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Featured
Article...
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Does
Your Phone Weigh 500 lbs? |
In
nearly every class I teach, someone sheepishly confesses: "I
have
call reluctance."
When
I ask, “What do you mean?” it turns out
to be anything from making the initial call to doing a follow-up
call. And as soon as I ask “anyone else” I hear, “me
too,” or “so do I” from what sound like
relieved voices.
It seems that although many of us have this overgrown bully
of a telephone, we are not any more comfortable admitting
it than we are picking it up!
Yesterday
Carol was the brave student in my Wednesday How to Be a
Savvy Sponsor program who said, that her phone felt like
it weighed 500 pounds and was stuck to the receiver. And
then there was the chorus of “me too.”
When I ask why the reluctance the answers differ.
Some
say, “I’m not sure what to say.” For
others it is fear about what the other person will say. For
a lot of you the answer is simply, “I don’t know,
I’m just afraid.” But sooner or later it becomes
evident that bottom line:
We fear we're not going to get our intended result.
That we will once again fail.
In
a business that takes lots of calls to build success this
is the kiss of death. It typically means we are not willing
to “keep at it” long enough to build
a
sustainable business.
This
is a big statement but you can break through this mind
set. It will take some work on your part (but what doesn’t)
but it is doable. Very doable.
Peggy,
a student in another of my Savvy Sponsor programs is beginning
to break through just this issue. And Peggy had a bad case
of “call reluctance.”
But
Peggy’s call reluctance and her fear is
being replaced by curiosity.
Strange
huh? But it is.
And
it’s not that she’s suddenly “sponsoring
all over place” but her approach is
totally different.
Take
a look at the triangle below (or pyramid if you prefer
;-) ). (The work triangle is borrowed shamelessly from
Tim Gallwey’s The Inner Game of Work.
WORK
TRIANGLE
In order for this exercise to help you exchange your
fear for curiosity we need to agree that enjoyment,
learning and results are interdependent. In other words for your results
(or performance) to be any good on the job (any job) you also
need to be enjoying what you do and learning as you do it.
That
said, where do you think the most emphasis is placed in
this triangle? If we go back to Carol and Peggy’s
experience and that of most of us, the answer is simple….it’s
all about results.
But
do you really have control over your results? Not usually.
Even if you’re not dealing with someone else (like
making calls in your business) but are simply dealing with
yourself – say in a sport - or maybe a better example
would be yoga.
How
much control do you really have to make yourself perfect
in each of your yoga practices? Right not much and it’s
your body.
But you do have control over how much enjoyment you put
into your yoga practice. And you have control over how you
reflect over your practice to learn more about your body
and yoga techniques.
By the way, what do you think would give you the best results
in a yoga practice?
(a) To be all uptight about how well or how long you can
hold a pose – (results)
(b) To enjoy every moment of the exercise and be curious to see what you’ve learned about how your body is changing
and feeling?
100 points for the right answer. ;-)
Now
let’s
think about picking up that 500 pound phone of yours!
What do you think would happen if you:
(a) Found way to make every call more enjoyable – every
call…
(b) Took a moment after every call to check out how you felt while you were dialing and when you were talking.
Imagine “debriefing” yourself, that is, checking
in to see what you could learn about yourself and maybe what
you learned about the person you were talking with. Do this
often enough and you just might find that instead of angst
over each call you’ll begin to feel like Peggy and be
curious about the next call.
Like
most things this is easier (and more fun) if it’s
done with someone else. So get with your teams and debate
away. I promise, you phone will start to drop pounds.
Click
here to post your comments or questions.
Pssst....Wanna lose some phone-weight
together with a Coach?
What if I can promise you'll feel better about your phone
right away. That's right, no more seasickness in your office.
You're Invited To Savvy's TeleClass-of-the-Month...
Title: Throw Out Your 500 Pound Phone. Get One That's Easy
To Pick Up.
This 90 minute coaching call includes:
- Learn how to balance the three areas of work:
Learning, Fun and Results and enjoy building your business.
- Ideas to put more fun - really! - into your calls.
- Different ways to debrief each call you do so your calls
get better and easier every time you dial.
- Coaching techniques to debrief your team so their
calls get easier and better.
- How
to get better results by focusing on “learning” goals
rather than performance goals.
- Concrete ways to trade your fear for curiosity.
- Learn easy ways to start any conversation.
- An opportunity to ask about your tough
phone challenges.
The mic will be open - so ask your questions and get what
you need and want.
The
call happens on Tuesday, April 17th at 5:30 pm pacific
time, 6:30 mountain time, 7:30 central and 8:30 eastern
and costs $47.
Don’t
wait until the phone lines are gone, reserve your place
on the call now.
>>
Click to Register
Last, but not least...
The
Savvy Coach's Corner
As all of us grow our businesses, it can
be easy to 'work hard.' I mean, we're all used to thinking
- "I have
to work hard, right?"
In today's Coach's Corner, I'd like to offer a different
way of thinking - how about making a quantum leap, and creating
a huge turnaround versus incremental progress in your business?
There is a big difference between a 'turnaround' and 'progress.'
Which one would you like? Let's explore a little shall we?
Feel free to use this as a 'coaching point' for your next
team meeting too.
Turnaround Vs. Incremental progress
Definitions
Turnaround - *A shift from one end of the scale to another
Incremental
progress - *small advances on a path of development
Comparisons
dramatic vs. gradual
Example
Jana wanted to increase her revenue by ten percent in the
coming year. Her coach asked her to instead consider doubling
her business' profitability. Hint: You can work just as hard
to create a big difference as a small one!
Key Point
A turnaround is a change from broke to rich,
or from unhappy to happy. Incremental progress is when you
go from being broke, to less broke, or from unhappy to less
unhappy or occasionally happy.
Benefits
Change doesn't need to be incremental. Go for
the turnaround.
Your Coach's Corner Question:
In what way are you working too hard, right
now?
What instinct do you have about how you can stop?
The
distinction "Turnaround
versus Incremental Progress' was originally created by
Isabel Parlett and Thomas Leonard. Copyright 97, 98, 99,
00, 2001 CoachVille.
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