The Engaging Brand

What is the meaning of your life?

Our little weekend thought tries to inspire you to think differently about your life, your career, your business and this week I want you to....relax!

Too often we take life too seriously, we look at meanings behind everything.....we look for hidden meaning in the gestures of others, the words of others, why we are here etc etc

But remember...the only meaning you need to consider is this

What do you want YOUR life to have meant? When you are out in the garden, at the gym this weekend think less about the meaning of life...and focus on the meaning of YOUR LIFE.

Why you need to hold a Board Meeting with....YOURSELF!

Look at your dairy - full of meetings? I bet there are quite a few in your working day...

I am a read believer in getting rid of meetings that are about compromise, covering your back or delaying a decision! But I love meetings that inspire, are focused and blend deep thinking with action orientated outcomes.

For all the meetings that you have.....when do you meet with yourself? When do you review your progress, brainstorm your business interests, inspire your own self-improvement...create actions that will deliver your personal goals?......

Thought so....

We have one precious resource - time and yet we fail to use our own time to think about our own personal branding plan.

To inspire, engage others...we need to inspire and engage ourselves

So set some time aside one a month and have your own board meeting, invite all sides of your personality - the risk taker, the dreamer, the pragmatist and the action man/woman.

Make an agenda and then set to work on reviewing, exploring, deciding and then actioning your own 'me, inc' business strategy.

Tip on Creating Thought Leadership - through Surfing!

Action, action, action - we all know that action is required and we focus our teams on action. However I do believe action needs to stem from a platform of thinking. Thought leadership is often a term that people use without really understanding on what area they truly have thought leadership. 

Thought leadership comes from deep thinking and related business insights. These skills of leadership are often ignored - why? Well it is uncomfortable, hard work and so much easier to hide behind group think or compromise.

Social media is a wonderful tool to develop these skills in leadership. Social media expresses an array of different views, it allows you to read and think. By surfing the social media channel you can develop your thinking skills and create business insights from taking strands of ideas, of data analysis to then allow your thought leadership to evolve.

I use the word surf because ideas come in waves and it is about not riding a wave but understanding what creates waves, the underlying mechanics of waves etc I also think surfing is difficult to master...it needs technique, a desire to learn, a desire to fail in order to succeed. Sometimes your thinking will feel shaky but the more you surf the thinking wave, the more your technique strengthens and the more your ideas make it all the way to the market shore.

Personal Growth Bob-o-graphic to Kick Bad Work Habits

In last week's Engaging Brand podcast I talked to Jake Breeden about those work habits that creep into our daily business lives that prevent us from business growth. As with Reinventing Yourself and Playing to Win, I have put together a little Bob-o-graphic to help your personal growth.

In leadership and management you can read widely and then try to incorporate all this learning and development into your day to day work resulting in a desire to please people rather than achieving profitable growth. Employee engagement and profitable growth should be complimentary and hopefully this little Bob-o-graphic will help you to balance your management approach to achieve...'profitable engagement' !

How to Make a Mistake ...and Still Win

When coaching I am often faced with people who want to start over - in their career, job, start up business. Starting over is not an option usually and what I work on is Bob's tip for personal growth!

Personal growth often comes down to taking responsibility for our own learning and development and not taking the easy way out and blaming your boss, your luck, your education etc It is in taking responsibility for making sure that mistake won't happen again, that our personal growth becomes more attainable.

We all make mistakes - we are all human after all! - mistakes are just like footprints on the sand, at first they seem so obvious and then disappear once the tide turns....

So how do you make the career tide turn?

• Be honest about what actually happened.
• Understand how it happened.
• Think about how you could have handled it differently.
• Think about the skills or knowledge you need to handle it differently in the future.
• Then turn the mistake into an opportunity, an opportunity to grow and develop. 

In all forms of life a great start helps....but it doesn't guarantee success.....remember the victor is the one who crosses the finish line, not first out of the blocks...and the occasional stumble just makes the ultimate career success..even more special.

Is life controlling you or are you controlling life?

Saturday and time for a Bab's Booster to think about this weekend. The weekend is a great time to relax with family and also think about our own self improvement.

We need to fight that apathy that can creep in - when I am coaching half of the battle is finding the self confidence to think about you self development. That self confidence is in there...remember all your career dreams as a child?

When we are young we have dreams - we dream of being everything from being an adventurer to becoming a pop star and as life goes by and the reality of paying the bill sets in, those dreams can start to dilute and eventually disappear.

I remember having a conversation with Dad and he said

"Life can easily become your parent, you allow life to dictate to you what you should be doing but remember life is given to you personally - it is for you to own. Never lose the courage to learn from 'life' but at the same time design the life that you were born to have..."

It has always stuck with me because our careers, our businesses, our daily routines can so easily become comfortable...boring but comfortable!. That is 'life - the parent' dictating to you and if you don't take control of your personal growth and find the courage to be who you were meant to be then you will end up with what life decides for you.

OK - so we can't all give up our jobs and become a rock guitarist this week BUT we can start taking steps to become who we really are..

1. What do you dream about?
2. How can you build that into your life - banker by day, artist by night creating your portfolio?
3. How do you create the social networks that will create the business opportunity?
4. Have you a career path that will lead you to who you were meant to be?
5. How do you build the courage to start on that career path? 

Start today by finding that courage to leave life's safety net and turn your dreams into reality.

In a rut? One Step To Take This Week

When we are young we are full of dreams and if we are not careful, 'life' can drain that enthusiasm away. Phrases such as 'be realistic' can chip away at those dreams and make you settle for something easy, something mediocre...

Now of course there are some dreams which do need to be tempered however not all dreams.

As we become part of teams, part of communities we can lose that sense of what is right for us.....and I am here to tell you that being a great team worker, being a great citizen does not mean that you stop valuing yourself...from building your self esteem. There is a reason that airlines tell you to put your own life jacket on before helping others.....you have to look after yourself first to be helpful to others.

When you stop valuing your dreams, you reduce your passion and reduce the enthusiasm that you give to society, your family and your teams.

This week remember to ask yourself

Is mediocrity a price worth paying for giving up on your dream?

Not in a selfish sense but in the sense of is society missing out on what I could ultimately offer?

Make one personal goal and take one step towards it this week- a step which brings your dream closer

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What would you add?

A Tip to Make Your Dreams Come True

Each weekend I want to try and give YOU a thought that will help you grow. So each weekend I want to post some of the inspiring words people have said to me - usually my wonderful Dad. I am going to call them Bab's Boosters!

So here is today's Bab's Booster

The concept here is that ANYONE can find a problem...but successful people find a solution. If the solution was easy then everyone would do it! So many ideas, dreams are stopped because of the negative thoughts, negative feedback from devils advocates within your mind or around your life.....but why not become the

Angels Advocate for Dreams.

If you have a dream....then think of HOW you can make it happen.

If you have a dream...then think of the first step you can take.

If you have a dream...then think of HOW you can address any risks, any problems.

If you have a dream...BELIEVE

If you have a saying that means the world to you then let me know and I will post it in your honour!

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Insight is a skill which continues to be important. It always has been key, but now with the new technology, insight is how you differentiate on the web. People can curate, people can create content...but adding the insight of your brand, that can differentiate your offer.

The definition of insight " a deep intuitive understanding of a person or thing". Deep understanding doesn't just come to you, insight and 'deep intuitive understanding' comes from hard work. It requires two key skills...the desire to be a constant learner and taking those insights from across the business spectrum to apply to your business marketplace.

The digital age means that information is readily available but the digital age needs more than pure information.....it is easy to provide information but what creates value is the provision of insights based on the information.

So the good news is that new technology brings all the information to you...it is easier than it has ever been.

The bad news is that because it is easy, you have to transfer the effort from finding to analysing the data and providing insights in your social marketing.

What are you doing on a daily basis to build your knowledege?

What are you doing on a daily basis to provide insights to your teams, your colleagues, your consumer?

What are you doing to grow your ability to provide insights?

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