Successful Blog

7 Principles For Building Your Resiliency in Life and Business

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By Zaheen Nanji

Resiliency means the ability to bounce back from misfortunes, challenges or setbacks. What does bounce back really mean? It’s not about forgetting all that happened and continuing in misery. Bouncing back is the ability to get unstuck from a problem by finding a solution and continuing to function. Bouncing back is the ability to feel the fear and do it anyway because you will come through with new learnings. In my research on resiliency, these seven principles are important to bouncing back.

1. Approach challenges with flexibility

When something doesn’t work, do you tend to give up after the first try and think you’ve failed? View a challenge like a chess game where you have to not only think ahead but come up with several different strategies. This demonstrates flexibility. Finding different methods to overcome a challenge keeps a person more in control of the situation. Having only one strategy is inadequate preparation.

2. Excellent communication skills

Think of a leader or manager whom you admire and notice how he or she interacts with you or with others at all levels in the company or when networking. You will notice that she’s listening to your words and your communication style and communicates back in your style. She’s looking for the underlying reason behind your communication so she can relate to you. Finally, she’s subconsciously picking up on your body language and tone of voice and mirrors it. These communication skills come naturally to resilient individuals because they want to create rapport with you.

3. Live life with positive attitude

When resilient individuals approach a difficult situation, they have an attitude of being curious, but a positive attitude also encompasses the following three traits:

Realistic Optimism – All the research on optimism says that people who are optimistic are happier, have great relationships and are good at problem solving. However, what makes a person happier? It’s when they maximize their strengths and accomplish what they want knowing there are risks involved.

Embrace Change – research has shown that change becomes easier when we have the resources we need or seek out the resources we lack. Most people hate change because they fear the unknown. If you seek out the resources that can help you, managing change becomes easier.

Sense of Humor – laughter is the best medicine and being able to laugh at life’s frustrations is a great way to bounce back and strategize your next move.

4. Have a mentor

When a resilient individual feels stuck and finds herself in a worrisome state, the first thing she’ll do is contact a mentor or pretend to be her mentor. Imagine you’re faced with an obstacle right now. Think of a mentor who’d be able to overcome that obstacle. Now pretend you are your mentor and step into your mentor. Ask, as your mentor, “What would I do to overcome this problem?” Make sure you are seeing life through his/her eyes and listening through his/her ears. You’ll notice that you’ll have solutions right away.

5. Turn a challenge into an advantage

When you focus on your failures, you dwell on the past and the problems you experienced, which in turn, drives the fear of failure even deeper. Resilient individuals don’t view failure as failure; instead they view it as learned outcomes. Why? They look for insights that can be used as great learning opportunities. They then use that learning to their advantage which leads to the creation of new possibilities and outcome.

6. Create an outcome mindset

Most of us get stuck in the “blame mindset” when we are faced with challenges. In this mindset, you may catch yourself saying things, such as:

• Why do I have this problem?

• How long will I have this problem?

• Whose fault is it that I have this problem?

When you use this type of questioning method, you’ll feel oppressed and you’ll lack choices. However, it’s possible to re-program yourself to an “outcome mindset” by asking alternative questions, such as:

• What do I want and when do I want it?

• When I get what I want, what else in my life will improve?

• What resources do I have available to help me with this challenge?

• Can I use these resources to the best of my ability or do I require extra help?

• What can I do now to improve this situation and get what I want?

Having an outcome mindset propels a person to start thinking of solutions right away.

7. Park negative emotions and live for fulfillment

Resilient individuals accept hardship and work through it instead of dwelling in negative emotions and thoughts. They have the ability to park these emotions by using positive language while simultaneously focusing on the current challenge and finding solutions. This principle of dominating their negative emotions allows them to shift their focus from feeling anxious to feeling hopeful.

Zaheen Nanji is a resilience champion and a business owner in Alberta, Canada.  Embracing change and fear is Zaheen’s trademark because she overcame her speech impediment, her struggles with weight and learned to live in a new country, at the age of 15, without her parents. Her book, The Resilience Reflex – 8 Keys to Transforming Barriers into Success in Life and Business, became an International Best-Seller on Amazon Kindle. Zaheen teaches people how to make resilience their first reflex using her 3-step system: Release, Re-program and Resolve. She can be reached at http://www.zaheennanji.com

What Are You Doing to Foster Employee Engagement?

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By Roz Bahrami

A year has passed since the shocking Gallup Research “State of the Global Workforce” report that showed only 13 percent of employees around the world are actually engaged in their work.

This report hit most human resources departments like a hammer, but the follow-up question begged: “What can be done about low employee engagement?

It’s an acknowledged premise for success in any organization that engaged employees contribute far more than than those who are disinterested and distanced from their tasks. Everyone covets the workers who will happily go the extra mile for the cause, put real passion into their work, and be profoundly connected and loyal to their corporation.

The problem of engagement is not easily solved because the source of disengagement isn’t necessarily linked to the workplace itself. Employees don’t remove their personal problems with their coats when they start their shift. Working through personal problems and trauma at home still weighs heavy as they try to focus on the work at hand.

Acknowledging that issue is one part but, there is still a reality that it may actually be the workplace environment itself that isn’t working to engage its employees. Many HR departments want to put programs in place to increase engagement, but the issue inevitably is the means to measure their success.

Despite these challenges, real change can occur.

How to Foster Employee Engagement

Focus first on establishing an atmosphere of engagement right from top managers, stressing the importance of empowerment and respect for employee ideas.

One of the biggest factors that can contribute to engaging employees is communication. Employees want to know more information and have greater context on how their performance ties in with the company’s overall goals as a whole. They want to know that the job they are doing actually has an impact. Also, few people in your organization are more aware of the shortcomings of corporate procedures than those who must follow them. Give them a chance to speak regularly and contribute to positive change.

Pay attention to hiring to find managers who focus heavily on mentoring and coaching as opposed to dictating. All of the Gallup research comes back to the reality that corporate engagement begins and ends with effective management.

Work with your team of managers to build engagement opportunities and implement follow-up strategies so employees can see that their contributions and ideas are being treated with respect.

Weekly meetings, strategic brain-storming sessions, and spontaneous one-on-one meetings keep managers closer to their staff and also keeps employees engaged.

Let us know what you to to foster employee engagement or other great ideas you think we missed.

Author Bio:    Roz Bahrami is a blogger for https://SkyPrep.com, an online training software for companies to train employees and measure results. Roz is a regular contributor to blog posts related to corporate training, L&D and HR technology. Visit her personal blog at trainingconnoisseur.com.

Featured image via Flickr CC: Kevin Dooley

Creative writing vs effective business communication

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Ernest Hemingway would have been a terrible proposal writer.

 

There are two faces to the craft of writing.

On one side, you have the creative writer, head in the clouds, flirting with the muse of inspiration.

On the other side, you have the technical writer, the copywriter, the business communication professional. Still dreaming with creativity but tasked with a specific goal. Often with a crunchy deadline.

These are two equally important skill sets, and they don’t often reside in the same brain. They typically require different environments, different tools, and different approaches.

Why do you need to recognize this difference?

If you’re hiring a “writer,” you certainly need to know which type will suit your requirements best.

  • Are you going to enforce quick deadlines?
  • What’s the reading level of your audience?
  • Is the person going to work in a team environment, or solo?

If you’re sitting down to write, you need to consider the end goal.

  • Can you bust out your flowery adjectives or do you need to keep it simple?
  • How much time does your reader have to absorb the piece?
  • What’s the context? Is your piece going to be part of a master communication plan that requires a specific voice or message?
  • Are you trying to entertain, educate, both?

If you’re teaching someone to write, you must think about both facets of the craft.

  • Are you going to assign your student a timed essay or have them polish and edit a piece over a long period of time?
  • What tools will they use? Pen and paper? Professional writing tools like Scrivener, Evernote, or something else?
  • Who are they writing for? What’s their mission?
  • Will they be required to come up with their own topics, or will they be assigned writing tasks?

Which writer are you?

 

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Featured image via Flickr CC: thierry ehrmann

2015 Business Goals – How to Accelerate Through the Finish Line

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You’re at a track and field event. The leading runner anticipates the finish line, slows down, and allows the would-be second place finisher to blow past.

That’s all of us in November.

Are you already pulling out your post-Thanksgiving fat pants and planning a holiday getaway?

It’s definitely not too late to accomplish those important business goals you set up last January.

So re-tie your sneakers, step away from the pumpkin pie recipes, and let’s soar through the finish line tape of 2015 with our arms spread, victorious.

Step One: Look at the Goals

First of all, you should know exactly where your goals are, and where you stand on them, if you’ve been doing quarterly check-ins, right?

If any of your 2015 goals were “overtaken by events” or don’t make sense anymore, just strike a line through and forget about them.

Did you set any goals that were out of your own control to accomplish? Gather up the team and review those goals together.

Step Two: Celebrate the Victories

There’s no point in having goals if you don’t give yourself the joy of celebrating when they are achieved.

For any of the goals on your 2015 list that you’ve already accomplished, set aside some time to bask in the glow. Take your team out for lunch, high five, and savor a job well done.

If any specific colleague deserves credit for the accomplishment, be sure to recognize him/her with a thank you.

Step Three: Focus on the One Big Goal

For any 2015 business goals that are still in play, winnow it down to the one big one. Which project will make the biggest difference to your business if you were to buckle down over the next two months and get it done?

Take that one big goal and make it your total focus through the end of the year. Do you need to break it down into smaller bite-sized steps in order to get moving? What’s in your way? Has something stopped you from moving forward with it? Do you need to enlist additional resources? Gather the team and rally around your One Big Goal.

Make sure you have metrics in place for the “big goal.” Know when you will have achieved it!

Use your lessons-learned from this year’s goals as you think about your 2016 goals. Were you overly ambitious? Were you not ambitious enough? Do you need to tweak your work habits or methods to get a different outcome next year?

 

Let’s all work together to avoid coasting into December 31. Let’s accelerate together and go into January with momentum!

I’d love to hear about your 2015 goals…how did it go?

 

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

 

Unleash your inner social PR superhero – Q&A with Shonali Burke

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I’m so pleased this week to interview one of my personal superheroes, Shonali Burke.

She’s a “social PR” strategist who was named to PRWeek’s first “top 40 Under 40” list, the first list of 25 Women That Rock Social Media; and who founded and continues to curate the popular #measurePR hashtag and Twitter chat. She’s the owner of Shonali Burke Consulting, Inc.

Shonali is going to be offering a free mini-training to share some of her secret sauce, so I thought it would be great to have her answer some teaser questions here at Successful Blog. We could all use some help with PR, right?

 

How do you define “social PR”?

The classic definition of PR is the discipline that “builds and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between and organization and its publics” – that’s the *real* P in PR, not the imposter, “publicity.” Now, for decades publicity was the best way to get attention, and that awareness was the springboard for inquiries, additional marketing, sales, etc.

But if you’re actually going to build relationships with your “publics” – your audiences – you’re going to have to find ways to consistently engage with them. Social technologies allow you to do that in a way we never could before; it’s remarkable. I mean, just last week my website went down, and I was able to get BlueHost’s attention more quickly on Twitter than through their live chat!

So “social PR” harnesses the power of social technologies and platforms to help organizations build these relationships with their publics. This translates into a lot of online community-building, which is hard work (as you know), but the results can be incredible. Because if you can motivate your communities to start telling your story for you, isn’t that far more believable than you harping on it yourself?

What are some key mistakes that people make when trying to do social PR on their own?

First, I think a lot of companies (large and small) don’t realize they can’t just create social media accounts and blast information out at people. A press release will do that just fine. So there’s a lack of understanding of what it takes to have a regular conversation online. I find that a bit strange because they’re just fine talking to you offline!

Second, not actually listening to what people are saying, either about them, or their competitors, or their space. If you don’t do that, I don’t see how you can set a benchmark and ultimately gauge the success or failure of your campaigns and work.

Third, they’ll silo the various areas of communication as if they’re stocking their granaries for the winter. Social PR is by its very nature fluid and integrated (as business communications should be). While you must absolutely have some structure, you also need flexibility, because the mediums you’re working in are changing all the time.

 At what point does a small business owner need to call in a pro for PR?

The minute she can afford it. Truly, though I know you probably think I’m biased. But honestly – I’m wearing my own small business owner hat as I say this.

Unless you run a PR shop of some sort, your business is not PR. Your business is selling widgets, or distributing refrigerators, or knitting shark blankets, or selling online community software. Even if you have a knack for communications, and many many business owners do, ultimately any time you’re *not* spending on activities that grow your business is money you’re throwing down the drain.

Unless you’re exceptionally handy, you wouldn’t try to learn how to install a new roof on your home just so you could replace it in 30 years. So why would you not hire a PR pro to do what they do well, so that you can focus on what you do well?

How do you best leverage community to help spread the word about your product or service?

I heard a three-word mantra a long time ago that I often use: Educate, Cultivate, Motivate. This is how organizations *should* approach it; but most of the time they instead jump straight to Sell. That just doesn’t work.

You have to spend time becoming a part of a community, listening, engaging, curating, sharing. Do for everyone else before you ask them to do for you. Then, when you have enough community “change” in your bank, you can make your ask – but not before.

What’s your favorite social listening tool that won’t break the bank?

Talkwalker Alerts. I would have said Google Alerts, but they’re pretty unreliable these days, which is disappointing. 

What sparked you to create this course?

The best part of my job is when I’m able to help clients, students, people who attend my workshops, see what a joy social PR is. When that light goes off in their eye, that’s what makes my heart sing.

I got tired of seeing so many, many smart folk flounder when it comes to smart social PR strategy & implementation; not because they’re not smart, but because they don’t have the right coach to guide them.

I’m ultimately a teacher at heart. So I figured taking this online was the best way to share my joy with as many people as possible, and give back to an industry that has given so very much to me.

Thank you so much for chatting with me, Shonali!

Click here to sign up for Shonali’s free mini training course, The Social PR Launchpad: Unleash Your Inner Social PR Superhero.

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

 

The Right Way to Ask for Referrals

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When I left the car dealership, my sales guy had put a little stack of his business cards in the glove compartment.

“You’re going to get attention in this car, and when you do, I’d love it if you’d share my card.”

My shiny Z3 convertible has now been replaced by a minivan, but the lesson stuck with me. (And I did end up handing out a few of those cards.)

That salesman had fulfilled my car dreams, and in my moment of euphoria, made it easy for me to share the love.

Are you doing that with your customers?

Some people are afraid to make the “ask,” thinking that it might harm their relationship or might feel weird.

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE sharing useful tips with my friends and colleagues. If there’s a technology I’m excited about, or a new movie, or a fantastic local restaurant, I enjoy spreading the word.

But there is a right way and a wrong way to ask for that referral. Let’s start with the “don’t go there” list.

The Wrong Way to Ask for Referrals

Asking before the customer has had a chance to use the product or service. It’s a waste of time to ask me to Tweet out your app before I’ve even finished downloading it. I value my relationships too much to blindly recommend something. (Yet this is done all the time.)

Monetizing the referrals right off the bat. If I feel a strong relationship with a brand, and they immediately try to make me an affiliate or network marketer for them, I almost feel insulted. Sometimes, tangible rewards can actually demotivate people who already like you.

Making me blast out emails to my contact list in an online form. If I want to email my friends, I’ll compose my own message, thank you very much. I don’t need to be strong-armed into giving up my friends’ email addresses.

The Right Way to Ask for Referrals

Catching me when I’m at maximum happiness, or I’ve just complimented you. This is the ideal time to ask me for a referral, for a written review, or a customer interview. Go for it!

Giving me a brief, memorable phrase to connect with you and your service. I need to fill my mental Rolodex with names attached to simple categories. If my friend is in need of a PR agency, I know I can send them to XYZ Agency. If someone is looking for a freelance business writer, I know so-and-so is the right person. What’s your category?

Considering the context and your relationship with the person you’re asking. The looser the relationship, the simpler the “ask” should be. There’s definitely a sliding scale between asking someone to forward your newsletter to a friend and asking them to give you their friend’s email address or phone number.

Being judicious with your requests. Treat your stored-up goodwill like “Whuffie” gold, and use it sparingly, when it will have the most benefit. Don’t hassle your customers constantly to write reviews and share your content.

 

Referrals can be a wonderful way to expand your business. Are you asking for them?

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

 

Image via Flickr CC: Scott Cresswell