise, habits, leadership, Obama

How to Beat Burnout

July 28, 2011 By JoeSieglerMD

No matter what field you are in or whether your business has managed to stay prosperous despite the economic recession, your team members may experience fatigue and burnout. If your business has fallen on tough times and has faced downsizing, burnout will most likely surface in some form.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) studied how fatigue currently plagues the American workforce: the prevalence of fatigue in the US is as high as 37.9%, with 65.7% of these fatigued workers reporting their productivity was severely hindered. This loss of productivity and weak performance is said to cost employers $136.4 billion annually. As the economic climate remains on edge, organizational leaders must do something to curb fatigue or risk dealing with its much more severe and costly counterpart, burnout.

Organizations must make preventing burnout and fatigue a priority. While fatigue may surface as exhaustion or a “funk” caused by stress, burnout is a syndrome with more troubling symptoms. These include:

Insomnia
Loss of interest in work and hobbies
Absenteeism and low performance
Low or levels of confidence, energy and concentration
Feelings of hopelessness

Fatigue left unchecked can kindle into burnout – it must be caught and corrected as early as possible. If you see symptoms of burnout in yourself or your coworkers, be sure to consider the following in order to address the situation:

Offer encouragement and ask how you can be of assistance.
Identify and empathize with their distress. Do not pass judgment.
Mention existing employee assistance programs and other referral options, such as executive coaching.

Learning to prevent burnout in your team or organization is paramount to your continued success. If you notice potential problems in your team members, don’t be afraid to suggest the following steps to avoid burnout or fatigue.

Identify and eliminate sources of significant stress.
Pay special attention to your physical well being.
Be vigilant of all your various responsibilities in life, not just work-related duties.
Recall what makes you passionate about your work and why it matters.

Executive coaching can help you assess your priorities and keep burnout at bay. To learn more, get in touch today.

Filed Under: Balance, Business, Responsibility Tagged With: burnout, business, career, executive coaching, leadership, responsibility, Spinning out of control

How To Innovate Like Google

July 26, 2011 By JoeSieglerMD

Google made waves recently by introducing a new proprietary social media platform, aptly named Google+. It may have the look and feel of Facebook as of right now, but this wasn’t the focus of Forbes Blogger Quentin Hardy when he sat down to write about Google’s latest ideas. Instead, he decided to take a closer look at their office environment and how systemized innovation has allowed Google to become one of the most successful companies in the world.

As their executive chairman Eric Schmidt explains, Google has created an environment where all employees are asking why things are “the way they are, and wondering if they can be done in a different way.” And innovation wasn’t just a priority of the decision makers or their team members, either – it was everyone’s priority.

No matter what Google is doing, it is clear that they are doing something right and their “70/20/10 system” deserves some attention. While this mechanism cannot account for each and every one of Google successes, there are ideas about peak performance hidden within this construct, as well as Schmidt’s discussion of how Google does business, and some takeaway executive coaching lessons:

They have effectively balanced knowing what to expect from their employees and knowing when to challenge them. Walking this line is one of their keys to success.
Innovation needs to be a concern of each and every employee, not just decision-makers. You must lead by example.
There needs to be room for learning, experimentation and implementation. Commend and celebrate innovative ideas. Remember: not all ideas will be home-runs but this probing thought process should be encouraged nonetheless.
Embrace change. Do not cling to the old way of thinking. Do not fear a new process.
Change gears when working to complete a task. You should switch your focus every few hours to avoid weariness and lost productivity.
Encourage tinkering. Ideas should be evaluated and feedback should be given quickly and clearly.
Balance the energy of your workplace with a diverse group of employees. Find a happy medium when building your team. A youthful group can mean palpable energy, excitement and self-motivation while an older group can mean wisdom and experience.

What do you think?

Filed Under: Business, Full Life Inspiration, Future Vision, Momentum, Possibility Tagged With: business, Eric Schmidt, Forbes, google, innovation, peak performance, Quentin Hardy

Introversion as an Asset

July 14, 2011 By JoeSieglerMD

Are you usually quiet in social situations? Would you rather enjoy a good book than hit a loud nightclub? In executive coaching, you’d be defined as an introvert: typically shy, low key and more inwardly thoughtful than outwardly expressive. According to an opinion piece in the New York Times, shyness and introversion might be considered not as symptoms of mental illness, but as healthy personality traits.

The article demonstrates that introversion can work well for a person. Executive coaches find a person’s strengths, and many individual strengths are in line with introversion.

A few takeaway insights from the perspective of an executive coach:

There are quite a few famous and successful introverts – Among them are Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling. Even President Barack Obama displays certain traits of an introvert.
Introverts can have an advantage when it comes to leadership and managing a team. According to the article, they’re more likely to listen to others and implement their advice. They also have more humility then extroverts. Executive coaching encourages openness to feedback.
A thoughtful introvert can put the brakes on a bad business deal. The article explains that introverts are less impulsive then their extroverted counterparts. A cautious nature can stop a sudden major business decision from turning into a disaster.
Introverts often have no problem working alone. One famous lone worker is Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple computers. According to him, most inventors, engineers and artists prefer to “live inside their own head.”

Being shy doesn’t make you sick. In executive coaching, it’s part of who you are. If you’re not a social butterfly or public speaker, then perhaps you’re a better thinker, planner or leader. It is always healthier to play to your own strengths, rather than yearn to be different.

Filed Under: Balance, Business, Possibility Tagged With: balance, barack obama, introversion, introverts, personality, Possibility

Home Ownership and Changing the Dream

June 9, 2011 By JoeSieglerMD

Not long ago, owning a home was considered the “American Dream.” Today however, people are disenchanted with the idea of homeownership. The New York Times article entitled “Housing Index is Expected to Show a New Low in Prices” interviews people who choose to rent and adapt their investments in the midst of a housing slump sometimes compared to the Great Depression.

Unemployment, foreclosure and underwater mortgages have led many to prefer renting and pursue investments that don’t involve residential real estate. Investors have become more creative as they search for new markets with more secure returns.

As the housing market struggles to right itself, the advantages of renting and new investments strategies have become more accepted, according to the article. For those deciding what to do in terms of real estate and investing, here are some coaching tips to keep in mind:

Look into investments which are more secure. Currently, gold and other precious metals are highly sought after. Also, try looking into stocks in the S&P 500.
Reevaluate your future plans when finding a new place to live. If you don’t want to be tied down to one location, renting may be more preferable then owning.
The housing ebb is a buyer’s market. Potentially, you can purchase a house with the plan to sell when the market regains.
Always consider speaking to a professional. There are numerous companies that offer experienced advice and help look for other investment opportunities.

It’s difficult for experts to predict the market within the next few years. However, making decisions based current information can help when deciding where to live and what to invest in.

Filed Under: Business, Current Events, Future Vision, Possibility Tagged With: American dream, economy, housing, new york times, real estate, rent or own

Should I Stay or Should I Sell?

May 19, 2011 By JoeSieglerMD

For many entrepreneurs, it’s hard when deciding to sell part or all of their company. The New York Times piece, “Why It’s So Difficult for Entrepreneurs to Head for the Exit,” had a Q&A with, Paul Spiegelman about his reluctance to sell a company he built from the ground up. His story serves as a mirror for those in the same position. For Spiegelman and for fellow entrepreneurs, selling a company often goes beyond a paycheck.

Spiegelman considered handing over his company to investors for the sake of growth and fresh capital. Though he saw the advantage of an outside investor, the possible damage to the brand of his company was too big a risk. For those in the same position, it means looking at yourself as much as you look at your business.

There are some coaching tips to help those who are in the process of making one of the hardest decisions as an entrepreneur:

Ask yourself what you want as an entrepreneur. Do you think it’s time for you to move on? Do you have any interests beyond your company you’d like to seriously pursue? Is there more you want to do with your company?
Weigh the risk vs. reward of selling part or total control of your company. For instance, it could be useful to have outside investors with useful capital and new ideas. But it also might mean less or no say on company strategy.
Consider the doubts about selling. Would you regret it? What would you not want to have happen to your company if you were to sell? Would you feel better leaving it in the hands of a relative? Do you still want to work part-time?

Speigelman made his decision based on what he wanted for his company. In a decision like this, find out your priorities and be confident in your final decision, even if your answer is “no.” Sometimes capital is not a “good enough” reason to sell.

Filed Under: Business, Future Vision Tagged With: business, career, entrepreneurial, money, new york times

Could writing more concisely help your career?

April 12, 2011 By JoeSieglerMD

A recent article in the New York Times called “Teaching to the Text Message” demonstrates the importance of writing concisely and packing a lot of information into a small space. This challenges conventional English-teaching wisdom like the research paper, but it’s a very valuable skill to get to your point quickly and with few words, as in a text message. The long form has its place, but in these times, brief and precise communication is preferable.

Usually, the most direct way of saying something is the most accurate and telling. At Full Life, we begin the initial coaching sessions by having our clients cut to the main point: “In one sentence or less, what brings you here today?”

What are some advantages to writing shorter and more concisely?

It’s more likely that someone will read your communication, ensuring that your main points will be comprehended and addressed.
You will appear more competent at expressing your thoughts if you get to the point quickly, as opposed to taking a while to get there.
Your points will be more clear and noticeable. Excess words bog down your writing and cause the main point to get lost in the text.
Your writing will be easier to follow and understand. If you go into too much detail, your readers will get lost in the nuanced particulars and may lose interest.

In the age of texting, Facebook, and Twitter, it’s becoming more and more accepted to write directly to the point. Making an effort to be concise in your writing and speaking can help your career, both in how people perceive you as well as how you engage others.

What are your thoughts?

Filed Under: Business, Habits Tagged With: bad habits, career coaching, effectiveness, Future Vision, habits, life coaching, management, new york times

Could Coaching be a Useful Life Tool?

March 30, 2011 By JoeSieglerMD

You may want to get unstuck. Feeling stuck is very common these days, whether regarding a job, unemployment, relationship, or other area of life. It’s easy to resign yourself to uncomfortable situations and convince yourself that they’re going OK. This isn’t ultimately healthy, though.

Full Life Executive Coaching reveals that you have the potential for greatness in all areas of your life. The Full Life approach assists you in: understanding your unique obstacles and challenges, crystallizing your vision, facilitating your rise to peak performance, and creating the incremental goals necessary to accomplish your ambition.

What results could coaching yield for you at work and in your life?

You could discover the motivation to design a brand new career tailored to your talents and abilities.
You could create new opportunities and learn to rethink what’s possible.
You could reinvigorate your relationship with your spouse or significant other.
You could optimize your current job or career and reconnect to what you do as if it were new.
You could actively plan your transition into a next-phase of life and receive support in enacting your plan.

Full Life offers a variety of services, from one-on-one coaching to inspirational talks for organizations and groups.

Filed Under: Balance, Business, Full Life Inspiration, Future Vision, Momentum, Possibility Tagged With: achievement, coaching, effectiveness, Fire Your Therapist (FYT), Full Life Inspiration, Future Vision, happiness, leadership, life coaching, Possibility, Self Sphere, success, therapist, therapy