Jonathan Flaks Coaching

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.” Benjamin Franklin

How do you keep “going and going” when you have a big challenge at stake?   And if you’re managing people, how do you help them do the same.

1. Be on a mission:  Have a big, purposeful mission that everyone is on board to fulfill.  If it’s something that will make a difference for some subset of mankind, it’s easier for people to feel engaged.  I’m on a mission for everyone to make more money and have more fun while balancing wellness and a sustainable environment.  When I forget that in the face of setbacks, I tend to lose my mojo like anyone else.  But thankfully, I often remember or go back to my mission and that returns me to feeling energized.
2. Play big games–  Initiatives, requirements, problems or growth strategies… we all have them, but make sure to build some fun energy – some game-like, sports-like energy  - into the specific, time-bound goals you work on.  You can be focused on serious problems and serious results, but don’t take yourself too seriously… it just drains too much of the energy you need to keep going.  I know it sounds a little corny, but smile and set yourself up with a “playing to win” attitude when dealing with your most challenging goals.
3. Keep going and going until you need a break… then take a break!   Even the Energizer Bunny eventually needs to recharge his (or her) batteries!  Kalynn Amadio wrote an interesting blog http://kalynnamadio.com/increase-productivity/# on the subject of taking a vacation to increase productivity.  Get some fresh air and fresh perspective… you’ll come back to work with greater creativity and effectiveness,  You might even get more done that you would have otherwise, or create something of greater impact without as much struggle. 

What else could you do to keep your energy high?   Let me know and keep me posted.  I love good news.

Click Play for an example of how you can visualize success in your business activities.

Congratulations to all the Oscar Award Winners.  What can these top performers teach us about leadership?  What do they all have in common that contributes to their personal brands and their great achievements?   From Ang Lee and Ben Affleck’s not-so-dorky co-producer, Grant Heslov,to the young Jennifer Lawrence and everyone who won the technical awards  - they all had …

1. Great teams
2. True appreciation for everyone on their team and everyone on the other teams
3. Poise, confidence and great speaking skills
4. Tremendous passion for their work
5. Tremendous determination to make something grander, brighter and deeper than anything before it.
6. Tremendous focus on the very best of what they do best.
7. Sense of Humor

Of course, I’m told that many great performers have great coaches – even Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, agrees that everyone who believes in great performance should have a coach. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVfeezxmYcA

I don’t know which of these Oscar winners did or did not have a coach, but I’m sure very few do not.

So… which of these strengths will you build on or develop to enhance your leadership and success this week?   Keep me posted – I love good news.

How Laughter is Good for Business

I recently saw Colin Mockery and Brad Sherwood, two leaders in improvisational comedy, perform in concert.   My wife and I laughed until our ribs hurt! I was inspired to look into this form of human energy.

Fun and laughter are NOT frivolous.  Some business people might think they are.  But there is enough data (as well as some experiences you can relate to yourself) proving thatfun and laughter can be valuable energies for business success.

Press PLAY below now, to listen along and learn how you can have seriously exciting results when incorporating laughter into business.  I do some pretty good belly laughing myself at the end, so you might enjoy listening while you read.

Here are 3 reasons:

1. Laughter is healthy.  Laughter is beneficial for health reasons. It increases oxygen intake, thereby replenishing and invigorating cells and feeding more power to the BRAIN!!!  It also increases the pain threshold (some work is a pain to do!), boosts immunity, and relieves stress.
2. Laughter boosts productivity.  According to the Society for Human Resources Management's Fun Work Environment Survey,“75% of human resource professionals say that companies that promote fun at work are more effective than those that don't.”  Another survey published by Training and Development magazine revealed that “84% of HR managers said employees with a sense of humor do better work and 97% of executives agree that humor is valuable in business.”
3. Laughter builds relationships.  Laughter is a great social signal to form human bonds. It's a great way to engage and connect with others.    “Laughter was a safe, early social signal to form human bonds,” says Carl Marci, MD, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School . “Before we could speak, laughter told early humans that ‘Everything’s okay, you can come over to my side.’”

Laughter is one of the most renewable forms of energy on the planet!  Laughter is indeed contagious, so as more is used, more is created (try NOT laughing when someone is cracking up).

How might you put this to use in your business?   Let me know if you have any ideas or if you’d like to brainstorm a few strategies together.

Did you know that you can bring excitement to ANY day, by choosing to be the source?

Today we'll get into some specific ways that YOU can generate excitement:

1) Envision having positive outcomes happen today as a result of past efforts.

2) Envision a fantastic and productive day that ends with a great sense of accomplishment.

3) Envision having an exciting collaboration with one or some of your favorite people.

4) Envision or consider finding new ways of dealing with persistent challenges.

Then you can follow through with excitement by taking the actions you envision.

This may seem simple, but the best ideas usually are.

So hit play and learn how make your day more exciting starting right now!

Trust:

Today we’re going to break down one of the most simple but fundamentally important ingredients in all business and personal relationships.

Trust:

Trust can be built around 3 areas – honesty, intent and competence.

Listen here for more:

In leadership, management, team dynamics, family business situations, sales and, really, all interpersonal relationships that matter, nobody wants to create misunderstandings.  Yet, misunderstandings happen and one cause of miscommunication is rarely paid attention.  Facial expressions can provide added reinforcement to verbal and other non-verbal communication – but sometimes a facial expression can be mis-read and generate an unwanted emotional response.  Be away … listen here for and example and more…

It’s goal setting season?   Why bother setting goals?   Are all goals the same?    Listen here for some answers about action goals, result goals, project goals and habit goals.  Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of goal setting – doing it right is very important and can unleash tremendous energy and success.   Also, make sure to put December 12, 2012 at NOON eastern  (12/12/12/at 12!) if you want to participate in a guided tele-seminar based workshop to get your goal setting DONE for the new year!   No charge.  No need to go it alone!   E-mail me for further instructions to dial in.  jonathan@jfcoach.com.

Happy Holidays!

A  bar of metal does nothing and no power or impact on it's own because molecules are all pointing in scattered directions, while a magnet has power to attract because all molecules are pointing in the same direction.

In the same way, a group of people gathered together need a clear direction and willingness to stay focused and committed to a purpose in order to their gathering to be worth the energy it takes to get them together.

So how do you create alignment?   

1.  Clarity of purpose.    It makes a tremendous difference when everyone knows what the reason of being is.   What is the "WHY" we are willing to work so hard?    What is the benefit to mankind, our market or even ourselves that will be served if we overcome the differences in opinion that are likely to arise about how to server that purpose.    

This ingredient provides important motivation to fuel alignment.  It might be wise to consider it a prerequisite - the very first order of business.  However, if there are urgent matters to attend to, you can weave conversations about clarity of purpose as you go along …  (for more, listen here…)

I was away in Italy last week, and although I typically think of myself as someone who would rather be a visitor than a tourist, we did hit all the major sites.

The most amazing to me was the Collosseum in Rome.  If you’ve never been there, the pictures only provide a hint of what it’s like to be within those walls and imagine the construction and congregation that occurred nearly 2000 years ago.   It’s awe inspiring. So many of the buildings in Rome are so extraordinarily large, especially considering the equipment of the time, so naturally Italy has become a center of architectural study.   However, I’d like you to consider studying the mindset of those early Romans.  What impressed me most is how people conceived of such tremendous structures.  I would have loved to go back in time and listen in on the conversations that lead to the construction of such “larger than life” structures that were engineered to still be standing today.   I invite you to be inspired by these thoughts, as we go into “goal setting season” for the next year, to think big -  beyond anything you’ve conceived before – and remember the infinite capacity of the human spirit.